BACKGROUND AND AIM: The association between physical activity (PA) and sarcopenia has mostly been investigated in older people, with few studies focused on earlier life stages. The present study aimed to determine whether higher PA levels are associated with a lower sarcopenia risk in middle-aged and early older people. METHODS: This was an 8-year follow-up study. Participants were 6,500 community-dwelling adults aged 40-74 years who participated in the baseline questionnaire survey conducted in 2011-2014 in Japan. Levels of total and leisure-time PAs at baseline were assessed using validated metabolic equivalent scores. Multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis and handgrip strength measurement were performed in 2021-2022, and participants with low height-adjusted appendicular lean mass (<20th percentile) and low grip strength were diagnosed as having sarcopenia (outcome). Covariates were demographics, body size, lifestyle, and disease history at baseline. RESULTS: The prevalence of sarcopenia was 137/2926 (4.7%) for men and 127/3574 (3.6%) for women. Higher total PA levels were associated with lower odds of sarcopenia (P for trend = 0.0278), with the second highest group having a significantly lower OR (0.51) than the lowest group (reference) in women, but not in men. Regarding leisure-time PA, those engaged in leisure-time vigorous PA had a lower OR of sarcopenia than those who did not (OR = 0.67, P = 0.0625). CONCLUSION Higher levels of total PA are associated with a lower risk of sarcopenia in women but not in men, suggesting a sex difference in this association. In addition, high levels of vigorous leisure-time PA may be effective for preventing sarcopenia.
Humans ; Sarcopenia/epidemiology* ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Independent Living/statistics & numerical data* ; Exercise ; Adult ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Hand Strength ; East Asian People

BACKGROUND: Age-related musculoskeletal diseases are becoming increasingly burdensome in terms of both individual quality of life and medical cost. We intended to establish a large population-based cohort study to determine environmental, lifestyle, and genetic risk factors of musculoskeletal and other age-related diseases, and to clarify the association between vitamin D status and such diseases. METHODS: We targeted 34,802 residents aged 40-74 years living in areas of northern Niigata Prefecture, including Sekikawa Village, Awashimaura Village, and Murakami City (Murakami region). The baseline questionnaire survey, conducted between 2011 and 2013, queried respondents on their lifestyle and environmental factors (predictors), and self-reported outcomes. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentration, an indicator of vitamin D status, was determined with the Liaison® 25OH Vitamin D Total Assay. The primary outcome of this study was osteoporotic fracture; other outcomes included age-related diseases including knee osteoarthritis, perception of chronic pain, dementia, and long-term care insurance use. Mean ages of men and women were 59.2 (SD = 9.3, N = 6907) and 59.0 (SD = 9.3, N = 7457) years, respectively. From the blood samples provided by 3710 men and 4787 women, mean 25(OH)D concentrations were 56.5 (SD = 18.4) nmol/L (22.6 ng/mL) and 45.4 (SD = 16.5) nmol/L (18.2 ng/mL), respectively. DISCUSSION Follow-up surveys are planned every 5 years for 15 years, and incident cases of our targeted diseases will be followed at hospitals and clinics in and nearby the cohort area. We anticipate that we will be able to clarify the association between vitamin D status and multiple disease outcomes in a Japanese population.
Aged ; Aging ; Cohort Studies ; Epidemiologic Research Design ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Japan ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Quality of Life ; Risk Factors ; Vitamin D ; analogs & derivatives ; blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent genome-wide analyses have provided strong evidence concerning adverse events caused by thiopurine drugs such as azathioprine (AZA) and 6-mercaptopurine. The strong associations identified between NUDT15 p.Arg139Cys and thiopurine-induced leukopenia and severe hair loss have been studied and confirmed over the last 2 years. However, other coding variants, including NUDT15 p.Val18_Val19insGlyVal, NUDT15 p.Val18Ile, and FTO p.Ala134Thr, and a noncoding variation in RUNX1 (rs2834826) remain to be examined in detail in this respect. Therefore, we investigated the correlation between these adverse events and the 5 recently identified variants mentioned above among Japanese patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). METHODS: One hundred sixty thiopurine-treated patients with IBD were enrolled. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays or Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: None of the 5 variants were associated with gastrointestinal intolerance to AZA. However, NUDT15 p.Arg139Cys was significantly associated with the interval between initiation and discontinuation of AZA among patients with gastrointestinal intolerance. This variant was strongly associated with early (<8 weeks) and late (≥8 weeks) leukopenia and severe hair loss. Moreover, it correlated with the interval between initiation of thiopurine therapy and leukopenia occurrence, and average thiopurine dose. NUDT15 p.Val18_Val19insGlyVal, NUDT15 p.Val18Ile, FTO p.Ala134Thr, and RUNX1 rs2834826 exhibited no significant relationship with the adverse events examined. CONCLUSIONS: Of the 5 variants investigated, NUDT15 p.Arg139Cys had the strongest impact on thiopurine-induced leukopenia and severe hair loss; therefore, its genotyping should be prioritized over that of other variants in efforts to predict these adverse events in Japanese patients with IBD.
6-Mercaptopurine ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Azathioprine ; Clinical Coding ; Hair ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Leukopenia

This case report describes the orthodontic treatment performed for open bite caused by internal derangement (ID) and osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). A Japanese woman, aged 31 years and 11 months, referred to our department by an oral surgeon had an open bite with clockwise rotation of the mandible and degeneration of the condyle. The overbite was corrected through intrusion of the maxillary and mandibular molars using mini-screw implants to induce counterclockwise rotation of the mandible. Then, the mandibular second premolars were extracted and comprehensive orthodontic treatment was performed to establish a Class I molar relationship with distalization of the maxillary arch and to eliminate anterior crowding. Following treatment, her facial profile improved and a functional and stable occlusion was achieved without recurrence of the TMJ symptoms. These results suggest that orthodontic intrusion of the molars is one of the safer and less stressful alternatives for the management of open bite due to degeneration of the condyles caused by ID and OA of TMJ.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bicuspid ; Crowding ; Female ; Humans ; Mandible ; Molar ; Open Bite* ; Osteoarthritis* ; Overbite ; Recurrence ; Temporomandibular Joint*

OBJECTIVEClarifying the characteristics of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in childhood is important for the prevention and management of this disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of ADHD symptoms in Japanese preschool children based on evaluations performed by parents or teachers.

METHODSA questionnaire survey was performed to evaluate the estimated prevalence of ADHD symptoms in preschool children in Niigata City, Japan. The first survey, conducted in 2003, involved an evaluation of ADHD symptoms by their school teachers. The second survey, conducted in 2006, involved an evaluation of the symptoms by parents. The teacher survey included 9,956 children, and the parent survey included 7,566 children. Parents and teachers assessed ADHD symptoms in children using a 14-item questionnaire based on DSM-III-R. Children with a score of 8 or higher were classified as having ADHD symptoms.

RESULTSThe overall prevalence of ADHD symptoms was 2,349/7,566 (31.1%) in the parent survey and 431/9,956 (4.3%) in the teacher survey, with a prevalence ratio of 7.2 (95% CI: 6.5-7.9). Likelihood ratio test indicated that variables significantly associated with the presence of ADHD symptoms were gender, age, school type, interaction between gender and observer, and interaction between school type and observer (each with P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONSThe large difference between the estimated prevalence of ADHD symptoms in Japanese preschool children from teacher and parent surveys suggests that compared to teachers, parents consider their children's symptoms much more serious. Thus, parental evaluation of ADHD symptoms using DSM criteria may be inappropriate for ADHD screening.

Vitamin D insufficiency or a low vitamin D status, is a prevalent condition worldwide. However, there have been no studies addressing this public health issue until recently. In this review article, a summary of a series of studies conducted by the author and his colleagues to determine whether the vitamin D status of Japanese people is adequate and how their vitamin D status affects bone mass and bone metabolism is presented. The observational studies conducted by our group revealed that vitamin D insufficiency does not seem to be a serious problem among active elderly people, but that elderly people with a low level of activities of daily living (ADL) are at a very high risk of vitamin D insufficiency. In young adults, a high intact PTH concentration due to vitamin D insufficiency, which adversely affects their bone mass, is common, suggesting that vitamin D nutrition, as well as dietary calcium intake, should be improved. However, the effects of vitamin D insufficiency among elderly Japanese on bone metabolism, bone mass, and fractures have not been clarified, and should be studied further to determine whether specific preventive strategies, such as vitamin D supplementation, are required for this high-risk group. Intervention studies targeting Japanese populations are required to further address this issue.

Increased intake or supplementation of vitamin D is often recommended for normal bone health; however, its preventive effect on osteoporosis has not been fully evaluated. The aim of this review is to gather evidence of the efficacy of the optimization of vitamin D nutrition in preventing osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. PubMed was used for searching the relevant literature using the MeSH terms "Bone Density (limited to "human", "female", and "English" literature)" or "Fractures (limited to "human", "age ≥45 years", and "English" literature)", and "Vitamin D". The searches yielded 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), nine cohort studies, 19 case-control studies, 19 cross-sectional studies, and one meta-analysis. We attempted to answer three questions: 1) does increased vitamin D intake prevent bone loss in peri- and postmenopausal women?, 2) does increased vitamin D intake prevent osteoporotic fractures in the elderly?, and 3) does increased vitamin D in take positively affect peak bone mass attainment in young women? The answer to questions 1 and 2 is that a vitamin D intake of 10-17.5 μg/day (400-700 IU/day) or more is effective in preventing bone loss in late postmenopausal women and an intake of 17.5-20 μg/day (700-800 IU/day) or more together with a calcium supplement reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures. For question 3, some lines of evidence support the negative effect of low vitamin D nutrition on the attainment of peak bone mass in young women. Further studies are needed to clarify the effect of vitamin D in this age group.

OBJECTIVETo assess whetherLegionella pneumophila serogroup 1 and serogroup 6,Escherichia coli, andStaphylococcus aureus can survive in Japan Sea Proper Water (JSPW).

METHODSThe inhibitory effects of JSPW, surface seawater (SSW), phosphate buffer solution with 3.5% NaCl of pH 7.0 (3.5% NaCIPBS), and the 10(2)- and 10(4)-fold dilute solutions with purified water or phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.0, and purified water were investigated. Survival cells were counted immediately after the water and the bacteria were mixed, and at 1,3,5, and 7 days after incubation at 37°C. If the number of surviving cells was decreased more than 2 log units compared with the starting value, we judged the medium to have had an inhibitory effect on the growth of the bacteria.

RESULTSThe survival cells of the bacteria in JSPW had decreased more than 2 log units compared with the starting value at 1 day after incubation. After 1 day of incubation, the cells ofLegionella pneumophila serogroup 6 andStaphylococcus aureus were found to have decreased more than 2 log units in purified water (PW) used as a control. Furthermore,Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in the 10(2)-fold dilute solution of JSPW was only 1.04 log units lower than the starting value at 7 days after incubation. In the 10(2)- and 10(4)-fold dilute solutions of JSPW,Escherichia coli survived for 7 days after incubation. These results were almost similar to the results in SSW and 3.5% NaCIPBS.

CONCLUSIONSThe present findings demonstrate thatLegionella pneumophila serogroup 1 andEscherichia coli cannot survive in undiluted JSPW for over a day at 37°C, suggesting the inhibitory effects may be due to the sodium chloride contained in JSPW.

OBJECTIVESDeep seawater (DSW) utilization technology has been developed for the fields of medicine and health, among others. To clarify the health effects of DSW as compared with surface seawater (SSW) or tap water (TW), we investigated the changes of immune cell distribution of the peripheral blood, or subjective judgment scores, after hot water bathing.

METHODSTen healthy young men were immersed for 10 min in DSW, SSW and TW heated to 42°C. Blood samples were collected before bathing, immediately after bathing and 60 min after bathing. Total and differential numbers of leucocytes and lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16, and CD56) were examined using an automated hematology analyzer and a flow cytometer, respectively. The subjective judgment scores were obtained by an oral comprehension test.

RESULTSSince the pre-bathing leukocyte count in the TW group was significantly different from those in the DSW and SSW groups, we excluded the findings of TW bathing from consideration. In hot DSW bathing, CD8-lymphocytes increased significantly immediately after bathing (p<0.05), in contrast to hot SSW bathing, in which no significant changes were detected in the lymphocyte subsets. Additionally, there were no significant changes between repeated measurements in the subjective judgment scores, though the score of thermal sensation in SSW bathing showed a significantly higher value immediately after bathing than before bathing (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSOur findings suggest that increased CD8-lymphocytes in hot DSW bathing may improve human immune function as well as hot springs do, as compared with SSW bathing. Although hot DSW bathing may have the ability to change human immune cell distribution, well-designed studies are needed to clarify the health effects including not only DSW and SSW but also TW.

Objectives: Deep seawater (DSW) utilization technology has been developed for the fields of medicine and health, among others. To clarify the health effects of DSW as compared with surface seawater (SSW) or tap water (TW), we investigated the changes of immune cell distribution of the peripheral blood, or subjective judgment scores, after hot water bathing. Methods: Ten healthy young men were immersed for 10 min in DSW, SSW and TW heated to 42°C. Blood samples were collected before bathing, immediately after bathing and 60 min after bathing. Total and differential numbers of leucocytes and lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16, and CD56) were examined using an automated hematology analyzer and a flow cytometer, respectively. The subjective judgment scores were obtained by an oral comprehension test. Results: Since the pre-bathing leukocyte count in the TW group was significantly different from those in the DSW and SSW groups, we excluded the findings of TW bathing from consideration. In hot DSW bathing, CD8-lymphocytes increased significantly immediately after bathing (p<0.05), in contrast to hot SSW bathing, in which no significant changes were detected in the lymphocyte subsets. Additionally, there were no significant changes between repeated measurements in the subjective judgment scores, though the score of thermal sensation in SSW bathing showed a significantly higher value immediately after bathing than before bathing (p<0.01). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that increased CD8-lymphocytes in hot DSW bathing may improve human immune function as well as hot springs do, as compared with SSW bathing. Although hot DSW bathing may have the ability to change human immune cell distribution, well-designed studies are needed to clarify the health effects including not only DSW and SSW but also TW.
Bathing self care ; Treated with ; Cells ; Deep ; Antigens, CD8