Mitochondrial haplogroups associated with Japanese centenarians,Alzheimer＇s patients,Parkinson＇s patients,type 2 diabetic patients and healthy non-obese young males

The relationships between five classes of Japanese people （i.e., 96 centenarians, 96 Alzheimer＇s disease （AD） patients, 96 Parkinson＇s disease （PD） patients, 96 type 2 diabetic （T2D） patients, and 96 healthy non-obese young males） and their mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphism （mtSNP） frequencies at individual mtDNA positions of the entire mitochondrial genome were examined using the radial basis function （RBF） network and the modified method. New findings of mitochondrial haplogroups were obtained for individual classes. The five classes of people were associated with the following haplogroups： Japanese centenarians-M7b2, D4b2a, and B5b; Japanese AD patients-G2a, B4cl, and N9b1; Japanese PD patients-M7b2, B4e, and B5b; Japanese T2D patients-B5b, M8al, G, D4, and F1; and Japanese healthy non-obese young males-D4g and D4b1b. From the points of common haplogroups among the five classes, the cente- narians have the common haplogroups M7b2 and B5b with the PD patients and common haplogroup B5b with the T2D patients. In addition, the 112 Japanese semi-supercentenarians （over 105 years old） recently reported were also examined by the method proposed. The results obtained were the haplogroups D4a, B4c1a, M7b2, F1, M1, and B5b. These results are different from the previously reported haplogroup classifications. As the proposed analysis method can predict a person＇s mtSNP constitution and the probabilities of becoming a centenarian, AD patient, PD patient, or T2D patient, it may be useful in initial diagnosis of various diseases.     

DRGs, costs, and outcome for plastic surgical patients

The purpose of this study was to analyze hospital cost, resource utilization, and outcome by age for a large group of hospitalized plastic surgical patients using the DRG format. Hospital cost per patient for all plastic surgical admissions (both inpatient and potentially ambulatory patients) treated (N = 1632) at an academic medical center increased with age and peaked for plastic surgical patients 75 to 80 years of age ($11,585 per patient). Although DRG payment would have produced an aggregate profit of $2,404,854, older plastic surgical patients (65 years of age and above) generally produced losses. Older plastic surgical patients demonstrated a longer hospital length of stay, a greater severity of illness, a higher percent of outliers, and a greater mortality than younger plastic surgical patients. In addition, older plastic surgical patients had higher clinical resource utilization based on a number of clinical parameters such as emergency admission, SICU utilization, need for blood transfusions, and need for plasma product infusions. This study suggests that the current DRG reimbursement methodology may be inequitable vis-à-vis the older plastic surgical patient. As additional pressures encourage the performance of more ambulatory procedures (previously performed as inpatients), our profit margins may decline and possibly affect our ability to provide quality plastic surgical care.     

Volatile organic metabolites identify patients with gastric carcinoma,gastric ulcer,or gastritis and control patients

Background

Gastric cancer ranks 4th among the most common cancers worldwide, and the mortality caused by gastric cancer is 2nd only to lung cancer. Gastric cancer shows a lack of specific symptoms in its early stages. In addition, its clinical symptoms often do not match the corresponding stage. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of gastric cancer because of its high accuracy. However, this operation is invasive, patient compliance is poor, and high demands for medical staff and equipment are typical of this procedure. Recent studies have demonstrated a connection between specific breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and various forms of cancers.

Methods

We collected expired air from patients with gastric cancer, chronic atrophic gastritis or gastric ulcers as well as from healthy individuals. Solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and principal component analysis statistics were applied to identify potential biomarkers of gastric cancer among VOCs.

Results

Fourteen differential metabolites were annotated using the NIST 11 database, with a similarity threshold of 70%. Currently, the metabolic origin of VOCs remains unclear; however, several pathways might explain the decreasing or increasing trends that were observed.

Conclusions

The results of this study demonstrate the existence of specific VOC profiles associated with patients with carcinoma. In addition, these metabolites may contribute to the diagnosis and screening of patients with carcinoma.

     

Arsenic,selenium, and zinc in patients with blackfoot disease

Blackfoot disease is a peripheral vascular disease resulting in gangrene of the lower extremities. Extensive epidemiological study implicates that high arsenic content in artesian well water is the responsible causal factor of the disease. In the present study the concentrations of arsenic, selenium, and zinc in the body fluids and hair of patients with Blackfoot disease, in comparison to age- and sex-matched normal controls, are investigated. Two analytical techniques that include atomic absorption spectrometry and neutron activation analysis were used for the analysis of urine, serum, hair, and whole blood. The analytical results indicate that hair arsenic of the patients is significantly higher than that of the controls, but still below the critical value of 1 μg/g. In addition, the patients showed significantly lower concentrations of Se and Zn in the urine and blood than the normal controls. The possible connection of these elements with the etiology of the disease is discussed.     

Cytokines correlate with age in healthy volunteers, dialysis patients and kidney-transplant patients

T-cell functions are currently used as biomarkers for the pharmacodynamic monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs or as disease biomarkers of inflammation/sepsis and organ rejection. In order to evaluate co-factors potentially influencing the expression of the immunological biomarkers, we explored T-cell proliferation, T-cell activation (CD25 and CD71 expressions) and intra-lymphocyte cytokine production (interleukin (IL)-2 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α) in healthy volunteers, dialysis patients and stable kidney-transplant patients treated with standard immunosuppressive therapy, i.e. tacrolimus, mycophenolic acid with or without steroids. Age was positively correlated with TNF-α expression in all three patient populations, and with IL-2 expression in healthy volunteers and kidney-transplant patients. Further age was correlated with inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation in healthy volunteers and with the T-cell activation marker CD25 in kidney-transplant patients. In healthy volunteers lymphocyte proliferation was higher in woman as compared to men. Other biomarkers of T-cell function were independent of the gender. In the kidney-transplant patient group a significantly lower expression of all biomarkers of T-cell functions compared to healthy volunteers and dialysis patients. In dialysis patients we found significant increased IL-2 expression compared to healthy volunteers, while the other T-cell functions were not significantly different. Further time on dialysis had no effect on the level of biomarker expression. In conclusion we found decreased T-cell functions in kidney-transplant patients compared to healthy volunteers and dialysis patients, increased IL-2 expression in dialysis patients compared to healthy volunteers and in all three populations we found a correlation of age and intra-T-lymphocyte TNF-α expression.     

Plasma ubiquinone to ubiquinol ratio in patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatoma, and in patients treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary reperfusion.

To assess the degree of oxidative stress, we measured plasma ubiquinone-10 percentage (%CoQ-10) in total amounts of ubiquinone-10 in patients with chronic active hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and in age-matched control subjects, %CoQ-10 values were 12.9 +/- 10.3 (n = 28), 10.6 +/- 6.8 (n = 28), 18.9 +/- 11.1 (n = 20), and 6.4 +/- 3.3 (n = 16), respectively, showing a significant increase in oxidative stress in patient groups as compared to control subjects. There were no differences in total amounts of ubiquinone-10 and ubiquinol-10 among the four groups. We next measured %CoQ-10 in plasmas obtained from nine patients treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Plasmas were collected when hospitalized, and at the time (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 hr, and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 days) after the PTCA. %CoQ-10 values before and right after PTCA were 9.9 +/- 2.8 and 11.4 +/- 2.0, respectively, reached a maximum (20-45) at 1 or 2 days later, and decreased to 7.9 +/- 2.7 at 7 days after PTCA, indicating an increase in oxidative stress in patients during coronary reperfusion.     

Plasma manganese, selenium, zinc, copper, and iron concentrations in patients with schizophrenia

A number of essential trace elements play a major role in various metabolic pathways. Selenium (Se), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) are essential trace elements that have been studied in many diseases, including autoimmune, neurological, and psychiatric disorders. However, the findings of previous research on the status of trace elements in patients with schizophrenia have been controversial. We studied these elements in patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and compared them with sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Plasma Cu concentrations were significantly higher (p<0.01) and Mn and Fe concentrations were lower (p<0.05 and p<0.05, respectively) in schizophrenic patients than in controls. Se and Zn concentrations and protein levels did not differ between patients and healthy controls. These observations suggest that alterations in essential trace elements Mn, Cu, and Fe may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. However, findings from trace element levels in schizophrenia show a variety of results that are difficult to interpret.     

Molecular, cytogenetic, and clinical investigations of Prader-Willi syndrome patients.

Thirty-seven patients presenting features of the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have been examined using cytogenetic and molecular techniques. Clinical evaluation showed that 29 of these patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria for PWS. A deletion of the 15q11.2-q12 region could be identified molecularly in 21 of these cases, including several cases where the cytogenetics results were inconclusive. One clinically typical patient is deleted at only two of five loci normally included in a PWS deletion. A patient carrying a de novo 13;X translocation was not deleted for the molecular markers tested but was clinically considered to be "atypical" PWS. In addition, five cases of maternal heterodisomy and two of isodisomy for 15q11-q13 were observed. All of the eight patients who did not fulfill clinical diagnosis of PWS showed normal maternal and paternal inheritance of chromosome 15 markers; however, one of these carried a ring-15 chromosome. A comparison of clinical features between deletion patients and disomy patients shows no significant differences between the two groups. The parental ages at birth of disomic patients were significantly higher than those for deletion patients. As all typical PWS cases showed either a deletion or disomy of 15q11.2-q12, molecular examination should provide a reliable diagnostic tool. As the disomy patients do not show either any additional or more severe features than typical deletion patients do, it is likely that there is only one imprinted region on chromosome 15 (within 15q11.2-q12).