Grades of 43 fish species in Japan based on IgE-binding activity.

BACKGROUND: Hypersensitivity reactions to fish are a common food allergy, but IgE-binding activity to fish species have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to identify fish with high binding activity to IgE in sera from Japanese fish-hypersensitive individuals. METHODS: 38 children with a history of at least one episode of hypersensitivity after ingestion of fish were enrolled and 34 children with no history of reactions and negative IgE results for at least five kinds of fish antigen were included as controls. Using a radioallergosorbent test, we examined IgE-binding to each fish species using sera from fish-hypersensitive subjects. Fish were then graded according to IgE-binding activity. RESULTS: Many fish species, including red salmon, silver salmon, yellowfin tuna, big eyed tuna, Atlantic tuna, saurel, skipper, yellowtail, Japanese sardine, bonita and mackerel had high IgE-binding activity. All of these fish are abundantly consumed in Japan. The hypersensitivity reactions experienced by many subjects occurred after ingestion of species with high IgE-binding activity. Only halibut (Osteichthyes) and sharks (Chondrichthyes) had low IgE-binding activity. CONCLUSIONS: A correlation was observed between IgE levels and expression of symptoms after fish ingestion. High consumption of salmon, tuna, scad (including saurel), skipper, yellowtail, sardine, bonita and mackerel in Japan might be the cause of the high IgE-binding activity of these species. The grades of fish species consumed widely in Japan are likely to be useful for nutritional instruction of fish-allergic patients.     

Single oral administration of the novel CXCR4 antagonist, KRH-3955, induces an efficient and long-lasting increase of white blood cell count in normal macaques, and prevents CD4 depletion in SHIV-infected macaques: a preliminary study

We evaluated the long-term effects of the single oral administration of a new CXCR4 antagonist, KRH-3955, on elevation of white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil and lymphocyte counts in normal cynomolgus monkeys. In the monkeys treated with 0, 2, 20, 200 mg/kg of the compound, WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts increased dramatically at 2 days after treatment. This effect was dose-dependent, and these cell counts remained elevated 15 days after drug treatment. Since neutrophils are the most abundant WBCs in circulation and bone marrow neutrophil exhaustion impairs the response to bacterial infections, it is intriguing to exploit this pharmacological increase of neutrophils as a tool to address its influence on viral infections in vivo. The SHIV infection studies using the SHIV-KS661c/cynomolgus monkey model showed that a single oral administration of KRH-3955 (100 mg/kg) approximately 24 h before virus exposure did not prevent infection, although it did prevent CD4 cell depletion in 3/3 monkeys. Furthermore, single oral administration of the drug 2 weeks before viral exposure rescued CD4 cells in 1/3 monkeys. This prevention of CD4 cell depletion was observed in both blood and lymphoid tissues. These results show that natural course of the SHIV infection is modulated by artificial increase of neutrophils and lymphocytes caused by KRH-3955 in the cynomolgus monkey model.     

Effects of progressive muscular relaxation and stretching exercises combination on blood pressure among farmers in rural areas of Indonesia: a randomized study

Objective: Maintaining blood pressure (BP) could improve the quality of life among farmers in agricultural health. The study aims to evaluate the effects of progressive muscular relaxation and stretching exercises (SEs) for BP in farmer subjects in rural areas.Methods: A randomized controlled design was applied for this study. We performed a method, which is the combination of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and SEs for participants (30 in the control group and 60 in the intervention group). The intervention group self-practiced PMR and SEs through a video that providing instructions for 15 min. PMR practiced before going to sleeping in the night,and SEs practiced before going to farms in the morning per day for 3-months. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to measure the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) as one pre- and post-test comparison of baseline and 3 months data in control and intervention groups.Results: There were no significant differences between SBP and DBP pre- and post-test in control group (P > 0.050). Meanwhile, there were significant differences in reducing SBP (M = 126.67; SD = 18.07; 95％ CI = 120–147.5 mmHg) and DBP (M = 80.67; SD = 6.91;95％ CI = 80–90 mmHg) pre- and post-test combination of PMR and SEs in intervention group (P < 0.001). After 3-months of followup data, number type SBP and DBP still remained at the same levels of baseline and 3-month data in control group. While, there was an increased number of normal and prehypertension for SBP and DBP (10％ vs. 10％ and 20％ vs. 31.6％) and reduced of hypertension stage I for SBP and DBP (30％ vs. 41.6％).Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrated effectively to reduce SBP and DBP among farmers using the combination of PMR and SEs in the agricultural health setting.     

Long-term clinical effect of nilvadipine in patients with chronic heart failure: A double-blind placebo-controlled study

Summary The long-term effect of calcium channel blockers on chronic heart failure is disappointing, probably because of reflex sympathetic activation through arterial vasodilation. However, nilvadipine may be beneficial for treatment of chronic heart failure since this drug has minimal effects on sympathetic activation. In this study, the effects of 12-week administration of nilvadipine or placebo on symptoms of heart failure and cardiac function were investigated in 23 patients with mild-to-moderate chronic heart failure in a double-blind trial. The patients were randomly assigned to either a nilvadipine group (16 mg daily) or a placebo group. Intergroup comparisons did not show significant differences in any parameters. Serious adverse effects were not observed during the study. Thus, this study failed to show any beneficial effect of nilvadipine in the long-term treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. We conclude that the long-term administration of nilvadipine (16 mg daily) is neither effective nor harmful in the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure.Other members are listed in the appendix.     

Direct Transmission of H. pylori from Challenged to Nonchallenged Mice in a Single Cage

To understand whether direct transmission of H. pylori occurs from infected mouse to noninfected mouse, the system using a mouse model we developed previously was tested. Six nude mice were challenged with H. pylori inocula; one group consisted of one challenged nude mouse 1 week after inoculation raised with four nonchallenged nude mice in a single cage. For the single cage, a polycarbonate cage or a mesh-floor cage was used. Then three groups were kept in a polycarbonate cage and the other three groups kept in a mesh-floor cage to avoid H. pylori transmission through stool. After coraising for 1, 2, or 3 weeks, all mice were sacrificed to determine the existence of H. pylori in the stomach, saliva, and stool by culture or PCR and H. pylori-associated gastritis. RAPD fingerprinting patterns using different primers of isolated strains from challenged and nonchallenged mice were compared to understand the origin of transmitted strains. During 3 weeks after coraising of H. pylori challenged and nonchallenged mice, H. pylori was detected in the stomachs in 3 of 12 nonchallenged mice in the polycarbonate cage and in 2 of 12 nonchallenged mice in the cage with a steel mesh floor. H. pylori was detected from saliva or stool in two nonchallenged, infected mice in the polycarbonate cage. Moreover, RAPD fingerprinting using different primers of the total five strains isolated from five nonchallenged, infected mice in both cages showed the same pattern and concordance with that of the challenged strain and the strains isolated from challenged mice. It is demonstrated that intimate interaction is the cause of H. pylori transmission via saliva and stool.     

Analysis of serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) in the patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation: platelet is a major source of serum sCD40L

CD40 ligand (CD40L) is expressed not only on activated T cells but also on activated platelets. A soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) is released from the activated T cells and platelets by ill-defined proteolytic process in vitro. It has been reported that sCD40L is elevated in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, unstable angina, essential thrombocythemia, and autoimmune thrombocytopenic purupura. However, source of sCD40L in vivo remains to be elucidated. We investigated the serial sCD40L in the serum in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation and compared with the platelets number and soluble IL2R, which is a marker of activated T cells. The value of sCD40L was well correlated with platelet number or thrombopoiesis. In cases of severe graft vs. host disease with markedly increased sIL2R, sCD40L was not increased in vivo. These results indicate that sCD40L in vivo is released mainly from the platelets or in the process of platelet production but not from the activated T cells.