Feasibility study to improve oral health in older adult patients using visiting nursing services: A pilot study.

Among older adults in Japan, those requiring long-term care who use visiting nursing services have particularly poor oral health. Given the importance of oral health, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of oral health improvement interventions for such older adult patients using visiting nursing services. This study was a single-arm pilot study.

Incidence and Prevalence of Infectious Diseases and Their Risk Factors among Patients Who Use Visiting Nursing Services in Japan.

This study aimed to clarify the incidence of infectious diseases and the associated risk factors among patients who use visiting nursing services in Japan. We conducted a one-year follow up cohort study with 419 participants. The incidence and period prevalence rate of infectious diseases were 0.

Leg symptoms associated with sacroiliac joint disorder and related pain.

Objective: The symptoms of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) disorders are usually detected in the buttock and groin, and occasionally referred to the thigh and leg. However, lumbar disorders also cause symptoms in these same body regions. The presence of a characteristic, symptomatic pattern in the legs would be useful for diagnosing SIJ disorders.

Individual and environmental factors related to stage of change in exercise behavior: a cross-sectional study of female Japanese undergraduate students.

Background: The purpose of the current study was to examine the association between the level of exercise behavior and individual and environmental factors related to exercise behavior among female Japanese undergraduate students.

Methods: The participants were 2482 female Japanese undergraduate students. Participants' level of exercise behavior was measured by the stage of change to exercise in the transtheoretical model.

Lysophosphatidic acid signaling may initiate fetal hydrocephalus.

Fetal hydrocephalus (FH), characterized by the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, an enlarged head, and neurological dysfunction, is one of the most common neurological disorders of newborns. Although the etiology of FH remains unclear, it is associated with intracranial hemorrhage. Here, we report that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a blood-borne lipid that activates signaling through heterotrimeric guanosine 5'-triphosphate-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors, provides a molecular explanation for FH associated with hemorrhage.

Stereotyped fetal brain disorganization is induced by hypoxia and requires lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPA1) signaling.

Fetal hypoxia is a common risk factor that has been associated with a range of CNS disorders including epilepsy, schizophrenia, and autism. Cellular and molecular mechanisms through which hypoxia may damage the developing brain are incompletely understood but are likely to involve disruption of the laminar organization of the cerebral cortex. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive lipid capable of cortical influences via one or more of six cognate G protein-coupled receptors, LPA(1-6), several of which are enriched in fetal neural progenitor cells (NPCs).

Health promotion behaviors of residents with hypertension in Iwate, Japan and North Carolina, USA.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the health promotion practises of rural residents in northern Japan (n = 212) to those in south-eastern North Carolina, USA (n = 105), using the Health Promotion Lifestyle II (HPLP) scale.

Methods: A comparative and descriptive design examined the relationships between health-related behaviors and demographic and physiological variables, and compared cross-cultural patterns.

Results: The Japanese participants scored significantly higher on the total HPLP II score, as well as on the subscales of health responsibility, nutrition, interpersonal support, and stress management.

FTY720 (fingolimod) efficacy in an animal model of multiple sclerosis requires astrocyte sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P1) modulation.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a lysophospholipid, has gained relevance to multiple sclerosis through the discovery of FTY720 (fingolimod), recently approved as an oral treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Its mechanism of action is thought to be immunological through an active phosphorylated metabolite, FTY720-P, that resembles S1P and alters lymphocyte trafficking through receptor subtype S1P(1). However, previously reported expression and in vitro studies of S1P receptors suggested that direct CNS effects of FTY720 might theoretically occur through receptor modulation on neurons and glia.

Roles for lysophospholipid S1P receptors in multiple sclerosis.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) signaling in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has been highlighted by the efficacy of FTY720 (fingolimod), which upon phosphorylation can modulate S1P receptor activities. FTY720 has become the first oral treatment for relapsing MS that was approved by the FDA in September 2010. Phosphorylated FTY720 modulates four of the five known S1P receptors (S1P(1), S1P(3), S1P(4), and S1P(5)) at high affinity.

LPA4 regulates blood and lymphatic vessel formation during mouse embryogenesis.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a potent lipid mediator with a wide variety of biological actions mediated through G protein-coupled receptors (LPA(1-6)). LPA(4) has been identified as a G(13) protein-coupled receptor, but its physiological role is unknown. Here we show that a subset of LPA(4)-deficient embryos did not survive gestation and displayed hemorrhages and/or edema in many organs at multiple embryonic stages.

LPA receptors: subtypes and biological actions.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a small, ubiquitous phospholipid that acts as an extracellular signaling molecule by binding to and activating at least five known G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs): LPA(1)-LPA(5). They are encoded by distinct genes named LPAR1-LPAR5 in humans and Lpar1-Lpar5 in mice. The biological roles of LPA are diverse and include developmental, physiological, and pathophysiological effects.

Non-Edg family lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA; 1- or 2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate) is a bioactive phospholipid with mitogenic and/or morphological effects on many cell types. In addition, LPA has been reported to play important roles in various biological processes. It was originally thought that the cellular effects of LPA are mediated by three subtypes of G-protein-coupled receptors: LPA(1)/Edg2, LPA(2)/Edg4, and LPA(3)/Edg7.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and its receptors.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive phospholipid, and its family of cognate G protein-coupled receptors have demonstrated roles in many biological functions in the nervous system. To date, five LPA receptors have been identified, and additional receptors may exist. Most of these receptors have been genetically deleted in mice toward identifying biological and medically relevant roles.

Diagram specific to sacroiliac joint pain site indicated by one-finger test.

Background: The sacroiliac joint (SIJ) can be a source of low back and lower limb pain. The SIJ pain can originate not only from the joint space but also from the ligaments supporting the joint. Its diagnosis has been difficult because the physical and radiological examinations have proved less than satisfactory.

Cysteinyl leukotriene 2 receptor-mediated vascular permeability via transendothelial vesicle transport.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) are potent mediators of inflammation synthesized by the concerted actions of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), 5-LO-activating protein (FLAP), leukotriene C(4) synthase, and additional downstream enzymes, starting with arachidonic acid substrate. CysLTs produced by macrophages, eosinophils, mast cells, and other inflammatory cells activate 3 different high-affinity CysLT receptors: CysLT(1)R, CysLT(2)R, and GPR 17. We sought to investigate vascular sites of CysLT(2)R expression and the role and mechanism of this receptor in mediating vascular permeability events.

LPA4/p2y9/GPR23 mediates rho-dependent morphological changes in a rat neuronal cell line.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a potent lipid mediator that evokes a variety of biological responses in many cell types via its specific G protein-coupled receptors. In particular, LPA affects cell morphology, cell survival, and cell cycle progression in neuronal cells. Recently, we identified p2y(9)/GPR23 as a novel fourth LPA receptor, LPA(4) (Noguchi, K.

Identification of p2y9/GPR23 as a novel G protein-coupled receptor for lysophosphatidic acid, structurally distant from the Edg family.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive lipid mediator with diverse physiological and pathological actions on many types of cells. LPA has been widely considered to elicit its biological functions through three types of G protein-coupled receptors, Edg-2 (endothelial cell differentiation gene-2)/LPA1/vzg-1 (ventricular zone gene-1), Edg-4/LPA2, and Edg-7/LPA3. We identified an orphan G protein-coupled receptor, p2y9/GPR23, as the fourth LPA receptor (LPA4).