Low titers of measles antibodies in Japanese pregnant women: a single-center study.

Aim: Measles during pregnancy has deleterious effects on both perinatal and maternal outcomes. In Japan, local epidemics of measles and cases of measles during pregnancy are still being reported; therefore, the seroprevalence of antibodies to measles is suspected to be still not sufficient. The aim of this study was to analyze the seroprevalence of antibodies to measles in Japanese pregnant women and estimate the percentage of these women who require vaccination or revaccination against measles.

Brief report: Association of HLA-DRB1*0101/*0405 with susceptibility to anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibody-positive dermatomyositis in the Japanese population.

Objective: The complication of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) is associated with anti-aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase (anti-aaRS) antibody or anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (anti-MDA-5) antibody positivity. Anti-MDA-5 antibody is associated with clinically amyopathic DM and fatal outcome due to rapidly progressive ILD in Asian populations. The association between genetic factors and anti-MDA-5 antibody-positive DM is unclear.

Acrolein induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and causes airspace enlargement.

Background: Given the relative abundance and toxic potential of acrolein in inhaled cigarette smoke, it is surprising how little is known about the pulmonary and systemic effects of acrolein. Here we test the hypothesis whether systemic administration of acrolein could cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and lung cell apoptosis, leading to the enlargement of the alveolar air spaces in rats.

Methods: Acute and chronic effects of intraperitoneally administered acrolein were tested.

RpaB, another response regulator operating circadian clock-dependent transcriptional regulation in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942.

The circadian clock of cyanobacteria is composed of KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC proteins, and the SasA-RpaA two-component system has been implicated in the regulation of one of the output pathways of the clock. In this study, we show that another response regulator that is essential for viability, the RpaA paralog, RpaB, plays a central role in the transcriptional oscillation of clock-regulated genes. In vivo and in vitro analyses revealed that RpaB and not RpaA could specifically bind to the kaiBC promoter, possibly repressing transcription during subjective night.

Sputum eosinophilia can predict responsiveness to inhaled corticosteroid treatment in patients with overlap syndrome of COPD and asthma.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma may overlap and converge in older people (overlap syndrome). It was hypothesized that patients with overlap syndrome may have different clinical characteristics such as sputum eosinophilia, and better responsiveness to treatment with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS).

Methods: Sixty-three patients with stable COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV(1)] ≤80%) underwent pulmonary function tests, including reversibility of airflow limitation, arterial blood gas analysis, analysis of inflammatory cells in induced sputum, and chest high-resolution computed tomography.

Anti-MDA5 antibody, ferritin and IL-18 are useful for the evaluation of response to treatment in interstitial lung disease with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive dermatomyositis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the precise clinical characteristics and to analyse the association between the anti-MDA5 antibody (anti-MDA5ab) titre and disease status in patients with anti-MDA5ab-positive DM.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients who presented with DM and were positive for the anti-MDA5ab were enrolled. The association between the clinical manifestations and the clinical parameters, including the anti-MDA5ab, was analysed.

Discrepancy between human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I screening test and confirmatory tests in non-endemic areas.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-I among pregnant women at our institution in Tokyo, Japan, which is a non-endemic area, and to investigate the results of Western blotting among pregnant women who had obtained positive results from a screening test.

Material And Methods: The seroprevalence of HTLV-I was retrospectively reviewed in 11,352 pregnant women who gave birth at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, Japan, between 2002 and 2009. For the screening test, a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay was performed followed by a confirmatory Western blot test.

Retrograde signals arise from reciprocal crosstalk within plastids.

In addition to the cell nucleus, plant cells also possess genomic DNA and gene expression machineries within mitochondria and plastids. In higher plants, retrograde transcriptional regulation of several nuclear genes encoding plastid-located proteins has been observed in response to changes in a wide variety of physiological properties in plastids, including organelle gene expression (OGE) and tetrapyrrole metabolism. This regulation is postulated to be accomplished by plastid-to-nucleus signaling, (1,2) although the overall signal transduction pathway(s) are not well characterized.

Successful Retreatment With ADOC Chemotherapy in Relapsed Thymic Carcinoma: Experiences in Two Cases.

The optimal second-line chemotherapeutic regimen for thymic carcinoma remains uncertain and predictive factors for the response have not been identified. We encountered two cases of relapsed thymic carcinoma with recurrence 1.5 and 8 years after initial response to cisplatin/doxorubicin/vincristine/cyclophosphamide (ADOC) chemotherapy.

The association of Toll-like receptor 4 gene polymorphisms with the development of emphysema in Japanese subjects: a case control study.

Background: The principal role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is the induction of immune responses to lipopolysaccharides. Previously, mice deficient in the TLR4 gene exhibited up-regulation of the NADPH oxidase system in the lungs. This resulted in increased oxidant generation and elastolytic activity, which led to pulmonary emphysema.

Superior mesenteric artery syndrome following initiation of cisplatin-containing chemotherapy: a case report.

Introduction: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is a rare cause of upper intestinal obstruction resulting from compression of the duodenum by the superior mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta.

Case Presentation: We describe a case of superior mesenteric artery syndrome in a 61-year-old Japanese man with non-small cell lung cancer who had been treated with cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and had lost 7 kg in weight. The diagnosis was confirmed by the typical findings of abdominal computed tomography showing distended stomach resulting from compression of the third portion of the duodenum and reduction of an aortomesenteric distance and aortomesenteric angle.

Anti-Toxoplasma antibody prevalence, primary infection rate, and risk factors in a study of toxoplasmosis in 4,466 pregnant women in Japan.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by infection with Toxoplasma gondii and is prevalent worldwide under various climatic conditions. It is usually asymptomatic, but infection in pregnant women can pose serious health problems for the fetus. However, epidemiological information regarding toxoplasmosis in Japanese pregnant women is limited.

IgG4-related airway involvement which developed in a patient receiving corticosteroid therapy for autoimmune pancreatitis.

A 66-year-old man was diagnosed with autoimmune pancreatitis in February 2009 and started 40 mg of oral prednisolone followed by a maintenance dose of 5 mg daily. The patient developed a cough in October 2010 and visited our division. He had a high serum concentration of immunoglobulin (Ig) G4 and his chest computed tomography showed airway stenosis without bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy (BHL).

Myocardial performance index in subjects susceptible to high-altitude pulmonary edema.

Objective: A recent study concerning high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), a non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, suggested that it is initially a hydrostatic-type pulmonary edema. We suspect that some extent of cardiac insufficiency may likely relate to the mechanism of the development of this disease.

Methods: By Doppler echocardiography, the Tei index (a new quantitative index proposed for the evaluation of global myocardial performance) and the systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) were measured before and after 30 minutes of hypoxic breathing.

Frequency of class III and IV nephritis in systemic lupus erythematosus without clinical renal involvement: an analysis of predictive measures.

Objective: To determine the frequency of International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society (ISN/RPS) class III or IV lupus nephritis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without clinical renal involvement.

Methods: We investigated the renal pathology of 195 patients with SLE, including 86 patients without clinical renal involvement.

Results: Lupus nephritis other than class I was found in 58% of the patients without clinical renal involvement, and class III and IV nephritis was found in 15% of these patients.

Imbalance of apoptosis and cell proliferation contributes to the development and persistence of emphysema.

Background: We postulate that in adults there is an established lung structure maintenance program and that lung alveolar septal cells are undergoing both continuous apoptosis and proliferation. Whereas lung cell apoptosis has been recognized in human emphysema, little is known about cell proliferation.

Methods: Using a novel rat model of emphysema, induced by intratracheal instillation of cigarette smoke extract (CSE), we investigated the dynamics of emphysematous lung destruction.

NR2-reactive antibody decreases cell viability through augmentation of Ca(2+) influx in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (anti-NMDA) receptor subunit NR2-reactive antibody may play a crucial role in neuronal manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, how NR2-reactive antibody acts as a critical modulator of the NMDA receptor is unknown. This study was undertaken to investigate the biologic function of NR2-reactive antibody in patients with SLE.

A case of organizing pneumonia induced by tocilizumab.

A 66-year-old woman rheumatoid arthritis was treated with methotrexate and tocilizumab. Chest radiography revealed bilateral consolidation of an upper lesion in the lung. Laboratory data indicated a hepatic disorder and increased eosinophils.

Efficacy of double vaccination with the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine during pregnancy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of double vaccination with the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine during pregnancy.

Methods: A study of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine was conducted in 128 pregnant women, who were between 8 and 32 weeks of gestation in October 2009, to monitor the immune response to vaccination and the change in antibody positivity rate and to assess the immune response. Furthermore, the study aimed to assess the changes in these parameters after the first and second vaccination, monitor the maintenance of antibody titers in maternal blood, assess antibody transfer to umbilical cord blood, and evaluate the vaccine.

Combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and platinum compounds for advanced thymic carcinoma.

Introduction: Thymic carcinoma is a rare epithelial neoplasm that tends to be aggressive and metastasize widely. The optimal chemotherapy for unresectable advanced thymic carcinoma has not yet been established because of its rare occurrence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and platinum compounds for advanced thymic carcinoma.

Decrease in high human chorionic gonadotropin in twin-twin transfusion syndrome following fetoscopic laser surgery.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) before and after fetoscopic laser surgery and to clarify the association between TTTS and hCG.

Material And Methods: The concentration of maternal serum hCG was measured before fetoscopic laser surgery and 2 and 4 weeks after laser surgery in 120 patients diagnosed with TTTS.

Results: The preoperative serum concentration of hCG was 6.

Plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signals are essential for the expression of nuclear starch biosynthesis genes during amyloplast differentiation in tobacco BY-2 cultured cells.

Amyloplasts, a subtype of plastid, are found in nonphotosynthetic tissues responsible for starch synthesis and storage. When tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright Yellow-2 cells are cultured in the presence of cytokinin instead of auxin, their plastids differentiate from proplastids to amyloplasts. In this program, it is well known that the expression of nucleus-encoded starch biosynthesis genes, such as ADP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase (AgpS) and Granule-Bound Starch Synthase (GBSS), is specifically induced.

Biomechanical failure properties and microstructural content of ruptured and unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are globally weaker than unruptured ones.

Methods: Four ruptured and seven unruptured AAA specimens were harvested whole from fresh cadavers during autopsies performed over an 18-month period. Multiple regionally distributed longitudinally oriented rectangular strips were cut from each AAA specimen for a total of 77 specimen strips.

Bronchoscopic microsampling for bacterial colony counting in relevant lesions in patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex infection.

Objective: The incidence of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infections with nodular/bronchiectasis lesions is increasing. However, factors determining deterioration are unknown. In the present study, we investigated quantitative MAC cultures obtained through bronchoscopic microsampling (BMS) from patients with pulmonary MAC infection and analyzed the relationship between MAC culture and the short-term natural history.