No abstract

Recent studies on epigenetics, including DNA methylation and its regulatory enzymes, seem likely to contribute to elucidation of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), although the relationship between DNA methylation and SLE has long been the subject of investigation. To obtain a deeper understanding of the role of DNA methylation in the induction of SLE, we reviewed the relationship between DNA methylation and SLE based on findings reported in the literature and our own data. Various studies, including ours, have indicated the possible importance of DNA methylation, especially hypomethylation, in the etiology of SLE. These epigenetic studies may give us clues towards elucidation of the pathogenesis of SLE and development of new therapeutic strategies for this disease.

No abstract

Background: Quinupristin-dalfopristin (Q-D) is a mixture of quinupristin and dalfopristin, which are semisynthetic antibiotics of streptogramin groups B and A, respectively. Methods: We compared the effect of Q-D to that of vancomycin (VCM) in murine models of hematogenous pulmonary infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and VCM-insensitive S. aureus (VISA). Results: Treatment with Q-D resulted in a significant decrease in the number of viable bacteria in the lungs of mice in an MRSA infection model [Q-D 100 mg/kg, Q-D 10 mg/kg, VCM and control (mean ± SEM): 2.99 ± 0.44, 6.38 ± 0.32, 5.75 ± 0.43 and 8.40 ± 0.14 log₁₀ CFU/lung, respectively]. Compared with VCM, high-dose Q-D significantly reduced the number of bacteria detected in the VISA hematogenous infection model [Q-D 100 mg/kg, Q-D 10 mg/kg, VCM and control (mean ± SEM): 5.17 ± 0.52, 7.03 ± 0.11, 7.10 ± 0.49 and 7.18 ± 0.36 log₁₀ CFU/lung, respectively]. Histopathological examination confirmed the effect of Q-D. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Q-D is potent and effective in the treatment of MRSA and VISA hematogenous pulmonary infections.

Racemic sulforaphane, which was derivatized with (S)-leucine (l-leucine), was resolved by reversed phase HPLC with UV detection. The optimum mobile phase conditions were found to be 10 mM citric acid (pH 2.8) containing 22% methanol at 35 °C using detection at 254 nm. Sulforaphane enantiomers in florets and stems of five brands of broccoli and leaves and stems of three brands of broccoli sprouts were analyzed by the proposed HPLC method. Both sulforaphane enantiomers were detected in all of the samples. The S/R ratios of sulforaphane in broccoli samples were 1.5-2.6/97.4-98.5% for florets and 5.0-12.1/87.9-95.0% for stems. The S/R ratios in broccoli sprout samples were higher than those in broccoli samples and were found to be 8.3-19.7/80.3-91.7% for leaves and 37.0-41.8/58.2-63.0% for stems. (S)-Sulforaphane detected in the broccoli and its sprout samples was positively identified by separately using an HPLC with a chiral column (Chiralpak AD-RH) and mass spectrometry.