The bunching onion is an important leafy vegetable, prized for its distinctive flavor and color. It is consumed year-round in Japan, where a stable supply is essential. However, in recent years, the challenges posed by climate change and global warming have resulted in adverse effects on bunching onions, including stunted growth, discoloration, and the development of leaf tipburn, threatening both crop quality and yield.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Oxytocin supplementation improves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and animal studies suggest involvement of oxytocin in respiratory control. However, the relationship between endogenous oxytocin signaling and human sleep status remains undetermined.
Objective: In this study, we approached the contribution of the intrinsic oxytocin-oxytocin receptor (OXTR) system to OSA by genetic association analysis.
J Diabetes Investig
February 2025
Aims/introduction: Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) is an obesity-associated hepatokine that causes skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Since LECT2 is up-regulated by the inactivation of the energy sensor AMPK in the liver, we hypothesized that LECT2 has potential as a biomarker for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Therefore, we investigated whether circulating LECT2 levels are associated with insulin sensitivity, liver enzymes, and MASLD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHydrops fetalis, characterized by abnormal fluid accumulation in fetuses, presents a significant risk of stillbirth and neonatal mortality. Although the etiology of nonimmune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) is multifaceted, recent studies have highlighted genetic factors as crucial determinants. This study focused on a family with three consecutive stillbirths, each with pronounced hydrops fetalis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent genome-wide association studies have revealed that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is correlated with genetic polymorphisms. However, the effects of genetic variation on nutritional metabolism and NAFLD are complex and further studies are still needed.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the nutritional characteristics interacting with the correlation between genetic predisposition and NAFLD.
DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) catalyze methylation at the C5 position of cytosine with S-adenosyl-L-methionine. Methylation regulates gene expression, serving a variety of physiological and pathophysiological roles. The chemical mechanisms regulating DNMT enzymatic activity, however, are not fully elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWerner syndrome (WS), a type of progeria, is a hereditary condition caused by a mutation in the WRN gene. A 62-year-old Japanese woman was diagnosed with WS at the age of 32 and has been visiting the hospital for follow-up since the last 30 years. The patient developed diabetes at the age of 46, and at the age of 60, her body mass index increased from 20.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 43-year-old woman with an 8-year history of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia presented with amenorrhea and convulsion. Her MRI scan revealed a 3.5-cm T2-hyperintense pituitary macroadenoma with suprasellar extension to the frontal lobe and bilateral cavernous sinus invasion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycobacterium smegmatis is a rapidly growing, non-pathogenic mycobacterium, and M. smegmatis strain mc(2)155 in particular has been used as a tool for molecular analysis of mycobacteria because of its high rate of transformation. We examined another strain, M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare complex (MAIC) is divided into 28 serotypes by a species-specific glycopeptidolipid (GPL). Previously, we clarified the structures of serotype 7 GPL and two methyltransferase genes (orfA and orfB) in serotype 12 GPL.
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