Malignant Mesothelioma in the Thoracic Cavity of a Crj:CD(SD) Rat Characterized by Round Hyalinous Stroma

Spontaneous malignant mesothelioma was found in a 104-week-old male Crj:CD(SD) rat. The tumor was scattered on the surface of the lung, heart, mediastinal pleura and thoracic wall and metastasized to the alveolar septa. Histopathologically, small flattened or cuboidal tumor cells proliferated with stroma, formed almost normal papillary structures and reacted positively to colloidal iron stain and immunohistochemical staining for mesothelin. Round hyalinous stromata were pronounced, which is a characteristic feature, and the possible reason for this is as follows; at first, a small amount of collagen fibers was formed in the center of the clusters of several tumor cells, and then the cell clusters expanded like balloons with an increase in the collagen fibers.     

Microfloral and chemical changes during the processing of heshiko produced by aging salted mackerel with rice bran through conventional practices in the Wakasa Bay area,Fukui, Japan

Microbiological profiles during the processing of heshiko, produced by aging salted mackerel with rice bran for over seven months, were investigated in connection with the production of organic acids and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN). Viable counts in commercial heshiko samples were in the range of 10⁴–10⁷ cfu/g in 2.5% NaCl-GYP agar medium, and over 80% of them were identified as Tetragenococcus halophilus via 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. When experimentally processing heshiko using conventional practices, viable counts in fish flesh increased to 10⁶ cfu/g during the aging process with rice bran, which was accompanied by a marked increase in lactic acid but only slight production of VBN. Although the dominant species among the microflora in raw mackerel was identified as a Staphylococcus sp., the microflora diversified during the salting process. T. halophilus was prominent during the early stage of aging. The microflora gradually simplified with aging, and eventually consisted of only T. halophilus after five months of aging. These results suggest that a simple microflora consisting of T. halophilus forms when processing heshiko using conventional practices because of the stable environment present, which contains carbohydrates as fermentation materials in rice bran, along with high salinity (around 10%).     

Effects of Whole Grain Wheat Bread on Visceral Fat Obesity in Japanese Subjects: A Randomized Double-Blind Study

Metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and has become increasingly common in Japan. Epidemiological studies show inverse associations between intake of whole wheat grains and metabolic syndrome, but few dietary intervention trials have investigated the effect of whole wheat grain consumption. It was investigated whether a diet in which refined wheat bread (RW diet) was substituted by whole grain wheat bread (WW diet) would reduce visceral fat obesity in Japanese subjects. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled intervention study was conducted in 50 Japanese subjects with body mass index (BMI)?≥?23 kg/m². Subjects were randomly assigned WW (WW group) or RW diets (RW group) for 12 weeks. Blood samples and computed tomography scans were obtained every 6th week. The WW group showed decrease (?4 cm²) in visceral fat area (VFA) (p <?0.05), whereas the RW group showed no significant changes. These time-dependent changes were significantly different between the groups. WW diet led to significant and safe reductions in VFA in subjects with BMI?≥?23 kg/m². WW diet may contribute to preventing visceral fat obesity.     

Secretion of a callose hollow fiber from herbaceous plant protoplasts induced by inhibition of cell wall formation

The current study attempts to verify secretion of a callose hollow fiber from plant protoplasts, which was previously reported in woody plants, as a common stressed culture-induced phenomenon among plants, by re-examining herbaceous plant cultured cells of tobacco BY-2 (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow 2) and Arabidopsis thaliana allowing inhibition of cell wall formation. Then, inhibition of cell wall formation was found to induce the secretion of callose fibers by adding isoxaben, an inhibitor of cellulose synthesis, into the stressed culture medium. The inducing period for the secretion from both tobacco BY-2 and A. thaliana was shorter than that previously reported in Betula platyphylla (white birch). The secreted fibers were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The microscopic images indicated that the callose fibers from herbaceous plants did not necessarily possess a similar structure to hollow fibers from white birch. Eventually, it has been demonstrated that the secretion of callose fibers from protoplasts can be a stress-induced phenomenon commonly occurring in plants, but their hierarchical 3D-fiber structures are likely to depend on species.     

Utility of the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene in a nested PCR approach for detection infection in cattle

A preliminary molecular epidemiological study was carried out to investigate the utility of the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene in the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in fecal samples. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach using COWP gene primers was adopted for this purpose. Fecal samples were spiked with each of 1, 10, and 100 oocysts of C. parvum, four samples for each number, and the DNA was extracted from each sample using a glassbead method. The presence of oocysts was determined using the nested PCR with COWP gene primers, and the limit of detection of oocysts by the PCR was determined. The limit of detection was 100 oocysts spiked in 1 ml of fecal material (50% sold material) (four positives/four samples tested). Seventy-five percent of DNA extracted samples spiked with 1 and 10 oocysts was positive by the PCR (three positives/four samples tested). Based on this, small sample size using the COWP gene primers with a nested PCR analysis could reliably identify infected animals rather conveniently and accurately.     

Antioxidative activity of 6a-hydroxypterocarpan from the root of Sophora chrysophylla

The antioxidative activity of 6a-hydroxypterocarpan isolated from the root of Sophora chrysophylla has been investigated in vitro on lipid peroxidation by interaction of heamoglobin and hydrogen peroxide.     

Comparison of changes in urinary and blood levels of biomarkers associated with proximal tubular injury in rat models

To investigate useful biomarkers associated with proximal tubular injury, we assessed changes in levels of a focused set of biomarkers in urine and blood. Male rats administered a single dose or four doses of gentamicin (GM, 240 mg/kg/day) or a single dose of cisplatin (CDDP, 5 mg/kg) were euthanized on days 2 (the day after initial dosing) 5, or 12. At each time point, histopathological examination of the kidney and immunohistochemistry for biomarkers, kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1), lipocalin (NGAL), clusterin (CLU), cystatin C (CysC) and β2-microglobulin (β2M) were performed. Biomarker levels were measured in urine and blood. In both treatment groups, degenerated/necrotic proximal tubules and regenerated tubules were mainly observed on days 5 and 12, respectively. At the same time as these tubular injuries, urinary Kim-1, CysC and β2M levels were increased. Moreover, urinary levels of CysC and β2M in GM-treated animals and Kim-1 in CDDP-treated animals increased (on day 2) prior to tubular injury on day 5. This was considered to reflect the characteristics of drug toxicity. Although almost all of the biomarkers in blood were not sufficiently sensitive to detect proximal tubular injury, urinary and plasma β2M levels simultaneously increased. Therefore, in addition to urinary Kim-1, CysC and β2M levels, plasma β2M levels were also considered useful for detecting proximal tubular injury.     

A rapid agglutination assay for canine brucellosis using antigen coated beads

Brucella canis is the causative agent of canine brucellosis and facultative intracellular pathogen. The diagnosis of canine brucellosis is based on bacteriological examination and serological methods including agglutination and gel diffusion tests. In this study, crude antigens were extracted from B. canis using hot saline, coated on to latex beads and their usefulness in the serological diagnosis of canine brucellosis was examined. Mixing the antigen coated latex beads with the sera of dogs infected with B. canis produced clear agglutination, but this was not so for B. canis free dog sera. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of the crude hot saline extracts, showed that they contained copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, ribose ABC transporter and hypothetical protein of Brucella as antigens. A serological survey of canine serum samples conducted by means of an agglutination test using the antigen coated latex beads, showed that this method was more specific than the tube agglutination test using whole bacterial cell antigens. Although these results suggest that our method in which crude hot saline extracted antigens are coated on to latex beads would be useful in the serological diagnosis of canine brucellosis, we need further investigation using more serum samples to confirm the usefulness of our method.     

Effective rainfall seasons for interannual variation in δ13C and tree-ring width in early and late wood of Chinese pine and black locust on the Loess Plateau, China

We studied the importance of effective rainfall for interannual variation in water use efficiency (WUE) and tree-ring growth of Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) by examining correlations of seasonal precipitation with annual values of stable carbon isotope ratio (δ¹³C) and tree-ring width in early and late wood. The correlations with precipitation were examined for each month and for periods of all possible lengths from 2 to 22 months starting from January of the previous year to October of the current year. The period with the highest correlation was adopted as the most effective rainfall season for interannual variations in WUE and tree-ring width. In early wood, precipitation during the dry season (October to May) before the growing season was negatively correlated with δ¹³C in pine trees and positively correlated with ring width in pine and locust trees. In late wood, rainfall during the growing season in the current year was negatively correlated with δ¹³C in pine and locust trees, and positively correlated with ring width in locust trees. Our results demonstrated the differences in the water use strategies of pine and locust trees. The δ¹³C in pines indicated higher WUE and more conservative water use than in locust trees. Precipitation during the dry season affected the interannual variation in WUE and tree-ring growth in pine and locust trees, indicating that rainfall during the dry season is important for carbon gain and tree-ring growth during the following growing season.