Association between smoking habits and dental care utilization and cost using administrative claims database and specific medical check-up data.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the association between smoking habits and dental care utilization and cost in individuals registered with the Japan Health Insurance Association, Osaka branch.

Methods: We used the administrative claims database and specific medical check-up data and included 226,359 participants, who visited dental institutions, underwent dental examinations, and underwent specific medical checkups, with smoking data from April 2016 to March 2017. We calculated propensity scores with age, gender, exercise, eating habits, alcohol intake, and sleep.

Co-Treatment with Steroid and Dupilumab for Eosinophilic Chronic Rhinosinusitis after Eosinophilic Pneumonitis Caused by Dupilumab.

Eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (ECRS) is a Type 2 inflammatory disease that manifests as chronic inflammation of the paranasal sinus. IL-4/IL-13 receptor monoclonal antibodies (dupilumab) to suppress Type 2 inflammation have become a good treatment option for patients who are refractory to surgery. Most patients respond normally, although significant side effects such as eosinophilic pneumonia may occur, requiring discontinuation of dupilumab.

Bilateral pleural empyema by infection secondary to pancreaticopleural fistula.

Pleural empyema secondary to pancreaticopleural fistula can be caused by ascending infection of enteric organisms from infected pancreatic pseudocysts. This unique route of infection should be noted for appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy.

[Anti-diabetic effect of ethanol extract of Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don (Palo azul), made in Paraguay].

Extract of Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don (vernacular name Palo azul; Palo) are traditionally consumed in the Republic of Paraguay in South America for the treatment of diabetes and kidney disease, and is sold in Japan as dietary supplement. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism of anti-diabetes activity of Palo, especially focused on insulin resistance.

[THE CAUSES OF ACUTE COUGH: A SINGLE-CENTER STUDY IN JAPAN].

Background: Cough is the most frequent presenting complaint in clinics, and is classified into the following three groups: acute, subacute and chronic. The major causes of acute cough are infectious diseases, however, few observations on acute cough have been reported.

Methods: We retrospectively assessed the causes of acute cough among patients who had visited the respiratory clinic of our hospital because of acute cough from September 2014 to August 2015.

Ethanol extract of Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don (palo azul) induces formation of myotubes, which involves differentiation of C2C12 myoblast cells.

In this study, we examined the cell differentiation effect of an ethanol extract of Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don, a herbaceous perennial belonging to the family Asteraceae (vernacular name: palo azul). Palo azul has numerous physiological effects that contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndromes, although the mechanism remains unclear.

Protective effect of young green barley leaf (Hordeum vulgare L.) on restraint stress-induced decrease in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor in mice.

Background: Many health experts support the hypothesis that stressful lifestyles are the leading cause of illness, like depression. Therefore, from the standpoint of preventive medicine, it is important to reduce stress. Young green barley leaves are a good natural source of vitamins and minerals, and their juice is widely consumed as a functional food for health reasons in Japan.

Sex differences in stress reactivity of hippocampal BDNF in mice are associated with the female preponderance of decreased locomotor activity in response to restraint stress.

The incidence and prevalence of depression is higher in women than in men, but the cause of this sex discrepancy remains unknown. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key protein for maintaining neuronal integrity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the female preponderance in behavioral responsivity to restraint stress focusing on the stress reactivity of BDNF in the hippocampus.

Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don (palo azul) promotes differentiation of adipocytes and regulates adipokine expression.

Cyclolepis genistoides D. Don is a herbaceous perennial belonging to the family Asteraceae, and its vernacular name is "palo azul" (palo). Palo has been reported to exhibit many physiological effects that contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndromes, although its mechanism is unclear.

Polychlorinated biphenyl levels in the blood of Japanese individuals ranging from infants to over 80 years of age.

Individuals' exposure to various persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and its adverse health effects have been a cause of concern. We measured blood PCB concentrations from samples taken from 507 Japanese individuals ranging from infants to those over 80 years of age. The blood PCB levels increased with age for both male (Spearman's r = 0.

Antidepressant-like effects of young green barley leaf (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the mouse forced swimming test.

Background: Young green barley leaf is one of the richest sources of antioxidants and has been widely consumed for health management in Japan. In this study, we examined whether oral administration of young green barley leaf has an antidepressant effect on the forced swimming test in mice.

Materials And Methods: Mice were individually forced to swim in an open cylindrical container, one hour after oral administration of young green barley leaf (400 or 1000 mg / kg) or imipramine (100 mg / kg).

Confirmation of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) distribution in the blood and verification of simple quantitative method for PCBs based on specific congeners.

We measured the concentration of each polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener in whole blood, plasma and blood cells, and investigated the distribution of PCBs in human blood using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The PCB concentrations in plasma and whole blood in terms of lipid concentrations were almost equal, with a correlation coefficient of r=0.972.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers cause oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants to prevent combustion in consumer products, such as electronics, construction materials, and textiles and, therefore, have become important commercial substances. PBDEs were also detected in maternal blood, breast milk, umbilical cord blood, and cord tissue, thereby indicating that fetuses were also exposed to PBDEs. The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of PBDEs on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol alters expression of DNA methyltransferases and methylation of genomic DNA in the mouse uterus.

Perinatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) can have numerous adverse effects on the reproductive organs later in life, such as vaginal clear-cell adenocarcinoma. Epigenetic processes including DNA methylation may be involved in the mechanisms. We subcutaneously injected DES to neonatal C57BL/6 mice.

Perinatal exposure to brominated flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls in Japan.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are used to prevent combustion in consumer products. Examples of BFRs are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), and tribromophenol (TBP). These compounds are reported to have adverse effects on human health and endocrine disrupting effects.

Strong correlation between the concentration of dioxins and total PCBs in current Japanese people.

The purpose of this study was to establish an economic and efficient method to screen total PCBs and total dioxins (PCDDs+PCDFs+Co-PCBs) in the highly exposed people in Japan. In this paper, we suggest use of total PCBs in human blood to represent other persistent organic pollutants, especially dioxins. Twenty blood samples were collected from Japanese volunteers.

Polychlorinated biphenyls alter the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase mRNA in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of persistent pollutants that are detected in maternal serum and umbilical cord, suggesting that fetal exposure also needs to be considered. The effects of dioxin-like PCB congeners 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77) and 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) and a non-dioxin-like compound 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB153) on the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), known to maintain blood flow to the fetus, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated. The mRNA levels of eNOS, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 in cells treated with 5 microM PCBs for 24 hours were analysed by real-time RT-PCR.

Reduction of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human body.

The accumulation of persistent lipophilic organic pollutants like dioxins and PCBs in human body is of great concern since many of these compounds may elicit adverse health effects on humans. To reduce dioxins and PCBs with long half-lives that are absorbed into the human body, we need to work actively to minimize accumulation of dioxins and PCBs taken. Lot of manner has been tested such as foods containing dietary fibers and chlorophyll, lipids (squalane etc) and anion exchange resins.

The contamination levels of organochlorines and the pattern of gene expressions in human umbilical cords from intra-pairs of twins at delivery.

In this study, we examined the contamination levels of organochlorines and the patterns of gene expressions using umbilical cords of twins. The contamination levels of total PCBs, HCB and HCHs of intra-pair of twins were close to each other, but that of DDTs were not so as the others. It shows that the placental or fetal factor may influence the transfer or the accumulation of DDTs.

Bisphenol A (BPA) and its source in foods in Japanese markets.

The determination of bisphenol A (BPA) and/or bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) in foods sold in Japanese markets and in water leached from six epoxy resin cans with similar diameters was carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection (LC/ECD), LC-mass spectrometric detection (LC/MS) and LC-tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC/MS/MS). BPA concentrations were 0-842 ng g(-1) for 48 canned foods, 0-14 ng g(-1) for 23 foods in plastic containers, and 0-1 ng g(-1) for 16 foods in paper containers. No BADGE was detected in three canned foods.

Neonatal administration of diethylstilbestrol has adverse effects on somatic cells rather than germ cells.

Neonatal administration of diethylstilbestrol (DES) to rodents has adverse effects on spermatogenesis. However, not many studies have been conducted to determine which type of cell - germ or somatic - is the major target of DES. In order to clarify this, we tried reciprocal germ cell transplantation--transplantation of germ cells from DES-treated mice into intact mice and germ cells from normal mice into DES-treated mice.

Neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol alters the expression of DNA methyltransferases and methylation of genomic DNA in the epididymis of mice.

Fetal and neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) is known to cause many abnormalities, such as cancer, in the male and female reproductive tracts later in life, and epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, may be involved in these processes. In the present study, newborn C57BL/6 male mice were exposed to 3 mug of DES from postnatal days 1 to 5. Subsequently, the expression levels of the DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b and the transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3, which have been reported to regulate the expression of Dnmts, were examined at days 5, 14 and 30.

Identification and characterization of novel and unknown mouse epididymis-specific genes by complementary DNA microarray technology.

To examine epididymal function, we attempted to identify highly expressed genes in mouse epididymis using a cDNA microarray containing PCR products amplified from a mouse epididymal cDNA library. We isolated one novel and four known genes-lymphocyte cytosolic protein 1 (Lcp1), complement subcomponents C1r/C1s, Uegf protein, and bone morphogenetic protein and zona pellucida-like domains 1 (Cuzd1), transmembrane epididymal protein 1 (Teddm1), and whey acidic protein 4-disulfide core domain 16 (Wfdc16)-with unknown functions in the epididymis. The novel gene, designated Serpina1f (serine peptidase inhibitor [SERPIN], clade A, member 1f), harbors an open reading frame of 1 233 bp encoding a putative protein of 411 amino acids, including a SERPIN domain.

Comparison of Elisa- and LC-MS-Based Methodologies for the Exposure Assessment of Bisphenol A.

Several types of methods, mainly liquid chromatography (LC), have been used for the analysis and assessment of bisphenol A (BPA) in human biological samples. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is also being used for BPA measurement. In this study, we verified whether ELISA is suitable for measuring human samples, namely, serum and urine, by comparing the ELISA results with those obtained by liquid chromatography with multichannel colometric electrochemical detection (LC/ECD) and liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (LC/MS/MS).