Higher serum soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product levels and lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Japanese adult men: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Although several studies showed that decreased soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS), inflammation level has not been considered, even though ligand-RAGE interaction induces inflammation. The objective of the study was to determine the association between sRAGE and MetS among Japanese adult in a cross-sectional survey, taking the level of low grade inflammation into consideration.

Methods: Serum soluble RAGE (sRAGE) were measured in 712 men and 176 women aged 30-83 years with serum C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentration below 3 mg/L.

Breakfast consumption frequency is associated with grip strength in a population of healthy Japanese adults.

Background And Aims: Several studies have reported that regular consumption of breakfast is associated with health benefits. However, only a few studies have examined the association between frequency of breakfast consumption and muscular function. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association between frequency of breakfast consumption and muscle strength among apparently healthy Japanese adults.

Mislocalization of K+ channels causes the renal salt wasting in EAST/SeSAME syndrome.

The Kir4.1/Kir5.1 channel mediates basolateral K(+) recycling in renal distal tubules; this process is critical for Na(+) reabsorption at the tubules.

Coffee treatment prevents the progression of sarcopenia in aged mice in vivo and in vitro.

Sarcopenia is characterized by the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, which results in higher mortality in aged people. One of the mechanisms of the sarcopenia is the loss in the function and number of muscle satellite cells. Chronic low-grade inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of age-related sarcopenia.

Positive auditory cortical responses in patients with absent brainstem response.

Objective: To compare the detectability of the different auditory evoked responses in patients with retrocochlear lesion.

Methods: The 40-Hz auditory steady state response (ASSR) and the N1m auditory cortical response were examined by magnetoencephalography in 4 patients with vestibular schwannoma, in whom the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was absent.

Results: Apparent N1m responses were observed despite total absence of the ABR or absence except for small wave I in all patients, although the latency of N1m was delayed in most patients.

Inverse association between circulating adiponectin levels and skeletal muscle strength in Japanese men and women.

Background And Aims: Increased levels of circulating adiponectin in the elderly cause a negative impact on physical function and health status, which suggests that circulating adiponectin may be related to skeletal muscle function. However, data on the relationship between circulating adiponectin levels and skeletal muscle function is limited. Our objective was to investigate the association between serum adiponectin levels and muscle strength in adults.

Elastic fiber-mediated enthesis in the human middle ear.

Adaptation to constant vibration (acoustic oscillation) is likely to confer a specific morphology at the bone-tendon and bone-ligament interfaces at the ear ossicles, which therefore represent an exciting target of enthesis research. We histologically examined (i) the bone attachments of the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles and (ii) the annular ligament of the incudostapedial joint obtained from seven elderly donated cadavers. Notably, both aldehyde-fuchsin and elastic-Masson staining demonstrated that the major fibrous component of the entheses was not collagen fibers but mature elastic fibers.

Oral health behavior and metabolic syndrome and its components in adults.

Inflammation has been strongly related to metabolic syndrome (MetS). Periodontal disease is the most common chronic infection in adults. We investigated a cross-sectional (n = 925) and 3-year longitudinal (n = 685) relationship between the daily frequency of toothbrushing and MetS.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a predictor of high medical-care expenditures in a community-based elderly population aged 70 years and over: the Tsurugaya project.

Because CRP is a strong independent predictor of various diseases, it was hypothesized that CRP may be a useful predictor or treatment target for medical-care expenditures. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CRP and medical-care expenditures in a community-dwelling elderly population. This prospective cohort study was conducted including 925 Japanese subjects aged ≥70 years.

Contralateral white noise attenuates 40-Hz auditory steady-state fields but not N100m in auditory evoked fields.

The different response characteristics of the different auditory cortical responses under conventional central masking conditions were examined by comparing the effects of contralateral white noise on the cortical component of 40-Hz auditory steady state fields (ASSFs) and the N100 m component in auditory evoked fields (AEFs) for tone bursts using a helmet-shaped magnetoencephalography system in 8 healthy volunteers (7 males, mean age 32.6 years). The ASSFs were elicited by monaural 1000 Hz amplitude modulation tones at 80 dB SPL, with the amplitude modulated at 39 Hz.

Skin advanced glycation end-product accumulation is negatively associated with calcaneal osteo-sono assessment index among non-diabetic adult Japanese men.

Unlabelled: This study aims to determine the relationship between advanced glycation end-product (AGE) accumulation in skin tissue and bone strength, assessed by quantitative ultrasound, among healthy adult Japanese men. The results of the study suggest that men with higher AGE accumulation in skin tissue have a lower osteo-sono assessment index.

Introduction: AGE accumulate in bone collagen with age and diabetes and decrease the mechanical properties of bone.

Metabolomic profiling of the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease rat model.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is an inherited systemic disease characterized by renal cyst expansion, resulting in renal failure. With the progression of renal damage, the accumulation of uremic compounds is recently reported to subsequently cause further renal damage and hypertension. Finding uremic toxins and sensitive markers for detecting the early stage of ADPKD is necessary to clarify its pathophysiological process and to prevent its progression.

Effects of neck muscle vibration on subjective visual vertical: comparative analysis with effects on nystagmus.

In patients with unilateral vestibular dysfunction, vibratory stimulation to the neck muscles not only induces shift of the subjective visual vertical (SVV), but also enhances the generation of nystagmus. In the present study, the effects of neck vibration on the SVV were compared with those on nystagmus in patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma (14 patients; 6 males and 8 females, mean age 54.2 years).

Association of Japanese dietary pattern with serum adiponectin concentration in Japanese adult men.

Background And Aims: Although previous studies suggest that the traditional Japanese dietary pattern is independently associated with a low cardiovascular disease mortality risk, the mechanisms mediating or linking this association are not well understood. Adiponectin has emerged as a valuable biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of present study was to evaluate whether dietary patterns are associated with serum adiponectin concentration in Japanese adult men.

Impact of physical activity and performance on medical care costs among the Japanese elderly.

Aim: Physical activity (PA) is known to be inversely associated with medical care costs. The amount of PA is strongly associated with the level of physical performance among the elderly population. Therefore, it is possible that known relation between PA and medical care merely shows the relation between physical performance and medical care.

Effect of office-based brief high-impact exercise on bone mineral density in healthy premenopausal women: the Sendai Bone Health Concept Study.

Although there is ample evidence supporting the effectiveness of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, there are no previous studies to examine the effect of office-based brief high-impact exercise (HIE) on bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy premenopausal women. This study evaluated the effects of office-based HIE on BMD in healthy premenopausal Japanese women. Ninety-one healthy premenopausal women were randomized to receive stretching exercise (SE) or HIE (stretching, along with up to 5 × 10 vertical and versatile jumps) for 12 months.

SLCO4C1 transporter eliminates uremic toxins and attenuates hypertension and renal inflammation.

Hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) strongly associates with cardiovascular events. Among patients with CKD, reducing the accumulation of uremic toxins may protect against the development of hypertension and progression of renal damage, but there are no established therapies to accomplish this. Here, overexpression of human kidney-specific organic anion transporter SLCO4C1 in rat kidney reduced hypertension, cardiomegaly, and inflammation in the setting of renal failure.

Green tea consumption is associated with depressive symptoms in the elderly.

Background: Green tea is reported to have various beneficial effects (eg, anti-stress response and antiinflammatory effects) on human health. Although these functions might be associated with the development and progression of depressive symptoms, no studies have investigated the relation between green tea consumption and depressive symptoms in a community-dwelling population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relations between green tea consumption and depressive symptoms in elderly Japanese subjects who widely consumed green tea.

Bimodal audio-visual training enhances auditory adaptation process.

Effects of auditory training with bimodal audio-visual stimuli on monomodal aural speech intelligibility were examined in individuals with normal hearing using highly degraded noise-vocoded speech sound. Visual cue simultaneously presented with auditory stimuli during the training session significantly improved auditory speech intelligibility not only for words used in the training session, but also untrained words, when compared with the auditory training using only auditory stimuli. Visual information is generally considered to complement insufficient speech information conveyed by the auditory system during audio-visual speech perception.