Identification of specifically reduced Th2 cell subsets in allergic rhinitis patients after sublingual immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Although Th2 cells are well known to play important roles in allergic diseases including allergic rhinitis (AR), the factors that induce and sustain the pathogenesis of AR remain unclear. The recent development of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is expected to allow changes to the underlying pathogenesis of AR. However, which Th2 cell subsets are important in house dust mite-induced AR (HDM-AR), the influence of SLIT on the pathogenic Th2 cells, and the association of Th2 cell subsets with SLIT efficacy have not been clarified. METHODS: The cytokine production and frequency of HDM-reactive T-cell subsets in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were evaluated using flow cytometry in 89 HDM-AR patients (placebo [n = 43] and HDM 300 IR [n = 46]) who participated in a placebo-controlled study of SLIT with HDM tablets. All patients provided samples both before treatment as a baseline and at the end of the 52-week study. The PBMCs were stained with CellTrace™ Violet (CTV) before culture with HDM extract, and HDM-reactive T cells were detected as the proliferated cells with diminished CTV. RESULTS: HDM-reactive IL-5+ IL-13+ CD27- CD161+ CD4+ cells and ST2+ CD45RO+ CD4+ cells were observed in the peripheral blood from each patient with HDM-AR; these cells significantly decreased after SLIT in the group treated with active tablets. HDM-reactive ST2+ CD45RO+ CD4+ cells were significantly lower in active-responders. CONCLUSION: Allergen-reactive ST2+ CD45RO+ CD4+ cells or those combined with IL-5+ IL-13+ CD27- CD161+ CD4+ cells may be useful as markers indicating the successful treatment of SLIT. These cells may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AR as pathogenic memory Th2 cells.

Anti-Rhodotorula activity of mycophenolic acid enhanced in the presence of polyene antibiotic nystatin.

Rhodotorula species are opportunistic pathogens, which cause not only systemic fungaemia but also other localized infections. Despite serious side effects such as nephrotoxicity and hypokalemia, amphotericin B (a polyene antifungal) has been commonly prescribed for Rhodotorula infection because Rhodotorula species are resistant against a candin family of antifungal agents. In this study, novel active compounds against Rhodotorula species were screened from the extracts of entomopathogenic fungi based on the synergistic effect of polyene nystatin (NYS), which causes efficient targeting of compounds due to increased permeability through the fungal cell membrane. Around 37% of culture extracts from 31 entomopathogenic fungal strains showed anti-Rhodotorula activity in the synergistic bioassay system, suggesting that the coexistence assay with NYS enhanced the discovery of anti-Rhodotorula compounds. Judging from various physicochemical data, the active component from strain HF763 was identified as an immunosuppressant drug, mycophenolic acid (MPA). The minimum inhibitory concentration of MPA against three pathogenic Rhodotorula strains was determined, focusing on the synergistic effect with NYS. The results revealed that the values decreased by at least 87% in the presence of NYS, indicating that MPA showed a synergistic effect with NYS. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to screen active compounds against Rhodotorula species that are resistant to a candin family of antifungal agents, from entomopathogenic fungi. Assuming that most of the latent antifungal compounds do not exert their activity due to their inability to penetrate the membrane, we took advantage of polyene nystatin in the screening to increase permeability through the fungal cell membrane. The result of the screening revealed hidden antifungal activity of mycophenolic acid, demonstrating that the method applied in this study unlocks the potentials of bioresources, and proposes a new remedy for mycosis.

Circulatory disturbance of rat spinal cord induced by occluding ligation of the dorsal spinal vein.

Spinal cord infarction can be caused by venous disturbances due to trauma or cancer invasion. However, the precise mechanism of venous infarction is not fully understood. To characterize disorders associated with spinal venous occlusion, we performed time-kinetic pathological analyses of rat spinal cord infarction induced by transdural ligation of the dorsal spinal vein at the levels of the T10-T13 vertebrae. One day after ligation congestion, edema and hemorrhage were observed mainly in the dorsal funiculus. Axons were well preserved, but on the 3rd day axonal degeneration became evident. On the 7th day, the necrotic lesion was confined to the dorsal funiculus and was round in shape with foamy macrophage infiltration and astrocytic gliosis. On the 14th day, the involved cord became atrophic, and infiltration of foamy macrophages and astrocytosis became more prominent. After 21-28 days, the infarction focus decreased in size due to gliosis, and residual macrophages were observed. The main lesion was confined to the dorsal funiculus at all times. However, the severity of the softening varied among rats. Thus, we conclude that the disturbance of venous drainage actually results in spinal cord softening. The variability in the lesions is probably due to the presence of unexpected anastomoses of the spinal venous system.

[A case of asymptomatic urachal cyst in autopsy--histopathological study of urachal cyst and review of the literature of 99 cases during a 10 year period in Japan].

Disorders of urachal remnants are common. While urachal cysts are usually asymptomatic, infection may mimic a variety of acute abdomen. Here we report a very rare case of urachal cyst that protruded in the urinary bladder cavity and among 99 accumulated cases, only 4 cases have been reported similar to this case characterized by intravesical development from 1990 to 1999. An uninfected urachal cyst was found in a 79-year-old male who had died of bile duct carcinoma. The cyst showed ovoid protrusion into urinary bladder cavity from the dome (3.5 x 2.0 x 2.0 cm in size). Histopathologically, the cyst wall was thin and consisted of fibrous connective tissue with muscular tissue and peripheral nerve, and lined by cuboidal epithelium but no inflammatory cells could be seen. Urachal cysts occur in both sexes are affected with equal frequency, and frequently occur in a younger population. In clinical symptoms the umbilical manifestations are predominant in patients younger than 30 years old, while the bladder manifestations are predominant in those older than 30.

Double cancer consisting of adenosquamous and hepatocellular carcinomas of the liver.

A very rare case of a double cancer consisting of adenosquamous and hepatocellular carcinomas of the liver in a 65-year-old-man is discussed. The patient was hospitalized with epigastralgia in May 1997. Abdominal computed axial tomography revealed a tumor located in the left lobe of the liver and a left hepatic lobectomy was performed. The tumor recurred several months after surgery and the patient died on 4 June 1999. At autopsy, both a major tumor mass with extensive involvement, located in the surgical margin, and a small mass located in S7 were discovered. Microscopically, the major tumor was diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma and the small one in S7 as hepatocellular carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a double cancer consisting of adenosquamous and hepatocellular carcinomas of the liver. The pathological findings support the hypothesis that this tumor developed as a squamous transformation of adenocarcinoma.

Gamow-teller strengths of the inverse beta transition 176Yb-->176Lu for spectroscopy of proton-proton and other sub-MeV solar neutrinos

Discrete Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions 176Yb-->176Lu at low excitation energies have been measured via the ( 3He,t) reaction at 450 MeV and at 0 degrees. For 176Yb, two low-lying states are observed, setting low thresholds Q(nu) = 301 and 445 keV for neutrino ( nu) capture. Capture rates estimated from the measured GT strengths, the simple two-state excitation structure, and the low Q(nu) in Yb-Lu indicate that Yb-based nu detectors are well suited for a direct measurement of the sub-MeV solar electron-neutrino ( nu(e)) spectrum including pp neutrinos.

Mycobacterium kansaii flexor tenosynovitis presenting as carpal tunnel syndrome.

We present a case in which Mycobacterium kansasii flexor tenosynovitis caused the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. The diagnosis was made from synovial tissue specimens taken at the time of operation.

A low-Mr lipase activation factor cooperating with lipase modulator protein LimL in Pseudomonas sp. strain 109.

Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 produces a unique lipase (LipL) which efficiently catalyses intramolecular transesterification of omega-hydroxyesters to form macrocyclic lactones. In vivo production of enzymically active LipL requires lipase modulator protein (LimL), which functions as a molecular chaperone for the correct folding of LipL. However, previous work has shown that LipL forms a tight complex with LimL in vitro and the resulting LipL-LimL complex is only partially active, suggesting an additional mechanism that facilitates the dissociation of the complex to form enzymically active LipL. In the present work, a low-Mr compound (lipase activation factor, LAF) was found in Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 that when added to the LipL-LimL complex resulted in the activation of LipL. Ca2+ ions also enhanced lipase activity, but the instantaneous activation by Ca2+ was different from the gradual and time-dependent activation by LAF, indicating the novel nature of this compound. LAF passed through an ultrafiltration membrane with an Mr cut-off of 3000 and showed an apparent Mr of 330+/-30 on Superdex Peptide gel-filtration chromatography. Treatment of the LipL-LimL complex with LAF liberated free active LipL, indicating that LAF was necessary to dissociate the LipL-LimL complex.

Increase production of lactonizing lipase (LipL) from Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 by lipids and detergents.

LipL of Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 is a unique lipase capable of catalyzing macrocyclic lactone synthesis using omega-hydroxyfatty acid esters as substrates. Several fatty acid esters were tested as inducers of LipL production. The addition of either soybean oil or a non-ionic detergent (Noigen HC) resulted in a 44 to 45-fold increase in extracellular LipL, and the presence of both resulted in a further 56-fold increase. Among the triglycerides tested, triolein was the most effective, with a 50-fold increase in LipL production. A Northern blot hybridization analysis found that the lipL transcript increased in the presence of soybean oil or Noigen HC, indicating that the production of LipL is regulated at the transcriptional level.

Attritional flexor tendon ruptures due to distal radius fracture and associated with volar displacement of the distal ulna: a case report.

Flexor tendon rupture following distal radius fractures are rare. In this report, a volarly displaced distal ulna that perforated the volar wrist capsule caused delayed flexor tendon ruptures 25 years after a distal radius fracture. The repair with free tendon graft and the excision of the distal ulna produced a successful result.

Purification and characterization of a novel extracellular lipase catalyzing hydrolysis of oleyl benzoate from Acinetobacter nov. sp. strain KM109.

A new lipase (OBase) which efficiently hydrolyzes oleyl benzoate (OB) was found in the culture supernatant of Acinetobacter nov. sp. strain KM109, a new isolate growing in a minimum medium containing OB as the sole carbon source. OBase was purified to homogeneity with 213-fold purification and 0.8% yield. The molecular weight was estimated to be 62,000 +/- 1,000 by SDS-PAGE under denatured-reduced conditions and to be 50,000 +/- 1,000 by gel-filtration HPLC under native conditions; these findings indicate that OBase is a monomeric enzyme. The optimum temperature and pH of OBase were about 45 degrees C and pH 8. Temperature and pH stabilities were at or lower than 35 degrees C and in a range of pH 6-8, respectively. Purified OBase preferentially hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl benzoate (pNPB) over p-nitrophenyl acetate (pNPA) or p-nitrophenyl caproate (pNPC) [pNPB/pNPA = 20 and pNPB/pNPC = 5.4], indicating that OBase has a high affinity for benzoyl esters. Partial amino-acid sequences of OBase fragments obtained after lysyl endopeptidase treatment showed no similarity with known proteins.

Interferon-alpha-induced thyroid dysfunction in patients with chronic active hepatitis C: a transient, reversible and self-limited dysfunction.

To survey the prognoses of interferon-alpha (IFNalpha)-induced thyroid dysfunction, a total of 100 patients (49 males and 51 females) with biopsy-proven chronic active hepatitis C were studied. Either during or after IFNalpha therapy, 29 patients (33.7%) revealed suppression/elevation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or both, transient thyrotoxicosis (TSH less than 0.1 microU/ml) or transient hypothyroidism (TSH 5.0-190.95 microU/ml). However, the thyroid function normalized without supplementation of the thyroid hormone in the follow-up period. In the same period, one of the 14 control patients (7.1%) developed thyroid dysfunction. Thyroid abnormalities developed significantly more in patients with IFNalpha therapy than in those without IFNalpha therapy. The findings suggest that the occult autoimmune disorder becomes overt with IFNalpha treatment in patients with pre-existent autoimmune thyroid disease. IFNalpha-induced thyroid dysfunction is transient, reversible and self-limited. It is not necessary to discontinue IFNalpha therapy when thyroid dysfunction develops.

Gene organization in the ada-rplL region of Streptomyces virginiae.

The gene organization of a 7.4-kb region of the Streptomyces virginiae (Sv) chromosome was determined. The predicted open reading frames (ORFs) and their predicted products, in sequence order, were (i) ada, encoding adenosine deaminase [EC 3.5.4.4], (ii) aat, encoding a protein homologous to aspartate aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.1], (iii) secE, encoding a protein involved in protein secretion, (iv) vbrA, encoding a NusG-like protein involved in antitermination of transcription as described by Okamoto et al. [J. Biol. Chem. 267 (1992) 1093-1098], and (v) rplKAJL, encoding the large subunits of the ribosomal proteins L11, L1, L10 and L12. Six of the ORFs (secE-rplL) were oriented in the same direction, but the other two (ada and aat) had the opposite orientation. The gene organization of the secE-rplL region in Sv was identical to that in Escherichia coli.

Lipase modulator protein (LimL) of Pseudomonas sp. strain 109.

Plasmids containing a Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 extracellular lipase gene (lipL) lacking NH2-terminal sequence and a lipase modulator gene (limL) lacking the NH2-terminal hydrophobic region were constructed and expressed independently in Escherichia coli by using the T7 promoter expression vector system. Recombinant LipL (rLipL) was produced as inclusion bodies, whereas recombinant LimL (rLimL) was present as a soluble protein. During in vitro renaturation of the purified rLipL inclusion bodies after they had been dissolved in 8 M urea, addition of rLimL was essential to solubilize and modulate rLipL. The solubility and activity of rLipL were influenced by the rLimL/rLipL molar ratio; the highest level of solubility was obtained at an rLimL/rLipL ratio of 4:5, whereas the highest activity level was obtained at an rLimL/rLipL ratio of 4:1. After renaturation, rLipL and rLimL were coprecipitated with anti-rLipL antibody, indicating the formation of an rLipL-rLimL complex. Activity of the native lipase purified from Pseudomonas sp. strain 109 was also inhibited by rLimL. By Western blotting (immunoblotting) with anti-rLimL antibody, native LimL was detected in Pseudomonas cells solubilized by sarcosyl treatment. LimL was purified from Pseudomonas sp. strain 109, and the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence was determined to be NH2-Leu-Glu-Pro-Ser-Pro-Ala-Pro-. We propose that to prevent membrane degradation, LimL weakens lipase activity inside the cell, especially in the periplasm, in addition to modulating lipase folding.

Simultaneous measurements of twenty-four-hour whole-body retention of 47Ca-chloride and 99mTc-MDP: early differentiation of metabolic bone diseases in rat models.

The 24-h whole-body retention (24-h WBR) of 47Ca-chloride and 99mTc-MDP was measured in four rat models over a 6-week period at 2 week intervals. Fine detail bone radiographs of the femurs and histologic bone specimens were also obtained simultaneously. In the osteomalacic (M) and steroid-induced osteoporotic (S) groups the 24-h WBR values of 47Ca were significantly lower, and in the osteoporotic (P) group were higher than in the control (C) group from the second week. The 24-h WBR values of 99mTc-MDP were significantly higher in the M group and were lower in the S group from the second week. Simultaneous measurements of 24-h WBR of these two radiopharmaceuticals facilitated the early differentiation of metabolic bone diseases in the animal models prior to the detection of radiologic bone changes.

Effect of diets containing different levels of calcium, phosphate, and vitamin D3 on tooth uptake of 47Ca-chloride in rat models: comparison with bone uptake.

The effect of dietary manipulation on global tooth uptake of 47Ca-chloride was evaluated in three rat models of metabolic bone diseases verified by histologic bone study. The 24-hr tooth uptake of 47Ca-chloride was significantly decreased in the osteomalacic group, and was increased in the osteoporotic group at the fourth week. Tooth uptake closely paralleled femoral uptake at a correlation coefficient of 0.73 (p less than 0.01). The uptake of 47Ca-chloride in tooth was found to be more affected by dietary manipulation than that in femur in our rat models.

Purification, characterization, and molecular cloning of lactonizing lipase from Pseudomonas species.

An extracellular lipase catalyzing the synthesis of macrocyclic lactones in anhydrous organic solvents was purified to homogeneity from Pseudomonas nov. sp. 109, and characterized. The lipase showed a pI of 5.3 on isoelectric focusing and a Mr of 29,000 +/- 1,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With respect to substrate specificity, optimum chain length for acyl moiety varied depending on the type of reaction catalyzed: C18 in monomer lactone formation, C11 or shorter in dimer lactone formation, and C8 in ester hydrolysis. The amino-terminal 19 amino acid residues of the purified lipase were determined as Ser-Thr-Tyr-Thr-Gln-Thr-Lys-Tyr-Pro-Ile-Val-Leu-Ala-His-Gly-Met-Leu-Gly- Phe, and the gene encoding the lipase was identified by hybridization to a synthetic 20-nucleotide probe, cloned, and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis predicted a 311-amino acid open reading frame, a putative ribosome-binding site, and a 26-amino acid sequence at the amino terminus of the sequence that is not found in the mature protein. This 26-amino acid sequence has many of the characteristics common to known signal peptides. The lipase gene encoded a sequence of Val-Asn-Leu-Ile-Gly-His-Ser-His-Gly-Gly which is very well conserved among lipases, and showed 38-40% overall homology to the amino acid sequences of lipases from Pseudomonas fragie and Pseudomonas cepacia, but showed little homology to those of other lipases, suggesting that some structural features are required for catalyzing macrocyclic lactone synthesis in organic solvents and are restricted to lipases of the Pseudomonas origin.

Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine by dual photon absorptiometry: age-related regression in normal Japanese subjects and fracture threshold in osteoporotics.

The bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine was determined by DPA in 280 normal Japanese volunteers and 11 osteoporotic women with compression fractures. In women, bone loss started from the mid thirties and accelerated after the age of 50 years at the rate of 0.75% (0.0074 g/cm2) per year. In men, bone loss started from the mid twenties and occurred linearly at the rate of 0.30% (0.0032 g/cm2). The overall diminutions in vertebral BMD throughout life in men and women were 13.0% and 24.3%, respectively. The mean vertebral BMD of the osteoporotic women with recent compression fractures was 37.5% lower than that of age-matched controls. The 90th percentile for vertebral BMD in this group was 0.584 g/cm2. By the age of 80 years, approximately one-fifth of normal Japanese women have BMD values less than this.