Effects of anti-β2-GPI antibodies on cytokine production in normal first-trimester trophoblast cells.

Aim: The anti-β2-GPI antibody (aβ2-GPIAb) has been detected in recurrent fetal loss with strong pathogenic activity. The effects of aβ2-GPIAb on cytokine production and aβ2-GPIAb binding sites in first-trimester trophoblast cells were evaluated.

Methods: First-trimester trophoblast cells were cultured in 24-well tissue culture plates with immunoglobulin G (IgG) obtained from aβ2-GPIAb-positive and aβ2-GPIAb-negative serum.

Prognosis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma with first-line interferon-α therapy in the era of molecular-targeted therapy.

The RCC-SELECT study showed the correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in STAT3 gene and survival in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients with first-line interferon-α (IFN-α). In that study, even patients with STAT3 SNP linked to shorter overall survival (OS) exhibited remarkably improved prognosis. All 180 patients evaluated in the above study were further analyzed for correlation between OS and demographics/clinicopathological parameters.

Prostatic Bleeding after Prostatic Biopsy Effects Oncological Outcomes with Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy.

Background: We vigorously reviewed patients' operation record who had adhesion of the Denonvilliers' fascia and found out most of these patients had prostatic bleeding after prostatic gland biopsies. We examined the magnitude of prostatic bleeding and frequency after biopsies and the relationship with oncological outcomes.

Materials And Methods: A total of 285 patients were selected for the final analyses.

Pharmacokinetics of drugs for pediatric pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Over the past few years, several drugs, each with a different mechanism, have been developed for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and are now prescribed in the clinical setting. While the optimal doses of these drugs in adults have been determined, the optimal dose in children, however, is unclear. The aim of this study was therefore, to measure blood drug levels and analyze the pharmacokinetics of two such drugs in children.

Treatment Results of Radiotherapy Combined with Balloon-occluded Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy for Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Aim: We present preliminary results from our clinical study evaluating the effectiveness of combination of radiotherapy with balloon-occluded arterial infusion (BOAI) and hemodialysis (HD) for bladder cancer.

Patients And Methods: We investigated 134 patients with a median age of 67 years (range=38-88 years) and a median follow-up time of 31 months. According to the UICC classification, 89 patients were at clinical stage T2, 40 at T3, and 5 at T4.

Novel Software-Assisted Hemodynamic Evaluation of Pelvic Flow During Chemoperfusion of Pelvic Arteries for Bladder Cancer: Double- Versus Single-Balloon Technique.

Purpose: Approximately 83 % of patients with bladder cancer have achieved a complete response after undergoing a novel bladder preservation therapy involving balloon-occluded intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy (BOAI) using a four-lumen double-balloon catheter, known as the Osaka Medical College regimen. This study aimed to show the quantitative difference in hemodynamics of the bladder arteries using syngo iFlow (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany), which provides an automatic tool for quantitative blood flow analysis between double BOAI (D-BOAI) and conventional single BOAI (S-BOAI).

Materials And Methods: Fifty patients were included.

Circadian Clock in a Mouse Colon Tumor Regulates Intracellular Iron Levels to Promote Tumor Progression.

Iron is an important biological catalyst and is critical for DNA synthesis during cell proliferation. Cellular iron uptake is enhanced in tumor cells to support increased DNA synthesis. Circadian variations in DNA synthesis and proliferation have been identified in tumor cells, but their relationship with intracellular iron levels is unclear.

Amitriptyline induces brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression through ERK-dependent modulation of multiple BDNF mRNA variants in primary cultured rat cortical astrocytes and microglia.

A significant role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been previously implicated in the therapeutic effect of antidepressants. To ascertain the contribution of specific cell types in the brain that produce BDNF following antidepressant treatment, the effects of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline on rat primary neuronal, astrocytic and microglial cortical cultures were examined. Amitriptyline increased the expression of BDNF mRNA in astrocytic and microglial cultures but not neuronal cultures.

The clinical trial on the safety and effectiveness of the photodynamic diagnosis of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer using fluorescent light-guided cystoscopy after oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA).

Objective: To examine the utility and safety of photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) after oral administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) (ALA-PDD) of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) using fluorescent-light (FL)-cystoscopy.

Methods: The study was a single-arm, open-label, multi-center prospective study on ALA-PDD of NMIBC, with safety as the primary endpoint and efficacy as the secondary endpoint. Diagnostic potential was evaluated through comparisons with the conventional diagnostic method using a white-light (WL)-source.

[A CASE OF ADVANCED BLADDER NEUROENDOCRINE CARCINOMA (SMALL CELL CARCINOMA) SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED BY LOW DOSE OF ORAL TEGAFUR-URACIL].

A 81-old-woman underwent a transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) at a nearby hospital in April 2011. The diagnosis was invasive urothelial carcinoma, G3 with a component of bladder small cell carcinoma, T1 or more. She was recommended to visit our hospital for combined modality therapy of bladder cancer, but she refused the treatment for over one year.

[Idiopathic Lumbar Hernia: A Case Report].

A 68-year-old woman, complained of an indolent lump about 60 × 70 mm in size in the left lower back. We conducted a computed tomography scan, which exhibited a hernia of Gerota'sfascia-commonly called superior lumbar hernia. In the right lateral position, the hernia contents were observed to attenuate, hence only closure of the hernial orifice was conducted by using Kugel patch, without removal of the hernia sack.

Detection of bladder cancer: comparison of low-dose scans with AIDR 3D and routine-dose scans with FBP on the excretory phase in CT urography.

Objective: To prospectively compare the detection of bladder cancer between low-dose scans with adaptive iterative dose reduction three dimensional projection (AIDR 3D) and routine-dose scans with filtered back projection (FBP) on the excretory phase (EP) in CT urography.

Methods: 42 patients were included. Routine- and low-dose EP were performed in each patient.

Focal concavity of posterior superior acetabulum and its relation with acetabular dysplasia and retroversion in adults without advanced hip osteoarthritis.

Background: Although little is known, a limited number of three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) images of the pelvis present focal concavity of posterior superior acetabulum. The purpose of the present study was to investigate this morphologic deformity and its relation with dysplasia and retroversion in adults who were expected to have the original morphology of the acetabulum after growth.

Methods: Consecutive adult patients with hip pain who visited our hospital and had three-dimensional pelvic CT images were retrospectively analyzed after approval of the institutional review board; exclusion criterions included diseases, injuries and operations that affect the morphology of the hip including radiographic osteoarthritis Tönnis grades 2 and 3.

Characterization of intragenic tandem duplication in the PAFAH1B1 gene leading to isolated lissencephaly sequence.

Background: Genetic aberrations in PAFAH1B1 result in isolated lissencephaly sequence (ILS), a neuronal migration disorder associated with severe mental retardation and intractable epilepsy. Approximately 60 % of patients with ILS show a 17p13.3 deletion or an intragenic variation of PAFAH1B1 that can be identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis or gene sequencing.

The Anti-Proliferative Effect of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy in a Prostate Cancer Xenograft Model.

Purpose: Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a selective radiation treatment for tumors that preferentially accumulate drugs carrying the stable boron isotope, 10B. BNCT has been evaluated clinically as an alternative to conventional radiation therapy for the treatment of brain tumors, and more recently, recurrent advanced head and neck cancer. Here we investigated the effect of BNCT on prostate cancer (PCa) using an in vivo mouse xenograft model that we have developed.

E74-like factor inhibition induces reacquisition of hormone sensitiveness decreasing period circadian protein homolog 1 expression in prostate cancer cells.

Purpose: Initiating as an androgen-dependent adenocarcinoma, prostate cancer (PCa) gradually progresses to a castrate-resistant disease following androgen deprivation therapy with a propensity to metastasize.

Methods: In order to resolve the mechanism of castrate-resistant PCa, we performed a cDNA-microarray assay of two PCa cell lines, LNCaP (androgen dependent) and C4-2 (androgen independent). Among them, we focused on a novel Ets transcription factor, E74-like factor 5 (ELF5), the expression level of which was extremely high in C4-2 in comparison with LNCaP both in the microarray analysis and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and investigated the biological role in acquisition of androgen-refractory PCa growth.

Positive voided urine cytology predicts worse pathological findings of nephroureterectomy specimens in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma: does selective ureteral cytology have an additional efficacy?

Objective: After radical nephroureterectomy, substantial numbers of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma are ineligible for adjuvant chemotherapy owing to diminished renal function. Accurate pre-operative prediction of worse pathological findings in radical nephroureterectomy specimens can guide appropriate patient selection for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Herein, we evaluated pre-operative voided urine cytology and the additional efficacy of selective ureteral cytology for predicting pathological features in upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients.

Focal frontal epileptiform discharges in a patient with eyelid myoclonia and absence seizures.

Eyelid myoclonia with absences is classified as a unique type of generalized seizure. Its pathogenesis is proposed to involve the functional abnormalities in cortical-subcortical networks. Here, we describe the case of a 7-year-old boy who had eyelid myoclonia with absences, along with focal motor seizures.

Role of adjuvant chemotherapy for lymph node-positive upper tract urothelial carcinoma and the prognostic significance of C-reactive protein: A multi-institutional, retrospective study.

Objective: To analyze the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in lymph node-positive patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma undergoing radical nephroureterectomy, and identified the prognostic adjuvant chemotherapy parameters.

Methods: The clinicopathological records of 74 lymph node-positive upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy at multiple institutions were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 45 patients (60.

Therapeutic administration of an ingredient of aged-garlic extracts, S-allyl cysteine resolves liver fibrosis established by carbon tetrachloride in rats.

S-allyl cysteine (SAC) is the most abundant compound in aged garlic extracts (AGEs). AGE has been reported to ameliorate the oxidative damage implicated in a variety of diseases. However, the effects of SAC have not been established in liver cirrhosis.

Intravesical administration of exogenous microRNA-145 as a therapy for mouse orthotopic human bladder cancer xenograft.

We previously reported that the level of microRNA (miR)-145 is attenuated in human bladder cancer cells. In this current study, we investigated whether intravesical administration of miR-145 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for controlling bladder cancer by using an orthotopic human bladder cancer xenograft model. Following transfection of 253J B-V cells with miR-145, the effects of the ectopic expression of miR-145 were examined by performing MTT, Western blotting analysis, Hoechst33342 staining, and wound healing assay in vitro.

Direct heating of a laser-imploded core by ultraintense laser-driven ions.

A novel direct core heating fusion process is introduced, in which a preimploded core is predominantly heated by energetic ions driven by LFEX, an extremely energetic ultrashort pulse laser. Consequently, we have observed the D(d,n)^{3}He-reacted neutrons (DD beam-fusion neutrons) with the yield of 5×10^{8} n/4π sr. Examination of the beam-fusion neutrons verified that the ions directly collide with the core plasma.