Successful rituximab treatment in IgG4-related coronary periarteritis: a case-based review.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an immune-mediated disorder characterized by elevated serum IgG4 levels and the enlargement and fibrosis of organs. As a rare manifestation, coronary arteries can be affected by IgG4-RD as coronary periarteritis, leading to serious complications such as stenosis or aneurysm. Although coronary periarteritis poses a life-threatening condition, optimal treatment strategies remain unclear due to its extreme rarity.

Long-term efficacy of sarilumab on the progression of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis: the KEIO-RA cohort and literature review.

Objectives: To clarify the impact of sarilumab (SAR) on the progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all consecutive RA patients from the KEIO-RA cohort who visited our institution between 2018 and 2024 and received SAR treatment. Patients were followed for 24 months from the initiation of SAR.

Thrombomodulin - A key regulator of intravascular blood coagulation and inflammation, and a treatment for disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Thrombomodulin (TM) is an important regulator of intravascular blood coagulation and inflammation. TM inhibits the procoagulant and proinflammatory activities of thrombin and promotes the thrombin-induced activation of protein C (PC) bound to the endothelial PC receptor (EPCR). Activated PC (APC) inactivates coagulation factors Va and VIIIa, thereby inhibiting blood clotting.

Successful rituximab treatment in a seronegative rheumatoid arthritis patient with concurrent cold agglutinin syndrome and immune thrombocytopenia.

Cold agglutinin disease, a subtype of cold-type autoimmune hemolytic anemia, is referred to as cold agglutinin syndrome (CAS) when it develops secondary to other conditions. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the peripheral destruction of platelets. While both CAS and ITP can occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), their concurrent manifestation in a single patient has not been reported, leaving the optimal treatment strategy for such a complex case unclear.

Hornerin expressed on endothelial cells via interacting with thrombomodulin modulates vascular inflammation and angiogenesis.

Thrombomodulin is predominantly expressed on vascular endothelial cells and modulates endothelial cell functions by interacting with multiple ligands. The specific thrombomodulin receptor or cofactor active on the endothelial cell surface remains elusive. This study aims to identify interacting partners of thrombomodulin on endothelial cells.

Development of pituitary dysfunction and destructive thyroiditis is associated with better survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with programmed cell death-1 inhibitors: a prospective study with immortal time bias correction.

Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are reported to be associated with better overall survival (OS) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, there may be a bias in that patients who develop irAEs must survive long enough to experience the irAEs, and no prospective studies adjusting for immortal time bias (ITB) have examined the relationship between OS and pituitary dysfunction or the two different types of thyroid dysfunction: destructive thyroiditis and hypothyroidism without prior thyrotoxicosis (isolated hypothyroidism).

Methods: Patients with NSCLC who received nivolumab or pembrolizumab at Nagoya University Hospital between November 2, 2015 and February 1, 2023 were enrolled.

Carbohydrate Metabolism Differentiates and Species Growing in Beer.

Obligate anaerobic beer spoilage bacteria have been a menace to the brewing industry for several decades. Technological advances in the brewing process aimed at suppressing aerobic spoilers gave rise to problems with obligate anaerobes. In previous studies, the metabolic spectrum of and species has been described, but their metabolism in the beer environment remains largely unknown.

Applications of the Third-Generation DNA Sequencing Technology to the Identification of Spoilage Microorganisms in the Brewing Industry.

A new nanopore sequencing-based method has been developed for the detection and identification of a wider range of microorganisms. This method uses universal primers to identify virtually all the bacterial or yeast/fungal species via the amplification and nucleotide sequencing of common ribosomal DNA regions. The simplicity of its protocol makes the method suitable for both small and large breweries.

DNA methylation of bone morphogenetic protein 7 in leukocytes as a possible biomarker for hand osteoarthritis: A pilot study.

Hand osteoarthritis (HOA), characterized by an earlier onset age and reduced susceptibility to mechanical stress compared with knee and hip osteoarthritis, is considered a suitable disease for identifying predictive biomarkers of osteoarthritis. In particular, DNA methylation variants, expected to contribute to HOA susceptibility, hold potential as osteoarthritis biomarkers. In this study, leukocyte DNA methylation patterns were analyzed in blood samples from patients with HOA, aiming to identify disease-specific biomarkers for osteoarthritis.

Successful maintenance therapy with tocilizumab for severe acute liver failure associated with adult-onset still's disease.

Elevated liver enzymes are commonly observed among adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), but severe acute liver failure is extremely rare. Although severe acute liver failure associated with AOSD poses a life-threatening condition, the appropriate treatment is unclear. Some case reports have demonstrated the efficacy of high-dose prednisolone (PSL) and cyclosporin A (CyA), although the adverse effects of CyA led certain patients to cease its use.

Hyperthyroidism Due to Functioning Metastatic Bone Lesions of Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma Treated With Lenvatinib.

A 71-year-old woman was diagnosed with unresectable metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and thyrotoxicosis. She was negative for the presence of thyroxine receptor antibody and thyroid-stimulating antibody. Whole-body scintigraphy revealed increased Tc-pertechnetate uptake in metastatic bone lesions but not in the thyroid nodule.

Combined use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors with PD-(L)1 blockade increased the risk of thyroid dysfunction in PD-(L)1 blockade: a prospective study.

Background: Anti-programmed cell death-1 (ligand-1) antibody [PD-(L)1-Ab] can cause destructive thyroiditis and/or hypothyroidism. In addition, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) frequently induce hypothyroidism. The aim of this prospective study is to examine the incidence and clinical characteristics of thyroid dysfunction induced by combination therapy of a PD-(L)1-Ab and TKI [PD-(L)1-Ab/TKI].

Approaches to nutritional research using organoids; fructose treatment induces epigenetic changes in liver organoids.

Nutritional researches have successfully used animal models to gain new insights into nutrient action. However, comprehensive descriptions of their molecular mechanisms of action remain elusive as appropriate in vitro evaluation systems are lacking. Organoid models can mimic physiological structures and reproduce in vivo functions, making them increasingly utilized in biomedical research for a better understand physiological and pathological phenomena.

A deep-learning-based scatter correction with water equivalent path length map for digital radiography.

We proposed a new deep learning (DL) model for accurate scatter correction in digital radiography. The proposed network featured a pixel-wise water equivalent path length (WEPL) map of subjects with diverse sizes and 3D inner structures. The proposed U-Net model comprises two concatenated modules: one for generating a WEPL map and the other for predicting scatter using the WEPL map as auxiliary information.

Successful high-dose glucocorticoid therapy for anti-mitochondrial antibody-positive myocarditis arising during tocilizumab and low-dose glucocorticoid therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

Anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA)-positive myopathy, a recently identified condition with significant cardiac involvement, poses a serious challenge in treatment consensus due to its extreme rarity. While several studies demonstrate the efficacy of high-dose prednisolone in managing this disease, the current literature lacks substantial evidence regarding the effectiveness of biologic therapy or low-dose prednisolone for remission induction. Here, we present a case of AMA-positive myocarditis that emerged during rheumatoid arthritis treatment with tocilizumab (TCZ) and low-dose prednisolone (PSL).

Association between DNA methylation levels of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) and changes in glycemic traits: a longitudinal population-based study.

Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) plays an important role in glucose metabolism, and its expression is regulated by DNA methylation (DNAm). Although the association between TXNIP DNAm and type 2 diabetes mellitus has been demonstrated in studies with a cross-sectional design, prospective studies are needed. We therefore examined the association between TXNIP DNAm levels and longitudinal changes in glycemic traits by conducting a longitudinal study involving 169 subjects who underwent two health checkups in 2015 and 2019.