ABSTRACT
Lactobacillus paracasei K71 was shown to be effective in alleviating the severity of atopic dermatitis in a randomized controlled trial, and a preliminary open-label trial suggested that strain K71 intake enhanced secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) release in the saliva. This study investigated the effect of K71 on sIgA release in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial. The trial included 62 Japanese subjects aged 20-64 years with relatively low rates of salivary sIgA release. Subjects (n=31 in each group) were randomly given a tablet containing 100 mg (approximately 2 × 1011 bacteria) of K71 or a placebo tablet daily for 12 weeks. After eliminating data for eight subjects (four in each group) who met the exclusion criteria for efficacy analysis, data for 54 subjects were analyzed. The change in the rate of salivary sIgA release 8 weeks after initiation of the study compared with baseline was significantly higher in the K71 tablet group (105.5 ± 119.0 µg/min) than in the placebo group (52.7 ± 62.6 µg/min; p=0.047). There were no adverse events associated with intake of tablets containing K71. The safety of intake of L. paracasei K71 was also confirmed in an independent open-label trial with 20 healthy subjects who consumed excessive amounts of K71-containing food. L. paracasei K71 intake may therefore have some benefits in promoting mucosal immune function.
ABSTRACT
The effects of cyclosporine and allopurinol on neuronal death following global cerebral ischemia were evaluated in Mongolian gerbils. The animals were randomly divided into four groups of 12 each: (1) sham operation as control, (2) occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries for 12 min and treatment with physiological saline, (3) occlusion plus treatment with 5 mg/kg of cyclosporine, and (4) occlusion plus treatment with 100 mg/kg of allopurinol 30 min before cerebral ischemia and daily thereafter for 6 days. On the 7th day after ischemia or sham operation, the gerbils' brains were removed. The number of necrotic pyramidal cells in the cortex and hippocampal CA1 was evaluated and tissue chemiluminescence (reflecting the presence of superoxide radicals) and lipid peroxides were examined. The number of necrotic pyramidal cells in each field of view (×100) of the cortex was 115±79 after ischemia, which was significantly larger than 14±8 in the control group, and was 45±33 and 60±49 after treatment with cyclosporine and allopurinol, respectively. The number of surviving pyramidal cells per mm length after ischemia in CA1 was 37±14, which was significantly smaller than 174±30 in the control group, but 78±31 following treatment with was cyclosporine, and 108±53 with allopurinol. A reduced number of necrotic pyramidal cells was associated with lower tissue chemiluminescence and lipid peroxides. The results suggest that both cyclosporine and allopurinol can inhibit neuronal death after global cerebral ischemia, and that autoimmunization and superoxide radicals are partially responsible for neuronal death.
ABSTRACT
To clarify the differential effects of vecuronium on the thumb and on the big toe, train-of-four (TOF) stimuli were applied to the ulnar nerve at the wrist and the tibial nerve at the ankle in anesthetized patients using two acceleration transducers. Ten adult patients, aged 21-55 years, were studied. Anesthesia was induced by an intravenous injection of thiopental, and vecuronium 0.1 mg·kg-1 was used for paralysis. Anesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide (66%)-oxygen-sevoflurane (1 MAC). The duration of time to the maximal twitch depression on the thumb and the big toe was 136.5±32.5 s and 183.0±40.1 s (P<0.05), respectively. The time to 25% recovery of the twitch height on the thumb and the big toe was 48.1±17.3 min and 39.1±11.6 min, respectively; the time to 50% recovery of twitch height on the thumb and the big toe was 54.1±16.1 min and 40.0±9.2 min (P<0.05), respectively. When paralysis was reversed at 25% of TOF ratio on the thumb, the value of the TOF ratio on the big toe was 58.5±18.2% (P<0.01).
