Effect of individualized occupational therapy on cognition among patients with schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of individualized occupational therapy (IOT) plus group occupational therapy (GOT) as standard care for cognition compared to GOT alone, and to determine which IOT component has the greatest effect on cognitive outcome in patients with schizophrenia. This study was conducted at 14 clinical sites across Japan and enrolled recently hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. The IOT consisted of motivational interview, self-monitoring, individualized visits, craft activities, individualized psychoeducation, and discharge planning. Among the 68 patients who were randomized to the GOT + IOT group (n = 34) and GOT alone group (n = 34), 67 completed the trial (GOT + IOT group, n = 34; GOT alone group, n = 33). There were significant improvements in change from baseline to post-treatment between the groups in verbal memory, working memory, verbal fluency, attention, executive function domains, and the composite score of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). The BACS composite score was significantly associated with the number of craft activity sessions. The addition of IOT to GOT has a favorable feasibility profile and efficacy for cognition in schizophrenia. Craft activity is the most effective IOT component in improving cognition.

A simple specimen preparation method for histopathological evaluation of vestibular organs.

Vestibular organs consist of the maculae staticae, which are located in both the utricle and saccule, as well as the semicircular ducts and their ampullas. There have been no reports on specimen preparation methods for vestibular organs, including maculae staticae or semicircular ducts. In this study, we investigated highly reproducible methods of preparing vestibular organ specimens for histopathological examinations. We established a method that allows researchers to observe the utricle and saccule, including otoliths, the ampulla of a semicircular duct, and parts of semicircular ducts. This highly reproducible method is useful for histopathological analysis of mice with symptoms of abnormal equilibrium caused by medical toxicity and genetic modification.

Class II lupus nephritis with podocyte injury in imiquimod-induced lupus-prone mice.

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a renal disease presented in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is divided into 6 classes based on histopathological criteria set by the International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society. Major mouse models of SLE usually develop class III/IV LN, which are characterized by subendothelial deposits and endocapillary hypercellularity. We examined the pathological features of kidneys in a mouse model of SLE induced by a toll-like receptor 7 agonist, imiquimod (IMQ). In experiment 1, eleven-female FVB/NJcl wild type mice were treated with IMQ on their ear skin 3 times per week. Plasma anti-dsDNA increased from 2 weeks after first IMQ treatment and 2 mice exhibited nephrotic syndrome from 6 weeks. Histopathology revealed eosinophilic mesangial deposits in all mice from 4 weeks. Subsequently, podocytes showed enlargement with vacuolation and their numbers decreased in 6 mice. There was no infiltration of inflammatory cells, subendothelial deposits in glomeruli, or subepithelial deposits in glomeruli. In experiment 2 using 10 mice at 8 weeks after IMQ treatment, the mesangial deposits were observed in all mice and confirmed to be IgG, IgA, IgM, C1q and C3 by immunofluorescence, which corresponds to class II LN. Foot process effacement was detected by transmission electron microscopy and was considered to lead to proteinuria. These mice exhibited pathological characteristics corresponding to class II LN and podocyte injury, which make it distinct from other mouse models of SLE.

SGLT5 reabsorbs fructose in the kidney but its deficiency paradoxically exacerbates hepatic steatosis induced by fructose.

Although excessive fructose intake is epidemiologically linked with dyslipidemia, obesity, and diabetes, the mechanisms regulating plasma fructose are not well known. Cells transfected with sodium/glucose cotransporter 5 (SGLT5), which is expressed exclusively in the kidney, transport fructose in vitro; however, the physiological role of this transporter in fructose metabolism remains unclear. To determine whether SGLT5 functions as a fructose transporter in vivo, we established a line of mice lacking the gene encoding SGLT5. Sodium-dependent fructose uptake disappeared in renal brush border membrane vesicles from SGLT5-deficient mice, and the increased urinary fructose in SGLT5-deficient mice indicated that SGLT5 was the major fructose reabsorption transporter in the kidney. From this, we hypothesized that urinary fructose excretion induced by SGLT5 deficiency would ameliorate fructose-induced hepatic steatosis. To test this hypothesis we compared SGLT5-deficient mice with wild-type mice under conditions of long-term fructose consumption. Paradoxically, however, fructose-induced hepatic steatosis was exacerbated in the SGLT5-deficient mice, and the massive urinary fructose excretion was accompanied by reduced levels of plasma triglycerides and epididymal fat but fasting hyperinsulinemia compared with fructose-fed wild-type mice. There was no difference in food consumption, water intake, or plasma fructose between the two types of mice. No compensatory effect by other transporters reportedly involved in fructose uptake in the liver and kidney were indicated at the mRNA level. These surprising findings indicated a previously unrecognized link through SGLT5 between renal fructose reabsorption and hepatic lipid metabolism.

Discharge of solubilized and Dectin-1-reactive ß-glucan from macrophage cells phagocytizing insoluble ß-glucan particles: involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-driven degradation.

Phagocytes engulf pathogenic microbes, kill them and degrade their cellular macromolecules by hydrolytic enzymes in phagolysosomes. However, such enzymes are unable to degrade some microbial polysaccharides, and fate of such indigestible polysaccharides in phagocytes remains uncertain. Using the extracellular domain of Dectin-1 as ß-glucan-specific probes, we succeeded in detection of soluble and Dectin-1-reactive ß-glucan discharged from mouse RAW 264.7 and human THP-1 macrophage cell lines as well as mouse peritoneal macrophages, which had phagocytized insoluble ß-glucan particles. The RAW 264.7 cell culture-supernatant containing the discharged ß-glucan stimulated naïve RAW 264.7 cells, resulting in the induction of cytokine expression. Such discharge of Dectin-1-reactive ß-glucan from macrophage cells was inhibited by either NADPH oxidase inhibitors (apocynin and diphenylene iodonium) or radical scavengers (N-acetyl cysteine and MCI-186). Moreover, reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by a Cu(2+)/ascorbic acid system solubilized insoluble ß-glucan particles in vitro, and a part of the solubilized ß-glucan was Dectin-1 reactive and biologically active in macrophage activation. The soluble and biologically active ß-glucan was degraded further during prolonged exposure to ROS. These results suggest that degraded but Dectin-1-reactive ß-glucan is discharged from macrophage cells phagocytizing insoluble ß-glucan particles and stimulates not only themselves again but also the other naïve phagocytes, leading to the effective elimination of infecting microbes and the ultimate breakdown and inactivation of metabolically resistant ß-glucan.