Thyroid ultrasound examinations (TUEs), conducted as part of the Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS), were initiated to monitor the health status of residents after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident owing to concerns regarding the increased incidence of thyroid cancer among children, as observed after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. This study reported the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with thyroid cancer diagnosed through the FHMS and treated at the Fukushima Medical University Hospital. Data regarding the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with thyroid cancer were collected and evaluated in this descriptive study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMatrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-12 has been reported to have diverse functions, including regulation of immune reactions and anti-inflammatory effects, but the potential roles of MMP-12 in kidney injury have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to determine whether MMP-12 contributes to tubulointerstitial injury in a unilateral ureteric obstruction (UUO) model. MMP-12-deficient (MMP-12) mice and C57BL/6J mice as controls (MMP-12) were subjected to UUO and analysed 7 days after UUO.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNearly forty years have passed since the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, which resulted in childhood and adolescent thyroid cancers increasing due to internal exposure to iodine-131. Therefore, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, in 2011, raised serious anxiety about potential risks of thyroid cancers. Considering the causal relationship between thyroid cancer and the Chornobyl accident, radiation dose to the thyroid due to this accident should be considered carefully.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Examining how overweight/obesity impacts thyroid nodule development in children and adolescents by sex and age can speculate on the mechanism.
Objective: We examined whether overweight in children and adolescents are associated with thyroid nodule development by sex and age.
Design: Approximately 300,000 participants who underwent thyroid ultrasonography in the Fukushima Health Management Survey after a nuclear accident were enrolled.
Prostasin (PRSS8) is a serine protease that metabolizes and moderates the effect of specific substrates. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which modulates insulin secretion and pancreatic β-cell proliferation, is regulated via proteolytic shedding by PRSS8. We first detected PRSS8 expression in β-cells of pancreatic islets of mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously described the thyroid volume, which was calculated by measuring the thyroid width, thickness, and longitudinal length using ultrasonography, in children and adolescents. We have proposed a simplified method for quantitatively assessing the thyroid size, to overcome the inaccuracy and challenges in measuring the longitudinal length of the thyroid. Based on measurements of 317,847 (girls: 156,913, boys: 160,934) children and adolescents, we calculated sex-specific means and standard deviations of thyroid width and thickness, and of the cross-sectional area computed by multiplying them, for every age and 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInteletin1 (Itln1) is an adipokine that is abundantly expressed in intestine, ovary, and lung. The expression levels of ITLN1 are decreased in the presence of diabetes or obesity, but the mechanisms of its production and function are still controversial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the mechanisms of ITLN1 synthesis and ITLN1-associated macrophage activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNK2 homeobox 1 (NKX2-1) is a thyroid transcription factor essential for proper thyroid formation and maintaining its physiological function. In thyroid cancer, NKX2-1 expression decreases in parallel with declined differentiation. However, the molecular pathways and mechanisms connecting NKX2-1 to thyroid cancer phenotypes are largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid hormones are critical regulators of vertebrate development and metabolism. Under hyperthyroid conditions, excess thyroid hormones induce expression of several enzymes and activities via activation of ligand-bound thyroid hormone receptors (TRs). Arginase (ARG) is downstream of a ligand-bound TR and overexpression of ARG2 induces the production of reactive oxygen species and subsequent exacerbation of kidney ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxia occurs in the kidneys of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, inducing interstitial fibrosis and tubule cell death. Renal tubule cell death is an important determinant of mortality in CKD. We focused on the regulation of cell-cycle-mediated protein expression to prevent cell death under chronic hypoxia in the kidneys of CKD patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe incidence of thyroid carcinoma has been increasing worldwide. This is interpreted as an increase in the incidental detection of papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTMCs). However, mortality has not changed, suggesting overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMembranous nephropathy (MN) with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis (ANCA-GN) is seen infrequently. Previous reports of patients with ANCA-GN with MN showed that the most frequent ANCA subtype was myeloperoxidase-ANCA. We herein present a 73-year-old woman with scleritis, hematuria, proteinuria, and positive serum proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCalcitonin (CT) is a marker for both initial diagnosis and monitoring of patients with residual or recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). In Japan, serum CT had been measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) until recently. Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) became commercially available in 2014, and this technique is now the only method used to examine CT concentration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: From a global perspective, diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of not only chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease but also cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Summary: In the early stages of diabetes, patients have a high risk of developing microvascular complications, loss of kidney function, CVD, infection, and death. Hyperglycemia, free fatty acids, and insulin resistance induce metabolic imbalance and DKD initiation.
Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has increased in association with the increase in the numbers of patients with kidney disease or diabetes. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of PAD in hemodialysis patients with diabetes.
Methods: To examine the usefulness of the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) to screen for the presence of PAD, cross-sectional studies of 100 patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis were performed.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
January 2019
Context: Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) is a circulating, proinflammatory protein.
Objective: To examine the role of ANGPTL2 in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), we studied the epigenetic regulation of angptl2 expression in patients with diabetes.
Design, Setting, Participants, And Intervention: We determined the relationship between serum ANGPTL2 levels and the progression of DKD in cross-sectional (220 patients) and cohort (145 patients, 7-year follow-up) studies.
In chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, inflammation plays a pivotal role in the progression of renal fibrosis. Hypothyroidism is associated with an increased occurrence of atherosclerosis and inflammation, suggesting protective roles of thyroid hormones and their receptors against inflammatory processes. The contribution of thyroid hormone receptors to macrophage differentiation has not been well documented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe conducted ultrasound thyroid screening in cohort of 4,365 children aged between 3 to 18 years in three Japanese prefectures (Aomori, Yamanashi, and Nagasaki) using the same procedures as used in the Fukushima Health Survey. Forty-four children had nodules ≥ 5.1 mm in diameter or cysts ≥ 20.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFL-tri-iodothyronine (3, 3', 5-triiodothyronine; T3) is an active form of the thyroid hormone (TH) essential for the development and function of the CNS. Though nongenomic effect of TH, its plasma membrane-bound receptor, and its signaling has been identified, precise function in each cell type of the CNS remained to be investigated. Clearance of cell debris and apoptotic cells by microglia phagocytosis is a critical step for the restoration of damaged neuron-glia networks.
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