Lifestyle behaviors and home and school environment in association with sick building syndrome among elementary school children: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND@#Sick building syndrome (SBS) refers to the combination of symptoms experienced by occupants of specific building characteristics. This study investigated the associations of children's lifestyle behaviors, allergies, home, and school environment with SBS symptoms.@*METHODS@#A total of 4408 elementary school children living in Sapporo City, Japan participated in this study. SBS was determined on parental answers to MM080 standardized school questionnaires on symptoms that were weekly experienced by these children, and if the symptom is attributed to their home or school environment. The Japanese version of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire was used to assess wheeze, rhino-conjunctivitis, and eczema. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the associations between SBS symptoms and variables by controlling the potential confounders (gender, grade, school, and parental history of allergies). A stepwise backward elimination was conducted to assess independent variables related to SBS.@*RESULTS@#Participants revealed mucosal (6.9%), skin (2.0%), and general (0.8%) symptoms. The presence of one or more allergy was associated with increased mucosal and skin symptoms. Children who skipped breakfast, displayed faddiness (like/dislike of food), had constipation, have insufficient sleep, did not feel refreshed after sleep, and lacked deep sleep showed significantly high odds ratios with SBS symptoms. The stepwise analysis showed faddiness for mucosal symptoms and not feeling refreshed after sleep for mucosal and skin symptoms, whereas constipation and lacking deep sleep for general symptoms were independent variables in increasing the symptoms. We found no significant relationship between SBS in children and schools. Considering children's home, old building, no ventilation, wall-to-wall carpet, and heavy nearby traffic were associated with elevated mucosal symptom, while living in a multifamily home increased general symptoms. Home dampness was an independent variable in increasing all SBS symptoms.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Allergies and lifestyle behaviors were associated with increased SBS in children, including skipping breakfast, displaying faddiness, constipation, insufficient sleep, not feeling refreshed after sleep, and the lack of deep sleep. Further, dampness at home was associated with increase in all SBS symptoms. Lifestyle (e.g., eating and sleeping habits) and home (i.e., dampness) improvements might alleviate SBS symptoms in children.

Phenotypic characteristics of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Japan: results from a multicenter registry

Background/Aims@#There are few published registry studies from Asia on pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Registry network data enable comparisons among ethnic groups. This study examined the characteristics of IBD in Japanese children and compared them with those in European children. @*Methods@#This was a cross-sectional multicenter registry study of newly diagnosed Japanese pediatric IBD patients. The Paris classification was used to categorize IBD features, and results were compared with published EUROKIDS data. @*Results@#A total of 265 pediatric IBD patients were initially registered, with 22 later excluded for having incomplete demographic data. For the analysis, 91 Crohn’s disease (CD), 146 ulcerative colitis (UC), and 6 IBD-unclassified cases were eligible. For age at diagnosis, 20.9% of CD, 21.9% of UC, and 83.3% of IBD-unclassified cases were diagnosed before age 10 years. For CD location, 18.7%, 13.2%, 64.8%, 47.3%, and 20.9% were classified as involving L1 (ileocecum), L2 (colon), L3 (ileocolon), L4a (esophagus/stomach/duodenum), and L4b (jejunum/proximal ileum), respectively. For UC extent, 76% were classified as E4 (pancolitis). For CD behavior, B1 (non-stricturingon-penetrating), B2 (stricturing), B3 (penetrating), and B2B3 were seen in 83.5%, 11.0%, 3.3%, and 2.2%, respectively. A comparison between Japanese and European children showed less L2 involvement (13.2% vs. 27.3%, P< 0.01) but more L4a (47.3% vs. 29.6%, P< 0.01) and L3 (64.8% vs. 52.7%, P< 0.05) involvement in Japanese CD children. Pediatric perianal CD was more prevalent in Japanese children (34.1% vs. 9.7%, P< 0.01). @*Conclusions@#Upper gastrointestinal and perianal CD lesions are more common in Japanese children than in European children.

Dual modulation of human hepatic zonation via canonical and non-canonical Wnt pathways

The hepatic lobule is divided into three zones along the portal-central vein axis. Hepatocytes within each zone exhibit a distinctive gene expression profile that coordinates their metabolic compartmentalization. The zone-dependent heterogeneity of hepatocytes has been hypothesized to result from the differential degree of exposure to oxygen, nutrition and gut-derived toxins. In addition, the gradient of Wnt signaling that increases towards the central vein seen in rodent models is believed to play a critical role in shaping zonation. Furthermore, hepatic zonation is coupled to the site of the homeostatic renewal of hepatocytes. Despite its critical role, the regulatory mechanisms that determine the distinctive features of zonation and its relevance to humans are not well understood. The present study first conducted a comprehensive zone-dependent transcriptome analysis of normal human liver using laser capture microdissection. Upstream pathway analysis revealed the signatures of host responses to gut-derived toxins in the periportal zone, while both the canonical Wnt pathway and the xenobiotic response pathway govern the perivenular zone. Furthermore, we found that the hypoxic environment of the perivenular zone promotes Wnt11 expression in hepatocytes, which then regulates unique gene expression via activation of the non-canonical Wnt pathway. In summary, our study reports the comprehensive zonation-dependent transcriptome of the normal human liver. Our analysis revealed that the LPS response pathway shapes the characteristics of periportal hepatocytes. By contrast, the perivenular zone is regulated by a combination of three distinct pathways: the xenobiotic response pathway, canonical Wnt signaling, and hypoxia-induced noncanonical Wnt signaling.

Relationship Between Cigarette Smoking and Muscle Strength in Japanese Men / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the link between cigarette smoking and muscle strength in Japanese men. METHODS: We used data on 4249 Japanese men, aged 43.3+/-13.9 years, in this cross-sectional investigation study. Grip strength and leg strength were measured as indicators of overall muscle strength. Meanwhile, subjects' cigarette smoking habits were recorded by trained medical staff. The effect of cigarette smoking on muscle strength was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 1618 men (38.1%) were smokers and 1481 men (34.9%) exercised regularly. Significant differences in muscle strength were noted between men with and without a Brinkman index of 400 or greater, after adjusting for age. After adjusting for age, height, body weight and exercise habits, associations between the Brinkman index and leg strength and the ratio of leg strength to body weight were attenuated. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smoking might be negatively associated with muscle strength, especially grip strength in Japanese men.

Successful Surgical Correction of an Incomplete Endocardial Cushion Defect in an Elderly Patient / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A successful surgical correction of an incomplete endocardial cushion defect (ECD) with an ostium primum defect in a 63-year-old man is reported. Incomplete ECD with ostium primum defect often causes severe heart failure in infancy. Reports of its surgical correction in elderly patients are few. The patient had upper abdominal discomfort and grade 1 mitral valve regurgitation. The preoperative diagnosis was complete ECD (Rastelli type A) because we misdiagnosed a leakage from a cleft between the left superior leaflet and the left inferior leaflet for a flow through a ventricular septal defect when we analyzed a preoperative left ventriculography. The importance of not misdiagnosing the leakage and echocardiography in preoperative diagnosis of ECD was therefore realized. The operative procedure involved patch closure of the ostium primum defect and mitral valve annuloplasty by Kay's procedure and the mitral valve regurgitation completely disappeared. The postoperative course was uneventful. The upper abdominal discomfort and cardiomegaly improved. If there is no severe dysfunction of other organs, surgical correction of incomplete ECD should be recommended even for elderly patients.