Salivary Alpha-Amylase Activity and Mild Cognitive Impairment among Japanese Older Adults: The Toon Health Study.

BACKGROUND: There is growing interest in examining objective markers for early identification and behavioral intervention to prevent dementia and mild cognitive impairment in clinical and community settings. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between salivary alpha-amylase as an objective measure of psychological stress response and mild cognitive impairment for the implication of psychological stress in the development of mild cognitive impairment. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study involved 865 participants aged ≥ 65 years. A saliva sample was collected in the morning, and the levels of salivary alpha-amylase were assayed. Mild cognitive impairment was evaluated using the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment; a score < 26 was indicative of mild cognitive impairment. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine the association of salivary alpha-amylase and mild cognitive impairment after adjusting for age, sex, current drinking status, current smoking status, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, physical activity, education, social support, social network, and heart rate variability. RESULTS: Salivary alpha-amylase was associated with mild cognitive impairment (the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] for the 1-standard deviation increment of log-transformed salivary alpha-amylase was 1.24 [1.07-1.44]). This significant association persisted after adjusting for various confounding factors. CONCLUSION: Elevation of salivary alpha-amylase was associated with mild cognitive impairment among Japanese community-dwelling older adults. This suggests that salivary alpha-amylase is a useful objective marker of psychological stress responses associated with mild cognitive impairment.

Scalloped tongue is associated with nocturnal intermittent hypoxia among community-dwelling Japanese: the Toon Health Study.

Scalloped tongue is considered as a possible clinical finding of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). There are few evidence of the association between scalloped tongue and OSA. To examine the association between scalloped tongue and nocturnal intermittent hypoxia (NIH), a surrogate marker of OSA, among a general Japanese population. Study participants were 398 men and 732 women aged 30-79 years who participated in the Toon Health Study from 2011 to 2014. Scalloped tongue was classified into three categories: none, mild and moderate-to-severe. Moderate-to-severe NIH was defined as the 3% oxygen desaturation index of ≥15 events/h during sleep for one night with pulse oximetry. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for moderate-to-severe NIH were calculated according to scalloped tongue categories using a logistic regression model. There were 69 (6·1%) moderate-to-severe NIH cases in this population. The multivariable-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of moderate-to-severe NIH were 1·59 (0·85-2·95) for mild and 2·39 (1·10-5·17) for the moderate-to-severe scalloped tongue group compared with the group without scalloped tongues. When stratified by overweight status (BMI <25 or ≥25 kg m-2 ), the respective ORs (95% CIs) were 2·83 (1·06-7·55) and 4·74 (1·28-17·49) among overweight individuals, and 0·94 (0·40-2·70) and 1·52 (0·57-4·05) among non-overweight individuals. Scalloped tongue was associated with higher prevalence of moderate-to-severe NIH among the general Japanese population and this association was more evident in overweight individuals.

External chiral ligand-induced enantioselective versions of the [2,3]-Wittig sigmatropic rearrangement.

The external chiral ligand-induced enantioselective [2,3]-Wittig rearrangements of crotyl benzyl ethers and crotyl propargylic ethers are described. The most notable is that treatment of (E)-crotyl propargylic ethers with a t-butyllithium/(S;S)-bis(oxazoline) complex provides a relatively high enantioselectivity (up to 89% ee), together with a high threo-diastereoselectivity. Furthermore, examples of the "asymmetric catalytic version" of the rearrangement of crotyl benzyl ethers are presented.

Enantioselective

Even with only a catalytic amount of chiral bis(dihydrooxazole) 1 as external ligand, the rearrangement of benzyl ethers to alcohols [Eq. (1)] proceeds with high enantioselectivity (over 60 % ee). This reaction represents the first example of an enantioselective [1,2] Wittig rearrangement.

Plasma concentration of human atrial natriuretic hormone in patients with connective tissue diseases.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a peptide released from the cardiac atria, compensates blood volume expansion by its diuretic, natriuretic and vasoactive properties. We measured human plasma ANP(hANP) levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) and found that their values were higher than those of healthy controls. In SLE patients, hANP levels correlated with serum creatinine concentration and the patients with proteinuria showed high levels of hANP. Administration of large amount of corticosteroid as a remission induction of the patients with SLE caused high levels of hANP. In patients with PSS, %FEV1 showed strong inverse correlations between hANP levels, and the patients with an enlarged second curvature of the heart had high levels of hANP. In patients with RA, no significant correlation was found between hANP levels and clinical variables including patients' age.

[Serum complement levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis].

It is known that serum complement levels are decreased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis associated with vasculitis, also called malignant rheumatoid arthritis (MRA). The complement profiles in patients with MRA were compared with those in uncomplicated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In MRA patients, serum CH50, C4 and C3 levels were all decreased as in SLE patients; and C3d, an activation product of C3, and the C3d/C3 ratio as a C3 activation index were increased. Serum B level was also increased as in RA patients, but AH50 level as the haemolytic activity of the alternative pathway was within the normal range. The regulatory proteins, H and I, were elevated in sera of MRA patients. Circulating immune complexes (CIC) detected by a solid phase C1q binding method were increased, whereas the serum activity to solubilize a performed immune complex (CRA) was decreased in MRA sera. It was suggested that increased consumption of complements, mainly through the classical pathway may be responsible for the complement profiles in MRA patients: a markedly consumed classical pathway and relatively preserved alternative pathway.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the liver.

Malignant histiocytoma of the liver, a rare liver tumor, has not been reported in the radiological literature. The differential diagnosis of liver mass should be expanded to include primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Embolization of the mass was ineffective.