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Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease involving complex tripartite cross-interactions among bacterial, host and environment factors. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are a protein family produced in response to stress conditions. Hsps protect cells under adverse circumstances such as infection, inflammation and disease. One of the causes of periodontal disease is thought to be an imbalance in the expression of Hsps and anti-Hsp antibodies. Hsps are classified according to their molecular weight, and one of the major ones is Hsp70. In the present study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the levels of anti-Hsp70 antibody in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) from two gingival sulci in each of nine patients with chronic periodontitis (CP): one healthy control (HC) site with a probing pocket depth (PPD) of ≤3 mm and one CP site with a PPD of >5 mm. Anti-Hsp70 antibody levels in GCF were higher at HC sites than at CP sites. Moreover, the anti-Hsp70 antibody levels were found to increase after initial periodontal therapy at both HC and CP sites. These results suggest an association of anti-Hsp70 antibody with periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-temperature selected (HT) strain of rainbow trout was established from the Donaldson (DS) strain by traditional selective breeding in Japan. The aim of this study is to investigate genes related to upper temperature tolerance in this strain utilizing next generation sequencer (NGS), and to establish comprehensive and comparable datasets in brain, liver, muscle, heart and gill tissues between the HT and DS strains. After assembling, clustering and filtering, 242,530 contigs were obtained. Among them, 7624 transcripts had at least 10 counts in expression analysis in all tissues and used as references. BLASTX homology search showed that 7329 transcripts matched with known genes. Compared to the DS strain, the HT strain expressed 90, 775, 349, 188 and 194 genes 2 folds or more in brain, liver, muscle, heart, and gill, respectively in the case of fish before heat-exposure treatment. Meanwhile, the HT strain expressed 292, 363, 433, 322 and 211 genes 2 folds or more in brain, liver, muscle, heart, and gill, respectively in case of fish after heat-exposure treatment. Many of heat shock protein family genes and transcription factor AP-1 related genes were highly expressed in all tissues of the HT strain compared with the DS strain. These results suggest that these genes play key roles in upper temperature tolerance. These comprehensive and comparable datasets will offer broad visions for upper temperature tolerance in fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein we describe the cases of two afebrile patients who were thought to have Kawasaki disease ( KD). Patient 1 was a 7-month-old-Japanese girl. She presented with bulbar conjunctival injection, diarrhea, skin erythema, and redness around the bacillus Calmette-Guerin ( BCG) inoculation site. Thirteen days after the first symptoms, ultrasonic cardiogram ( UCG) showed dilatations of the bilateral coronary arteries ( CA). The dilatations had completely resolved 5 months later. Patient 2 was a 13-month-old Japanese boy. He first presented with bulbar conjunctival injection and redness around the BCG inoculation site. Twenty-two days after the first symptoms, UCG indicated bilateral and peripheral CA dilatations. The mild dilatations of the proximal CA remained. Although fever is the principal symptom of KD, some incomplete KD patients may be afebrile. Although it is difficult to diagnose these patients as having KD, redness at the BCG inoculation site may be a clue to the diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease involving complex tripartite cross-interactions among bacterial, host and environment factors. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are a protein family produced in response to stress conditions. Hsps protect cells under adverse circumstances such as infection, inflammation and disease. One of the causes of periodontal disease is thought to be an imbalance in the expression of Hsps and anti-Hsp antibodies. Hsps are classified according to their molecular weight, and one of the major ones is Hsp70. In the present study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the levels of anti-Hsp70 antibody in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) from two gingival sulci in each of nine patients with chronic periodontitis (CP): one healthy control (HC) site with a probing pocket depth (PPD) of ≤3 mm and one CP site with a PPD of >5 mm. Anti-Hsp70 antibody levels in GCF were higher at HC sites than at CP sites. Moreover, the anti-Hsp70 antibody levels were found to increase after initial periodontal therapy at both HC and CP sites. These results suggest an association of anti-Hsp70 antibody with periodontitis.

Understanding the mechanism of high-temperature tolerance in cold-freshwater fish is crucial for predicting how certain species will cope with global warming. In this study, we investigated temperature tolerance in masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou, known in Japan as 'yamame'), an important aquaculture species. By selective breeding, we developed a group of yamame (F2) with high-temperature tolerance. This group was subjected to a high-temperature tolerance test and divided into two groups: High-temperature tolerant (HT) and non-high-temperature tolerant (NT). RNA was extracted from the gill and adipose fin tissues of each group, and the mRNA expression profiles were analyzed using RNA sequencing. A total of 2893 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the gill and 836 from the adipose fin were identified by comparing the HT and NT groups. Functional analyses were then performed to identify associated gene ontology (GO) terms and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. The HT group showed a high expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene and enriched gene expression in the extracellular matrix (ECM), cell junction, and adhesion pathways in gill tissues compared to the NT group. The HT group also exhibited highly expressed genes in glycolysis and showed lower expression of the genes in the p53 signaling pathway in adipose fin tissues. Taken together, the difference of expression of some genes in the normal condition may be responsible for the difference in heat tolerance between the HT and NT yamame in the heat stress condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) work as "chaperones" to affect protein folding of newly synthesized or denatured proteins. HSP 27 plays an important role in coronary artery disease or renal disease as the result of oxidative stress. Although habitual smoking is well known to induce oxidative stress, there is no epidemiological evidence between plasma HSP 27 and renal dysfunction or smoking habits., Methods: A total of 451 residents (167 men and 284 women, age 65.7 years) underwent a history and physical examination, and determination of blood chemistries, including plasma levels of HSP 27. HSP 27 levels were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits., Results: Elevated HSP 27 levels were independently associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (p<0.001) and smoking habits (p<0.05). HSP 27 levels were significantly decreased stratified by groups of eGFR (p<0.001 for trend) by analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) adjusted for age, sex, and smoking habits. HSP 27 levels were increased with more smoking of cigarettes. In particular, HSP 27 levels were increased in the heavy smokers (≥20cigarettes/day) by ANCOVA adjusted for age, sex, and eGFR compared with non-smokers and light smokers (p<0.05 for trend)., Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that HSP 27 levels were strongly related to renal dysfunction and habitual smoking in a dose-response manner in a Japanese general population., (Copyright © 2015 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)