Macaque long-term nonprogressors resist superinfection with multiple CD8+ T cell escape variants of simian immunodeficiency virus.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals can be superinfected with different virus strains. Individuals who control an initial HIV infection are therefore still at risk for subsequent infection with divergent viruses, but the barriers to such superinfection remain unclear. Here we tested long-term nonprogressors' (LTNPs') susceptibility to superinfection using Indian rhesus macaques that express the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) allele Mamu-B 17, which is associated with control of the pathogenic AIDS virus SIVmac239.

Reduced ischemic brain injury by partial rejuvenation of bone marrow cells in aged rats.

Circulating bone marrow-derived immature cells, including endothelial progenitor cells, have been implicated in homeostasis of the microvasculature. Decreased levels of circulating endothelial progenitor cells, associated with aging and/or cardiovascular risk factors, correlate with poor clinical outcomes in a range of cardiovascular diseases. Herein, we transplanted bone marrow cells from young stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR-SP) into aged SHR-SP, the latter not exposed to radiation or chemotherapy.

Muscle-afferent projection to the sensorimotor cortex after voluntary movement and motor-point stimulation: an MEG study.

Objective: To investigate the projection of muscle afferents to the sensorimotor cortex after voluntary finger movement by using magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Methods: The movement-evoked magnetic fields (MEFs) after voluntary index-finger extension were recorded by a 204-channel whole-head MEG system. Somatosensory-evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) were recorded after motor-point stimulation was applied to the right extensor indicis muscle by using a pair of wire electrodes.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV, vascular type, which demonstrated a novel point mutation in the COL3A1 gene.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV (EDS type IV), vascular type, an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a mutation of the type III procollagen gene (COL3A1) is the most severe form of EDS and often presents with aortic hemorrhage or organ perforation. This report discusses a male patient with EDS type IV with dyspnea due to hemopneumothorax. He had thin skin and hypermobile joints and was clinically confirmed as having EDS type IV.

[Laser therapy for endobronchial malignancies].

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), neodymium yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd-YAG) laser therapy, electrocautery and microwave coagulation therapy are therapeutic options available for management of endobronchial malignancies. All of these treatment modalities have been used for both palliation of late obstructing cancers, and more recently have been used as primary treatment of early stage lung cancers. Only PDT has the curative potential for patients with early superficial squamous cell carcinoma.

Immunodeficiency reduces neural stem/progenitor cell apoptosis and enhances neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex after stroke.

Acute inflammation in the poststroke period exacerbates neuronal damage and stimulates reparative mechanisms, including neurogenesis. However, only a small fraction of neural stem/progenitor cells survives. In this report, by using a highly reproducible model of cortical infarction in SCID mice, we examined the effects of immunodeficiency on reduction of brain injury, survival of neural stem/progenitor cells, and functional recovery.

[Questionnaire for determining relationship between nasal and asthma symptoms].

Background: The interaction between allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma is well known. However, there is little epidemiological data on the relationship between nasal diseases and asthma, especially in Japan.

Methods: We administered a questionnaire to 126 patients to examine the frequency of associations between nasal and asthma symptoms in patients with both nasal disease and asthma.

Detection and genotyping of canine coronavirus RNA in diarrheic dogs in Japan.

To clarify the prevalence of canine coronavirus (CCoV) infection in Japan, faecal samples from 109 dogs with diarrhoea were examined for CCoV RNA together with canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) DNA. The detection rates of CCoV and CPV-2 for dogs aged less than 1 year were 66.3% and 43.

Changes in airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness after inhaled corticosteroid cessation in allergic asthma.

Background: Most patients with asthma are currently controlled by pharmacotherapeutic means such as inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). However, whether ICS actually induces remission of asthma remains unknown. The present study evaluates changes in airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in adult patients with asthma after stopping ICS.

Salbutamol modulates the balance of Th1 and Th2 cytokines by mononuclear cells from allergic asthmatics.

Background: There is evidence that excessive use of inhalational beta(2)-agonists induces the deterioration of asthma. Although the exact mechanism of this remains to be elucidated, overuse of beta(2)-agonists may impair the Th1/Th2 balance in asthmatic airways. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether salbutamol, a representative inhalational beta(2)-agonist, modifies the production of Th1- and Th2-type cytokines by mononuclear cells separated from patients with asthma and healthy volunteers.

Bone marrow mononuclear cells promote proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells through vascular niches after cerebral infarction.

Increasing evidence shows that administration of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs) is a potential treatment for various ischemic diseases, such as ischemic stroke. Although angiogenesis has been considered primarily responsible for the effect of BMMCs, their direct contribution to endothelial cells (ECs) by being a functional elements of vascular niches for neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) has not been considered. Herein, we examine whether BMMCs affected the properties of ECs and NSPCs, and whether they promoted neurogenesis and functional recovery after stroke.

Estimation of 123I-IMP arterial blood activity from dynamic planar imaging of the chest using a graph plot method for the quantification of regional cerebral blood flow.

Purpose: I-123-labeled N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine ((123)I-IMP) is used for the measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). A continuous or single arterial blood sampling (ABS) is necessary to estimate an integral of arterial input function (AIF) for the measurement of rCBF by using a microsphere model analysis. Therefore, a method of measuring rCBF without any blood sampling is desired.

Neuromagnetic activation of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex following tactile-on and tactile-off stimulation.

Objective: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings were performed to investigate the cortical activation following tactile-on and tactile-off stimulation.

Methods: We used a 306-ch whole-head MEG system and a tactile stimulator driven by a piezoelectric actuator. Tactile stimuli were applied to the tip of right index finger.

Exciton Primer-mediated SNP detection in SmartAmp2 reactions.

Most commonly used intercalating fluorescent dyes in DNA detection are lacking any sequence specificity, whereas so-called Exciton Primers can overcome this limitation by functioning as "sequence-specific dyes." After hybridization to complementary sequences, the fluorescence of Exciton Primers provides sequence-specific signals for real-time monitoring of amplification reactions. Applied to the SmartAmp2 mutation detection process, Exciton Primers show high signal strength with low background leading to a superior specificity and sensitivity compared to SYBR Green I.

Identification of novel hair-growth inducers by means of connectivity mapping.

The aim of this study was to identify novel inducers of hair growth using gene expression profiling at various stages of hair-growth induction. First, we analyzed gene expression at the onset of hair growth in mice induced by cyclosporin A (CsA), a well-known hair-growth inducer, using DNA microarray analysis. The results unveiled genes involved in the step-by-step progression of hair growth, including increases in melanin biosynthesis and decreases in immune response at d 2 and the subsequent stimulation of cell proliferation at d 4, followed by the up-regulation of hair specific keratins at d 7 after CsA treatment.

An easy and reproducible model of kidney transplantation in rats.

Objective: Kidney transplantation in rats is an important research model. Various methods have been reported, but there is no "standard operation." We investigated a 1-stage versus a 2-stage native nephrectomy and the type of ureteral anastomosis seeking to establish a standard, reproducible and successful method.

Improvement of image quality using interpolated projection data estimation method in SPECT.

Objective: General data acquisition for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is performed in 90 or 60 directions, with a coarse pitch of approximately 4-6 degrees for a rotation of 360 degrees or 180 degrees , using a gamma camera. No data between adjacent projections will be sampled under these circumstances. The aim of the study was to develop a method to improve SPECT image quality by generating lacking projection data through interpolation of data obtained with a coarse pitch such as 6 degrees .

[Clinical examination of challenge test to local anesthetics].

Background: Although adverse reactions to local anesthetics are often diagnosed as local anesthetic allergy, there is evidence that most of these reactions occur via non-allergic mechanisms.

Methods: To evaluate allergic reactions to local anesthetics, challenge tests were performed in 20 patients who had a history of adverse events to local anesthetics for whom dental treatment was planned. The diagnostic protocol of this challenge test consisted of skin prick and intracutaneous tests, as well as subsequent incremental subcutaneous challenge tests with local anesthetics such as lidocaine.

Isolation and characterization of neural stem/progenitor cells from post-stroke cerebral cortex in mice.

The CNS has the potential to marshal strong reparative mechanisms, including activation of endogenous neurogenesis, after a brain injury such as stroke. However, the response of neural stem/progenitor cells to stroke is poorly understood. Recently, neural stem/progenitor cells have been identified in the cerebral cortex, as well as previously recognized regions such as the subventricular or subgranular zones of the hippocampus, suggesting that a contribution of cortex-derived neural stem/progenitor cells may repair ischemic lesions of the cerebral cortex.

[Acquired hemophilia A developing at bilateral renal bleeding: a case report].

A 82-year-old woman with asymptomatic gross hematuria was referred to us for a consultation. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed hydronephrosis in the right kidney and retrograde pyelography showed a filling defect in the right renal pelvis. Cystoscopy revealed gross hematuria from right ureteral orifice concomitant with superficial papillary bladder tumor (catheterized urine cytology: positive) (transurethral resection of bladder tumor UC G1 pTa).

Changes after behavior therapy among responsive and nonresponsive patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Neuroimaging studies have suggested that behavior therapy (BT) might change abnormal activity in the frontal-subcortical circuits of the brain in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the results of these studies have been rather inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to use statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis to explore the effects of successful BT on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with OCD.

Prolonged accumulation of high-dose methotrexate in a case with large liver cysts.

Methotrexate (MTX) has been documented to accumulate in "third spaces'' such as pleural effusions or ascitic fluids, resulting in delayed clearance and severe toxicity. We present a case of Burkitt lymphoma possessing large liver cysts, up to the size of 7 x 7 cm, wherein clearance of high-dose MTX was severely delayed, despite normal renal and liver functions. The serum MTX concentration was higher than 0.

Decreased circulating CD34+ cells are associated with progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Aims: Circulating progenitor cells such as CD34+ cells play a key role in maintenance of vascular endothelial function and neovascularization, and a decrease in the number of CD34+ cells is associated with cardiovascular disease. However, the contribution of circulating progenitor cells to microvascular disease, such as diabetic nephropathy, is unclear. This study was therefore designed to clarify the association between diabetic nephropathy and circulating CD34+ cells.