Fucoxanthin (Fx) and fucosterol (Fs) are characteristic lipid components of brown seaweeds that afford several health benefits to humans. This article describes the quantitative evaluation of lipids of 15 species of brown seaweeds with specific reference to Fx, Fs, and functional long-chain omega-6/omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In addition, fatty-acid composition of selected species was also accomplished in the study. Major omega-3 PUFAs in the brown seaweeds analyzed were α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3), octadecatetraenoic acid (18:4n-3), arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3). Both Fx (mg · g(-1) dry weight [dwt]) and Fs (mg · g(-1) dwt) were determined to be relatively abundant in Sargassum horneri (Turner) C. Agardh (Fx, 3.7 ± 1.6; Fs, 13.4 ± 4.4) and Cystoseira hakodatensis (Yendo) Fensholt (Fx, 2.4 ± 0.9; Fs, 8.9 ± 2.0), as compared with other brown seaweed species. Studies related to seasonal variation in Fx, Fs, and total lipids of six brown algae [S. horneri, C. hakodatensis, Sargassum fusiforme (Harv.) Setch., Sargassum thunbergii (Mertens ex Roth) Kuntze, Analipus japonicus (Harv.) M. J. Wynne, and Melanosiphon intestinalis (D. A. Saunders) M. J. Wynne] indicated that these functional lipid components reached maximum during the period between January and March. The functional lipid components present in these seaweeds have the potential for application as nutraceuticals and novel functional ingredients after their recovery.

Rapid immune recovery following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is important for clinical outcome prediction. In most studies, immune recovery after allo-HSCT is monitored via peripheral blood. However, few reports regarding the status of absolute lymphocyte subsets in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment have been undertaken. Therefore, we evaluated the clinical impact of immune recovery in the early period following allo-HSCT using BM samples. We showed that delayed natural killer cell recovery was independently associated with a poor prognosis for overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 3.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37- 6.89; P = .007), progression-free survival (HR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.47-7.94; P = .004), and nonrelapse mortality (HR, 6.68; 95% CI, 1.82-25.0; P = .004) by multivariate analysis. In addition, low NK cell counts were associated with the presence of 1 or more bacterial, viral, or fungal infections. Our results indicate that investigating absolute lymphocyte subsets in BM in the early phase following allo-HSCT can be useful for predicting and improving survival outcomes.

After allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT), several immune checkpoints play an important role in the antileukemic immune response in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. However, immune checkpoint expression levels in the BM have not been reported after alloSCT in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We investigated the clinical impact of immune checkpoint expression in BM samples after alloSCT for AML. Higher expression of T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) was associated with a decreased incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (P = .048) and poor overall (P = .046) and progression-free survival (P = 0.024). In addition, higher expression of TIGIT at engraftment after alloSCT was correlated with a decreased number of natural killer cells in BM (P = .019). Monitoring TIGIT expression in the BM could be useful for predicting outcome after alloSCT for AML. Our findings raise the possibility that blockade of TIGIT would improve survival.

Studies showed red cell distribution width (RDW) can improve the detection of morphological changes in red blood cells and the understanding of their contribution to dyserythropoiesis in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The purpose of the study was to evaluate dyserythropoiesis in MDS by RDW analysis and to explore the utility of RDW in clinical practice. We retrospectively analyzed laboratory and clinical data of 101 patients (59 patients was refractory anemia (RA) according to the French-American-British (FAB) classification). In patients with RA, RDW was showed weak inverse correlation with both hemoglobin concentration (Hb) (r = -0.37, P = 0.0035) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (r = -0.36, P = 0.0047). On the other hand, RDW was showed weak correlation with the number of ringed sideroblasts in bone marrow (r = 0.31, P = 0.023). The increased RDW (≥15.0%) was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) (P = 0.0086). In patients with refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) and RAEB in transformation (RAEB-t), effect of RDW on OS was less evident. These results suggested that increased RDW might reflect dyserythropoiesis, associated with deregulated hemoglobin synthesis and iron metabolism in MDS. Furthermore, increased RDW may have potential to be a prognostic significance in RA.

Malignant melanoma is one of the most common and aggressive tumors in the oral cavity of dog. The tumor has a poor prognosis, and methods for diagnosis and prediction of prognosis after treatment are required. Here, we examined metabolite profiling using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for development of a discriminant model for evaluation of prognosis. Metabolite profiles were evaluated in healthy and melanoma plasma samples using orthogonal projection to latent structure using discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Cases that were predicted to be healthy using the OPLS discriminant model had no advanced lesions after radiation therapy. These results indicate that metabolite profiling may be useful in diagnosis and prediction of prognosis of canine malignant melanoma.

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Background -Nestin, which was originally described as a neural crest stem cell marker, is known to be expressed in bulge follicle cells of human, canine and murine anagen hairs. However, the capacity of nestin-expressing cells to differentiate into the components of the hair follicle or the epidermis has been insufficiently investigated.Hypothesis/objectives -To determine whether nestin-expressing cells are capable of differentiating into keratinocytes.Animals/materials -A double-transgenic mouse line Nes-Cre/CAG-CAT-EGFP, in which enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) is expressed upon Cre-based recombination driven by the nestin promoter.Methods and materials -The tissue distribution of EGFP + and nestin + cells in the skin of the mouse line was analysed by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical analyses.Results -EGFP + cells were recognized in the outer epithelial cell layers of anagen and telogen hair follicles, but rarely seen in the interfollicular epidermis. The EGFP + cells in the outer layers of the hair follicles coexpressed keratin 14, a marker of the outer root sheath (ORS) keratinocytes, but not trichohyalin granules, an inner root sheath keratinocyte cell marker. Immunostaining for nestin failed to detect its expression in the majority of hair follicle epithelial cells, suggesting that the EGFP + cells in the ORS were derived from nestin-expressing progenitor cells that had become further committed along the epithelial cell lineage, where nestin is no longer expressed.Conclusions and clinical importance -These results suggest that progenitor cells that differentiate into ORS keratinocytes are distinct from those for other hair follicle or epidermal components and provide implications for regenerative medicine and the molecular classification of hair follicle tumours.

IntroductionImmune checkpoint inhibitors have had a major impact on cancer treatment. Gut microbiota plays a major role in the cancer microenvironment, affecting treatment response. The gut microbiota is highly individual, and varies with factors, such as age and race. Gut microbiota composition in Japanese cancer patients and the efficacy of immunotherapy remain unknown. MethodsWe investigated the gut microbiota of 26 patients with solid tumors prior to immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy to identify bacteria involved in the efficacy of these drugs and immune-related adverse events (irAEs).ResultsThe genera Prevotella and Parabacteroides were relatively common in the group showing efficacy towards the anti-PD-1 antibody treatment (effective group). The proportions of Catenibacterium (P = 0.022) and Turicibacter (P = 0.049) were significantly higher in the effective group than in the ineffective group. In addition, the proportion of Desulfovibrion (P = 0.033) was significantly higher in the ineffective group. Next, they were divided into irAE and non-irAE groups. The proportions of Turicibacter (P = 0.001) and Acidaminococcus (P = 0.001) were significantly higher in the group with irAEs than in those without, while the proportions of Blautia (P = 0.013) and the unclassified Clostridiales (P = 0.027) were significantly higher in the group without irAEs than those with. Furthermore, within the Effective group, Acidaminococcus and Turicibacter (both P = 0.001) were more abundant in the subgroup with irAEs than in those without them. In contrast, Blautia (P = 0.021) and Bilophila (P= 0.033) were statistically significantly more common in those without irAEs.DiscussionOur Study suggests that the analysis of the gut microbiota may provide future predictive markers for the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy or the selection of candidates for fecal transplantation for cancer immunotherapy.