In recent years, oxidative stress has been postulated to be an important factor in the pathogenesis and development of lifestyle-related diseases. In this study, we investigated the association between the derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs), as an index of products of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and biological antioxidant potential (BAP), as an index of antioxidant potential. We also investigated the associations between d-ROMs or BAP and the risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases or metabolic syndrome-associated factors to evaluate their usefulness in preventive medicine. There were 442 subjects who underwent health checkup examination in our facilities. In addition to standard medical checkup items, we analyzed d-ROMs, BAP, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level and visceral fat area (VFA) visualized on a computed tomography scan. The mean d-ROM value in females was significantly higher than that in males. There was a positive correlation between the d-ROM and VFA levels. On correlation analysis, there was a negative correlation between the d-ROM and creatinine levels. As factors that influence d-ROMs, the level of VFA was selected, suggesting the significance of oxidative stress measurement with d-ROMs. In addition, there was a positive correlation between d-ROMs and BAP values. Further research is required to resolve whether increased production of ROS or the antioxidant potential that can compensate for such an increase of ROS is more important in vivo. INTRODUCTIONOxidative stress may be involved in various disorders and pathogeneses, especially in lifestyle-related diseases, and it causes the progression and acceleration of atherosclerosis. 1-3 Biomarkers of oxidative stress, such as serum malondialdehyde level measured as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, oxidation injury of DNA, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine and urinary excretion of 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2a, are generally measured in laboratories. [4][5][6][7] On the other hand, as indices of antioxidant potential, intracellular levels of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase have mainly been measured. [8][9] However, these assay methods are complex and are not suitable for analysis of a large number of subjects. Recently, simpler methods for detecting reactive oxygen species (ROS) using derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) were developed, and reports on studies using these methods have been increasing. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Thus, in the present study, we measured d-ROMS and BAP as indices for the production of ROS and antioxidant potential, respectively.

We have established an immortalized cholangiocyte cell line, MMNK-1, using SV40T and hTERT transduction.

These results demonstrate the advantage of our prognostic score compared to subclasses in predicting the renal outcome of class IV patients [University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) clinical trials registry, number UMIN 000001943].

TWNT-1 cells could be valuable in the study of integrated liver functions and contribute to the optimization of liver cell therapies and bioartificial livers.

Development of liver-targeted cell therapies, such as hepatocyte transplantation and bioartificial livers, requires a large amount of functional hepatocytes as needed. To achieve this development, establishing an excellent cryopreservation method of hepatocytes is an extremely important issue. Therefore, we performed a comparative review of cryoprotective effects of various cryopreservation solutions using primarily isolated porcine hepatocytes. Porcine hepatocytes were isolated with a four-step dispase and collagenase perfusion method. The obtained hepatocytes with the initial viabilities of 76%, 84%, and 96% were assigned to the following four groups for cryopreservation at −80°C: Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) + 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) + 12% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (group A), University of Wisconsin (UW) solution + 12% DMSO (group B), Cell Banker 1 (group C), and Cell Banker 2 (group D). The hepatocytes in each group were thawed at 3 days, 10 days, and 5 months of cryopreservation and subjected to comparative analyses, including viability, plating efficiency, LDH release, ammonia removal test, and lentiviral gene transfer. These parameters were the most favorable in the hepatocytes cryopreserved with UW solution. Approximately 5% of thawed cryopreserved porcine hepatocytes expressed LacZ activity after lentiviral transduction. Intrasplenic transplantation of UW solution-cryopreserved hepatocytes improved the survival of rats treated with D-galactosamine. UW solution maintained the functions of cryopreserved porcine hepatocytes.