Relationships between oral allergy syndrome and sensitization to pollen antigen, especially to mugwort]

BACKGROUND: In order to know the relationships between mugwort pollinosis and oral allergy syndrome (OAS), an etiological study was performed at Muroran City, where mugwort is the most frequent cause of pollinosis. METHODS: Allergic rhinitis patients positive to serum IgE to birch, mugwort or grass pollen visited to the outpatient-clinic of Otorhinolaryngology of Muroran City General Hospital from 1998 to 2002, were studied by a questionnaire concerning a past-history of OAS. RESULTS: The prevalence of OAS was significantly higher in patients positive to serum IgE antibody specific to birch pollen or mugwort pollen than those negative to each pollen-specific antibody (birch; 54.5 vs 23.5%, p<0.0001, mugwort; 41.0 vs 21.5%, p<0.01). The main causative foods were fruits of rose family in patients with only birch pollen-specific IgE antibody, and were those other than rose family, such as kiwi, melon, orange, celery and onion in those with only mugwort pollen-specific IgE antibody. The patients group with high Lumiward score to mugwort pollen tended to include severe OAS cases. CONCLUSION: A close relationship was suggested between mugwort pollen sensitization and OAS.     

A digest of the Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline for Nephrotic Syndrome 2020

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology -     

Histopathological studies of microtubule disassembling agent-induced myocardial lesions in rats

Microtubule disassembling agents (MDAs) such as colchicine (COL) and vincristine sulfate (VCR) are known to be cardiotoxic. However, few attempts have been made to histopathologically examine cardiac lesions induced by MDAs. In this study, we endeavored to induce myocardial injury in rats by administering MDAs and to clarify the morphological features of these myocardial lesions. Male rats were intravenously administered COL (1.00 or 1.25 mg/kg for 2 days at single daily doses) or VCR (0.50 or 0.75 mg/kg for 2 days at single daily doses). The day after administration, hearts were excised and examined histopathologically, immunohistochemically and electron microscopically. Degeneration and necrosis of myocardial cells with vacuolation were observed in rats administered COL at 1.25 mg/kg or VCR at 0.75 mg/kg. Electron microscopic examination revealed vacuoles in swollen mitochondria. Moreover, there were cells showing pyknosis and karyorrhexis in the interstitium. TUNEL and immunohistochemical staining for endothelial cells and electron microscopic examination identified the apoptotic cells in the interstitium to be vascular endothelial cells. These vascular endothelial lesions were induced by lower doses of MDAs than were myocardial lesions. Furthermore, common sites of cardiac lesions induced by MDAs had almost the same distribution as areas positive for pimonidazole, a marker of hypoxia. These findings indicate that MDAs occasionally damage mitochondria in myocardial cells, and suggest that these changes involve microcirculatory dysfunction induced by endothelial cell injury.     

Comprehensive Tool to Assess Oral Feeding Support for Functional Recovery in Post-acute Rehabilitation

Objective

To determine the influence of the Kuchi-kara Taberu (KT) index on rehabilitation outcomes during hospitalized convalescent rehabilitation.

Rapid electrical stimulation of contraction modulates gap junction protein in neonatal rat cultured cardiomyocytes: involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinases and effects of angiotensin II-receptor antagonist

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rapid electrical stimulation (RES) of contraction on the expression of connexin (Cx)43 gap junction in neonatal rat cultured ventricular myocytes and the consequent changes of conduction properties. BACKGROUND: The expression and distribution of gap junctions in cardiac muscle can be changed readily under a variety of pathological conditions because of dynamic turnover of Cxs. The effects of RES of contraction on gap junction remodeling are not well understood. METHODS: Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes cultured for five days were subjected to RES (field stimulation) at 3.0 Hz for up to 120 min. RESULTS: Rapid electrical stimulation resulted in a significant upregulation of Cx43 (by approximately 1.5-fold in protein and by approximately 1.9-fold in messenger ribonucleic acid at 60 min). Immunoreactive signal of Cx43 was also increased. Angiotensin II (AngII) content was increased significantly by RES >15 min. Phosphorylated forms of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinases, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were all increased dramatically by RES with peaks at 5 - 60 min. Propagation of excitation was visualized by extracellular potential mapping by using a multiple electrode array system. Conduction velocity was increased significantly by RES for 60 to 90 min (25% - 27% increase). Treatment of myocytes with losartan (100 nmol/l) prevented most of these effects of RES; RES-induced upregulation of Cx43 was also prevented by specific inhibitors for ERK and p38 MAPKs. CONCLUSIONS: A short-term RES causes upregulation of Cx43 in cardiomyocytes and a concomitant increase of conduction velocity, mainly through an autocrine action of AngII to activate ERK and p38 MAPKs.     

Niche adaptation and genome expansion in the chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina

Acaryochloris marina is a unique cyanobacterium that is able to produce chlorophyll d as its primary photosynthetic pigment and thus efficiently use far-red light for photosynthesis. Acaryochloris species have been isolated from marine environments in association with other oxygenic phototrophs, which may have driven the niche-filling introduction of chlorophyll d. To investigate these unique adaptations, we have sequenced the complete genome of A. marina. The DNA content of A. marina is composed of 8.3 million base pairs, which is among the largest bacterial genomes sequenced thus far. This large array of genomic data is distributed into nine single-copy plasmids that code for >25% of the putative ORFs. Heavy duplication of genes related to DNA repair and recombination (primarily recA) and transposable elements could account for genetic mobility and genome expansion. We discuss points of interest for the biosynthesis of the unusual pigments chlorophyll d and α-carotene and genes responsible for previously studied phycobilin aggregates. Our analysis also reveals that A. marina carries a unique complement of genes for these phycobiliproteins in relation to those coding for antenna proteins related to those in Prochlorococcus species. The global replacement of major photosynthetic pigments appears to have incurred only minimal specializations in reaction center proteins to accommodate these alternate pigments. These features clearly show that the genus Acaryochloris is a fitting candidate for understanding genome expansion, gene acquisition, ecological adaptation, and photosystem modification in the cyanobacteria.     

Quantification of Myocardial Perfusion Defect Size in Rats: Comparison between Quantitative Perfusion SPECT and Autoradiography

Purpose

Ultra-high resolution single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system, using multiple pinhole collimators, has been applied to the imaging of small rodents. We aimed to compare the myocardial infarction (MI) area on quantitative perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (QPS; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA) with that on high-resolution autoradiography in rat model to determine the accuracy of perfusion defect measurement by QPS.

Procedures

After thoracotomy, rats (n?=?9) had their left coronary arteries occluded and reperfused before injection with 185 MBq [^99mTc] methoxyisobutylisonitrile ([^99mTc]MIBI) for SPECT and autoradiography. Healthy rats (n?=?28) were similarly scanned to create a normal database on which to base QPS. The MI area on SPECT images was analysed automatically by QPS software. For the autoradiography images, regions of interest for MI were set at 1 mm intervals.

Results

In normal rats, [^99mTc]MIBI accumulated throughout the left ventricles, and a polar map of ventricular perfusion showed the lowest and highest uptakes in the inferior (68 %?±?4 %) and anterior (92 %?±?5 %) walls, respectively. In the rat MI model, the percentage of polar map with reduced [^99mTc]MIBI uptake correlated strongly with the percentage of left ventricle with MI on autoradiography (r²?=?0.90).

Conclusions

QPS can quantitatively evaluate MI severity on myocardial perfusion images in rats, with comparable results to autoradiography. This widely available software could promote the development of new techniques for analysing cardiac images in small animals.

     

Clinical impact of amyloid PET using 18F-florbetapir in patients with cognitive impairment and suspected Alzheimer’s disease: a multicenter study

Annals of Nuclear Medicine - Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) can reliably detect senile plaques and fluorinated ligands are approved for clinical use. However, the clinical impact of...