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Major depression （MD） is the most prevalent mood disorder worldwide. Electroconvulsive treatment （ECT） is a highly effective treatment in psychiatry and shows efficacy in patients who were resistant to pharmacotherapy. Recent retrospective cohort studies have shown that ECT is highly effective in ameliorating depressive symptoms. Similar ECT efficacy has been established also in various rodent models of MD. To establish further efficacy of ECT in rodent depression models, we investigated the effect of ECT on depressive-like behaviour induced by lipopolysaccharide （LPS） in rats. Methods: Adult male Sprague-Dawley （SD） rats were randomly divided into four groups, namely, control, LPS, sham ECT, and LPS + ECT. The SD rats received intraperitoneal injection of LPS or sterile saline, followed by ECT or sham treatment for 7 consecutive days. Subsequently, the forced swimming test （FST） and Y-maze test were performed. Results: The FST showed that the immobility time in the LPS group （169.73 ± 15.46 s） was significantly longer than that in the control group （63.16 ± 4.48 s）. However, ECT administration to LPS-injected rats significantly shortened the prolonged immobility. The Y-maze test showed a significant decrease in % spontaneous alternation behaviour （SAB） in the LPS group compared to the control group. ECT administration to LPS-injected rats significantly restored such a decrease in % SAB. Conclusions: Our results suggest that repeated ECT ameliorated LPS-induced depressive-like behaviour in SD rats. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the molecular mechanism of such therapeutic effects of ECT.

Type I collagen, which consists of two α1 and one α2 chains, is an abundant extracellular matrix ( ECM ) protein. Changes in type I collagen are often associated with various diseases including fibrosis, osteogenesis imperfecta ( OI ), and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome ( EDS ). In the present study, we developed a method for quantification of type I collagen α1 ( COL1A1 ) in a culture medium of LX-2 human hepatic stellate cells by using nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry ( nano-LC/MS/MS ). After selecting a specific peptide of COL1A1, unlabeled and stable isotope-labeled peptides were used for quantitative analysis of COL1A1 by nano-LC/MS/MS. The concentration of secreted COL1A1 in the LX-2 cell culture medium was 38.78 ng/mL. The results indicate that this method is useful for quantifying COL1A1 in a cell culture medium.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disorder that is characterized by articular cartilage destruction. The level of tenascin-C (TNC), an extracellular matrix protein, is increased in synovial fluid (SF) from OA patients, and TNC concentration in SF correlates with the severity of OA in the knee. Tenascin-X (TNX), another member of the tenascin family, has been identified as a causative protein of classical-like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (clEDS). In this study, we investigated the correlation between TNX concentration and the degree of cartilage denaturation in OA patients. TNX concentrations in SF from patients with meniscus tears and from OA patients were lower than those of control sera. However, significant difference in TNX concentration in SF was not observed between patients with meniscus tears and OA patients. Furthermore, a significant correlation was not found between TNX concentration in SF and severity of OA in the knees of patients. These results suggest that TNX might not be as useful as TNC as a biomarker.

A caffeine overdose is most likely to result from the consumption of nutritional supplements or caffeine pills. Herein, we describe two fatal cases of caffeine intoxication. Case 1: A Japanese man in his 30s was found dead, with two bottles of water and unopened tablets for motion sickness near his body. Caffeine concentrations were 99.6 μg / mL in the cardiac blood and 169.1 μg / mL in stomach contents. Case 2: A Japanese man in his 40s was found dead, with an empty bottle of caffeine and six empty boxes of Travelmin ( a motion sickness medication ) in a trash can. Caffeine concentrations were 79.6 μg / mL in the cardiac blood and 876 μg / mL in the stomach contents. Fatal caffeine poisoning is comparatively uncommon, but it has recently been increasing due to the easy availability. For the prevention of caffeine overdoses, there should be heightened public awareness of the potential dangers of a caffeine overdose.

Background: We have found the association of single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） rs6180 in the growth hormone receptor （GHR） gene with plural tissue weight. On the other hand, the DNase I gene（ DNASE1） is considered to be one of the susceptibility genes for liver disease, gastric and colorectal carcinoma, and myocardial infarction, based on the polymorphic study of rs1053874. Therefore, we investigated the association of rs1053874 in DNASE1 with plural tissue weight in the present study. Materials and methods: Blood samples （n = 198; 99 female and 99 male） were collected from Japanese subjects autopsied in Shimane Prefecture, and genomic DNA was extracted. SNP （rs1053874, A > G substitution） was analyzed using a polymerase chain reaction, followed by a mismatched-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Results: Except for the pancreatic weight and appendix, all parameters were significantly related to gender. All parameters were significantly related to age except for the left and right renal weight. In the present study, we focused on analyzing the potential effect of a variation in DNASE1 and investigated the effect of SNP rs1053874 on human organ weight using autopsied samples. Conclusions: In the present study, the rs1053874 polymorphism does not contribute to organ weight, cardiac hypertrophy index, or body surface areas, and these associations were not observed in Japanese subjects. This study is the first to investigate the association of SNP rs1053874 （A > G substitution） in DNASE1 and data routinely measured at autopsy, such as organ weight.