Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common nonfatal disease burden worldwide. Systemic chronic low-grade inflammation has been reported to be associated with MDD progression by affecting monoaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission. However, whether various proinflammatory cytokines are abnormally elevated before the first episode of depression is still largely unclear. Here, we evaluated 184 adolescent patients who were experiencing their first episode of depressive disorder, and the same number of healthy individuals was included as controls. We tested the serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IgE, 14 different types of food antigen-specific IgG, histamine, homocysteine, S100 calcium-binding protein B, and diamine oxidase. We were not able to find any significant differences in the serum levels of hs-CRP or TNF-α between the two groups. However, the histamine level of the patients (12.35 μM) was significantly higher than that of the controls (9.73 μM, P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney U test). Moreover, significantly higher serum food antigen-specific IgG positive rates were also found in the patient group. Furthermore, over 80% of patients exhibited prolonged food intolerance with elevated levels of serum histamine, leading to hyperpermeability of the blood-brain barrier, which has previously been implicated in the pathogenesis of MDD. Hence, prolonged high levels of serum histamine could be a risk factor for depressive disorders, and antihistamine release might represent a novel therapeutic strategy for depression treatment.
Adolescent ; Biomarkers ; blood ; C-Reactive Protein ; Chronic Disease ; Cytokines ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; blood ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Food Hypersensitivity ; blood ; complications ; Histamine ; blood ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; immunology ; Inflammation Mediators ; blood ; Male ; Risk Factors ; S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit ; blood ; Young Adult

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that proceeds with the age-dependent neuronal loss, an irreversible event which causes severe cognitive and psychiatric devastations. In the present study, we investigated whether the compound, AAD-2004 [2-hydroxy-5-[2-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-ethylaminobenzoic acid] which has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, is beneficial for the brain of Tg-betaCTF99/B6 mice, a murine AD model that was recently developed to display age-dependent neuronal loss and neuritic atrophy in the brain. Administration of AAD-2004 in Tg-betaCTF99/B6 mice from 10 months to 18 months of age completely repressed the accumulation of lipid peroxidation in the brain. AAD-2004 markedly suppressed neuronal loss and neuritic atrophy, and partially reversed depleted expression of calbindin in the brain of Tg-beta-CTF99/B6. These results suggest that AAD-2004 affords neurodegeneration in the brain of AD mouse model.
Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Aspirin ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Mice ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons

Calbindin is a calcium binding protein that controls intracellular calcium levels and has a neuroprotective function against apoptotic stimuli. We investigated the expression of calbindin in ischemic brain injury. Focal cerebral ischemia was induced in male rats by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and cerebral cortices were collected 24 h after MCAO. Cerebral ischemia significantly increased infarct volume. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses showed that MCAO injury induced a decrease of calbindin expression. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining showed that the number of calbindin-positive cells decreased in ischemic regions of MCAO-operated animals. In cultured hippocampal-derived cell lines, glutamate exposure increased intracellular Ca2+ concentrations and decreased calbindin expression. Taken together, both in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated decreases of calbindin after neuronal cell injury. These results suggest that decreases of calbindin in ischemic brain injury contribute to neuronal cell death.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Brain Ischemia ; Calcium ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Carrier Proteins ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cerebral Cortex ; Glutamic Acid ; Humans ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Male ; Neurons ; Rats

A 45-year-old male with alleged asymptomatic hepatic hemangioma of 4 years duration had right upper-quadrant pain and was referred to a tertiary hospital. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed a hypervascular mass of about 7 cm containing intratumoral multilobulated cysts. A preoperative liver biopsy was performed, but this failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. The patient underwent a partial hepatectomy of segments IV and VIII. The histologic findings revealed multifocal proliferation of flattened or cuboidal epithelioid cells and a highly vascular edematous stroma. Immunohistochemistry findings demonstrated that the epithelioid tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), vimentin, calretinin, and cytokeratin 5/6, and were focally positive for CD10, and negative for WT1 and CD34, all of which support their mesothelial origin. Immunohistochemistry for a mesothelial marker should be performed for determining the presence of an adenomatoid tumor when benign epithelioid cells are seen.
Adenomatoid Tumor/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent/metabolism ; Hemangioma/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Keratins/metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neprilysin/metabolism ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vimentin/metabolism

Paecilomyces sinclairiis (PS) is known as a functional food or human health supplement. However concerns have been raised about its kidney toxicity. This study was performed to investigate the kidney toxicity of PS by 13 week-oral administration to rats. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, and kidney damage biomarkers including beta-2-microglobulin (beta2m), glutathione S-transferase alpha (GST-alpha), kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), calbindin, clusterin, cystatin C, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and osteopontin were measured during or after the treatment of PS. BUN, creatinine and kidney damage biomarkers in serum were not changed by PS. However, kidney cell karyomegaly and tubular hypertrophy were observed dose-dependently with higher severity in males. KIM-1, TIMP-1 and osteopontin in kidney and urine were increased dose dependently in male or at the highest dose in female rats. Increased urinary osteopontin by PS was not recovered at 2 weeks of post-exposure in both genders. Cystatin C in kidney was decreased at all treatment groups but inversely increased in urine. The changes in kidney damage biomarkers were more remarkable in male than female rats. These data indicate that the PS may provoke renal cell damage and glomerular filtration dysfunction in rats with histopathological lesions and change of kidney damage biomarkers in kidney or urine. Kidney and urinary KIM-1 and cystatin C were the most marked indicators, while kidney weight, BUN and creatinine and kidney damage biomarkers in serum were not influenced.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Clusterin ; Creatinine ; Cystatin C ; Female ; Filtration ; Fruit ; Functional Food ; Glutathione Transferase ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Isoenzymes ; Kidney ; Lipocalins ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 ; Neutrophils ; Osteopontin ; Paecilomyces ; Rats ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Synovial sarcoma arises in the para-articular tissues, and it can also occur in various unexpected sites. We report a rare case of primary monophasic synovial sarcoma (MSS) arising in the mesentery. A 59-year-old man presented with a palpable abdominal mass. On microscopic examination, the entire tumor comprised a dense proliferation of the spindle cells without epithelial components. The tumor cells were positive for transducin-like enhancer of split 1, bcl-2, epithelial membrane antigen and CD99 but negative for CD34, CD117, alpha-smooth muscle actin, cytokeratin, and calretinin on immunohistochemistry. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction revealed a single 151-bp fragment representing the SYT-SSX2 fusion transcript. Because mesenteric MSS is extremely rare and many cases display histologic findings that overlap with those of more frequently involved tumors such as hemangiopericytoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumor, there is a chance of making an incorrect diagnosis that can result in an inappropriate treatment.
Actins ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; Hemangiopericytoma ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; Mesentery ; Middle Aged ; Mucin-1 ; Muscles ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sarcoma ; Sarcoma, Synovial

Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Calbindin 2 ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Male ; Mesothelioma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Mucin-1 ; metabolism ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal ; pathology ; Orchiectomy ; methods ; S100 Calcium Binding Protein G ; metabolism ; Sarcoma ; pathology ; Testicular Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Testis ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVES: We attempted to compartmentalize the periaqueductal gray (PAG) of the rabbit in terms of the different distribution patterns between NADPH-diaphorase (NADPHd)- and calbindin D28K (CB)-positive neurons. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent labelling for CB and histochemistry for NADPHd were carried out on coronally-sectioned midbrain slices of the rabbit. RESULTS: NADPHd-positive neurons were selectively localized in the dorsolateral (DL), the middle one-third of the lateral (L), the dorsal half of the ventrolateral (VLd) PAG, and the supraoculomotor cap nucleus (Su3C). Clusters of CB-immunoreactive perikarya marked the dorsal half of DL (DLd), Su3C, the ventral one-third of L, and the ventral half of the ventrolateral (VLv) PAG. Double labelling for NADPHd and CB revealed that two markers labelled different neuronal groups in DLd and Su3C subdivisions. CONCLUSION: The present data suggest that NADPHd and CB can be regarded as reliable neurochemical markers to reveal the longitudinally-columnar organization within the PAG and to subdivide each columnar area.
Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mesencephalon ; Neurons ; Periaqueductal Gray

The hippocampus makes new memories and is involved in mental cognition, and the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) is critical because neurogenesis, which occurs throughout life, occurs in the DG. We observed the differentiation of neuroblasts into mature neurons (granule cells) in the DG of C57BL/6 mice at various early postnatal (P) ages: P1, P7, P14, and P21 using doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry (IHC) for neuroblasts and calbindin D-28k (CB) IHC for granule cells. DCX-positive cells decreased in the DG with age; however, CB+ cells increased over time. At P1, DCX and CB double-labeled (DCX+CB+) cells were scattered throughout the DG. At P7, DCX+CB+ cells (about 92% of CB+ cells) were seen only in the granule cell layer (GCL) of the dorsal blade. At P14, DCX+CB+ cells (about 66% of CB+ cells) were found in the lower half of the GCL of both blades. In contrast, at P21, about 18% of CB+ cells were DCX+CB+ cells, and they were mainly located only in the subgranular zone of the DG. These results suggest that the developmental pattern of DCX+CB+ cells changes with time in the early postnatal stages.
Animals ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Cognition ; Dentate Gyrus ; Hippocampus ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mice ; Neurogenesis ; Neurons

Some retinal neurons, including intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells have their dendrites stratified in sublamina a of the inner plexiform (IPL), the OFF sublayer, but paradoxically show light-driven ON electrophysiological responses. In order to understand the mechanism on this paradoxical response, by using immunoelectron microscopy with a specific antibody against calbindin, we examined the synaptic connections of the calbindin-immunoreactive ON cone bipolar cell of the rabbit retina, which is thought to make the ribbon synapse in sublamina a of the IPL. The ribbon synapses in sublamina a by calbindin-immunoreactive ON cone bipolar cells were mainly found at the border between the inner nuclear layer and the IPL. Interestingly, the output targets at these ribbon synapses turned out as monads, and multiple synaptic ribbons were engaged in each synapse. These findings were different from those at the conventional ribbon synapse formed by calbindin-immunoreactive ON cone bipolar axon terminals. Thus, these findings may be the characteristics of the calbindin-immunoreactive ON cone bipolar ribbon synapse in sublamina a and can be used to classify the synapse in the retinal circuit research.
Axons ; Calcium-Binding Protein, Vitamin D-Dependent ; Dendrites ; Microscopy, Electron ; Microscopy, Immunoelectron ; Presynaptic Terminals ; Retina ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; Retinal Neurons ; Retinaldehyde ; Synapses