In order to elucidate novel actions of degalactosylated whey protein (D-WP) in comparison with intact whey protein (WP), the effects of oral intake of D-WP on peripheral blood telomere length and telomerase were examined in young and aged mice. In young mice, peripheral blood telomere length was significantly elongated following oral intake of D-WP for 4 weeks. mRNA expression of both telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomerase RNA component (TERC) was significantly increased in the peripheral blood following oral intake of D-WP for 4 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn application of CO/HCO-free solution (Zero-CO) did not increase intracellular pH (pH) in ciliated human nasal epithelial cells (c-hNECs), leading to no increase in frequency (CBF) or amplitude (CBA) of the ciliary beating. This study demonstrated that the pH of c-hNECs expressing carbonic anhydrase IV (CAIV) is high (7.64), while the pH of ciliated human bronchial epithelial cells (c-hBECs) expressing no CAIV is low (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInteroception plays an important role in emotion processing. However, the neurobiological substrates of the relationship between visceral responses and emotional experiences remain unclear. In the present study, we measured interoceptive sensitivity using the heartbeat discrimination task and investigated the effects of individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity on changes in pulse rate and insula activity in response to subjective emotional intensity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSingle cilia, 100 nm in diameter and 10 µm in length, were isolated from mouse tracheae with Triton X-100 (0.02%) treatment, and the effects of pH on ciliary beating were examined by measuring the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and the ciliary bend distance (CBD-an index of amplitude) using a high-speed video microscope (250 fps). ATP (2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Age, genetic, and environmental factors are noted to contribute to dementia risk. Neuroplasticity, protection from degeneration and cell death, and early intervention are desirable for preventing dementia. The linkage between neurons and microglia has been a research focus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Targeting mucosal immunity of the gut, which is known to provide antigen processing, while avoiding excessive or unnecessary inflammation, was tested as a way to modulate COVID-19 severity.
Methods: Randomized open-label trial in 204 adults hospitalized with non-critical COVID-19 who received for 14 days in addition to standard of care (SOC) degalactosylated bovine glycoproteins formulations of either MAF capsules (MAF group) or M capsules (M group) or SOC only (control group).
Results: Median recovery time when patients did not require supplemental oxygen was 6 days in both study groups compared to 9 days in the control (MAF vs.
Spatial image transformation of the self-body is a fundamental function of visual perspective-taking. Recent research underscores the significance of intero-exteroceptive information integration to construct representations of our embodied self. This raises the intriguing hypothesis that interoceptive processing might be involved in the spatial image transformation of the self-body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbroxol (ABX), a frequently prescribed secretolytic agent which enhances the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and ciliary bend angle (CBA, an index of amplitude) by 30%, activates a voltage-dependent Ca channel (Ca1.2) and a small transient Ca release in the ciliated lung airway epithelial cells (c-LAECs) of mice. The activation of Ca1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBased on a growing body of evidence that a dysregulated innate immune response mediated by monocytes/macrophages plays a key role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, a clinical trial was conducted to investigate the therapeutic potential and safety of oral macrophage activating factor (MAF) plus standard of care (SoC) in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Ninety-seven hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were treated with oral MAF and a vitamin D3 supplement, in combination with SoC, in a single-arm, open label, multicentre, phase II clinical trial. The primary outcome measure was a reduction in an intensive care unit transfer rate below 13% after MAF administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain Nerve
November 2023
Homeostasis is maintained by neural reflex controls, which attempt to maintain the body's internal organs within a predetermined range. However, when deviations are significant, homeostasis may not be restored by these standard controls. Therefore, a function called allostasis is necessary to maximize the energy efficiency of bodily functions, anticipate changing needs (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbroxol (ABX) facilitates the mucociliary clearance (MC) by enhancing ciliary beating in airways. In this study, we focused on airway ciliary beating enhanced by ABX. However, little is known about the ABX-stimulated Ca signalling activating airway ciliary beating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcetylcholine (ACh), which activates muscarinic ACh receptors (mAChRs) and nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs), enhances airway ciliary beating by increasing the intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]). The mechanisms enhancing airway ciliary beating by nAChRs have remained largely unknown, although those by mAChRs are well understood. In this study, we focused on the effects of α7-nAChRs and voltage-gated Ca channels (Cas) on the airway ciliary beating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of degalactosylated whey protein on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in mice were observed in comparison with intact whey protein. Intraperitoneal administration of both intact and degalactosylated whey proteins for 5 days did not affect body weight and food intake in mice. On day 6, intraperitoneal administration of LPS induced a marked decrease in body weight 4 h later.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXenin-25 has a variety of physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract, including ion transport and motility. Xenin-25 and neurotensin show sequence homology, especially near their C-terminal regions. The sequence similarity between xenin-25 and neurotensin indicates that the effects of xenin-25 is mediated by the neurotensin receptor but some biological actions of xenin-25 are independent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew Findings: What is the central question of this study? Arachidonic acid (AA) stimulates NO production in antral mucous cells without any increase in [Ca ] . Given that the intracellular AA concentration is too low to measure, the relationship between AA accumulation and NO production remains uncertain. Is AA accumulation a key step for NO production? What is the main finding and its importance? We demonstrated that AA accumulation is a key step for NO production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXenin25 has a variety of physiological functions in the Gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including ion transport and motility. However, the motility responses in the colon induced by Xenin25 remain poorly understood. Therefore, the effect of Xenin25 on the spontaneous circular muscle contractions of the rat distal colon was investigated using organ bath chambers and immunohistochemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe microbiota-gut-brain axis transmits bidirectional communication between the gut and the central nervous system and links the emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral gut functions. This communication occurs along the axis via local, paracrine, and endocrine mechanisms involving a variety of gut-derived peptide/amine produced by enteroendocrine cells. Neural networks, such as the enteric nervous system, and the central nervous system, including the autonomic nervous system, also transmit information through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall inhaled particles, which are entrapped by the mucous layer that is maintained by mucous secretion via mucin exocytosis and fluid secretion, are removed from the nasal cavity by beating cilia. The functional activities of beating cilia are assessed by their frequency and the amplitude. Nasal ciliary beating is controlled by intracellular ions (Ca, H and Cl), and is enhanced by a decreased concentration of intracellular Cl ([Cl]) in ciliated human nasal epithelial cells (cHNECs) in primary culture, which increases the ciliary beat amplitude.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Ts1Rhr, a Down syndrome model mouse, the airway ciliary beatings are impaired; that is, decreases in ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and ciliary bend angle (CBA, an index of ciliary beat amplitude)). A resumption to two copies of the gene on the Ts1Rhr trisomic segment (Ts1Rhr:) rescues the decreases in CBF and CBA that occur in Ts1Rhr. In airway cilia, upon stimulation with procaterol (a β-agonist), the CBF increase is slower over the time course than the CBA increase because of cAMP degradation by Ca/calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase 1 (PDE1) existing in the metabolon regulating CBF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStuttering is a fluency disorder, partially alleviated during altered auditory feedback, suggesting abnormal sensorimotor integration in adults who stutter (AWS). As weighting of multiple integrating-information sources would be decided based on their reliabilities, the use of external (auditory feedback) and internal information (prediction of sensory consequences) could correlate with speech processing. We hypothesized that abnormal auditory-feedback processing in AWS could be related to decrease in internal processing precision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Carbocisteine (CCis), a mucoactive agent, is used to improve the symptoms of sinonasal diseases. However, the effect of CCis on nasal ciliary beating remains uncertain. We examined the effects of CCis on ciliary beat distance (CBD, an index of amplitude), and ciliary beat frequency (CBF) in ciliated human nasal epithelial cells (cHNECs) in primary culture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ciliary transport is controlled by two parameters of the ciliary beating, frequency (CBF) and amplitude. In this study, we developed a novel method to measure both CBF and ciliary bend distance (CBD, an index of ciliary beating amplitude) in ciliated human nasal epithelial cells (cHNECs) in primary culture, which are prepared from patients contracting allergic rhinitis and chronic sinusitis. An application of Cl-free NO solution or bumetanide (an inhibitor of Na/K/2Cl cotransport), which decreases intracellular Cl concentration ([Cl]), increased CBD, not CBF, at 37 °C; however, it increased both CBD and CBF at 25 °C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol
June 2019
Xenin-25 is a neurotensin-like peptide that is secreted by enteroendocrine cells in the small intestine. Xenin-8 is reported to augment duodenal anion secretion by activating afferent neural pathways. The intrinsic neuronal circuits mediating the xenin-25-induced anion secretion were characterized using the Ussing-chambered, mucosa-submucosa preparation from the rat ileum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActive exploration of views of 3-D objects by manually controlling a device, such as a trackball, facilitates subsequent object recognition, suggesting that motor simulation contributes to object recognition. Further, biomechanical constraints, such as range of hand rotation, can affect mental rotation. Thus, the ease with which an object can be rotated by hand may modulate the facilitative effect active exploration through manual control has on object recognition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes mellitus is a well-known common disease and one of the most serious social problems in the worldwide. Although various types of drugs are developed, the number of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus is still increasing. Ninjin'yoeito (NYT) is one of formulas used in Japanese traditional herbal medicines for improving various types of metabolic disorders.
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