Publications by authors named "Izuhara K"
The search for blood biomarkers useful in treating atopic dermatitis patients.
Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- Atopic dermatitis (AD) is primarily diagnosed through observable symptoms rather than specific lab tests, leading to a push for new biomarkers to help guide treatment with emerging targeted therapies.
- A recent study and literature review highlight several potential biomarkers for AD, with an emphasis on the effectiveness of CCL17/TARC, but also noting others like SCCA2, CCL26/eotaxin-3, and LDH as potentially better markers for assessing disease severity.
- Further research is needed to identify and validate these biomarkers to improve treatment outcomes for patients with atopic dermatitis.
Article Synopsis
- Blood eosinophil count is a significant biomarker for managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but its precise role in the disease still needs further exploration.
- A study with 93 COPD patients showed that 19.3% had eosinophilic COPD, and while eosinophil counts correlated with some blood parameters, they also indicated lung structural changes related to the disease.
- The findings suggest that elevated eosinophils may contribute to alveolar damage and thickening of airway walls in COPD patients lacking asthma, highlighting the need for further research on this inflammation type in COPD.
Article Synopsis
- Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease characterized by intense itching, and new treatments like dupilumab have been developed but predicting the right treatment for each patient is challenging.
- A study involving 110 AD patients aimed to identify factors and biomarkers that could indicate how well patients might respond to dupilumab, using various scales for assessment.
- Findings showed that higher baseline serum LDH levels and certain comorbidities, like food allergies, were linked to poorer treatment outcomes, suggesting these could help guide treatment decisions for AD patients.
Voice abuse, chronic cough, laryngeal surgery, and tracheal intubation may lead to injury and subsequent repair/remodeling in the vocal fold mucosa. Periostin is known to be involved in airway remodeling and is also associated with various otolaryngological diseases. D-β-aspartic acid is the major isomer of D-aspartic acid found in tissues of elderly individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Dupilumab significantly improved symptoms and measures of airway mucus hypersecretion and airway dimensions in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma over a 48-week treatment period.
- The study included 28 adults and utilized assessments like the CASA-Q and CT scans to evaluate clinical effects.
- Results indicated that 64% of patients showed noticeable improvement, highlighting dupilumab's effectiveness in managing asthma symptoms and airway inflammation.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates the relationship between periostin, a protein linked to mechanical stress and inflammation, and the severity of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) in patients.
- Conducted on 198 patients who had lumbar spine issues, researchers used Pfirrmann grading to assess IVDD severity and measured serum periostin levels with ELISA kits.
- The findings reveal a significant correlation between higher serum periostin levels and more severe IVDD, suggesting that periostin could be a valuable biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring IVDD.
Article Synopsis
- This study looked at a protein called periostin to see if it could help doctors predict how well patients with a lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) would do after treatment with a drug named nintedanib.
- Researchers measured different levels of periostin in 87 patients and compared them to 43 other patients who hadn't been treated with antifibrotic drugs before.
- They found that higher levels of periostin were linked to better chances of survival and more effectiveness of nintedanib in treating IPF, which might help doctors make better treatment plans in the future.
Article Synopsis
- Parotid tumors can be benign or malignant, with various histological features; this study focused on benign tumors, including pleomorphic adenomas and Warthin's tumors.
- The research involved 36 patients (mean age 59.2) who underwent tumor resection, assessing the expression of periostin, an extracellular matrix protein, in their tumor samples.
- Results showed that 84.2% of the benign tumors exhibited increased periostin expression, indicating potential involvement in tumor development and suggesting periostin as a new biomarker for these tumors.
Article Synopsis
- Periostin (POSTN) is a protein involved in tissue signaling and is found in various body tissues; it helps activate cells by binding to integrin receptors.
- POSTN is associated with several diseases, including skin conditions, asthma, cancer, and orthopedic issues like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, making it an important biomarker for these conditions.
- The review explores the role of POSTN in spinal degenerative diseases, looking at how mechanical and inflammatory stresses affect the spine's structure and could lead to new diagnostic and treatment approaches.
Article Synopsis
- A study examined periostin as a potential biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) by measuring various serum levels in patients and healthy controls.
- Results showed that periostin levels were significantly higher in RA-ILD patients compared to those with RA alone and healthy individuals, with KL-6 being particularly effective in detecting ILD in RA patients.
- The findings indicate that periostin correlates with certain lung disease patterns and could aid in diagnosing and assessing fibrosis in RA-ILD, suggesting its use in treatment decisions.
Article Synopsis
- Dupilumab is a new treatment for severe chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, specifically targeting eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (ECRS), a difficult-to-treat subtype, but its effects on nasal tissue were not well understood.
- An observational study involved 63 patients with refractory ECRS, assessing symptoms and nasal polyp scores after 24 weeks of dupilumab treatment, with 23 patients examined for changes in tissue characteristics.
- Results showed significant symptom improvement and nasal polyp reduction in most patients, but some still showed residual polyps, with changes in periostin expression suggesting a role in treatment response variability.
The ability of biomarkers to assess the severity of atopic dermatitis.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob
February 2024
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers evaluated objective (Eczema Area and Severity Index - EASI) and subjective (Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure - POEM and pruritis-NRS) symptoms of AD and found strong associations between various biomarkers and these assessments.
- * Key findings suggest that CCL26/eotaxin-3 and SCCA2 are the most effective biomarkers for measuring AD severity via EASI, while lactate dehydrogenase is best for assessing symptoms on POEM and pruritis-NRS. *
Article Synopsis
- - The study examined how long-term voice abuse or sudden injury affects the vocal fold mucosa and focused on the roles of CD31, CD34, and periostin in vocal fold polyp formation.
- - Histopathological analysis of 57 vocal fold polyp samples revealed that CD31 and CD34 were expressed in 71.9% and 93% of samples, respectively, while periostin was found in 71.9% of samples, indicating their involvement in polyp development.
- - The research identified different patterns of marker expression associated with specific histological subtypes of vocal fold polyps, suggesting that these vascular endothelial markers could aid in staging the condition.
Article Synopsis
- The rapid advancement of precision diagnostic tools and omic technologies has led to the identification of new disease endotypes for allergic conditions, improving our understanding of diseases beyond just symptoms.
- This shift has prompted a reevaluation of current disease classifications, ultimately leading to the development of a modern nomenclature for allergic diseases that acknowledges historical classifications.
- The paper details a comprehensive framework for hypersensitivity reactions, categorizing them into nine types based on mechanisms and responses, with plans for a follow-up article addressing the practical implications in allergy treatment and management.
Article Synopsis
- Mepolizumab treatment is effective in improving symptoms and quality of life in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, but better biomarkers are needed to predict its effectiveness.
- A study with 27 patients looked at various health indicators and also investigated the role of CD69-positive MAIT cells as potential biomarkers for treatment response.
- Results showed that MAIT cell counts and serum periostin levels could help predict treatment outcomes, suggesting that MAIT cells may play a protective role against airway inflammation.
Article Synopsis
- Long-term voice abuse or sudden injuries to the vocal folds can lead to mutations and changes in their structure, which may contribute to the development of vocal fold polyps.
- The study examines the expressions of two substances, D-β-aspartic acid and periostin, in vocal fold polyp tissue samples from 36 patients, revealing that both were present and exhibited distinct patterns in the samples.
- The researchers propose that the presence of D-β-aspartic acid and periostin may play a role in the pathological changes associated with vocal fold polyps, including tissue changes and fibrosis.
Article Synopsis
- Dupilumab shows effectiveness in reducing severe asthma exacerbations and improving lung function in patients with uncontrolled asthma and type 2 inflammation, regardless of whether they have allergic asthma or not.
- In the TRAVERSE study, patients receiving dupilumab experienced significant improvements in pre-bronchodilator FEV and reductions in asthma control questionnaire scores over 96 weeks.
- The findings support the use of dupilumab as a long-term treatment option for managing type 2 asthma, aligning with current GINA guidelines.
Article Synopsis
- * A study involving 36 severe asthma patients showed that after 1 year of benralizumab treatment, there were notable changes in immune cell counts, including a reduction in eosinophils and basophils, alongside an increase in Th2 cells.
- * The research indicates that circulating Th17 cell frequencies and FeNO levels could serve as predictive markers for patients' responsiveness to benralizumab treatment in a real-world context.
The functional role and the clinical application of periostin in chronic rhinosinusitis.
Expert Rev Clin Immunol
December 2023
Article Synopsis
- - Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is categorized more by endotypes than phenotypes, with periostin being highlighted as a potential biomarker, particularly for type 2 CRS.
- - The text explores the significance of both tissue and serum periostin in CRS patients, especially considering the influence of comorbid asthma on these levels and detailing the functional role of periostin in the disease's development.
- - Periostin has proven valuable in classifying CRS patients and assessing factors like disease severity and prognosis, but more research is needed to determine its role as a therapeutic target and its application in treatment with biologics.
Article Synopsis
- Researchers developed enhanced ELISA assays to measure sputum periostin levels in asthma patients, focusing on both whole periostin and its cleavage products.
- They found that sputum contained mostly smaller periostin fragments and that their assay could detect these fragments in 90% of samples compared to only 44% for whole periostin.
- The study concluded that sputum periostin is a potentially valuable biomarker in asthma, correlating more strongly with clinical characteristics like lung function and inflammation than serum periostin.
Article Synopsis
- - Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin condition characterized by itching and is influenced primarily by type 2 inflammation, although the role of non-type 2 inflammation is not fully understood.
- - Researchers developed the FADS mouse model to study AD, finding that disrupting or inhibiting periostin, a molecule involved in type 2 inflammation, reduces eczema symptoms and inflammation without affecting type 2 inflammation levels.
- - The study suggests that periostin connects inflammation's effects on skin cells to the sensation of itching, making it a potential target for new treatments for atopic dermatitis.