Dim light melatonin patterns in unaffected offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: A case-control high-risk study.

Background: Circadian dysregulation has long been thought to be a key component in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). However, it remains unclear whether this dysregulation constitutes a risk factor, manifestation, or consequence of BD. This study aimed to compare dim light melatonin secretion patterns between unaffected offspring of parents with BD (OBD) and offspring of control parents (OCP).

Validation of the Chinese version of the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) in Hong Kong Chinese youths.

Chronotype, referred to as an individual's diurnal preference of timing for rest and activity, can be subjectively measured using the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ). However, the validity of MCTQ has yet to be tested in the youth population. In addition, it remains uncertain if MCTQ is a good measure of chronotype in individuals with insomnia.

Night Shift Work, MTNR1B rs10830963 Polymorphism, and Prostate Cancer Risk: Findings from a Prospective, Population-Based Study.

Background: The association between night shift work and prostate cancer is controversial. Evidence shows that genetic and environmental factors both contribute to the development of prostate cancer. It is well known that melatonin plays a protective role in prostate cancer.

Disruption of sleep, sleep-wake activity rhythm, and nocturnal melatonin production in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy: prospective cohort study.

Objective: This prospective cohort study captured the patterns of sleep, sleep-wake activity rhythm, and first-morning urinary melatonin in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: Breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy wore wrist actigraph for 168 h and collected first-morning void urine samples before treatment, during the first, and at the last cycle of chemotherapy. We converted actigraphy data into sleep duration, sleep efficiency, nighttime total wake time, percent rhythm, F-statistic, amplitude, mesor, and acrophase.

Activation of human eosinophils and epidermal keratinocytes by Th2 cytokine IL-31: implication for the immunopathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.

IL-31 is a novel T(h) type 2 cytokine that can induce pruritus and dermatitis in mice resembling human atopic dermatitis (AD). Eosinophil infiltration in skin lesions is a predominant pathological feature of AD. In the present study, we investigated the effects of IL-31 on the activation of human eosinophils and epidermal keratinocytes.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha up-regulates the expression of CCL2 and adhesion molecules of human proximal tubular epithelial cells through MAPK signaling pathways.

Both circulating and urinary tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha levels have been shown to increase in inflammatory chronic kidney diseases and TNF-alpha can induce secretion of other inflammatory mediators from many cell types. Chemokine, mononuclear chemoattractant protein-1 (CCL2/MCP-1), and cell surface adhesion molecules, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) are important for promoting recruitment and adhesion of infiltrating macrophages and lymphocytes to inflamed renal tissue. This study aimed to investigate the effect of TNF-alpha on the expression of these inflammation-related molecules of human PTEC and the underlying intracellular mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) regulatory signaling mechanisms.