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Yutaka Takata,1 Toshihiro Ansai,2 Inho Soh,2 Shuji Awano,2 Ikuo Nakamichi,1 Sumio Akifusa,3 Kenichi Goto,1 Akihiro Yoshida,2 Hiroki Fujii,1 Ritsuko Fujisawa,1 Kazuo Sonoki31Division of General Internal Medicine, Kyushu Dental University, 2Division of Community Oral Health Development, Kyushu Dental University, 3Department of Oral Health and Environment, School of Oral Health Science, Kyushu Dental University, Kitakyushu, JapanAbstract: The relationship between mortality and impaired cognitive function has not been thoroughly investigated in a very elderly community-dwelling population, and little is known about the association of disease-specific mortality with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) subscale scores. Here we evaluated these data in Japanese community-dwelling elderly. In 2003, 85 year-olds (n=207) were enrolled; 205 completed the MMSE for cognitive function and were followed-up for 10 years, during which time 120 participants died, 70 survived, and 17 were lost to follow-up. Thirty-eight deaths were due to cardiovascular disease, 22 to senility, 21 to respiratory disease, and 16 to cancer. All-cause mortality decreased by 4.3% with a 1-point increase in the global MMSE score without adjustment, and it decreased by 6.3% with adjustment for both sex and length of education. Cardiovascular mortality decreased by 7.6% and senility mortality decreased by 9.2% with a 1-point increase in the global MMSE score with adjustment for sex and education. No association was found between respiratory diseases or cancer mortality and global MMSE score. All-cause mortality also decreased with increases in MMSE subscale scores for time orientation, place orientation, delayed recall, naming objects, and listening and obeying. Cardiovascular mortality was also associated with the MMSE subscale of naming objects, and senility mortality was associated with the subscales of time orientation and place orientation. Thus, we found that impaired cognitive function determined by global MMSE score and some MMSE subscale scores were independent predictors of all-cause mortality or mortality due to cardiovascular disease or senility in 85 year-olds.Keywords: cognition, elderly, mortality, community-dwelling, MMSE

Yutaka Takata,1 Toshihiro Ansai,2 Inho Soh,2 Shuji Awano,2 Ikuo Nakamichi,1 Sumio Akifusa,3 Kenichi Goto,1 Akihiro Yoshida,2 Hiroki Fujii,1 Ritsuko Fujisawa,1 Kazuo Sonoki3 1Division of General Internal Medicine, 2Division of Community Oral Health Development, 3Department of Oral Health and Environment, School of Oral Health Science, Kyushu Dental College, Kitakyushu, Japan Abstract: Little is known about the association between total cholesterol (TC) and all-cause mortality in the elderly (especially the very elderly). Here we examined the association between TC and all-cause mortality in 207 very elderly (85-year-old) participants. In 2003, we performed a baseline laboratory blood examination, and blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) measurements, and lifestyle questionnaires were completed by the participants. The participants were followed for the subsequent 10 years. As of 2013, of the 207 participants in 2003, 70 participants had survived, 120 individuals had died, and 17 were lost to follow up. The TC values were divided into high-TC (≥209 mg/dL), intermediate-TC (176–208 mg/dL), and low-TC (≤175 mg/dL) categories. With the Kaplan–Meier method, we found that both the high-TC and intermediate-TC participants survived longer than the low-TC participants. The men with high TC survived longer than those with low TC, but no corresponding difference was found for the women. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model, with adjustment for gender, smoking, alcohol intake, history of stroke or heart disease, serum albumin concentration, BMI, and systolic BP, revealed that the total mortality in the low-TC group was 1.7-fold higher than that in the high-TC group. Mortality, adjusted for the same factors, decreased 0.9% with each 1 mg/dL increase in the serum TC concentration and decreased 0.8% with each 1 mg/dL increase in the serum (low-density lipoprotein) LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration. Our results indicate an association between lower serum TC concentrations and increased all-cause mortality in a community-dwelling, very elderly population. Mortality decreased with the increases in both TC and LDL-C concentrations, after adjustment for various confounding factors. These findings suggest that low TC and low LDL-C may be independent predictors of high mortality in the very elderly. Keyword: community-dwelling, very elderly, LDL-cholesterol, gender difference, prospective cohort

Yutaka Takata,1 Toshihiro Ansai,2 Inho Soh,2 Shuji Awano,2 Ikuo Nakamichi,1 Sumio Akifusa,3 Kenichi Goto,1 Akihiro Yoshida,2 Hiroki Fujii,1 Ritsuko Fujisawa,1 Kazuo Sonoki31Division of General Internal Medicine, 2Division of Community Oral Health Science, 3Department of Oral Health and Environment, School of Oral Health Science, Kyushu Dental University, Kitakyushu, JapanBackground: Little is known about the relationship between disease-specific mortality and high-level activities of daily living in the elderly. We examined whether mortality is associated with high-level activities of daily living in an octogenarian population.Methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional and prospective cohort study in 693 older persons aged 80 years and living in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture. We then evaluated the association between 12-year disease-specific mortality and high-level functional capacity as measured by the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence, which is a standardized multidimensional 13-item instrument; items 1 through 5 are classified as instrumental self-maintenance activity, items 6 through 9 as intellectual activity, items 10 through 13 as social roles activity, and all 13 items together yield total functional capacity.Results: By the 12-year follow-up of the 693 participants, 413 had died, 242 survived, and 38 were unable to be located. Of the 413 who died, 105 died of cardiovascular disease, 73 of respiratory tract disease, 71 of cancer, and 39 of senility. Of the other 125 deaths, 59 were due to other diseases, and the cause of death for 66 participants is not known. The hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality, adjusted for confounding factors with multivariate Cox analyses, fell by 6% (HR 0.937, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.899–0.978, P = 0.003) with each one-point increase in participants’ scores on the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of total functional capacity. With one-point increases in instrumental self-maintenance activity and in intellectual activity, the HRs for all-cause mortality decreased by 14% (HR 0.856, 95% CI 0.787–0.930, P = 0.000) and 12% (HR 0.884, 95% CI 0.794–0.983, P = 0.023), respectively. Respiratory mortality with HR adjustment fell by 11% (HR 0.887, 95% CI 0.804–0.978, P = 0.016) and 24% (HR 0.760, 95% CI 0.627–0.922, P = 0.005) with one-point increases in the scores of total functional capacity and instrumental self-maintenance activity, respectively. Similarly, mortality due to senility fell by 16% (HR 0.838, 95% CI 0.743–0.946, P = 0.004), 29% (HR 0.707, 95% CI 0.564–0.886, P = 0.003), and 29% (HR 0.710, 95% CI 0.522–0.966, P = 0.029) with one-point increases in the scores of total functional capacity, instrumental self-maintenance activity, and intellectual activity, respectively.Conclusion: These findings suggest that high-level activities of daily living may be an independent predictor of mortality due to all causes, respiratory disease and senility in older persons.Keywords: older persons, community-dwelling, mortality, respiratory death, instrumental ADL

Streptococcus anginosus, an anginosus group bacterium, is frequently isolated from odontogenic abscesses, and is the oral bacterium that is primarily responsible for producing hydrogen sulfide from -cysteine through the action of its -cysteine desulfhydrase (βC-S lyase) enzyme. However, the relationship between its production of hydrogen sulfide and abscess formation has not been investigated. To elucidate the etiological role of hydrogen sulfide in abscess formation, we initially measured, using specific primers, expression of the lcd gene, which encodes βC-S lyase, in the pus of abscesses that formed in BALB/c mice following subcutaneous injection of S. anginosus into the dorsa. Expression of lcd was >15-fold higher when -cysteine was present than when it was absent. A mouse virulence assay revealed that the mean diameter of abscesses caused by S. anginosus FW73 plus -cysteine was greater than that of abscesses caused by S. anginosus FW73 in the absence of -cysteine. These findings demonstrate that the lcd gene of S. anginosus is upregulated in mouse abscesses and that hydrogen sulfide, the product of a reaction catalyzed by βC-S lyase, plays an etiological role in odontogenic abscess formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although serum albumin levels are associated with mortality in non-institutionalized elderly people under 80 years old, as well as in the institutionalized very elderly, little is known about the relationship in community-dwelling very elderly people. We, therefore, examined the association in a Japanese population of 80-year-old community residents. METHODS: Serum albumin levels were measured in 672 (267 men, 405 women) out of 1282 80-year-old individuals. Over the following 4 years, the dates and causes of death were recorded from resident registration cards and official death certificates. RESULTS: Of the above individuals, 107 subjects died (58 men, 49 women: 27 due to cancer, 27 cardiovascular disease, and 22 pneumonia). Survival rates were compared among 4 groups (highest >/=45 g/L, higher than 43-44 g/L, lower than 41-42 g/L, lowest

Background and Aim: The associations between periodontitis and stress-related steroid hormone levels released by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the association between levels of the stress-related steroid hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) and periodontitis in elderly subjects. Methods: A total of 467 subjects participated in this study. Serum cortisol and DHEAS levels were determined, and a medical questionnaire regarding medical conditions and lifestyle was administered. In addition, clinical examinations including probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were conducted. Results: The subjects were divided into tertiles on the basis of periodontitis severity. When the analysis was stratified by smoking status, we found that cortisol levels were significantly higher in those with severe CAL among subjects who had never smoked. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that a higher level of cortisol was significantly associated with greater numbers of sites with severe CAL only in those who had never smoked, while a somewhat weaker association was also observed regarding cortisol/DHEAS ratio. In contrast, the level of DHEAS in serum was not associated with periodontitis. Conclusion: There were significant associations between serum cortisol level, including cortisol/DHEAS ratio, and periodontitis severity in elderly subjects who had never smoked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although tooth loss causes a decrease in masticatory ability, which may influence nutritional status, and impair an individual's general health including physical activity, little is known whether a decrease in chewing ability could result in deterioration in physical fitness in a very elderly population. Thus, the present study evaluated the relationship of chewing ability or teeth number with measures of physical fitness in a sample of 80-years-old in Japan. Cross-sectional survey. A total of 1282 people who were 80-years old and resided in the Fukuoka Prefecture were approached. A total of 697 individuals (277 male, 420 female) agreed to participate. Chewing food number and teeth number were related positively with physical fitness measurements of hand grip strength, leg extensor strength, leg extensor power, stepping rate, and one-leg standing time. However, the significant relationship between the number of teeth and physical ability disappeared after adjustment for various confounders, using multiple regression analysis or logistic regression analysis. On the other hand, the relationship of chewing ability with physical fitness measurements of leg extensor strength, one-leg standing time, or isokinetic leg extensor power remained significant even after adjustment for these confounders. There is a relationship between perceived chewing ability (number of foods considered chewable) and physical fitness in this 80-year-old population. Chewing ability may be an independent predictor of physical fitness, thus preventative dental care aimed at preserving chewing ability may be able to enhance activities of daily life and quality of life in very elderly individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nagoya University Accelerator driven Neutron Source (NUANS) is constructed at the main campus of the Nagoya University. The electrostatic accelerator is used with the maximum proton energy and intensity of 2.8MeV, 15mA(42kW) respectively. Two neutron beamlines are designed at NUANS. The BL1 is dedicated to BNCT development. The BL2 is designed for research and development for neutron devices and neutron imaging. The neutrons used for the BL2 are generated by using the (p, n) reaction from a thin beryllium target. We constructed a compact target station for the BL2 and measured the neutron transmission image.

Porphyromonas gingivalisis one of the microorganisms that most actively produce CH3SH and we have reported that subjects withP.gingivalishave higher CH3SH levels than subjects withoutP. gingivalis. However, little is known about the relationship betweenP.gingivalislevels in saliva and the condition of oral malodor. In this study, we evaluatedthe association between the relative amount ofP.gingivalisin saliva and halitosis in mouth air.All of the subjects were patients at the Preventive Dentistry and Breath Odor Clinic of Kyushu Dental College, where they received a periodontal examination. Volatile sulfur compounds (VSC: hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan) were measured using gas chromatography. Saliva samples were collected in a sterile plastic tube over a period of 5 min while the subject chewed on paraffin wax, and were then immediately stored at–80°C until use. Template DNA was obtained from the stored saliva using an Easy-DNA Kit (Invitrogen, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Conventional PCR assays were used to confirm the presence ofP.gingivalis. A 5’ nuclease TaqMan PCR was used to quantifyP.gingivalisin saliva. The relative numbers of bacteria were measured using the comparative threshold cycle method.We found a quantitative relationship between theP.gingivalislevels in saliva and the condition of halitosis in mouth air.We analyzed the relationship between the relative amount ofP.gingivalisin saliva and oral malodor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]