Localization of TRPV1 and contractile effect of capsaicin in mouse large intestine: high abundance and sensitivity in rectum and distal colon.

We investigated immunohistochemical differences in the distribution of TRPV1 channels and the contractile effects of capsaicin on smooth muscle in the mouse rectum and distal, transverse, and proximal colon. In the immunohistochemical study, TRPV1 immunoreactivity was found in the mucosa, submucosal, and muscle layers and myenteric plexus. Large numbers of TRPV1-immunoreactive axons were observed in the rectum and distal colon.

Human iris pigment epithelium suppresses activation of bystander T cells via TGFbeta-TGFbeta receptor interaction.

Iris pigment epithelial (IPE) cells from the anterior segment in the eye are able to suppress activation of bystander responder T cells in vitro. The cultured IPE cells fully suppress proliferation and cytokine production by responder T cells via direct cell-to-cell contact. We have now investigated whether primary cultured human iris pigment epithelial (h-IPE) cells that were established from fresh iris tissues can also inhibit the activation of T cells in vitro.

Reduced red blood cell velocity in nail-fold capillaries as a sensitive and specific indicator of microcirculation injury in systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To assess red blood cell velocity in finger nail-fold capillaries using video capillaroscopy in patients with SSc and other collagen diseases.

Methods: This study included 127 patients with SSc as well as patients with SLE (n = 33), DM/PM (n = 21), RA (n = 13) and APS (n = 12), and 20 healthy subjects. Red blood cell velocity was evaluated using frame-to-frame determination of the position of capillary plasma gaps.

Improvements in overactive bladder syndrome after polypropylene mesh surgery for cystocele.

Background: The International Continence Society has defined overactive bladder syndrome (OABS) by the following set of symptoms: 'urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with urinary frequency and nocturia'. OABS and cystocele often coexist.

Aim: This study aimed to analyse the changes in the overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) of women followed up for one year after anterior repair surgery performed using a polypropylene mesh.

T-cell suppression by programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 on retinal pigment epithelium during inflammatory conditions.

Purpose: To determine whether retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells can inhibit in vitro T-cell activation during inflammatory conditions.

Methods: Primary cultured RPE cells were established from normal C57BL/6 mice. Target bystander T cells were established from normal splenic T cells with anti-CD3 antibodies.

Suboptimal therapy controls clinically apparent disease but not subclinical progression of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

Purpose: To evaluate clinical and angiographic differences in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease during the early 4-month treatment phase with high- or medium-dose systemic corticosteroid therapy.

Methods: VKH patients treated at the Centre for Ophthalmic Specialized Care, Lausanne, Switzerland (n = 4), or the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan (n = 5), underwent a pre-treatment indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and a follow-up ICGA four months after treatment began. Lausanne patients received high-dose, systemic corticosteroid therapy, with or without immunosuppressive therapy.

Nicotine-induced neurogenic relaxation in the mouse colon: changes with dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis.

Nicotine has been shown to reduce both tone and muscular activity in the human colon by releasing nitric oxide (NO) from nerves. To our knowledge, however, the effect of nicotine on mouse colon has not been elucidated, and the response in tissue from ulcerative colitis (UC) has not been investigated. We examined nicotine-induced responses in colon from control mice and mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced UC.

[Use and evaluation of Action Checklist for health risk management of employees working long hours].

In Japan, the Industrial Safety and Health Law requires an employer to implement medical interviews for employees working long hours. The law stipulates the criteria of the targeted workers as those whose working time exceeds the legal limit of working hours, those with accumulated fatigue, and those who desire to receive an interview from a physician. Therefore, the employers should make an appropriate system to identify the workers who require a medical interview among employees working long hours with increasing health risks.

Pyrophosphate-induced reorganization of a reporter-receptor assembly via boronate esterification; a new strategy for the turn-on fluorescent detection of multi-phosphates in aqueous solution.

A new strategy for the fluorescent detection of multi-phosphates in aqueous solution is presented here. Zn(II)-DPA(DPA = dipicolylamine)-appended phenylboronic acid 1 x Zn forms an assembly with alizarin dye in MeOH-10 mM HEPES (1:1 v/v) containing 10 mM NaCl at pH 7.4 at 25 degrees C, in which the dye binds favorably to the coordinated zinc(II) in the Zn(II)-DPA moiety.

Low-intensity ultrasound and microbubbles enhance the antitumor effect of cisplatin.

Cell permeabilization using microbubbles (MB) and low-intensity ultrasound (US) have the potential for delivering molecules into the cytoplasm. The collapsing MB and cavitation bubbles created by this collapse generate impulsive pressures that cause transient membrane permeability, allowing exogenous molecules to enter the cells. To evaluate this methodology in vitro and in vivo, we investigated the effects of low-intensity 1-MHz pulsed US and MB combined with cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (CDDP) on two cell lines (Colon 26 murine colon carcinoma and EMT6 murine mammary carcinoma) in vitro and in vivo on severe combined immunodeficient mice inoculated with HT29-luc human colon carcinoma.

Retinal pigment epithelium-derived CTLA-2alpha induces TGFbeta-producing T regulatory cells.

T cells that encounter ocular pigment epithelium in vitro are inhibited from undergoing TCR-triggered activation, and instead acquire the capacity to suppress the activation of bystander T cells. Because retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells suppress T cell activation by releasing soluble inhibitory factors, we studied whether soluble factors also promote the generation of T regulatory (Treg) cells. We found that RPE converted CD4(+) T cells into Treg cells by producing and secreting CTLA-2alpha, a cathepsin L (CathL) inhibitor.

Enhanced photodynamic cancer treatment by supramolecular nanocarriers charged with dendrimer phthalocyanine.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising method for the localized treatment of solid tumors. In order to enhance the efficacy of PDT, we have recently developed a novel class of photosensitizer formulation, i.e.

Nicorandil, a potassium channel opener and nitric oxide donor, improves the frequent urination without changing the blood pressure in rats with partial bladder outlet obstruction.

Objective: It was studied to determine if nicorandil can improve frequent urination in rats with partial bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) without changing the blood pressure.

Materials And Methods: Voiding behavior was observed 6 to 8 d after obstruction in female rats with BOO that loaded 30 ml/kg of water. A drug was administered orally.

Validation of 13C-acetic acid breath test by measuring effects of loperamide, morphine, mosapride, and itopride on gastric emptying in mice.

Several methods are used to evaluate gastric motility in rodents, but they all have technical limitations. Recent technical developments enable a convenient method to evaluate gastric motility. The (13)C-acetic acid breath test in rodents is a non-invasive and repeatable method that can be used without physical restraints.

Immunohistochemical and morphologic basis for glutamate signaling in the rat stomach.

Physiologic studies conducted in rats have demonstrated that afferent fibers of the gastric branch of the vagus nerve increase their firing rate with the intragastric administration of the amino acid glutamate, and the increased firing rate is blocked by the depletion of serotonin (5-HT), administration of the blocker for the serotonin type-3 receptor (SR3), or nitric oxide synthase (NOS). To understand glutamate signaling in the gastric mucosa at the cellular level, we have been studying rats as an animal model using anatomic and immunohistochemical procedures. Our results have indicated that 5-HT-immunoreactive (ir) cells are present in the superficial part of the gastric mucosal epithelium and in the base of the fundic glands, whereas immunoreactivity for SR3 is localized in the neck and its vicinity of the fundic glands.

Human corneal endothelial cells expressing programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) suppress PD-1+ T helper 1 cells by a contact-dependent mechanism.

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether human corneal endothelial (HCE) cells could regulate the activation of bystander T cells in vitro.

Methods: HCE cell lines were established from primary HCE cells. Target-activated T cells were used allogeneic T cells and Jurkat T-cell lines.

Comparison of transperitoneal and retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: a single-center experience of 100 cases.

Objectives: To report our experience with the retroperitoneal and transperitoneal approaches of laparoscopic nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: Between July 2001 and December 2007, 100 patients with RCC underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy at our institution for clinically localized RCC. Fifty-three patients received a retroperitoneal procedure and 47 received a transperitoneal procedure.

Development of a nomogram for predicting high-grade prostate cancer on biopsy: the significance of serum testosterone levels.

Background: A screening method that focuses on the early detection of high-grade prostate cancer is required. In this study, two sets of nomograms were developed, one to predict the presence of prostate cancer, and the other to predict the presence of high-grade prostate cancer (defined as Gleason Score > or =7).

Patients And Methods: Prostate biopsies were obtained from 396 men with an abnormal serum level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA).

PKD1 haploinsufficiency is associated with altered vascular reactivity and abnormal calcium signaling in the mouse aorta.

Mutations in PKD1 are associated with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), which leads to major cardiovascular complications. We used mice with a heterozygous deletion of Pkd1 (Pkd1+/-) and wild-type (Pkd1+/+) littermates to test whether Pkd1 haploinsufficiency is associated with a vascular phenotype in different age groups. Systolic blood pressure measured by the tail-cuff method was similar up to 20 weeks of age, but significantly higher in 30-week-old Pkd1+/- compared to Pkd1+/+.

Clinical efficacy of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in the diagnosis of localized prostate cancer.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in the detection of prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: The experimental group consisted of 20 patients with localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy. The sensitivity, positive predictive value and accuracy of the detection of prostate cancer in the 12 sections of the peripheral zone were calculated for prostate biopsy alone, 1H-MRS alone and the combination of these methods, respectively.

The fibroblast growth factor homolog of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus enhances systemic virus propagation in B. mori larvae.

All lepidopteran baculovirus genomes sequenced to date encode a viral fibroblast growth factor homolog (vFGF). Recently, we generated a Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) mutant lacking functional vfgf and found that BmNPV vfgf contributes to virus virulence in B. mori larvae.

Immunohistochemical localization of transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 in the trachea of ovalbumin-sensitized Guinea pigs.

Background: We previously found many transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor subtype 1 (TRPV1) axons in the tracheal smooth muscle and epithelium of the guinea pig airway. One report indicates that the number of TRPV1 axons is significantly increased in patients with cough variant asthma.

Aim: To determine whether the distribution of TRPV1 in the airways is altered in guinea pigs with an allergic phenotype.

Chemical constituents of Aristolochia constricta: antispasmodic effects of its constituents in guinea-pig ileum and isolation of a diterpeno-lignan hybrid.

Twenty constituents were isolated from the n-hexane and chloroform extracts of Aristolochia constricta, a plant whose aerial parts have been used empirically in folk medicine for various purposes. The inhibitory effects of these constituents on smooth muscle contraction in isolated guinea-pig ileum were studied in order to observe their antispasmodic effects. 3,4-Dibenzyldihydrofuran-type lignans [(-)-cubebin, (-)-hinokinin, and (-)-pluviatolide] and a kaurene-type diterpene [(-)-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid] were isolated as active principals.

MGM-9 [(E)-methyl 2-(3-ethyl-7a,12a-(epoxyethanoxy)-9-fluoro-1,2,3,4,6,7,12,12b-octahydro-8-methoxyindolo[2,3-a]quinolizin-2-yl)-3-methoxyacrylate], a derivative of the indole alkaloid mitragynine: a novel dual-acting mu- and kappa-opioid agonist with potent antinociceptive and weak rewarding effects in mice.

Mitragynine is a major indole alkaloid isolated from the Thai medicinal plant Mitragyna speciosa that has opium-like properties, although its chemical structure is quite different from that of morphine. We attempted to develop novel analgesics derived from mitragynine, and thus synthesized the ethylene glycol-bridged and C10-fluorinated derivative of mitragynine, MGM-9 [(E)-methyl 2-(3-ethyl-7a,12a-(epoxyethanoxy)-9-fluoro-1,2,3,4,6,7,12,12b-octahydro-8-methoxyindolo[2,3-a]quinolizin-2-yl)-3-methoxyacrylate]. We hypothesized that a dual-acting mu- and kappa-opioid agonist could produce potent antinociceptive effects with fewer rewarding effects compared with mu agonists.