The degree of social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and their spouses.

BACKGROUND: Although recent studies have increasingly reported physical and psychological problems associated with cancer and its treatment, social problems of cancer patients and their families have not been sufficiently elucidated. The present study aimed to identify cancer-associated social problems from the perspectives of both patients and their spouses and to compare and analyze differences in their problems. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional internet-based study. Subjects were 259 patients who developed cancer within the previous five years and 259 patients' spouses; the data were derived from two surveys in 2010 (patients) and 2016 (spouses) whose participants were not part of the same dyad but matched by propensity scores, estimated for age, sex, and the presence or absence of recurrence. We investigated the social difficulties of cancer patients and patients' spouses. Regarding social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and spouses, the 60 patient survey items were categorized into 14 labels by the Jiro Kawakita (KJ) method, which is a qualitative synthesis method developed by Kawakita to classify categorical data. RESULTS: Although patients had higher scores on most subcategories, young spouses aged 39 or younger and female spouses had difficulty scores as high as the corresponding patients on many subcategories. CONCLUSION: Health care providers should show sufficient concern for both patients and their spouses, particularly young and female spouses.

Identification and characterization of a novel gene encoding the NBS1 protein in Pyricularia oryzae.

The ascomycete Pyricularia oryzae (teleomorph: Magnaporthe oryzae) causes one of the most serious diseases known as rice blast. The Nijmegen breakage syndrome protein (NBS1) is essential for DNA repair; thus, we studied the P. oryzae NBS1 homolog (PoNBS1). A PoNBS1 null mutant exhibited high sensitivity to DNA damage-inducing agents. The mutant also exhibited the retarded hyphal growth, and induced abnormal conidial germination and shape, but showed normal appressorium formation. The phenotypes of the null mutant were complemented by introducing the cDNA of PoNBS1 driven by a TrpC promoter of Aspergillus nidulans. In addition, the null mutant similarly complemented with the PoNBS1 cDNA lacking the FHA domain that had a normal phenotype except for hyphal growth. These results suggest that PoNBS1 is involved in DNA repair and normal development in P. oryzae. Moreover, the FHA domain of PoNBS1 participates in normal hyphal growth.

A novel ß-glucan-oligonucleotide complex selectively delivers siRNA to APCs via Dectin-1.

Delivering therapeutic nucleic acids to targeted cells and organs has been a challenge for decades. A novel technology to deliver oligonucleotide therapeutics to immune cells is here described. In this approach, a macromolecular complex of oligonucleotides and the ß-1,3-glucan schizophyllan (SPG) is selectively delivered to cells expressing a lectin receptor, Dectin-1, via SPG-Dectin-1 interaction. Detailed investigation of Dectin-1-expressing cells revealed that Dectin-1 is expressed in all subsets of monocytes as well as dendritic cell (DC) populations, including conventional DCs (cDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), in humans. The expression patterns in mice and humans are comparable, except for the expression in pDCs. The results indicate that Dectin-1 is expressed on cells capable of professional antigen presentation, except for B cells. We chose CD40 as a target gene for small interfering RNA (siRNA) as CD40 expression in antigen-presenting cells (APCs), particularly in DCs, plays critical roles in regulating immune responses. Dose-dependent cellular uptake of siCD40-SPG complexes was confirmed in cells expressing Dectin-1. Gene silencing activity was confirmed in vitro by the reduction of CD40 mRNA and by the site-specific cleavage of CD40 mRNA as determined by the 5' RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5'RLM-RACE) technique. In vivo activity of siCD40-SPG complexes was demonstrated as the reduced CD40 protein expression in monocytes and DCs in mice. Furthermore, the in vivo activity of siCD40-SPG targeting human CD40 was confirmed in cynomolgus monkeys by the 5'RLM-RACE technique. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the receptor-ligand binding-mediated delivery of siRNA targeting immune-regulating monocytes and DCs via the interaction of SPG and its receptor, Dectin-1. As monocytes and DCs play central roles in inducing and controlling immune responses, Dectin-1-targeted delivery of nucleic acids should provide a useful tool for developing drugs to treat a wide range of diseases, including autoimmune diseases, allergy, and cancer, as well as transplantation.

Potent antioxidative and antigenotoxic activity in aqueous extract of Japanese rice bran--association with peroxidase activity.

To estimate the preventive potential of Japanese rice bran (Oryza sativa japonica) against the oxygen radical-related chronic diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases and cancer, antioxidative and antigenotoxic activities of the rice bran extracts were analyzed by using assay systems for lipid peroxidation and genotoxin-induced umu gene expression. When effects of the rice bran extracts under different extraction conditions on hydroperoxide generation from auto-oxidized linoleic acid were examined using aluminum chloride method, the water extract showed strong antioxidant activity, but the methanol and acetone extracts did not exhibit significant activity. The water extract of rice bran was divided into the ethanol-precipitable (EP) and supernatant fractions, and EP fraction showed the dominant antioxidant activity, but the supernatant fraction did not exhibit significant antioxidant activity. When the effect of EP fraction on umu C gene expression in SOS response associated with DNA damage in Salmonella typhimurium (TA 1535/pSK 1002) induced by 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-1) was analyzed, it showed a dose-dependent suppressive activity against Trp-P-1-induced umu C gene expression. The bio-chemical analysis of EP fraction indicates that the major antioxidative and antigenotoxic activity of EP fraction is associated with a proteinous component with the molecular weight of more than 30 KDa. As a possible active principle for the antioxidative and antigenotoxic activity in EP fraction, the strong activity of an oxygen radical-scavenging enzyme, peroxidase was detected, and the purified horseradish peroxidase also caused the similar antioxidative and antigenotoxic activities. The significance of this finding is discussed from the viewpoint of the preventive role of rice bran against oxygen radical-related chronic diseases.