Genotyping of these polymorphisms may prove informative for assessment of the genetic risk of CAD in low- or high-risk men or women.

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Aim: Diabetic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is prone to be aggressive and recent reports have demonstrated that p53 accumulation may be responsible for impaired wound healing in diabetes. Statins has been demonstrated to facilitate p53 degradation by activating its specific ubiquitin ligase, MDM2. The aim of this study was to determine whether atorvastatin (ATR) improves the outcome of diabetic PAD through MDM2-mediated reduction of p53. Methods: Male KK/Ay mice (9 weeks old) were treated with ATR (2 mg/kg/day p.o.) or vehicle for 2 weeks and subjected to ischemic hindlimb operation to generate a diabetic PAD model. Incidences of amputation and changes of p53/MDM2 signaling in each ischemic limb were assessed 2 weeks after the operation (at 13 weeks of age). Effects of ATR on the insulin resistance of age-matched (13-weekold) and unoperated KK/Ay mice were assessed by the glucose tolerance test, circulating adiponectin concentration, and changes in insulin signaling (IRS-1/Akt phosphorylation). Results: In intact KK/Ay, ATR treatment mitigated insulin resistance without affecting cholesterol levels. All diabetic PAD models exhibited autoamputation (100%); however, ATR treatment partially restored the limb loss (41.7%). The p53 expression level in the ischemic limb of ATR-treated KK/Ay was significantly decreased and MDM2 phosphorylation level was markedly increased in tandem with the activation of Akt. Hypoxia mimetic iron chelator deferroxamine promoted p53 accumulation in H9c2 myoblast cells by suppressing the Akt/MDM2 pathway, which was restored by ATR. Conclusions: ATR was found to restore ischemic limb loss in diabetes by augmenting p53 degradation through direct activation of the Akt/MDM2 pathway in skeletal muscle.

SUMMARY:The age-group-specific incidence and etiological patterns of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) have not been fully established in Japan. A 2-year prospective surveillance was conducted in Kochi city, Western Japan. All CAP patients aged AE15 years who visited a community-based hospital were enrolled in the study. Clinical samples were examined by conventional bacterial culture and urinary antigen tests, and 6 bacterial pathogens and 16 respiratory viruses were identified from sputum samples by multiplex polymerase chain reaction assays. The age-group-specific incidence of CAP was estimated using a population-based data set of the total number of outpatients in the whole city.

Summary Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) and FGF21 are members of a subfamily of the FGFs called endocrine FGFs. FGF19 regulates the bile acid synthetic pathway. FGF19 expression is induced by farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear hormone receptor activated by bile acids in the small intestine. FGF21 plays an important role in lipolysis that occurs in white adipose tissue. FGF21 expression is stimulated by the nuclear fatty acid receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor a (PPARa) in the liver. FGF19 and FGF21 were recently identified as targets of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), which is activated in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. ATF4 is also activated by oxidative stress and amino acid deprivation. In this study, we investigated FGF19 and FGF21 expression in response to oxidative stress and amino acid deprivation. We found that FGF19 mRNA is induced by oxidative stress inducers in Caco-2 cells, which are derived from the human intestinal epithelium, and rat intestinal epithelial IEC6 cells. In contrast, ileal FGF15 expression, the rodent ortholog of human FGF19, is not increased by oxidative stress. No notable changes in expression of FGF15/19 took place under amino acid deprivation either in vitro or in vivo. In contrast, FGF21 expression is induced by oxidative stress and amino acid deprivation both in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate distinctive patterns of regulation of FGF19 expression by ER stress, and FGF21 expression by ER stress, oxidative stress, and amino acid deprivation through ATF4 activation.