Clinical Relapse of Anti-AMPAR Encephalitis Associated with Recurrence of Thymoma.

We report a rare case of anti-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) encephalitis presenting clinical relapse in association with recurrence of thymoma. Anti-AMPAR encephalitis is an autoimmune-mediated neurological disease, frequently accompanied by the presence of neoplasms, thus comprising the spectrum of paraneoplastic syndrome. A patient had been in remission for 34 months showed clinical relapse 3 months after the detection of recurrent thymoma.

Cognitive function, treatment response to lithium, and social functioning in Japanese patients with bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Patients with bipolar disorder often suffer from cognitive impairment that significantly influences their functional outcome. However, it remains unknown whether lithium has a central role in cognition and functional outcome. We examined whether cognition and functional outcome were predicted by demographic and clinical variables, including the response to lithium, in lithium-treated patients with bipolar disorder.

[Drainage for Subcutaneous Emphysema after Pulmonary Resection].

Severe subcutaneous emphysema sometimes develops after pulmonary resection. We report our management of ten patients who were treated with subcutaneous Penrose drainage. Water seal test at chest closure showed no air leakage in 5, and a small amount in 5.

Association of the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 4 (HPS4) gene variants with cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects.

Background: The Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Type 4 (HPS4) gene, which encodes a subunit protein of the biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex (BLOC)-3, which is involved in late endosomal trafficking, is associated with schizophrenia; however, its clinical relevance in schizophrenia remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether HPS4 is associated with cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and with the clinical profiles of patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: We investigated the association of variants of HPS4 with clinical symptoms and cognitive function in Japanese patients with schizophrenia (n = 240) and age-matched healthy control subjects (n = 240) with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)- or haplotype-based linear regression.

An association study of the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 4 gene in schizophrenic patients.

Objective: We encountered two Japanese siblings who had Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) and major mental disorders (schizophrenia and major depression) as well. As it is known that HPS is caused by a local mutation in one of the human genes, named HPS1 to HPS8 and PLDN (HPS9), encoding subunit proteins involved in endosomal trafficking pathways, here, we report the mutation causing the siblings disease and a case-control association study of schizophrenia using polymorphisms of a gene to be screened in the mutation analysis.

Methods: We analyzed three HPS-causing genes, HPS1, HPS4, and HPS7, to identify a genetic mutation involved in the siblings.

A two-factor structure for the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome in schizophrenia.

The deficit subtype is hypothesized to constitute a homogeneous subgroup of schizophrenia patients. The Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS) was developed to categorize schizophrenia patients into deficit and non-deficit subtypes. Only one report, however, has suggested the use of a two-factor SDS.

Application of HVJ-liposome mediated gene transfer in lung transplantation-distribution and transfection efficiency in the lung.

Objective: A novel hemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ)-liposome-mediated gene transfer system has been shown to have benefits of a high efficiency of transfection and low immunogenicity. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of re-transfection of the HVJ-liposome system via the airway, and to quantify the distribution of gene expression between transtracheal and transplantation approaches.

Methods: Beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) plasmid DNA was introduced into lung tissues using the HVJ-liposome method.

Attenuation of lung injury in allograft rejection using NF-kappaB decoy transfection-novel strategy for use in lung transplantation.

Objective: Increased production of nitric oxide (NO) is known to be a marker of lung allograft rejection and lung injury. NO production is up-regulated directly or indirectly by nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), a transcriptional factor of inflammatory cytokines and iNOS. We attempted to determine whether transfection of an NF-kappaB decoy into allografts could reduce NO production and ameliorate acute lung injury during allograft rejection.

Bizarre delusions and DSM-IV schizophrenia.

The present study investigated whether schizophrenia patients with and without DSM-IV bizarre delusions, categorized as bizarre delusions of Schneiderian first rank symptoms (SBD) and as non-Schneiderian bizarre delusions (non-SBD), differed on demographic or clinical features, in view of the weight given to bizarre delusions in the diagnosis of schizophrenia. One hundred and twenty-nine in-patients with schizophrenia were assessed systematically for both types of bizarre delusions on the five domains of psychopathology of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS; delusions/hallucinations, thought disorder/disorganization, excitement, negative symptoms and depressive symptoms) and for extrapyramidal side-effects. Inter-rater reliabilities for SBD and non-SBD were assessed and were exceptionally high (kappa value 0.

Subjective experiences of Japanese inpatients with chronic schizophrenia.

Knowledge of the subjective experience of patients has important implications for the understanding and treatment of schizophrenia. However, previous studies examining the clinical correlates of subjective experiences have yielded inconclusive results. The present study of Japanese inpatients with chronic schizophrenia aimed to reveal the factorial structure of patients' subjective experiences and to examine the relationships between identified factors and demographic and clinical variables.