Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia: A Case Report Four Years After the Initiation of Maintenance Hemodialysis.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia type II (HIT) is a rare and serious complication of heparin exposure and is always a potential risk in hemodialysis patients who routinely receive heparin. It is particularly likely to occur during the induction phase of dialysis. However, it is known to be less prevalent in long-term maintenance dialysis.

Trial to control an outbreak of Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at a boarding school in Japan.

Background: Our retrospective investigation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection at a hospital in Japan around 2007 suggested dissemination of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) strains among healthy students in a Japanese boarding school, which frequently caused skin disease and exhibited the same antibiogram patterns.

Methods: Active surveillance of skin diseases for 6 months after May 2008, examination of MRSA carriage in selected high-risk groups, and investigation of their life circumstances, including environmental cultures, were conducted in the school. Furthermore, we strengthened hygiene practices and improved recognized risk factors from November 2008 and observed the occurrence of skin diseases and MRSA carriage rate for the evaluation of infection controls.

Common defects of ABCG2, a high-capacity urate exporter, cause gout: a function-based genetic analysis in a Japanese population.

Gout based on hyperuricemia is a common disease with a genetic predisposition, which causes acute arthritis. The ABCG2/BCRP gene, located in a gout-susceptibility locus on chromosome 4q, has been identified by recent genome-wide association studies of serum uric acid concentrations and gout. Urate transport assays demonstrated that ABCG2 is a high-capacity urate secretion transporter.

Epidural abscess caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain USA300 in Japan.

We report a case of epidural abscess caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) strain USA300 in a previously healthy 25-year-old American woman who lived in Japan for more than 1 year. She started to complain of severe headache that continued for about 10 days after improvement of subcutaneous abscesses caused by MRSA. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed epidural abscess.

Imprint cytology detects floating Brachyspira in human intestinal spirochetosis.

Human intestinal spirochetosis is a colorectal infectious disease caused by 2 Brachyspira species. Its diagnosis is established by histology, culture, and polymerase chain reaction, but the value of cytologic examination in routine practice remains unclear. In this study, imprint cytology of biopsy specimens was examined for cytologic features specific to human intestinal spirochetosis.

Human intestinal spirochetosis accompanied by human immunodeficiency virus infection: a case report.

We present a middle-aged, heterosexual Japanese man with mixed infections including human intestinal spirochetosis, which led us to the detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The patient had syphilis without related physical or neurological findings. An examination for the serum antibody for HIV performed 9 years previously was negative.

Mutations in glucose transporter 9 gene SLC2A9 cause renal hypouricemia.

Renal hypouricemia is an inherited disorder characterized by impaired renal urate (uric acid) reabsorption and subsequent low serum urate levels, with severe complications such as exercise-induced acute renal failure and nephrolithiasis. We previously identified SLC22A12, also known as URAT1, as a causative gene of renal hypouricemia. However, hypouricemic patients without URAT1 mutations, as well as genome-wide association studies between urate and SLC2A9 (also called GLUT9), imply that GLUT9 could be another causative gene of renal hypouricemia.

Gene promoter of apoptosis inhibitory protein IAP2: identification of enhancer elements and activation by severe hypoxia.

Inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) antagonize cell death and regulate the cell cycle. One mechanism controlling IAP expression is translation initiation through the internal ribosome entry sites. Alternatively, IAP expression can be regulated at the transcription level.

[Two cases of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis treated by percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty and intravascular stent placement, leading to improvement of hypertension and renal function].

We describe here two cases of renal artery stenosis(RAS) caused by atherosclerosis. Both patients were treated by percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty(PTRA) and stent placement, leading to the improvement of renal function as well as hypertension. The two patients were a 75-year-old male(case 1) and a 56-year-old male(case 2), who both showed mild proteinuria, renal dysfunction, and refractory hypertension.