Adiponectin regulates functions of gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Adiponectin is a cytokine constitutively produced by adipocytes and exhibits multiple biological functions by targeting various cell types. However, the effects of adiponectin on primary gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells are still unexplored. Therefore, we investigated the effects of adiponectin on gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The expression of adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs), mouse gingival fibroblasts (MGFs) and human periodontal ligament (HPDL) cells was examined using RT-PCR and western blotting. HGFs and MGFs were stimulated with interleukin (IL)-1β in the presence or absence of adiponectin, and the expression of IL-6 and IL-8 at both mRNA and protein levels was measured by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. Furthermore, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in MGFs were used to knock down the expression of mouse AdipoR1 and AdipoR2. The effects of adiponectin on the expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) genes were evaluated by real-time PCR. Mineralized nodule formation of adiponectin-treated HPDL cells was revealed by Alizarin Red staining.

RESULTS

AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 were expressed constitutively in HGFs, MGFs and HPDL cells. Adiponectin decreased the expression of IL-6 and IL-8 in IL-1β-stimulated HGFs and MGFs. AdipoR1 siRNA in MGFs revealed that the effect of adiponectin on reduction of IL-6 expression was potentially mediated via AdipoR1. Adiponectin-treated HPDL cells promoted the expression of ALP and Runx2 mRNAs and up-regulated ALP activity. Furthermore, adiponectin enhanced mineralized nodule formation of HPDL cells.

CONCLUSION

Our observations demonstrate that adiponectin exerts anti-inflammatory effects on HGFs and MGFs, and promotes the activities of osteoblastogenesis of HPDL cells. We conclude that adiponectin has potent beneficial functions to maintain the homeostasis of periodontal health, improve periodontal lesions, and contribute to wound healing and tissue regeneration.

Cervical lymph node extirpation for the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma

PURPOSE

Lymph node enlargement in the neck is a common presentation of malignant lymphoma (ML) and requires tissue sampling for accurate diagnosis. Although delayed diagnosis may be critical for some patients, unnecessary biopsy should be avoided wherever possible. This study examined the process for determining the necessity to perform a biopsy and evaluated the value of an open biopsy as a diagnostic tool to enable definite subclassification of the disease.

METHODS

The subjects included 20 patients with suspected ML who underwent cervical lymph node extirpation at Okayama Saiseikai general hospital between 2007 and 2010. The decision to perform a biopsy was made based on the results of sonographic evaluation, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), and serum levels of lactate dehydrase (LDH) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2r).

RESULTS

The diagnosis was ML in 15 patients (75%), Castleman's disease in 1 (5%), and benign lymphadenopathy in 4 (20%).

CONCLUSIONS

A lymph node biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnostic evaluation of ML. Sonographic evaluation combined with serum levels of LDH and sIL-2r is useful in determining the need for biopsy. Many of the cases of ML where it was difficult to determine whether a biopsy should be performed were relatively low grade and critical conditions could be avoided by close observation of the patient.

Management of precancerous conditions and lesions in the stomach (MAPS): guideline from the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), European Helicobacter Study Group (EHSG), European Society of Pathology (ESP), and the Sociedade Portuguesa de Endoscopia Digestiva (SPED)

Atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and epithelial dysplasia of the stomach are common and are associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer. In the absence of guidelines, there is wide disparity in the management of patients with these premalignant conditions. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), the European Helicobacter Study Group (EHSG), the European Society of Pathology (ESP) and the Sociedade Portuguesa de Endoscopia Digestiva (SPED) have therefore combined efforts to develop evidence-based guidelines on the management of patients with precancerous conditions and lesions of the stomach (termed MAPS). A multidisciplinary group of 63 experts from 24 countries developed these recommendations by means of repeat online voting and a meeting in June 2011 in Porto, Portugal. The recommendations emphasize the increased cancer risk in patients with gastric atrophy and metaplasia, and the need for adequate staging in the case of high grade dysplasia, and they focus on treatment and surveillance indications and methods.

Measurements of higher order flow harmonics in Au+Au collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV

Flow coefficients ν(n) for n=2, 3, 4, characterizing the anisotropic collective flow in Au+Au collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV, are measured relative to event planes Ψ(n), determined at large rapidity. We report ν(n) as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, and study the correlations among the event planes of different order n. The ν(n) are well described by hydrodynamic models which employ a Glauber Monte Carlo initial state geometry with fluctuations, providing additional constraining power on the interplay between initial conditions and the effects of viscosity as the system evolves. This new constraint can serve to improve the precision of the extracted shear viscosity to entropy density ratio η/s.

Suppression of back-to-back hadron pairs at forward rapidity in d+Au collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV

Back-to-back hadron pair yields in d+Au and p+p collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV were measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Rapidity separated hadron pairs were detected with the trigger hadron at pseudorapidity |η|<0.35 and the associated hadron at forward rapidity (deuteron direction, 3.0<η<3.8). Pairs were also detected with both hadrons measured at forward rapidity; in this case, the yield of back-to-back hadron pairs in d+Au collisions with small impact parameters is observed to be suppressed by a factor of 10 relative to p+p collisions. The kinematics of these pairs is expected to probe partons in the Au nucleus with a low fraction x of the nucleon momenta, where the gluon densities rise sharply. The observed suppression as a function of nuclear thickness, p(T), and η points to cold nuclear matter effects arising at high parton densities.

Cold nuclear matter effects on J/ψ yields as a function of rapidity and nuclear geometry in d+A collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV

We present measurements of J/ψ yields in d+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200  GeV recorded by the PHENIX experiment and compare them with yields in p+p collisions at the same energy per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measurements cover a large kinematic range in J/ψ rapidity (-2.2<y<2.4) with high statistical precision and are compared with two theoretical models: one with nuclear shadowing combined with final state breakup and one with coherent gluon saturation effects. In order to remove model dependent systematic uncertainties we also compare the data to a simple geometric model. The forward rapidity data are inconsistent with nuclear modifications that are linear or exponential in the density weighted longitudinal thickness, such as those from the final state breakup of the bound state.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the larynx presenting as a primary unknown carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The case of an 80-year-old man showing a metastatic cervical small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is presented.

RESULTS

The primary site could not be found at first; it took 8-10 months to detect the primary lesion in the larynx.

CONCLUSION

(18)F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) was useful to find the submucosal lesion. Despite surgical treatments and chemotherapy, the patient survived for only 21 months.

Manganese silicide nanowires on Si(001)

A method for promoting the growth of manganese silicide nanowires on Si(001) at 450 °C is described. The anisotropic surface stress generated by bismuth nanolines blocks the formation of embedded structures and stabilizes the nucleation of manganese silicide islands which grow in a preferred direction, forming nanowires with a band gap of approximately 0.6 eV, matching the reported band gap of MnSi(1.7). This method may also provide a means to form silicide nanowires of other metals where they do not otherwise form.

Cross section and parity-violating spin asymmetries of W± boson production in polarized p + p collisions at sqrt[s] = 500 GeV

Large parity-violating longitudinal single-spin asymmetries A(L)(e+) = -0.86(-0.14) (+0.30) and A(L)(e-) = 0.88(-0.71) (+0.12) are observed for inclusive high transverse momentum electrons and positrons in polarized p+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s] = 500 GeV with the PHENIX detector at RHIC. These e± come mainly from the decay of W± and Z0 bosons, and their asymmetries directly demonstrate parity violation in the couplings of the W± to the light quarks. The observed electron and positron yields were used to estimate W± boson production cross sections for the e± channels of σ(pp → W+ X) × BR(W+ → e+ ν(e)) = 144.1 ± 21.2(stat)(-10.3) (+3.4) (syst) ± 21.6(norm)  pb, and σ(pp → W- X) × BR(W- → e- ν[over ¯](e)) = 31.7 ± 12.1(stat)(-8.2) (+10.1) (syst) ± 4.8(norm)  pb.

Azimuthal anisotropy of π⁰ production in Au+Au collisions at sqrt((s)NN)=200 GeV: path-length dependence of jet quenching and the role of initial geometry

We have measured the azimuthal anisotropy of π⁰ production for 1<p(T)<18  GeV/c for Au+Au collisions at sqrt((s)NN)=200  GeV. The observed anisotropy shows a gradual decrease for 3≲p(T)≲7-10  GeV/c, but remains positive beyond 10  GeV/c. The magnitude of this anisotropy is underpredicted, up to at least ∼10  GeV/c, by current perturbative QCD (PQCD) energy-loss model calculations. An estimate of the increase in anisotropy expected from initial-geometry modification due to gluon saturation effects and fluctuations is insufficient to account for this discrepancy. Calculations that implement a path-length dependence steeper than what is implied by current PQCD energy-loss models show reasonable agreement with the data.

Elliptic and hexadecapole flow of charged hadrons in Au+Au collisions at sq.rt(s(NN))=200 GeV

Differential measurements of the elliptic (v(2)) and hexadecapole (v(4)) Fourier flow coefficients are reported for charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum (p(T)) and collision centrality or number of participant nucleons (N(part)) for Au+Au collisions at sq.rt(s(NN))=200  GeV. The v(2,4) measurements at pseudorapidity |η|≤0.35, obtained with four separate reaction-plane detectors positioned in the range 1.0<|η|<3.9, show good agreement, indicating the absence of significant Δη-dependent nonflow correlations. Sizable values for v(4)(p(T)) are observed with a ratio v(4)(p(T),N(part))/v(2)(2)(p(T),N(part))≈0.8 for 50≲N(part)≲200, which is compatible with the combined effects of a finite viscosity and initial eccentricity fluctuations. For N(part)≳200 this ratio increases up to 1.7 in the most central collisions.

Transition in yield and azimuthal shape modification in dihadron correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Hard-scattered parton probes produced in collisions of large nuclei indicate large partonic energy loss, possibly with collective produced-medium response to the lost energy. We present measurements of π^{0} trigger particles at transverse momenta p{T}{t}=4-12  GeV/c and associated charged hadrons (p{T}{a}=0.5-7  GeV/c) vs relative azimuthal angle Δϕ in Au+Au and p+p collisions at sqrt[s{NN}]=200  GeV. The Au+Au distribution at low p{T}{a}, whose shape has been interpreted as a medium effect, is modified for p{T}{t}<7  GeV/c. At higher p{T}{t}, the data are consistent with unmodified or very weakly modified shapes, even for the lowest measured p{T}{a}, which quantitatively challenges some medium response models. The associated yield of hadrons opposing the trigger particle in Au+Au relative to p+p (I{AA}) is suppressed at high p{T} (I{AA}≈0.35-0.5), but less than for inclusive suppression (R{AA}≈0.2).

Site-specific evolution of surface stress during the room-temperature oxidation of the Si(111)-(7 x 7) surface

The reaction of molecular oxygen with the Si(111)-7 x 7 surface is investigated at room temperature using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy and surface stress measurements to reveal the quantitative relationship between site-specific oxygen coverage and a decrease in tensile surface stress. This relationship is described using a modified form of the reaction model originally proposed by Dujardin et al. We show that the decrease in tensile surface stress is greatest for the faulted subunits of the 7 x 7 cell and determine the stress signatures of different reaction products, including the absence of long-lived metastable species with a unique stress signature.

Enhanced production of direct photons in Au + Au collisions at square root(S(NN)) = 200 GeV and implications for the initial temperature

The production of e+ e- pairs for m(e+ e-)<0.3 GeV/c2 and 1<p(T)<5 GeV/c is measured in p+p and Au+Au collisions at square root(S(NN))=200 GeV. An enhanced yield above hadronic sources is observed. Treating the excess as photon internal conversions, the invariant yield of direct photons is deduced. In central Au+Au collisions, the excess of the direct photon yield over p+p is exponential in transverse momentum, with an inverse slope T=221+/-19(stat)+/-19(syst) MeV. Hydrodynamical models with initial temperatures ranging from T(init) approximately 300-600 MeV at times of approximately 0.6-0.15 fm/c after the collision are in qualitative agreement with the data. Lattice QCD predicts a phase transition to quark gluon plasma at approximately 170 MeV.

Measurement of bottom versus charm as a function of transverse momentum with electron-hadron correlations in p + p collisions at square root of s = 200 GeV

The momentum distribution of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom quarks for midrapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at square root of s=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 2<pT<7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D-->e(+/-)K(-/+)X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in pT. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is sigma(bb)=3.2(-1.1)(+1.2)(stat)(-1.3)(+1.4)(syst)mub.