title: Yusho and its latest findings-A review in studies conducted by the Yusho Group.
abstract: The Yusho incident is an unprecedented mass food poisoning that occurred in Japan in 1968. It was caused by the ingestion of rice bran oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and various dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The victims of Yusho have suffered from characteristic skin manifestations associated with systemic, ophthalmological, and mucosal symptoms for a long period of time. The Study Group of Yusho (the Yusho Group) has been conducting annual medical check-ups on Yusho victims for more than 45years. Since 2002, when concentrations of dioxins in the blood of Yusho patients started to be measured, the pharmacokinetics of dioxins, relationship between blood levels of dioxins and symptoms/signs in patients directly exposed to dioxins, and the adverse effects on the next generation have become dramatically clear. Herein we review recent findings of studies conducted by the Yusho Group to evaluate chronic dioxin-induced toxicity to the next generation as well as Yusho patients in comparison with a similar food mass poisoning, the Yucheng incident. Additionally, we summarized basic studies carried out by the Yusho Group to re-evaluate the mechanisms of dioxin toxicities in experimental models and various functions of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), known as the dioxin receptor, pathway.
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Yusho and Dioxin, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan. Electronic address: mchikage@dermatol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Chikage
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mitoma
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Fukuoka Children's Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukimori
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Policy, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akahane
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Policy, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Utani
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Yusho and Dioxin, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan; Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masutaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furue
mesh_terms: D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004147:Dioxins; D005517:Foodborne Diseases; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010938:Plant Oils; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D000073879:Rice Bran Oil
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004147:Dioxins; D010938:Plant Oils; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D000073879:Rice Bran Oil; C020887:dibenzo(1,4)dioxin
keywords: 2,3,4,7,8-penta-chlorodibenzofuran; Aryl hydrocarbon receptor; Dioxins; Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Yusho