Gastrectomy reduces pancreatic secretory function via pancreatic atrophy.

PURPOSE: Although reports suggest that the pancreatic volume decreases after gastrectomy for gastric cancer, the relationship between the pancreatic volume and secretory function after gastrectomy remains unclear. In this study, we examined the relationship between the pancreatic volume and exocrine and endocrine functions after total gastrectomy. METHODS: The pancreatic volumes of 18 distal gastrectomy and 15 total gastrectomy patients were retrospectively measured using computed tomography volumetry up to 5 years postoperatively. Ten low anterior resection patients were selected as controls. In addition, the pancreatic volume and exocrine function evaluated by fecal elastase and the insulin secretory function evaluated by glucagon tolerance testing were prospectively examined before and one year after surgery in nine cases of total gastrectomy. RESULTS: After low anterior resection, the pancreatic volume did not change, but after distal and total gastrectomy, the pancreatic volume decreased continuously until the fifth year. After total gastrectomy, fecal elastase decreased significantly from 865.8 µg/g to 603.2 µg/g in the first year (p = 0.0316), and the insulin secretion capacity also decreased significantly from 3.83 ng/mL to 2.26 ng/mL (p = 0.0019). CONCLUSIONS: The pancreatic volume decreases continuously after gastrectomy for gastric cancer, and the pancreatic exocrine and endocrine functions decrease along with pancreatic atrophy after total gastrectomy.

Mouse APOBEC3 interferes with autocatalytic cleavage of murine leukemia virus Pr180gag-pol precursor and inhibits Pr65gag processing.

Mouse APOBEC3 (mA3) inhibits murine leukemia virus (MuLV) replication by a deamination-independent mechanism in which the reverse transcription is considered the main target process. However, other steps in virus replication that can be targeted by mA3 have not been examined. We have investigated the possible effect of mA3 on MuLV protease-mediated processes and found that mA3 binds both mature viral protease and Pr180gag-pol precursor polyprotein. Using replication-competent MuLVs, we also show that mA3 inhibits the processing of Pr65 Gag precursor. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the autoprocessing of Pr180gag-pol is impeded by mA3, resulting in reduced production of mature viral protease. This reduction appears to link with the above inefficient Pr65gag processing in the presence of mA3. Two major isoforms of mA3, exon 5-containing and -lacking ones, equally exhibit this antiviral activity. Importantly, physiologically expressed levels of mA3 impedes both Pr180gag-pol autocatalysis and Pr65gag processing. This blockade is independent of the deaminase activity and requires the C-terminal region of mA3. These results suggest that the above impairment of Pr180gag-pol autoprocessing may significantly contribute to the deaminase-independent antiretroviral activity exerted by mA3.

[Development of autoimmune hemolytic anemia after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination].

A 75-year-old woman with a history of postoperative chemotherapy for lung adenocarcinoma and a history of Helicobacter pylori eradication for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was admitted to the department of hematology and oncology for the treatment of anemia 2 weeks after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Her blood examination revealed direct and indirect Coombs test-positive hemolytic anemia and elevation of serum LDH and indirect bilirubin levels. No obvious trigger other than BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination was found. She was diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), and oral prednisolone therapy was administered. The anemia improved soon after the administration of prednisolone. Although vaccination is considered to be very important for suppressing the spread of COVID-19, there have been reports of increasing risk of ITP development and deterioration caused by BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Because the number of vaccinated people is increasing rapidly, hematologists must be vigilant to the development of AIHA after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination although case reports of this phenomenon have been very rare thus far.

Basic Proline-Rich Protein-Mediated Microtubules Are Essential for Lobe Growth and Flattened Cell Geometry.

Complex cell shapes are generated first by breaking symmetry, and subsequent polar growth. Localized bending of anticlinal walls initiates lobe formation in the epidermal pavement cells of cotyledons and leaves, but how the microtubule cytoskeleton mediates local cell growth, and how plant pavement cells benefit from adopting jigsaw puzzle-like shapes, are poorly understood. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the basic Pro-rich protein (BPP) microtubule-associated protein family comprises seven members. We analyzed lobe morphogenesis in cotyledon pavement cells of a BPP1;BPP2;BPP5 triple knockout mutant. New image analysis methods (MtCurv and BQuant) showed that anticlinal microtubule bundles were significantly reduced and cortical microtubules that fan out radially across the periclinal wall did not enrich at the convex side of developing lobes. Despite these microtubule defects, new lobes were initiated at the same frequency as in wild-type cells, but they did not expand into well-defined protrusions. Eventually, mutant cells formed nearly polygonal shapes and adopted concentric microtubule patterns. The mutant periclinal cell wall bulged outward. The radius of the calculated inscribed circle of the pavement cells, a proposed proxy for maximal stress in the cell wall, was consistently larger in the mutant cells during cotyledon development, and correlated with an increase in cell height. These bpp mutant phenotypes provide genetic and cell biological evidence that initiation and growth of lobes are distinct morphogenetic processes, and that interdigitated cell geometry effectively suppresses large outward bulging of pavement cells.

[Pneumocystis pneumonia prophylaxis with low-dose trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole during rituximab-containing chemotherapy].

Although Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), a life-threatening infection, has been reported in patients with non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma (BNHL) who were treated with rituximab-containing chemotherapies (R-CTX), the PCP prophylaxis regimen awaits establishment to date. This study reports a retrospective analysis of the efficacy and safety of a low-dose trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) in patients with BNHL receiving R-CTX. We retrospectively analyzed 156 patients newly diagnosed with BNHL who received R-CTX at our institute from 2010 to 2015. We collected patients' clinical and laboratory data, including lymphocytes count, IgG level, PCP prophylaxis regimens, and adverse events (AEs). Patients were categorized into the following two groups based on the TMP/SMX regimen: group A (33 patients; 80 mg/400 mg×3/week) or group B (65 patients; 160 mg/800 mg×2/week). Both lymphocytes count and IgG level declined during R-CTX. No patient developed PCP. Patients in group B exhibited a significantly higher incidence of AEs (18.2% vs. 63.1%; p<0.05) and increased AST (6.1% vs. 26.6%; p<0.05), compared with those in group A. Thus, TMP/SMX (80 mg/400 mg×3/week) effectively prevents PCP and is preferable because of the lower rates of AEs.

A case of late-onset bleeding from an intercostal artery pseudoaneurysm after hemostasis using soft coagulation.

BACKGROUND: The use of soft coagulation is becoming common in thoracic surgery. Soft coagulation provides rapid hemostasis from small vessels during surgery by dehydrating tissue and denaturing proteins, without burning the tissue. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old man, with a history of right lower lobectomy 3 years prior, underwent a partial resection of the right upper lobe for a pulmonary nodule suspicious for secondary lung cancer. During the surgery, dissection of the adhesion caused a bleeding from the 6th intercostal artery, and hemostasis was achieved using soft coagulation (some degree of tissue carbonization was noticed at later mortality and morbidity conference). He experienced hemoptysis at postoperative day 18 and was transferred to our hospital. Contrast-enhanced CT scan revealed bleeding from the pseudoaneurysm of the 6th intercostal artery. Embolization was performed by angiography to stop the bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: We experienced a case of late-onset bleeding from a pseudoaneurysm related to soft coagulation hemostasis. Lessons learned from this patient are that additional hemostasis, such as ligation, would be considered for small arteries after hemostasis has been achieved by soft coagulation, especially when some degree of tissue carbonization is suspected.

Detection of phase-dependent transcriptomic changes and Rubisco-mediated CO2 fixation into poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) under heterotrophic condition in Ralstonia eutropha H16 based on RNA-seq and gene deletion analyses.

BACKGROUND: Ralstonia eutropha H16 is well known to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which are potential bio-based biodegradable plastics, in an efficient manner as an energy storage material under unbalanced growth conditions. To obtain further knowledge of PHA biosynthesis, this study performed a quantitative transcriptome analysis based on deep sequencing of the complementary DNA generated from the RNA (RNA-seq) of R. eutropha H16. RESULTS: Total RNAs were extracted from R. eutropha cells in growth, PHA production, and stationary phases on fructose. rRNAs in the preparation were removed by repeated treatments with magnetic beads specific to bacterial rRNAs, and then the 36 bp sequences were determined using an Illumina high-throughput sequencer. The RNA-seq results indicated the induction of gene expression for transcription, translation, cell division, peptidoglycan biosynthesis, pilus and flagella assembly, energy conservation, and fatty acid biosynthesis in the growth phase; and the repression trends of genes involved in central metabolisms in the PHA production phase. Interestingly, the transcription of genes for Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle and several genes for ß-oxidation were significantly induced in the PHA production phase even when the cells were grown on fructose. Moreover, incorporation of 13C was observed in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) synthesized by R. eutropha H16 from fructose in the presence of NaH13CO3, and further gene deletion analyses revealed that both of the two ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubiscos) in CBB cycle were actually functional in CO2 fixation under the heterotrophic condition. CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed the phase-dependent transcriptomic changes and a CO2 fixation capability under heterotrophic conditions by PHA-producing R. eutropha.

Isopropanol production with reutilization of glucose-derived CO2 by engineered Ralstonia eutropha.

Chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Ralstonia eutropha is a versatile host for production of various useful compounds including polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) under both heterotrophic and autotrophic conditions. In this bacterium, Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle is functional even under heterotrophic conditions on sugars and reutilizes CO2 emitted through sugar metabolisms into PHA, leading to increase in yield of the storage polyester. This study focused on isopropanol production from glucose by engineered strains of R. eutropha. The isopropanol-producing strains were constructed by introduction of codon-optimized genes of acetoacetate decarboxylase (adc) and primary-secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (adh) from clostridia into glucose-utilizing and PHA-negative (ΔphaC1) strain of R. eutropha. Several genetic modifications showed that high expression of the isopropanol synthesis genes by using a strong synthetic promoter and deletion of NAD+-dependent (S)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase genes (paaH1 and had) in addition to NADPH-dependent acetoacetyl-CoA reductase genes (phaB1 and phaB3) were effective for improving isopropanol production with low by-production of acetone. Isopropanol titer of 4.13 g/L was achieved by two-stage cultivation of the strain IP-007/pBj5c2-adh-adc, corresponding to overall yield of 0.6 mol mol-glucose-1. The fixation of sugar-derived CO2 during isopropanol synthesis was evaluated by 13C-labelling of the isopropanol produced from [1-13C]-glucose. The 13C-abundance in isopropanol synthesized by the engineered strain was significantly increased up to 4.8%, demonstrating actual reassimilation of CO2 emitted from glucose moiety by decarboxylation and potential contribution towards increase in the carbon yield of isopropanol on glucose.

New Insight into the Role of the Calvin Cycle: Reutilization of CO2 Emitted through Sugar Degradation.

Ralstonia eutropha is a facultative chemolithoautotrophic bacterium that uses the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle for CO2 fixation. This study showed that R. eutropha strain H16G incorporated (13)CO2, emitted by the oxidative decarboxylation of [1-(13)C1]-glucose, into key metabolites of the CBB cycle and finally into poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] with up to 5.6% (13)C abundance. The carbon yield of P(3HB) produced from glucose by the strain H16G was 1.2 times higher than that by the CBB cycle-inactivated mutants, in agreement with the possible fixation of CO2 estimated from the balance of energy and reducing equivalents through sugar degradation integrated with the CBB cycle. The results proved that the 'gratuitously' functional CBB cycle in R. eutropha under aerobic heterotrophic conditions participated in the reutilization of CO2 emitted during sugar degradation, leading to an advantage expressed as increased carbon yield of the storage compound. This is a new insight into the role of the CBB cycle, and may be applicable for more efficient utilization of biomass resources.

An investigation on a broad infrared band with the maximum at approximately 1300 cm(-1) in magnesia cement, phase 3.

In magnesia cement, phase 3, a broad and strong infrared band was observed with the maximum at approximately 1300 and 1050 cm(-1) in the H and D systems, respectively. To clarify the origin of the 1300 cm(-1) band the temperature dependency of the infrared spectra of the H system was observed and the spectra analyzed on the basis of a strong vibrational coupling of the OH stretching with lattice modes. The fitting was quite well, giving rise to the origin of the 1300 cm(-1) band of the OH stretching.