Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum oxytocin (OT) and logical memory among older people in rural Japan. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using a survey conducted from October 2009 through March 2011. Most of the study was conducted as part of a national prevalence survey of dementia in Japan. The final sample comprised 385 community-dwelling people aged 65 years or older living in rural Japan. The mean age and standard deviation were 75.7 ± 6.76 years (144 men, mean age 75.0 ± 6.48 years; 241 women, mean age 76.2 ± 6.91 years). The participants underwent screening examinations for a prevalence survey of dementia. The screening examinations were the Mini-Mental State Examination, Clinical Dementia Rating, and “logical memory A” from the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised (WMSR). We used the WMSR Logical Memory II delayed recall score (LM II-DR) to assess logical memory. Levels of serum OT were obtained using the enzyme immunoassay method. Results: Serum OT levels were significantly higher among women than men. The present study revealed that serum OT levels were positively associated with LM II-DR in older women living in rural Japan in multiple linear regression analyses. Conclusions: The present results suggested a positive correlation between OT and logical memory in older women living in rural Japan.
BackgroundMicroglia are resident innate immune cells which release many factors including proinflammatory cytokines or nitric oxide (NO) when they are activated in response to immunological stimuli. Pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is related to the inflammatory responses mediated by microglia. Intracellular Ca2+ signaling is important for microglial functions such as release of NO and cytokines. In addition, alteration of intracellular Ca2+ signaling underlies the pathophysiology of AD, while it remains unclear how donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, affects intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in microglial cells.MethodsWe examined whether pretreatment with donepezil affects the intracellular Ca2+ mobilization using fura-2 imaging and tested the effects of donepezil on phagocytic activity by phagocytosis assay in rodent microglial cells.ResultsIn this study, we observed that pretreatment with donepezil suppressed the TNFα-induced sustained intracellular Ca2+ elevation in both rat HAPI and mouse primary microglial cells. On the other hand, pretreatment with donepezil did not suppress the mRNA expression of both TNFR1 and TNFR2 in rodent microglia we used. Pretreatment with acetylcholine but not donepezil suppressed the TNFα-induced intracellular Ca2+ elevation through the nicotinic α7 receptors. In addition, sigma 1 receptors were not involved in the donepezil-induced suppression of the TNFα-mediated intracellular Ca2+ elevation. Pretreatment with donepezil suppressed the TNFα-induced intracellular Ca2+ elevation through the PI3K pathway in rodent microglial cells. Using DAF-2 imaging, we also found that pretreatment with donepezil suppressed the production of NO induced by TNFα treatment and the PI3K pathway could be important for the donepezil-induced suppression of NO production in rodent microglial cells. Finally, phagocytosis assay showed that pretreatment with donepezil promoted phagocytic activity of rodent microglial cells through the PI3K but not MAPK/ERK pathway.ConclusionsThese suggest that donepezil could directly modulate the microglial function through the PI3K pathway in the rodent brain, which might be important to understand the effect of donepezil in the brain.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12974-017-1033-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
We report on sibs and their mother, all with del(18p). The propositus, an 11-month-old, had developmental delay, round face, hypertelorism, large ears, broad nasal bridge, upturned nostrils, micrognathia, a high palate, redundant skin around the neck, micropenis, and cryptorchidism. The elder sister, a two and 7/12-year-old, had round face, hypertelorism, broad nasal bridge, narrow and high palate, redundant skin around the neck, short fingers, and hypoplastic genitalia. Their mother had microcephaly, hypertelorism, prominent columella, broad nasal bridge, wide mouth, high palate, malaligned teeth, and clinodactyly of the fifth fingers. Serial photographs of the mother showed that the characteristic round face in infancy changed to long face with age. The present report suggests that the mother with del(18p) may be fertile, and proper genetic counseling and long follow-up is necessary for the patient with del(18p) syndrome.
A 4-year-old girl with systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis had Bartonella infection diagnosed serologically. This case suggested that Bartonella (most probably Bartonella henselae) infection may in part be responsible for the development of systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
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