Mesenteric phlebosclerosis associated with long-term oral intake of geniposide, an ingredient of herbal medicine.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis (IMP) is a rare disease, characterised by thickening of the wall of the right hemicolon with calcification of mesenteric veins. However, the aetiology remains unknown. AIM: To investigate the possible association of herbal medicines with IMP. METHOD: The clinical data of four of our own patients were collected. Furthermore, we searched for previous reports about similar patients with detailed descriptions of herbal prescriptions that they had taken. We compared herbal ingredients to identify the toxic agent as a possible aetiological factor. RESULTS: Clinical data on a total of 25 patients were summarised. Mean age was 61.8 years and there was female predominance (6 men and 19 women). The used Kampo prescription, the number of cases, and the mean duration of use were as follows: kamisyoyosan in 12 cases for 12.8 years, inshin-iseihaito in 5 cases for 13.4 years, orengedokuto in 4 cases for 14.3 years, inchinkoto in 1 case for 20 years, kamikihitou in 1 case for 19 years, seijobofuto in 1 case for 10 years and gorinsan in 1 case for an unknown duration. Only one ingredient, sansisi, was common to the herbal medicines of all 25 patients. This crude drug called geniposide in English is a major constituent of the Gardenia fruits. CONCLUSION: The long-term use of geniposide in herbal medicines appears to be associated with mesenteric phlebosclerosis.

Construction of a LukS-PV mutant of a staphylococcal Panton-Valentine leukocidin component having a high LukS-like function.

A 2-residue (D12I13) segment of LukS of a staphylococcal leukocidin component is an essential region for the hemolytic function of LukS towards rabbit erythrocytes in the presence of LukF. Here, we report that insertion of D, I, or AA residue(s) between A11 and E12 residues of LukS-PV, in which the 2-residue D12I13 segment in LukS was absent, confers the full LukS function on LukS-PV, which has only 4% hemolytic activity of that of LukS towards rabbit erythrocytes.

Identification of the essential amino acid residues in lukS for the hemolytic activity of staphylococcal leukocidin towards rabbit erythrocytes.

Staphylococcus aureus V8 (ATCC 49775) produces Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and leukocidin (Luk). PVL and Luk consist of LukF-PV and LukS-PV, and LukF and LukS, respectively. LukF and LukS cooperatively and strongly lyse rabbit erythrocytes besides human and rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes. LukF and LukS-PV also cooperatively lysed rabbit erythrocytes, but its activity was only 4% of that in combination [LukF-LukS] after 15 min of incubation. To identify the pivotal region responsible for the hemolytic function of LukS towards rabbit erythrocytes, we created a series of chimeric genes (lukS-PV/lukS) and mutant genes of lukS-PV and had them expressed in Escherichia coli. The chimeric and mutant proteins purified from the sonicated extract from the cells of E. coli were assayed for their hemolytic activities towards rabbit erythrocytes in combination with LukF or LukF-PV. The results indicate that a 2-residue segment (D12I13) of lukS is the minimum region essential for the hemolytic function of LukS towards rabbit erythrocytes.