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Objectives: Several studies on lactobacilli have demonstrated they are effective against atopic dermatitis (AD) in children, but there are very few reports of their effects in adults. We investigated the changes in AD symptoms in adults after the ingestion of the Lactobacillus acidophilus strain L-92 (L-92), which has been shown to have a curative effect on AD in children. Methods: A double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled comparison was performed on 49 AD patients aged ≥16 years using heat-killed L-92. Skin lesions were assessed using the SCORing AD (SCORAD) index before the start of L-92 ingestion and 4 and 8 weeks after ingestion. Serum cytokine and blood marker levels were measured 8 weeks after the start of L-92 ingestion. Results: The group that ingested L-92 had lower SCORAD scores than the controls (p = 0.002). The L-92 group also had decreased ratios of change for eosinophil count (p = 0.03) and increased ratios of change for serum TGF-β (p = 0.03). Ratios of change for serum TGF-β rose significantly (p = 0.04) in patients showing mitigated symptoms with L-92 administration. Conclusions: Administration of heat-killed L-92 was effective for AD symptoms in adults. L-92 may contribute to the suppression of Th2-dominant inflammation. Our preliminary trial is the first to report the effects of L-92 on adult AD.

Synthetic c-Ha-ras genes with an analogue of an abasic site in the first or the second position of codon 12, or in the second position of codon 61 were constructed and transfected into NIH3T3 cells. The genes with the lesions in codon 12 exhibited more focus formation than a normal c-Ha-ras gene, while the gene with the lesion in codon 61 did not. Transformed cells were isolated from the foci, and the c-Ha-ras genes present in the transformants were analysed. A point mutation to A in the modified position was found most frequently in the cases of ras genes modified in codon 12. Surprisingly, point mutations in the adjacent position were also detected. These results indicate that dTMP, and not dAMP, was mainly incorporated into the sites opposite to the abasic site analogue, and that incorrect deoxynucleotides were incorporated in the position adjacent to the abasic site analogue.

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ras proto-oncogenes with a cyclobutane-type thymine photodimer (cis-syn or trans-syn isomer) were constructed by replacement of a portion of the gene with a chemically synthesized fragment. When the genes were transfected by the calcium phosphate method into mouse NIH3T3 cells, they induced focus-formation, indicating that both photoproducts were mutagenic in mammalian cells. Sequence analysis of the ras gene fragments derived from the transformed cells showed that the genes were activated by a point mutation. The mutations detected most frequently were 3'-T-->A for the cis-syn isomer and 5'-T-->A for the trans-syn isomer. In contrast, a different trend of mutations was observed when a primer on a DNA template with a cis-syn dimer was extended in vitro by either DNA polymerase beta or alpha.