Background: The control of body weight and cardiac sympathetic function in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) are important because both factors have significant ...effects on the mortality of these patients. It has recently been reported that OSAHS has a significant effect on the secretion of leptin, a hormone involved in the control of body weight and sympathetic nerve activity. In addition to the circadian rhythm of leptin secretion, the effects of one night of treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) and the mechanism of the effects of nCPAP on nocturnal leptin secretion in patients with OSAHS has not yet been elucidated. Methods: Blood samples were obtained at 21.00 hours, 00.00 hours, 03.00 hours, and 06.30 hours from 21 subjects with OSAHS (mean apnoea and hypopnoea index 52.4/h), with and without nCPAP treatment. Iodine-123 (I123)-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging was used to evaluate myocardial sympathetic function before nCPAP treatment. Results: Plasma leptin reached a peak level at 00:00 hours (p<0.01) in patients with OSAHS, both with and without nCPAP treatment. The first night of nCPAP treatment significantly decreased the plasma leptin levels at 03.00 hours (without nCPAP: mean (SE) 21.6 (4.7) ng/ml; with nCPAP: 19.3 (4.1) ng/ml, p<0.02) and at 06.30 hours (without nCPAP: 17.6 (3.8) ng/ml; with nCPAP: 15.2 (3.2) ng/ml, p<0.01). The magnitude of the decrease in leptin levels after nCPAP treatment was significantly correlated with cardiac sympathetic function measured before nCPAP treatment (p<0.03). Conclusions: Patients with OSAHS undergo nocturnal increases in leptin levels in spite of interruption of sleep due to apnoea and hypopnoea, a trend seen in normal subjects. Plasma leptin levels in patients with OSAHS decreased significantly after the first night of nCPAP treatment. Enhanced cardiac sympathetic function in these patients may contribute to the leptin levels before nCPAP treatment and vice versa.
Venous blood is currently the most common source of DNA for gene polymorphism screening; however, blood sampling is invasive and difficult to perform in general dental treatment. Buccal mucosa ...samples provide an alternative source of DNA, but it is frequently difficult to effectively amplify the DNA owing to the small amounts of sample material obtained. This study was performed to establish a method for performing total genomic DNA amplification from buccal mucosa samples using phi29 DNA polymerase. Total genomic DNA was isolated from buccal mucosa samples obtained from healthy subjects and was amplified using phi29 DNA polymerase. To determine the suitability of the extracted DNA for genotyping, polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses were performed for the IL-1 gene polymorphism. Genotyping of the IL-1 polymorphism was successful using the amplified DNA from a buccal mucosa, but genotyping was unsuccessful using the unamplified control because of low DNA purity. The method of extracting DNA from a buccal mucosa is painless, simple, minimally invasive, and rapid. Genomic DNA from a buccal mucosa can be amplified by phi29 DNA polymerase in sufficient quantity and quality to conduct gene polymorphism analyses.
Some studies have shown that locally applied basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) enhances bone regeneration at a fracture site, while others have not been in agreement. We developed a new ...continuous FGF-2 delivery system designed to accelerate cytokine-induced new bone formation. A subperiosteal pocket was surgically formed in 36 eight-week-old male Wistar rats. The rats were administered 0, 1, 10, or 100 ng of FGF-2 contained in a collagen minipellet, mixed with allogeneic demineralized bone matrix in a dome-shaped Millipore filter and then placed into the pocket. New bone formation in the dome was evaluated at 2, 4, and 8 wks after placement. Soft x-ray radiographs disclosed an apparently larger radiopaque region in the 1-ng group at 4 wks compared with those in the other groups. Morphometrical analysis revealed that the new bone area in the 1-g group was significantly larger than that in the 0-g group (p<0.01). In the 100-ng FGF-2 group, new bone formation seemed suppressed. We concluded that continuous slow administration of a small amount of FGF-2 accelerates bone-derived osteogenic cytokine-induced new bone formation.
To prevent loosening or fracture of screws retaining the prosthesis to the implants in the posterior partially edentulous region, the use of staggered buccal and lingual offset placement or wide ...implants is suggested. However, it is not known how this usage compensates for the torque produced by lateral occlusal forces. This study evaluated the effectiveness of offset placement of three implants and a wide implant placement at the most posterior site. Three‐dimensional geometric analysis was used to calculate the tensile force applied to gold screws in clinical situations with buccal or lingual loading perpendicular to cuspal inclination (10 or 20°). Four variations of the placement of three implants (∅ 3·75 mm) are: (1) straight; (2) buccal offset of the second implant; (3) lingual offset of the second implant; (4) a wide implant (∅ 5 mm) placement at most posterior site. The offset placement did not always decrease tensile force at the gold screw, but wide implant placement and decrease in cuspal inclination did.
To evaluate accuracy of cardiac functional analysis with multi-detector row computed tomography (CT) and segmental reconstruction algorithm over a range of heart rates.
Institutional review board ...approval was obtained. Informed consent was not required. Multi-detector row CT (500-msec rotation time, 8 x 1-mm detector collimation) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were performed in 50 patients (28 men, 22 women; age range, 46-84 years; mean age, 67 years). Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed in 41 patients, and electrocardiographically (ECG)-gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in 27. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), ejection fraction (EF), and left ventricular (LV) mass were estimated with multi-detector row CT and compared with values estimated with MR imaging, which served as the reference standard. Additionally, EF values estimated with multi-detector row CT, echocardiography, and SPECT were compared with those estimated with MR imaging. Systemic error and degree of agreement of global functional parameters measured with MR imaging and other modalities were assessed. In a second analysis, linear regression analysis was added.
EF estimated with multi-detector row CT agreed and correlated well with EF estimated with MR imaging (bias +/- standard deviation, -1.2% +/- 4.6; r = 0.96). Agreement and correlation were similar for EDV (-0.35 mL +/- 15.2; r = 0.97), ESV (1.1 mL +/- 8.6; r = 0.99), and LV mass (2.5 mL +/- 15.0; r = 0.96). Standard deviation of EF difference between multi-detector row CT and MR imaging was significantly less than that between echocardiography and MR imaging (P < .001) or that between SPECT and MR imaging (P < .001).
Various LV functional parameters were measured with multi-detector row CT with a segmental approach, and measurements correlated and agreed with those obtained with MR imaging. Moreover, functional analysis with multi-detector row CT was more accurate than that with two-dimensional echocardiography or ECG-gated SPECT.
In a common theme of organogenesis, certain cells within a multipotent epithelial sheet exchange signals with their neighbors and develop into a bud structure. Using hair bud morphogenesis as a ...paradigm, we employed mutant mouse models and cultured keratinocytes to dissect the contributions of multiple extracellular cues in orchestrating adhesion dynamics and proliferation to shape the cluster of cells involved. We found that transforming growth factor beta 2 signaling is necessary to transiently induce the transcription factor Snail and activate the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in the bud. In the epidermis, Snail misexpression leads to hyperproliferation and a reduction in intercellular adhesion. When E-cadherin is transcriptionally down-regulated, associated adhesion proteins with dual functions in signaling are released from cell-cell contacts, a process which we demonstrate leads to Ras-MAPK activation. These studies provide insights into how multipotent cells within a sheet are stimulated to undergo transcriptional changes that result in proliferation, junctional remodeling, and bud formation. This novel signaling pathway further weaves together the web of different morphogens and downstream transcriptional events that guide hair bud formation within the developing skin.
Drug-reducing ability of monkey liver cytosol was examined in this study. Monkey liver cytosol exhibited significant reductase activities toward zonisamide, sulindac and imipramine N-oxide in the ...presence of 2-hydroxy-pyrimidine or benzaldehyde, an electron donor to aldehyde oxidase. These activities were abolished by inhibitors of aldehyde oxidase, such as menadione. These reductase activities in monkeys were extremely high compared to those in other animals. The zonisamide reductase activity of monkey liver cytosol was about 40-fold higher than that of the liver microsomes. It appears that the high levels of aldehyde oxidase exists in monkey liver, and zonisamide, sulindac and imipramine N-oxide are mainly reduced by this enzyme, not by cytochrome P450.
The kinetics and metabolic fate of 123I-15-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(R,S)- methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) in canine myocardium were studied in an open-chest dog model.
After left anterior descending artery ...injection of BMIPP, blood samples were collected from the corresponding great coronary vein (V) and femoral artery (A). On the basis of the A-V radioactivity difference as well as the HPLC elution profile at various time points, myocardial extraction, retention and metabolism of BMIPP were evaluated.
BMIPP was instantly extracted from the plasma into the myocardium (74% of the injected dose) and was then retained (65.3%). Washout of the retained radioactivity was low (8.7%) and most of the washout was as alpha- and beta-oxidation metabolites (2.3 + 2.9 + 1.4%), with little loss of BMIPP itself (2.1 %).
BMIPP is suitable for static SPECT imaging of the myocardium, and its slow washout appears to be due to metabolism through alpha- and beta-oxidation.
The normal myocardium uses primarily fatty acid as its energy source, but, as heart failure develops, the myocardial fatty acid metabolism is limited. In this study, impairment of the lipid ...metabolism in heart failure was serially evaluated with 123I-(rho-iodophenyl)3-(R,S)-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP), a radioiodinated fatty acid analog.
Rapid ventricular pacing was introduced in 10 beagle dogs. Dogs were subjected to hemodynamic assessment and measurement of catecholamine before and after pacing. After 1 wk (group A; n = 4) and 4 wk (group B; n = 6) of pacing, BMIPP was injected directly into the left anterior descending artery; its extraction, retention, and washout rate in the early phase were calculated, and the metabolites in the myocardium were evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography. These factors were compared with those of healthy control animals (group C; n = 6).
The left ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac output decreased significantly in groups A and B after pacing. The pulmonary capillary wedge pressure did not change in group A but increased significantly in group B. Plasma norepinephrine increased progressively as heart failure developed but did not reach statistical significance. The washout rate in the early phase increased, significantly in groups A and B compared with that of group C. Extraction and retention of BMIPP did not change in group A. In group B, extraction tended to decrease and retention decreased significantly compared with that of group C. The levels of full metabolite formed by complete oxidation of BMIPP decreased, and backdiffusion of BMIPP increased significantly in groups A and B compared with that of group C. Myocardial blood flow did not change among the three groups.
Our study indicates that myocardial fatty acid oxidation begins to be inhibited and that washout of BMIPP increases in the compensated stage of left ventricular dysfunction but that myocardial extraction and retention of fatty acid are definitely impaired in the advanced stage of heart failure. Therefore, as assessed by BMIPP, the myocardial lipid metabolism is related to the pathophysiology of the development and worsening of heart failure.
Here, we describe the details of a silicon–tungsten prototype electromagnetic calorimeter module and associated readout electronics. Detector performance for this prototype has been measured in test ...beam experiments at the CERN PS and SPS accelerator facilities in 2015/16. The results are compared to those in Monte Carlo Geant4 simulations. This is the first real-world demonstration of the performance of a custom ASIC designed for fast, lower-power, high-granularity applications.
PDF
