Effects of cigarette smoking and human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1 infection on anti-citrullinated peptide antibody production in Japanese community-dwelling adults: the Nagasaki Islands Study.

Objectives: We investigated whether the positivity of anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) is associated with cigarette-smoking status and human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection in a general population in Nagasaki, Japan, which is an ageing and HTLV-1-endemic area.Method: Baseline data from community-dwelling people in the Nagasaki Islands Study (NaIS) were included in this cross-sectional analysis. ACPA and HTLV-1 were measured in 3887 subjects without a history of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. A logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between ACPA positivity and candidates of correlation with ACPA, i.e. the cigarette-smoking status quantified by Brinkman's index (BI) and HTLV-1 positivity.Results: Fifty-one subjects (1.3%) showed ACPA positivity, and 650 subjects (16.6%) were HTLV-1 carriers. In an age- and gender-adjusted logistic regression analysis, the BI [odds ratio (OR) 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI)1.02-1.14, p = 0.0031] and a BI value > 500 (OR 3.92, 95% CI 1.72-9.22, p = 0.0014) were each significantly associated with ACPA positivity. HTLV-1 positivity did not show any association with ACPA positivity.Conclusion: A significant effect of cigarette-smoking status on ACPA production was revealed, whereas HTLV-1 positivity was not associated with ACPA production in this general population.

Circulating CD34-Positive Cells Are Associated with Handgrip Strength in Japanese Older Men: The Nagasaki Islands Study.

BACKGROUND: Handgrip strength is a simple measurement of overall muscular strength and is used to detect sarcopenia. It also predicts adverse events in later life. Many mechanisms of sarcopenia development have been reported. A hypertensive status impairs endothelial dysfunction, which might deteriorate skeletal muscle if vascular angiogenesis is not maintained. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated muscle strength and circulating CD34-positive cells as a marker of vascular angiogenesis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: 262 male Japanese community dwellers aged 60 to 69 years. MEASUREMENTS: The participants' handgrip strength, medical history, and blood samples were taken. We stratified the participants by hypertensive status to investigate the association between handgrip strength and circulating CD34-positive cells according to hypertensive status. Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses were used. RESULTS: In the Pearson correlation analysis, handgrip strength and the logarithm of circulating CD34-positive cells were significantly associated in hypertensive participants (r=0.22, p=0.021), but not in non-hypertensive participants (r=-0.01, p=0.943). This relationship was only significant in hypertensive participants (ß=1.94, p=0.021) in the simple linear regression analysis, and it remained significant after adjusting for classic cardiovascular risk factors (ß=1.92, p=0.020). The relationship was not significant in non-hypertensive participants (ß=-0.09, p=0.903). CONCLUSIONS: We found a positive association between handgrip strength and circulating CD34-positive cells in hypertensive men. Vascular maintenance attributed by circulating CD34-positive cells is thought to be a background mechanism of this association after hypertension-induced vascular injury in skeletal muscle.

Purification and amino acid sequence of a fern (Gleichenia japonica) ferredoxin.

A chloroplast-type ferredoxin was purified from a fern, Gleichenia japonica, and its amino acid sequence was determined. The conventional method for soft leaves proved to be unsuitable for the extraction of ferredoxin from G. japonica, but a good yield was obtained by blending the leaves in cold acetone. The analysis of 8 tryptic peptides of Cm-ferredoxin gave the complete amino acid sequence. The molecule consisted of a single polypeptide chain of 95 amino acid sequence. The molecule consisted of a single polypeptide chain of 95 amino acid residues and lacked tryptophan. Relatively high contents of phenylalanine and arginine were noted, some of which had unique locations in comparison with other ferredoxins. G. japonica ferredoxin did not show a close sequence homology with the ferredoxins from horsetails, which, like ferns, belong to Pteridophyta, or with those from plants of different taxonomical groups. The fern ferredoxins were suggested to form a unique group in the chloroplast-type ferredoxins.

Formation of bioorganic compounds in simulated planetary atmospheres by high energy particles or photons.

Various types of organic compounds have been detected in Jupiter, Titan, and cometary coma. It is probable that organic compounds were formed in primitive Earth and Mars atmospheres. Cosmic rays and solar UV are believed to be two major energy sources for organic formation in space. We examined energetics of organic formation in simulated planetary atmospheres. Gas mixtures including a C-source (carbon monoxide or methane) and a N-source (nitrogen or ammonia) was irradiated with the followings: High energy protons or electrons from accelerators, gamma-rays from 60Co, UV light from a deuterium lamp, and soft X-rays or UV light from an electron synchrotron. Amino acids were detected in the products of particles, gamma-rays and soft X-rays irradiation from each gas mixture examined. UV light gave, however, no amino acid precursors in the gas mixture of carbon monoxide, nitrogen and nitrogen. It gave only a trace of them in the gas mixture of carbon monoxide, ammonia and water or that of methane, nitrogen and water. Yield of amino acid precursors by photons greatly depended on their wavelength. These results suggest that nitrogen-containing organic compounds like amino acid precursors were formed chiefly with high energy particles, not UV photons, in Titan or primitive Earth/Mars atmospheres where ammonia is not available as a predominant N-source.

Time-resolved fluorescent X-ray interference.

A fluorescent X-ray interference method can effectively measure nanometer-level conformational changes for non-crystallized molecules and proteins in aqueous conditions. The time-resolved technique can be used to obtain information about the dynamics of molecules and proteins. Instrumentation for time-resolved fluorescent X-ray interference has been designed. A typical interference-fringe pattern was observed with approximately 3 s of X-ray exposure time from K-fluorescent X-rays emitted from a Zn monoatomic layer on an Rh substrate. The primary X-ray beam was polychromed with a mirror for total external reflection of X-rays and was tuned to an energy level at which only Zn K radiation became optimally excited. The glancing angle of the primary X-ray beam was fixed at a glancing angle at which the total intensity of K-fluorescent X-rays emitted from Zn atoms corresponded to the maximum value. The fluorescent X-ray interference fringes were monitored with an imaging plate (IP) as a non-energy-dispersive two-dimensional detector. The exposed interference fringes on the IP were integrated along the direction of the fringes. The integrated fringes were in close agreement with a theoretical estimate based on the interference among transmitted and reflected waves at interfaces in the sample.