The involvement of chemokines in thymic atrophy and its application to forensic practices

• Project/Area Number: 16H07133
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Legal medicine
• Research Institution: Wakayama Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Kawaguchi Takashi 和歌山県立医科大学, 医学部, 準客員研究員 (60781284)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: 胸腺萎縮 / 児童虐待 / ストレス / サイトカイン / ケモカイン / 虐待 / 胸腺 / CCR5 / CCR5リガンド / 法医病理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined the pathophysiological roles of CCR5 in stress-induced thymic atrophy. C57BL/6 (WT) and Ccr5 KO mice were immobilized individually in well-ventilated restrainers for 1 hour daily, and this procedure were repeated the following 2 days. When WT mice were restrained, the thymuses significantly involuted and their weight decreased to 25% of unrestrained thymus weight. However, in Ccr5　KO mice treated with the same manner, the decrease of thymus weight was significantly suppressed. In the next series, restrain stress significantly induced the apoptosis in the thymic cells of WT mice. On the contrary, the absence of CCR5 significantly suppressed apoptosis of thymic cells. These observations implied that the absence of CCR5 resisted stress-induced thymic atrophy. Thus, CCR5-mdiated signals would promote thymic involution induced by restrain stress. From the forensic aspects, CCR5 would be a key molecule for diagnosing abuse in infants and children.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Suicide by plastic bag suffocation combined with the mixture of citric acid and baking soda in an adolescent (2018)
  • Author(s): Murakami K, Kawaguchi T 他11名
  • Journal Title: Int J Legal Med Volume: 印刷中
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Fatal acute intoxication of accidentally ingested nifedipine in an infant - A case report (2017)
  • Author(s): Yamamoto H, Kawaguchi T 他7名
  • Journal Title: Leg Med (Tokyo) Volume: 24 Pages: 12-18
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Exaggerated arsenic nephrotoxicity in female mice through estrogen-dependent impairments in the autophagic flux. (2016)
  • Author(s): Kimura A, Ishida Y, Nosaka M, Kuninaka Y, Hama M, Kawaguchi T, Sakamoto S, Shinozaki K, Iwahashi Y, Takayasu T, Kondo T.
  • Journal Title: Toxicology. Volume: 339 Pages: 9-18
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2015.11.005
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] The involvement of CCR5 in stress-induced thymic atrophy (2018)
  • Author(s): Kondo T, Kawaguchi T 他8名,
  • Organizer: Annual Meeting of German Society of Legal Medicine