Pectin and high-amylose maize starch increase caecal hydrogen production and relieve hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

We investigated whether the feeding of high H2-generating dietary fibre and resistant starch (RS) could suppress hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, which results from oxidative stress, in rats fed a pectin (Pec) or high-amylose maize starch (HAS) diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a control (C) diet, with or without Pec (0-5 % Pec) or HAS (0-30 % HAS) supplementation for 7 d. Portal H2 concentration showed a significant dose-dependent increase with the amount of Pec or HAS supplementation. Plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities remarkably increased in the C rats (5 % cellulose) due to IR treatment, while it decreased significantly or showed tendencies to decrease in 5 % Pec and 20 % HAS diet-fed rats. The hepatic oxidised glutathione (GSSG):total glutathione ratio increased significantly in IR rats maintained on the C diet compared with sham-operated rats. On the other hand, reduced glutathione (GSH):total glutathione and GSH:GSSG ratios decreased significantly. The GSSG:total glutathione ratio that increased due to IR treatment decreased significantly on HAS and Pec intake, while GSH:total glutathione and GSH:GSSG ratios increased significantly. Hepatic sinusoids of IR rats fed the C diet were occluded, but those of IR rats fed the Pec diet were similar to those in the sham-operated rats. In conclusion, we found that Pec or HAS, which enhance H2 generation in the large intestine, alleviated hepatic IR injury. The present study demonstrates another physiological significance of dietary fibre and RS.We investigated whether the feeding of high H2-generating dietary fibre and resistant starch (RS) could suppress hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, which results from oxidative stress, in rats fed a pectin (Pec) or high-amylose maize starch (HAS) diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a control (C) diet, with or without Pec (0-5 % Pec) or HAS (0-30 % HAS) supplementation for 7 d. Portal H2 concentration showed a significant dose-dependent increase with the amount of Pec or HAS supplementation. Plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities remarkably increased in the C rats (5 % cellulose) due to IR treatment, while it decreased significantly or showed tendencies to decrease in 5 % Pec and 20 % HAS diet-fed rats. The hepatic oxidised glutathione (GSSG):total glutathione ratio increased significantly in IR rats maintained on the C diet compared with sham-operated rats. On the other hand, reduced glutathione (GSH):total glutathione and GSH:GSSG ratios decreased significantly. The GSSG:total glutathione ratio that increased due to IR treatment decreased significantly on HAS and Pec intake, while GSH:total glutathione and GSH:GSSG ratios increased significantly. Hepatic sinusoids of IR rats fed the C diet were occluded, but those of IR rats fed the Pec diet were similar to those in the sham-operated rats. In conclusion, we found that Pec or HAS, which enhance H2 generation in the large intestine, alleviated hepatic IR injury. The present study demonstrates another physiological significance of dietary fibre and RS

高脂肪食投与ラットにおけるカカオバターの摂取が脂質代謝へ及ぼす影響

現代社会における食生活の変化、特に動物性脂肪摂取量の増加は、メタボリックシンドロームをはじめとする、脂質異常症の一要因になっていると思われる。そこで本研究では、植物性脂肪である大豆油を対照として、カカオ豆の脂肪分であるが、飽和脂肪酸を多く含み常温では固体であるカカオバターと、豚の脂肪組織から精製される食用油脂ラードを用いて高脂肪食を作製し、ラットにおける高脂肪食の摂取が、脂質代謝に及ぼす影響を検討した。3週齢SD系雄性ラットを精製飼料であるAIN-93M で予備飼育後、1群6匹になるようControl群、Cacao群、Lard群の3群に分け28日間試験飼育を行った。Cacao群とLard群は20%の高脂肪食になるよう、カカオバターとラードをそれぞれの精製飼料に添加した。試験期間中26-28日目に採糞を行った。解剖後、肝臓重量、腹部大動脈血中総コレステロールおよびトリグリセリドを測定した。またFolchらの方法に従い肝臓と糞から総脂質を抽出し、肝総コレステロールおよびトリグリセリドを測定した。飼育期間全般で体重に有意差は認められなかった。しかしながら、Lard群ではControl群と比較して肝臓中の総脂質含量、総コレステロールおよびトリグリセリドが有意に増加した。同じ高脂肪食のCacao群では、これらの増加は認められなかった。糞中総脂質含量は、Cacao群が他の2群に比べ最も多かった。以上の結果より、カカオバターは高脂肪食ラットの、肝臓中総脂質含量や、総コレステロールおよびトリグリセリドの増加を、抑制する可能性が示された。Cacao群では糞中総脂質含量が増加することから、カカオバターは吸収されにくい脂質であることが示唆される

The ARID1B spectrum in 143 patients: from nonsyndromic intellectual disability to Coffin–Siris syndrome

Purpose: Pathogenic variants in ARID1B are one of the most frequent causes of intellectual disability (ID) as determined by large-scale exome sequencing studies. Most studies published thus far describe clinically diagnosed Coffin–Siris patients (ARID1B-CSS) and it is unclear whether these data are representative for patients identified through sequencing of unbiased ID cohorts (ARID1B-ID). We therefore sought to determine genotypic and phenotypic differences between ARID1B-ID and ARID1B-CSS. In parallel, we investigated the effect of different methods of phenotype reporting. Methods: Clinicians entered clinical data in an extensive web-based survey. Results: 79 ARID1B-CSS and 64 ARID1B-ID patients were included. CSS-associated dysmorphic features, such as thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, thick alae nasi, long and/or broad philtrum, small nails and small or absent fifth distal phalanx and hypertrichosis, were observed significantly more often (p < 0.001) in ARID1B-CSS patients. No other significant differences were identified. Conclusion: There are only minor differences between ARID1B-ID and ARID1B-CSS patients. ARID1B-related disorders seem to consist of a spectrum, and patients should be managed similarly. We demonstrated that data collection methods without an explicit option to report the absence of a feature (such as most Human Phenotype Ontology-based methods) tended to underestimate gene-related features

Kinetic and kinematic parameters associated with late braking force and effects on gait performance of stroke patients

Abstract Late braking force (LBF) is often observed in the late stance phase of the paretic lower limb of stroke patients. Nevertheless, the effects and association of LBF remain unclear. We examined the kinetic and kinematic parameters associated with LBF and its effect on walking. Herein, 157 stroke patients were enrolled. Participants walked at a comfortable speed selected by them, and their movements were measured using a 3D motion analysis system. The effect of LBF was analyzed as a linear relationship with spatiotemporal parameters. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed with LBF as the dependent variable and kinetic and kinematic parameters as independent variables. LBF was observed in 110 patients. LBF was associated with decreased knee joint flexion angles during the pre-swing and swing phases. In the multivariate analysis, trailing limb angle, cooperativity between the paretic shank and foot, and cooperativity between the paretic and non-paretic thighs were related to LBF (p < 0.01; adjusted R2 = 0.64). LBF in the late stance phase of the paretic lower limb reduced gait performance in the pre-swing and swing phases. LBF was associated with trailing limb angle in the late stance, coordination between the paretic shank and foot in the pre-swing phase, and coordination between both thighs

Simple but effective methods for combining kernels in computational biology

Complex biological data generated from various experiments are stored in diverse data types in multiple datasets. By appropriately representing each biological dataset as a kernel matrix then combining them in solving problems, the kernel-based approach has become a spotlight in data integration and its application in bioinformatics and other fields as well. While linear combination of unweighed multiple kernels (UMK) is popular, there have been effort on multiple kernel learning (MKL) where optimal weights are learned by semi-definite programming or sequential minimal optimization (SMO-MKL). These methods provide high accuracy of biological prediction problems, but very complicated and hard to use, especially for non-experts in optimization. These methods are also usually of high computational cost and not suitable for large data sets. In this paper, we propose two simple but effective methods for determining weights for conic combination of multiple kernels. The former is to learn optimal weights formulated by our measure FSM for kernel matrix evaluation (feature space-based kernel matrix evaluation measure), denoted by FSM-MKL. The latter assigns a weight to each kernel that is proportional to the quality of the kernel, determining by direct cross validation, named proportionally weighted multiple kernels (PWMK). Experimental comparative evaluation of the four methods UMK, SMO-MKL, FSM-MKL and PWMK for the problem of protein-protein interactions shows that our proposed methods are simpler, more efficient but still effective. They achieved performances almost as high as that of MKL and higher than that of UMK

Necrostatin-1 protects against reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced hepatotoxicity in acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure

Excessive acetaminophen (APAP) use is one of the most common causes of acute liver failure. Various types of cell death in the damaged liver are linked to APAP-induced hepatotoxicity, and, of these, necrotic cell death of hepatocytes has been shown to be involved in disease pathogenesis. Until recently, necrosis was commonly considered to be a random and unregulated form of cell death; however, recent studies have identified a previously unknown form of programmed necrosis called receptor-interacting protein kinase (RIPK)-dependent necrosis (or necroptosis), which is controlled by the kinases RIPK1 and RIPK3. Although RIPK-dependent necrosis has been implicated in a variety of disease states, including atherosclerosis, myocardial organ damage, stroke, ischemia–reperfusion injury, pancreatitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. However its involvement in APAP-induced hepatocyte necrosis remains elusive. Here, we showed that RIPK1 phosphorylation, which is a hallmark of RIPK-dependent necrosis, was induced by APAP, and the expression pattern of RIPK1 and RIPK3 in the liver overlapped with that of CYP2E1, whose activity around the central vein area has been demonstrated to be critical for the development of APAP-induced hepatic injury. Moreover, a RIPK1 inhibitor ameliorated APAP-induced hepatotoxicity in an animal model, which was underscored by significant suppression of the release of hepatic enzymes and cytokine expression levels. RIPK1 inhibition decreased reactive oxygen species levels produced in APAP-injured hepatocytes, whereas CYP2E1 expression and the depletion rate of total glutathione were unaffected. Of note, RIPK1 inhibition also conferred resistance to oxidative stress in hepatocytes. These data collectively demonstrated a RIPK-dependent necrotic mechanism operates in the APAP-injured liver and inhibition of this pathway may be beneficial for APAP-induced fulminant hepatic failure

Home Visiting Nurse Stations in pediatric nursing -- 1st report: The state and subject of home visiting nurse station's activity from station's point of view --

本研究は,訪問看護ステーションにおける小児訪問看護活動の現状を明らかにし,今後の課題を明らかにすることを目的とした.全国の看護協会訪問看護ステーションを対象に,半構成型の質問紙調査を実施した.調査結果から小児訪問看護実施上の課題として次の3点が明らかとなった.1)小児訪問看護実施要件についての認識からは,単なる「連携と情報交換」「合同カンファレンス」のみならず,「家族や他職種の小児訪問看護への理解」「家族との信頼関係形成」「退院前の居宅訪問の実施」「退院後の生活を考えた指導」の必要性に対する認識に立脚した実務的な連携を築く必要がある.2)小児訪問看護の実施状況からは,「訪問看護制度に関する訪問看護ステーションからの情報発信と連携への働きかけ」「小児訪問看護の適応の拡大「レスパイトケアや受診同行などの役割充足」が必要である.3)課題解決に導くには,直接的なケア内容の充実化のみならず,訪問看護制度や保険制度の見直しが必要と考えられた.Purposes of this qualitative study were to clarify the state of Home Visiting Nurse Stations (HVNSt) for children. A questionnaire was distributed to 161 Nursing Association Visiting Nursing Stations, and 59 available replies (36.6%) were received. Results were as follows: 1) In understanding the necessary qualifications for home visiting for children, we should build cooperation based on exchanging information with each other. Home visiting nurse's role should be appreciated by families and related institutions. Making good relations between family and nurse for example, visiting home before discharge, discharge preparation and planning to individualize the client's needs after discharge. 2)In home visiting for children, we should extend the number of subjects who can accept services, extend services such as respite support, or nurse helping child and family when they see a doctor. 3)We should provide full direct nursing services. We should reconsider the system of insurance and the role of the Home Visiting Nurse