Distribution of norovirus genotypes and subtypes in river water by ultra-deep sequencing-based analysis.

To determine the distribution of Norovirus (NoV) genotypes in natural river water in Thailand, we conducted a genome analysis using a next-generation sequencer. Twenty-five river water samples were collected at five different sites of the Khlong Klon River in the suburbs of Bangkok between August 2013 and December 2014. The partial genome of NoV was detected in 15 of the 25 samples (60·0%). Seven of these 15 samples (46·7%) contained multiple NoV GII genotypes: GII.4, GII.6, and GII.17. Our data showed that GII.17 had already emerged in August 2013 as a minor population, and it became a major genotype in December 2014. Our findings indicate that the virus was likely to have been circulating in the community before it appeared in the river water. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our study was to investigate the frequencies of multiple genogroups and genotypes of norovirus in the river water near Bangkok, Thailand, by ultra-deep sequencing-based analysis. This study revealed that the epidemic strain was likely to have been circulating in the community before it appeared in the river water. Monitoring of the Norovirus (NoV) genomes in the natural environment may contribute to an understanding of the emergence of new epidemic NoV strains in human populations.

Glucocorticoids possess calcitonin-like antihypercalcemic properties in rats.

The interaction among parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT), and glucocorticoids on blood calcium (Ca) was examined. Prior studies had shown that adrenalectomy (ADX) reduced the fall in blood calcium in rats after parathyroidectomy (PTX). Convincing evidence was provided showing that the ADX effect in PTX rats was due to the loss of corticosterone, the major glucocorticoid in rats; restoring physiological blood levels of corticosterone abolished the ADX effect in PTX rats. The initial attempt of the present study was to explain the failure of ADX or exogenous glucocorticoids to alter serum Ca levels in rats with intact thyroid and parathyroid glands or in thyroidectomized rats with functional parathyroid transplants (PTT). We found, as previously reported, that the 5-h level of serum Ca in rats with parathyroid glands was not affected by s.c. hydrocortisone (cortisol) or by ADX. It was also not affected by thyroparathyroidectomy (TPTX) or after both ADX and TPTX in rats with PTT. These results suggested to us that the glucocorticoid effect to lower serum was inhibited by endogenous parathyroid hormone (PTH) from the parathyroid gland and/or by normal levels of blood Ca. Both of these proposed mechanisms were examined and failed to explain the absence of the ADX effect as well as the glucocorticoid effect in normocalcemic parathyroid-intact rats, because an ADX effect was observed in TPTX rats given hypercalcemic doses of rat or bovine PTH 1-34 or calcitriol. Also, administered cortisol restricted the increased hypercalcemia induced by PTH in ADX-TPTX rats. Expanding on the results in TPTX rats with induced hypercalcemia, we found that neither the ADX effect nor the glucocorticoid effect occurred in thyroid-intact rats with or without functional PTT. These as well as previous results show that: 1. Glucocorticoids, like CT, restrict hypercalcemia in TPTX rats. 2. The ADX effect and its reversal by glucocorticoids in rats with induced hypercalcemia occur only in the absence of the thyroid gland (removal of CT). 3. Glucocorticoids, like CT, lower serum calcium during the hypocalcemia after PTX, an effect that occurs in the presence or absence of the thyroid gland. This study did not reveal why neither ADX nor exogenous glucocorticoids altered serum calcium levels in normocalcemic rats with either intact parathyroid glands or PTT. We conclude that under appropriate conditions, glucocorticoids act in a fashion similar to that of CT in restricting hypercalcemia and in lowering blood Ca.

[A case of superficial esophageal carcinoma with remarkable changes in appearance on endoscopy].

Iodine staining and biopsy has been utilized in the endoscopic examination of superficial esophageal carcinoma. 59-year-old male was occasionally revealed to have esophageal carcinoma. There existed 0-IIb type superficial esophageal carcinoma in 1/3 circulation on the first endoscopic study. After 3 weeks, only erosive change of 5 mm in diameter could be observed. In the microscopic study of the resected specimen, there were phagocyte infiltration, epithelial cell ballooning, and remnant carcinoma cells in only basal layer. It was suggested that epithelium had desquamated and regenerated with extrinsic stimulation, therefore its appearance changes remarkably.

Effect of acebutolol on plasma catecholamine concentrations in anesthetized dogs with ouabain-induced arrhythmias and its direct actions in vitro on the adrenal medulla.

We have performed studies on blood hormone dynamics following intravenous administration of acebutolol, a newly synthesized beta-blocker, and its direct action on the adrenal medulla in vitro. Intravenous injection of acebutolol into anesthetized dogs almost doubled the plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations within 5 to 15 minutes, while renin activity was reduced to approximately two-thirds of the pre-administration level. When arrhythmia was induced in dogs with ouabain, the plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline levels increased to 220 +/- 109 and 392 +/- 84 pg/ml, respectively, from the basal levels of 44 +/- 24 and 140 +/- 43 pg/ml. The restoration of sinus rhythm following the administration of acebutolol was accompanied by a further increase in the plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline levels to 797 +/- 364 and 1226 +/- 263 pg/ml, respectively. A perifusion experiment indicated that acebutolol directly accelerated catecholamine release from the adrenal medulla in pigs.