A high-fat/high-cholesterol diet, but not high-cholesterol alone, increases free cholesterol and apoE-rich HDL serum levels in rats and upregulates hepatic ABCA1 expression.

A high-fat/high-cholesterol (HFC) diet, but not a high-cholesterol (HC) diet, is known to induce elevated serum apolipoprotein E (apoE)-rich high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in animal models. However, the exact mechanisms by which the combination of dietary fat and cholesterol induces apoE-rich HDL production is not well understood. Here, we investigated the effects of dietary fat and cholesterol on serum lipoprotein profiles and hepatic mRNA expression that are associated with HDL production, cholesterol transport, and bile acid metabolism. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed HFC, HC, high-fat, or control diets and then evaluated. The HFC diet induced significant increases in hepatic free-cholesterol accumulation (1.4-fold, p < 0.01) and serum apoE-rich HDL cholesterol (8.7-fold, p < 0.001) levels compared with the HC diet. The apoE-rich HDL induced by the HFC diet was remarkably rich in free cholesterol. Liver gene-expression was mostly similar between the HC and HFC diet groups. However, there was a significant increase of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) levels in the HFC group compared to the HC group for both mRNA (1.9-fold, p < 0.001) and protein (6.6-fold, p < 0.01). These results suggest that an increase in apoE-rich HDL induced by dietary fat and cholesterol may be involved in cholesterol efflux from the liver through increased ABCA1-mediated free-cholesterol efflux.

Low plasma apolipoprotein E-rich high-density lipoprotein levels in patients with metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) containing apolipoprotein E (apoE-rich HDL) represents a small portion of plasma HDL. We recently established a method for measuring plasma apoE-rich HDL. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and apoE-rich HDL levels. METHODS: The apoE-rich HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and metabolic characteristics of 113 patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The MetS group (n = 58) had significantly lower apoE-rich HDL-C and a lower apoE-rich HDL-C/HDL-C ratio (apoE-HDL (%)) compared to the non-MetS group. The prevalence of MetS was increased when apoE-HDL (%) decreased. In simple regression analyses, apoE-HDL (%) was significantly inversely correlated with visceral fat area (rs = -0.370, P < 0.001) and plasma triglycerides (rs = -0.447, P < 0.001) and positively correlated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) mean particle size (rs = 0.599, P < 0.001) and HDL mean particle size (rs = 0.512, P < 0.001). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that LDL mean particle size, a component of the atherogenic lipoprotein profile, was an independent predictor of apoE-HDL (%) (adjusted R2 = 0.409). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma apoE-rich HDL levels might be a valuable indicator of MetS. These findings may help further understand HDL subfraction analysis in cardiometabolic diseases.

Binimetinib, a novel MEK1/2 inhibitor, exerts anti-leukemic effects under inactive status of PI3Kinase/Akt pathway.

A MEK1/2 inhibitor, binimetinib is promising as a therapeutic agent for malignant melanoma with N-RAS mutation. We examined in vitro effects of binimetinib on 10 human myeloid/lymphoid leukemia cell lines, and found that three of five cell lines with N-RAS mutation and one of five without N-RAS mutation were responsive to treatment with binimetinib. Binimetinib inhibited cell growth mainly by inducing G1 arrest and this action mechanism was assisted by gene set enrichment analysis. To identify signaling pathways associated with binimetinib response, we examined the status of MAP kinase/ERK and PI3Kinase/Akt pathways. The basal levels of phosphorylated ERK and Akt varied between the cell lines, and the amounts of phosphorylated ERK and Akt appeared to be reciprocal of each other. Interestingly, most of the binimetinib-resistant cell lines revealed strong Akt phosphorylation compared with binimetinib-sensitive ones. The effect of binimetinib may not be predicted by the presence/absence of N-RAS mutation, but rather by Akt phosphorylation status. Moreover, combination of binimetinib with a PI3K/Akt inhibitor showed additive growth-suppressive effects. These results suggest that binimetinib shows potential anti-leukemic effects and the basal level of phosphorylated Akt might serve as a biomarker predictive of therapeutic effect.

Lavender Essential Oil and Its Main Constituents Inhibit the Expression of TNF-α-induced Cell Adhesion Molecules in Endothelial Cells.

Lavender essential oil (Lvn) has anti-inflammatory effects in an ovalbumin-sensitized murine model of asthma, and inhibits inflammatory cell infiltration into the lungs. The anti-inflammatory effects of Lvn on cell adhesion molecules are not clear. Here we evaluated the effects of Lvn and its main constituents, linalyl acetate (LA) and linalool (LO), on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-induced cell adhesion molecules in murine brain endothelial bEnd.3 cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The bEnd.3 cells were treated with Lvn, LA, or LO and subsequently stimulated with TNF-α. The mRNA expression levels of cell adhesion molecules were detected using RT-PCR. E-selectin and P-selectin protein and phosphorylated-NF-κB p65 were detected by western blotting. The effects of Lvn on HUVECs were measured by RT-PCR. In bEnd.3 cells, Lvn and LA suppressed TNF-α-induced E-selectin, P-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and phosphorylated-NF-κB p65 in the nucleus; LO did not suppress P-selectin or phosphorylated-NF-κB p65. Lvn inhibited TNF-α-induced E-selectin mRNA in HUVECs. These results indicate that Lvn and LA inhibit TNF-α-induced cell adhesion molecules in endothelial cells through the suppression of NF-κB activation. Consequently, Lvn or other essential oils including LA may be useful as alternative anti-inflammatory medicines.

Japanese family with congenital factor VII deficiency.

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance. The present female patient was diagnosed with congenital FVII deficiency because of low hepaplastin test (HPT), although vitamin K was given. Heterozygous p.A191T mutation was detected in the peripheral blood, and the same mutation was also found in the mother and sister. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fourth reported case of p.A191T mutation of FVII in the literature and the first to be reported in Japan. FVII coagulation activity (FVII:C) in asymptomatic heterozygous carriers is mildly reduced. Therefore, some patients may not be accurately diagnosed with congenital FVII deficiency. In infants with low HPT without vitamin K deficiency, congenital FVII deficiency should be considered.

Detection of Torque teno virus DNA in exhaled breath by polymerase chain reaction.

To determine whether exhaled breath contains Torque teno virus (TTV) or not, we tested exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples by semi-nested PCR assay. We detected TTV DNA in 35% (7/20) of EBC samples collected from the mouth of one of the authors, demonstrating that TTV DNA is excreted in exhaled breath with moderate frequency. TTV DNA was detected also in oral EBC samples from 4 of 6 other authors, indicating that TTV DNA excretion in exhaled breath is not an exception but rather a common phenomenon. Furthermore, the same assay could amplify TTV DNA from room air condensate (RAC) samples collected at distances of 20 and 40cm from a human face with 40 (8/20) and 35% (7/20) positive rates, respectively. TTV transmission has been reported to occur during infancy. These distances seem equivalent to that between an infant and its household members while caring for the infant. Taken together, it seems that exhaled breath is one of the possible transmission routes of TTV. We also detected TTV DNA in 25% (10/40) of RAC samples collected at a distance of more than 180cm from any human face, suggesting the risk of airborne infection with TTV in a room.

Enhancive effects of D-glucose and its analogs on expression of d-glucose-unrelated transgenes in mammalian cells.

We studied the effects of d-glucose on transgene expression in mammalian cells by a reporter gene assay using CV-1 cells and a CMV promoter-controlled EGFP gene. Treatment of CV-1 cells with 5% D-glucose unchanged the number of fluorescent cells in fluorescence microscopic observation but significantly intensified fluorescence in the fluorometric assay. Furthermore, EGFP itself and mRNA became more abundant in Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR analyses of 5% D-glucose-treated cells, respectively. These results indicate that elevated D-glucose can activate transgene expression via transcriptional stimulation, at least in part. The same concentrations of L-glucose led to only negligible increases in transgene expression, indicating that D-glucose's effect is different from its osmotic effect. The D-glucose-induced augmentation of fluorescence was observed not only in the experiment using the CMV promoter-controlled EGFP gene but also in experiments using the SV40 and RSV promoter-controlled ones, suggesting that elevated D-glucose can enhance transgene expression regulated by various promoters commonly used in transgene expression. The assessment of D-glucose analogs for their enhancive effects on transgene expression revealed that 1,6-anhydro-D-glucose and ß-methyl-D-glucoside had stronger effects than D-glucose. From this result, we can expect to find more effective carbohydrates to enhance transgene expression. The α- and ß-M-D-glucosides, which are slightly different from each other in three-dimensional structure, exerted largely distinct stimulative effects on transgene expression, suggesting that fundamental rules determine the enhancive effects of saccharides and that the modification of the saccharide by applying such rules will enable us to develop more powerful substances for transgene expression.