Combined use of ibandronate and eldecalcitol in postmenopausal Japanese women with osteoporosis.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of combined use of ibandronate and eldecalcitol for 6 to 12 months on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone strength of the proximal femur in postmenopausal Japanese women with osteoporosis.

Methods: BMD and bone strength of the proximal femur were evaluated in 78 postmenopausal women (mean age, 73.6 years) who underwent treatment for osteoporosis with combined use of ibandronate and eldecalcitol for at least 6 months.

Time to functional recovery after arthroscopic surgery for tennis elbow.

Background: This study evaluated recovery from chronic lateral epicondylitis after arthroscopic treatment.

Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients (5 men, 18 women) with chronic lateral epicondylitis underwent arthroscopic surgery. Patients were a mean age of 49 years.

Metallothionein deficiency in the injured peripheral nerves of complex regional pain syndrome as revealed by proteomics.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by persistent and severe pain after trauma or surgery; however, its molecular mechanisms in the peripheral nervous system are poorly understood. Using proteomics, we investigated whether injured peripheral nerves of CRPS patients have altered protein profiles compared with control nerves. We obtained nerve samples from 3 patients with CRPS-2 who underwent resection of part of an injured peripheral nerve.

Beneficial potential of casein hydrolysate containing Val-Pro-Pro and Ile-Pro-Pro on central blood pressure and hemodynamic index: a preliminary study.

Pharmaceutical angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been shown to reduce arterial stiffness; the possible effect of food-derived putative ACE inhibitory peptides on this degenerative process, however, has not been reported. In the present study, casein hydrolysate containing the lactotripeptides, Val-Pro-Pro (VPP) and Ile-Pro-Pro (IPP), which has been found to have an antihypertensive effect in a number of clinical studies, was investigated for its ability to improve hemodynamic parameters, including central systolic blood pressure (cSBP), in hypertensive subjects. Twelve hypertensive subjects who were not on prescribed medication were monitored for various hemodynamic parameters, including brachial blood pressure (peripheral blood pressure), cSBP, and augmentation index (AI), at the start and then after 3, 6, and 9 weeks of a daily treatment comprising four tablets containing VPP and IPP.