Cytokine profiles in an extremely preterm infant with congenital syphilis.

We report the cytokine profiles of an infant with congenital syphilis as a first case. This female infant was born by vaginal delivery at a gestational age of 27 weeks during her mother's treatment for syphilis. Elevation of T helper (Th)-1 cytokines (interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12) and IL-17, which supports immunological mechanisms of Th-1, was similar to that in cases of syphilis in adults.

Simple chitin-based cell culture platform for production of biopharmaceuticals.

Objectives: Gene therapy using viral vectors and antibody-based therapies continue to expand within the pharmaceutical market. We evaluated whether Cellhesion VP, a chitin-based material, can be used as 3D culture platform for cell lines used for the production of antibodies and viral vectors.

Results: The results of Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and LDH assay revealed that Cellhesion VP had no adverse effect to Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK) 293, A549 and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) DG44-Interferon-β (IFN) cells.

Reversible suspension culture of human vascular smooth muscle cells using the functional biopolymer FP003.

Human vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are adherent cells, and they cannot survive without scaffolds in suspension culture. Here, we aimed to establish a suspension culture of SMCs using the functional biopolymer FP003 and to investigate the proliferation status of the cells. When SMCs were suspension cultured with FP003, their proliferation was inhibited with a viability of 75% until day 15.

Investigation of biomarkers in a rare case of fulminant necrotizing enterocolitis in a preterm infant.

We encountered a very rare case of fulminant necrotizing enterocolitis (F-NEC) in a preterm male baby. The course of NEC and sepsis in this case was clearly different from the usual course. After onset at 14 days of life, catheter-related bloodstream infection was first assumed, and antibiotics and γ-globulin administration were started.

A neonatal case of an elongated soft palate.

The development of stridor and periodic desaturation in a 2-day-old neonate born at term lead to the suspicion of upper airway obstruction. The patient underwent flexible fiberoptic laryngo-tracheo-bronchoscopy and was diagnosed as having an elongated soft palate and secondary mild pharyngomalacia. Early intervention with high PEEP therapy using nasal CPAP led to improvement in the patient condition.

Peripheral platelet phagocytosis in an extremely low birth weight infant:a case report.

A 768 g female neonate, born at 25 weeks' gestation, developed sepsis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis on day 14. Severe thrombocytopenia was observed, and hemophagocytic macrophages were identified in her peripheral blood smear. Cytokine profiles at the time of onset suggested that an inflammatory cytokine storm had activated lymphocytes and macrophages, leading to platelet phagocytosis.

A Novel 3D Culture System Using a Chitin-Based Polysaccharide Material Produces High-Quality Allogeneic Human UCMSCs with Dispersed Sphere Morphology.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation, in particular allogeneic transplantation, is a promising therapy for a variety of diseases. However, before performing allograft treatment it is necessary to find suitable donors, establish culture methods that maintain cell quality, and reduce cell production costs. Here, we present a new method of producing allogeneic MSCs combining human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) and chitin-based polysaccharide fibers (Cellhesion MS).

A male preterm infant with cow's milk allergy to human milk fortifier showing only severe respiratory symptoms.

We report a male infant with a birthweight of 1,400 g at 29 weeks 2 days gestation diagnosed as having cow's milk allergy (CMA) due to human milk fortifier, who developed severe respiratory symptoms. The infant had no gastrointestinal symptoms; rather, the initial symptoms were apnea attacks and wheezing with a prolonged expiratory phase that progressed to severe ventilatory insufficiency requiring mechanical ventilation. Aggravation of his general condition, which appeared to be due to sepsis, was improved by temporary starvation and respiratory care, but he relapsed on the resumption of enteral feeding of his mother's milk with a human milk fortifier.

Lateralization of the Tibial Tubercle in Recurrent Patellar Dislocation: Verification Using Multiple Methods to Evaluate the Tibial Tubercle.

Background: The tibial tubercle deviation associated with recurrent patellar dislocation (RPD) has not been studied sufficiently. New methods of evaluation were used to verify the extent of tubercle deviation in a group with patellar dislocation compared with that in a control group, the frequency of patients who demonstrated a cutoff value indicating that tubercle transfer was warranted on the basis of the control group distribution, and the validity of these methods of evaluation for diagnosing RPD.

Methods: Sixty-six patients with a history of patellar dislocation (single in 19 [SPD group] and recurrent in 47 [RPD group]) and 66 age and sex-matched controls were analyzed with the use of computed tomography (CT).

Neonatal Leukemoid Reaction with Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome Is Associated with Elevated Serum Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor and Interleukin-6.

Leukemoid reaction (LR) is a reactive disease that exhibits abnormal blood values similar to leukemia, but not due to leukemia. One report showed that neonatal LR (NLR) was associated with elevated serum granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in only 30% of the study neonates. NLR is not always associated with the elevation of serum G-CSF.

Serial investigation of continuous glucose monitoring in a very low birth weight infant with transient late-onset hyperglycemia.

Transient late-onset hyperglycemia was detected in a very low birth weight (VLBW) infant (gestational age 28 weeks, birth weight 1,082 g) by routine point-of-care glucose monitoring.　The infant had no clinical symptom.　Serial continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was conducted for 3 days at 31, 35, and 39 weeks' post conceptual age.

DOWN'S SYNDROME WITH NEONATAL ALLOIMMUNE THROMBOCYTOPENIA DUE TO HLA-A2 ANTIBODY.

Anti-HLA antibodies reportedly exist in the one third of pregnant women. But few occurrences of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) caused by anti-HLA antibodies have been reported. Here a male baby, who was admitted for low birth weight with Down syndrome (DS), was suffered from thrombocytopenia without transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD).

Preparation of chitin nanofiber-reinforced carboxymethyl cellulose films.

In this study, we investigated the preparation of chitin nanofiber (CNF)-reinforced carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) films by their electrostatic interaction. First, CMC films and self-assembled CNF dispersions with methanol were prepared by casting technique and regeneration from chitin ion gels with an ionic liquid, respectively. Then, the CMC films were immersed in the dispersions with the different CNF contents, followed by centrifugation to obtain the desired composite films.

Preparation of polysaccharide supramolecular films by vine-twining polymerization approach.

In this study, we investigated the preparation of polysaccharide supramolecular films through the formation of inclusion complexes by amylose in vine-twining polymerization using carboxymethyl cellulose-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) (CMC-g-PCL) as a new guest polymer. First, hydrogels were prepared by phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization in the presence of CMC-g-PCL according to the vine-twining polymerization manner. The XRD result of a powdered sample obtained by lyophilization of the resulting hydrogel indicated the presence of inclusion complexes of amylose with the PCL graft-chains between intermolecular (CMC-g-PCL)s, which acted as supramolecular cross-linking points for the hydrogelation.

Severe human herpesvirus 6-associated encephalopathy in three children: analysis of cytokine profiles and the carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2 gene.

Three children developed severe encephalopathy associated with human herpesvirus 6 infection. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed either basal ganglia involvement or diffusion abnormalities in the cerebral white matter. Coagulopathy with hypercytokinemia was observed in 2 patients.

[Clinico-pathological investigation of two patients with dementia with motor neuron disease].

Dementia with motor neuron disease (D-MND) is characterized clinically by frontal and neurological signs, and pathologically by localized atrophy of the fronto-temporal lobes and neuronal ubiquitin(Ub)-positive inclusions. In this study, we compared the clinico-pathological findings of two patients with D-MND. Case 1 (55-year-old male): At the age of 51, he developed personality change and disinhibition, lacking neurological signs.