Publications by authors named "Kaori Amano"

Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on using metabolomics profiles in urine and plasma to improve health risk assessments for low-level cadmium exposure in a large population sample.
  • Researchers analyzed 123 urinary and 94 plasma metabolites from over 3,400 participants, adjusting for various factors like age, gender, and lifestyle choices.
  • Findings indicated that certain urinary metabolites, especially N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), were linked to cadmium levels, with specific metabolites showing consistent associations across different exposure levels and pathways related to mitochondria being affected.
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Studies examining long-term longitudinal metabolomic data and their reliability in large-scale populations are limited. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the reliability of repeated measurements of plasma metabolites in a prospective cohort setting and to explore intra-individual concentration changes at three time points over a 6-year period. The study participants included 2999 individuals (1317 men and 1682 women) from the Tsuruoka Metabolomics Cohort Study, who participated in all three surveys-at baseline, 3 years, and 6 years.

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Background: Emerging evidence has shown that charged metabolites, such as amino acids, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of various metabolic disorders, many of which women in the postmenopausal period are at high risk of developing. This study examined the metabolic profile of middle-aged Japanese women to investigate alterations in charged metabolites induced by menopausal transition.

Methods: The participants were 1193 female residents aged 40-60 at the baseline survey of the Tsuruoka Metabolomics Cohort Study.

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Currently, large-scale cohort studies for metabolome analysis have been launched globally. However, only a few studies have evaluated the reliability of urinary metabolome analysis. This study aimed to establish the reliability of urinary metabolomic profiling in cohort studies.

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Objectives: Peri-implantitis causes dislodgement of dental implants due to inflammation in the peri-implant tissue. The microcirculation in the periodontal tissue undergoes morphological and physiological changes due to inflammation. The immune mechanism of peri-implantitis differs from that of periodontitis.

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Food intake biomarkers can be critical tools that can be used to objectively assess dietary exposure for both epidemiological and clinical nutrition studies. While an accurate estimation of food intake is essential to unravel associations between the intake and specific health conditions, random and systematic errors affect self-reported assessments. This study aimed to clarify how habitual food intake influences the circulating plasma metabolome in a free-living Japanese regional population and to identify potential food intake biomarkers.

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Fascia of the facial area is contiguous between fat tissues of the subcutaneous and connective tissue layers and does not envelope the muscle surface like other parts of the human body. This structure is called the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), which is accepted as an international anatomical terminology. This special structure is commonly used to pull facial muscles during plastic surgeries such as a face lift.

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To determine whether severe kyphosis is one of the risk factors of umbilical trichophytosis in elderly people. Four cases with umbilical trichophytosis in the last 3 years and all 143 patients who visited to our clinic during from April 2018 to March 2019 were included in this study. The relationship between the condition of umbilical region and kyphosis was investigated.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the morphology of the human salivary main duct (Wharton's duct) in fetal stages, focusing on 5-9 month old fetuses.
  • It involves histological analysis using various staining techniques to identify structural differences in duct walls and the development of smooth muscle fibers.
  • Findings suggest that by nine months, the surface structure of Wharton's duct is nearly adult-like, but its smooth muscle distribution indicates it likely does not function as a sphincter to regulate salivary flow.
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In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, high-affinity tryptophan import is mediated by the plasma membrane permease Tat2. Herein, we identified hyperactive Tat2 mutations, I285V and I285T, which allowed the cells to grow at very low tryptophan concentrations (<4 μg/mL). The K value of wild-type Tat2 for tryptophan appeared to be 24 μg/mL, whereas that of Tat2 and Tat2 was 17 and 11 μg/mL, respectively.

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Objectives: There are few research reports providing a comparison of the muscle fiber morphometry between human fetuses and adults. Data on fetal and adult muscle fibers would be valuable in understanding muscle development and a variety of muscle diseases. This study investigated human muscle fiber growth to clarify the difference between the facial muscles and other skeletal muscles.

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The adult human parotid duct is roughly 6-8 cm long. From the parotid gland, parotid duct traverses through masseter muscle, penetrates through buccinator muscle, and opens into the oral cavity. This unique form of the parotid duct is likely correlated with the function of the duct, directly affected by the movement of the buccinator muscle during mastication and swallowing.

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The parotid glands secrete about 25% of all saliva produced. In the presence of a stimulus, the amount of saliva secreted from the parotid gland increases to 50%. A decrease in the amount of produced saliva due to aging and parotiditis results in a dry mouth.

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Parotid glands secrete about 25% of all saliva produced in the salivary glands. In the presence of a stimulus, the amount of saliva secreted from the parotid gland increases to 50% (1). In human adults, the parotid duct, approximately 6-8 cm long, traverses the masseter muscle and penetrates through the buccinator muscle into the oral cavity.

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There have been inconsistencies among reports of age-related differences in human peripheral nerves (PNs). For such studies, normal control values are necessary. Moreover, the diversity of methods employed makes it difficult to compare results.

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Noncollagenous phosphoproteins that interact with type I collagen are thought to nucleate the mineral phase to the collagen fibril network of mineralized tissues. We previously reported that a specific dentin phosphoprotein, phosphophoryn, crosslinked to an insoluble substrate such as type I collagen fibrils, was an effective nucleator of apatite. In this study, we investigated the capacity of another phosphoprotein in dentin, osteopontin, for apatite nucleation in vitro.

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