Assessment of bone status in inhaled corticosteroid user asthmatic patients with an ultrasound measurement method.

Background: The effect of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) on the bone status of asthmatic patients is still uncertain, because it can differ by race and because there have been few cases in Japan. In this study, the bone status of ICS users with asthma was evaluated in an actual clinical setting in Japan.

Methods: In 7 participating hospitals, ICS users with asthma and control subjects were age- and gender-matched and recruited into this study.

[Effect of proactive use of inhaled procaterol on dyspnea in daily activities and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Aim: To examine the effects of inhaled procaterol (Meptin Air : MA), a short-acting beta2-agonist, for proactive use rather than rescue use in dyspnea and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), who complained of dyspnea in daily activities despite treatment with long-acting bronchodilators.

Methods: Patients with moderate to most severe COPD who were on maintenance therapy with tiotropium and other long-acting bronchodilators were studied. Severity of dyspnea was evaluated with the Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ) and patients were recommended to use MA on an as-needed basis before daily activities which had caused dyspnea.

[Hiccup treated by administration of intranasal vinegar].

A three-year old girl, who had severe cerebral palsy, severe mental retardation, and symptomatic epilepsy, was suffering from intractable hiccup that lasted for more than an hour since she was 2 years and 10 months old when she undertook tracheotomy and laryngotracheal separation. Sometimes this intractable hiccup was followed by respiratory arrest. Although the hiccup was resistant to conventional medications, the nose drops of small amount of vinegar showed a favorable effect on the hiccup.

A testicular germ cell-associated serine-threonine kinase, MAK, is dispensable for sperm formation.

A member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamily, MAK, has been proposed to have an important role in spermatogenesis, since Mak gene expression is highly restricted to testicular germ cells. To assess the biological function of MAK, we have established MAK-deficient (Mak(-/-)) mice. Mak(-/-) mice developed normally, and no gross abnormalities were observed.