Aim: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance is considered to be one of the best surrogate endpoints of functional cure for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, evidence regarding the relationship between achieving HBsAg seroclearance or a low baseline HBsAg level, and long-term clinical outcomes in Japanese patients with chronic HBV infection remains to be confirmed in a real-world setting.
Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was performed with an electronic medical record database, including data from 230 hospitals across Japan.
The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus has caused a health crisis of immeasurable magnitude. Signals from heterogeneous public data sources could serve as early predictors for infection waves of the pandemic, particularly in its early phases, when infection data was scarce. In this article, we characterize temporal pandemic indicators by leveraging an integrated set of public data and apply them to a Prophet model to predict COVID-19 trends.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCombination chemotherapy is an effective strategy for increasing anticancer efficacy, reducing side effects and alleviating drug resistance. Here we report that combination of the recently identified novel chalcone derivative, chalcone-24 (Chal-24), and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) significantly increases cytotoxicity in lung cancer cells. Chal-24 treatment significantly enhanced TRAIL-induced activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3, and the cytotoxicity induced by combination of these agents was effectively suppressed by the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug resistance is a major hurdle in anticancer chemotherapy. Combined therapy using drugs with distinct mechanisms of function may increase anticancer efficacy. We have recently identified the novel chalcone derivative, chalcone-24 (Chal-24), as a potential therapeutic that kills cancer cells through activation of an autophagy-mediated necroptosis pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough it is known that tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TNFSF10/TRAIL) induces autophagy, the mechanism by which autophagy is activated by TNFSF10 is still elusive. In this report, we show evidence that TRAF2- and RIPK1-mediated MAPK8/JNK activation is required for TNFSF10-induced cytoprotective autophagy. TNFSF10 activated autophagy rapidly in cancer cell lines derived from lung, bladder and prostate tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn mice, pheromone detection is mediated by the vomeronasal organ and the main olfactory epithelium. Male mice that are deficient for Trpc2, an ion channel specifically expressed in VNO neurons and essential for VNO sensory transduction, are impaired in sex discrimination and male-male aggression. We report here that Trpc2-/- female mice show a reduction in female-specific behaviour, including maternal aggression and lactating behaviour.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
January 2007
It has been shown that inhaled cigarette smoke activates vagal pulmonary C fibers and rapidly adapting receptors (RARs) in the airways and that nicotine contained in the smoke is primarily responsible. This study was carried out to determine whether nicotine alone can activate pulmonary sensory neurons isolated from rat vagal ganglia; the response of these neurons was determined by fura-2-based ratiometric Ca(2+) imaging. The results showed: 1) Nicotine (10(-4) M, 20 s) evoked a transient increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in 175 of the 522 neurons tested (Delta[Ca(2+)](i) = 142.
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