Evaluation of viability Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis LKM512 in dogs

In dogs, gastric acid is not neutralised even when a meal is present in the stomach. Moreover, dogs take longer to digest their meals than humans do. Accordingly, the most important characteristic of any probiotics considered for use in dogs is high acid tolerance. The probiotic strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis LKM512 (hereafter referred to as LKM512) not only exhibits potent acid tolerance, but also has the ability to adhere to intestinal mucin. The aim of the present study was to explore the potential of LKM512 as a probiotic in dogs. Specifically, we investigated whether LKM512 can survive in the large intestine in dogs. LKM512 preparations containing 10(10) cfu were administered daily for 14 days in five dogs. Faeces were collected on the day before administration (day 0) as well as on days 7 and 14, and 7 days after administration was halted (day 21). The numbers of viable LKM512 present in faeces were determined by both culture-based techniques and molecular analysis. Changes in intestinal bacterial populations were analysed by 16S rRNA gene semiconductor sequencing using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM). On days 7 and 14, the numbers of viable LKM512 that were detected in faeces by culture-based techniques and molecular analysis were greater than the original daily dosage. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis using the PGM indicated that relative proportions of Bifidobacterium spp. and Bifidobacteriaceae were significantly higher after administration than before. The present study demonstrated that LKM512 can survive strong gastric acid, and proliferate in the large intestine of dogs. Therefore, LKM512 may be a useful canine probiotic.

Carrier-mediated placental transport of cimetidine and valproic acid across differentiating JEG-3 cell layers

Human choriocarcinoma has been used as a model to study trophoblast transcellular drug transport in the placenta. Previous models had limitations regarding low molecular weight drug transport through the intracellular gap junction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate placental carrier-mediated transport across a differentiating JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cell (DJEGs) layer model in which the intracellular gap junction was restricted. Cimetidine is the substrate of an efflux transporter, breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP). BCRP highly expressed in the placenta, and its function in the DJEGs model was investigated. In addition, the placental drug transport of another efflux transporter, multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs), and an influx transporter, monocarboxylate transporter (MCT), were examined with various substrates. Cimetidine permeated from the fetal side to the maternal side at significantly high levels and saturated in a dose-dependent manner. The permeability coefficient of a MRP substrate, fluorescein, across the DJEGs model was significantly increased by inhibiting MRP function with probenecid. On the other hand, permeation in the influx direction to the fetal side with a substrate of MCT, valproic acid, had a gentle dose-dependent saturation. These findings suggest that the DJEGs model could be used to evaluate transcellular placental drug transport mediated by major placental transporters.

Salvage living-donor liver transplantation for liver failure following definitive radiation therapy for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report

A 57-year-old man with a history of hepatitis B virus infection was referred to our hospital for living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Five years earlier, right lobectomy had been performed for solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with bile duct tumor thrombus in segments 5 and 6 in the liver. Two years later, transarterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation were performed for recurrent HCC. Two years after those local therapies, another recurrent HCC was treated with transhepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy with cisplatin and conventional radiation therapy (RT) with 60 Gy in 20 fractions, because the tumor was contiguous to the trunk of the portal vein. After the completion of RT, symptoms due to liver failure and severe infection caused by multiple liver abscesses developed despite the administration of antibiotics and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage. Therefore, LDLT was performed with the use of a right lobe graft donated by his wife. Vascular anastomosis was successfully performed with the use of normal procedures. The patient recovered uneventfully, and has since been doing well for 34 months, with no evidence of vascular complications. However, the degree of injury to the anastomotic vessels caused by definitive RT before LDLT remains unclear, whereas the safety and efficacy of some forms of RT as a bridge to deceased-donor LT have been reported. Salvage LDLT is effective for patients with liver failure after multidisciplinary treatment including radiation, while carefully taking radiation-induced vessel injury as a potential late complication into consideration, especially in LDLT cases.

Hyperspectroscopic imager for baby fibers

Hyperspectral imaging system for diagnosing digestive diseases was newly developed in order to obtain information on pathology beyond morphology of lesions. In order to guide light reflected from a lesion, a baby fiber, which can be inserted in a forceps channel of the electronic endoscope, was also developed. The performance of the system was evaluated by animal experiment. Obtained hyperspectral data were found to have sufficient quality endurable to practical use. Harmful phenomena to a living body were not observed within the experiment. It was considered from the animal experiment that the present system could be practically used for humans.

Effects of elevated tacrolimus trough levels in association with infectious enteritis on graft function in renal transplant recipients

BACKGROUND

The bioavailability of oral tacrolimus is influenced by enterocyte metabolism, which involves CYP3A and P-glycoprotein. Viral infection-induced intestinal inflammation damages the enterocytes and causes unfavorable elevations in blood tacrolimus levels in transplant recipients, which may lead to nephrotoxicity.

METHODS

From May 2000 to May 2011, 56 renal transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus at our hospital suffered from infectious enteritis with diarrhea. We investigated the tacrolimus trough levels before and after the onset of enteritis and evaluated the influence of elevated tacrolimus trough levels on the rate of changes in serum creatinine levels.

RESULTS

Elevated tacrolimus trough levels were observed in 52 recipients (93%) after the onset of diarrhea, and the mean value was 2.3 times higher than that before the onset of enteritis (P = .0175). Tacrolimus trough levels returned to their previous levels 2 weeks after the onset of enteritis, even in recipients with >2-fold increase, following dose adjustments. Serum creatinine levels did not significantly differ between recipients with >2-fold increase in tacrolimus trough levels and those with <2-fold increase in trough levels during a 6-month period after the onset of enteritis.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevations in the tacrolimus trough levels due to infectious enteritis with diarrhea can improve in ∼2 weeks by adjusting the tacrolimus dosage. Such temporary elevations in the tacrolimus trough levels may not produce serious nephrotoxicity even in recipients with remarkably elevated trough levels.

Insulin resistance as a risk factor for new-onset diabetes after kidney transplantation

INTRODUCTION

New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a serious and common complication after kidney transplantation. Insulin resistance, together with β-cell dysfunction, plays an essential role in the development of diabetes. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), which is calculated as [fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) × fasting insulin (mU/L)]/22.5, is widely used as an index of insulin resistance. However, the correlation between pretransplant HOMA-IR and the development of NODAT has not been fully established.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective study of 44 nondiabetic patients who underwent living donor kidney transplantation in our hospital from July 2006 to October 2009. We compared the HOMA-IR and demographic variables of patients who developed NODAT with those who did not.

RESULTS

Five patients (11.4%) developed NODAT within 3 years after transplantation. There were no differences in demographic variables between patients who developed NODAT and those who did not. Logistic regression analysis revealed that HOMA-IR was a predictive factor of NODAT (odds ratio, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.11-9.59; P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that high HOMA-IR might be an important predictive factor for NODAT. These findings underline the importance of routine pretransplant measurements of fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin for evaluating HOMA-IR.

Six-axis multi-anvil press for high-pressure, high-temperature neutron diffraction experiments

We developed a six-axis multi-anvil press, ATSUHIME, for high-pressure and high-temperature in situ time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction experiments. The press has six orthogonally oriented hydraulic rams that operate individually to compress a cubic sample assembly. Experiments indicate that the press can generate pressures up to 9.3 GPa and temperatures up to 2000 K using a 6-6-type cell assembly, with available sample volume of about 50 mm(3). Using a 6-8-type cell assembly, the available conditions expand to 16 GPa and 1273 K. Because the six-axis press has no guide blocks, there is sufficient space around the sample to use the aperture for diffraction and place an incident slit, radial collimators, and a neutron imaging camera close to the sample. Combination of the six-axis press and the collimation devices realized high-quality diffraction pattern with no contamination from the heater or the sample container surrounding the sample. This press constitutes a new tool for using neutron diffraction to study the structures of crystals and liquids under high pressures and temperatures.

Circular muscle contraction in the mice rectum plays a key role in morphine-induced constipation

BACKGROUND

Although opioids induce intestinal muscle contraction and provoke constipation, the intestinal region(s) that contribute to the constipation have remained unclear. We report here a region-specific response of intestinal muscle contraction to morphine and its correlation with in vivo constipation.

METHODS

Regions of mice small and large intestines were dissected histologically and circular muscle contractile responses were measured using isometric transducers. Bead expulsion assays were performed to assess in vivo constipation.

KEY RESULTS

The strongest contraction in response to morphine was detected in the rectum. The distal and transverse colon also showed strong contractions, whereas weak responses were detected in the proximal colon, jejunum, and ileum. Regarding the sustainability of muscle contractions during morphine exposure, prolonged waves were detected only in the rectum, while the waves diminished gradually in other regions. To identify the mechanism(s) underlying this difference, we focused on nitric oxide synthase (NOS). In the distal colon, decreased contraction during morphine exposure was recovered by application of a NOS inhibitor (L-NAME), while a NOS substrate (L-arginine) enhanced contractile degradation. In contrast L-NAME and L-arginine modestly affected the sustained contraction in the rectum. To confirm the correlation with constipation, beads were inserted into the transverse colon, distal colon, or rectum after morphine administration and expulsion times were examined. Beads tended to stop at the rectum even when inserted in the deeper colonic regions.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

The rectum showed the greatest response to morphine in both in vitro and in vivo analyses, therefore it may play a key role for opioid-induced constipation.

Modification of a melanoma discrimination index derived from hyperspectral data: a clinical trial conducted in 2 centers between March 2011 and December 2013

BACKGROUND

The morphology of pigmented skin lesions (PSLs) is predominantly a result of varying concentrations and distributions of pigmented molecules such as melanin and hemoglobin. Based on these differences and the fact that their information is contained in cutaneous spectra, a hyperspectral imager (HSI) for pigmented melanoma and a single discrimination index derived from the resultant hyperspectral data are proposed.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and evaluate a new discrimination index for melanomas, compared to the previous index.

METHODS

A HSI, which is convenient for both patients and clinicians, was newly developed and used in a clinical trial conducted in 2 centers with 80 patients with primary lesions and 17 volunteers between March 2011 and December 2013. There were 24 melanomas and 110 other PSLs. A previously proposed discrimination index was used without modifications. A new index, which emphasized the essential features of melanoma, was proposed, and its performance was examined. For each index, a threshold value was set to minimize the average value of the false positive and false negative fractions. The performances of both indices were compared.

RESULTS

The sensitivity and specificity of the old index were 75% and 97%, respectively, while those of the new index were 96% and 87%.

CONCLUSION

The new index had a higher sensitivity and adequate specificity, indicating that it is more useful than the old index.

VIS-UV ZnCdO/ZnO multiple quantum well nanowires and the quantification of Cd diffusion

We report on the growth and microstructure analysis of high Cd content ZnCdO/ZnO multiple quantum wells (MQW) within a nanowire. Heterostructures consisting of ten wells with widths from 0.7 to 10 nm are demonstrated, and show photoluminescence emissions ranging from 3.03 to 1.97 eV. The wells with thicknesses ≦̸2 nm have high radiative efficiencies compared to the thickest ones, consistent with the presence of quantum confinement. However, a nanometric analysis of the Cd profile along the heterostructures shows the presence of Cd diffusion from the ZnCdO well to the ZnO barrier. This phenomenon modifies the band structure and the optical properties of the heterostructure, and is considered in order to correctly identify quantum effects in the ZnCdO/ZnO MQWs.

Impact of underlying diabetes and presence of lung cavities on treatment outcomes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

AIMS

We investigated the effects of diabetes and the presence of lung cavities on treatment outcomes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of the clinical records of all consecutive patients admitted to the Kanagawa Cardiovascular and Respiratory Centre with the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The study outcomes examined were time to sputum culture conversion and percentage of patients with sputum culture conversion by the time 2 months of treatment, and these outcomes were compared between patients with and without diabetes.

RESULTS

Of the 260 patients enrolled in the study, 69 were diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus, while the remaining 191 did not have diabetes. The percentage of patients with cavities was higher in the patients with diabetes (71.0%) than in those without (45.5%; P = 0.0003). The time to sputum culture conversion was significantly longer in the patients with diabetes than in those without (P = 0.0005), and the percentage of patients with a positive sputum culture at 2 months was higher in the patients with diabetes (43.5%) than in those without (18.8%; P = 0.0001). Multivariate analyses revealed that the presence/absence of lung cavities was a more important determinant of treatment outcomes than the presence/absence of diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of lung cavities was found to be a more important determinant of the treatment outcomes than that of diabetes per se in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Effects of escitalopram on plasma concentrations of aripiprazole and its active metabolite, dehydroaripiprazole, in Japanese patients

INTRODUCTION

The effects of escitalopram (10 mg/d) coadministration on plasma concentrations of aripiprazole and its active metabolite, dehydroaripiprazole, were studied in 13 Japanese psychiatric patients and compared with those of paroxetine (10 mg/d) coadministration.

METHODS

The patients had received 6-24 mg/d of aripiprazole for at least 2 weeks. Patients were randomly allocated to one of 2 treatment sequences: paroxetine-escitalopram (n=6) or escitalopram-paroxetine (n=7). Each sequence consisted of two 2-week phases. Plasma concentrations of aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole were measured using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection.

RESULTS

Plasma concentrations of aripiprazole and the sum of aripiprazole and dehydroaripiprazole during paroxetine coadministration were 1.7-fold (95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.3-2.1, p<0.001) and 1.5-fold (95% CI 1.2-1.9, p<0.01) higher than those values before the coadministration. These values were not influenced by escitalopram coadministration (1.3-fold, 95% CI 1.1-1.5 and 1.3-fold, 95% CI 1.0-1.5). Plasma dehydroaripiprazole concentrations remained constant during the study.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that low doses of escitalopram can be safely coadministered with aripiprazole, at least from a pharmacokinetic point of view.

Systemic delivery of miR-126 by miRNA-loaded Bubble liposomes for the treatment of hindlimb ischemia

Currently, micro RNA (miRNA) is considered an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. A significant obstacle to the miRNA-based treatments is the efficient delivery of miRNA to the target tissue. We have developed polyethylene glycol-modified liposomes (Bubble liposomes (BLs)) that entrap ultrasound (US) contrast gas and can serve as both plasmid DNA (pDNA) or small interfering RNA (siRNA) carriers and US contrast agents. In this study, we investigated the usability of miRNA-loaded BLs (mi-BLs) using a hindlimb ischemia model and miR-126. It has been reported that miR-126 promotes angiogenesis via the inhibition of negative regulators of VEGF signaling. We demonstrated that mi-BLs could be detected using diagnostic US and that mi-BLs with therapeutic US could deliver miR-126 to an ischemic hindlimb, leading to the induction of angiogenic factors and the improvement of blood flow. These results suggest that combining mi-BLs with US may be useful for US imaging and miRNA delivery.