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Background: To avoid complete elimination of hen eggs (HE) from diet, we introduced a very-low-dose (VLD) oral food challenge (OFC) in patients with severe HE allergy in 2019. Herein, we investigated the efficacy of VLD HE OFC for achieving the full dose OFC. Methods: Patients with an overt allergic reaction to LD (1/32 HE [≤100 mg]) or less, egg white (EW) protein within 6 months were included. In the VLD group, patients not achieving full-dose OFC (1/2 HE: 1600 mg EW protein) within 2 years were excluded. We retrospectively compared the rate of passing a full-dose OFC between patients who underwent a LD OFC before 2019 (LD group) and those who underwent a VLD OFC (1/100 HE: 32 mg EW protein) after 2019 (VLD group). The period for passing the full-dose OFC was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Results: We enrolled 411 and 111 patients in the LD and VLD groups, respectively. The median age at OFC initiation was 2.2 [1.5–3.6] and 2.1 [1.4–3.2] years in the LD and VLD groups, respectively. EW- and ovomucoid-specific IgE levels were 38.3 (12.5–72.9) and 21.0 (8.3–46.2) kUA/L in the LD group and 49.8 [18.8–83.9] and 32.1 [15.6–67.8] kUA/L in the VLD group, respectively. Over 4 years, the LD and VLD groups passed the full-dose OFC at rates of 70 and 95%, respectively, with significant differences (log-rank test, P

Objectives Laboratory experiments have indicated that calcium channel blockers (CCBs) inhibit the entry and replication of influenza A virus in cells. However, no clinical studies have assessed the incidence of influenza among patients receiving CCBs. This study aimed to investigate the association between CCB use and the incidence of influenza among patients with hypertension using administrative claims data in Japan.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Administrative health insurance claims database of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.Participants 360 515 patients with hypertension (10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases code I10) who were prescribed CCBs and 171 142 patients who were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) between 2012 and 2016.Primary outcome We compared the incidence of influenza between the CCB and ACEI/ARB groups using high-dimensional propensity-score (HD-PS) matching.Results A total of 166 814 HD-PS matched pairs were obtained. Before HD-PS matching, the CCB group had a significantly lower influenza incidence than the ACEI/ARB group in the overall analysis (2.4% vs 2.5%, p=0.007; risk ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.92 to 0.99). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups after HD-PS matching (2.4% vs 2.5%, p=0.067; risk ratio 0.96, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.00); only in 2012 did the CCB group have a significantly lower likelihood of influenza than the ACEI/ARB group.Conclusions No significant difference was observed in the influenza incidence between the CCB and ACEI/ARB groups. A direct comparative study between background-matched patients with and without CCBs is warranted to confirm the effect of CCBs on reducing the incidence of influenza.

Introduction Food allergy affects a large population throughout the world. Recently, oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been reported as an effective treatment for severe food allergy. Although OIT was successful in numerous trials in desensitisation, adverse events including anaphylaxis during OIT frequently occur. Additionally, some patients fail to be desensitised after OIT and the response to treatment is often not sustained. As a further adjunctive therapy to facilitate OIT, the role of biological agents has been identified. For example, efficacy and safety of omalizumab as an adjuvant therapy of OIT has become apparent through some RCTs and observational studies. Interest towards this topic is growing worldwide, and ongoing trials will provide additional data on the biologics in food allergy.We aim to systematically analyse the efficacy and safety of OIT combined with biological agents for food allergy.Methods and analysis This paper provides a protocol for a systematic review of the relevant published analytical studies using an aggregate approach following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols guidelines. Two authors will perform a comprehensive search for studies on MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases. Subsequently, two independent authors will perform abstract screening, full-text screening and data extraction. A meta-analysis will be conducted as appropriate.Ethics and dissemination The protocol of this systematic review will be provided in a peer-reviewed journal. As the researchers will not identify the individual patients included in the studies, they do not need to acquire ethics approval.PROSPERO registration number CRD42022373015.

Background: There are no reports on the relationship between food protein–induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) diagnosis and procalcitonin levels. Objective: Our study sought to demonstrate a correlation between the presence or absence and severity of FPIES symptoms and postemetic procalcitonin levels. Methods: The subjects were 53 patients with FPIES (44 with hen’s egg allergy, 4 with milk allergy, 4 with wheat allergy, and 3 with soy allergy), who collectively underwent a total of 75 oral food challenges (OFCs). Procalcitonin levels at 5 hours after antigen ingestion were compared between patients with a positive OFC result and those with a negative OFC result and between patients who experienced mild or moderate events and those who experienced severe events. Results: At 5 hours after ingestion of the causative food, the median procalcitonin levels in patients with a negative OFC result, patients who experienced a mild or moderate event, and patients who experienced a severe event were 0.02, 0.03, and 0.16 ng/mL, respectively. The procalcitonin level was significantly higher in the groups with a positive OFC result than in the groups with a negative OFC result (P < .001), and it was significantly higher in those who experienced severe events than in those who experienced mild or moderate events (P = .012). Conclusion: Measurement of procalcitonin levels has the potential to provide a quantitative and objective assessment of FPIES diagnosis and severity.

Copper-catalysed annulation of allenylidenes provides an opportunity to target the alpha, beta, or gamma positions of the allenylidene, but achieving this control is challenging. Here substrate control allows selectivity between these three positions in the enantioselective cyclisation of ethynyl benzoxazinanones and sulfamate-derived cyclic imines.

A regioselective carbosilylation of alkenes is a powerful strategy to access functionalized silylated alkanes. In this study, the authors report a catalyst-free carbosilylation of alkenes using silyl boronates and organic fluorides, mediated by t BuOK, and synthesise various silylated alkanes with tertiary or quaternary carbon centres.

Background: This study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of oral immunotherapy (OIT) in children with severe cow's milk allergy. Methods: The subjects comprised 28 children (aged 3–12 years) with allergic symptoms that were induced by ≤ 10 mL of cow's milk in an oral food challenge test (OFC). The subjects were randomly allocated to the treatment group (n = 14) and control group (n = 14); the former received rush immunotherapy for 2 weeks, followed by a gradual increase of cow's milk volume to 100 mL for 1 year, and the latter completely eliminated cow's milk for 1 year. Both groups underwent an OFC with 100 mL of cow's milk after 1 year. Results: The treatment group had significantly higher rates of a negative OFC [7/14 (50%) vs. 0/14 (0%), p 100 mL). Conclusions: The effect of immunotherapy was 50%, but the incidence of adverse events was not low. Further studies focusing on safety is necessary to standardize OIT for cow's milk allergy.

Five years have passed since the Japanese Pediatric Guideline for Food Allergy (JPGFA) was first revised in 2011 from its original version. As many scientific papers related to food allergy have been published during the last 5 years, the second major revision of the JPGFA was carried out in 2016. In this guideline, food allergies are generally classified into four clinical types: (1) neonatal and infantile gastrointestinal allergy, (2) infantile atopic dermatitis associated with food allergy, (3) immediate-type of food allergy (urticaria, anaphylaxis, etc.), and (4) special forms of immediate-type of food allergy such as food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis and oral allergy syndrome (OAS). Much of this guideline covers the immediate-type of food allergy that is seen during childhood to adolescence. Infantile atopic dermatitis associated with food allergy type is especially important as the onset of most food allergies occurs during infancy. We have discussed the neonatal and infantile gastrointestinal allergy and special forms of immediate type food allergy types separately. Diagnostic procedures are highlighted, such as probability curves and component-resolved diagnosis, including the recent advancement utilizing antigen-specific IgE. The oral food challenge using a stepwise approach is recommended to avoid complete elimination of causative foods. Although oral immunotherapy (OIT) has not been approved as a routine treatment by nationwide insurance, we included a chapter for OIT, focusing on efficacy and problems. Prevention of food allergy is currently the focus of interest, and many changes were made based on recent evidence. Finally, the contraindication between adrenaline and antipsychotic drugs in Japan was discussed among related medical societies, and we reached an agreement that the use of adrenaline can be allowed based on the physician's discretion. In conclusion, this guideline encourages physicians to follow the principle to let patients consume causative foods in any way and as early as possible.

Background: Although the guidelines in most countries do not recommend continuous inhalation of l-isoproterenol to treat pediatric patients with acute severe exacerbation of asthma, lower dose of l-isoproterenol has been widely used in Japan. To determine whether the efficacy of low-dose l-isoproterenol was superior to that of salbutamol, we conducted a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Methods: Hospitalized patients aged 1–17 years were eligible if they had severe asthma exacerbation defined by the modified pulmonary index score (MPIS). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive inhalation of l-isoproterenol (10 μg/kg/h) or salbutamol (500 μg/kg/h) for 12 hours via a large-volume nebulizer with oxygen. The primary outcome was the change in MPIS from baseline to 3 hours after starting inhalation. Trial registration number UMIN000001991. Results: From December 2009 to October 2013, 83 patients (42 in the l-isoproterenol group and 41 in the salbutamol group) were enrolled into the study. Of these, one patient in the l-isoproterenol group did not receive the study drug and was excluded from the analysis. Compared with salbutamol, l-isoproterenol reduced MPIS more rapidly. Mean (SD) changes in MPIS at 3 hours were −2.9 (2.5) in the l-isoproterenol group and −0.9 (2.3) in the salbutamol group (difference −2.0, 95% confidence interval −3.1 to −0.9; P

Background: Childhood asthma is a major risk for low lung function in later adulthood, but what factors in asthma are associated with the poor lung function during childhood is not known. Objective: To identify clinical factors in children with asthma associated with low or declining lung function during the treatment. Methods: We enrolled children with asthma who had been treated throughout three age periods, i.e., 6–9, 10–12, and 13–15 years old, at seven specialized hospitals in Japan. Clinical information and lung function measurements were retrieved from the electronic chart systems. To characterize the lung function trajectories during each age period, we evaluated the forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1) with % predicted values and individual changes by the slope (S) from linear regression. We defined four trajectory patterns: normal (Group N) and low (Group L), showing %FEV1 ≥80% or n = 150)/U (n = 47), while 76 (28%) were in Group D (n = 66)/L (n = 10). A history of poor asthma control, long-acting beta2 agonist use, and a lower height Z-score during 13–15 years were associated with an unfavorable outcome (Group D/L). Conversely, inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use during 10–12 years and high-dose ICS use during 13–15 years were associated with a favorable outcome (Group N/U). Conclusion: We identified several factors that are associated with unfavorable lung function changes in pediatric asthma. Attention should be paid to the possible relationship between yearly changes in lung function and poor asthma control, use of ICS (and its dose) and use of LABA.

Background: Generally, oral immunotherapy (OIT) aims for daily administration. Recently, the efficacy of treatment with OIT at a low dose has been reported. However, the optimal dose and the evaluation of dose-dependent OIT outcome have not been described. Methods: A multicenter, parallel, open-labeled, prospective, non-placebo controlled, randomized study enrolled 101 Japanese patients for treatment with OIT. We hypothesized that target dose OIT would induce short-term unresponsiveness (StU) earlier than reduced dose OIT. StU was defined as no response to 6200 mg whole egg, 3400 mg milk, and 2600 mg wheat protein, as evaluated by oral food challenge after 2-week ingestion cessation. To compare the two doses of OIT efficacy, the maximum ingestion doses during the maintenance phase of OIT were divided into 100%-dose or 25%-dose groups against their target StU dose, respectively. A total of 51 patients were assigned to the 100%-dose group [hen's egg (HE) = 26, cow's milk (CM) = 13, wheat = 12] and 50 to the 25%-dose group (HE = 25, CM = 13, wheat = 12). Primary outcome was established by comparing StU at 1 year. Secondary outcome was StU at 2 years and established by comparing allergic symptoms and immunological changes. Results: The year 1 StU rates (%) for the 100%- and 25%-dose groups were 26.9 vs. 20.0 (HE), 7.7 vs. 15.4 (CM), and 50.0 vs. 16.7 (wheat), respectively. The year 2 StU rates were 30.8 vs. 36.0 (HE), 7.7 vs. 23.1 (CM), and 58.3 vs. 58.3 (wheat), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in StU between years 1 and 2. The total allergic symptom rate in the 25%-dose group was lower than that in the 100%-dose group for egg, milk, and wheat. Antigen-specific IgE levels for egg-white, milk, and wheat decreased at 12 months. Conclusions: Reduced maintenance dose of egg OIT showed similar therapeutic efficacy to the target dose. However, we were not able to clearly demonstrate the efficacy, particularly for milk and wheat. Reducing the maintenance dose for eggs, milk, and wheat may effectively lower the symptoms associated with their consumption compared to the target OIT dose. Furthermore, aggressive reduction of the maintenance dose might be important for milk and wheat, compared to the 25%-dose OIT. Trial registration: UMIN000009373, Multicenter Oral Immunotherapy for Hen's Egg, Cow's Milk, and Wheat-Allergic Children at Outpatient Clinic.

Background: Hen's egg (HE) allergy develops during infancy. We investigated tolerance acquisition in Japanese children allergic to HE aging

Background: Soybeans are one of causative foods for infantile onset allergies in Japan. This study aimed to analyze the results of soybean challenge tests that were conducted over approximately 7 years at our institution. Using the test data, we sought to identify the responses and clinical profiles of patients with soybean allergies, and to investigate the relationship between the responses and soybean sensitization status. Methods: Between July 2004 and May 2010, 142 cases (125 patients) underwent food challenge tests (100 g of silken tofu) for the diagnosis of soybean allergy or confirmation of their tolerance. The patients' characteristics, soybean sensitization status, and responses to the challenge tests were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Among the subjects who underwent the soybean challenge test, the male/female ratio was 1.6 (87/55), and the mean age at the test was 2.8 ± 1.7 years. The positive rate for the challenge test was 38.7%. Induced symptoms were observed in the skin (81.8%), respiratory system (50.9%), and gastrointestinal system/mucosal membrane/anaphylaxis (12.7%). Intramuscular epinephrine was administered to all 7 patients who experienced an anaphylactic reaction. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic efficiency of soybean-specific IgE titers were low for predicting the responses to the challenge test. Conclusions: Soybean allergies were diagnosed in only 18% of the subjects with positive sensitization to soybeans. Therefore, soybean-specific IgE titers are not an effective predictor of a positive response to the challenge test.

Background: : Some studies have been reported about positioning of SPT in the diagnosis of food allergy. On the other hand, it is not yet clear about the positioning of SPT in the diagnosis of tolerance acquisition of the immediate type food allergy. Methods: The retrospective study had been conducted for 236 egg allergic children (51.3 months in mean), 127 milk allergic children (53.4 months), and 96 wheat allergic children (42.6 months). The retrospective analysis of serum nonspecific and antigen-specific IgE levels, SPT, and OFC had been conducted for each allergic patient. All OFC had been conducted to verify the acquisition of tolerance against eliminated food. Results: The OFC was positive in 61 (25.8%) hen's egg allergies, 34 (26.8%) milk allergies and 33 (34.4%) wheat allergies. The greatest AUC for each allergen is as following; hen's egg for egg white specific IgE at 0.745, milk/histamine (wheal) index at 0.718, and wheat for wheal size at 0.597. For the predictive decision points, the highest accuracy rate was at 25.8% for an egg white wheal of 9.5 mm, at 26.8% for a milk wheal of 9.5 mm, and at 34.4% for a wheal of 6.5 mm. Conclusions: As a result of this analysis, the diagnostic accuracy of SPT had not been satisfactory to judge the acquisition of tolerance in allergic children for eggs, milk and wheat. Therefore, this is not a strong evidence to testify the tolerance of the immediate type food allergy.

Background: Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the causes of gastrointestinal symptoms in neonates. A relationship between non-immunoglobulin (Ig) E mediated allergic reactions and CMA in early infancy has been proposed, but the clinical features and pathogenesis have not been established. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical characteristics of the neonates found in the earlier study to have food-related symptoms that suggested CMA. Methods: A second questionnaire was sent to 53 NICUs, as a follow-up to the earlier study, to collect information on the background, onset age, clinical features, and results of clinical examinations. Results: The median birth weight was 2614 g and the median gestational age was 36.9 weeks. Symptoms developed within 6 days after birth in 40% of cases. Gastrointestinal symptoms were seen in 90% of cases and were mainly vomiting, bloody stool and abdominal distention. A specific IgE test, a lymphocyte stimulation test, and a fecal eosinophil test were conducted in 88%, 23% and 55% of cases, respectively, and the positive rates were 30%, 84%, and 75%, respectively. An oral food challenge (OFC) test was performed in 26% for confirmation of the diagnosis. Conclusions: We confirmed that the clinical manifestations of food-related symptoms suggestive of CMA in neonates were distinctly different from those of common immediate type food allergy and were largely affected by underlying factors such as prematurity and gastroenterological surgery. Further OFC-based prospective accumulation of cases of CMA in neonates will be particularly important to reveal the full clinical features of this disease.

The use of oral food challenges (OFCs) in clinics is limited because they are complicated and associated with anaphylactic symptoms. To increase their use, it is necessary to develop novel, effective, and safe methods. However, the effectiveness of different OFCs has not been compared.To investigate the effect of ingestion methods on wheat allergy symptoms and treatment during OFCs.Without changing the total challenge dose, we changed the administration method from a 5-installment dose titration every 15 min (15-min interval method) to 3 installments every 30 min (30-min interval method). We retrospectively reviewed and compared the results of 65 positive 15-min interval wheat challenge tests conducted between July 2005 and February 2008 and 87 positive 30-min interval tests conducted between March 2008 and December 2009.A history of immediate symptoms was more common for the 30-min interval method; however, no difference between methods was observed in other background parameters. Switching from the 15-min to the 30-min interval method did not increase symptoms or require treatment. The rate of cardiovascular symptoms (p = 0.032), and adrenaline use (p = 0.017) was significantly lower with the 30-min interval method. The results did not change after adjusting for the effects of immediate symptom history in multivariate analysis.This study suggests that the 30-min interval method reduces the risk of adverse events, compared to the 15-min interval method.

Background: There are no validated quantitative tools for assessing asthma exacerbation, which may cause significant variation in determining the severity of exacerbation across caregivers. A modified Pulmonary Index Score (mPIS) has been proposed as a quantitative indicator of the severity of childhood asthma exacerbation. However, the utility of mPIS as a treatment decision-making tool has not been investigated. Objective: The aim of the present study was to clarify the utility of therapeutic strategies based on mPIS in children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation. Methods: This was a case-control study of patients admitted to our hospital between 2010 and 2015. In addition to the conventional therapy based on Japanese guidelines, treatment adaptation by using mPIS began in 2013. Children admitted after 2013 were regarded as being in the case group and those before 2012 were the control group. The length of the hospital stay and the duration of continuous isoproterenol inhalation therapy (CIT) were compared as clinical outcomes. Results: The targeted number of patients was 346 (182 cases and 164 controls). The mean ± standard error age was 3.5 ± 0.2 years in the case group and 3.4 ± 0.2 years in the control group. Male patients constituted 64.3% of the case group and 60.4% of the control group. The mean ± standard error length of hospital stay was significantly shortened in the case group (8.1 ± 0.2 days versus 9.6 ± 0.2 days, p > 0.001). The mean ± standard error duration of CIT was also shortened in the case group (2.3 ± 0.1 days versus 3.9 ± 0.3 days, p < 0.001). Conclusion: An mPIS-based therapeutic strategy may have reduced the length of hospital stay by enabling timely adjustments to clinical interventions and enabling caregivers to perform a more-accurate assessment of asthma exacerbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The norlignan (NorL) content in extractives of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) shows a decreasing tendency from the outer to the inner part of the heartwood (hW). The hypothesis, that this effect may be due to polymerization, which aggravates NorL extraction, has been explored in the present study. To this purpose, samples were collected and extracted from the outer, middle and inner parts of the hW. Fractionation procedures of NorL-oligomers by LH-20 column chromatography were established, and the fractions were characterized by advanced analytical methods such as HPLC-SEC and HPLC combined with electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-ion-trap-MS). Agatharesinol and sequirin C were the most abundant compounds. Several individual NorL-dimers and -trimers were detected for the first time, and four kinds of NorL-dimers and seven kinds of NorLtrimers were semi-quantitatively analyzed by HPLC-ESIMS combined with selected ion monitoring (SIM). The oligomer contents show an increasing tendency from the outer part toward the middle and inner part of the hW, which accounts mainly for the monomeric NorL decrement in the same direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Heartwood extracts from Amazonian trees cumaru-ferro (Dipteryx odorata), jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril), and guarita (Astronium lecointei) exhibit antioxidant activities comparable with that of α-tocopherol, a well-known antioxidant. This article reports the characterization of the antioxidant compounds in the extracts of the three heartwoods. Silica gel column chromatography of the cumaru-ferro EtOAc extract yielded (−)-(3R)-7,2′,3′-trihydroxy-4′-methoxyisoflavan and (+)-(3R)-8,2′,3′-trihydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyisoflavan. Silica gel column chromatography followed by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography of the jatoba EtOAc extract yielded (−)-fisetinidol and (+)-trans-taxifolin. Chemical structures were assigned using electron-ionization mass spectrometry, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy including nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), as well as optical rotation and circular dichroism. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry demonstrated that the isolated compounds were predominant in the EtOAc extracts. In the guarita EtOAc extract, catechin and gallic acid were identified by comparing their retention times and mass fragmentation patterns with those of authentic samples. Antioxidant activity determined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay demonstrated that all these compounds had activities comparable with that of α-tocopherol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The heartwood and sapwood characteristics of 11 Amazonian trees were investigated. Whereas 7 of the specimens had densities greater than 0.7 g/cm3, the heartwood density of ipê amarelo (Tabebuia serratifolia), maçaranduba (Manilkara huberi), cumaru-ferro (Dipteryx odorata), and guarita (Astronium lecointei) exceeded 1.0 g/cm3. Jatobá contained small amounts of Klason lignin and α-cellulose, and large amounts of holocellulose and alkali extract, suggesting that it has a high polysaccharide content that can be dissolved in an alkaline medium. The difference in the syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratios of the samples before and after alkali extraction suggests that alkali extracts contain syringyl-type polyphenols. In all of the samples, the heart-wood methanol extracts were larger in volume than the sapwood methanol extracts, and the sapwood alkali extracts were larger in volume than the heartwood alkali extracts. The antioxidant activities of the methanol and alkali extracts were assayed by measuring the levels of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and super oxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, respectively. The heart-wood methanol extract of jatobá (Hymenaea courbaril) exhibited the highest level of activity (EC50 = 44 mg/l), which exceeded that of α-tocopherol (EC50 = 48 mg/l), and the heartwood alkali extracts of jatobá and ipê amarelo had high SOD-like activity comparable with red wine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract??To study the behavior of hardwood sulfuric acid lignin (SAL) during phenolization, we compared the product yield, average molecular weight, methoxy content, and reactions of simple model compounds with those of softwood SAL, focusing on the difference between syringyl and guaiacyl units. The beech SAL reacted with phenol more readily than red pine SAL and yielded a larger soluble fraction of phenolized SAL. To investigate the difference in the phenolization activity of the syringyl and guaiacyl units in beech lignin, we prepared syringyl-nucleus-rich sulfuric acid lignin (S-rich-SAL) and guaiacyl-nucleus-rich sulfuric acid lignin (G-rich-SAL) from beech, which were subjected to phenolization. The results suggest that the syringyl unit in SAL had greater phenolization activity and its phenolized products were more soluble in acidic aqueous medium and introduced less phenol than the guaiacyl unit. Using model compounds, the study also showed that the syringyl unit had higher phenolization reactivity than the guaiacyl unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matairesinol and pinoresinol were isolated from sugisapwood 40 days after felling. These lignans were not detected in the heartwood. Accordingly, they are probably the result of post-mortem biosynthesis in sapwood parenchyma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the guidelines in most countries do not recommend continuous inhalation of l-isoproterenol to treat pediatric patients with acute severe exacerbation of asthma, lower dose of l-isoproterenol has been widely used in Japan. To determine whether the efficacy of low-dose l-isoproterenol was superior to that of salbutamol, we conducted a double-blind, randomized controlled trial., Methods: Hospitalized patients aged 1-17 years were eligible if they had severe asthma exacerbation defined by the modified pulmonary index score (MPIS). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive inhalation of l-isoproterenol (10 μg/kg/h) or salbutamol (500 μg/kg/h) for 12 hours via a large-volume nebulizer with oxygen. The primary outcome was the change in MPIS from baseline to 3 hours after starting inhalation. Trial registration number UMIN000001991., Results: From December 2009 to October 2013, 83 patients (42 in the l-isoproterenol group and 41 in the salbutamol group) were enrolled into the study. Of these, one patient in the l-isoproterenol group did not receive the study drug and was excluded from the analysis. Compared with salbutamol, l-isoproterenol reduced MPIS more rapidly. Mean (SD) changes in MPIS at 3 hours were -2.9 (2.5) in the l-isoproterenol group and -0.9 (2.3) in the salbutamol group (difference -2.0, 95% confidence interval -3.1 to -0.9; P < 0.001). Adverse events occurred in 1 (2%) and 11 (27%) patients in the l-isoproterenol and salbutamol groups, respectively (P = 0.003). Hypokalemia and tachycardia occurred only in the salbutamol group., Conclusions: Low-dose l-isoproterenol has a more rapid effect with fewer adverse events than salbutamol., (Copyright © 2019 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)