Intra-bone marrow cotransplantation of donor mesenchymal stem cells in pig-to-NOD/SCID mouse bone marrow transplantation facilitates short-term xenogeneic hematopoietic engraftment.

We directly injected porcine donor mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) into murine bone marrow (BM) cavities to examine the effects of intra-BM cotransplantation of MSC in pig-to-NOD/SCID mouse bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on xenogeneic engraftment. Porcine MSC prepared by aspiration of iliac BM of miniature swine were identified as CD90+CD29+CD45-CD31- and shown to differentiate into osteoblastocytes and adipocytes. A few weeks after expansion, MSC (1 x 10(6) cells/mouse) were directly injected with BM cells (30 x 10(6) cells/mouse) obtained from vertebrae through a microsyringe into BM cavities of both tibiae of NOD/SCID mice after 3-Gy total body irradiation.

Fulminant hepatitis and late onset hepatic failure in Japan.

Aim: A nationwide survey was performed to clarify the present state of fulminant hepatitis and late onset hepatic failure (LOHF) between 1998 and 2003 in Japan.

Methods: Three hundred and sixteen, 318 and 64 patients, respectively, with acute and subacute types of fulminant hepatitis and LOHF, in which grade II or more severe hepatic encephalopathy occurred within 10 days, between 11 days and 8 weeks and between 8 and 24 weeks, respectively, after the onset of disease symptoms, were analyzed.

Results: Complications such as metabolic syndrome were underlying in 41.

Metabolic fate of nicotinamide in higher plants.

Metabolism of [carbonyl-14C]nicotinamide was surveyed in various plant materials including the model plants, Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and Lotus japonicus. In all plants studied, nicotinamide was used for the pyridine (nicotinamide adenine) nucleotide synthesis, probably after conversion to nicotinic acid. Radioactivity from [carbonyl-14C]nicotinamide was incorporated into trigonelline (1-N-methylnicotinic acid) and/or into nicotinic acid 1N-glucoside (Na-Glc).

Targeting lipid metabolism in the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.

Recently, microdomains of organelle membranes rich in sphingomyelin and cholesterol (called "lipid rafts") have been considered to act as a scaffold for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication complex. Using the HCV cell culture system, we investigated the effect of myriocin, a sphingomyelin synthesis inhibitor, on HCV replication. We also investigated the combined effect of myriocin with interferon (IFN) and myriocin with simvastatin.

Transgenic expression of Helicobacter pylori CagA induces gastrointestinal and hematopoietic neoplasms in mouse.

Infection with cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori is associated with gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of B cell origin. The cagA-encoded CagA protein is delivered into gastric epithelial cells via the bacterial type IV secretion system and, upon tyrosine phosphorylation by Src family kinases, specifically binds to and aberrantly activates SHP-2 tyrosine phosphatase, a bona fide oncoprotein in human malignancies. CagA also elicits junctional and polarity defects in epithelial cells by interacting with and inhibiting partitioning-defective 1 (PAR1)/microtubule affinity-regulating kinase (MARK) independently of CagA tyrosine phosphorylation.

Response of biochemical markers of bone metabolism to exercise intensity in thoroughbred horses.

We studied the response of biochemical markers of bone metabolism to exercise intensity in horses. Four horses were walked on a mechanical walker for one week (pre-exercise). Then they performed low-speed exercise on a high-speed treadmill in the first week and medium-speed exercise in the second week and high-speed exercise in the third week of training.

Gradual improvement of liver function after administration of ursodeoxycholic acid in an infant with a novel ABCB11 gene mutation with phenotypic continuum between BRIC2 and PFIC2.

Object: The authors report the case of a boy with PFIC type 2 or BRIC type 2 who suffered from liver dysfunction at 2 months after birth.

Methods And Results: A liver biopsy specimen revealed mild liver cirrhosis, and the findings resembled those observed in Byler disease. Genetic examination revealed a normal familial intrahepatic cholestasis-1 gene, but a heterozygous mutation for the ABCB11, C1620A (F540L), was observed.

Nicotinate riboside salvage in plants: presence of nicotinate riboside kinase in mungbean seedlings.

Salvage of nicotinate riboside for NAD synthesis was investigated in mungbean seedlings. Nicotinate riboside kinase activity was detected in extracts from cotyledons. Exogenously supplied [carboxyl-(14)C]nicotinate riboside was readily converted into pyridine nucleotides in cotyledons of mungbean seedlings.

Development of probe-to-probe approach method for an independently controlled dual-probe scanning tunneling microscope.

We developed a method of fast probe-to-probe approach for an independently controlled dual-probe scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which is essential to measure the transport property of nanostructures, without scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the approach method, inchworm motors are used as the coarse positioning devices, which are controlled with a personal computer. The method enables an automatic approach of the probe to the other probe within a short time (typically 30 min).

Serum resistin concentrations in growth hormone-deficient children during growth hormone replacement therapy.

We performed this study to examine whether the serum resistin concentrations in growth hormone (GH)-deficient (GHD) children are influenced by administration of GH and to assess the relationship between serum resistin and free fatty acid levels during GH replacement therapy. The study included 20 prepubertal GHD children (16 boys and 4 girls) who were treated with recombinant human GH (hGH). The serum levels of resistin, insulin-like growth factor I, free fatty acid (FFA), triglyceride, cholesterol and glucose levels, leukocyte counts, and hemoglobin A(1c) were measured at baseline and after 1 month of hGH treatment.

Immune pathogenesis of sclerosing cholangitis in biliary atresia.

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most frequent single life-threatening hepatic disorder in early childhood in Japan, Europe and North America. It affects one in 9000 live-born infants in our country. BA is characterized by complete inability to excrete bile associated with obstruction, destruction or absence of the extrahepatic bile ducts.

Biosynthesis of trigonelline from nicotinate mononucleotide in mungbean seedlings.

To determine the biosynthetic pathway to trigonelline, the metabolism of [carboxyl-(14)C]nicotinate mononucleotide (NaMN) and [carboxyl-(14)C]nicotinate riboside (NaR) in protein extracts and tissues of embryonic axes from germinating mungbeans (Phaseolus aureus) was investigated. In crude cell-free protein extracts, in the presence of S-adenosyl-L-methionine, radioactivity from [(14)C]NaMN was incorporated into NaR, nicotinate and trigonelline. Activities of NaMN nucleotidase, NaR nucleosidase and trigonelline synthase were also observed in the extracts.

Central role of calcium-dependent tyrosine kinase PYK2 in endothelial nitric oxide synthase-mediated angiogenic response and vascular function.

Background: The involvement of Ca2+-dependent tyrosine kinase PYK2 in the Akt/endothelial NO synthase pathway remains to be determined.

Methods And Results: Blood flow recovery and neovessel formation after hind-limb ischemia were impaired in PYK2-/- mice with reduced mobilization of endothelial progenitors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-mediated cytoplasmic Ca2+ mobilization and Ca2+-independent Akt activation were markedly decreased in the PYK2-deficient aortic endothelial cells, whereas the Ca2+-independent AMP-activated protein kinase/protein kinase-A pathway that phosphorylates endothelial NO synthase was not impaired.

Innate immune response to double-stranded RNA in biliary epithelial cells is associated with the pathogenesis of biliary atresia.

Unlabelled: Infections of Reoviridae consisting of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome are a possible cause of biliary atresia (BA). The aim of the present study is to clarify the pathophysiological function of dsRNA viruses in the pathogenesis of BA. The expression of dsRNA pattern-recognizing receptors, Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I), melanoma differentiation-associated gene-5 (MDA-5), and dsRNA-activated protein kinase R (PKR) was constitutively detected in cultured human biliary epithelial cells (BECs).

Intracoronary transplantation of non-expanded peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells promotes improvement of cardiac function in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Transplantation of non-expanded peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) enhances neovessel formation in ischemic myocardium and limbs by releasing angiogenic factors. This study was designed to examine whether intracoronary transplantation of PBMNCs improves cardiac function after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods And Results: After successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for a ST-elevation AMI with occlusion of proximal left anterior descending coronary artery within 24 h, patients received an intracoronary infusion of PBMNCs within 5 days after PCI (PBMNC group).

Effects of diet with or without exercise on leptin and anticoagulation proteins levels in obesity.

Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and thromboembolic events. We investigated the effects of weight reduction by a 12-week calorie-restricted diet with or without aerobic exercise (diet group and diet plus exercise group) on leptin and anticoagulation proteins levels. Forty-two obese nondiabetic individuals were evaluated for blood levels of leptin, protein C activity, free protein S antigen and for body fat area calculated on computerized tomography before and after intervention.

Effect of amino acid and glucose administration following exercise on the turnover of muscle protein in the hindlimb femoral region of thoroughbreds.

Reasons For Performing Study: In man, muscle protein synthesis is accelerated by administering amino acids (AA) and glucose (Glu), because increased availability of amino acids and increased insulin secretion, is known to have a protein anabolic effect. However, in the horse, the effect on muscle hypertrophy of such nutrition management following exercise is unknown.

Objectives: To determine the effect of AA and Glu administration following exercise on muscle protein turnover in horses.

[Transcatheter embolization of an inferior mesenteric arteriovenous fistula with frequent mucous diarrhea].

We report a case of inferior mesenteric arteriovenous fistula without portal hypertension or mesenteric ischemia. A 64-year-old man had developed frequent mucous diarrhea during the previous month. Colonoscopy showed highly edematous mucosa of the rectum.

Full-length sequences of two hepatitis E virus isolates representing an Eastern China-indigenous subgroup of genotype 4.

Although the majority of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in Japan are 'domestic' due to the presence of indigenous strains, there are still 'imported' cases as well. Among 83 patients with non-A, non-B and non-C acute liver diseases admitted to Saitama Medical University Hospital, 7 (8.4%) were positive for serum HEV-RNA, of whom 2 had a recent history of traveling to China, one to Xian and another to Shanghai.

Serum levels of adiponectin and IGFBP-1 in short children born small for gestational age.

Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify serum adiponectin concentrations in short children born small for gestational age (SGA) compared with those in children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA), and to assess the relationship between the serum levels of adiponectin and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) known as a predictor of the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.

Subjects And Methods: Sixteen prepubertal short children born SGA and 20 short children born AGA, matched for age, body mass index, height, pubertal status, gestational age, bone age and midparental height, were included in the study. The serum levels of adiponectin, IGFBP-1, insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) were measured in the fasting state.

Prolonged use of dexmedetomidine in an infant with respiratory failure following living donor liver transplantation.

We used dexmedetomidine for more than 2 months in a mechanically ventilated infant without serious adverse effects. An infant with liver cirrhosis of unknown cause underwent living donor liver transplantation at the age of 9 months. Long-term mechanical ventilation was required postoperatively, and midazolam with fentanyl had been used to sedate the patient.

Dysphagia-gastroesophageal reflux complex: complications due to dysfunction of solitary tract nucleus-mediated vago-vagal reflex.

We report on the complication of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in four patients with lower brainstem dysfunction. These patients suffered from perinatal asphyxia, cerebellar hemorrhage, or congenital dysphagia of unknown origin and showed facial nerve palsy, inspiratory stridor due to vocal cord paralysis, central sleep apnea, and dysphagia, in various combinations. Naso-intestinal tube feeding was introduced in all of the patients due to recurrent vomiting and aspiration pneumonia resulting from GER.

SFTG international collaborative study on in vitro micronucleus test IV. Using CHL cells.

In this report, are presented the results of an international collaborative study on the in vitro micronucleus assay, using CHL cells. Fourteen laboratories participated in this study which was coordinated by an organizing committee supported by the SFTG (the French branch of the European Environmental Mutagen Society). Nine coded substances, having different modes of action and at different levels were assessed in the in vitro micronucleus test, using a common protocol.