Protocol for the RETHINK study: a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, non-inferiority clinical trial comparing acetaminophen and NSAIDs for treatment of chronic pain in elderly patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Introduction: In patients with chronic pain, oral analgesics are essential treatment options to manage pain appropriately, improve activities of daily living abilities and achieve a higher quality of life (QOL). It is desirable to select analgesics for elderly patients based on comparative data on analgesic effect and risk of adverse events; however, there are few comparative studies so far. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the efficacy and safety of acetaminophen are non-inferior to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the treatment of chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee in elderly patients.

Risk factors for insufficient reduction after short-segment posterior fixation for thoracolumbar burst fractures: Does the interval from injury onset to surgery affect reduction of fractured vertebrae?

Background: Many surgeons have encountered patients who could not immediately undergo surgery to treat spinal fractures because they had associated injuries and/or because a complete diagnosis was delayed. For such patients, practitioners might assume that delays could mean that the eventual reduction would be insufficient. However, no report covered risk factors for insufficient reduction of fractured vertebra including duration from injury onset to surgery.

Determination of gastric atrophy with artificial intelligence compared to the assessments of the modified Kyoto and OLGA classifications.

Background And Aim: Gastric atrophy is a precancerous lesion. We aimed to clarify whether gastric atrophy determined by artificial intelligence (AI) correlates with the diagnosis made by expert endoscopists using several endoscopic classifications, the Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment (OLGA) classification based on histological findings, and genotypes associated with gastric atrophy and cancer.

Methods: Two hundred seventy -positive outpatients were enrolled.

Adjacent-segment disease after L3-4 posterior lumbar interbody fusion: does L3-4 fusion have cranial adjacent-segment degeneration similar to that after L4-5 fusion?

Objective: Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) is a widely accepted procedure for degenerative lumbar diseases, and there have been many reports concerning adjacent-segment disease (ASD) after PLIF. In the reports of ASD in which the fusion level was limited to 1 segment, all reports describe ASD of the L3-4 segment after L4-5 PLIF. On the basis of these reports, it is thought that ASD mainly occurs at the cranial segment.

Concomitant Treatment with Etanercept and Tacrolimus Synergistically Attenuates Arthritis Progression via Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinase-3 Production and Osteoclastogenesis in Human TNF- Transgenic Mice.

In the present study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of action of a combined treatment with etanercept, a soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (p75) Fc fusion protein, and tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor on the progression of arthritis in human tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) transgenic (hTNF-Tg) mice. Single-drug treatments with etanercept and tacrolimus attenuated the clinical signs but not the radiographic changes associated with the development of arthritis in mice. On the contrary, combined treatment significantly suppressed the radiographic progression and also improved the clinical signs.

IL-6-PAD4 axis in the earliest phase of arthritis in knock-in gp130F759 mice, a model for rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Animal models for human diseases are especially valuable for clarifying molecular mechanisms before or around the onset. As a model for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we utilise knock-in mice gp130F759. They have a Y759F mutation in gp130, a common receptor subunit for interleukin 6 (IL-6) family cytokines.

Risk factors for a kyphosis recurrence after short-segment temporary posterior fixation for thoracolumbar burst fractures.

Short-segment temporary posterior spinal instrumentation has been widely used to treat thoracolumbar burst fractures. However, kyphosis recurrence without hardware failure has become a concern. Therefore, we investigated risk factors for kyphosis recurrence after short-segment temporary fixation for thoracolumbar burst fractures.

SPACIA1/SAAL1 Deletion Results in a Moderate Delay in Collagen-Induced Arthritis Activity, along with mRNA Decay of Gene.

This study was performed to elucidate the molecular function of the synoviocyte proliferation-associated in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) 1/serum amyloid A-like 1 (SPACIA1/SAAL1) in mice CIA, an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and human RA-synovial fibroblasts (RASFs). -deficient mice were generated and used to create mouse models of CIA in mild or severe disease conditions. Cell cycle-related genes, whose expression levels were affected by small interfering RNA (siRNA), were screened.

Controllable Risk Factors for Neurologic Complications in Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion as Revision Surgery.

Background: The main concern with revision lumbar surgery is the possibility of neurologic complications. This retrospective study was conducted to clarify the risk factors, especially the effects of nerve stretching, for postoperative neurologic complications in posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) without excessive nerve retraction by bilateral total facetectomy as revision surgery.

Methods: Between 2005 and 2015, 50 consecutive patients underwent revision PLIF for recurrent stenosis or recurrent disc herniation.

Fusion Rate and Clinical Outcomes in Two-Level Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

Background: Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) has become a general surgical method for degenerative lumbar diseases. Although many reports have focused on single-level PLIF, few have focused on 2-level PLIF, and no report has covered the fusion status of 2-level PLIF. The purpose of this study is to investigate clinical outcomes and fusion for 2-level PLIF by using a combination of dynamic radiographs and multiplanar-reconstruction computed tomography scans.

Postoperative Spinal Subdural Lesions Following Lumbar Spine Surgery: Prevalence and Risk Factors.

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Purpose: To clarify the prevalence and risk factors for spinal subdural lesions (SSDLs) following lumbar spine surgery.

Overview Of Literature: Because SSDLs, including arachnoid cyst and subdural hematoma, that develop following spinal surgery are seldom symptomatic and require reoperation, there are few reports on these pathologies.

Temporary short-segment pedicle screw fixation for thoracolumbar burst fractures: comparative study with or without vertebroplasty.

Background Context: Short-segment posterior spinal instrumentation for thoracolumbar burst fracture provides superior correction of kyphosis by an indirect reduction technique, but it has a high failure rate.

Purpose: The purpose of the study we report here was to compare outcomes for temporary short-segment pedicle screw fixation with vertebroplasty and for such fixation without vertebroplasty.

Study Design: This is a prospective multicenter comparative study.

Prediction of Postoperative Clinical Recovery of Drop Foot Attributable to Lumbar Degenerative Diseases, via a Bayesian Network.

Background: Drop foot resulting from degenerative lumbar diseases can impair activities of daily living. Therefore, predictors of recovery of this symptom have been investigated using univariate or/and multivariate analyses. However, the conclusions have been somewhat controversial.

Differences in the time of onset of postoperative upper limb palsy among surgical procedures: a meta-analysis.

Background Context: The time of onset of postoperative upper limb palsy (ULP), also referred to as C5 palsy, varies among patients. Although some studies addressed the relationship between the time of onset of ULP and the potential etiologies, no meta-analysis has been conducted regarding the association between the time of onset of ULP and other factors such as surgical procedure type and treated diseases.

Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate differences in the time of onset of ULP among spinal surgical procedures and treated diseases to understand its etiology.

Surgical outcomes for painless drop foot due to degenerative lumbar disorders.

Study Design: Twenty patients presenting with painless drop foot who had undergone lumbar spine surgery for degenerative lumbar diseases were included in this retrospective study.

Objective: This study aims to investigate which causative factors and patient symptoms significantly affected surgical outcome.

Summary Of Background Data: Drop foot is a neuromuscular condition that results in dorsiflexion palsy of the ankle.

Primary amyloidoma in epidural and paravertebral space of the lumbar spine.

Background Context: Localized amyloid deposits result in a mass, that is, so-called amyloidoma; it has been reported in every anatomic site, although systemic amyloid deposition is much more common. However, primary lumbar epidural amyloidoma without bony involvement is extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, only one case has been reported previously.

Three-dimensional and multienergy gamma-ray simultaneous imaging by using a Si/CdTe Compton camera.

Purpose: To develop a silicon (Si) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) imaging Compton camera for biomedical application on the basis of technologies used for astrophysical observation and to test its capacity to perform three-dimensional (3D) imaging.

Materials And Methods: All animal experiments were performed according to the Animal Care and Experimentation Committee (Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan). Flourine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), iodine 131 ((131)I) methylnorcholestenol, and gallium 67 ((67)Ga) citrate, separately compacted into micro tubes, were inserted subcutaneously into a Wistar rat, and the distribution of the radioisotope compounds was determined with 3D imaging by using the Compton camera after the rat was sacrificed (ex vivo model).

Bucillamine inhibits CD40-mediated Akt activation and antibody production in mouse B-cell lymphoma.

The improvement of rheumatoid factor titers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is one of the significant clinical effects of bucillamine (Buc). In this study, we investigated the effects of SA981, an active metabolite of Buc, and methotrexate (MTX) on CD40-mediated antibody production using mouse B-cell lymphoma, BCL1. SA981 significantly attenuated CD40-mediated antibody production in a concentration-dependent manner, but weakly affected cell proliferation.

Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), a non-selective cation channel, is a receptor activated by high temperatures and chemical agonists such as the vanilloids and protons. Because of these properties, TRPV1 has emerged as a polymodal nocisensor of nociceptive afferent neurons. TRPV1 is thought to be a central transducer of hyperalgesia and a prime target for controlling pain pharmacologically because it is a point where many proalgesic pathways converge and it is upregulated and sensitized by inflammation and injury.

Overexpression of SPACIA1/SAAL1, a newly identified gene that is involved in synoviocyte proliferation, accelerates the progression of synovitis in mice and humans.

Objective: To identify novel genes associated with dysregulated proliferation of activated synovial fibroblasts, which are involved in arthritic joint destruction.

Methods: We performed transcriptome analysis to identify genes that were up-regulated in the foot joints of mice with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). The effect of candidate genes on proliferation of synovial fibroblasts was screened using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs).

The kappa opioid receptor agonist SA14867 has antinociceptive and weak sedative effects in models of acute and chronic pain.

We examined the analgesic effect of the selective kappa opioid receptor agonist SA14867 and the balance of its antinociceptive and sedative effects. The ED(50) values of SA14867 after oral administration for acetic acid-induced writhing, first and second phases of the formalin test, and rotarod test in mice were 6.1, 9.

Intraspinal epidermoid tumor of the cauda equina region: seven cases and a review of the literature.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and surgical outcomes of patients with intraspinal epidermoid tumor of the cauda equina region.

Summary Of Background Data: Intraspinal epidermoid tumor of the cauda equina region is very rare, and the majority of the existing literature of this condition comprises case reports with a few case series.

Beneficial pharmacological effects of selective glucocorticoid receptor agonist in external eye diseases.

Purpose: Glucocorticoids exert their actions via the glucocorticoid receptor through at least 2 intracellular mechanisms, known as transrepression and transactivation. It has been hypothesized that transrepression is the basis of their anti-inflammatory effects, whereas transactivation has been assumed to cause their side effects. ZK209614, a recently identified, novel selective glucocorticoid receptor agonist, exerts strong transrepression and weak transactivation.