Systemic herpes simplex virus infection in a child with eczema herpeticum.

Eczema herpeticum (EH) is a disseminated cutaneous infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) that develops in patients with atopic dermatitis. The kinetics and clinical significance of HSV viremia in EH are poorly understood. Herein, we report HSV DNAemia in a child with EH 12 months after the completion of chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.

Serological examination for clinical cross-reactivity between salmon roe and pollock roe in patients with a salmon roe allergy.

Objectives: Fish roe is a common allergen in Japan. We have previously reported that although immunoglobulin (IgE) from patients with salmon roe (SR) or pollock roe (PR) allergies cross-react, 70% of patients with SR allergy can consume PR without developing any symptoms. However, a correlation between clinical cross-reactivity and serological cross-reactivity remains to be demonstrated. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 15 patients with SR allergy who had consumed cooked PR previously. Among these volunteers, four had experienced immediate symptoms after consuming cooked PR, while the others had exhibited no symptoms of PR allergy. A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to analyze the serological cross-reactivity with SR and PR. Immunoblotting inhibition assays were performed using serum samples that had been pre-incubated with SR or PR extracts. Results: In ELISAs, binding to SR was inhibited by >50% when the serum samples from patients with both SR and PR allergies were pre-incubated with PR extract (p=0.0256). In immunoblots, pre-incubation of serum samples with PR extract inhibited detection of the 16-kDa protein, which likely corresponds to the major SR allergen beta' component, significantly more for samples from patients with both SR and PR allergies (100%) than for samples from those with only an SR allergy (18.2%) (p=0.011). Conclusions: The superior competitive binding of the sera from patients with both SR and PR allergies to PR compared with that to SR may induce clinical cross-reactivity between SR and PR.

Structural study on highly oxidized states of a water oxidation complex [RuIII(bpy)2(H2O)]2(mu-O)4+ by ruthenium K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy.

The oxidation-induced structural change of a water-oxidizing diruthenium complex, [(bpy)(2)(H(2)O)Ru(III)(micro-O)Ru(III)(OH(2))(bpy)(2)](4+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), was investigated by means of X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Ru K-edge XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) spectra from the acidic solution and solid precipitates obtained by oxidation showed that the absorption edge shifts toward higher energy with a preedge feature slightly more enhanced than those of the lower oxidation states. This indicates that the higher oxidation state has a lower symmetry due to shortening of the Ru-O bonds that originated from the water ligands. The EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) spectra were similar to those of the lower oxidation states, whose analysis revealed the existence of short Ru-O double bonds and an almost linear Ru-O-Ru angle (169 +/- 2 degrees ). Ab initio EXAFS simulations for several possible structural models suggest that the dimeric structure is maintained during the water oxidation reaction.

Development of light-modulated XAFS spectroscopy.

The light-modulation method was applied to XAFS spectroscopy as a useful tool for electronic and structural studies of light-excited states. The visible light for electronic excitation was modulated by an optical chopper and the concomitant change in the X-ray absorbance was extracted by a lock-in amplifier. It is essential to reduce any noise arising from several sources, especially those generated by the X-ray monochromator. Fe and Co K-edge XANES and EXAFS spectra were measured using the present approach for spin transition compounds. The light-modulated XAFS method is found to be applicable to systems with an excited-state ratio of less than several percent. Detailed discussion is also given concerning quantitative measurements, including the signal amplitude and phase shift information.

A new nonpeptide tachykinin NK1 receptor antagonist isolated from the plants of Compositae.

To find new tachykinin NK1 receptor antagonists from natural sources, we examined the tachykinin antagonist activity in the extracts of approximately 200 species of plants by the use of isolated guinea pig ileum. As a result, we discovered a novel and potent NK1 receptor antagonist in the extract of dried flowers of Matricaria chamomilla L. (chamomile). The structure of the antagonist was established as N1,N5,N10,N14-tetrakis[3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoyl]-1,5,10,14-tetraazatetradecane (tetracoumaroyl spermine, 1a). The Ki values of 1a, estimated from the inhibitory action on the substance P (SP)-induced contraction of the guinea pig ileum and the inhibition of the binding of [3H][Sar9, Met(O2)11]SP to human NK1 receptors, were 21.9 nM and 3.3 nM, respectively. 1a is the first potent NK1 receptor antagonist from natural sources and it has a unique structure of a polyacylated spermine. 1a was concentrated in pollen of Matricaria chamomilla L. and was also found in the extracts of flowers of other four species of Compositae. In addition, we found N1,N5,N10-tris[3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoyl]-1,5,10,14-tetraazatetradecane (2) as a new compound in the extract of flowers of Matricaria chamomilla L., which did not exhibit any tachykinin antagonist activity. A number of related compounds were synthesized, and the structure-activity relationship was studied.