江口 哲史

The increasing exposure to environmental chemicals calls for comprehensive non-targeted analysis to detect unrecognized substances in human samples. We examined human serum samples to classify compounds as endogenous or exogenous using public databases and to explore the relationships between exposure markers and metabolic patterns. Serum samples from 84 pregnant women at 32 weeks gestation were analyzed using LC-QToFMS. Using the PubChemLite for Exposomics database, we annotated and classified 106 compounds (51 endogenous, 55 exogenous). The compound patterns were analyzed using three dimensional reduction methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), regularized Generalized Canonical Correlation Analysis (rGCCA), and Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP). OPTICS clustering applied to these methods revealed two distinct clusters, with 89 % of significant compounds overlapping between clusters. The detected exogenous compounds included dietary substances, phthalates, nitrogenous compounds, and parabens. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that chemical exposure was linked to changes in amino acid metabolism, protein and mineral transport, and energy metabolism. While we found associations between exposure and metabolite changes, we could not establish causality. Our approach of analyzing both exogenous and endogenous chemicals from the same dataset using PubChemLite database presents a new method for exposome research, despite limitations in sample size and peak annotation accuracy. These findings contribute to understanding multiple chemical exposures and their metabolic effects in human biomonitoring.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of understanding environmental factors in disease transmission. This study aims to explore the spatial association between nighttime light (NTL) from satellite imagery and COVID-19 mortality. It particularly examines how NTL serves as a pragmatic proxy to estimate human interaction in illuminated nocturnal area, thereby impacting viral transmission dynamics to neighboring areas, which is defined as spillover effect. Analyzing 43,199 COVID-19 deaths from national mortality data during January 2020 and October 2022, satellite-derived NTL data, and various environmental and socio-demographic covariates, we employed the Spatial Durbin Error Model to estimate the direct and indirect effect of NTL on COVID-19 mortality. Higher NTL was initially directly linked to increased COVID-19 mortality but this association diminished over time. The spillover effect also changed: during the early 3rd wave (December 2020 - February 2021), a unit (nanoWatts/sr/cm2) increase in NTL led to a 7.9% increase in neighboring area mortality (p = 0.013). In contrast, in the later 7th wave (July - September 2022), dominated by Omicron, a unit increase in NTL resulted in an 8.9% decrease in mortality in neighboring areas (p = 0.029). The shift from a positive to a negative spillover effect indicates a change in infection dynamics during the pandemic. The study provided a novel approach to assess nighttime human activity and its influence on disease transmission, offering insights for public health strategies utilizing satellite imagery, particularly when direct data collection is impractical while the collection from space is readily available.

OBJECTIVE: This paper provides an in-depth examination of public attitudes towards salt reduction across seven culturally diverse countries: the USA, the UK, France, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brazil. DESIGN: Cross-sectional regression analysis with questionnaire data. SETTING: An analysis of questionnaire study in seven countries. PARTICIPANTS: The study's questionnaire collected responses from 7090 participants across seven countries with the mean age of respondents being 46.06 years (SD 16.96). The gender distribution encompassed 3473 men (49.12%), 3582 women (50.66%), 24 non-binary individuals (0.34%) and 11 who identified as 'other' (0.16%). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Attitudes toward sodium reduction were measured on a seven-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Regression analysis revealed significant associations between attitudes towards sodium reduction and various factors across countries. Gender was a significant factor in France, with women showing less awareness than men (coefficient -0.123, 95% CI -0.237 to -0.008). Age was a significant factor in Japan and Thailand, with older generations exhibiting stronger awareness. Occupation was a significant factor in France (grocery, 0.678, 0.229 to 1.127) and Japan (food service, 0.792, 0.300 to 1.283). In France (0.090, 0.033 to 0.146) and Brazil (0.092, 0.040 to 0.144), attitudes towards reducing sugar intake were positively associated with sodium reduction attitudes. Government interventions showed varying impacts, with positive associations in Thailand (0.004, 0.001 to 0.008) and negative associations in France (-0.003 -0.005 to -0.000). CONCLUSION: Our study reveals a complex array of factors shaping attitudes towards sodium reduction across seven countries. These findings support the need for nuanced, country-specific approaches in formulating sodium reduction strategies. Future research should validate these findings, explore further determinants and understand how attitudes translate into dietary behaviours.

Neonicotinoid (NN) pesticides have been linked to increased brain dysfunction in mammals, such as anxiety-like behavior; this is thought to involve monoamines (MA), neurotransmitters that control behavior, memory, and learning. However, the mechanism by which NNs affect the central nervous system is not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether MAs affect NNs-induced anxiety-like behavior. Mice were orally administered acetamiprid (ACE), an NN, at the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of mouse (20mg/kg body mass) set by the Food Safety Commission of Japan, and the elevated zero-maze (EZM) test was performed 30min after administration. After behavioral analysis, levels of four MA (dopamine, 3-MT, serotonin, and histamine) in selected brain regions were determined by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). In the exposed group, a trend toward increased anxiety-like behavior was observed, and at least one MA concentration was significantly increased in each region. Further, significant correlations were found between behavioral test results and hippocampal serotonin and striatal dopamine concentrations, as well as between dopamine and serotonin concentrations, in the exposed group. As anxiety can influence activity in the behavioral tests, the activity of neurons in the raphe nuclei (RN), a brain region greatly involved in anxiety via the serotonergic system, was examined by staining with anti-serotonin antibodies, and increased serotonergic activity was observed. Taken together, these results suggest that ACE regulates MA levels, notably serotonin levels in the hippocampus and that RN plays an important role in ACE-induced anxiety-like behavior.