No abstract

Febuxostat reduced serum UA levels more effectively than conventional therapy and might have a renoprotective effect in hyperuricemic patients with CKD. Further studies should clarify whether febuxostat prevents the progression of renal disease and improves the prognosis of CKD.

Background: eating by oneself may be a risk factor for mental illness among older adults, but may be influenced by cohabitation status. We examined the association between eating alone and depression in the context of cohabitation status in older adults in Japan.Design: a longitudinal, population-based study.Setting: data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study.Subjects: we analysed 17,612 men and 19,581 women aged ≥65 without depression (Geriatric Depression Scale <5) at baseline in 2010.Methods: eating status was classified into two categories: eating with others and eating alone. The risk of depression onset by 2013 was estimated using Poisson regression.Results: after adjusting for socioeconomic status, physical health, nutritional status, social support, social participation, frequency of meet friends, employment status and marital status, the adjusted rate ratio (ARR) for depression onset in men who ate alone compared with those who ate with others was 2.36 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.18–4.71) for those living alone and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.81–1.32) for those living with others. Among women, the ARR for depression for those who ate alone compared with those who ate with others was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.00–1.72) for those living alone and 1.21 (95% CI: 1.01–1.44) for those living with others.Conclusions: eating alone may be a risk factor for depression. Among men, the effect of eating alone on depression may be reinforced by living alone, but appears to be broadly comparable in women living alone and women living with others.

The MLL (ALL-1, HRX) gene is frequently involved in chromosomal translocations in acute leukemia and has homology with Drosophila trithorax, which controls homeobox gene expression and embryogenesis. To elucidate the function of Mll, we generated mice with a mutated Mll locus. Mice with a homozygous mutation were embryonic lethal and died at embryonic day 11.5 to 14.5, showing edematous bodies and petechiae. Histological examination revealed that hematopoietic cells were decreased in the liver of homozygous embryos, although they were composed of erythroid, myeloid, monocytic, and megakaryocytic cells with normal differentiation. Colony-forming assays using cells from fetal livers and yolk sacs showed that the number of colonies was markedly reduced and many of the colonies delayed to be recognized in Mllmu/mu embryos, although some of the colonies from Mllmu/mu embryos developed similarly with that from Mll+/+ and Mll+/mu embryos, suggesting the delayed onset of the proliferation of hematopoitic precursors. These data show that the hematopoietic precursors were greatly reduced in mutant mice, and suggest that Mll functions as a regulator of the growth of hematopoietic precursors.