Relationship between Oral Assessment Guide score and hypoalbuminemia in newly hospitalized patients.

This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) scores and malnutrition in newly hospitalized patients. A total of 880 hospitalized adults were enrolled. Hypoalbuminemia was defined as serum albumin less than 3.5 g/dL. Patients with hypoalbuminemia were older (P < 0.001), had a higher prevalence of respiratory diseases (P < 0.01), a higher prevalence of digestive diseases (P < 0.01), a lower prevalence of oral feeding (P < 0.001), a lower body mass index (P < 0.001), and higher OAG scores (P < 0.001) than those without hypoalbuminemia. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia was significantly related to age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, P < 0.001), absence of oral feeding (OR = 2.72, P < 0.001), presence of respiratory diseases (OR = 2.53, P < 0.01), presence of digestive diseases (OR = 1.64, P < 0.01), and OAG scores (OR = 1.14, P < 0.01). Regarding OAG scores, the OR of hypoalbuminemia was greater in patients with disorders (scores 2 or 3) of swallowing (vs. score 1, OR = 1.83, P < 0.05) and saliva (vs. score 1, OR = 1.51, P < 0.05). There appears to be a positive association between OAG scores and hypoalbuminemia in hospitalized patients.

Normal delay eyeblink conditioning in mice devoid of astrocytic S100B.

S100B is a small calcium binding protein synthesized and secreted mostly by astrocytes. Mice devoid of S100B (S100B-KO) develop without detectable anatomic abnormalities of the brain, but exhibit enhanced hippocampal long-term potentiation and enhanced performance in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory tasks, indicating that S100B has a crucial role in hippocampal neuronal plasticity. In the present study, we examined whether S100B has a similar role in the cerebellar regions, because Bergmann glia, a specialized subset of astrocytes in the cerebellar cortex, express a particularly large amount of S100B under physiologic conditions. Unlike in the hippocampus-dependent tasks, S100B-KO mice were indistinguishable from wild-type mice in both cerebellum-dependent motor coordination and delay eyeblink conditioning, a well-established paradigm for cerebellum-dependent learning and memory. These results suggest that S100B has differential roles in the hippocampus and cerebellum.

Neural-activity-dependent release of S100B from astrocytes enhances kainate-induced gamma oscillations in vivo.

S100B is the principal calcium-binding protein of astrocytes and known to be secreted to extracellular space. Although secreted S100B has been reported to promote neurite extension and cell survival via its receptor [receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)], effects of extracellular S100B on neural activity have been mostly unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that secreted S100B enhances kainate-induced gamma oscillations. Local infusion of S100B in S100B(-/-) mice enhanced hippocampal kainate-induced gamma oscillations in vivo. In a complementary set of experiments, local application of anti-S100B antibody in wild-type mice attenuated the gamma oscillations. Both results indicate that the presence of extracellular S100B enhances the kainate-induced gamma oscillations. In acutely isolated hippocampal slices, kainate application increased S100B secretion in a neural-activity-dependent manner. Further pharmacological experiments revealed that S100B secretion was critically dependent on presynaptic release of neurotransmitter and activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 3. Moreover, the kainate-induced gamma oscillations were attenuated by the genetic deletion or antibody blockade of RAGE in vivo. These results suggest RAGE activation by S100B enhances the gamma oscillations. Together, we propose a novel pathway of neuron-glia communications--astrocytic release of S100B modulates neural network activity through RAGE activation.

Impact of S100B on local field potential patterns in anesthetized and kainic acid-induced seizure conditions in vivo.

S100B is a calcium-binding protein predominantly expressed in astrocytes. Previous studies using gene-manipulated animals have suggested that the protein has a role in synaptic plasticity and learning. In order to assess the physiological roles of the protein in active neural circuitry, we recorded spontaneous neural activities from various layers of the neocortex and hippocampus in urethane-anesthetized S100B knockout (KO) and wildtype (WT) control mice. Typical local field oscillation patterns including the slow (0.5-2 Hz) oscillations in the neocortex, theta (3-8 Hz) and sharp wave-associated ripple (120-180 Hz) oscillations in the hippocampus were observed in both genotypes. Comparisons of the frequency, power and peak amplitude have shown that these oscillatory patterns were virtually indistinguishable between WT and KO. When seizure was induced by intraperitoneal injection of kainic acid, a difference between WT and KO appeared in the CA1 radiatum local field potential pattern, where seizure events were characterized by prominent appearance of hyper-synchronous gamma band (30-80 Hz) activity. Although both genotypes developed seizures within 40 min, the gamma amplitude was significantly smaller during the development of seizures in KO mice. Our results suggest that deficiency of S100B does not have a profound impact on spontaneous neural activity in normal conditions. However, when neural activity was sufficiently raised, activation of S100B-related pathways may take effect, resulting in modulation of neural activities.

Relationship between periodontitis and hepatic condition in Japanese women.

The liver is an important organ closely associated with lipid and glucose metabolism. This study was performed to clarify the relationship between periodontitis and hepatic condition in apparently healthy Japanese women. A cross-sectional study was performed on 172 apparently healthy, dentulous Japanese women (20-59 years old) who attended a health promotion program at Fukuoka Health Promotion Center. After multivariate adjustment for age, smoking history and oral hygiene, which were known risk factors for periodontitis, the incidence of periodontitis (deepest probing depth > or =4 mm) in females was significantly increased with elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST, p < 0.01), alanine aminotransferase (ALT, p < 0.01) and cholinesterase (p < 0.001), and an AST-to-ALT ratio of less than one (p = 0.02). Further adjustment for either body mass index (BMI) or percent body fat did not attenuate these relationships. These results suggest that hepatic steatosis is associated with periodontitis in Japanese women.

Stimulus-induced behavior in F1 hybrids of seizure-sensitive and seizure-resistant gerbils.

We previously established two strains of Mongolian gerbil: a seizure-sensitive strain, established by selective inbreeding for motor seizures elicited by a stimulus called the S method and a seizure-resistant strain that does not exhibit inducible seizures. The behavior of the seizure-sensitive strain is characterized by a progressive increase in responsiveness to weekly application of the S method, from repetitive backward ear movements appearing after postnatal day 40, to a full-blown seizure, while the seizure-resistant strain is apparently unaffected by the stimulation. The difference between these two strains is presumably genetic. To determine the genetic factors underlying this difference, we first examined developmental changes in the stimulus-induced behavior of the F1 hybrids. When the S method was applied, most F1 hybrids had repetitive movements of the ears (and head) similar to the seizure-sensitive gerbils, but generalized seizures emerged considerably later than in seizure-sensitive gerbils. These results suggest that a half dose of the gene products involved renders most gerbils susceptible to the stimulus but is insufficient for the rapid accumulation of an as yet undefined change needed to spread the abnormal electrophysiologic activity to elicit generalized seizures.

Gerbils of a seizure-sensitive strain have a mitochondrial inner membrane protein with different isoelectric points from those of a seizure-resistant strain.

The distribution of proteins in the cerebral cortex of a seizure-sensitive (SS) strain of gerbil and its seizure-resistant (SR) counterpart was profiled using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A series of proteins of similar molecular weight (around 83 kDa) showed small but consistent differences in their isoelectric point (pI) with indistinguishable profiles of distribution between the two strains. Amino acid sequences of peptides produced by limited proteolysis of each protein in the spots from the strains were identical or highly homologous to those of mitofilin, a mitochondrial inner membrane protein (IMMT) in humans. Analysis of cDNA sequences revealed the proteins of these spots to be gerbil mitofilin-like proteins (gIMMT), with a few base substitutions between SS and SR strains, in particular within a region near a putative transmembrane domain that is highly conserved in humans and gerbils. The amino acid at the site was acidic, Glu in humans and Asp in the strain SR of gerbil and a neutral, Asn in strain SS. In addition to these base substitutions, production of multiple species of mRNA for gIMMT by alternative splicing was observed.

Weight reduction decreases soluble cellular adhesion molecules in obese women.

1. Obesity is known to increase the risk for atherosclerotic diseases. Serum levels of cellular adhesion molecules are reported to be indices of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of weight reduction on soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin). 2. Eighteen non-diabetic normotensive obese women participated in a 3 month lifestyle-modification programme (intervention group). The programme consisted of lectures on diet, exercise sessions and behavioural modification by weight charting. Fourteen women who did not enter the programme served as controls. Body fat mass (FM) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Soluble ICAM-1 and sE-selectin were measured by ELISA. 3. After 3 months, sICAM-1 and sE-selectin, as well as body FM, decreased in the intervention group (P < 0.001), while no changes were observed in the control group. The baseline sE-selectin was positively correlated with total body FM, trunk FM and percentage body fat (r = 0.50-0.57; P < 0.01), but not with leg FM. The change in sE-selectin was also correlated with changes in total body FM and trunk FM (both r = 0.46; P < 0.01). Baseline sICAM-1 was not significantly correlated with these variables. The associations between changes in sICAM-1 and changes in total body FM or trunk FM were of borderline significance (both r = 0.34; P = 0.06). Linear regression analysis indicated that the change in sE-selectin was explained by the change in trunk FM (R2 = 0.18; P < 0.01). 4. Soluble ICAM-1 and sE-selectin were positively correlated with obesity, especially with central obesity. Weight reduction resulted in decreases in soluble adhesion molecules, which may suggest a downregulation of endothelial activation.