Serum soluble fas levels and superoxide dismutase activity and the risk of death from pancreatic cancer: A nested case-control study within the Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study.

In a search for novel circulating biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, we examined the association between serum soluble Fas (sFas) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and the risk of death from pancreatic cancer in a nested case-control study within the Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study. Case subjects were 68 persons who were free of morbidity, had provided a blood sample at baseline (1988-1990), and subsequently died from pancreatic cancer before December 31, 1997. Control subjects were 199 matched persons who were selected from the remaining participants in the cohort.

Lack of association between risk of biliary tract cancer and circulating IGF (Insulin-like Growth Factor) -I, IGF-II or IGFBP-3 (IGF-binding Protein-3): A nested case-control study in a large scale cohort study in Japan.

Biliary tract cancer, encompassing gallbladder and bile duct cancers, has a poor prognosis, but little is known of the etiology. A nested case-control study was here conducted to evaluate the association between serum levels of IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP-3 and death from biliary tract cancer. In a large scale cohort study, 35 gallbladder and 42 bile duct cancers were observed during the follow-up.

Green tea consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer in Japanese adults.

Objective: Green tea polyphenols have been shown to inhibit tumor growth in animal and in vitro studies. We examined the relationship between green tea consumption and the risk of death from pancreatic cancer in a large Japanese cohort.

Methods: At baseline (1988-1990), study participants reported the frequency and amount of green tea consumption during the past year.

Cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and the risk of gallbladder cancer death: a prospective cohort study in Japan.

Gallbladder cancer is a rare cancer with a poor prognosis, and few risk factors have been identified to date. This prospective study was conducted to evaluate the association of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption with the risk of gallbladder cancer death. A baseline survey in 45 areas throughout Japan was conducted from 1988 to 1990 using a self-administered questionnaire, and a total of 113,496 participants (65,740 women) aged 40-89 years at entry were followed for 15 years.

Obesity, physical activity and the risk of pancreatic cancer in a large Japanese cohort.

It is unclear whether body mass index (BMI) and physical activity are associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer in Asian populations. We examined these associations in the Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk. Our cohort study included 110,792 Japanese men and women at enrollment (1988-1990).

Dietary habits and pancreatic cancer risk in a cohort of middle-aged and elderly Japanese.

Few epidemiological studies have examined associations between diet and pancreatic cancer in Japan. In the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk, we evaluated the relationship between dietary factors, including meat, vegetable, and fruit intake, and the risk of pancreatic cancer deaths. Among the original cohort established between 1988 and 1990, 46,465 men and 64,327 women aged 40-79 yr were followed-up through December 31,1999.

Factors associated with intentions to adhere to colorectal cancer screening follow-up exams.

Background: To increase adherence rate to recommendations for follow-up after abnormal colorectal cancer (CRC) screening results, factors that inhibit and facilitate follow-up must be identified. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with intention to adhere to CRC screening follow-up exams.

Methods: During a 4-week period in October 2003, this survey was conducted with 426 subjects participating in a community-based CRC screening program in Nagano, Japan.

Association of menstrual and reproductive factors with pancreatic cancer risk in women: findings of the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk.

Background: The etiology of pancreatic cancer remains largely unknown. We examined the association of pancreatic cancer deaths with menstrual and reproductive factors in a cohort study involving Japanese women.

Methods: A total of 63,273 women were followed up for mortality from 1988 to 1999.

Serum transforming growth factor-beta1 levels and pancreatic cancer risk: a nested case-control study (Japan).

Objective: To examine the relationship of baseline levels of serum TGF-beta1 to the subsequent risk of death from pancreatic cancer in a nested case-control study.

Methods: The cases were 85 persons who had provided a blood sample at baseline and subsequently died of pancreatic cancer during the study period. For each case, three controls were randomly selected from among the cohort participants, and were matched for each case by sex, age (+/-1 year), and study area.

Evaluation of data in terms of two-dimensional random walk model: interaction between NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase and cytochrome b5.

Normally, bimolecular reactions are analyzed in terms of the Smoluchowski theory. However, when one attempts to generalize this analysis to cases where diffusion proceeds in two other than in three dimensions, one soon encounters severe conceptual difficulties. Although kinetic studies of membrane enzymes are generally difficult because the usual kinetic formalism refers to nonaggregated homogenous solutions, a major goal of our research is to define the molecular mechanism(s) by which alterations in membrane-bound substrate contents affect the enzyme activity in the same membrane.

Serum pepsinogen values and Helicobacter pylori status among control subjects of a nested case-control study in the JACC study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection and serum pepsinogen values are strongly related with stomach cancer. The aim of this study was to know what were these factors among general population.

Methods: Subjects were randomly selected 633 control subjects in a nested case-control study for risk of stomach cancer.

Alcohol consumption and mortality among middle-aged and elderly Japanese men and women.

Purpose: We conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the association between alcohol intake and the risk of all-cause mortality among middle-aged and elderly Japanese men and women.

Methods: At baseline (1988-1990), a total of 110,792 Japanese men and women aged 40 to 79 years were asked to complete a questionnaire that included information on alcohol intake, and were followed up for all-cause mortality through December 31, 1999. Relative risks (95% confidence interval) were calculated using Cox proportional-hazards models.

Ab initio model study on acetylcholinesterase catalysis: potential energy surfaces of the proton transfer reactions.

Ab initio molecular orbital (MO) and hybrid density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been applied to the initial step of the acylation reaction catalyzed by acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is the nucleophiric addition of Ser200 in catalytic triads to a neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). We focus our attention mainly on the effects of oxyanion hole and Glu327 on the potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the proton transfer reactions in the catalytic triad Ser200-His440-Glu327. The activation barrier for the addition reaction of Ser200 to ACh was calculated to be 23.

Bowel movement frequency, medical history and the risk of gallbladder cancer death: a cohort study in Japan.

Few risk factors for gallbladder cancer have been identified with sufficient statistical power, because this cancer is rare. The present study was conducted to evaluate the association of bowel movement frequency and medical history with the risk of death from gallbladder cancer using the data set from a large-scale cohort study. A total of 113,394 participants (42.

Inhibition of joint inflammation and destruction induced by anti-type II collagen antibody/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced arthritis in mice due to deletion of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).

Objective: Previous studies have demonstrated that neutralization of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) by anti-MIF antibody decreases joint destruction in the collagen-induced arthritis model. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether selective deletion of MIF inhibits inflammation and joint destruction of the anti-type II collagen antibody (anti-CII Ab)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced arthritis in mice, in order to determine the role of this cytokine in inflammatory arthritis.

Design: Anti-CII Ab/LPS-induced arthritis was induced in MIF-deficient and wild-type mice.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor up-regulates the expression of interleukin-8 messenger RNA in synovial fibroblasts of rheumatoid arthritis patients: common transcriptional regulatory mechanism between interleukin-8 and interleukin-1beta.

Objective: Interleukin-8 (IL-8) plays an important role in the migration of inflammatory cells into the synovium and joint fluids in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was undertaken to investigate the IL-8 inductive activity of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in RA synovial fibroblasts. The regulatory mechanism of IL-8 was compared with that of IL-1beta.

Serum insulin-like growth factor-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and the risk of pancreatic cancer death.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that high serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are associated with an increased risk of lung, colon, breast and prostate cancer. Since very few studies have addressed the role of serum levels of IGF-I in the development of pancreatic cancer, we conducted a nested case-control study to examine this association. The analysis involved 69 case subjects who died from pancreatic cancer during the follow-up period of the study, and 207 control subjects matched for sex, age(+/-1 year) and study area, selected randomly from a cohort of 10364 individuals.

Xenopus laevis macrophage migration inhibitory factor is essential for axis formation and neural development.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an immunoregulatory cytokine involved in both acquired and innate immunity. MIF also has many functions outside the immune system, such as isomerase and oxidoreductase activities and control of cell proliferation. Considering the involvement of MIF in various intra- and extracellular events, we expected that MIF might also be important in vertebrate development.

Increased expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor during fracture healing in rats.

We previously reported that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is expressed in osteoblasts in murine calvarial bone, and that MIF upregulates the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 mRNA in osteoblasts and chondrocytes; however, its pathophysiological functions in bone have not been well understood. In this study, we used a rat femoral fracture model to examine the expression of MIF during the fracture healing process. Semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that MIF mRNA was increased throughout the healing process.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor is induced by thrombin and factor Xa in endothelial cells.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory cytokine, has been shown to play a role in wound-healing processes. In this study, we investigated whether protease-activated receptor (PAR)-1 and PAR-2 mediated MIF expression in human endothelial cells. Thrombin, factor Xa (FXa), and trypsin induced MIF expression in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, but other proteases, including kallikrein and urokinase, failed to do so.

Transgene of MIF induces podocyte injury and progressive mesangial sclerosis in the mouse kidney.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a pathogenic role in glomerulonephritis. Renal expression of MIF is up-regulated in infiltrating and intrinsic renal cells, which include glomerular epithelial cells. The aim of the current study was to further clarify the role of MIF produced by podocytes in the process of renal disease.

Ultraviolet A-induced production of matrix metalloproteinase-1 is mediated by macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in human dermal fibroblasts.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are thought to be responsible for dermal photoaging in human skin. In the present study, we evaluated the involvement of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in MMP-1 expression under ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation in cultured human dermal fibroblasts. UVA (20 J/cm(2)) up-regulates MIF production, and UVA-induced MMP-1 mRNA production is inhibited by an anti-MIF antibody.

Induction of macrophage migration inhibitory factor by lysophosphatidic acid: relevance to tumor growth and angiogenesis.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) plays an important role not only in the immune system, but also in tumorigenesis. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a unique lipid mediator, shares several biological functions with MIF, including promotion of tumor cell growth and associated angiogenesis. In this study, we investigated the signaling cross-talk between these two molecules during tumorigenesis and angiogenesis.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF): Its potential role in tumor growth and tumor-associated angiogenesis.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) functions as a pluripotent cytokine involved in broad-spectrum pathophysiological events in association with inflammation and immune responses. Several reports, including ours, have suggested that MIF is also involved in tumorigenesis; however, its precise role has not been fully investigated. We examined the effectiveness of anti-MIF antibodies on tumor growth and tumor-associated angiogenesis using murine colon cancer cell line, colon 26.

Impaired contact hypersensitivity in macrophage migration inhibitory factor-deficient mice.

To determine whether macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is required for contact hypersensitivity (CHS) response, MIF-deficient (MIF KO) and wild-type (WT) mice were sensitized with trinitrochlorobenzene (TNCB) or oxazolone on their abdominal skin and challenged on the dorsum skin of one ear 5 days later. Significant ear swelling was observed in the WT mice, but this response was inhibited in the MIF KO mice (p<0.01 for MIF KO vs.