Frailty and Diminished Human Relationships Are Associated with Poor Sleep Quality in Japanese Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sleep quality, frailty, and human relationships in Japanese older adults (aged 65 years and above, excluding those certified as requiring long-term care). This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire survey to gather demographic information, data on frequency of conversation and conversation partners, and employed the following validated instruments: Kihon Checklist (KCL), a Japanese instrument used to determine the care needs and frailty of older adults; the Dysphagia Risk Assessment for Community-Dwelling Elderly (DRACE) scale; Japanese versions of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-J); the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15-J); and the University of California Los Angeles Scale (UCLA-J), an instrument to assess loneliness in older adults. The 500 respondents were divided into two groups based on sleep quality (PSQI-J): low sleep quality group (n = 167, 33.4%) and high sleep quality group (n = 333, 66.6%). Our analyses showed that the low sleep quality group had a KCL score of 5.55 ± 2.47, which indicated frailty. Binomial logistic regression analysis identified age, number of diseases under treatment, DRACE, GDS-15-J, and conversation frequency and discussion partner for important matters as factors (p < 0.05) associated with poor sleep quality. These factors could help enhance the detection of frailty and predictability of caregiving needs.

Lint-O cooperates with L(3)mbt in target gene suppression to maintain homeostasis in fly ovary and brain.

Loss-of-function mutations in Drosophila lethal(3)malignant brain tumor [l(3)mbt] cause ectopic expression of germline genes and brain tumors. Loss of L(3)mbt function in ovarian somatic cells (OSCs) aberrantly activates germ-specific piRNA amplification and leads to infertility. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, ChIP-seq for L(3)mbt in cultured OSCs and RNA-seq before and after L(3)mbt depletion shows that L(3)mbt genomic binding is not necessarily linked to gene regulation and that L(3)mbt controls piRNA pathway genes in multiple ways. Lack of known L(3)mbt co-repressors, such as Lint-1, has little effect on the levels of piRNA amplifiers. Identification of L(3)mbt interactors in OSCs and subsequent analysis reveals CG2662 as a novel co-regulator of L(3)mbt, termed "L(3)mbt interactor in OSCs" (Lint-O). Most of the L(3)mbt-bound piRNA amplifier genes are also bound by Lint-O in a similar fashion. Loss of Lint-O impacts the levels of piRNA amplifiers, similar to the lack of L(3)mbt. The lint-O-deficient flies exhibit female sterility and tumorous brains. Thus, L(3)mbt and its novel co-suppressor Lint-O cooperate in suppressing target genes to maintain homeostasis in the ovary and brain.

Factors Associated with Volunteer Activities and Sleep Efficiency in Older Adults with Hypertension: A Sequential Model Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine, using a sequential model, factors associated with volunteer participation and sleep efficiency in Japanese older adults receiving treatment for hypertensive disease. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data on participant demographics, lifestyle, health status, and depression, and sleep activity monitors were used to objectively measure sleep status and sleep efficacy. Of the 167 respondents, the 59 being treated for hypertension were divided into two groups based on their participation in volunteering. Comparison between the groups showed significant differences in nocturnal awakening, sleep efficiency, and nap frequency. Volunteers had less nocturnal awakening, increased sleep efficiency, fewer naps, and decreased depression. Covariance structure analysis of the survey data and sleep measurements for hypertensive older adults in the volunteer group was performed by modeling the relationships between variables with a path diagram. Our model showed strong goodness of fit (χ2 test = 15.636, p = 0.111, GFI = 0.925, AGFI = 0.842, CFI = 0.925, RMSEA = 0.099). The findings of this study suggest that older adults with hypertension who participate in volunteer activities have less nocturnal awakening, improved sleep quality, and reduced risk of depression, and provides evidence to promote social participation in volunteering among older adults with hypertension.

Approach for differentiating trophoblast cell lineage from human induced pluripotent stem cells with retinoic acid in the absence of bone morphogenetic protein 4.

INTRODUCTION: Placental transport is the first step in chemotherapeutic safety evaluations during pregnancy. However, a well-established in vitro model is not available. We previously reported that a trophoblast layer model using differentiating choriocarcinoma JEG-3 cells (DJEGs) can be used for placental drug transport studies. However, it was necessary to increase the similarities between the syncytiotrophoblast, the main layer of the placental barrier, and the in vitro evaluation model in order for the model to be useful for placental drug transport evaluations. We focused on in vivo similarities of differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs can achieve a syncytiotrophoblast-like form and secrete human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) following bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) treatment. However, BMP4-treated iPSCs can differentiate into several cell types. In the placental transport model, a dense syncytiotrophoblast cell layer is necessary for appropriate differentiation. METHODS: The conditions permitting differentiation of iPSCs into syncytiotrophoblasts with retinoic acid (RA) treatment without BMP4 were investigated. The presence of syncytiotrophoblast-like cells was confirmed by measurement of mRNA expression levels of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and paternally expressed 10 (PEG10) in syncytiotrophoblasts. In addition, immunofluorescence imaging of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) induced in trophoblasts was performed. RESULTS: and Discussion: RA-induced iPSCs exhibited these syncytiotrophoblast-like features and hCG secretion was maintained for at least 28 days after treatment with RA (500 nM) without BMP4. These results suggest that RA-induced iPSCs are a suitable in vitro syncytiotrophoblast model that can be used as an indicator of drug placental transport for pharmacotherapy during pregnancy.

The relationship between hypertension and nocturnal waking in community-dwelling elderly individuals.

AIM: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between hypertension and nocturnal waking among community-dwelling elderly individuals. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The survey was performed by asking questions related to the basic attributes, lifestyle, sleep conditions and the health status of 422 elderly individuals who belonged to elderly clubs. The subjects were divided into a hypertension group and a non-hypertension group. The data were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred of the 422 elderly individuals responded to the questions (response rate: 47.4%). The rate of obesity in the hypertension group was significantly higher (p=.01) than that in the non-hypertension group. The logistic regression analysis revealed that hypertension was associated with the BMI (OR=1.148, 95%CI: 1.022-1.289) and the number of nocturnal waking episodes (OR=1.449, 95%CI: 1.015-2.067). In the hypertension group, the number of nocturnal waking episodes was significantly correlated with age (rs=0.232), and the performance of volunteer activities was associated with a decreased number of nocturnal waking episodes (rs=-0.356). CONCLUSIONS: It was shown that nocturnal waking and obesity were strongly associated with hypertension. The performance of volunteer activities was also correlated a decrease in the number of nocturnal waking episodes. Further studies should be performed to investigate the relationship between hypertension, the number of nocturnal waking episodes and sympathetic nerve activity. A greater number of physiological activities should be evaluated and the volunteer activities in which the elderly people participated should be precisely analyzed.

Rapid and simple determination of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids in rabbit renal artery by reversed-phase HPLC with fluorescence detection.

A liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection coupled with a solid-phase extraction was applied to the rapid determination of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) in the rabbit renal artery. The EETs were extracted with an acetonitrile from renal artery homogenate and concentrated by a solid-phase extraction method. The concentrated EETs were reacted directly with a 6, 7-dimethoxy-1-methyl-2 (1H)-quinoxalinone-3-propionyl-carboxylic acid (DMEQ) hydrazide and separated by a reversed-phase HPLC with eluting a combination of a step-wise and a gradient of a mixture of methanol and water. The content of EETs in the renal arteries was significantly greater in the 0.5% cholesterol fed rabbits than in control rabbits. It is suggested that hyperchlesterolemia increases the production of EETs in the rabbit renal artery.

Hypothyroidism changes adrenoceptor- and muscarinic receptor-mediated blood pressure responses.

Hypothyroidism was induced by the administration of 0.03% methimazole to drinking water for 1, 2 or 6 weeks to study whether there is a change in adrenoceptor- and muscarinic receptor-mediated blood pressure responses in hypothyroid rats. After 1, 2 and 6 weeks of treatment, the pressor response to norepinephrine was progressively suppressed, and after 6 weeks a significant suppression was observed as compared to control. The depressor response induced by isoprenaline, acetylcholine or sodium nitroprusside was not significantly different between control and hypothyroid rats at any time. The pressor response induced by N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NOARG), an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, was significantly reduced in hypothyroid rats after 1, 2 or 6 weeks of treatment, and the magnitude of the reduction was almost the same for three groups. These results indicated that hypothyroidism causes a time-dependent decrease in pressor responses mediated by alpha-adrenoceptors, but a time-independent decrease in those induced by L-NOARG, and suggest that a progressive decrease in alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated pressor responses occurs in hypothyroidism; however, the decrease in basal NO production and/or release in the peripheral vasculature already occurs in hypothyroid rats at an early stage of the disease.