Publications by authors named "Kinya Kubo"

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by accumulated amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, aggregated phosphorylated tau protein, gliosis-associated neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and cognitive impairment. Many cohort studies indicate that tooth loss is a risk factor for AD. The detailed mechanisms underlying the association between AD and tooth loss, however, are not yet fully understood.

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Purpose: Prenatal stress affects the hippocampal structure and function in pups. Maternal chewing ameliorates hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairments induced by prenatal stress. In this study, we investigated hippocampal microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in pups of dams exposed to prenatal stress with or without chewing during gestation.

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  • The study investigated how chewing behavior affects lung metastasis in mice under chronic psychological stress, specifically looking at its impact on breast cancer cells.
  • Mice were divided into three groups: those experiencing stress, those that chewed on wooden sticks to relieve stress, and a control group, with stress inflicted through confinement in small tubes.
  • Results showed that chewing reduced lung metastasis linked to stress by lowering stress hormone levels, normalizing receptor expressions, and affecting signaling molecules associated with angiogenesis and oxidative stress.
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The hippocampus plays an important role in maintaining normal cognitive function and is closely associated with the neuropathogenesis of dementia. Wnt signaling is relevant to neuronal development and maturation, synaptic formation, and plasticity. The role of Wnt10a in hippocampus-associated cognition, however, is largely unclear.

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  • The study investigates how maternal chewing may influence the negative effects of prenatal stress on the behavior and brain chemistry of mouse offspring.
  • Pregnant mice were subjected to stress through restraint and some were given a chewing object; their offspring were later tested for behavioral changes and brain protein levels.
  • Results showed that maternal chewing helped reduce anxiety and cognitive impairments in pups, suggesting it positively impacts brain health and serotonin levels related to prenatal stress.
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We examined whether chewing behavior affects the tumor progression-enhancing impact of psychological stress. Human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) cells were inoculated into the mammary fat pads of athymic nude mice. The mice were assigned randomly to control, stress, and stress+chewing groups.

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  • Prolonged mild stress from tooth loss negatively affects the hippocampus and memory in aged mice, leading to structural and cognitive impairments.
  • The study examined the impact of an enriched environment on the hippocampal changes and spatial learning issues caused by tooth loss in SAMP8 mice.
  • Results showed that providing an enriched environment helped improve myelin and synapse structure, as well as learning and memory deficits in mice with tooth loss.
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We aimed to investigate the effects of maternal chewing on prenatal stress-induced cognitive impairments in the offspring and to explore the molecular pathways of maternal chewing in a mice model. Maternal chewing ameliorated spatial learning impairments in the offspring in a Morris water maze test. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot findings revealed that maternal chewing alleviated hippocampal neurogenesis impairment and increased the expression of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the offspring.

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Long-term tooth loss is associated with the suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis and impairment of hippocampus-dependent cognition with aging. The morphologic basis of the hippocampal alterations, however, remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether tooth loss early in life affects the hippocampal ultrastructure in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, using transmission electron microscopy.

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  • - The study aimed to see if chewing during prenatal stress affects how young mice respond to stress by measuring certain brain receptors and hormone levels in their offspring.
  • - Pregnant mice were stressed daily using a restraint tube, and some were given a wooden stick to chew while restrained. Young mice were then tested for changes in specific brain receptor and hormone levels after exposure to a new stressor.
  • - Results showed that prenatal stress decreased important brain receptor levels and increased stress-related hormone levels in offspring, but allowing mothers to chew lessened these negative effects in their young mice.
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Yokukansan (YKS) is a traditional Japanese herbal medicine. It has been currently applied for treating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Japan. We investigated the effect of YKS on learning ability, hippocampal cell proliferation, and neural ultrastructural features in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8), a proposed animal model of Alzheimer's disease.

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  • - Prenatal stress (PS) in mice raises corticosterone levels in pregnant mothers, leading to increased anxiety and learning deficits in their pups, with significant changes in gene expressions related to stress and brain function.
  • - Mice subjected to PS showed higher arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA in the brain and impaired development of neurons and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), critical for learning and memory in their offspring.
  • - Allowing pregnant mice to chew during stress reduced the negative effects of PS by lowering AVP levels, protecting against learning deficits and anxiety in their pups, and promoting healthier neurogenesis and BDNF expression.
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Although the understanding of the complex pathogenesis for osteoporosis is appreciable, the underlying mechanism is not yet fully elucidated. There is a great need to further characterize the available animal models in osteoporosis research. The senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) mice have been developed as the spontaneous experimental model for senile osteoporosis.

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  • Mastication, or chewing, plays a crucial role in food intake, digestion, and overall health, impacting cognitive functions related to the hippocampus.
  • Research shows that problems with chewing, particularly in older people, can activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to increased stress hormones and various health issues like cognitive decline and cardiovascular disease.
  • Recent studies suggest that stimulating mastication during stress can help regulate the HPA axis and improve cognitive functions affected by chronic stress.
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Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for osteoporosis. Maternal active mastication during prenatal stress attenuates stress response. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that maternal active mastication influences the effect of prenatal stress on bone mass and bone microstructure in adult offspring.

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Objective: Tooth loss induced neurological alterations through activation of a stress hormone, corticosterone. Age-related hippocampal morphological and functional changes were accelerated by early tooth loss in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8). In order to explore the mechanism underlying the impaired hippocampal function resulting from early masticatory dysfunction due to tooth loss, we investigated the effects of early tooth loss on plasma corticosterone levels, learning ability, neurogenesis, and synaptophysin expression in the hippocampus later in life of SAMP8 mice.

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  • Maternal chewing during prenatal stress in mice was found to reduce learning deficits and promote cell growth in the hippocampus of their offspring.
  • The study involved designating pregnant mice into three groups: control, stress, and stress/chewing, with stress inducing a negative impact on offspring’s spatial memory.
  • Results indicated that maternal chewing mitigated the harmful effects of prenatal stress on offspring’s memory and brain structure, suggesting it may be a beneficial coping mechanism for pregnant mice.
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Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is differentially expressed in normal and pathological tissues and regulates immune cell homeostasis. Restraint stress increases serum Gal-1 in rats. However, the function of stress-induced Gal-1 in serum is unknown.

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Background And Objective: In humans, occlusal disharmony may cause various physical complaints, including head and neck ache, stiffness in the shoulder and neck, and arthrosis of the temporomandibular joints. Occlusal disharmony induced by raising the bite in rodents, increases plasma corticosterone levels, which leads to morphologic changes in the hippocampus and altered hippocampus-related behavior. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus regulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system.

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Background And Objective: Malocclusion induced by raising the bite causes chronic stress. Chronic stress leads to increased plasma corticosterone levels and impaired hippocampal function due to impaired neurogenesis or increased apoptosis in the hippocampus. The present study aimed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the impaired hippocampal function induced by the bite-raised condition in aged senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8).

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Human plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) levels serve as a clinically relevant marker of diabetes and related syndromes. We developed a highly sensitive method for measuring human plasma AVP using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. AVP was extracted from human plasma using a weak-cation solid-phase extraction plate, and separated on a wide-bore octadecyl reverse-phase column.

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Osteoporosis, the most common metabolic skeletal disease, is characterized by decreased bone mass and deteriorated bone quality, leading to increased fracture risk. With the aging of the population, osteoporotic fracture is an important public health issue. Organisms are constantly exposed to various stressful stimuli that affect physiological processes.

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Chronic psychologic stress increases corticosterone levels, which decreases bone density. Active mastication or chewing attenuates stress-induced increases in corticosterone. We evaluated whether active mastication attenuates chronic stress-induced bone loss in mice.

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Background And Objective: Teeth are crucial, not only for mastication, but for overall nutrition and general health, including cognitive function. Aged mice with chronic stress due to tooth loss exhibit impaired hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. Exposure to an enriched environment restores the reduced hippocampal function.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to examine, after setting several restorations, the influence of adjusted occlusal interference during gum chewing on blood flow in the prefrontal area as determined using near-infrared spectroscopy.

Material And Methods: The physiological rate was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaire. We selected 16 patients who desired prosthetic restorative treatment on the lateral dentition, and eight healthy volunteers.

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