Alteration of thermostable phosphatase activity after hydrophobic chromatography

耐熱性ホスファターゼを含んだBacillus stearothermophilus 粗酵素試料を、リソースIsoによる疎水性クロマトグラフィにかけ分離を行った。1.5M→0M 硫酸アンモニウムの直線逆濃度勾配によって溶出を行ったところ、ホスファターゼは不活性な形で溶出され、これは硫酸アンモニウムによる濃度依存的阻害に起因することが判明した。ホスタファーゼの反応混合液に種々の濃度の硫酸アンモニウムを添加したところ、0.15Mの硫酸アンモニウム存在下で約80％の阻害が認められた。加えて、この阻害作用は単に硫酸アンモニウムの添加によってpHが酸性側に傾くことによるものではないことも明らかとなった。Thermostable phosphatase partially purified from thermophilic bacteria, Bacillus stearothermophilus, was chromatographed on Resource Iso hydrophobic resin. When linear reverse gradient elution with 1.5 M → 0 M ( NH(4))(2)SO(4) was performed, phosphatase was found to be eluted as latent form, which revealed dose-dependent inhibitory effect of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) on phosphatase. When various concentrations of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) were added into phosphatase reaction mixture, about 80% inhibition was observed in the presence of 0.15 M (NH(4))(2)SO(4). Acidification by adding (NH(4))(2)SO(4) was not responsible for this inhibition, because addition of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) solution which pH was previously adjusted to 9.0 showed same inhibitory effect

Alcoholic Liver Disease

Relationship between ethanol drinking and organs injury was reviewed and special emphasis was put on alcoholic liver disease. Consumption of alcoholic beverage expressed as ethanol per capita of adult in Japan increased 2.1 times in these 25 years and it is still increasing. Although the incidence of alcoholic liver disease in Japan also increased greatly during the above period, it seems likely that plateau level is coming because of genetically defined, unique type of alcohol metabolism in Japanese. Sex differences in susceptibility to alcohol were discussed. Among the six types of alcoholic liver disease, alcoholic liver fibrosis is relatively frequent in Japan. Mechanism of liver injury has been studied extensively. Alcohol itself is toxic but other factors such as dietary fat are also important. Biochemical and immunological markers of drinking were presented. As for the treatment, most patients especially in early stages of the disease well respond to alcohol withdrawal, but therapy of alcohol dependence in the background of the disease is very difficult requiring cooperative works of different kinds of specialists

リウマチ因子陽性ヒト血清中の免疫グロブリンGクラスリウマチ因子と免疫複合体ならびにCRPとの相関性

We measured the concentration of three immunoglobulin classes of rheumatoid factors (Ig-RFs), C3d binding IgG immune complex (C3d-IC), C1q binding IgG immune complex (C1q-IC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in 74 samples of human sera with high levels of RF (24.0~2350.0IU/ml). In sera with high levels of C3d-IC (>15.0μg/ml), there was a positive correlation between the levels of CRP and the IgG-RF, but there was no correlation between the levels of CRP and the immune complexes (C3d-IC and C1q-IC). And then, there was a positive correlation between the levels of CRP and IgG-RF or C3d-IC and IgG-RF when the levels of C1q-IC in patients sera were higher than 80.0μg/ml. However, there was no correlation between the levels of CRP and C1q-IC in these patients sera containing high levels of both C3d-IC and C1q-IC. These results indicated that the determination of C3d-IC, C1q-IC, IgG-RF and CRP in human sera containing RF denote different implications as inflammatory indexes on progression of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.一般に慢性関節リウマチの診断ならびに活動性の一指標として、日常臨床検査では患者血清中のリウマチ因子の測定が実施されている。本論文ではRF検査依頼が有り、高RF値（24.0～2350.0IU/ml）を示した患者血清74検体について、免疫グロブリンクラス別RF値を測定するとともに自己IgGと補体との免疫複合体（IC）であるC1q-IgG・IC（C1q-IC）、C3d-IgG・IC（C3d-IC）ならびにCRP値を測定し、それらの測定値間の相関性について統計学的検討を行った。C3d-IC値が15.0μg/ml以上の高値を示す患者血清では、CRP値とIgGクラスのRF（IgG-RF）値間については正の相関結果がが得られた。また、C1q-IC値が80.0μg/ml以上の場合にもCRP値とIgG-RF値間およびC3d-IC値とIgG-RF値間では正の相関結果が得られた。しかし、C3d-ICならびにC1q-ICともに高値例の患者血清中のCRP値とC1q-IC値間には有意な相関は観察されなかった。以上の結果より、慢性関節リウマチの活動度を判定する上で、従来から炎症マーカーとしてCRP値が利用されているが、血清中に免疫複合体が高レベルに検出される患者については、炎症の指標としてCRP以外にもC1q-ICやC3d-ICおよびIgG-RF等を加えた総合的な判断が必要であることが示唆される

Clearance study of polyethylene glycol-modified cholesterol esterase.

The clearance of polyethylene glycol-modified cholesterol esterase was investigated spectrophotometrically, as compared with native one. PEG-modification provided the significant elongation in clearance time of cholesterol esterase after intravenous injection in mouse. This method was shown to be effective for creating new biomaterials

Improvement of Cylindrical Deep Drawability in Hot Stamping

AbstractDeep drawability of steel sheets in hot stamping was investigated. In the case of deep drawing with a conventional die, the forming limit was significantly lower because the temperature of the sheet metal at the flange part decreased during the forming and the flow resistance increased. Therefore, the blank holding method to avoid temperature decrease at flange part of sheet metal was studied. In this study, application of gap supports and forming without blank holder were investigated. In the former method, the gap supports made clearance at the flange part. In the latter method, the blank holder was located at the lower dead point from the beginning of forming and the flange part of the blank was free during forming. The forming limit in both cases was improved as compared with that in the conventional blank holding method. For the application of gap supports, the limiting drawing ratio was also evaluated. In this experiment, the maximum value of limiting drawing ratio was 1.71

ヒト血清リポタンパク質とシクロデキストリンのアガロースゲル内における相互作用

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides with low molecular weight. They have been known to bind to some serum lipoproteins and to form complexes. To elucidate whether each serum lipoprotein subclass could be separated by electrophoresis using CDs, we performed preliminary experiment, in which lipoprotein-CDs interaction was examined on electrophoresis with agarose gel. When the supporting agarose gel containing both α-CD and β-CD was prepared and was applied to isoelectric focusing for fractionating serum lipoproteins, apoB lipoproteins were found to be clearly separated into several fractions on this electrophoresis. This finding suggested that apoB lipoprotein may be detected as isolated form by arranging amounts of added CDs.シクロデキストリンは低分子量の環状オリゴ糖で, リポタンパク質と複合体を形成する｡シクロデキストリンを使用した電気泳動による血清リポタンパク質サブクラスの分離の可能性を明らかにするために, リポタンパク質とシクロデキストリンとの泳動用ゲル内での相互作用について検討をおこなった｡その結果,α-CDとβ-CDの2種類のCDをアガロースゲルに添加し,このゲルを泳動用支持体として等電点電気泳動をおこなったところ,apoB含有リポタンパク質が数分画分離された｡したがって,ゲル内へのシクロデキストリンの適正な添加条件が設定できるならば,apoB含有リポタンパク質サブクラスの分離が可能となることが示唆された

Comparative Study of 5-Day and 10-Day Cefditoren Pivoxil Treatments for Recurrent Group A β-Hemolytic Streptococcus pharyngitis in Children

Efficacy of short-course therapy with cephalosporins for treatment of group A β-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) pharyngitis is still controversial. Subjects were 226 children with a history of at least one episode of GABHS pharyngitis. Recurrence within the follow-up period (3 weeks after initiation of therapy) occurred in 7 of the 77 children in the 5-day treatment group and in 1 of the 149 children in the 10-day treatment group; the incidence of recurrence being significantly higher in the 5-day treatment group. Bacteriologic treatment failure (GABHS isolation without overt pharyngitis) at follow-up culture was observed in 7 of the 77 children in the 5-day treatment group and 17 of the 149 children in the 10-day treatment group. There was no statistical difference between the two groups. A 5-day course of oral cephalosporins is not always recommended for treatment of GABHS pharyngitis in children who have repeated episodes of pharyngitis

Randomized trial of amino acid mixture combined with physical activity promotion for abdominal fat reduction in overweight adults

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of arginine, alanine, and phenylalanine mixture (A-mix) ingestion at 1,500 mg/day in combination with the promotion of physical activity for abdominal fat reduction in overweight adults.Methods: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group, randomized trial for 12 weeks combined with a 4-week follow-up period was conducted at a single center in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, between December 2016 and May 2017. Data were analyzed between June and August 2017. The study participants were 200 overweight adults within the age range of 20–64 years. The participants were randomly assigned to the A-mix group (n=100) or a placebo group (n=100) and were administered 500 mL of test beverage containing 1,500 or 0 mg of A-mix, respectively, for 12 weeks. All participants maintained a physically active lifestyle between week 0 and week 12 through monthly sessions of physical activity. The primary outcomes were the 12-week changes in the abdominal total, subcutaneous, and visceral fat areas, as assessed by computed tomography.Results: Of the 200 enrolled participants, 199 (99%) accomplished the 12-week intervention and 4-week follow-up period. The per-protocol-based analysis for 194 participants demonstrated that the abdominal total fat area decreased significantly in the A-mix group compared with that in the placebo group (difference, 10.0 cm2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.4–19.6 cm2; P=0.041). Comparable outcomes were obtained for the abdominal subcutaneous fat area (difference, 7.4 cm2; 95% CI: 0.1–14.7 cm2; P=0.047). No study-related unfavorable events occurred.Conclusion: A-mix supplementation in combination with physical activity promotion facilitated abdominal fat reduction in overweight adults

Versatile Biaryls and Fused Aromatics through Oxidative Coupling of Hydroquinones with (Hetero)Arenes

Aijima T., Ueda R., Nakane T., et al. Versatile Biaryls and Fused Aromatics through Oxidative Coupling of Hydroquinones with (Hetero)Arenes. ChemistrySelect 9, e202400647 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202400647.Hydroquinones bearing an electron-withdrawing group at the C2-position can effectively underwent oxidative coupling with (hetero)arenes (e. g., indoles, electron-rich benzene derivatives) in the presence of 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ) and FeCl3 to produce the corresponding biaryl products. In the present reactions, the DDQ-mediated oxidation of hydroquinone derivatives produce benzoquinone intermediate, which subsequently underwent FeCl3-catalyzed nucleophilic addition of (hetero)arenes to the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety to give the biaryl product in a one-pot manner. Especially, the indole-based biaryl products were further converted into tetracyclic aromatics through DDQ-mediated oxidation followed by FeCl3-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization. Thiophene derivatives were also applicable to give the tetracyclic aromatics. Moreover, the photophysical properties of the indole- and thiophene-based tetracyclic aromatics in the solution and the solid states were investigated

Dose-ranging pilot randomized trial of amino acid mixture combined with physical activity promotion for reducing abdominal fat in overweight adults

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effective dose of an amino acid mixture comprising arginine, alanine, and phenylalanine combined with physical activity promotion in reducing abdominal fat among overweight adults.Methods: A 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging, pilot trial was conducted in Mito, Japan, from January through April 2016, and the data were analyzed from May through November 2016. The study participants were 35 overweight adults, aged 20–64 years, with no regular exercise habit. Participants were randomly assigned to high-dose (3,000 mg/d, n=9), medium-dose (1,500 mg/d, n=9), low-dose (750 mg/d, n=8), or placebo (0 mg/d, n=9) groups, and the test beverage containing the amino acid mixture or placebo was administered for 12 weeks. All participants maintained a physically active lifestyle during the study period through monthly physical activity promotion sessions and smartphone-based self-monitoring with wearable trackers. Primary outcomes were changes in abdominal total, subcutaneous, and visceral fat areas, assessed by computed tomography.Results: Of the 35 enrolled participants, 32 completed the 12-week follow-up visit. The intention-to-treat analysis revealed that the changes in abdominal total fat area were −14.6 cm2 (95% confidence interval [CI], −39.6 cm2 to 10.4 cm2), −25.3 cm2 (95% CI, −71.0 cm2 to 20.3 cm2), −23.2 cm2 (95% CI, −48.0 cm2 to 1.6 cm2), and −12.5 cm2 (95% CI, −29.1 cm2 to 4.0 cm2) in the high-dose, medium-dose, low-dose, and placebo groups, respectively. Similar results were obtained for visceral and subcutaneous fat areas. No study-related adverse events were reported.Conclusion: Compared with placebo, a medium or low dose of the amino acid mixture may facilitate abdominal fat reduction among overweight adults. A larger randomized trial with sufficient statistical power should be implemented to validate the effectiveness of this supplement