BACKGROUND Higher intake of folate and vitamins B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride) and B12 (cyanocobalamin) may decrease the risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) through the lowering of homocysteine levels. OBJECTIVE To relate intake of folate and vitamins B6 and B12 to AD risk. DESIGN AND PATIENTS We followed up 965 persons 65 years or older without dementia at baseline for a mean +/- SD period of 6....

Previously we observed strong and consistent associations between vitamin B6 status and several indicators of inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical indicators, including the disability score, the length of morning stiffness, and the degree of pain, and biochemical markers, including the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels, were found to be inverse...

In order to study the interaction of genetic and hormonal factors during murine hepatocarcinogenesis, we compared the number of liver tumors induced by treatment of 12-day-old mice with N,N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) (0.05 mumol/g body wt) in intact mice and animals gonadectomized at 8 weeks of age from the three inbred strains, C3H/HeJ (C3H), C57BL/6J (B6), and C57BR/cdJ (BR). At 50 weeks of age...

Aging is a well-recognized risk factor for dry eye. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) has been implicated in conjunctival keratinization and goblet cell loss in dry eye. We investigated the role of IFN-γ in age-related dry eye by evaluating young (8 weeks) and aged (15 months; 15M) C57BL/6 (B6) and IFN-γKO mice. Age effects on the conjunctiva and cornea epithelium were assessed with PAS staining and cor...

In recent years vitamin B6 has become a focus of research describing the compound's critical function in cellular metabolism and stress response. For many years the sole function of vitamin B6 was considered to be that of an enzymatic cofactor. However, recently it became clear that it is also a potent antioxidant that effectively quenches reactive oxygen species and is thus of high importance ...

C57BL/6 (B6)-derived embryonic stem (ES) cells are not widely used to generate knockout mice despite the advantage of a well-defined genetic background because of poor developmental potential. We newly established serum- and feeder-free B6 ES cells with full developmental potential by using leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO), a glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3)...

In some patients without vitamin B6 deficiency, epilepsy can not be controlled without an extra supplement of vitamin B6. The therapeutic role of pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), the active form of vitamin B6, may not be replaced with other forms of vitamin B6 sometimes. Until now, four inborn errors of metabolism are known to affect vitamin B6 concentrations in the brain. Three of them are hyperprol...

Using a cohort of C57BL/6 (B6) x (NZB x B6)F1 backcross male mice bearing the Yaa (Y-linked autoimmune acceleration) mutation, we mapped and characterized the NZB-derived susceptibility loci predisposing to the development of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AHA). Our analysis identified two major loci on NZB chromosome 7 and chromosome 1 linked with Coombs’ anti-erythrocyte autoantibody production...

We have shown previously that immunization of B6 mice (H-2b) with tumor cells of B6 origin transformed by the human adenovirus type 5 early region 1 (Ad5E1) induces an H-2Db-restricted CTL response against an E1B-encoded CTL epitope. We now report that immunization of B6 mice with Ad5E1-transformed tumor cells of BALB/c origin (H-2d), apart from inducing a B6 anti-BALB/c allo-response, also ind...

Increased expression of p202 protein (encoded by the Ifi202 gene) in splenocytes derived from B6.Nba2 mice (congenic for the Nba2 interval derived from the New Zealand Black mice) was correlated with defects in apoptosis of splenic B cells and increased susceptibility to develop systemic lupus erythematosus. We have now investigated the molecular mechanisms by which increased expression of p202...