Microglia are the principal immune cells of the brain. In Alzheimer disease, these brain mononuclear phagocytes are recruited from the blood and accumulate in senile plaques. However, the role of microglia in Alzheimer disease has not been resolved. Microglia may be neuroprotective by phagocytosing amyloid-b (Ab), but their activation and the secretion of neurotoxins may also cause neurodegener...

The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the implication of amino acids (AA) in important physiological functions. This is done in the context of pig production where the competition for AA utilisation is exacerbated by constraints to maximise productive responses and the necessity to reduce dietary protein input for environmental, economic and sanitary issues. Therefore, there...

The treatment of cervicofacial lymphangiomas has been changing in recent years. OK-432 appears to be a relatively safe and effective treatment option for patients of all ages. An intracystic injection of OK-432 produces a local inflammatory reaction, leading to resolution of the lesion. Cosmetically, the outcome is excellent, leaving no lesions on the skin at the injection site, unlike other sc...

Shihoko ITO, Mitsunori SUGIMOTO, Yoshikazu MATSUI, and Jun KONDOH Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hamamatsu...

A revised version of the Speech in Noise (SIN) test was developed by reallocating the recorded test material on the compact disc into different lists (blocks). The goal was to increase the equivalence and reliability of the test blocks to enhance their usefulness in research settings. The Revised Speech in Noise test has four blocks of sentences. Each block comprises twice as many sentences as ...

The objective of the present paper was to review the literature investigating the potential relationship between fruit and vegetables (FV) and psychological well-being. The rising prevalence of mental ill health is causing considerable societal burden. Inexpensive and effective strategies are therefore required to improve the psychological well-being of the population, and to reduce the negativ...

OK-432, a streptococcal preparation, has been used in the treatment of malignant diseases. We have found that OK-432 can act as an antigen and have established an OK-432-specific L3T4+ Lyt2- T-cell line (OK2) and a clone (OK2.21) from OK-432-immunized BALB/c mice (Iad) as antitumor effector cells. OK2 proliferated and secreted interleukin 2, but only when OK-432 was presented by Iad-positive an...

The two unique highly metastatic MCA-sarcoma cell lines have been established by the present authors. The inoculation of 1153Ln, one of the cell lines, either into footpad or subcutaneously on the back of syngeneic mice resulted in the development of metastasis exclusively in almost all lymphnodes of the body. We evaluated the therapeutic effect of a streptococcal preparation, OK-432, on the ly...