Surgical management and outcomes in patients with Cushing disease with negative pituitary magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To analyze our experience with transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) in patients with Cushing disease (CD) with no visible adenoma on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Between January 1988 and October 2010, 183 patients with CD underwent TSS at Toranomon Hospital. We retrospectively analyzed data in 18 patients without visible adenomas on MRI and compared them with 106 patients with microadenomas.

Simultaneous combined supra-infrasellar approach for giant/large multilobulated pituitary adenomas.

Background: Surgical treatment of few complex pituitary adenomas, mostly large/giant and multilobulated, still remains troublesome. We present our case series using a simultaneous combined supra-infrasellar approach for these tumors.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our 29 consecutive patients who have undergone procedures using this approach since 2004.

GH deficiency in patients after cure of acromegaly by surgery alone.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and characteristics of severe GH deficiency (sGHD) in patients after treatment of acromegaly by surgery alone.

Design And Methods: One hundred and eighty-six patients fulfilling the criteria for cure of acromegaly were examined by GH-releasing peptide-2 stimulation test or arginine stimulation test as well as oral glucose tolerance test (GTT). In addition, the Japanese adult hypopituitarism questionnaire was completed to determine the quality of life (QoL).

A silent follicle-stimulating hormone-producing pituitary adenoma in a teenage male.

An 18-year-old male was referred to Toranomon Hospital seeking reoperation for recurrent clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma. A pituitary macroadenoma was first suspected at age 15 due to intractable headaches. Endocrine data were unremarkable except slightly elevated serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).

Clinicopathological features of malignant lymphoma in Japan: the Miyagi Study.

The Miyagi Study is an epidemiological study of malignant lymphoma, including immunological and genetic analyses, constructed by a population-based registration system covering Miyagi prefecture, Japan. A total of 1,552 newly diagnosed cases in Miyagi between 2002 and 2008 were enrolled in this study; 75% were B-cell lymphomas, 19% were T-cell and natural killer-cell (T/NK-cell) lymphomas, and 5% were Hodgkin's lymphomas. The most frequent subtype of B-cell lymphoma is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, followed by follicular lymphoma and extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (51%, 24% and 8%, respectively).

Surgical outcome in 90 patients with craniopharyngioma: an evaluation of transsphenoidal surgery.

Objective: To analyze surgical outcomes in 90 patients with craniopharyngioma treated by standard transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) or extended transsphenoidal surgery (eTSS).

Methods: From 1990-2008, 90 patients (64 adults and 26 children) underwent TSS for craniopharyngioma (34 subdiaphragmatic and 56 supradiaphragmatic). TSS was performed as the initial surgery in 62 patients and as the second procedure in 28 patients.

TS-071 is a novel, potent and selective renal sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor with anti-hyperglycaemic activity.

Background And Purpose: The renal sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) plays an important role in the reuptake of filtered glucose in the proximal tubule and therefore may be an attractive target for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. This study characterizes the pharmacological profile of TS-071 ((1S)-1,5-anhydro-1-[5-(4-ethoxybenzyl)-2-methoxy-4-methylphenyl]-1-thio-D-glucitol hydrate), a novel SGLT2 inhibitor in vitro and in vivo.

Experimental Approach: Inhibition of glucose uptake by TS-071 was studied in CHO-K1 cells stably expressing either human SGLT1 or SGLT2.

Favorable outcome of unrelated cord blood transplantation for Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph(+)ALL) is one of the highest-risk ALL groups. Whenever possible, patients with Ph(+)ALL should undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after induction of remission. Although unrelated cord blood transplantation (CBT) has become a common treatment in adult patients who lack a sibling donor, data on the efficacy of CBT for Ph(+)ALL are limited.

Repeat transsphenoidal surgery for the treatment of remaining or recurring pituitary tumors in acromegaly.

Background: Acromegaly is a disorder characterized by hypersecretion of growth hormone caused by a growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of repeat transsphenoidal surgery for persistent or recurrent acromegaly.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records for 53 acromegalic patients who underwent repeat transsphenoidal surgery for persistent or progressive acromegaly at Toranomon Hospital between 1987 and 2006.

Successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for aggressive NK cell leukemia.

Aggressive natural killer cell leukemia (ANKL) is a highly aggressive lymphoproliferative disease. An appropriate therapeutic strategy for ANKL remains to be established, but a few case reports have suggested that allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) can be curative. Here, we report a young woman with ANKL showing central nervous system (CNS) invasion, who has been in complete remission for more than a year after allo-HCT following two courses of intravenous chemotherapy and several rounds of intrathecal chemotherapy.

Reversible hemianopsia caused by mechanical compression of the visual pathway by the dilated draining vein of an arteriovenous malformation--case report.

A 41-year-old woman presented with progressive hemianopsia caused by compression of the lateral geniculate body by the dilated basal vein draining a contralateral frontal arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed left frontal AVM and right lateral geniculate body compression due to the dilated basal vein. Emergent presurgical transarterial embolization and surgical removal were performed.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant following chemotherapy containing l-asparaginase as a promising treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type.

The prognosis of advanced extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is poor. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) has been suggested to be a promising treatment for this disease, but its utility has yet to be established. Here we retrospectively analyzed five cases of ENKTL treated with allo-HSCT in our institute.

Recurrent subacute in-stent restenosis after carotid artery stenting due to plaque protrusion.

A 70-year-old male presented with transient ischemic attacks manifesting as right hemiparesis and motor aphasia due to severe left cervical internal carotid artery stenosis. Carotid artery stenting (CAS) using a flow-reversal system was performed without complications. However, the patient exhibited transient right hemiparesis and motor aphasia 10 days after CAS.

Structures of the tRNA export factor in the nuclear and cytosolic states.

Transfer RNAs are among the most ubiquitous molecules in cells, central to decoding information from messenger RNAs on translating ribosomes. In eukaryotic cells, tRNAs are actively transported from their site of synthesis in the nucleus to their site of function in the cytosol. This is mediated by a dedicated nucleo-cytoplasmic transport factor of the karyopherin-beta family (Xpot, also known as Los1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

High incidence of low O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase expression in invasive macroadenomas of Cushing's disease.

Context: Crooke's cell adenoma (CCA), characterized by massive Crooke's hyaline change in corticotroph adenoma, causes a rare subtype of Cushing's disease. In contrast to ordinary corticotroph adenomas, CCAs are generally aggressive and present as invasive macroadenomas, which are refractory to both surgery and radiotherapy and have a high-recurrence rate. Moreover, some patients with CCA present with distant or craniospinal metastases.

Factors associated with serum total homocysteine level in type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the determinants of serum total homocysteine level (tHcy) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) according to sex.

Methods: A total of 1,276 Japanese, diabetics (n = 280) with a control group of non-diabetics (n = 996), were enrolled into the study from 2003 to 2005. This cross-sectional study was conducted for all the subjects, using personal data regarding clinical characteristics and lifestyle.

HOMCOS: a server to predict interacting protein pairs and interacting sites by homology modeling of complex structures.

As protein-protein interactions are crucial in most biological processes, it is valuable to understand how and where protein pairs interact. We developed a web server HOMCOS (Homology Modeling of Complex Structure, http://biunit.naist.

Structural and functional analysis of slit and heparin binding to immunoglobulin-like domains 1 and 2 of Drosophila Robo.

Recognition of the secreted protein Slit by transmembrane receptors of the Robo family provides important signals in the development of the nervous system and other organs, as well as in tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans serve as essential co-receptors in Slit-Robo signaling. Previous studies have shown that the second leucinerich repeat domain of Slit, D2, binds to the N-terminal immunoglobulin-like domains of Robo, IG1-2.

[Fukuhara disease].

MERRF is an acronym of myoclonus epilepsy associated with ragged-red fibers and was first reported as a new nosological entity belonging to mitochondrial encephalomyopathies in San Remo symposium on "Mitochondrial Pathology" in 1982. MERRF was named Fukuhara disease by Rowland (1983). The first reported patient had been diagnosed as having Ramsay Hunt syndrome associated with Friedreich's ataxia.

Prediction of interacting proteins from homology-modeled complex structures using sequence and structure scores.

Protein-protein interactions support most biological processes, and it is important to find specifically interacting partner proteins among homologous proteins in order to elucidate cellular functions such as signal transduction systems. Various high-throughput experimental methods for identifying these interactions have been invented, and used to generate a huge amount of data. Because these experiments have been applied to only a few organisms, and their accuracy is believed to be limited, it would be valuable to develop computational methods for predicting protein-protein interactions from their amino acid sequences or tertiary structural information.