Day-to-Day Variation in Food Intake and Energy Expenditure in Healthy Women: The Dietitian II Study

Because day-to-day food intake varies, we tested the hypothesis that ad libitum food intake and energy expenditure show corrective responses over periods of 1 to 10 days in healthy young women. Food intake and accelerometry measurements were collected daily for 17 days in 15 young women. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) using doubly labeled water was also measured. The daily deviations in macronutrient and energy intake and energy expenditure from the average values were compared with the deviations observed over succeeding intervals to estimate the corrective responses. The intraindividual coefficients of variation for energy intake averaged ±25%, ranging from 16% to 34%. TDEE had a coefficient of variation of 8.3%, and accelerometry had a coefficient of variation of 8.4% (range=4.6% to 16.4%). Energy expenditure by accelerometry (2,087±191 kcal/day) was not significantly different from TDEE (2,128±177 kcal/day), but reported daily energy intake was 20.4% lower (1,693±276 kcal/day). There were significant corrective responses in energy from fat and total energy intake. This occurred from Days 3 to 6, with a peak at Day 5 that disappeared when data were randomized within each subject. Human beings show corrective responses to deviations from average energy and macronutrient intakes with a lag time of 3 to 6 days, but not 1 to 2 days. These corrective responses are likely to play a role in bringing about weight stability.     

Clinical and histopathological study of Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy with a novel S90W mutation in BSCL2

The objective of the study was to investigate the disease-causing mutation in an autosomal dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 family and examine the clinical and histopathological evaluation. We enrolled a family of Korean origin with axonal Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease neuropathy (FC305; 13 males, six females) and applied genome-wide linkage analysis. Whole exome sequencing was performed for two patients. In addition, sural nerve biopsies were obtained from two patients. Through whole exome sequencing, we identified an average of 20,336 coding variants from two patients. We also found evidence of linkage mapped to chromosome 11p11-11q13.3 (LOD score of 3.6). Among these variants in the linkage region, we detected a novel p.S90W mutation in the Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy 2 (BSCL2) gene, after filtering 31 Korean control exomes. Our p.S90W patients had frequent sensory disturbances, pyramidal tract signs, and predominant right thenar muscle atrophy in comparison with reported p.S90L patients. The phenotypic spectra were wide and demonstrated intrafamilial variability. Two patients with different clinical features underwent sural nerve biopsies; the myelinated fiber densities were increased slightly in both patients, which differed from two previous case reports of BSCL2 mutations (p.S90L and p.N88S). This report expands the variability of the clinical spectrum associated with the BSCL2 gene and describes the first family with the p.S90W mutation.     

The tumour–stroma ratio in colon cancer: the biological role and its prognostic impact

The tumour microenvironment consists of a complex mixture of non‐neoplastic cells, including fibroblasts, immune cells and endothelial cells embedded in the proteins of the extracellular matrix. The tumour microenvironment plays an active role in tumour behaviour. By interacting with cancer cells, it influences disease progression and the metastatic capacity of the tumour. Tumours with a high amount of stroma correspond to poor patient prognosis. The tumour–stroma ratio (TSR) is a strong independent prognostic tool in colon cancer and provides additional value to the current clinically used tumour–node–metastasis classification. The TSR is assessed on conventional haematoxylin and eosin‐stained paraffin sections at the invasive front of the tumour. Here we review studies demonstrating the prognostic significance of the TSR in solid epithelial tumours with a focus on colon cancer. Moreover, the biological role of the tumour microenvironment during tumour progression and invasion will be discussed, as well as the attempts to target the tumour stroma for therapeutic purposes. We suggest that the TSR can be implemented with little effort and without additional costs in current routine pathology diagnostics owing to its simplicity and reliability.     

A Case of Paclitaxel-induced Maculopathy Treated with Methazolamide

A 54-year-old female patient who had been undergoing anti-cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy for seven years after surgery for left breast cancer visited our clinic for visual disturbance in the right eye at nine months after paclitaxel administration. The best-corrected visual acuity was 0.5 in the right eye and 1.0 in the left eye. The patient was diagnosed with maculopathy due to paclitaxel administration based on the finding of cystoid macular edema in the right eye on fundus examination and optical coherence tomography; however, no leakage was detected on fluorescein angiography. Thus, drug replacement was planned. On the other hand, no abnormal finding was observed in the left eye. However, as the anti-cancer effect of paclitaxel is significant, replacing paclitaxel with another agent was not warranted; therefore, maintenance therapy with methazolamide was performed before and after administering the anti-cancer agent. Aggravation of cystoid macular edema was prevented, and vision improvement was achieved by oral maintenance therapy with methazolamide. In addition, the same fundus findings as shown in the right eye were detected in the left eye at 16 months after paclitaxel administration. After administering methazolamide, macular thickness was reduced, and vision was improved in the left eye. Paclitaxel administration was discontinued due to cutaneous metastasis from the breast cancer, and another anti-cancer agent was then administered. No subsequent cystoid macular edema has occurred.     

Elucidation of molecular expression associated with abnormal development and sterility caused by electron beam irradiation in Spodoptera litura (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of the present study was to elucidate the mode of indirect action of electron beam irradiation at the molecular level against a quarantine pest, Spodoptera litura (F.).

Material and methods: Electron beam irradiation (50–200?Gy) was applied to S. litura eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults, after which the feeding area, body weight, deformity of pupae and adults, ovarian development, expression levels of vitellogenin (Vg) and vitellogenin receptor (VgR) genes, and protein levels were analyzed.

Results: The amount of feeding by S. litura larvae and the synthesis level of 70?kDa storage protein significantly decreased as the electron beam dose increased. When larvae were treated with the electron beam, morphological deformities appeared in the pupae, and abnormal wing disc (AWD) expression significantly decreased. Ovarian development was completely inhibited in emerged adults that had undergone 200?Gy electron beam irradiation as pupae. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays showed significant downregulation of the Vg and VgR genes due to electron beam irradiation; whereas the synthesis level of Vg protein (190?kDa) did not decrease with time in eggs unlike in non-irradiated (control) S. litura eggs, exhibiting irradiation induced impairment of Vg functioning.

Conclusions: These findings of radiation-induced abnormal development and sterility in S. litura together with the correlated changes at the molecular level may facilitate the development of a phytosanitary strategy against this quarantine pest using electron beam irradiation.     

Re-Examination of the Genotoxic Activity of Water Taken From the Songhua River in P. R. China

The Songhua River, in northeast China, has heavy organic contamination due to domestic sewage and industrial wastewater. Thus, it is important to further determine its genotoxic activity, which is a potential hazard for human health. Short-term genotoxic bioassays using Salmonella, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome assay, and mouse liver cell comet assay were employed to further examine the genotoxic activity of diethyl ether extracts of water samples taken from the Songhua River. Ames test results showed that there were still frame-shift mutagens, both direct and indirect, in water samples at doses of 5.0 or 7.0 L water equivalent/plate. The mutagenicity seems to be less when compared with the results from 2002 to 2003. A dose–response relationship was also obtained between DNA damage in mouse liver cells by comet assay and micronuclei formation by CBMN assay. These results indicate that the water samples showed genotoxic activity with a mutagenic potency. 88 and 104 compounds, respectively, were identified in summer and winter water sample extracts by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. Four priority pollutants listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and six priority pollutants listed by the Chinese Environment Protection Agency were found in summer or winter water samples, respectively. The results indicate that the diethyl ether extracts of surface water samples taken from the Songhua River still show genotoxic activity (≥3.0 L water). The risks of potential carcinogenicity for human health in the Songhua River should be studied further.