Publications by authors named "Nishifuji K"

Article Synopsis
  • * This study provides a detailed crystal structure of ETD at 1.75 Å resolution, revealing a composition of two β-barrels and two α-helices, similar to other ET structures.
  • * A model suggests that a segment of human desmoglein-1 (IEGP) interacts significantly with ETD, with unique features in the structure of loop D indicating potential variations in ETD's binding capabilities compared to other ETs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Erythritol, a sugar alcohol, has been found to inhibit the growth of a specific staphylococcus strain (JCM7470) and other strains isolated from dogs with pyoderma.
  • The study showed that erythritol increases the expression of genes responsible for sugar uptake (PTS genes), indicating a molecular mechanism behind its growth inhibition effects.
  • Additionally, the presence of glucose can restore the growth of these staphylococcus strains, suggesting that a lack of glucose may play a significant role in the growth inhibition caused by erythritol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Erythritol (ERT) and L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate (APS) are bacteriostatic, but their effects on staphylococcal skin infections remain unknown. We aimed to determine whether ERT combined with APS inhibits the growth of staphylococci that are commonly isolated from pyoderma skin lesions in dogs. We investigated the individual and combined effects of ERT and APS on the growth of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Like its human counterpart, canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is a chronic relapsing condition; thus, most cAD-affected dogs will require lifelong treatment to maintain an acceptable quality of life. A potential intervention is modulation of the composition of gut microbiota, and in fact, probiotic treatment has been proposed and tried in human atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. Since dogs are currently receiving intensive medical care, this will be the same option for dogs, while evidence of gut dysbiosis in cAD is still missing, although skin microbial profiling in cAD has been conducted in several studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Erythritol was found to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The present study aimed to demonstrate the growth inhibition of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius by erythritol and to define the changes in gene transcription signatures induced by erythritol. Changes in the gene transcription profiles were analysed by RNA sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription PCR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The strong bond between dogs and their owners creates a close association that could result in the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from canines to humans, potentially leading to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes. , a common causative agent of persistent ear infections in dogs, is often resistant to multiple antibiotics. Assessing the antimicrobial resistance profile and genotype of is crucial for the appropriate use of veterinary pharmaceuticals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The present study describes the clinical and pathological characteristics of skin lesions in two four-toed hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris). We performed inverse PCR to identify the genome of papillomavirus (PV) in the skin lesions and subsequently sequenced the full genome of the virus, which was tentatively named Atelerix albiventris papillomavirus 1 (AalbPV1). The overall sequences of the viral genomes of both four-toed hedgehogs were identical.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The effect of carbon dioxide (CO )-rich water bathing on the skin has been studied extensively in humans. However, there have been few studies evaluating the impact of CO -rich water bathing on canine skin physiology and barrier functions.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of artificially carbonated water (ACW) bathing on skin parameters in healthy beagles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nestin is an intermediate filament protein transiently expressed in neural stem/progenitor cells. We previously demonstrated that outer root sheath (ORS) keratinocytes of adult hair follicles (HFs) in mice descend from nestin-expressing cells, despite being an epithelial cell lineage. This study determined the exact stage when nestin-expressing ORS stem/precursor cells or their descendants appear during HF morphogenesis, and whether they are present in adult HFs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is a noninvasive method of measuring regional blood flow in humans. However, this method has not been widely applied to measure blood flow in dogs.

Hypothesis/objectives: We hypothesised that LDF can measure changes in blood flow in canine pinnae accurately.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Uremic cardiomyopathy (UC), the main cause of death in progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), is characterized by diastolic dysfunction. Intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPG) derived from color m-mode echocardiography (CMME) and two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) were established as novel echocardiographic approaches for non-invasive and repeatable assessment of cardiac function. Previously, salvianolic acid B (Sal B) showed the potential to alleviate concentric LV hypertrophy in the pressure overload model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In human medicine, narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy has been used to treat various T-cell-mediated skin diseases. However, the effect of NB-UVB on inflamed canine skin remains uncertain.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of NB-UVB phototherapy on the skin of dogs with hapten-induced contact dermatitis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Bathing with artificially carbonated water is reported to be a valuable therapeutic option for various human skin disorders.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of artificially carbonated water bathing on superficial bacterial folliculitis (SBF) caused by Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) in dogs.

Animals: Nineteen dogs with SBF from whom SP was isolated from skin lesions were enrolled.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ceramide (CER), an important component of the extracellular lamellar lipids in the stratum corneum (SC), plays a critical role in maintaining the cutaneous barrier function. This study aimed to determine whether the quantity of free extractable SC CERs in dogs was affected by the age, sex, or breed. Fifty-eight dogs from the breeds Shiba Inu, beagle, miniature dachshund, shih tzu, and golden retriever, without any history of skin problems, were enrolled in this study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Natto, a traditional Japanese fermented soybean food, is well known to be nutritious and beneficial for health. In this study, we examined whether natto impairs infection by viruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as well as bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1). Interestingly, our results show that both SARS-CoV-2 and BHV-1 treated with a natto extract were fully inhibited infection to the cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: IgE reactivity to fish allergens in atopic dogs, which are used as models for food allergy, has not been elucidated to date. We investigated IgE reactivity to crude extracts and purified allergens derived from the Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) in atopic dogs to identify the allergenic proteins of cod.

Results: The levels of specific IgE to crude cod extracts were measured in the sera of 179 atopic dogs, including 27 dogs with cod allergy, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Few studies have investigated the effects of essential fatty acids on the production of epidermal ceramide (CER) in canine keratinocytes.

Hypothesis/objectives: To investigate the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and linoleic acid (LA) supplementation on the production of CERs using an in vitro canine keratinocyte culture system.

Methods And Materials: Canine keratinocyte cells (MSCEK) were incubated with high Ca [1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ceramides (CERs) in the stratum corneum (SC) are known to play a crucial role in determining skin barrier function in dogs. We aimed to develop an in vitro culture system that synthesized epidermal CER classes to better understand the synthesis of CER classes in canine SC-. Canine keratinocyte cells (MSCEK) at appropriate confluency were incubated with high Ca (1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Kestose, a fructooligosaccharide (FOS) with one fructose monomer linked to sucrose, is a key component of the prebiotic activity of FOS. This study aimed to evaluate the prebiotic potential of Kestose in terms of the impact on population change in the intestinal microbiota and fecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration in dogs. Kestose 2 g per dog was administered daily with conventional diet to 6 healthy, adult beagle dogs for 8 weeks followed by 4 weeks of follow-up period without Kestose supplementation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exfoliative toxins (ETs) are secreted virulence factors produced by staphylococci. These serine proteases specifically cleave desmoglein 1 (Dsg1) in mammals and are key elements in staphylococcal skin infections. We recently identified a new et gene in S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Impetigo is a contagious skin infection predominantly caused by . Decontamination of from the skin is becoming more difficult because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Bacteriophage endolysins are less likely to invoke resistance and can eliminate the target bacteria without disturbance of the normal microflora.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Nestin, which was originally described as a neural crest stem cell marker, is known to be expressed in bulge follicle cells of human, canine and murine anagen hairs. However, the capacity of nestin-expressing cells to differentiate into the components of the hair follicle or the epidermis has been insufficiently investigated.

Hypothesis/objectives: To determine whether nestin-expressing cells are capable of differentiating into keratinocytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Case Summary: A 32-month-old spayed female Singapura cat presented with a non-pruritic erythematous nodule on the upper lip. The cat also had multiple nodules in the liver but exhibited no other clinical signs consistent with classical feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), such as pleural effusion or ascites, uveitis or neurological symptoms. Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses of the cutaneous nodule revealed pyogranulomatous dermatitis with intralesional macrophages laden with feline coronavirus (FCoV) antigen.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Localized scleroderma (LS) is a sclerotic skin disorder rarely reported in the veterinary literature. We herein report the first case of a linear LS-like skin lesion in a cat. A 1-year-old castrated male Himalayan cat was presented with a 1-month history of an alopecic, indurated, serpiginous, branched skin lesion on the dorsal cervical to scapular area.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF