[The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing among commercial drivers and analysis of predictive factors based on health examinations].

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with a range of manifestations of cardiovascular disease such as stroke, ischemic heart disease and heart failure, and it is known to cause excessive daytime somnolence and be associated with traffic accidents. Therefore, it is important to detect SDB in the early stages. We investigated the prevalence of SDB using a portable monitoring system in 81 commercial drivers. We then analyzed predictive factors for SDB using their health examination records of the same fiscal year. The prevalence of moderate to severe levels of SDB reached 28.3% in all subjects. Multivariate analysis showed that the predictive factors which significantly correlated with SDB were : presence of glucose metabolism disorders (odds ratio [OR] 6.745), weight gain greater than 10 kg from age 20 (OR 5.374), and aging (OR 1.136). These results suggest that health examination records could help detect a high-risk group of SDB, which is important because its early diagnosis could prevent commercial driver traffic accidents.

Detection of primary and metastatic lesions by [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET in a patient with thymic carcinoid.

We present a case of thymic carcinoid, in which primary and metastatic lesions of lymph nodes and bones could be detected by [(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET, but not by (123)I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-MIBG) SPECT, or by (99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate ((99m)Tc-MDP) bone scintigraphy. FDG-PET may be a useful tool for managing thymic carcinoids in patients with negative results on (123)I-MIBG SPECT or (99m)Tc-MDP imaging.

Isoproterenol suppresses cytokine-induced RANTES secretion in human lung epithelial cells through the inhibition of c-jun N-terminal kinase pathway.

It has been reported that beta2-agonists may potentially exert some anti-inflammatory action in addition to bronchodilation that may contribute to their beneficial effects on asthma control. Bronchial epithelial cells are well known to respond to a range of stimuli by producing various biologically active mediators that can influence airway inflammation. RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T cells expressed and secreted) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of airway inflammation of asthmatics through its chemotactic activity for eosinophils. In this study, the authors investigated whether cytokine-induced RANTES release from BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells could be modulated by beta-agonist isoproterenol (ISO). The possible involvement of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway was also studied. Combination of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta (cytokine mix) increased RANTES release from BEAS-2B cells and stimulated JNK activity. Similar to JNK inhibitor SP600125, ISO inhibited not only the production of RANTES but also the activation of JNK pathway in cytokine mix-stimulated BEAS-2B cells. The effect of ISO was mediated by the beta2-adrenoceptor, since it was blocked by ICI 118,551, a selective beta2-receptor antagonist, but not by atenolol, a selective beta1-receptor antagonist. Adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin reproduced the effects of ISO. Isoproterenol was found to inhibit the release of RANTES from the human bronchial epithelial cells, at least in part, through the inhibition of JNK signaling pathway.

Ionizing radiation suppresses FAP-1 mRNA level in A549 cells via p53 activation.

Ionizing radiation (IR) is known to upregulate cell surface Fas through p53 activation in various cells. However, the signaling pathway intermediating between p53 activation and cell surface Fas upregulation remains to be elucidated. Recently, Fas-associated phosphatase-1 (FAP-1) has been reported to associate with Fas and inhibit cell surface Fas expression. We evaluated the expression of FAP-1 mRNA following IR in A549 cells. Ionizing radiation inhibited the expression of FAP-1 mRNA. Pretreatment with p53 inhibitor pifithrin alpha cancelled the IR-induced downregulation of FAP-1 mRNA. These results suggest that IR-induced p53 activation may upregulate cell surface Fas via the down-modulation of FAP-1.

Doxorubicin induces expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 in human small cell lung cancer cell lines by the c-jun N-terminal kinase pathway.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major impediment to successful chemotherapy for lung cancer. Overexpression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) appears to be involved in MDR development in lung cancer cells. A number of chemotherapeutic agents including doxorubicin (DOX) were reported to induce MRP1 expression in human lung cancer cells. In our study, we investigated the mechanism by which DOX induces MRP1 expression in human small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, GLC4 and NCI-H82. These cells expressed MRP1 protein at low levels and were sensitive to DOX. Doxorubicin at 50 nM induced a marked increase in MRP1 expression in 24 hr, and stimulated c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activity. Treatment with a JNK inhibitor, SP600125, significantly inhibited MRP1 induction. Furthermore, transfection with JNK1 and JNK2 antisense oligonucleotides markedly inhibited DOX-induced MRP1 expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed an enhanced recruitment of phosphorylated c-jun to the MRP1 promoter containing the AP-1 site upon DOX stimulation, which was inhibited by pretreatment with SP600125. Surprisingly, GLC4 cells exposed to DOX for 24 hr maintained increased MRP1 expression and resistance to DOX for at least 3 weeks. Pretreatment with SP600125 before DOX stimulation blocked the appearance of the MDR phenotype as well as MRP1 induction in GLC4 cells. These findings suggest that JNK activation may play an essential role for the induction of MRP1 protein in human SCLC cells by chemotherapeutic agents and that combined treatment of a JNK inhibitor with anticancer drugs may prevent the development of MDR by the abrogation of MRP1 induction.