Feasibility of computed tomography-derived surgical margin assessment in an ex vivo sublobar lung resection model.

Objectives: Computed tomography (CT) imaging of a sublobar resection specimen may inform intraoperative surgical margin assessment. However, consistency with final pathological margins has not been previously evaluated. In this study, we investigated the concordance between surgical margin measurements by CT versus pathology measurements using an ex vivo sublobar lung resection model.

Diagnostic yield of flexible bronchoscopy for immunocompromised patients with lung infiltrates: A single-center, retrospective study.

Background: Pulmonary complications are associated with mortality in immunocompromised patients. The usefulness of bronchoscopy has been reported. However, clinical factors and procedures that influence diagnostic yield are still not established.

A Japanese herbal medicine (kampo), hochuekkito (TJ-41), has anti-inflammatory effects on the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mouse model.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that is characterized by chronic airway inflammation. A Japanese herbal medicine, hochuekkito (TJ-41), is prominently used for chronic inflammatory diseases in Japan. This study aimed to analyze the anti-inflammatory effect of TJ-41 in vivo and its underlying mechanisms.

Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Japanese Herbal Medicine Hochuekkito in a Mouse Model of Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Introduction: The traditional Japanese herbal medicine hochuekkito (TJ-41) has been reported to ameliorate systemic inflammation and malnutrition in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). TJ-41 has also been known to have preventive effects against influenza virus infection. However, its role in the acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) remains to be elucidated.

Assessment of effectiveness and safety of thrombolytic therapy to pulmonary emboli by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle injection.

Objective: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle injection (EBUS-TBNI) may effectively treat acute pulmonary embolisms (PEs). Here, we assessed the effectiveness of clot dissolution and safety of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) injection using EBUS-TBNI in a 1-week survival study of a porcine PE model.

Methods: Six pigs with bilateral PEs were used: 3 for t-PA injection using EBUS-TBNI (TBNI group) and 3 for systemic administration of t-PA (systemic group).

Preclinical feasibility of bronchoscopic fluorescence-guided lung sentinel lymph node mapping.

Objective: Lung sentinel lymph node mapping, where peritumorally injected material is tracked through the lymphatics, aims to find the first potential sites of nodal metastasis. We sought to evaluate the preclinical feasibility of bronchoscopic fluorescence-guided sentinel lymph node mapping.

Methods: Healthy Yorkshire pigs were used; sentinel lymph node mapping was performed with indocyanine green.

Elucidation of Chemical Interactions between Crude Drugs Using Quantitative Thin-Layer Chromatography Analysis.

To elucidate the interactions between crude drugs in Kampo medicines (traditional Japanese medicines), it is important to determine the content of the constituents in a cost-effective and simple manner. In this study, we quantified the constituents in crude drug extracts using thin-layer chromatography (TLC), an inexpensive and simple analytical method, to elucidate the chemical interactions between crude drugs. We focused on five crude drugs, for which quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods are stipulated in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia XVIII (JP XVIII) and compared the analytical data of HPLC and TLC, confirming that the TLC results corresponded with the HPLC data and satisfied the criteria of JP XVIII.

Albino mice with the point mutation at the tyrosinase locus show high cholesterol diet-induced NASH susceptibility.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) constitutes a metabolic disorder with high worldwide prevalence and increasing incidence. The inflammatory progressive state, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), leads to liver fibrosis and carcinogenesis. Here, we evaluated whether tyrosinase mutation underlies NASH pathophysiology.

Multiple cerebral infarctions in -rearranged lung adenocarcinoma.

Rearrangements of specific tyrosine kinases are associated with an elevated risk of venous thrombosis in lung adenocarcinoma, although their effects on arterial thrombosis have not been fully elucidated. Here, we report two cases of ROS proto-oncogene 1 ()-rearranged lung adenocarcinoma with cerebral infarction during the peri-diagnostic period. Two cases took contrasting clinical courses: one patient could not receive targeted therapy because of a significant decline in performance status, whereas in the other patient, the performance status was maintained and targeted therapy drastically reduced the tumour size.

Inhaled corticosteroid withdrawal may improve outcomes in elderly patients with COPD exacerbation: a nationwide database study.

Background: Inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) are used for advanced-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The application and safety of ICS withdrawal remain controversial.This study aimed to evaluate the association between ICS withdrawal and outcomes in elderly patients with COPD with or without comorbid bronchial asthma, who were hospitalised for exacerbation.

PD-L1 expression correlated with p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune checkpoint molecule that attenuates the immune response. PD-L1 contributes to failed antitumor immunity; thereby, blockade of PD-L1 with monoclonal antibody enhances the immune response. Recently, it was reported that PD-L1 was regulated by protein 53 (p53).

Risk of lingual nerve injuries in removal of mandibular third molars: a retrospective case-control study.

Background: Through the analysis of clinical data, we attempted to investigate the etiology and determine the risk of severe iatrogenic lingual nerve injuries in the removal of the mandibular third molar.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for patients who had undergone microsurgical repair of lingual nerve injuries. The following data were collected and analyzed: patient sex, age, nerve injury side, type of impaction (Winter's classification, Pell and Gregory's classification).

Brain Metastasis Mimicking Brain Abscess in ALK-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Brain metastasis frequently develops in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we report a patient who developed brain metastasis from -positive NSCLC which mimicked brain abscess. He was admitted for suspected obstructive pneumonia nine months after curative lung resection.

Small lung tumor biopsy samples are feasible for high quality targeted next generation sequencing.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been implemented in clinical oncology to analyze multiple genes and to guide therapy. In patients with advanced lung cancer, small biopsies such as computed tomography-guided needle biopsy (CTNB), endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and transbronchial biopsy (TBB) are less invasive and are preferable to resection to make a pathological diagnosis. However, the quality of DNA/RNA and NGS from small lung tumor biopsy samples is unknown.

Naftopidil reduced the proliferation of lung fibroblasts and bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice.

Naftopidil, an α-1 adrenoceptor antagonist with few adverse effects, is prescribed for prostate hyperplasia. Naftopidil inhibits prostate fibroblast proliferation; however, its effects on lung fibroblasts and fibrosis remain largely unknown. Two normal and one idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis human lung fibroblast lines were cultured with various naftopidil concentrations with or without phenoxybenzamine, an irreversible α-1 adrenoceptor inhibitor.

Hospital Volume and Mortality following Diagnostic Bronchoscopy in Lung Cancer Patients: Data from a National Inpatient Database in Japan.

Background: Recent advances in bronchoscopy utilizing endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) as well as lung cancer therapy may have driven physicians to perform diagnostic bronchoscopy (DB) for high-risk patients.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between hospital volume (HV) and outcomes of DB.

Methods: We collected data on inpatients with lung cancer who underwent DB from July 2010 to March 31, 2014.

Factors affecting bacterial culture positivity in specimens from bronchoscopy in patients with suspected lung cancer.

Background: Bronchoscopy is important to diagnose lung cancer. However, some patients who undergo bronchoscopic procedures develop respiratory tract infections. Little is known about the proportion of pathogen-positive results in bacterial cultures from diagnostic bronchoscopy samples in patients with suspected lung cancer.