Long-term intake of Tamogi-take mushroom (Pleurotus cornucopiae) mitigates age-related cardiovascular dysfunction and extends healthy life expectancy.

Age-related declines in cardiac function and exercise tolerance interfere with healthy living and decrease healthy life expectancy in older individuals. Tamogi-take mushrooms (Pleurotus cornucopiae) are known to contain high levels of Ergothioneine (EGT), an antioxidant with potential health benefits. In this study, we assessed the possibility that long-term consumption of Tamogi-take mushrooms might attenuate age-related decline in cardiac and vascular endothelial function in mice.

Efficacy and safety in mice of repeated, lifelong administration of an ANGPTL3 vaccine.

Previously, we reported that an ANGPTL3 vaccine is a hopeful therapeutic option against dyslipidemia. In our current study, we assess durability and booster effects of that vaccine over a period representing a mouse's lifespan. The vaccine remained effective for over one year, and booster vaccination maintained suppression of circulating triglyceride levels thereafter without major adverse effects on lungs, kidneys, or liver, suggesting vaccine efficacy and safety.

Plasma ANGPTL8 Levels and Risk for Secondary Cardiovascular Events in Japanese Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease Receiving Statin Therapy.

Background: The ability to predict secondary cardiovascular events could improve health of patients undergoing statin treatment. Circulating ANGPTL8 (angiopoietin-like protein 8) levels, which positively correlate with proatherosclerotic lipid profiles, activate the pivotal proatherosclerotic factor ANGPTL3. Here, we assessed potential association between circulating ANGPTL8 levels and risk of secondary cardiovascular events in statin-treated patients.

Increased numbers of pre-operative circulating monocytes predict risk of developing cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury in conditions requiring cardio pulmonary bypass.

Background: Evaluating patients' risk for acute kidney injury (AKI) is crucial for positive outcomes following cardiac surgery. Our aims were first to select candidate risk factors from pre- or intra-operative real-world parameters collected from routine medical care and then evaluate potential associations between those parameters and risk of onset of post-operative cardiac surgery-associated AKI (CSA-AKI).

Method: We conducted two cohort studies in Japan.

Therapeutic effects of eperisone on pulmonary fibrosis via preferential suppression of fibroblast activity.

Although the exact pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is still unknown, the transdifferentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and the production of extracellular matrix components such as collagen, triggered by alveolar epithelial cell injury, are important mechanisms of IPF development. In the lungs of IPF patients, apoptosis is less likely to be induced in fibroblasts than in alveolar epithelial cells, and this process is involved in the pathogenesis of IPF. We used a library containing approved drugs to screen for drugs that preferentially reduce cell viability in LL29 cells (lung fibroblasts from an IPF patient) compared with A549 cells (human alveolar epithelial cell line).

Vaccine targeting ANGPTL3 ameliorates dyslipidemia and associated diseases in mouse models of obese dyslipidemia and familial hypercholesterolemia.

Dyslipidemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a major cause of death worldwide. Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3), recognized as a new therapeutic target for dyslipidemia, regulates the metabolism of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides. Here, we design 3 epitopes (E1-E3) for use in development of a peptide vaccine targeting ANGPTL3 and estimate effects of each on obesity-associated dyslipidemia in B6.

Sticking Effect of a Tackifier on the Fibrillation of Acrylic Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives.

In this study, the effect of a tackifier on the viscoelastic and adhesion properties of acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) was investigated. The intermediate products in the process of PSA synthesis, including an acrylate-based copolymer solution, a cross-linked copolymer, and the final product with a tackifier, were prepared and characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). A significant increase in storage and loss moduli at high angular velocities was observed for the final product with the tackifier.

The lncRNA Caren antagonizes heart failure by inactivating DNA damage response and activating mitochondrial biogenesis.

In the past decade, many long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified and their in vitro functions defined, although in some cases their functions in vivo remain less clear. Moreover, unlike nuclear lncRNAs, the roles of cytoplasmic lncRNAs are less defined. Here, using a gene trapping approach in mouse embryonic stem cells, we identify Caren (short for cardiomyocyte-enriched noncoding transcript), a cytoplasmic lncRNA abundantly expressed in cardiomyocytes.

Carnosine suppresses neuronal cell death and inflammation induced by 6-hydroxydopamine in an in vitro model of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which prevention and effective treatments are lacking. The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is not clearly understood. It is thought to be caused by oxidative stress-dependent loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra and the promotion of inflammatory responses by microglia at the lesion site.

Asperuloside Improves Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes through Modulation of Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Signaling.

Asperuloside (ASP) is an iridoid glycoside that is extracted from leaves. is used in traditional Chinese medicine and has a long history of benefits on health and longevity. Here, we investigated the impact of ASP on obesity-related metabolic disorders and show that ASP reduces body weight gain, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance effectively in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD).

Circulating angiopoietin-like protein 2 levels and mortality risk in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment have a poor prognosis, as many develop premature aging. Systemic inflammatory conditions often underlie premature aging phenotypes in uremic patients. We investigated whether angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL 2), a factor that accelerates the progression of aging-related and noninfectious inflammatory diseases, was associated with increased mortality risk in hemodialysis patients.

Idebenone has preventative and therapeutic effects on pulmonary fibrosis via preferential suppression of fibroblast activity.

Alveolar epithelial injury induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and abnormal collagen production by activated fibroblasts (myofibroblasts) is involved in the onset and exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Compared with alveolar epithelial cells, lung fibroblasts, especially myofibroblasts, exhibit an apoptosis-resistance phenotype (apoptosis paradox) that appears to be involved in IPF pathogenesis. Thus, we screened for chemicals eliciting preferential cytotoxicity of LL29 cells (lung fibroblasts from an IPF patient) compared with A549 cells (human lung alveolar epithelial cell line) from medicines already in clinical use.

Aging- and obesity-related peri-muscular adipose tissue accelerates muscle atrophy.

Sarcopenia due to loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength leads to physical inactivity and decreased quality of life. The number of individuals with sarcopenia is rapidly increasing as the number of older people increases worldwide, making this condition a medical and social problem. Some patients with sarcopenia exhibit accumulation of peri-muscular adipose tissue (PMAT) as ectopic fat deposition surrounding atrophied muscle.

Protective effect of polaprezinc on cadmium-induced injury of lung epithelium.

Cadmium is a toxic metal contained in food, water and the atmosphere, and exposure to cadmium can cause respiratory diseases in humans. Various health problems caused by cadmium result from oxidative stress-dependent cellular injury. Metallothioneins are intracellular, cysteine-rich, metal-binding proteins that have a detoxifying action on heavy metals such as cadmium in various organs.

Loss of Endogenous HMGB2 Promotes Cardiac Dysfunction and Pressure Overload-Induced Heart Failure in Mice.

Background: The rapid increase in the number of heart failure (HF) patients in parallel with the increase in the number of older people is receiving attention worldwide. HF not only increases mortality but decreases quality of life, creating medical and social problems. Thus, it is necessary to define molecular mechanisms underlying HF development and progression.

Association of circulating ANGPTL 3, 4, and 8 levels with medical status in a population undergoing routine medical checkups: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Angiopoietin-like proteins (ANGPTLs) 3, 4, and 8 reportedly contribute to progression of metabolic disease, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether circulating ANGPTL levels are associated with CVD risk after adjustment for potential confounding factors.

Methods: We conducted a single center, cross-sectional study of 988 Japanese subjects undergoing routine health checks.

Age-dependent increase in angiopoietin-like protein 2 accelerates skeletal muscle loss in mice.

Skeletal muscle atrophy, or sarcopenia, is commonly observed in older individuals and in those with chronic disease and is associated with decreased quality of life. There is recent medical and broad concern that sarcopenia is rapidly increasing worldwide as populations age. At present, strength training is the only effective intervention for preventing sarcopenia development, but it is not known how this exercise regimen counteracts this condition.

Angiopoietin-like protein 2 promotes chondrogenic differentiation during bone growth as a cartilage matrix factor.

Objective: Chondrocyte differentiation is crucial for long bone growth. Many cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins reportedly contribute to chondrocyte differentiation, indicating that mechanisms underlying chondrocyte differentiation are likely more complex than previously appreciated. Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) is a secreted factor normally abundantly produced in mesenchymal lineage cells such as adipocytes and fibroblasts, but its loss contributes to the pathogenesis of lifestyle- or aging-related diseases.

Treatment of diabetic mice with the SGLT2 inhibitor TA-1887 antagonizes diabetic cachexia and decreases mortality.

A favorable effect of an inhibitor of the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2i) on mortality of diabetic patients was recently reported, although mechanisms underlying that effect remained unclear. Here, we examine SGLT2i effects on survival of diabetic mice and assess factors underlying these outcomes. To examine SGLT2i treatment effects in a model of severe diabetes, we fed genetically diabetic mice a high-fat diet and then assessed outcomes including diabetic complications between SGLT2i TA-1887-treated and control mice.

Circulating ANGPTL2 Levels Increase in Humans and Mice Exhibiting Cardiac Dysfunction.

Background: Recently, it was reported that angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) secreted from a pathologically stressed heart accelerates cardiac dysfunction in an autocrine/paracrine manner, and that suppression of ANGPTL2 production in the heart restored cardiac function and myocardial energy metabolism, thereby blocking heart failure (HF) development. Interestingly, circulating ANGPTL2 concentrations reportedly increase in HF patients, suggesting a possible endocrine effect on cardiac dysfunction. However, it remains unclear why circulating ANGPTL2 increases in those subjects and whether circulating ANGPTL2 alters cardiac function in an endocrine manner.

Protective and therapeutic effect of felodipine against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) involves alveolar epithelial injury and abnormal collagen production caused by activated fibroblasts; transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 is implicated in this activation. In this study, we screened for chemicals capable of inhibiting TGF-β1-induced collagen production in cultured fibroblasts from medicines already in clinical use. We selected felodipine based on its extent of collagen production inhibition, clinical safety profile, and other pharmacological activity.

Bile acid binding resin prevents fat accumulation through intestinal microbiota in high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice.

Background: Bile acid binding resin (BAR) absorbs intestinal bile acids, and improves obesity and metabolic disorders, but the precise mechanism remains to be clarified. Recent findings reveal that obesity is associated with skewed intestinal microbiota. Thus, we investigated the effect of BAR on intestinal microbiota and the role of microbiota in the prevention of obesity in high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice.

Preventive Effects of Carnosine on Lipopolysaccharide-induced Lung Injury.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a potentially devastating form of acute lung injury, which involves neutrophilic inflammation and pulmonary cell death. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in ARDS development. New compounds for inhibiting the onset and progression of ARDS are required.

Upregulation of ANGPTL6 in mouse keratinocytes enhances susceptibility to psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease marked by aberrant tissue repair. Mutant mice modeling psoriasis skin characteristics have provided useful information relevant to molecular mechanisms and could serve to evaluate therapeutic strategies. Here, we found that epidermal ANGPTL6 expression was markedly induced during tissue repair in mice.

ANGPTL2 activity in cardiac pathologies accelerates heart failure by perturbing cardiac function and energy metabolism.

A cardioprotective response that alters ventricular contractility or promotes cardiomyocyte enlargement occurs with increased workload in conditions such as hypertension. When that response is excessive, pathological cardiac remodelling occurs, which can progress to heart failure, a leading cause of death worldwide. Mechanisms underlying this response are not fully understood.