Dietary calamondin supplementation slows the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of metabolic abnormalities. The citrus fruit calamondin contains nobiletin and hesperidin, which are involved in lipid metabolism, and vitamin C, which is an antioxidant. We investigated the metabolic profiles of C57BL/6 mice fed a normal diet, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD + 1% (w/w) calamondin puree (HFD + CL1), or HFD + 5% (w/w) calamondin puree (HFD + CL5).

Meloxicam as an adjuvant to peginterferon-α-2a and ribavirin treatment for genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C: A randomized trial.

Aim: In this multicenter, randomized trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of meloxicam - a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug - as an adjuvant for enhancing antiviral efficacy and preventing neutropenia during the treatment of patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C using peginterferon and ribavirin.

Methods: A total of 60 patients were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to either the meloxicam or the control group after stratification by neutrophil count. Both groups received weekly peginterferon-α-2a (180 μg) and a weight-based dose of ribavirin for 48 weeks.

Temperature-related effects of adenosine triphosphate-activated microglia on pro-inflammatory factors.

Background: Therapeutic hypothermia protects neurons after severe brain injury. Activated microglia produce several neurotoxic factors, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO), during neuron destruction. Hence, suppression of microglial release of these factors is thought to contribute partly to the neuroprotective effects of hypothermia.

v-Src-mediated transformation suppresses the expression of focal adhesion protein vinexin.

Expression of focal adhesion protein vinexin is reported to be altered in several cancer tissues; however, the mechanism of expressional change in vinexin is not known. Here we report the suppression of vinexin expression according to cellular transformation by v-Src. We found that vinexin expression was down-regulated both at the mRNA level and at the post-transcriptional level in v-Src-transformed cells.

[Physical activity/sports and bone mineral density].

This study observed the amount of exercise of Japanese schoolchildren as recorded by pedometer. Schools are necessary venues to increase children's mobility, but home environments are hotbeds for lack of exercise on weekends and during holidays and vacations. This research measured the L(2 - 4)BMD of 185 male and female primary schoolchildren using a DEXA method.

Efficacy and safety of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy with omeprazole, amoxicillin and high- and low-dose clarithromycin in Japanese patients: a randomised, double-blind, multicentre study.

Objective: Seven-day administration of omeprazole 40 mg/day + amoxicillin 1500 mg/day + clarithromycin 800 mg/day is currently approved in Japan for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. We investigated the efficacy and safety of an omeprazole-based triple therapy regimen in combination with amoxicillin and low-dose clarithromycin in Japanese patients.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to either the low-dose group (omeprazole 40 mg/day + amoxicillin 1500 mg/day + clarithromycin 400 mg/day) or the high-dose group (omeprazole 40 mg/day + amoxicillin 1500 mg/day + clarithromycin 800 mg/day).

[Clinical significance of pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase (PyNPase) in breast cancer].

To clarify the clinical significance of pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase (PyNPase) activity in breast cancer, we examined the possible correlation of PyNPase activity to clinicopathological features and prognosis in twenty-one patients with primary breast cancer from April 2000 to December 2001. Flow signals of tumors were analyzed by Power Doppler sonography (PDUS), and maximal velocity (V(max)) was calculated. PyNPase activity of resected specimens was assayed by ELISA method.

Fluorescence navigation with indocyanine green for detecting sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer.

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy using a vital dye is a convenient and safe method to assess lymph node status in breast cancer. However, intensive training is necessary to obtain a satisfactory detection rate and to avoid false-negative results. This paper presents a novel method using indocyanine green fluorescence imaging to detect sentinel lymph nodes.

Correlation between forearm bone mineral density and body composition in Japanese females aged 18-40 years.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between forearm bone mineral density (BMD), body mass index (BMI), and body composition focusing on body fat percentage (BF%) in Japanese females 18 to 40 years old.

Methods: Subjects were 2,280 females 18-40 years old. Anthropometric measurements were taken, and a medical history was obtained by questionnaire, including age at the time of the study and age at menarche.

Spinal intradural extramedullary cavernous angioma. Case report.

The spinal intradural extramedullary cavernous angioma is a rare clinical entity. Only 20 surgically treated cases have been reported. The authors report on an additional case in which the lesion was located in the cervical region, and they summarize its unique clinical features.

Preoperative assessment of hepatic function: Utility of a new convenient two-compartment model analysis using galactosyl human serum albumin scintigraphy.

Background And Aim: Preoperative hepatic function was evaluated using technetium-99 m-diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid-galactosyl-human serum albumin (Tc-GSA) and a scintillation camera to detect hepatic Tc-GSA uptake by the asialoglycoprotein receptor.

Methods: Sixty-two preoperative patients with liver cancer, including hepatocellular and cholangiocellular carcinomas, were studied, using two-parameter two-compartment model analysis. This model is simpler than either the three- or five-compartment model, both of which are accurate but which require complicated analysis and enormous calculation.

Evaluation of body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, skinfold thickness and bioelectrical impedance analysis in Japanese female college students.

We compared three methods for evaluating body composition: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), skinfold thickness (Skinfolds), and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Subjects were 155 healthy young college-aged Japanese females whose mean+/-SD (range) age, body height, body weight and body mass index (BMI) were 20.1+/-0.

Pneumoperitoneum following the spontaneous rupture of a gas-containing pyogenic liver abscess: report of a case.

We report herein the case of a ruptured liver abscess that resulted in pneumoperitoneum. A patient with diabetes mellitus presented with symptoms of acute abdomen. The plain abdominal radiograph and computed tomography findings revealed abdominal free air and a gas-containing liver abscess, whereby a diagnosis of a ruptured liver abscess was made.

Acute and subacute hydrocephalus in a rat neonatal model: correlation with functional injury of neurotransmitter systems.

Object: The evolution and severity of hydrocephalus in animal models varies in the species and mode of induction. This makes comparisons of the physiological system under investigation difficult between models. We noted that injection of kaolin into neonatal rats results in a dichotomous outcome into either an acute or subacute form.

Intestinal cell kinase (ICK) localizes to the crypt region and requires a dual phosphorylation site found in map kinases.

Identification of key regulatory kinases in the intestinal epithelium are useful to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie proliferation and differentiation in cells found in this compartment. We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the catalytic kinase domain of serine-threonine kinases by employing degenerate primers and then screened an intestinal crypt cDNA library to clone and sequence the open reading frame of a novel serine-threonine kinase. This was then further characterized by Northern blot analysis and RNA in situ hybridization.

Reconstruction of an extensive scalp defect using the split latissimus dorsi flap in combination with the serratus anterior musculo-osseous flap.

A combination of split latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap with the serratus anterior musculo-osseous flap was used to cover a very large defect of the scalp. This technique offers a new alternative for single-stage reconstruction of extensive scalp defects.

Direct measurement of graft and recipient liver fossa size by computed tomography for avoiding problems due [correction of clue] to large graft size in living-related liver transplantation.

We investigated the incidence and manifestation of problems associated with large graft size in living-related liver transplantations and assessed the usefulness of determining volume and dimensions of the graft and recipient's liver fossa by computed tomography to indicate the risk. Five of 150 living related liver transplantations had grafts that were too large, resulting in difficulty in primary abdominal closure or in sudden worsening of hemodynamics during primary closure. No significant difference existed in recipient age, sex, body weight, selection of the graft segment, hepatic vein reconstruction, recipient resected liver weight, graft volumetry value, the ratio of body weight of donor relative to recipient, and the percentage of graft weight relative to recipient body weight, between the groups with and without these problems.

A transgenic mouse model with cyclin D1 overexpression results in cell cycle, epidermal growth factor receptor, and p53 abnormalities.

The cyclin D1 oncogene is critical in the progression of the cell cycle through the G1 phase. It is frequently overexpressed in squamous cell carcinomas originating from the head/neck and esophagus. Yet, the functional consequences of aberrant cyclin D1 overexpression are not entirely understood apart from increased cell proliferation.

Hepatic arterial complications in pediatric segmental liver transplantations from living donors: assessment with color Doppler ultrasonography.

To investigate the clinical utility of color Doppler ultrasonography in detecting hepatic arterial complications in pediatric living-related liver transplantation, we studied peak systolic velocity (Vp) and pulsatility index (PI) intrahepatic artery during and after surgery in 122 transplants. Six cases with hepatic artery thrombosis were detected by Doppler studies. In 2 cases with dampened waveforms at intraoperative flowmetry (Vp < or = 23 and PI < or = 0.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding arising from metastatic testicular tumor.

We report a young man with a testicular tumor in whom the first symptom was upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This was caused by invasion of the duodenum by a metastatic lesion in a retroperitoneal lymph node. Metastatic testicular tumor is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Hepatic preservation with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution in living-related and cadaveric liver transplantation.

1. Living-related liver transplantation has some advantages in the evaluation of novel clinical protocols, since many complicated factors affecting initial graft function are almost uniform in grafts obtained from healthy donors. 2.

A CACCC box-like cis-regulatory element of the Epstein-Barr virus ED-L2 promoter interacts with a novel transcriptional factor in tissue-specific squamous epithelia.

The Epstein-Barr (EBV) virus induces a lytic state after infecting epithelial cells. Subsequently, there is infection of B lymphocytes with two types of cycles, latent and lytic. Apart from linkage of the EBV latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) with benign and malignant conditions of squamous epithelial cells, little is known about other EBV gene products that may be important in these processes as well as cellular transcriptional factors that regulate EBV gene expression in these epithelial cells.

Analysis of factors affecting the graft oxygenation state in living related liver transplantation.

Background/aims: In liver transplantation, graft dysoxia after reperfusion may lead to graft failure. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the factors, which were supposed to affect the oxygen supply to the graft, and the oxygenation state of the graft in order to determine which factor is important to prevent the graft from dysoxia.

Materials And Methods: The relationship between oxygen supply and oxygenation state of the graft was investigated in 56 successful cases of living related liver transplantation.

Induction of endotoxin tolerance in transgenic mouse liver expressing creatine kinase.

The liver plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis during endotoxin-triggered systemic inflammatory response. To study the effects of phosphocreatine on hepatic energy metabolism after endotoxin administration, we used transgenic mice whose livers express creatine kinase (CK). CK catalyzes a phosphocreatine/creatine reaction, that is, an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) reservoir system.

Anatomical and physiological problems of Segment IV: liver transplants using left lobes from living related donors.

We reviewed the problem of Segment IV in using left lobes from living related donors, in 18 left-lobe transplants performed on pediatric patients who ranged in age from 6.0 to 17.3 yr, and in body weight from 19.