Association between taste perception, nutrient intake, and mental health in young Japanese women

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Taste perception is influenced by both nutritional factors and psychological factors. This study was undertaken to measure the 4 basic taste perceptions, nutrient intake, and mental health, and to examine the factors that affect insensitive taste perception in young Japanese women. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Young women in their late teens and twenties were enrolled as subjects. Taste perception was measured by applying the filter-paper disc method over areas of the chorda tympani nerve. Nutritional status was evaluated using brief, self-administered diet history questionnaires. The index of nutritional status was based on the 2015 Japanese dietary reference intakes. Mental health was assessed using the Japanese translation of the Profile of Mood States short version. This study was approved by the ethical committee at Osaka University. RESULTS: The normal taste perception group (four basic tastes [sweet, salty, sour, and bitter] identified as normal taste perception) comprised 55.4% of the subjects, while the abnormal taste perception group (more than 1 abnormal taste perception was perceived, regardless of flavor) comprised 44.6% of the subjects. There were no significant differences in nutrient intake (except manganese) and mental health between the normal and abnormal taste perception groups. Subjects who took 5 mg to less than 7.1 mg zinc per day were at significantly decreased risk of insensitive taste perception compared to subjects who consumed less than 5 mg zinc per day [Regression coefficient 0.831, 95% confidence interval 0.694–0.996]. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that insensitive taste perception could be associated with zinc deficiency in young women in their late teens and twenties.

Interleukin-10 and interleukin-5 balance in patients with active asthma, those in remission, and healthy controls

BACKGROUND: The immunological mechanisms of asthma remission remain unclear although several reports have suggested that balance between T helper (Th) 2 cytokines and regulatory cytokines is related. OBJECTIVE: To study the balance between interleukin (IL) 10 and IL-5 in asthma clinical remission. METHODS: We measured the numbers of IL-5 and IL-10 producing cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with mite antigen obtained from patients with active asthma (group A, n = 18), patients in clinical remission (group R, n = 15) and nonatopic healthy controls (group H, n = 14). RESULTS: The numbers of IL-5 producing cells in groups A and R were significantly higher than in group H. The number of IL-5 producing cells was lower in group R than in group A, although the difference was not statistically significant. The number of IL-10 producing cells was higher in group R than in group A, although again the difference was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference in the number of IL-10 producing cells between groups A and H but not between groups R and H. The ratio of the number of IL-10 to IL-5 producing cells was highest in group H followed by groups R and A, and the differences were statistically significant for each pair of groups. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the IL-10/IL-5 balance is related to clinical asthma. The balance differs between patients in clinical remission and healthy controls, suggesting that allergic inflammation may continue even after clinical asthma remission.

Effects of Ambient Changes on ADLs of Patients As Assessed by Use of Barthel Index--In the Cases of Stroke and Femoral Neck Fracture Patients-- / 日本農村医学会雑誌

  When subacute elderly patients are transferred from an acute hospital to a rehabilitation facility, the likelihood is that the environmental change will decrease the patients' ability to perform the basic activities of daily living (ADLs). In this study, we assessed the effects of the ambient changes on ADLs by the use of the Barthel Index, the reliability as well as validity of which is rated high for assessing the patient's fundamental ability. Our subjects consisted of the patients with hemiplegia who had undergone medical treatment of stroke and those who had been operated on for femoral neck fracture (FNF) in Toride Kyodo General Hospital. They were transferred to the convalescent rehabilitation ward (CRW) of Aida Memorial Rehabilitation Hospital, affiliated with our hospital. We compared the BI scores given to the patients by physical, occupational and speech therapists, when discharged from our hospital, and those scores given by nurses within one week after the patients moved to the CRW. Differences between BI scores given at Toride Hospital and those at the rehabilitation hospital averaged -5.9±16.0 points for stroke patients and -7.3±14.1 pointsfor FNF patients. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of BI scores in the acute hospital and in the CRW for stroke patients was 0.91 (p<0.001) and 0.69 (p<0.001) for FNF. There was no significant difference in changes in BI scores between stroke and FNF. However, there was a tendency for the patients' functional ability in daily living to be assessed lower in the FNF patients than in the stroke patients. This was probably because the former were older than the latter on the average. The average age of the FNF patients was 81.4 years and that of the stroke patients was 68.5 years.

Hiperparatiroidismo primário e manifestaçoes osteoarticulares / Primary hyperparathyroidism and osteoarticular manifestations

Os autores relatam caso de manifestaçoes osteoarticulares decorrentes de hiperparatiroidismo primário. Trata-se de paciente de 42 anos com poliartralgia e monoartrite de cotovelo. O diagnóstico de hiperparatiroidismo foi aventado devido a imagens radiológicas sugestivas e pelos dados laboratoriais. A biópsia óssea confirmou o diagnóstico, revelando proliferaçao exuberante de osteoclastos, caracterizando o denominado tumor marrom. Os autores discutem as manifestaçoes clínicas dessa doença metabólica com alteraçoes ósseas expressivas, enfatizando as manifestaçoes osteoarticulares

Granulomatose de Wegener e condrite de pavilhao auricular / Wegener's granulomatosis and chondritis of the ear

Os autores apresentam um caso de granulomatose de Wegener cujas manifestaçoes clínicas iniciais predominantes foram lesoes cutâneas ulceradas e condrite de pavilhao auricular, similar ao observado na policondrite recidivante. Durante a evoluçao, apresentou envolvimento pulmonar com hemoptise e infiltrado na base esquerda e proteinúria, elementos nao relacionados com a policondrite. A biópsia de pele evidenciou presença de vasculite e formaçao granulomatosa compatível com granulomatose de Wegener. Os autores comentam a raridade da presença de condrite de pavilhao auricular na granulomatose de Wegener e a importância de se estabelecer o diagnóstico diferencial com a policondrite recidivante