Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in donors for living donor liver transplantation.

Background: In 2003, we encountered the first donor death for living donor liver transplantation in Japan, which was related to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate the prevalence of NASH among a living donor liver transplantation donor population and to analyze the postoperative course for both donors and recipients of NASH grafts to minimize risk for donors.

Methods: The study population comprised 263 donors who donated the right lobe of the liver between February 1998 and April 2003.

Development of a device to stretch tissue-like materials and to measure their mechanical properties by scanning probe microscopy.

We have developed a new stretch device to investigate the biomechanical responses to an external loading force on a tissue-like material consisting of cells and a collagen gel. Collagen gel, a typical matrix found abundantly in the connective tissue, was attached to an elastic chamber that was precoated with a thin layer of collagen. Madin-Darby canine kidney cells that were cultured on the collagen gel were stretched in a uniaxial direction via deformation of the elastic chamber.

Outcomes of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation: a single institution's experience with 335 consecutive cases.

Objective: To determine outcomes for both donors and recipients of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (AALDLT) and independent factors impacting those outcomes.

Summary Background Data: Deceased donors for organ transplantation remain extremely rare, making living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) practically the sole therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage liver disease in Japan.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of initial LDLT for 335 consecutive adult (>or=18 years) patients performed between November 1994 and December 2003.

Expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in human hepatocytes during hepatocarcinogenesis.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) plays a role as a genome mutator in activated B cells, and inappropriate expression of AID has been implicated in the immunopathological phenotype of human B-cell malignancies. Notably, we found that the transgenic mice overexpressing AID developed lung adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), suggesting that ectopic expression of AID can lead to tumorigenesis in epithelial tissues as well. To examine the involvement of AID in the development of human HCC, we analyzed the AID expression and its correlation with mutation frequencies of the p53 gene in liver tissues from 51 patients who underwent resection of primary HCCs.

Impact of human leukocyte antigen mismatching on outcomes of living donor liver transplantation for primary biliary cirrhosis.

Patient selection criteria of deceased donor liver transplantation for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are almost completely established. The aim of this study was to establish selection criteria for both patients and donors of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for PBC. We used univariate and multivariate analyses to examine patient and donor characteristics of our first 50 cases of LDLT for PBC to elucidate factors that significantly impacted patient survival or disease recurrence after LDLT in the univariate and/or multivariate analyses.

Liver transplantation from an identical twin without immunosuppression, with early recurrence of hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C virus reinfection after liver transplantation is universal and more severe than in nontransplant patients. Rejection episodes and immunosuppressive agents are considered risk factors for deterioration of recurrent hepatitis C. We report 2 cases of living donor liver transplantation for patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis who received right-lobe grafts from an identical twin.

Diphosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain enhances the tension acting on stress fibers in fibroblasts.

Regulation of the contractile force is crucial for cell migration, cell proliferation, and maintenance of cell morphology. Phosphorylation of the myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC) is involved in these processes. To show whether the diphosphorylation of MRLC increases the tension acting on stress fibers, changes in the stiffness of fibroblasts expressing wild-type MRLC and a mutant type, which cannot be diphosphorylated, on treatment with lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) were examined by a mechanical-scanning probe microscope (M-SPM).

Liver biopsy interpretation for causes of late liver allograft dysfunction.

Evaluation of needle biopsies and extensive clinicopathological correlation play an important role in the determination of liver allograft dysfunction occurring more than 1 year after transplantation. Interpretation of these biopsies can be quite difficult because of the high incidence of recurrent diseases that show histopathological, clinical, and serological features that overlap with each other and with rejection. Also, more than one insult can contribute to allograft injury.

[Effectiveness of ability grouping in structured fall prevention exercise program for frail elderly people].

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of ability grouping in a fall prevention structured exercise program for elderly people.

Methods: We enrolled 124 subjects from among 2,582 elderly people aged 70 to 84 years living in the Tsurugaya district in Sendai City. Exclusion criteria were 1) motor fitness scale (MFS) score 9 points or more, 2) severe sensory, cognitive, or 3) physical disorders, and 4) nursing care grade 2 or more.

Long-term outcomes of 600 living donor liver transplants for pediatric patients at a single center.

This report concerns the long-term outcome of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for pediatric patients at a single center. Between June 1990 and December 2003, a total of 600 LDLTs, including 568 primary transplantations and 32 retransplantations, were performed for pediatric patients, who were immunosuppressed with FK506 and low-dose corticosteroids. Patient survival at 1, 5, and 10 years were 84.

Radical surgical resection of locally invasive oro-cutaneous tumors in the buccal region of 2 horses.

Objective: To report treatment and wound healing after radical surgical mass excision in the equine buccal region.

Study Design: Clinical case reports.

Animals: An 11-year-old Warmblood gelding and a 9-year-old Norwegian Trotter gelding.

Correlation between acute rejection severity and CD8-positive T cells in living related liver transplantation.

The Banff schema is the most widely used standard grading system for liver allograft rejection. To investigate the relationship between the Banff rejection activity index (RAI) and the presence of lymphocyte subpopulations in allograft liver tissue, assuming these cells to probably play an important role in the mechanism of acute cellular rejection (ACR), we performed immunohistological examinations using liver tissues with various ACR severities after living related liver transplantation (LRLT). In total, 37 needle liver biopsy specimens with ACR in LRLT were examined using antibodies to CD4, CD8, and CD20.

Evaluation of hydrological processes in a mountainous small basin using a quinone biomarker.

An applicability of quinone biomarker to the analysis of hillslope runoff was investigated. At first, quinone profiles of three streams as well as a hillslope runoff in a forested headwater catchment were compared. The quinone composition of hillslope runoff differed from others.

[Production of a fall prevention exercise programme considering suggestions from community-dwelling elderly].

Objectives: A fall prevention exercise programme, which elderly persons could undertake in their home alone to maintain and improve leg muscle strength, body balance ability and flexibility, was developed. The programme consisted of number of movements from which the best were selected on the basis of participant evaluation. The purpose of this report is to document the actual contents and an examination of the effects of this exercise programme in elderly people.

Reappraisal of BCL3 as a molecular marker of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

The BCL3 gene was initially discovered through its involvement in a recurring translocation, t(14;19)(q32;q13), which is found in some patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). The translocation leads to the juxtaposition of BCL3 to the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene locus, resulting in high-level expression of the BCL3 transcript. The Bcl-3 protein includes 7 tandem copies of the ankyrin repeat element in the central domain, a structure that is characteristic of the IkappaB family of inhibitors of the nuclear factor kappaB transcription factors.

Effect of intratesticular injection of lidocaine on cardiovascular responses to castration in isoflurane-anesthetized stallions.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intratesticular administration of lidocaine on cardiovascular responses and cremaster muscle tension during castration of isoflurane-anesthetized stallions.

Animals: 28 healthy stallions (mean +/- SD age, 4.2 +/- 2.

Characteristics of rat bone marrow cells differentiated into a liver cell lineage and dynamics of the transplanted cells in the injured liver.

Background: Bone marrow cells (BMCs) have been shown to differentiate into a liver cell lineage, but little is known about their dynamics following transplantation. BMCs were cultured to investigate the expression of liver-specific genes in vitro and transplanted into in vivo liver-injury models to elucidate their dynamics in the liver.

Methods: The mRNA expression of various liver-specific genes in BMCs cocultured with hepatocytes was analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

Acute humoral rejection and C4d immunostaining in ABO blood type-incompatible liver transplantation.

Complement C4d deposition in graft capillaries has been reported to be associated with antibody-mediated rejection in kidney and other solid organ transplantation. The correlation of C4d deposits and humoral rejection in liver transplants, however, is not well understood. We investigated the C4d immunostaining pattern in 34 patients whose liver biopsy was taken within the first 3 postoperative weeks for suspected acute rejection after ABO blood type-incompatible liver transplantation.

Interaction of (+)-catechin with a lipid bilayer studied by the spin probe method.

The interaction of (+)-catechin with a lipid bilayer was examined by the spin probe method. The spin probe, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO), was dissolved in an aqueous dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) dispersion containing (+)-catechin. The temperature dependence of the TEMPO parameter was measured.

Living donor liver transplantation as a second-line therapeutic strategy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has evolved to represent an important surgical strategy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, due to disadvantages, including donor risks and higher rates of perioperative complications, LDLT has been considered as a second-line treatment in Japan. The present study retrospectively evaluated clinical outcomes for 93 patients with HCC who underwent LDLT at our institute, including 44 patients who exceeded Milan criteria (MC).

Systemic lupus erythematosus in Europe at the change of the millennium: lessons from the "Euro-Lupus Project".

The "Euro-Lupus Cohort" is composed by 1000 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that have been followed prospectively since 1991. These patients have been gathered by a European consortium--the "Euro-Lupus Project Group". This consortium was originated as part of the network promoted by the "European Working Party on SLE", a working group created in 1990 in order to promote research in Europe on the different problems related to this disease.

Clinical outcomes of living donor liver transplantation for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients.

Background: Whether hepatitis C virus recurrence occurs earlier and with greater severity for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) than for deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) has recently become a subject of debate.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated clinical outcomes for a cohort of 91 HCV-positive patients who underwent LDLT at Kyoto University with a median follow-up period of 25 months.

Results: Overall 5-year patient survival for HCV patients was similar to that for non-HCV patients (n=209) who underwent right-lobe LDLT at our institute (69% vs.

Lidocaine transport through living rat skin using alternating current.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether lidocaine could be transported through living rat skin using alternating current and to determine whether lidocaine transport depends on voltage. The drug delivery cell was originally constructed for the application of an electric field. Hairless rats were anaesthetised using sevoflurane, and a tracheotomy was performed.