A high-fat/high-cholesterol diet, but not high-cholesterol alone, increases free cholesterol and apoE-rich HDL serum levels in rats and upregulates hepatic ABCA1 expression.

A high-fat/high-cholesterol (HFC) diet, but not a high-cholesterol (HC) diet, is known to induce elevated serum apolipoprotein E (apoE)-rich high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in animal models. However, the exact mechanisms by which the combination of dietary fat and cholesterol induces apoE-rich HDL production is not well understood. Here, we investigated the effects of dietary fat and cholesterol on serum lipoprotein profiles and hepatic mRNA expression that are associated with HDL production, cholesterol transport, and bile acid metabolism.

Binimetinib, a novel MEK1/2 inhibitor, exerts anti-leukemic effects under inactive status of PI3Kinase/Akt pathway.

A MEK1/2 inhibitor, binimetinib is promising as a therapeutic agent for malignant melanoma with N-RAS mutation. We examined in vitro effects of binimetinib on 10 human myeloid/lymphoid leukemia cell lines, and found that three of five cell lines with N-RAS mutation and one of five without N-RAS mutation were responsive to treatment with binimetinib. Binimetinib inhibited cell growth mainly by inducing G arrest and this action mechanism was assisted by gene set enrichment analysis.

Lavender Essential Oil and Its Main Constituents Inhibit the Expression of TNF-α-induced Cell Adhesion Molecules in Endothelial Cells.

Lavender essential oil (Lvn) has anti-inflammatory effects in an ovalbumin-sensitized murine model of asthma, and inhibits inflammatory cell infiltration into the lungs. The anti-inflammatory effects of Lvn on cell adhesion molecules are not clear. Here we evaluated the effects of Lvn and its main constituents, linalyl acetate (LA) and linalool (LO), on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-induced cell adhesion molecules in murine brain endothelial bEnd.

Japanese family with congenital factor VII deficiency.

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance. The present female patient was diagnosed with congenital FVII deficiency because of low hepaplastin test (HPT), although vitamin K was given. Heterozygous p.

Detection of Torque teno virus DNA in exhaled breath by polymerase chain reaction.

To determine whether exhaled breath contains Torque teno virus (TTV) or not, we tested exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples by semi-nested PCR assay. We detected TTV DNA in 35% (7/20) of EBC samples collected from the mouth of one of the authors, demonstrating that TTV DNA is excreted in exhaled breath with moderate frequency. TTV DNA was detected also in oral EBC samples from 4 of 6 other authors, indicating that TTV DNA excretion in exhaled breath is not an exception but rather a common phenomenon.

Enhancive effects of D-glucose and its analogs on expression of d-glucose-unrelated transgenes in mammalian cells.

We studied the effects of d-glucose on transgene expression in mammalian cells by a reporter gene assay using CV-1 cells and a CMV promoter-controlled EGFP gene. Treatment of CV-1 cells with 5% D-glucose unchanged the number of fluorescent cells in fluorescence microscopic observation but significantly intensified fluorescence in the fluorometric assay. Furthermore, EGFP itself and mRNA became more abundant in Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR analyses of 5% D-glucose-treated cells, respectively.