A Pilot Study of Allostatic Load among Elderly Japanese Living on Hizen-Oshima Island

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Between July and September 2005, a preliminary sampling of the elderly population of Hizen-Oshima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan was conducted by the local hospital's nursing staff. RESULTS: Reported here are preliminary results from this sample of 27 individuals with an average age of 71 years. Their ages ranged from 51 to 82 years, with a standard deviation (sd) of 7.4 years. In total, 33 aspects of physical and physiological variation were assessed on these 15 women and 12 men. As expected from previous studies of Japanese elders, our sample shows slightly elevated average blood pressure (142/81 mmHg, sd 16/10), but they are relatively lean (waist/hip = .9: sd 0.06) when compared to European or American standards. However, their average total cholesterol (TC = 210 mg/dl, sd = 42.8) is high compared to standards, as is their high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc = 55.4 mg/dl, sd = 15.1). Means, standard deviations (sd), ranges, and upper bounds for quartile cut-points for all 10 variables used in the calculation of allostatic load (AL) were assessed. The overall average estimate for AL in this sample is 3.1 (sd = 1.58) and ranges from 1-7. CONCLUSION: AL shows variability across men and women, has little correlation with age, and is associated with physiological variation in blood glucose, dopamine, and uric acid.     

Incubation of OKP cells in low-K+ media increases NHE3 activity after early decrease in intracellular pH

Chronichypokalemia increases the activity of proximal tubule apical membraneNa⁺/H⁺antiporter NHE3. The present study examined the effect ofthe incubation of OKP cells (an opossum kidney, clone P cell line) incontrol medium {K⁺ concn([K⁺]) = 5.4 mM} or low-K⁺ medium([K⁺] = 2.7 mM) onNHE3. The activity of an ethylisopropyl amiloride-resistant Na⁺/H⁺antiporter, whose characteristics were consistent with those ofNHE3, was increased inlow-K⁺ cells beginning at 8 h.NHE3 mRNA and NHE3 protein abundance were increased 2.2-fold and 62%,respectively, at 24 h but not at 8 h. After incubation inlow-K⁺ medium, intracellular pH(pH_i) decreased by 0.27 pH units(maximum at 27 min) and then recovered to the control level.Intracellular acidosis induced by 5 mM sodium propionate increasedNa⁺/H⁺antiporter activity at 8 and 24 h. Herbimycin A, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, blocked low-K⁺- andsodium propionate-induced activation of theNa⁺/H⁺antiporter at 8 and 24 h. Our results demonstrate thatlow-K⁺ medium causes an earlydecrease in pH_i, which leads to anincrease in NHE3 activity via a tyrosine kinase pathway.     

Introduction of Foreign Genes into Tomato Protoplasts by Electroporation

The conditions required for the electroporation of a plasmidwhich harbored the gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase(CAT) into protoplasts from cultivated tomato leaves were optimizedat 666 or 7,000 V/cm (single discharge) using a 47-µFcapacitor in the presence of 10-100 µg DNA. The CAT genewas strongly expressed by when under the control of the promoterfor the 35S RNA from cauliflower mosaic virus and CAT activitywas detected in cells 10 days after electroporation. (Received July 28, 1988; Accepted March 23, 1989)