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Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is differentially expressed in normal and pathological tissues and regulates immune cell homeostasis. Restraint stress increases serum Gal-1 in rats. However, the function of stress-induced Gal-1 in serum is unknown. We determined if stress-induced Gal-1 in serum accumulates in immunocompetent organs as protection from physiological and/or psychological stress. Western blotting showed that the intensity of Gal-1 bands in stressed groups was significantly higher than that in controls. RT–PCR analysis indicated that the Gal-1 mRNA level did not increase after restraint stress. The numbers of Gal-1 immunoreactive cells in the splenic periarterial lymphatic sheath (PLS) and the thymus medulla of the stressed group were increased compared with those in controls. Furthermore, stress-induced Gal-1 immunoreactive cells corresponded to CD45 immunoreactive lymphocytes (CD45+) in the PLS of the spleen and the medulla of the thymus. Thus, stress-induced Gal-1 immediately accumulates in the spleen and thymus, and may modulate the immune response through apoptosis by binding to CD45+ lymphocytes in immune organs following physiological and/or psychological stress.

The involvement of chewing in brain activity in humans has been studied. In our studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral techniques, chewing resulted in a bilateral increase in blood oxygenation leveldependent (BOLD) signals in the sensorimotor cortex, supplementary motor area, insula, thalamus, and cerebellum. In addition, in the first three regions, chewing moderately hard gum produced stronger signals than chewing hard gum. However, in the aged group, the BOLD signal increases were smaller in the first three regions and higher in the cerebellum. Only the aged subjects showed significant increases in various association areas to which input activities in the primary sensorimotor cortex, supplementary area, or insula had positive path coefficients. Furthermore, chewing ameliorates the age-related decrease in hippocampal activities during encoding and that in retrieval memory. The findings suggest the involvement of chewing in memory processes.

The objective of our study was to develop a new fatigue scale for the assessment of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as well as people who feel they are chronically fatigued but do not meet the diagnostic criteria for CFS. A new fatigue scale was developed by one psychiatrist and two physicians who specialize in CFS. This scale consists of various psychosomatic symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, and diagnostic criteria for CFS. It was completed by 325 patients with CFS, 311 fatigue patients who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for CFS, 92 healthy workers, and 80 university students. The Chalder fatigue scale, the profile of mood states (POMS), the performance status (PS), which is included in the Japanese diagnostic criteria for CFS, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) for fatigue were also assessed with the agreement of patients who consulted our center from December 2004 to April 2006. Seventy-two university students also completed the questionnaire, including this new scale, the Chalder fatigue scale, and other lifestyle factors, and we reconfirmed the effectiveness of the new scale among fatigue patients with and without CFS and normal controls. There was a high degree of internal consistency in the results, and principal components analysis supported the notion of an 8-factor solution (42 items covering fatigue, anxiety and depression, loss of attention and memory, pain, overwork, autonomic imbalance, sleep problems, and infection). Only “anxiety and depression,” “pain,” and “infection” factors were able to distinguish CFS from not CFS. The sensitivity and specificity of CFS were 67.7 and 64.4, respectively, using a cut-off score of 25 points for this subscore. We concluded that the new fatigue scale used in this study was useful for differentiating CFS patients from not CFS patients and fatigued people from a healthy sample.