Antibody Responses and Infection Prevention following the Sixth Vaccination using the BA.1 bivalent COVID-19 vaccine among Healthcare workers during the XBB variant Dominance in Japan.

The effect of antibodies elicited by bivalent mRNA vaccines (original and omicron BA.1) on preventing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) onset in the presence of the XBB variant remains unknown. A prospective cohort study conducted at Chiba University Hospital examined healthcare workers who received their sixth vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccine (original and omicron BA.

Effectiveness of a Videoconference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program for Patients with Schizophrenia: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is not sufficiently widespread in clinical practice, although evidence has been presented.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore whether one-on-one videoconference-based CBTp (vCBTp) is more effective than usual care (UC) alone for improving psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia attending outpatient clinics.

Methods: In this exploratory randomized controlled trial, patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders who were still taking medication in an outpatient clinic were randomly assigned to either the vCBTp plus UC group (n=12) or the UC group (n=12).

A 30-day kendama program for community-dwelling elderly: Effects on participants' physical and cognitive functions and the practicality of the program.

Unlabelled: Watanabe T, Hirowatari H, Tokura Y, Takeda K, Hanaoka H. A 30-day kendama program for community-dwelling elderly: Effects on participants' physical and cognitive functions and the practicality of the program. Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2024; 15: 34-41.

Urinary Biomarkers Associated With Pathogenic Pathways Reflecting Histologic Findings in Lupus Nephritis.

Objective: There is a pressing need to understand the pathogenesis of histologic findings and identify the biomarkers for predicting the histologic severity in lupus nephritis (LN). This study aimed to identify the pathogenic signal pathway and elucidate urinary biomarkers for predicting the presence or severity of histologic findings in LN.

Methods: Urine samples from patients with biopsy-proven active LN were screened for 1,305 proteins using an aptamer-based proteomic assay.

A multimodal non-pharmacological intervention for persons with dementia in nursing homes: a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Background: Persons with dementia in nursing homes often experience cognitive decline (e.g., memory and visuospatial/construction problems), behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and impaired activities of daily living.

Evaluation of a Novel Lateral Emitting Laser Fiber for Near-Infrared Photoimmunotherapy.

Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new cancer therapy that uses NIR light and conjugates of a tumor-targeting monoclonal antibody and phthalocyanine dye. In clinical practice, frontal and cylindrical diffusers are the only options for NIR illumination. However, illumination in a narrow space is technically difficult with such diffusers.

Elimination of radiation-induced senescent cancer cells and stromal cells in vitro by near-infrared photoimmunotherapy.

Introduction: Therapy-induced senescent cancer and stromal cells secrete cytokines and growth factors to promote tumor progression. Therefore, senescent cells may be novel targets for tumor treatment. Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a highly tumor-selective therapy that employs conjugates of a molecular-targeting antibody and photoabsorber.

Effectiveness of self-sampling human papillomavirus test on precancer detection and screening uptake in Japan: The ACCESS randomized controlled trial.

Japan is lagging in cervical cancer prevention. The effectiveness of a self-sampling human papillomavirus (HPV) test, a possible measure to overcome this situation, has not yet been evaluated. A randomized controlled trial was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-sampling HPV test on detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and screening uptake.

Suppression of Type I Interferon Signaling in Myeloid Cells by Autoantibodies in Severe COVID-19 Patients.

Purpose: Auto-antibodies (auto-abs) to type I interferons (IFNs) have been identified in patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), suggesting that the presence of auto-abs may be a risk factor for disease severity. We therefore investigated the mechanism underlying COVID-19 exacerbation induced by auto-abs to type I IFNs.

Methods: We evaluated plasma from 123 patients with COVID-19 to measure auto-abs to type I IFNs.

Apremilast is a potentially useful treatment for severe palmoplantar pustulosis with extra-palmoplantar symptoms.

Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder affecting the palms and soles. In rare cases, severe patients develop acute extra-palmoplantar lesions often accompanied by arthralgia. Such cases with extensive symptoms often necessitate systemic treatments with variable efficacy and potential side effects.

Different Development Strategies Affecting Japan's Drug lag between Japan-Based and Foreign-Based Companies.

We examined the development strategies of new molecular entities approved during a 10-year period (fiscal years of 2012-2021) in Japan to determine the differences in drug lag between Japan and foreign companies. The results demonstrated a clear difference in development strategies. For example, products were usually developed through a "only-Japan" strategy by Japan companies (51.

Successful Immunosuppressive Therapy for Interstitial Lung Disease Associated with Sjögren's Syndrome with Double-positive Anti-SS-A and Anti-centromere Antibodies.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) can present with extraglandular organs, such as interstitial lung disease (ILD). Anti-SS-A antibody is frequently found in SS cases, whereas anti-centromere antibody (ACA) is detected in some SS cases. Notably, the anti-SS-A and ACA double-positive cases exhibited distinct features with a higher prevalence of ILD.

Successful treatment of lupus protein-losing enteropathy with belimumab: A case report.

Lupus protein-losing enteropathy (LUPLE) is a rare condition in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Since the causes and exact pathological mechanism have not been elucidated, appropriate treatment has not been determined. Here, we report the case of a 69-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed LUPLE which was successfully treated with belimumab without an increase in glucocorticoid dose.

Efficacy and safety of a novel pain management device, AT-04, for endometriosis-related pain: study protocol for a phase III randomized controlled trial.

Background: Endometriosis-related pain encompassing dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and chronic pelvic pain, reduces the quality of life in premenopausal women. Although treatment options for endometriosis alleviate this pain, approximately one-third of women still experience pain even after receiving treatment, indicating the need for novel approaches to pain relief in those women. The Angel Touch device (AT-04) is a portable magnetic fields irradiation device that incorporates a combination of mixed alternative magnetic fields at 2 kHz and 83.

Risk of disease flares after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

This study aims to elucidate the effectiveness and safety of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We enrolled uninfected SLE patients who received two vaccine doses (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273) and historical unvaccinated patients. Neutralizing antibodies, adverse reactions, and disease flares were evaluated 4 weeks after the second vaccination.

Risk factors for coronary artery abnormalities and resistance to immunoglobulin plus ciclosporin A therapy in severe Kawasaki disease: subanalysis of the KAICA trial, randomized trial for cicrosporin A as the first-line treatment.

Background: To investigate risk factors for coronary arterial abnormalities (CAAs) and resistance to treatment in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) receiving intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) plus ciclosporin A (CsA) as the first-line treatment, we performed a subanalysis of baseline data of participants in the KAICA trial, a phase 3, randomized study (JMA-ILA00174).

Methods: All data of the patients enrolled in the KAICA trial, who had a Gunma score ≥5 at diagnosis and had been randomly assigned to either IVIG (2 g/kg/24 h) plus CsA (5 mg/kg/day for 5 days) ( = 86) or IVIG alone ( = 87), were subjected to this study. CAA was defined by a score ≥2.

Dissociating Autoantibody Responses against Ro52 Antigen in Patients with Anti-Synthetase or Anti-MDA5 Antibodies.

We aimed to dissociate the autoantibody response against the Ro52 protein in patients with anti-synthetase or anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibodies to explore the potential roles of different anti-Ro52 autoantibody responses in disease subclassification. This study used a single-center, prospective myositis cohort involving 122 consecutive patients with anti-synthetase antibodies identified by RNA immunoprecipitation (RNA-IP) and 34 patients with anti-MDA5 antibodies detected using enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Anti-Ro52 antibodies were measured using commercial EIA kits, while anti-Ro/SSA antibodies were identified using RNA-IP.