Polyphenol extract from Phellinus igniarius protects against acrolein toxicity in vitro and provides protection in a mouse stroke model.

The basidiomycetous mushroom Phellinus igniarius (L.) Quel. has been used as traditional medicine in various Asian countries for many years.

Distinguishing mild cognitive impairment from Alzheimer's disease with acrolein metabolites and creatinine in urine.

Background: We previously reported that the level of urinary 3-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid (3-HPMA)/creatinine (Cre) was reduced following stroke. The aim of this study was to determine whether the level of 3-HPMA/Cre in urine was reduced in subjects with dementia.

Methods: The level of 3-HPMA was measured by LC-MS/MS, and that of amino acid conjugated acrolein (AC-Acro) was by ELISA.

Identification of functional amino acid residues involved in polyamine and agmatine transport by human organic cation transporter 2.

Polyamine (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) and agmatine uptake by the human organic cation transporter 2 (hOCT2) was studied using HEK293 cells transfected with pCMV6-XL4/hOCT2. The Km values for putrescine and spermidine were 7.50 and 6.

Utility of SPM8 plus DARTEL (VSRAD) combined with magnetic resonance spectroscopy as adjunct techniques for screening and predicting dementia due to Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice.

We validated the utility of SPM8 plus DARTEL (VSRAD) combined with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) as an adjunct screening technique for dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined the posterior cingulate gyri of 228 subjects using VSRAD and 1H MRS in addition to conventional cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers at baseline. At the 3-year follow-up, the 228 subject were classified as follows: 93 healthy subjects, 42 MCI-non-converters (MCI-NC), 25 MCI-converters to AD (MCI-C), 44 AD, 8 dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), 5 normal pressure hydrocephalus, and 11 patients with other neurological diseases.

Suppression of acetylpolyamine oxidase by selected AP-1 members regulates DNp73 abundance: mechanistic insights for overcoming DNp73-mediated resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs.

Enhanced resistance to chemotherapy has been correlated with high levels of Delta-Np73 (DNp73), an anti-apoptotic protein of the p53 tumor-suppressor family which inhibits the pro-apoptotic members such as p53 and TAp73. Although genotoxic drugs have been shown to induce DNp73 degradation, lack of mechanistic understanding of this process precludes strategies to enhance the targeting of DNp73 and improve treatment outcomes. Antizyme (Az) is a mediator of ubiquitin-independent protein degradation regulated by the polyamine biosynthesis pathway.

Distinction between mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease by CSF amyloid β40 and β42, and protein-conjugated acrolein.

Background: We found previously that the amyloid β40/42 (Aβ40/42) ratio and the level of protein-conjugated acrolein (PC-Acro) in plasma were increased in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects. We determined whether MCI and AD subjects can be differentiated based on the levels of Aβ40, Aβ42, and PC-Acro in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Methods: Aβ40, Aβ42, PC-Acro, Tau and phosphorylated Tau in CSF were measured by ELISA.

Acrolein stimulates the synthesis of IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) in thrombosis model mice and cultured cells.

Measurements of protein-conjugated acrolein (PC-Acro), IL-6, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in plasma were useful for identifying silent brain infarction with high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study was to determine whether acrolein causes increased production of IL-6 and CRP in thrombosis model mice and cultured cells. In mice with photochemically induced thrombosis, acrolein produced at the locus of infarction increased the level of IL-6 and then CRP in plasma.

Inverse correlation between stroke and urinary 3-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid, an acrolein-glutathione metabolite.

Background: We found previously that increases in plasma levels of protein-conjugated acrolein and polyamine oxidases, enzymes that produce acrolein, are good biomarkers for stroke. The aim of this study was to test whether 3-hydroxypropyl mercapturic acid (3-HPMA), an acrolein-glutathione metabolite, was increased in the urine of stroke patients.

Methods: The level of 3-HPMA in urine was measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).