Hepcidin Is Down-Regulated in Alcohol Loading Ohtake, Takaaki; Saito, Hiroyuki; Hosoki, Yayoi ...
Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research,
01/2007, Volume:
31, Issue:
s1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Background: It is common for alcoholic patients to have excess iron accumulation in the liver, which may contribute to the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, the mechanism of ...hepatic iron uptake in ALD is still obscure. Recently, a novel iron‐regulatory hormone hepcidin was found that suppresses the absorption of iron from the small intestine and the release of iron from macrophages. To elucidate the contribution of hepcidin toward the hepatic excess iron accumulation in ALD, we examined whether alcohol loading affects hepcidin expression both in ALD patients and in an ethanol‐fed mouse model.
Methods: Serum prohepcidin concentration was quantified by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Hepatic hepcidin‐1 and hepcidin‐2 mRNA expressions in mouse liver were evaluated by quantitative real‐time reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method. The protein expression of prohepcidin in mouse liver was examined immunohistochemically by rabbit antimouse prohepcidin antibody.
Results: Serum prohepcidin concentration in ALD was significantly lower than that in healthy subjects (p<0.001). Especially, serum prohepcidin concentrations were decreased in the patients whose serum ferritin value was high. In the ethanol‐fed mouse model, hepatic hepcidin‐1 mRNA expression was significantly lower than that in control (p=0.04). Prohepcidin was expressed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes of mice liver tissue sections, and its expression was decreased after ethanol loading.
Conclusion: Alcohol loading down‐regulates hepatic hepcidin expression and leads to the increase of iron absorption from the intestine.
The present study was performed to examine a hypothesis that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is implicated in high fat diet-induced liver steatosis. Mice were fed with control or ...high fat diet containing approximately 10% or 80% cholesterol, respectively. Macroscopic and microscopic findings demonstrated that lipid accumulation in the liver was observed as early as 2 weeks after high fat diet and that high fat diet for 12 weeks developed a fatty liver phenotype, establishing a novel model of diet-induced liver steatosis. Gene profiling with microarray and real-time PCR studies demonstrated that among genes involved in lipid metabolism, adipogenesis-related genes, PPARγ and its targeted gene, CD36 mRNA expression was specifically up-regulated in the liver by high fat diet for 2 weeks. Immunohistochemical study revealed that PPARγ protein expression is increased in the nuclei of hepatocytes by high fat diet. It was also shown that protein expression of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), an upstream molecule of PPARγ, in the liver was drastically suppressed by high fat diet. All these results suggest for the first time that the CREB-PPARγ signaling pathway may be involved in the high fat diet-induced liver steatosis.
Recently it has become possible for persons with hearing impairments in remote locations to communicate via sign language using video phones and videoconferencing systems. Video interpreting makes ...use of videoconferencing technology to allow remote sign language interpreting services to occur without an interpreter on site. In this paper, we describe our experimental system for the remote sign language interpreting services of lecture. And we discuss that a sign language interpreter, in a remote sign language interpreting services, can realize more effective interpretation by visualization support in lecture.
Recently it has become possible for persons with hearing impairments in remote locations to communicate via sign language using video phones and videoconferencing systems. Video interpreting makes ...use of videoconferencing technology to allow remote sign language interpreting services to occur without an interpreter on site. In actually attempting video interpreting services for the hearing impaired, however, critical problems must be take in account, besides the issue of video quality, picture quality and refresh rate, that is current being examined. Our approach uses dual-video transmission which gives interpreters full view of the remote place. For example, the interpreter can see the face of a hearing speaker giving a presentation and the face of the audience. with hearing impairments at the same time. In this paper, we discuss that a sign language interpreter, in a remote sign language interpreting services, can realize more effective interpretation by visualization support in a lecture scene.
Using Microsoft Word and software that displays pronunciation alongside kanji characters, we have constructed and evaluated a system that presents speech content using sentences containing kana and ...kanji characters that are presented with pronunciation alongside each kanji character on a stenography keyboard. The pronunciation displayed can be set to match a reader's literacy level in Japanese so that only pronunciation is displayed for kanji that the reader does not know how to pronounce. The paper contains a description of the functions, characteristics, and speech content presentation methods of the system. As part of our efforts to provide good comprehension to hearing-impaired students using the system, we used the system in a lecture. After the lecture, we distributed questionnaires to the hearing-impaired students to inquire about the effectiveness of the system. By analyzing the questionnaire results, we were able to verify the system's effectiveness and usefulness. When Chinese characters are used in the Japanese language they are generally referred to as kanji to avoid confusion.
The present study was performed to examine a hypothesis that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is implicated in high fat diet-induced liver steatosis. Mice were fed with ...control or high fat diet containing approximately 10% or 80% cholesterol, respectively. Macroscopic and microscopic findings demonstrated that lipid accumulation in the liver was observed as early as 2 weeks after high fat diet and that high fat diet for 12 weeks developed a fatty liver phenotype, establishing a novel model of diet-induced liver steatosis. Gene profiling with microarray and real-time PCR studies demonstrated that among genes involved in lipid metabolism, adipogenesis-related genes, PPARgamma and its targeted gene, CD36 mRNA expression was specifically up-regulated in the liver by high fat diet for 2 weeks. Immunohistochemical study revealed that PPARgamma protein expression is increased in the nuclei of hepatocytes by high fat diet. It was also shown that protein expression of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), an upstream molecule of PPARgamma, in the liver was drastically suppressed by high fat diet. All these results suggest for the first time that the CREB-PPARgamma signaling pathway may be involved in the high fat diet-induced liver steatosis.
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