type: misc

label: url

en: [A new attempt of integrated practice of basic medicine in Tokushima University].

ja: 基礎医学における実習統合化の新たな取り組み

en: The Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education has strengthened the promotion of horizontal and vertical integration of medical education, assuring the quality of medical education in Japan from an international perspective. Pharmacology plays an important role as a central hub that connects basic medical education with clinical medical education. As part of promoting horizontal integration of medical education, Tokushima University has started a joint practice with three basic medical subjects such as Biochemistry, Physiology, and Pharmacology for 2nd grade medical students in 2019. Each subject is in charge of two or four items of practice, and a total 8 of items are performed for 10 days in integrated practice every year. This joint practice has become an official subject in 2022. We introduce our experiences of unique practices based on their advantages and limitations.

en: Folia Pharmacologica Japonica

ja: 日本薬理学雑誌


en: Body iron accumulation in obesity, diabetes and complications, and thepossibility of therapeutic application by iron regulation

ja: 肥満・糖尿病とその合併症における生体内鉄蓄積と鉄制限による治療応用への可能性

en: Iron is an essential trace metal element for maintaining vital functions, and it is involved in hemoglobin synthesis, redox reaction, enzyme activity, cell proliferation and apoptosis in various cells. Iron deficient-related diseases represented anemia are well-known, on the other hand, iron overload disease has attracted little attention. Excessive iron produces hydroxyl radicals via Fenton/Haber-Weiss reaction, causing organ damage in hereditary iron overload diseases. Additionally, it has been clarified that iron accumulation is involved in the pathological conditions even in metabolic diseases thought to be unrelated to iron so far. Therefore, the role of iron in the living body has been raised attention again. Recent studies have reported that body iron content is associated with both obesity and diabetes, and iron might be an aggravating factor of obesity and diabetes. We have revealed that iron chelating agent reduced oxidative stress and inflammation, suppressing the development of adipose hypertrophy in KKAy mice. Dietary iron restriction also diminishes oxidative stress, leading to the inhibition of increased albuminuria excretion and glomerular lesions in db/db mice. In this review, we give an outline of the role of iron on obese and diabetes, and diabetic kidney disease, and present the possibility of application to treatment with iron regulation in those disorders.

ja: 鉄は生体内に最も多く存在する生命機能維持に必須の微量金属元素であり，赤血球のヘモグロビン合成，各種細胞における酸化還元反応，酵素活性，細胞増殖ならびにアポトーシスなどに関与する．そのため，貧血に代表される鉄欠乏疾患はよく知られているものの，鉄過剰疾患はあまり注目されてこなかった．過剰な鉄はフェントン/ハーバー・ワイス反応を介して酸化力が強力なヒドロキシルラジカルを生成し，遺伝性鉄過剰疾患における臓器障害の原因となるが，C型肝炎やアルツハイマー病などの従来は鉄と無関係と考えられていた疾患においても鉄が病態に関与していることが明らかとなり，生体内での鉄の役割が改めて注目されている．近年，生体内鉄量の増加が肥満ならびに糖尿病と関連することが示唆されており，鉄は肥満・糖尿病の増悪因子の可能性がある．しかし，肥満・糖尿病における鉄除去の効果については不明であった．我々は，肥満・糖尿病モデルKKAyマウスを用いて，鉄キレート剤投与が酸化ストレスや炎症を低減して，脂肪細胞肥大の進展が抑制されること，糖尿病性腎臓病モデルdb/dbマウスでは，食餌性鉄制限が酸化ストレスを減少して，アルブミン尿排泄増加や糸球体病変を抑制することで糖尿病性腎臓病の進行抑制につながることを報告した．本稿では，肥満・糖尿病とその合併症における鉄の役割と鉄制限による治療応用への可能性について，我々が明らかにした研究成果を含めて概説する．


en: The role of iron, a trace nutrient, on diabetes

ja: 糖尿病における微量栄養素「鉄」の役割

en: The nutrient balance is an important factor to keep healthy state in the body. In various nutrients, iron is a most abundant trace metal element. Iron-deficient anemia is often seen in the iron-related disorders, therefore, lots of functional food, drink, and nutritional supplement are widely provided and used to prevent iron deficiency. On the other hand, over iron intake induces excess iron status, causing increased oxidative stress production via catalyzing Fenton reaction. Recent evidences suggest that iron involves the pathological conditions of non-iron accumulating diseases, and the role of iron is noticed again.Diabetes is associated with poor prognosis to develop a variety of complications such as cardiovascular disease and diabetic kidney disease(DKD)in addition to diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy. Moreover, patients with diabetes often present reduced skeletal muscle mass, and it causes more impaired insulin resistance by diminishing glucose uptake. Recent studies have shown that iron content is associated with diabetic and obese condition, and high iron intake increases diabetes risk. We have clarified the favorable effect of iron reduction on obesity and DKD through diminishing oxidative stress. In addition, excess iron caused skeletal muscle atrophy and it was ameliorated by an anti-oxidant drug.Thus, iron plays an important role in diabetes and its complication through oxidative stress production. Further studies are clarifying an important role of trace nutrient including iron and so on, contributing to the development of new therapeutic strategy.

en: Shikoku Acta Medica

ja: 四国医学雑誌


en: Roles of the Androgen - Androgen Receptor System in Vascular Angiogenesis.

en: Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis


en: Role of Dietary Essential Trace Metals in the Pathogenesis of Diabetes Mellitus

ja: 糖尿病と食事由来金属元素

en: Journal of the The Japan Diabetes Society

ja: 糖尿病


en: Effects of Statins on Cardiorenal Syndrome.

en: Cardiovascular disease and renal disease have a close relationship that forms a vicious cycle as a cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). Oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and vascular inflammation could be therapeutic targets when the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is activated by accumulation of conventional cardiovascular risk factors; however, a strategy for management of CRS has not been established yet. Statins, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, have not only cholesterol-lowering effects but also pleiotropic effects on cardiovascular systems, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and improvement of nitric oxide bioavailability. Since recent studies have indicated that statins have beneficial effects on chronic kidney disease and heart failure as well as coronary artery disease in cholesterol-lowering-dependent/independent manners, treatment with statins might be a successful strategy for preventing deterioration of CRS.

en: International Journal of Vascular Medicine


en: Iron metabolism in the progression of adipocyte hypertrophy

en: The Cell

ja: 細胞


en: Effects of androgens on cardiovascular remodeling.

en: Androgens, the male sex hormones, exert various biological effects on many target organs through the transcriptional effects of the nuclear androgen receptor (AR). ARs are expressed not only in classical target organs, such as the brain, genital organs, bone, and skeletal muscles, but also in the cardiovascular system. Because the female sex hormones estrogens are well known to protect against cardiovascular disease, sex has been considered to have a significant clinical impact on cardiovascular mortality. However, the influence of androgens on the cardiovascular system has not been fully elucidated. To clarify this issue, we analyzed the effects of administration of angiotensin II and doxorubicin, an anticancer agent, in a loading model in male wild-type and AR-deficient mice. In this review, we focus on the actions of androgens as potential targets for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in males.

en: The Journal of Endocrinology

ja: The Journal of Endocrinology


en: The role of iron on cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus

ja: 循環器疾患と糖尿病における生体内鉄の意義

en: Japanese Journal of Circulation Research

ja: 血管


en: Role of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor1a (HIF-1a) in T cells in development of vascular remodeling

ja: 生体の低酸素応答と病態 -血管リモデリングにおける転写因子HIFの関与-

en: Recent studies have shown that the cellular immune response to the hypoxic microenvironment constructed by vascular remodeling development modulates the resulting pathologic alterations. A major mechanism mediating adaptive responses to reduced oxygen availability is the regulation of transcription by hypoxia-inducible factor1(HIF‐1). Impairment of HIF‐1‐ dependent inflammatory responses in T cells causes an augmented vascular remodeling induced by arterial injury, which is shown as prominent neointimal hyperplasia and increase in infiltration of inflammatory cells at the adventitia in mice lacking Hif‐1α specifically in T cells. Studies to clarify the mechanism of augmented vascular remodeling in the mutant mice have shown enhanced production of cytokines in activated T cells and augmented antibody production in response to a T-dependent antigen in the mutant mice. This minireview shows that HIF‐1α in T cells plays a crucial role in vascular inflammation and remodeling in response to cuff injury as a negative regulator of the T cell-mediated immune response and suggests potential new therapeutic strategies that target HIF‐1α.


en: Transforming Growth Factor-1 as a Common Target Molecule for Development of Cardiovascular Diseases, Renal Insufficiency and Metabolic Syndrome.

en: Transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1) is a polypeptide member of the transforming growth factor superfamily of cytokines. It is a secreted protein that performs many cellular functions including control of cell growth, cell proliferation, cell differentiation and apoptosis. In the cardiovascular system, TGF-1 plays pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of hypertension, restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention, atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. In addition, TGF-1 has been shown to be increased in adipose tissue of obese subjects with insulin resistance. Furthermore, TGF-1 is a potent initiator of proliferation of renal mesangial cells leading to chronic kidney disease. Some currently available agents can manipulate TGF-1 expression leading to amelioration of cardiovascular diseases. Thus, an understanding of interactions between chronic kidney disease and metabolic syndrome and the development of cardiovascular diseases is an important issue, and attention should be given to TGF-1 as a crucial factor for regulation and modulation of those pathological conditions.

en: Cardiology Research and Practice

ja: Cardiology Research and Practice


en: Predictors for a poor prognosis after reperfusion in elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction

en: Japanese Journal of Interventional Cardiology