Dietary counseling for hyperuricemia

In Japan, hyperuricemia is on the rise. The guideline for the management of hyperuricemia and gout recommends lifestyle changes before beginning drug therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary counseling following the guideline. Thirty-three subjects (24 men and 9 women) with asymptomatic hyperuricemia underwent dietary counseling for 6 months based on the following recommendations : (1) prevent excessive purine intake, (2) prevent excessive fructose intake, (3) limit alcohol drinking, and (4) drink sufficient water. Obese subjects were counseled on adequate energy intake. Blood sampling, anthropometric measurements, dietary surveys, and 24-h urine collection were performed at baseline and at 6 months. Serum uric acid (S-UA) levels were significantly lower at 6 months compared to baseline. Water intake and urine volume were considerably higher at 6 months than at baseline. When compared to baseline, urine UA (U-UA) levels were significantly lower, and renal fractional excretion of UA (FEUA) was significantly higher at 6 months. Changes in renal function (serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and FEUA) were significantly associated with ΔS-UA level. In this study, S-UA level was significantly decreased by dietary counseling in line with the guideline. This study illustrates the effectiveness of dietary counseling for asymptomatic hyperuricemia

Slc12a8 in the lateral hypothalamus maintains energy metabolism and skeletal muscle functions during aging

Sarcopenia and frailty are urgent socio-economic problems worldwide. Here we demonstrate a functional connection between the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and skeletal muscle through Slc12a8, a recently identified nicotinamide mononucleotide transporter, and its relationship to sarcopenia and frailty. Slc12a8-expressing cells are mainly localized in the LH. LH-specific knockdown of Slc12a8 in young mice decreases activity-dependent energy and carbohydrate expenditure and skeletal muscle functions, including muscle mass, muscle force, intramuscular glycolysis, and protein synthesis. LH-specific Slc12a8 knockdown also decreases sympathetic nerve signals at neuromuscular junctions and β2-adrenergic receptors in skeletal muscle, indicating the importance of the LH-sympathetic nerve-β2-adrenergic receptor axis. LH-specific overexpression of Slc12a8 in aged mice significantly ameliorates age-associated decreases in energy expenditure and skeletal muscle functions. Our results highlight an important role of Slc12a8 in the LH for regulation of whole-body metabolism and skeletal muscle functions and provide insights into the pathogenesis of sarcopenia and frailty during aging

The current state of the use of regional child care support services in the declining birthrate region : Focusing on the relationship between municipalities A and the characteristics of the characteristics of people raising children

本研究では、少子地域で子育てをする人たちの特性とそれがサービス利用に与える影響及び地域特性に応じた地域子育て支援サービスのあり方について明らかにすることを目的としている。地域子育て支援サービスとして「親子の交流の場」「子育て相談」「一時預かり」を取り上げている。これらの3 サービスを取り上げたのは、①対象やニーズが限定されていないサービスであること、②子ども・子育て支援法に基づく地域子ども・子育て支援事業で取り組まれている箇所が多い（多くの自治体で取り組まれている）からである。研究方法は、年少人口割合が対象県内の平均値以下であるA 自治体内のサービス利用対象となる子育て中の親に対してアンケート調査を行った。結果、地域子育て支援サービスには、「親子の交流の場」のようにサービスが持つ特性と利用者特性が深く関係してくるものがあることが明らかになった。このことが少子地域であるために生じているかどうかまで分析することはできなかったものの、地域における子育て家庭数の減少が、子育て特性を際立たせている可能性があり、今後の検討課題として示された。The goal of this study is to clarify the characteristics of people raising children in areas with low birth rates,the impact of this on service usage, as well as the state of regional child care support services corresponding to regional characteristics. The regional child care support services examined were, "places for parent-child interaction", "parenting consultations", and "short-term childcare". The reasons for choosing these three services are ① they are services for which the target users and needs are not limited, ② there are many places where, based on the Child / Child Care Support Law, there are many regional child and child care support projects underway (many local governments are tackling them.) The research method was to conduct a survey of parents currently raising children, who are the targets of such services within municipality A, which has a child population ratio below the average for its prefecture. The results showed that with regional child care support services, there is a strong relationship between the characteristics of the service and the characteristics of its users. It also became clear that it is necessary to develop services based on "regional childcare characteristics," i.e. the characteristics of the child-rearing stratum within the region. Although we could not analyze whether this is occurring because it is a region with a low birth rate, it is possible that the decrease in the number of parenting families in the area causes the child rearing characteristics to stand out. This was presented as a topic for future study

Evaluation of the effects of a combination of Japanese honey and hydrocolloid dressing on cutaneous wound healing in male mice

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the combined use of Japanese honey and hydrocolloid dressing (HCD) on cutaneous wound healing. Mice were divided into four groups: the Acacia (Japan) + HCD, Manuka (New Zealand) + HCD, Chinese milk vetch (Japan) + HCD, and HCD (control) groups. The mice received two full-thickness wounds. The wounds of the HCD group were covered with HCD, whereas those of the other groups were treated with 0.1 mL of the relevant type of honey, before being covered with HCD. Wound area was significantly smaller in the HCD group than in the Acacia + HCD and Manuka + HCD groups on day 13 and days 8-14, respectively. Moreover, compared with the HCD group, reepithelialization was delayed in the Acacia + HCD group and reepithelialization and collagen deposition were delayed in the Chinese milk vetch + HCD and Manuka + HCD groups. These results indicate that the combined use of Japanese honey and HCD does not promote cutaneous wound healing compared with the use of HCD alone. Thus, this method is probably not useful for promoting healing. © 2015 Kanae Mukai et al

The effect of duration of illness and antipsychotics on subcortical volumes in schizophrenia: Analysis of 778 subjects

BackgroundThe effect of duration of illness and antipsychotic medication on the volumes of subcortical structures in schizophrenia is inconsistent among previous reports. We implemented a large sample analysis utilizing clinical data from 11 institutions in a previous meta-analysis.MethodsImaging and clinical data of 778 schizophrenia subjects were taken from a prospective meta-analysis conducted by the COCORO consortium in Japan. The effect of duration of illness and daily dose and type of antipsychotics were assessed using the linear mixed effect model where the volumes of subcortical structures computed by FreeSurfer were used as a dependent variable and age, sex, duration of illness, daily dose of antipsychotics and intracranial volume were used as independent variables, and the type of protocol was incorporated as a random effect for intercept. The statistical significance of fixed-effect of dependent variable was assessed.ResultsDaily dose of antipsychotics was positively associated with left globus pallidus volume and negatively associated with right hippocampus. It was also positively associated with laterality index of globus pallidus. Duration of illness was positively associated with bilateral globus pallidus volumes. Type of antipsychotics did not have any effect on the subcortical volumes.DiscussionA large sample size, uniform data collection methodology and robust statistical analysis are strengths of the current study. This result suggests that we need special attention to discuss about relationship between subcortical regional brain volumes and pathophysiology of schizophrenia because regional brain volumes may be affected by antipsychotic medication

Novel function of HATs and HDACs in homologous recombination through acetylation of human RAD52 at double-strand break sites

The p300 and CBP histone acetyltransferases are recruited to DNA double-strand break (DSB) sites where they induce histone acetylation, thereby influencing the chromatin structure and DNA repair process. Whether p300/CBP at DSB sites also acetylate non-histone proteins, and how their acetylation affects DSB repair, remain unknown. Here we show that p300/CBP acetylate RAD52, a human homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair protein, at DSB sites. Using in vitro acetylated RAD52, we identified 13 potential acetylation sites in RAD52 by a mass spectrometry analysis. An immunofluorescence microscopy analysis revealed that RAD52 acetylation at DSBs sites is counteracted by SIRT2- and SIRT3-mediated deacetylation, and that non-acetylated RAD52 initially accumulates at DSB sites, but dissociates prematurely from them. In the absence of RAD52 acetylation, RAD51, which plays a central role in HR, also dissociates prematurely from DSB sites, and hence HR is impaired. Furthermore, inhibition of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein by siRNA or inhibitor treatment demonstrated that the acetylation of RAD52 at DSB sites is dependent on the ATM protein kinase activity, through the formation of RAD52, p300/CBP, SIRT2, and SIRT3 foci at DSB sites. Our findings clarify the importance of RAD52 acetylation in HR and its underlying mechanism