Long-term assessment of recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C after viral cure by direct-acting antivirals.

Background And Aim: Early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence is common, even after achieving hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure. This study was carried out to assess the long-term trends and predictors of recurrence after HCV cure by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).

Methods: This retrospective, multicenter cohort study enrolled 365 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who required HCC treatment following sustained viral response (SVR) by DAA administration.

Necessity of salt intake reduction education beginning in youth: a cross-sectional survey of sodium-to-potassium ratios in mothers and their preschool children.

Urinary sodium-to-potassium ratios are known to be high in preschoolers, but there are no reports comparing these ratios with those of the children's mothers. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the urinary sodium-to-potassium ratios of mothers and their preschool children under the hypothesis that the ratio is equivalent between the two. We evaluated 297 preschoolers aged four to five attending six kindergartens (four in northern Japan, two in southern Japan), and we also evaluated the children's mothers.

Clinical guidance for peripartum management of patients with hereditary thrombophilia.

Hereditary thrombophilia is a condition in which individuals are susceptible to the formation of thrombi due to a hereditary deficiency in anticoagulant factors, antithrombin (AT), protein C (PC), or protein S (PS). Many Japanese thrombophilia patients have PS deficiency, especially PS p.K196E (also called as PS Tokushima), which is exclusive to the Japanese population, and thrombosis sometimes occurs during pregnancy.

Structural dynamics of the chromo-shadow domain and chromodomain of HP1 bound to histone H3K9 methylated peptide, as measured by site-directed spin-labeling EPR spectroscopy.

The structural dynamics of the chromo-shadow domain (CSD) and chromodomain (CD) of human HP1 proteins essential for heterochromatin formation were investigated at the nanosecond and nanometer scales by site-directed spin labeling electron paramagnetic resonance and pulsed double resonance spectroscopy. Distance measurements showed that the spin-labeled CSD of human HP1α and HP1γ tightly dimerizes. Unlike CD-CD interaction observed in fission yeast HP1 in an inactivated state (Canzio et al.

Glutaminase inhibitory activities of pentacyclic triterpenes isolated from L.

Glutaminase is an important target that is often over expressed in neurodegenerative and　lifestyle related diseases but few effective inhibitors of this enzyme have yet reached clinical trials. Ursolic acid (), betulinic acid () and oleanolic acid (), three pentacyclic triterpene acids, have been isolated from the leaves of L. Enzyme inhibition experiments demonstrated their inhibitory effects against glutaminase activity.

Total Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Caveolin-1.

Caveolin-1, which is an essential protein for caveola formation, was chemically synthesized. It is composed of 177 amino acid residues, is triply palmitoylated at the C-terminal region, and is inserted into the lipid bilayer to form a V-shaped structure in the middle of the polypeptide chain. The entire sequence was divided into five peptide segments, each of which was synthesized by the solid-phase method.

Metabolic Alteration in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Mechanism of Lipid Accumulation in Well-Differentiated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Objective: Metabolic alteration is widely considered as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presents a unique pathological feature in which lipid accumulation is common in well-differentiated HCC and rare in poorly differentiated HCC; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

Methods: Tissue samples were obtained from 103 HCC patients who had undergone hepatic resection and 12 living donors of liver transplantation.

Ddhd1 knockout mouse as a model of locomotive and physiological abnormality in familial spastic paraplegia.

We have previously reported a novel homozygous 4-bp deletion in DDHD1 as the responsible variant for spastic paraplegia type 28 (SPG28; OMIM#609340). The variant causes a frameshift, resulting in a functionally null allele in the patient. DDHD1 encodes phospholipase A1 (PLA1) catalyzing phosphatidylinositol to lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI).

Effects of light-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise on objectively measured sleep parameters among community-dwelling older people.

Objectives: Although exercise improves sleep parameters in older people, most studies have been designed for people with insomnia or sleep complaints. Little is known of the effects of exercise among older people without sleep problems. We investigated the effects of 3-month light-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise intervention on objectively measured sleep quantity and quality among community-dwelling older people.

Insulin resistance and the adiponectin/leptin ratio as a surrogate measure of insulin resistance in Japanese collegiate baseball players.

Background: No study has previously investigated insulin resistance in collegiate baseball players. The purposes of this study were to examine: 1) the insulin resistance; and 2) the usefulness of the adiponectin/leptin (A/L) ratio compared with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) for assessing insulin resistance in collegiate baseball players.

Methods: Twenty collegiate baseball players with abdominal obesity (AO group) defined by a waist circumference (WC) ≥85 cm, 65 lean baseball players with a WC<85 cm (L group), and 20 controls who were sedentary for at least 1 year (C group) were compared.

Volume-regulated chloride channel regulates cell proliferation and is involved in the possible interaction between TMEM16A and LRRC8A in human metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Objectives: Volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs), expressed in various cells, play an important role in cell volume regulation. Despite being physiologically defined almost half a century ago, only the molecular candidates of VRAC, TMEM16A, LRRC8A, and bestrophin-1 (BEST1), are known. Here, we aimed to explore the functional significance of VRAC in, HST-1, an oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell line.

Recommendations for clinical laboratory testing for protein S deficiency: Communication from the SSC committee plasma coagulation inhibitors of the ISTH.

Hereditary deficiencies of protein S (PS) increase the risk of venous thrombosis; however, assessing the plasma levels of PS can be difficult because of its complex physiological interactions in plasma, sample-related preanalytical variables, and numerous acquired disease processes. Reliable laboratory assays are essential for accurate evaluation of PS when diagnosing a congenital deficiency based on the plasma phenotype alone. This report presents the current evidence-based recommendations for clinical PS assays as well as when to test for PS abnormalities.

Study design and baseline characteristics of a population-based prospective cohort study of dementia in Japan: the Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD).

Background: The burden of dementia is growing rapidly and has become a medical and social problem in Japan. Prospective cohort studies have been considered an effective methodology to clarify the risk factors and the etiology of dementia. We aimed to perform a large-scale dementia cohort study to elucidate environmental and genetic risk factors for dementia, as well as their interaction.

Effects of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids on the uptake of sulfobromophthalein via organic anion transporting polypeptides in human intestinal Caco-2 cells.

We performed a detailed investigation of the uptake of sulfobromophthalein (BSP) from the apical membrane of Caco-2 cells, which is a substrate for organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs), and calculated the kinetic parameters of BSP uptake as follows: K = 13.9 ± 1.3 μM, V = 1.

Role of deteriorated bone quality in the development of osteoporosis in pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

Context: Pheochromocytoma (PHEO) and paraganglioma (PGL) (PHEO and PGL: PPGLs), catecholamine-producing tumors, represent an emerging cause of secondary osteoporosis. However, despite decreased bone mineral density (BMD), vertebral fracture (VF) is not associated with BMD in PPGLs.

Objective: To evaluate whether deteriorated bone quality is involved in the development of osteoporosis in PPGLs.

Alpha-pinene and dizocilpine (MK-801) attenuate kindling development and astrocytosis in an experimental mouse model of epilepsy.

Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved during the onset of epilepsy is crucial for elucidating the overall mechanism of epileptogenesis and therapeutic strategies. Previous studies, using a pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced kindling mouse model, showed that astrocyte activation and an increase in perineuronal nets (PNNs) and extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules occurred within the hippocampus. However, the mechanisms of initiation and suppression of these changes, remain unclear.

Dietary fiber intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in a general Japanese population: The Hisayama Study.

Aims/introduction: The investigation of the influence of dietary fiber intake on the incidence of type 2 diabetes in a general Japanese population.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1,892 individuals aged 40-79 years without diabetes at baseline were prospectively followed up for 14 years. The glucose tolerance status of participants was defined by a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test with the 1998 World Health Organization criteria.

Synaptic control of DNA methylation involves activity-dependent degradation of DNMT3A1 in the nucleus.

DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic mark for activity-dependent gene expression in neurons. Very little is known about how synaptic signals impact promoter methylation in neuronal nuclei. In this study we show that protein levels of the principal de novo DNA-methyltransferase in neurons, DNMT3A1, are tightly controlled by activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) containing the GluN2A subunit.

Metabolic fate of newly developed nondigestible oligosaccharide, maltobionic acid, in rats and humans.

Maltobionic acid (MA), formed by a gluconic acid and glucose linked by an α-1,4 bond, may have the properties of a nondigestible oligosaccharide. The objective of this study was to elucidate the bioavailability of MA in rats and humans by observing digestion of MA by small intestinal enzymes, the fermentation of MA by gut microbiota, and the effect of adaptation following prolonged ingestion of MA. MA digestion was assessed using brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) from rat small intestine.

Genistein Suppresses v-Src-Driven Proliferative Activity by Arresting the Cell-Cycle at G2/M through Increasing p21 Level in Src-Activated Human Gallbladder Carcinoma cells.

Activated Src have been strongly implicated in the development, progression, and metastasis of many human cancers. Although soy isoflavones exhibit potential anticancer activity, effects of isoflavones on oncogenic activity of Src remains unknown. Using v-src-transfected human adenocarcinoma cells (HAG/src3-1), we investigated the functional role of Src in anti-proliferative activity of isoflavones including genistein, daidzein, glycitein and equol.

Effect of handling breaks on estimation of heart rate responses to bouts of physical activity among young women: An accelerometer research issue.

Background: One of the research interests with regard to accelerometry is the evaluation of physical activity bout under free-living conditions.

Research Question: This study aimed to examine the effect of treatment interruption on the estimation of heart rate (HR) response to moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) bout.

Methods: Twenty-five young women performed at least 30 min of MVPA during 24 h while wearing a uniaxial accelerometer on their waist and a portable HR monitor on their chest simultaneously.

Glutaminase inhibitory activity of umbelliferone isolated from kabosu ( Hort. ex Tanaka).

Kabosu ( Hort. ex Tanaka) fruits have pleasant and fresh odors and have been used as raw materials for vinegar, seasonings, jams, marmalades and juices in Japan. The -butanol extracts from kabosu fruits were prepared and a component in the extract was purified by column chromatography and HPLC to afford compounds -.

Hexanal inhalation affects cognition and anxiety-like behavior in mice.

Hexanal is a 6-carbon aldehyde that smells like green leaves and urine to mammals. However, its physiological effects remain unclear. In particular, the effects of hexanal inhalation on the central nervous system have not been clarified.