Impact of the First Twenty-Four-Hour Area Under the Concentration-Time Curve/Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Vancomycin on Treatment Outcomes in Patients With Methicillin-Resistant Bacteremia.

Background: Vancomycin regimens are designed to achieve an area under the concentration-time curve/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC/MIC) ratio ranging between 400 and 600 µg·h/mL in the steady state. However, in cases of critical infections such as bacteremia requiring an early treatment approach, the clinical course may be affected by the AUC/MIC before reaching the steady state, that is, the AUC/MIC values 24 h after the first dose (first 24-h AUC/MIC). This study evaluated the relationship between the first 24-h AUC/MIC and the clinical course of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) infection.

Multiple mutations of Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. chimaera causing false-negative reaction to the transcription-reverse transcription concerted method for pathogen detection.

Objectives: To report an isolate of Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. chimaera with multiple mutations in 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene, resulting in the false-negative reaction to the transcription-reverse transcription concerted (TRC) method for Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex.

Methods: We used TRC, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Time-of-Flight/Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) methods to identify a clinical isolate in 2021.

Emerging resistance to beta-lactams in Pantoea ananatis isolated from an immunocompetent patient with bacteremia.

We observed an emerging resistance to β-lactams in a P. ananatis bacteremia case. Whole genome sequence analysis detected two β-lactamase genes as well as related genes that regulate the β-lactamase genes in the chromosome.

Surveillance of the current situation regarding influenza vaccination according to medical oncologists in Japan.

This study aimed to clarify the attitude of oncologists toward influenza vaccination and the current situation and issues regarding influenza vaccination for patients on chemotherapy in Japan. A web-based survey of medical oncologists certified by the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology was conducted between November 1 and December 31, 2019. Of the 1369 medical oncologists who were invited to participate, 415 (30.

Development of risk factor-based scoring system for detection of hypervirulent bloodstream infections.

Background: Hypervirulent (HVKp) infections have distinct clinical manifestations from classical infections. The hallmark of HVKp infections are liver abscess formation and metastatic infections. Due to the severe sequelae of these complications, method to identify patients at-risk of HVKp infections should be developed.

Community-acquired Disseminated Exophiala dermatitidis Mycosis with Necrotizing Fasciitis in Chronic Graft-versus-host Disease.

We herein report a case of systemic phaeohyphomycosis by Exophiala dermatitidis (E. dermatitidis) with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The patient had been taking oral corticosteroids for years to control the GVHD.

Prognostic factors for candidaemia in intensive care unit patients: a retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Candidaemia, recognised as a fairly common disease among intensive care unit (ICU) patients, carries a poor prognosis. However, as studies on the prognostic factors associated with candidaemia in ICU patients are limited, this study aimed to establish the best prognostic factor for ICU patients with candidaemia in a tertiary care hospital in Japan.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with candidaemia in the emergency ICU at Fukuoka University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan, from April 2010 to March 2015.

Influence of the bacterial phenotypes on the clinical manifestations in Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia patients: A retrospective cohort study.

Ninety-four episodes of Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection were identified at a university hospital in Japan. After excluding extended-spectrum beta lactamase-producing strains, 83 blood isolates from these patients were assayed in terms of their bacterial phenotypes such as the mucoid and hypermucoviscosity phenotypes. Bacterial phenotypes were correlated with the patients' clinical manifestations.

A simple high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of linezolid in human plasma and saliva.

Linezolid is an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of multiresistant Gram-positive infections. A practical high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed for the determination of linezolid in human plasma and saliva. Linezolid and an internal standard (o-ethoxybenzamide) were extracted from plasma and saliva with ethyl acetate and analyzed on a Capcell Pak C18 MG column with UV detection at 254 nm.

[Necessity of personalized initial loading dose calculation of teicoplanin by clinical pharmacist-examination of the utility of using systemic inflammatory response syndrome score-].

When teicoplanin (TEIC) is injected at the maintenance dose, a long period is required for achievement of the target plasma trough concentration because of its long elimination half-life. An initial loading dose is necessary for rapid achievement of an effective plasma trough concentration. Thus, we proposed that it is necessary for a pharmacist determine the initial loading dose of TEIC to reach an effective plasma trough concentration rapidly after its administration to a patient.

Peyer's patch inducer cells play a leading role in the formation of B and T cell zone architecture.

Peripheral lymphoid tissues, such as lymph nodes and Peyer's patches (PPs), are organs required for mounting highly efficient immune responses to small quantities of Ag. The compartmentalization of the cellular components involved in the immune response into distinct zones supports the function of these tissues; however, little is known about how this compartmentalization is achieved. In this study, we analyzed neonatal PP development and present evidence that the CD3(-)IL-7Rα(+) PP inducer cells that initially play a pivotal role in the formation of the PP anlagen are involved in the formation of B and T cell zones in neonatal mice.

Organizer-like reticular stromal cell layer common to adult secondary lymphoid organs.

Mesenchymal stromal cells are crucial components of secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs). Organogenesis of SLOs involves specialized stromal cells, designated lymphoid tissue organizer (LTo) in the embryonic anlagen; in the adult, several distinct stromal lineages construct elaborate tissue architecture and regulate lymphocyte compartmentalization. The relationship between the LTo and adult stromal cells, however, remains unclear, as does the precise number of stromal cell types that constitute mature SLOs are unclear.

Peyer's patches are required for intestinal immunoglobulin A responses to Salmonella spp.

Previous studies have shown that Peyer's patches (PP) are not required for intestinal immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses to orally administered soluble protein. However, the roles of PP in regulation of mucosal immune responses against bacterial antigen remain to be clarified. In the present study, we generated several gut-associated lymphoreticular tissue-null mice by treatment with anti-interleukin-7 receptor antibody, the fusion protein of lymphotoxin beta receptor and IgG Fc, and/or tumor necrosis factor receptor p55 and IgG Fc.

[Epidemiology of multiple myeloma].

Death rates due to multiple myeloma are increasing by every year in Japan since 1970. 1,896 men and 1,889 women were died, during 2005. Crude mortality rates are also rising since 1970 and reach 3.

Distinct activities of stromal cells involved in the organogenesis of lymph nodes and Peyer's patches.

It is now well established that the interaction between "inducer" cells of hemopoietic origin and "organizer" cells of mesenchymal lineage is involved in the organogenesis of lymph node (LN) and Peyer's patch (PP). Organizer cells are defined by the expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 and the production of homeostatic chemokines. However, several studies suggested the presence of a diversity among these cells from different lymphoid tissues.

Defective chemokine-directed lymphocyte migration and development in the absence of Rho guanosine diphosphate-dissociation inhibitors alpha and beta.

Rho family small GTP-binding proteins, including Rho, Rac, and Cdc42, are key determinants of cell movement and actin-dependent cytoskeletal morphogenesis. Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor (GDI) alpha and Rho GDIbeta (or D4/Ly-GDI), closely related regulators for Rho proteins, are both expressed in hemopoietic cell lineages. Nevertheless, the functional contributions of Rho GDIs remain poorly understood in vivo.

Lipocalin 2-deficient mice exhibit increased sensitivity to Escherichia coli infection but not to ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Diverse functions have been reported for lipocalin 2. To investigate these functions in vivo, we generated gene-targeted lipocalin 2-deficient mice (Lcn2-/- mice). In vitro studies have suggested that lipocalin 2 is important for cellular apoptosis induced by IL-3 withdrawal, and for the induction of kidney differentiation during embryogenesis.

A phase II study of VEPA/FEPP chemotherapy for aggressive lymphoma in elderly patients: Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study JCOG9203.

The Lymphoma Study Group (LSG) of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group conducted a phase II trial of LSG12 therapy for 45 elderly patients with aggressive lymphoma to clarify whether LSG12 reduces severe infection without lowering the complete response (CR) rate in comparison with LSG4. LSG12, which consisted of a regimen of vincristine, cyclophosphamide, prednisolone, doxorubicin, vindesine, etoposide, and procarbazine (VEPA/FEPP), excluded bleomycin and methotrexate of LSG4 therapy, reduced the dosages of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, and increased etoposide and procarbazine dosages instead. Inclusion criteria consisted of a patient age of 70 to 75 years, a World Health Organization performance status of 0 to 2, and acceptable organ function.

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in high-risk multiple myeloma.

We compared the effect of high-dose therapy together with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (autoPBSCT) in 60 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) with 90 patients who underwent conventional chemotherapy. We scored the prognostic factors according to our reported classification system that includes measurements of serum albumin, serum beta-2-microglobulin, and morphology of myeloma cells selected by multivariate analysis. We separated the patients into three risk groups at stratification level I (low, intermediate and high) and into two risk groups at stratification level II (low and high).

[Thalidomide treatment of patients with refractory myeloma in the institutes participating in the Japan Myeloma Study Group].

Thalidomide was used in 73 patients with refractory myeloma in 15 of 45 institutes participating in the Japan Myeloma Study Group. The mean age and male/female ratio were 63.8 years and 0.

Cyclic phosphatidic acid inhibits RhoA-mediated autophosphorylation of FAK at Tyr-397 and subsequent tumor-cell invasion.

We demonstrated previously that rat ascites hepatoma MM1 cells require both lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and fibronectin (FN) for phagokinetic motility and transcellular migration and that these events are regulated through the RhoA-ROCK pathway and tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins including focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Moreover, we reported that palmitoyl-cyclic phosphatidic acid (Pal-cPA), a structural analogue of LPA, inhibits LPA-induced migration of MM1 cells and experimental metastasis of B16 murine melanoma cells. However, the molecular mechanisms of action of Pal-cPA remains to be clarified.

Sustained tyrosine-phosphorylation of FAK through Rho-dependent adhesion to fibronectin is essential for cancer cell migration.

Background: Co-stimulation with lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and fibronectin (FN) is essential for migration of rat ascites hepatoma MMI cells. We examined the roles of LPA and FN in Rho-FAK pathway to migration.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated the morphology, phagokinetic motility and the status of Rho activation and tyrosine-phosphorylation of FAK after stimulation of MMI or HT-1080 cells with LPA + FN or each alone.

Different cytokines induce surface lymphotoxin-alphabeta on IL-7 receptor-alpha cells that differentially engender lymph nodes and Peyer's patches.

The formation of lymph nodes (LN) and Peyer's patches (PP) can be distinguished by the requirement of RANK for LN but not IL-7R(alpha), which is essential for PP development. However, lymphotoxin-alphabeta (LT(alpha)beta) signaling is required for both organs. The cellular basis underlying this dichotomy was revealed by the finding that the fetal IL-7R(alpha)(+) population responded equally well to IL-7 and RANKL to express LT(alpha)beta.