Pain thresholds are unaffected by age in a Japanese population.

INTRODUCTION: Assessment of sensory impairment in diabetic patients by pain threshold test using intraepidermal electrical stimulation (IES) is a recently developed technique. However, there are no normative pain thresholds in healthy people. METHODS: We examined pain, vibration, and pressure thresholds in 178 healthy subjects using IES, vibration perception testing (VPT), and Semmes-Weinstein monofilament testing (SWMT). RESULTS: The mean values for each age group for pain threshold ranged from 0.07 to 0.12 mA. Pain thresholds were unaffected by age. As the age increased, VPT values decreased from 18.0 to 10.6 seconds and SWMT values increased from 21.4 to 45.3 g/mm2 . There were no significant differences in pain threshold, VPT, and SWMT between men and women. DISCUSSION: The pain threshold test appears to be useful for diabetic neuropathy screening because normative values are not affected by age.

Svp26 facilitates ER exit of mannosyltransferases Mnt2 and Mnt3 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

After being translocated into the ER lumen, membrane and secretory proteins are transported from the ER to the early Golgi by COPII vesicles. Incorporation of these cargo proteins into COPII vesicles are facilitated either by direct interaction of cargo proteins with COPII coat proteins or by ER exit adaptor proteins which mediate the interaction of cargo proteins with COPII coat proteins. Svp26 is one of the ER exit adaptor proteins in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ER exit of several type II membrane proteins have been reported to be facilitated by Svp26. We demonstrate here that efficient incorporation of Mnt2 and Mnt3 into COPII vesicles is also dependent on the function of Svp26. Mnt2 and Mnt3 are Golgi-localized α-1,3-mannosyltransferases with type II membrane topology involved in protein O-glycosylation. Immunoisolation of the yeast Golgi subcompartments quantitatively showed that Mnt2 and Mnt3 are more abundant in the early Golgi fraction than in the late Golgi fraction. Subcellular fractionation and fluorescence microscopy showed that deletion of the SVP26 gene results in the accumulation of Mnt2 and Mnt3 in ER. Using an in vitro COPII vesicle formation assay, we further demonstrate that Svp26 facilitates incorporation of Mnt2 and Mnt3 into COPII vesicles. Finally, we showed that Mnt2 and Mnt3 were co-immunoprecipitated with Svp26 from digitonin-solubilized membranes. These results indicate that Svp26 functions as an ER exit adaptor protein of Mnt2 and Mnt3.

Age-dependent changes in dynamic standing-balance ability evaluated quantitatively using a stabilometer.

[Purpose] The efficacy of a stabilometer-based index of postural stability (IPS) as an indicator of dynamic balance ability was investigated. [Subjects and Methods] Using a stabilometer, we calculated the IPS in 583 healthy subjects (178 males, 405 females) under two conditions (open eyes/hard surface, OE/HS; closed eyes/soft surface, CE/SS). [Results] Results revealed a negative relation between IPS and age. IPS (OE/HS) began to decrease at middle-age (40-60 years old), and then decreased more rapidly during elderly ages (>60 years old). On the other hand, IPS (CE/SS) decreased linearly with increasing age. There was no gender difference between the two IPSs. [Conclusion] These results suggest that IPS can evaluate balance ability quantitatively and without a ceiling effect. It was concluded that IPS (OE/HS) indicates comprehensive balance ability, while IPS (CE/SS) reveals balance ability without compensation by visual acuity and plantar superficial sense.