Relationship between serum creatinine to cystatin C ratio and subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Sarcopenia index (SI), calculated by (serum creatinine/cystatin C)×100, is reported to be associated with sarcopenia. Few studies reported the association between SI and subclinical atherosclerosis. We evaluated the association between SI and subclinical atherosclerosis, assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 expression and immunotherapy efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer.

It is unclear whether tumor vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 expression affects the therapeutic efficacy of immune-checkpoint inhibitors and antiangiogenic agents. This retrospective, multicenter study included patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors. We constructed tissue microarrays and performed immunohistochemistry with an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 antibody.

Dietary Fiber Intake Is Related to Skeletal Muscle Mass, Body Fat Mass, and Muscle-to-Fat Ratio Among People With Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between dietary fiber intake and skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, and muscle-to-fat ratio (MFR) among men and women with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 260 men and 200 women with T2D. Percent skeletal muscle mass (%) or percent body fat mass (%) was calculated as (appendicular muscle mass [kg] or body fat mass [kg]/body weight [kg]) × 100.

Antimelanoma Differentiation-Associated Gene 5 Antibody-Positive Interstitial Lung Disease After Vaccination With COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines.

Objective: Melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) is a viral RNA sensor induced by SARS-CoV-2. Similarities have been reported between the clinical presentations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia and anti-MDA5 antibody-positive interstitial lung disease (anti-MDA5-ILD). However, it is unknown whether COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are associated with anti-MDA5-ILD.

Effect of matcha consumption on gut microbiota in healthy Japanese individuals: study protocol for a double-blind crossover interventional study.

This study compares and clarifies the changes in intestinal flora resulting from the continuous consumption of two types of matcha. Healthy adults will consume two types of matcha tea for four weeks, and differences in the intestinal microflora before and after drinking will be compared. Gut microbiota will be identified using next-generation sequencing.

Coaptation Reserve Predicts Optimal Reduction in Mitral Regurgitation and Long-Term Survival With Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair.

Background: Although transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is effective and safe, there is a need for better prediction of optimal outcomes. We aimed to determine predictors of optimal reduction in mitral regurgitation (MR) and survival with TEER.

Methods: We examined mitral anatomy and its change with TEER on outcomes in 183 patients (age, 82 [77-87] years; 53% women).

Low aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio is a predictor of diabetes incidence in Japanese people: Population-based Panasonic cohort study 5.

Aims: The aim of this study was to calculate the cut-off values of liver enzymes to identify the risk of incident type 2 diabetes (DM) and to investigate the association between liver enzymes and incident DM in participants with or without obesity.

Materials And Methods: The long-term cohort study included 70,688 subjects who underwent medical health checkups in 2008. The cut-off values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and the aminotransferase (AST)/ALT ratio for incident DM were evaluated using the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves.

Bilateral Pheochromocytoma with Germline MAX Variant without Family History.

Recently, the genetic background of pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas (PPGLs) has been rapidly revealed. These tumors have been referred to as the “ten percent tumor”; however, the frequency of genetic variants of PPGLs has turned out to be more common than expected. PPGLs are potentially hereditary tumors and appear clinically sporadic.

Outcome and prognosis of secondary lung cancer surgery with interstitial lung disease.

Background: The initial surgery for lung cancer with interstitial lung disease (ILD) is often followed by passive treatment due to the surgery-induced deterioration in respiratory function, and only a few studies have summarized the findings associated with a second surgery for lung cancer patients with ILD.

Methods: Of the 3932 lung cancer patients who underwent surgery at our hospital from August 2008 to July 2019, 404 (10%) patients (1) underwent preoperative computed tomography for imaging of interstitial pneumonia and (2) underwent initial surgery. We analyzed 45 cases (11%) suspected of showing metachronous lung cancer during the postoperative course.

Characterization of Peripheral Blood TCR in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus by BD Rhapsody VDJ CDR3 Assay.

The sequence of complementarity-determining region 3 of the T-cell receptor (TCR) varies widely due to the insertion of random bases during V-(D)-J recombination. In this study, we used single-cell VDJ sequencing using the latest technology, BD Rhapsody, to identify the TCR sequences of autoreactive T-cells characteristic of Japanese type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and to clarify the pairing of TCR of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from four patients with T1DM at the single-cell level. The expression levels of the TCR alpha variable (TRAV) 17 and TRAV21 in T1DM patients were higher than those in healthy Japanese subjects.

Comprehensive myocardial characterization using cardiac magnetic resonance associates with outcomes in low gradient severe aortic stenosis.

Aims: This study sought to compare cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) characteristics according to different flow/gradient patterns of aortic stenosis (AS) and to evaluate their prognostic value in patients with low-gradient AS.

Methods And Results: This international prospective multicentric study included 147 patients with low-gradient moderate to severe AS who underwent comprehensive CMR evaluation of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS), extracellular volume fraction (ECV), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). All patients were classified as followings: classical low-flow low-gradient (LFLG) [mean gradient (MG) < 40 mmHg and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50%]; paradoxical LFLG [MG < 40 mmHg, LVEF ≥ 50%, and stroke volume index (SVi) < 35 ml/m2]; and normal-flow low-gradient (MG < 40 mmHg, LVEF ≥ 50%, and SVi ≥ 35 ml/m2).

Focal seizures during adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy in a school-aged boy: a case report.

Background: Adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy for infantile spasms, including West syndrome, has been previously reported to induce seizures. We present the findings for a school-aged child with epilepsy who developed new focal seizures during adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy.

Case Presentation: The Japanese patient had posttraumatic epilepsy and developed intractable focal seizures at the age of 13 years.

Single-cell profiling of transcriptomic changes during maturation of human oocytes.

Purpose: maturation (IVM) of human oocytes offers an invaluable opportunity for infertility treatment. However, matured oocytes often show lower developmental abilities than their counterparts, and molecular mechanisms underlying successful maturation remain unclear. In this study, we investigated gene expression profiles of matured oocytes at the single-cell level to gain mechanistic insight into IVM of human oocytes.

Oral care tablet containing kiwifruit powder affects tongue coating microbiome.

Objectives: Tongue coating, a kind of biofilm formed on the tongue dorsum, is the cause of various clinical conditions, such as oral halitosis and periodontal diseases, because Fusobacterium nucleatum acts as a bridge between other oral bacteria and periodontopathogenic bacteria in biofilm formation. Our previous clinical study revealed that taking oral care tablets containing kiwifruit powder significantly reduced not only tongue-coating index and volatile sulfur compounds but also total bacteria and F. nucleatum in tongue coating.

Diabetic nephropathy ameliorated in patients with normal home blood pressure compared to those with isolated high home systolic blood pressure: A 5-year prospective cohort study among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Using normal home blood pressure (home BP) as a reference, isolated high home systolic blood pressure (IH-home SBP) increases the risk of diabetic nephropathy. However, whether diabetic nephropathy would improve among diabetic patients without IH-home SBP has not been previously assessed.

Methods: This prospective 5-year cohort study of 264 patients with moderate or severe albuminuria investigated the effect of IH-home SBP or normal home BP on the risk of diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Pseudodesulfovibrio sediminis sp. nov., a mesophilic and neutrophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from sediment of a brackish lake.

A novel mesophilic and neutrophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium, strain SF6, was isolated from sediment of a brackish lake in Japan. Cells of strain SF6 were motile and rod-shaped with length of 1.2-2.

Computed Tomography Planning for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement.

Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is a rapidly evolving treatment for mitral regurgitation. As with transcatheter aortic valve replacement, multidetector computed tomography analysis plays a central role in defining the candidacy, device selection and safety for TMVR procedures. This contemporary review will describe in detail the multidetector computed tomography data collection, analysis, and planning for TMVR procedures in patients with native mitral regurgitation as well as in those with failed surgical prosthetic mitral valve replacement or surgical mitral valve repair.

Effect of Teriparatide on Bone Mineral Density and Trabecular Bone Score in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Osteoporosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

The BMDs of the lumbar spine, whole femur, and femoral neck and TBS were measured. Change in BMD or TBS was defined as the BMD or TBS at follow-up, performed 1 year after baseline, minus baseline BMD or TBS. This retrospective cohort study included 93 patients, of whom 52 received no medication, 26 received bisphosphonates, and 15 received weekly teriparatide.

Clinical Outcomes of Mitral Valve Disease With Mitral Annular Calcification.

The prevalence of mitral valve disease with mitral annular calcification (MAC) and its clinical outcomes remain uncertain. This study sought to evaluate the prevalence of significant mitral disease due to MAC, and the impact of intervention on the clinical outcomes in these patients. All patients who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) between January 2014 and December 2015 in our health care system were reviewed and identified for having MAC with significant mitral valve disease (i.

Surgical Outcome After Extended Sleeve Lobectomy in Centrally Located Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: We primarily aimed to evaluate the operative techniques, clinicopathologic characteristics, and surgical outcomes after extended sleeve lobectomy (ESL). Additionally, we evaluated the feasibility of ESL for centrally located non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with pneumonectomy (PN).

Methods: A retrospective review identified 119 patients who underwent pulmonary resections for centrally located NSCLC; of whom, 43 underwent ESLs and 76 underwent PNs.

Dissimilatory microbial sulfur and methane metabolism in the water column of a shallow meromictic lake.

Lake Harutori is a brackish meromictic lake with a steep physicochemical gradient in shallow water. Anoxic water below the chemocline has been characterized by high concentrations of sulfide (>10 mM) and methane (>1.5 mM).