Cut-off values for skeletal muscle strength and physical functions in Japanese elderly with walking difficulty.

Age-related changes in muscle strength and physical functions, and the association between vitamin D status and skeletal muscle functions were investigated in 36 men (21-90 years old) and 52 women (21-104 years old). Significant ageing-related decreases in several skeletal muscle functions and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were observed in both men and women. Cut-off values for the Timed up and go (TUG) test, walking speed, handgrip strength and Barthel Index (BI) detecting walking difficulties in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were 11.1 sec, 0.60 m / sec, 17.0 kg, and 90.0 in males, and 28.6 sec, 0.43 m / sec, 13.9 kg, and 67.5 in females, respectively. By comparing personal present data of muscle strength with these cut-off values, people can easily understand their process to walking difficulty. Therefore, these results are important and useful to avoid or to delay a handicapped and dependent status by improving the vitamin D level, rehabilitation and nursing care. J. Med. Invest. 68 : 48-52, February, 2021.

Identification of an eosinophil chemotactic factor from anopheline mosquitoes as a chitinase family protein.

Anopheline mosquitoes play an essential role in malaria transmission. The mosquito salivates copiously when probing for the location of a blood vessel. We found that the saliva of anopheline mosquitoes has chemotactic activity for naive eosinophils or neutrophils. The major eosinophil chemotactic component in saliva was shown to be one of the chitinase family proteins. A similar chitinase family protein was found also in the midgut of the anopheline mosquito. Production of antibodies to the chitinase family protein was generally observed in the sera of residents of a malaria endemic area. Both Plasmodium falciparum-infected and uninfected individuals had antibodies to chitinases. These results suggest that the chitinase family protein in mosquito saliva contributes to eliciting an inflammatory response of eosinophils in the host skin followed by antibody production in the host.