Association of Gln222Arg polymorphism in the deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) gene with myocardial infarction in Japanese patients.

AIMS: We have recently reported that serum deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) activity, which may be involved in apoptosis, increases abruptly in the early phase of acute myocardial infarction (MI) [Kawai Y, Yoshida M, Arakawa K, Kumamoto T, Morikawa N, Masamura K, Tada H, Ito S, Hoshizaki H, Oshima S, Taniguchi K, Terasawa H, Miyamori I, Kishi K, Yasuda T. Diagnostic use of serum deoxyribonuclease I activity as a novel early-phase marker in acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 2004;109:2398-2400]. Death of vascular smooth muscle cells, in part because of apoptosis, is postulated to heighten susceptibility to disruption of vulnerable plaque, resulting in onset of MI. The present study evaluated the possibility that Gln222Arg polymorphism of the DNase I gene may be one of the factors involved in predisposition to MI. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed 611 Japanese patients: 311 with MI and 300 with stable angina pectoris (AP). Three common phenotypes determined by two common codominant alleles, DNASE1*1 and *2, whose corresponding gene products exhibit different properties, were found in these patient groups. The prevalence of DNASE1*2 was significantly higher in patients with MI than in those with AP (0.543 vs. 0.428, P < 0.001), being confirmed by phenotyping of the second study population. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio of DNASE1*2 was 1.51 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-2.18]. The association of the DNASE1*2 allele with MI was statistically significant, being independent of other conventional risk factors. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that Gln222Arg polymorphism in the DNase I gene is associated with MI in the Japanese patients.     

Kimura Disease of the Epiglottis: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Kimura disease (KD) affecting an unusual site is a diagnostic challenge. We report herein the case of a 62-year-old Japanese woman who presented with swelling of the epiglottis, resulting in airway narrowing. Microscopically, biopsied and resected specimens both revealed lymphoid proliferation of a reactive immunophenotype, accompanied by vascular proliferation, eosinophilic infiltration, and stromal sclerosis. Adjunctive immunohistochemistry with immunoglobulin E in addition to laboratory and histological findings led us to seriously consider a diagnosis of KD. The patient underwent surgical removal with postoperative steroid therapy and has no evidence of recurrence. Our experience suggests that KD is potentially fatal as well as showing difficulty in the histological diagnosis when occurring in the upper respiratory tract, such as the epiglottis. A literature review disclosed that our case is the 11th case so far reported in this location, and that KD of the epiglottis did not show any male preponderance, as seen in other places.     

Effects of the Amino Acid Constituents of Microcystin Variants on Cytotoxicity to Primary Cultured Rat Hepatocytes

Microcystins, which are cyclic heptapeptides produced by some cyanobacterial species from algal blooms, strongly inhibit serine/threonine protein phosphatase and are known as hepatotoxins. Microcystins have many structural variations, yet insufficient information is available on the differences in the cytotoxic potentials among the structural variants. In this study, the cytotoxicities of 16 microcystin variants at concentrations of 0.03–10 μg/mL to primary cultured rat hepatocytes were determined by measuring cellular ATP content, and subsequently determined by their 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀). Differences in the amino acid constituents were associated with differences in cytotoxic potential. [d-Asp³, Z-Dhb⁷] microcystin-LR exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity at IC₅₀ of 0.053 μg/mL among the microcystin variants tested. Furthermore, [d-Asp³, Z-Dhb⁷] microcystin-HtyR was also highly cytotoxic. These results suggest that both d-Asp and Z-Dhb residues are important in determining the cytotoxic potential of microcystin variants.     

Genomic characterization of a novel bovine papillomavirus type 28

Virus Genes - Infection of bovine papillomavirus (BPV) has been associated with mucosal and/or cutaneous tumor development in bovids. To date, up to 27 genotypes of BPVs have been identified and...     

Comparative analysis of LTR and structural genes in an equine infectious anemia virus strain isolated from a feral horse in Japan

Although equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) poses a major threat to the equine industry worldwide, the molecular epidemiology of this virus is poorly understood. Recently, an EIAV strain (EIAV_{Miyazaki2011-A}) representing a new monophyletic group was discovered in feral horses in southern Japan. In the present study, the EIAV_{Miyazaki2011-A} proviral genome is compared with evolutionarily divergent EIAV isolates to investigate conservation of functional elements or motifs within the long terminal repeats (LTRs) and structural genes. This analysis represents a significant step forward in increasing understanding of the molecular conservation and variation between geographically distinct strains of this equine lentivirus.     

Three Dimensional Ultra-short Echo Time MRI Can Depict Cholesterol Components of Gallstones Bright

PurposeNon-calcified cholesterol stones that are small in size are hard to be depicted on CT or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. This institutional review board (IRB)-approved retrospective in vitro study aims to characterize contrast behaviors of 3 main components of the gallstones, i.e., cholesterol component (CC), bilirubin calcium component (BC) and CaCO₃ (CO) on 3D radial scan with ultrashort TE (UTE) MRI, and to test the capability of depicting CC of gallstones as bright signals as compared to background saline.MethodsFourteen representative gallstones from 14 patients, including 15 CC, 6 BC and 4 CO, were enrolled. The gallstones underwent MRI including fat-saturated T1-weighted image (fs-T1WI) and UTE MRI with dual echoes. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the chemical analysis for the 25 portions of the stones were compared.ResultsBC was bright on fs-T1WI, which did not change dramatically on UTE MRI and the signal did not remain on UTE subtraction image between dual echoes. Whereas the CC was negative or faintly positive signal on fs-T1WI, bright signal on UTE MRI and the contrast remained even higher on the UTE subtraction, which reflected their short T2 values. Median CNRs and standard errors of the segments on each imaging were as follows: on fs-T1WI, −10.2 ± 4.2 for CC, 149.7 ± 27.6 for BC and 37.9 ± 14.3 for CO; on UTE MRI first echo, 16.7 ± 3.3 for CC, 74.9 ± 21.3 for BC and 17.7 ± 8.4 for CO; on UTE subtraction image, 30.2 ±2.0 for CC, −11.2 ± 5.4 for BC and 17.8 ± 10.7 for CO. Linear correlations between CNRs and cholesterol concentrations were observed on fs-T1WI with r = −0.885, (P < 0.0001), UTE MRI first echo r = −0.524 (P = 0.0072) and UTE subtraction with r = 0.598 (P = 0.0016).ConclusionUTE MRI and UTE subtraction can depict CC bright.