Higher arterial stiffness, greater peripheral vascular resistance and lower blood flow in lower-leg arteries are associated with long-term hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetic patients with normal ankle-brachial index.

Background: Higher arterial stiffness and greater peripheral vascular resistance reduce blood flow in lower-leg arteries and contribute to the development of ischaemic limb in diabetic patients even without peripheral artery occlusive disease. The aim of this study was to clarify whether these vascular parameters are associated with long-term hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients.

Methods: We examined 45 type 2 diabetic patients and 38 age-matched nondiabetic subjects without peripheral artery occlusive disease assessed by ankle-brachial index consecutively admitted to our hospital, and followed them over a 3-year period (3.

Eradication of hepatitis C virus by interferon improves whole-body insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background/aims: To investigate whether eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by interferon (IFN) therapy influences systemic glucose metabolism.

Methods: Seventy-two patients with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled in this study. Patients received IFN therapy and were classified into two groups: sustained responders (n=48) and nonsustained responders (n=24).

Whole-body insulin sensitivity index is a highly specific predictive marker for virological response to peginterferon plus ribavirin therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b and high viral load.

Insulin resistance is a candidate predictive factor for virological response to peginterferon plus ribavirin (PEG/RBV) therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients. We examined whether indices of insulin resistance could serve as a predictor of sustained virological response (SVR). Fifty-one patients with genotype 1b and high viral load who received PEG/RBV therapy for 48 weeks were included.

Improved cardio-respiratory fitness correlates with changes in the number and size of small dense LDL: randomized controlled trial with exercise training and dietary instruction.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between lifestyle improvements, in particular increased cardio-respiratory fitness and changes in the blood lipid profile.

Methods: The participants were 217 residents of Fuji and Yamato Towns, Saga City, with mildly abnormal blood pressure, serum lipids or blood glucose detected at health check-ups in 2003. Participants were randomly allocated to an Intervention (108 subjects) or Control group (109 subjects), matched for age and various conditions.

Hepatitis C virus infection enhances insulin resistance induced by visceral fat accumulation.

Background/aims: To clarify the impact of visceral obesity on hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients, we examined the relationship between insulin resistance development and visceral fat accumulation.

Methods: We analyzed 87 HCV-infected patients with mild fibrosis (stage 1 or 2) in comparison with 125 sex- and age-matched patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The degree of visceral fat area (VFA; cm(2)) at the umbilical level was measured by abdominal computed tomography and divided into two grades: no visceral obesity, VFA<100 and visceral obesity, VFA>/=100.

Bleeding and stenosis caused by reflux esophagitis was not common in emergency endoscopic examinations: a retrospective patient chart review at a single institution in Japan.

Background: Bleeding and stenosis are serious complications of reflux esophagitis, although few studies have been performed in Japan regarding these complications. This study aimed to indicate the characteristics of reflux esophagitis observed during emergency endoscopic examination in Japan.

Methods: All subjects who had emergency endoscopic examination performed between 1990 and 2004 at Saga Medical School Hospital were evaluated.

Impaired peripheral circulation in lower-leg arteries caused by higher arterial stiffness and greater vascular resistance associates with nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients with normal ankle-brachial indices.

Diabetic nephropathy is a major cause of lower-limb amputation. We enrolled 250 type 2 diabetic patients without apparent occlusive peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial indices >0.9) and 40 age-matched nondiabetic subjects consecutively admitted to our hospital.

Low blood flow estimates in lower-leg arteries predict cardiovascular events in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes with normal ankle-brachial indexes.

Objective: To examine the association of baseline measures in lower-leg arteries and conventional cardiovascular risk factors with the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in type 2 diabetic patients with normal ankle-brachial indexes (ABIs) (>0.9).

Research Design And Methods: We studied 129 type 2 diabetic patients and 35 age-matched nondiabetic subjects with no apparent CVD consecutively admitted to our hospital.

Visceral fat accumulation and insulin resistance are important factors in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases are often associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and excessive visceral fat accumulation. The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate the relationship between the severity of fatty liver and visceral fat accumulation in nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, and (2) to investigate the relationships of fatty liver with biochemical data and insulin resistance.

Methods: One hundred twenty-nine subjects (63 women) with fatty liver diagnosed by ultrasonography were enrolled.

High serum leptin is an independent risk factor for non-response patients with low viremia to antiviral treatment in chronic hepatitis C.

Aim: To determine whether body weight and/or serum leptin were independent predictors of response to antiviral treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation was performed in 139 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon (IFN) from 1996 to 2000. Sustained response was defined as negative by hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA analysis using PCR and normal transaminase at 24 wk after cessation of IFN therapy.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1-induced apoptosis is blocked by beta 1-integrin-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase activation in human hepatoma cells.

Growth factors and extracellular matrices cooperatively regulate cellular behavior. However, the interactions between transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) and integrins in hepatic cells are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of beta 1-integrin on TGF-beta 1-regulated growth of hepatoma cells.

Induction of multiple matrix metalloproteinase genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma by hepatocyte growth factor via a transcription factor Ets-1.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as have hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its c-Met receptor. We investigated regulation of MMP gene expression by HGF in human HCC. Expression of mRNAs encoding MMPs, HGF and c-Met receptor was examined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in human HCC and in five human HCC cell lines.

Mechanism of beta 1-integrin-mediated hepatoma cell growth involves p27 and S-phase kinase-associated protein 2.

Although cooperative interactions between growth factors and integrins, cell surface receptors for extracellular matrices (ECM), have been reported, little is known about the interaction between hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and integrin in hepatoma cells. We investigated the effects and mechanisms of integrin on the proliferation of hepatoma cells regulated by HGF. Human HepG2 hepatoma cells stably transfected with beta 1-integrin were treated with HGF and compared with parental and mock-transfected control cells.

The relationship between insulin resistance and polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene in patients with coronary artery disease.

Nitric oxide (NO) regulates endothelial function and is believed to prevent atherogenesis. In endothelial cells, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is expressed constitutively, and regulates NO synthesis. A mutation of the eNOS gene has been associated with the development of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Beta 1-integrin protects hepatoma cells from chemotherapy induced apoptosis via a mitogen-activated protein kinase dependent pathway.

Background: beta 1-integrin modulates cellular phenotype by mediating signals from the extracellular matrix (ECM). Although overexpression of integrin molecules in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been reported, the role of overexpressed beta 1-integrin in the disease process of HCC is not fully understood. The authors investigated the effects of beta 1-integrin on apoptosis in hepatoma cells.

Population-based study of hepatitis C virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma in western Japan.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem in Japan. This infection is highly prevalent in subjects with chronic liver disease and is strongly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma. Epidemiological studies conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that the mortality rate associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was high in several prefectures in western Japan.

Hepatocyte growth factor induces collagenase (matrix metalloproteinase-1) via the transcription factor Ets-1 in human hepatic stellate cell line.

Background/aims: Although hepatocyte growth factor recently has been shown to decrease hepatic fibrosis in animal models, the molecular mechanisms of this effects remain to be elucidated. We investigated regulation of collagenase expression by hepatocyte growth factor in hepatic stellate cells.

Methods: A human hepatic stellate cell line, LI90, was treated with hepatocyte growth factor.