Polypeptide modification: an improved proglycinin design to stabilise oil-in-water emulsions.

β-Conglycinin and glycinin are soybean major seed storage proteins. Previous studies have shown that adding the extension region of β-conglycinin α subunit improves the emulsifying properties of proglycinin and confers more favourable characteristics than fusing the extension region of β-conglycinin α' subunit or the hypervariable regions (A4IV) of glycinin A1aB1b subunit. To evaluate the polypeptide properties, we designed mutants of A1aB1b subunits fused with truncated versions of A4IV (A4IVcut), α (αcut) or α' (α'cut) extension regions lacking the C-terminus 25 or 31 residues (A4IVC25, αC25 or α'C31), and also A4IVcut and α'cut with αC25 residues added (A4IVcut-αC25 and α'cut-αC25).

Longitudinal study of acute myocardial infarction in the southeast Osaka district from 1988 to 2002.

Background: Data on clinical characteristics, long-term mortality rates, and factors influencing outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) based on an unselected cohort in the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era are still limited in Japan.

Methods And Results: In the present study 415 consecutive patients with AMI who were admitted to hospital within 24 h of symptom onset between January 1988 and December 2002 were studied. There was a marked seasonal variation of AMI with a minimum in summer and a maximum in winter, as well as a marked circadian variation with a significant morning peak.

Increased cardiac mortality in women compared with men in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Objective: It has been reported that women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have a higher short-term mortality rate than men, but the reason is not known. The profile in relation to age, gender and risk factors was evaluated to compare AMI and unstable angina pectoris (UAP).

Methods: Findings from 984 patients including 580 patients with AMI (129 women, 451 men) and 404 patients with UAP (131 women, 273 men) were analyzed by the South Osaka Acute Coronary Syndrome Study Group (SACS).

Comparison of risk factors in acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris in patients < or =66 versus >66 years of age.

A prospective study was conducted of the differences in clinical characteristics between patients with acute myocardial infarction and those with unstable angina pectoris admitted to hospitals in the South-Osaka district of Japan. Gender and smoking were identified as discriminant risk factors for the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in patients < or =66 years with acute coronary syndromes; however, age alone affected the mode of presentation in older patients.

Impact of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein on predicting long-term mortality of acute myocardial infarction.

Although the C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration measured shortly after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with infarct size, its prognostic value is controversial. The reduction of CRP is accelerated by reperfusion. Therefore, the CRP concentration, measured during the stable phase of AMI in patients treated predominantly with reperfusion therapies, may be independent of infarct size and may predict long-term mortality.