Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults living in the community experienced reduced physical activity (PA) and heightened loneliness, particularly those with less frequent outings-a key factor of social frailty. Promoting PA may foster social participation, increase outings, and reduce loneliness. This study investigates the effects of a multi-component intervention on PA and loneliness in socially frail older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To identify the diagnostic criteria for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) related to liver fibrosis and to characterize patients with cryptogenic steatotic liver disease (SLD) (non-MASLD) among those previously diagnosed with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 511 patients diagnosed with NAFLD via liver biopsy, and the prevalence of MASLD was assessed based on the diagnostic criteria. Patients were divided into those who met the MASLD criteria and those who did not, and the characteristics of advanced fibrosis and associated cardiometabolic factors were evaluated.
Dental caries and periodontal disease are typical oral diseases frequently observed in patients with renal diseases. Tooth loss is an outcome of dental caries and periodontal disease, and the number of existing teeth is an indicator of oral health status. However, the association between the number of existing teeth and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) has not been investigated in detail.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOwing to the unique anatomical features, the endovascular repair for Kommerell diverticulum poses a surgical challenge. An 80-year-old, asymptomatic female with Kommerell diverticulum and associated right-sided aortic arch underwent an endovascular repair, consisting of an aortic arch endografting with a proximal extension, axillo-axillary crossover bypass, and right subclavian parallel endografting. An additional stent was promptly placed retrogradely at the right carotid artery origin as the completion aortography revealed an ostial occlusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab has become the first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, no studies have reported on specific intestinal microbiota associated with the efficacy of atezolizumab and bevacizumab. In this study, we analyzed fecal samples collected before treatment to investigate the relationship between the intestinal microbiome and the efficacy of atezolizumab and bevacizumab.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: The benefits of entecavir (ETV) versus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in reducing the development of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related hepatocellular carcinoma remain controversial. Whether mortality rates differ between patients with CHB treated with ETV and those treated with TDF is unclear.
Methods: A total of 2542 patients with CHB treated with either ETV or TDF were recruited from a multinational cohort.
A 59-year-old Japanese woman presented with hyperferritinemia. We decided against iron removal treatment because there were no symptoms or signs of iron-induced organ damage. A follow-up study revealed a gradual increase in transferrin saturation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Antitumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antibodies have improved the outcome of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); but half of patients remain unresponsive to treatment. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) gene polymorphism is associated with resistance to anti-TNF-α antibodies, but therapies targeting IL-18 have not been clinically applied. Only the mature protein is biologically active, and we aimed to investigate whether specific inhibition of mature IL-18 using a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against a neoepitope of caspase-cleaved mature IL-18 could be an innovative treatment for IBD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) requires delivery quality assurance (DQA) to ensure treatment accuracy and safety. Irradiation techniques such as helical tomotherapy (HT) have become increasingly complex, rendering conventional verification methods insufficient. This study aims to develop a novel DQA system to simultaneously verify dose distribution and multi-leaf collimator (MLC) opening during HT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe family of transition-metal dipnictides has been of theoretical and experimental interest because this family hosts topological states and extremely large magnetoresistance (MR). Recently,TaAs2, a member of this family, has been predicted to support a topological crystalline insulating state. Here, by using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we reveal both closed and open pockets in the metallic Fermi surface (FS) and linearly dispersive bands on the (2‾01) surface, along with the presence of extreme MR observed from magneto-transport measurements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: It is unclear if there may be sex differences in response to nucleos(t)ide analogs including virologic response (VR), biochemical response (BR), complete response (CR), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence among hepatitis B patients. We compared nucleos(t)ide analog treatment outcomes by sex.
Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 3388 treatment-naïve adult hepatitis B patients (1250 female, 2138 male) from the Real-World Evidence from the Global Alliance for the Study of Hepatitis B Virus consortium who initiated therapy with either entecavir or tenofovir from 22 sites (Argentina, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States).
Background: Elevated bile acid levels have been associated with liver tumors in fatty liver. Ileal bile acid transporter inhibitors may inhibit bile acid absorption in the distal ileum and increase bile acid levels in the colon, potentially decreasing the serum and hepatic bile acid levels. This study aimed to investigate the impact of these factors on liver tumor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Both fibrosis status and body weight are important for assessing prognosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was to identify population clusters for specific clinical outcomes based on fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index and body mass index (BMI) using an unsupervised machine learning method.
Methods: We conducted a multicenter study of 1335 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients from Japan.
Importance: The diagnostic performance of the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score (NFS) for advanced fibrosis in lean patients with NAFLD is limited.
Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the FIB-4 and NFS in lean individuals with NAFLD.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This diagnostic study included adults with biopsy-proven NAFLD from 6 referral centers in Asia from 1995 to 2019.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
October 2023
Introduction: Although patients with haemophilia are known to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at a lower age than patients without, there are few reports on the clinical course and prognosis of HCC.
Aim: We aimed to investigate the clinical course and prognosis of patients with HCC and haemophilia.
Methods: Twenty-two patients with haemophilia, who were initially diagnosed with HCC between 2003 and 2021, were included.
Background: Proteinuria is a common adverse event in systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, whether the presence of pretreatment proteinuria affects the clinical course is still unclear.
Method: From 2011 to 2022, 321 patients with unresectable HCC who were treated with systemic therapy as first-line treatment were enrolled in this study.