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Intestinal glucose absorption varies with growth; however, the dynamics of these variations has not been yet fully elucidated in broiler chickens. The present study aimed to compare jejunal glucose uptake and maltose digestion in broilers of 2 different ages, i.e., 1- vs. 5 wk old. Oral D-maltose gavage, everted sac, and Ussing chamber experiments were carried out to investigate intestinal glucose absorption and mRNA expression of glucose-transport-related genes as well as jejunal maltase activity. Upon gavage, glucose concentrations peaked at 10 min post-administration in 1-wk-old chicks, while they peaked at 40 min in 5-wk-old chickens. Glucose concentrations at 10 min were significantly higher in the 1-wk-old chicks (P = 0.010). Using the everted sacs experimental setup, 5 intestinal regions i.e., duodenum, proximal jejunum, distal jejunum, proximal ileum, and distal ileum, were targeted to examine D-maltose digestion and glucose transport across the intestinal mucosa. In the distal and proximal ileum, glucose concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the serosal compartment of the 1-wk-old chicks upon incubation with D-maltose (25 mM) (P < 0.05), while in the mucosal compartment the levels were significantly higher in the 5-wk-old chickens (P < 0.05). An Ussing chamber setup was employed to measure glucose-induced short-circuit current (ΔIsc) in the mucosal epithelium of the jejunum. In response to the addition of D-maltose (10 mM) into the mucosal compartment, ΔIsc was significantly higher in the 1-wk-old chicks (P = 0.018). Furthermore, no variations in jejunal maltase activity were observed between the 2 age groups. While jejunal glucose absorption was lower in the 5-wk-old chickens, the mRNA expression levels of jejunal SGLT1, GLUT2, and Na+/K+-ATPase did not show any significant differences between the 2 age groups. Our results suggest that the active transport of glucose across the jejunal epithelium decreases upon growth in broiler chickens but is not accompanied by any variations in maltase activity or in the expression of glucose-absorption-related genes., (© 2019 Poultry Science Association Inc.)

Background: Pteridines are metabolites of tetrahydrobiopterin, which serves as co-enzyme of nitric oxide synthase. We sought to investigate the usefulness of pteridines as biomarkers for childhood asthma control., Methods: We conducted a single-center prospective cohort study involving 168 asthmatic children aged 4-17 years who visited the periodical asthma checkup program. Serum neopterin and biopterin levels were measured as pteridines at each visit along with measurement of FeNO, respiratory function tests, nasal eosinophil test, blood eosinophil count, and IgE level. We calculated coefficients for relation between pteridines and asthma control, which was assessed by questionnaires (JPAC: Japanese Pediatric Asthma Control Program)., Results: A total of 168 participants aged 10.3 ± 3.39 years (mean ± SD) with asthma were recruited. The participants in this study contained 58 patients (34.5%) of complete-controlled based on JPAC, 132 patients (76.0%) of well-controlled group based on GINA. FeNO and serum neopterin level did not correlate with following period's JPAC scores. In contrast, serum biopterin level significantly correlated with following period's JPAC total score (Coefficients 0.398; 95% CI 0.164 to 0.632; p value 0.001) and frequency of wheezing during exercise (Coefficients 0.272; 95% CI 0.217 to 0.328; p value < 0.001)., Conclusions: We found serum biopterin effected the following period's control status of asthmatic children, thus monitoring biopterin level will be a useful for management of asthma to adjust treatment., (Copyright © 2018 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Beta-band corticomuscular coherence (CMC) observed between the sensorimotor cortex activity and contracting muscle is declaratively described as a neurophysiological reflection of sensorimotor binding. However, much remains unknown about the functional meaning of 'sensorimotor binding.' The efficacy of information binding in the sensorimotor system is assumed to be influenced by the gain of the feedback controller, which is regulated through a process that may in part be implemented in the primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1). Thus, we predicted that CMC is modulated together with feedback gains during motor learning. We examined this hypothesis using a hand-reaching adaptation task under a novel dynamical environment. CMC modulation was assessed before and after adaptation, and feedback gains were probed by long latency triggered muscle reactions. Overall, we found that CMC significantly decreased during the adaptation period, and such CMC decrease was associated with the decreased long latency reflexes. These results suggest that CMC has a related function to modulation of feedback gains. Our findings provided an electrophysiological hallmark of the sensorimotor binding process, which was stated as a function of CMC but poorly understood., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Human's sophisticated motor learning system paradoxically interferes with motor performance when visual information is mirror-reversed (MR), because normal movement error correction further aggravates the error. This error-increasing mechanism makes performing even a simple reaching task difficult, but is overcome by alterations in the error correction rule during the trials. To isolate factors that trigger learners to change the error correction rule, we manipulated the gain of visual angular errors when participants made arm-reaching movements with mirror-reversed visual feedback, and compared the rule alteration timing between groups with normal or reduced gain. Trial-by-trial changes in the visual angular error was tracked to explain the timing of the change in the error correction rule. Under both gain conditions, visual angular errors increased under the MR transformation, and suddenly decreased after 3-5 trials with increase. The increase became degressive at different amplitude between the two groups, nearly proportional to the visual gain. The findings suggest that the alteration of the error-correction rule is not dependent on the amplitude of visual angular errors, and possibly determined by the number of trials over which the errors increased or statistical property of the environment. The current results encourage future intensive studies focusing on the exact rule-change mechanism., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.)

We investigated the pharmacologic activities of four garlic preparations, raw garlic juice (RGJ), heated garlic juice (HGJ), dehydrated garlic powder (DGP) and aged garlic extract (AGE). The study used three animal models, i.e., testicular hypogonadism (hypospermatogensis and impotence) induced by warm water treatment, intoxication of acetaldehyde and growth of inoculated tumor cells. RGJ was found to be effective only in recovery of testicular function. The efficacy of HGJ was observed in three models; however, it did not improve impotence. DGP was effective in recovery of spermatogenesis and stimulated acetaldehyde detoxification. Significant beneficial effects of AGE were found in all three models. Although all four garlic preparations significantly enhanced natural killer (NK) and killer cell activities of the spleen cells of tumor-bearing mice, only AGE and HGJ inhibited the growth of inoculated tumor cells. These results suggest that different types of garlic preparations have different pharmacologic properties, and among the four garlic preparations studied, AGE could be the most useful garlic preparation.

The effects of garlic preparations, including dehydrated raw garlic powder (RGP), dehydrated boiled garlic powder (BGP) and aged garlic extract (AGE), on the gastric mucosa were determined using a newly established endoscopic air-powder delivery system, which can deliver solid materials directly into the stomach. Among the three preparations, RGP caused severe damage, including erosion. BGP also caused reddening of the mucosa, whereas AGE did not cause any undesirable effects. The safety of enteric-coated garlic products was also determined. Direct administration of pulverized enteric-coated products on the gastric mucosa caused reddening of the mucosa. When an enteric-coated tablet was administered orally, it caused loss of epithelial cells at the top of crypts in the ileum. These results suggest that caution be used with regard to safety and effectiveness when choosing a garlic preparation because some preparations may have undesirable effects, including gastrointestinal problems.

The health benefits of garlic likely arise from a wide variety of components, possibly working synergistically. The complex chemistry of garlic makes it plausible that variations in processing can yield quite different preparations. Highly unstable thiosulfinates, such as allicin, disappear during processing and are quickly transformed into a variety of organosulfur components. The efficacy and safety of these preparations in preparing dietary supplements based on garlic are also contingent on the processing methods employed. Although there are many garlic supplements commercially available, they fall into one of four categories, i.e., dehydrated garlic powder, garlic oil, garlic oil macerate and aged garlic extract (AGE). Garlic and garlic supplements are consumed in many cultures for their hypolipidemic, antiplatelet and procirculatory effects. In addition to these proclaimed beneficial effects, some garlic preparations also appear to possess hepatoprotective, immune-enhancing, anticancer and chemopreventive activities. Some preparations appear to be antioxidative, whereas others may stimulate oxidation. These additional biological effects attributed to AGE may be due to compounds, such as S-allylcysteine, S-allylmercaptocysteine, N(alpha)-fructosyl arginine and others, formed during the extraction process. Although not all of the active ingredients are known, ample research suggests that several bioavailable components likely contribute to the observed beneficial effects of garlic.

Using various kinds of models, we examined the effects of aged garlic extract (AGE) on immune functions. In the immunoglobulin (Ig)E-mediated allergic mouse model, AGE significantly decreased the antigen-specific ear swelling induced by picryl chloride ointment to the ear and intravenous administration of antitrinitrophenyl antibody. In the transplanted carcinoma cell model, AGE significantly inhibited the growth of Sarcoma-180 (allogenic) and LL/2 lung carcinoma (syngenic) cells transplanted into mice. Concomitantly, increases in natural killer (NK) and killer activities of spleen cells were observed in Sarcoma-180--bearing mice administered AGE. In the psychological stress model, AGE significantly prevented the decrease in spleen weight and restored the reduction of anti-SRBC hemolytic plaque-forming cells caused by the electrical stress. These studies strongly suggest that AGE could be a promising candidate as an immune modifier, which maintains the homeostasis of immune functions; further studies are warranted to determine when it is most beneficial.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation is associated with a subtype of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). We identified two homoplasmic mtDNA mutations at the positions of 3394 (T-C) and 3423 (G-T) in a NIDDM patient with clinical features of mitochondrial encephalopathy. The mtDNA 3394T-C mutation changed a conserved tyrosine to a histidine in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1. The frequency of mtDNA 3994 T-C mutation was determined with Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in general NIDDM patients and nondiabetic control subjects. The mutation was seen in 4.9% of NIDDM patients and 1.3% of nondiabetic controls. It is indicated that the mtDNA 3394 T-C mutation is associated with NIDDM in Japan.

The effects were examined of biosynthetic human epidermal growth factor (Bh-EGF) produced from cloned E. coli on DNA synthesis and all divisions of 13 different kinds of primary and established cell lines. Primary cultures of mammary epithelia, hepatocytes and stomach cells were strongly stimulated by EGF to undergo DNA synthesis in serum-free culture medium with concentrations of Bh-EGF as low as 0.1-10 ng/ml. In sharp contrast, 0.1-100 ng/ml of Bh-EGF failed to enhance thymidine incorporation into DNA when applied to established cell lines using the serum-free medium. Higher concentrations of Bh-EGF (30-100 ng/ml) promoted morphological changes only in hepatocytes, e.g., elongation, enlargement and projection of their cytoplasm. The above results were also obtained in mouse EGF (m-EGF). In our binding assay, Bh-EGF competed against [125I]-m-EGF with a one-fourth to one-fifth efficacy when compared with m-EGF. It was concluded that the in vitro biological activity of Bh-EGF was similar to that of m-EGF.