MicroRNA-494 regulates mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle through mitochondrial transcription factor A and Forkhead box j3.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important posttranscriptional regulators of various biological pathways. In this study, we focused on the role of miRNAs during mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. The expression of miR-494 was markedly decreased in murine myoblast C₂C₁₂ cells during myogenic differentiation, accompanied by an increase in mtDNA.

Fabrication and properties of chitin/hydroxyapatite hybrid hydrogels as scaffold nano-materials.

Novel hybrid hydrogels were prepared by introducing nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) into chitin solution dissolved in NaOH/urea aqueous solution at low temperature, and then by cross-linking with epichlorohydrin (ECH). Their structure and morphology were characterized by FTIR spectra, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our findings revealed that hydroxyapatite nano-particles were uniformly dispersed in chitin hydrogel networks.

Pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine a conversion from twice-daily infusion to oral administration in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Twice-daily administration of cyclosporine A (CyA) has often been used for prophylaxis of acute graft versus host disease in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). But there have not been any reports that calculated the conversion ratio of the switch from twice-daily intravenous infusion to oral administration of CyA in adult patients. To establish the conversion ratio and the best strategy of twice-daily administration of CyA, the authors investigated the serial changes in the blood CyA concentration during the switch from twice-daily intravenous infusion to oral administration while maintaining high-peak concentration (over 1000 ng/mL) and calculated the bioavailability of Neoral, a micro emulsion cyclosporine, in 11 patients.

Intraepidermal nerve fiber density and nerve conduction study parameters correlate with clinical staging of diabetic polyneuropathy.

Aim And Methods: To assess the usefulness of the diagnostic and staging criteria for diabetic polyneuropathy (DP) by the Diabetic Neuropathy Study Group in Japan (DNSGJ) we examined clinical features, intraepidermal nerve fiber densities (IENFD) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) and coefficient of variation of the R-R intervals (CVR-R) in 44 patients with diabetes.

Results: The patients were classified into stage I (n=20), II (n=6), III+IV (n=12), and V (n=6) according to the staging criteria by DNSGJ. IENFD decreased as stages progressed (13.

Drug interactions between micafungin at high doses and cyclosporine A in febrile neutropenia patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the drug interaction between high doses of micafungin and cyclosporine A (CyA) in allo-HSCT patients.

Methods: We assigned 15 patients to Groups 1, 2, or 3. We investigated the serial changes in the blood concentration/dose (C/dose) of intravenous CyA during micafungin coadministration in 5 patients during the switch from the prophylactic dose (150 mg/body) to the therapeutic dose (300 mg/body) of micafungin (Group 1), and compared each of the 5 patients in Group 1 with those who continued to receive the prophylactic doses of 150 mg or 50 mg/body of micafungin (Groups 2 and 3).

Late-onset scleroderma renal crisis induced by tacrolimus and prednisolone: a case report.

Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) is a rare complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc) but can be severe enough to require temporary or permanent renal replacement therapy. Moderate to high dose corticosteroid use is recognized as a major risk factor for SRC. Furthermore, there have been reports of thrombotic microangiopathy precipitated by cyclosporine in patients with SSc.

Asymptomatic synchronous quintuple primary cancers.

We encountered a 46-year-old woman with synchronous quintuple primary cancers. She did not present with any symptoms, and her tumors were discovered at a gynecological screening. She had clear cell adenocarcinoma of the right ovary, moderately differentiated endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon, well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the rectum, and poorly differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma of the left lung.

Attentional set-shifting deficit in Parkinson's disease is associated with prefrontal dysfunction: an FDG-PET study.

The attentional set-shifting deficit that has been observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) has long been considered neuropsychological evidence of the involvement of meso-prefrontal and prefrontal-striatal circuits in cognitive flexibility. However, recent studies have suggested that non-dopaminergic, posterior cortical pathologies may also contribute to this deficit. Although several neuroimaging studies have addressed this issue, the results of these studies were confounded by the use of tasks that required other cognitive processes in addition to set-shifting, such as rule learning and working memory.

Efficacy and tolerability of vildagliptin in type 2 diabetic patients on hemodialysis.

Anti-diabetic agent-related hypoglycemia is a serious complication in type 2 diabetic patients on hemodialysis. Therefore, we assessed the efficacy and tolerability of 24 weeks of monotherapy with vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase four inhibitor, which is a new class of antidiabetic agent. This open-label, single-arm clinical trial was performed on 26 patients on hemodialysis.

Pareidolias: complex visual illusions in dementia with Lewy bodies.

Patients rarely experience visual hallucinations while being observed by clinicians. Therefore, instruments to detect visual hallucinations directly from patients are needed. Pareidolias, which are complex visual illusions involving ambiguous forms that are perceived as meaningful objects, are analogous to visual hallucinations and have the potential to be a surrogate indicator of visual hallucinations.

A Validation Study of the Japanese Version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised.

The aim of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) [Mori: Japanese Edition of Hodges JR's Cognitive Assessment for Clinicians, 2010] designed to detect dementia, and to compare its diagnostic accuracy with that of the Mini-Mental State Examination. The ACE-R was administered to 85 healthy individuals and 126 patients with dementia. The reliability assessment revealed a strong correlation in both groups.

Bidirectional fluorescence properties of pyrene-based peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/δ dual agonist.

Based on X-ray crystallographic analysis of a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/δ dual agonist complexed with human PPARs ligand binding domain (LBD), we previously reported the design and synthesis of a pyrene-based fluorescent PPARα/δ co-agonist 2. Here, we found that the fluorescence intensity of 2 increased upon binding to hPPARα-LBD, in a manner dependent upon the concentration of the LBD. But, surprisingly, the fluorescence intensity of 2 decreased concentration-dependently upon binding to hPPRδ-LBD.

Factors associated with progression of diabetic nephropathy in Japanese elderly patients with type 2 diabetes: sub-analysis of the Japanese Elderly Diabetes Intervention Trial.

Aim: Diabetic nephropathy is a serious complication in patients with type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with the progression of this complication in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This retrospective study of a subgroup of patients registered with the Japanese Elderly Diabetes Intervention Trial included 621 Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (age ≥ 65 years, 346 with normoalbuminuria, 190 with microalbuminuria and 85 with overt proteinuria).

Polymer composites reinforced by locking-in a liquid-crystalline assembly of cellulose nanocrystallites.

An attempt was made to synthesize novel composites comprising poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and cellulose nanocrystallites (CNC) (acid-treated cotton microfibrils) from suspensions of CNC in an aqueous 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomer solution. The starting suspensions (∼5 wt % CNC) separated into an isotropic upper phase and an anisotropic bottom one in the course of quiescent standing. By way of polymerization of HEMA in different phase situations of the suspensions, we obtained films of three polymer composites, PHEMA-CNC(iso), PHEMA-CNC(aniso), and PHEMA-CNC(mix), coming from the isotropic phase, anisotropic phase, and embryonic nonseparating mixture, respectively.

Estradiol and raloxifene induce the proliferation of osteoblasts through G-protein-coupled receptor GPR30.

Background: Although G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR30, has been considered as a G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor, conflicting results have been reported and the function of GPR30 in bone remains unresolved. The aim of this study was to clarify the functional role of GPR30 in osteoblasts using its derived cell line.

Methods And Results: Immunohistochemical study revealed that GPR30 is expressed in human osteoblasts.

Arterial stiffness and renal impairment in non-proteinuric type 2 diabetic patients.

Unlabelled: Aims/Introduction:  Although increases in urinary protein excretion generally precede a decline in the glomerular filtration rate, non-proteinuric renal impairment is common in patients with diabetes. In the present study, we examined the relationship between indices of arterial stiffness and renal function in type 2 diabetic patients without proteinuria.

Methods:   Blood sampling, 24-h urine collection, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed in type 2 diabetic patients without overt proteinuria.

O-linked-N-acetylglucosamine modification of mammalian Notch receptors by an atypical O-GlcNAc transferase Eogt1.

O-linked-β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification is a unique cytoplasmic and nuclear protein modification that is common in nearly all eukaryotes, including filamentous fungi, plants, and animals. We had recently reported that epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats of Notch and Dumpy are O-GlcNAcylated by an atypical O-GlcNAc transferase, EOGT, in Drosophila. However, no study has yet shown whether O-GlcNAcylation of extracellular proteins is limited to insects such as Drosophila or whether it occurs in other organisms, including mammals.

Counting-backward test for executive function in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a bedside test for executive function in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH).

Materials And Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with INPH and 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were enrolled in this study. We developed the counting-backward test for evaluating executive function in patients with INPH.

Severe olfactory dysfunction is a prodromal symptom of dementia associated with Parkinson's disease: a 3 year longitudinal study.

Dementia is one of the most debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease. A recent longitudinal study suggests that up to 80% of patients with Parkinson's disease will eventually develop dementia. Despite its clinical importance, the development of dementia is still difficult to predict at early stages.

Electrooptical behavior of aqueous (hydroxypropyl)cellulose liquid crystals containing imidazolium salts.

A dynamic control of the cholesteric coloration and optical clarity of aqueous (hydroxypropyl)cellulose (HPC) lyotropics is attainable under a weak electric field by employing a fluctuating ionic additive as P and T(c) shifter (P, cholesteric pitch; T(c), cloud point). The present Article demonstrates some examples of time-evolving gradation in reflection color and transparency for HPC liquid crystals containing various N-alkyl-substituted methylimidazolium salts ([CnMim][X]); this was perceivable when each anisotropic solution was sealed in a layer form between parallel slide glasses spaced by a pair of carbon electrodes and then electrified with a direct circuit. The electrooptical phenomenon was interpreted as being primarily due to generation of a disproportional dislocation of cation (CnMim(+))/anion (X(-)) constituents.

An outbreak of canine distemper virus in tigers (Panthera tigris): possible transmission from wild animals to zoo animals.

Canine distemper virus (CDV), a morbillivirus that causes one of the most contagious and lethal viral diseases known in canids, has an expanding host range, including wild animals. Since December 2009, several dead or dying wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were found in and around one safari-style zoo in Japan, and CDV was isolated from four of these animals. In the subsequent months (January to February 2010), 12 tigers (Panthera tigris) in the zoo developed respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, and CDV RNA was detected in fecal samples of the examined tigers.