Activated platelets as a possible early marker to predict clinical efficacy of leukocytapheresis in severe ulcerative colitis patients.

Background: Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) is an effective adjunct for patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC). Because LCAP may have the potential to remove and modulate not only leukocytes but also platelets, we evaluated the correlation between activated platelets and the therapeutic response to LCAP.

Methods: Fourteen patients with severe UC received weekly LCAP for 5 consecutive weeks.

Origins of smile and laughter: a preliminary study.

To present fundamental data, spontaneous smiles and spontaneous laughs (smiles accompanied by vocal sounds) were cross-sectionally observed in 10 newborn infants and longitudinally observed in six infants. Unilateral spontaneous smiles were more common than bilateral smiles in neonates, but by 2 months almost all spontaneous smiles were bilateral. All spontaneous laughs were bilateral.

Developmental changes of optical properties in neonates determined by near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy.

Near-infrared spectroscopy has been used for measurement of changes in cerebral Hb concentrations in infants to study cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics. In this study, measurements by time-resolved spectroscopy (TRS) were performed in 22 neonates to estimate the values of light absorption coefficient and reduced scattering coefficient (mu'(s)), cerebral Hb oxygen saturation (SCO2), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and differential pathlength factor (DPF), and the relationships between postconceptional age and mu'(s), SCO2, CBV, and DPF were investigated. A portable three-wavelength TRS system with a probe attached to the head of the neonate was used.

Developmental changes in serum half-life of (EZ)-cyclobilirubin.

Background: Phototherapy has been a standard treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia for more than 40 years, but it has remained sub-optimal.

Aims: To clarify the developmental changes in parameters of (4E, 15Z)-cyclobilirubin ((EZ)-C) elimination in order to obtain basic data for establishing optimal phototherapy.

Study Design: Blood samples were taken at regular intervals after stopping phototherapy, and bilirubin fractions were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Vastus lateralis oxygenation and blood volume measured by near-infrared spectroscopy during whole body vibration.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) on oxygenation of vastus lateralis muscle during squatting exercise. Eighteen male subjects [mean age, 27.3 +/- 6.

Possible role of REG Ialpha protein in ulcerative colitis and colitic cancer.

Background And Aims: Although regenerating gene (REG) Ialpha protein may be involved in the inflammation and carcinogenesis in the gastrointestinal tract, its pathophysiological role in ulcerative colitis (UC) and the resulting colitic cancer remains unclear. We investigated expression of the REG Ialpha gene and its protein in UC and colitic cancer tissues. We examined whether cytokines are responsible for REG Ialpha gene expression and whether REG Ialpha protein has a trophic and/or an antiapoptotic effect on colon cancer cells.

Quantification of cerebral hemoglobin as a function of oxygenation using near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy in a piglet model of hypoxia.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been used for measurement of cerebral hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations in neonates to study cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics. We perform measurements by portable three-wavelength NIR time-resolved spectroscopy (TRS) in a piglet hypoxia model with various degrees of oxygenation to estimate the absorption coefficient (mu(a)) and reduced scattering coefficient (mu(s)') of the head. Measurements of absolute values of mu(a) at three wavelengths enable estimation of Hb concentration and Hb oxygen saturation in the head (SO2).

Methylation of the oestrogen receptor gene in non-neoplastic epithelium as a marker of colorectal neoplasia risk in longstanding and extensive ulcerative colitis.

Background: Surveillance colonoscopy is widely recommended in patients with longstanding and extensive ulcerative colitis (UC) in order to detect colorectal neoplasia at an early stage. However, it still remains questionable whether surveillance colonoscopy effectively enables early detection of UC associated neoplasia. There is a great need for sensitive markers to identify individuals at increased risk of neoplasia.

Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) for management of fulminant ulcerative colitis with toxic megacolon.

Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) is a method of therapeutic apheresis to remove patients' peripheral leukocytes by extracorporeal circulation. Previous studies showed that LCAP for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) was more effective and had fewer adverse effects compared to high-dose steroid therapy. However, there are no reports on the application of LCAP for UC patients with toxic megacolon (TM).

Cortisol levels in umbilical vein and umbilical artery with or without antenatal corticosteroids.

Background: The developmental changes of the umbilical cortisol levels in neonates at gestational age of 23-41 weeks were studied and the effect of antenatal steroid administration on the umbilical cortisol levels were examined.

Methods: Cortisol levels in the umbilical vein (UV) and the umbilical artery (UA) were studied in 35 neonates at the gestational age (GA) of 23-41 weeks with or without antenatal administration of corticosteroids. Serum cortisol concentrations were measured by the high performance liquid chromatography method.

Estimation of circulating blood volume in infants using the pulse dye densitometry method.

Background: Estimation of hemodynamics is important for critically ill infants. Pulse dye densitometry (PDD) using indocyanine green (ICG), which enables measurements of circulating blood volume at the bedside, has recently been developed for adults.

Methods: We conducted a basic investigation to determine whether this method can be applied to infants and measured circulating blood volume in 25 infants whose gestational ages ranged from 24 to 40 weeks (median, 32 weeks).

Change of bilirubin photoisomers in the urine and serum before and after phototherapy compared with light source.

Background: The clinical effect of phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is based on the production and elimination of cyclobilirubin. Generally, the clinical effect of light sources is estimated by the reduction in the total serum bilirubin level. One procedure with less invasiveness than blood collecting is urine collection.

Cerebral distribution of cardiac output in newborn infants.

Cerebral blood flow and output of the left ventricle were simultaneously investigated in 17 infants using multichannel near infrared spectroscopy and pulse dye densitometry with indocyanine green. Cardiac output and cerebral blood flow were positively related. The control of cardiac output is important in the regulation of cerebral blood flow in infants.

Changes in cerebral glucose metabolism in newborn infants with cerebral infarction.

Cerebral infarction in infants is not uncommon, and it differs in many important ways from cerebral infarction in older children and adults. Computed tomography, ultrasound, and conventional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging are useful for diagnosing cerebral infarction, but these imaging techniques cannot be used to measure cerebral blood flow and metabolic activity. Abnormality in those parameters seems to follow a different pattern and time course than those in older patients.

Early maternal deprivation induces alterations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the developing rat hippocampus.

The effects of maternal deprivation (MD) during early postnatal life on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level were investigated in the present study. Wistar rats were assigned to either maternal deprivation or mother-reared control (MRC) groups. MD manipulation was achieved by separating rat pups from their mothers for 3h a day during postnatal days (PND) 10-15.

Detection of specific IgE antibodies to nafamostat mesilate as an indication of possible adverse effects of leukocytapheresis using nafamostat mesilate as anticoagulant.

The aim was to determine whether adverse effects of leukocytapheresis (LCAP) are related to nafamostat mesilate (NM) as an anticoagulant. Anti-NM IgE were detected in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who were administrated LCAP in our institute. Forty-nine patients (ulcerative colitis (UC)/Crohn's disease (CD): 30/19) were evaluated.

Noninvasive optical imaging in the visual cortex in young infants.

During the developmental stage, the brain undergoes anatomic, functional, and metabolic changes necessary to support the complex adaptive behavior of a mature individual. Estimation of developmental changes occurring in different regions of the brain would provide a means of relating various behavioral phenomena to maturation-specific brain structures, thereby providing useful information on structure-function relationships in both normal and disease states. We used multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (MNIRS), a new noninvasive imaging technique for revealing the course of neural activity in selected brain regions, to monitor the activities of the visual cortex as mirrored by hemodynamic responses in infants subjected to photostimulation during natural sleep.

Development of colonic neoplasia in p53 deficient mice with experimental colitis induced by dextran sulphate sodium.

Background: Several animal models for human ulcerative colitis (UC) associated neoplasia have been reported. However, most neoplasias developed in these models have morphological and genetic characteristics different from UC associated neoplasia.

Aims: To establish a new colitis associated neoplasia model in p53 deficient mice by treatment with dextran sulphate sodium (DSS).

Granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: a report on six cases with high plasma viremia.

Granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages (GM) are known to constitute extra-hepatic sites for hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication and dissemination. Accordingly, we thought that selective GM adsorptive apheresis (GMA) might contribute to the treatment of HCV in patients with high viremia (HCV-RNA > 100 kIU/mL). Of six patients (three males and three females), mean age 62.

Relationship between cerebral interstitial levels of amino acids and phosphorylation potential during secondary energy failure in hypoxic-ischemic newborn piglets.

The aim of this study was to determine the validity of the hypothesis that excitatory amino acids are related to phosphorylation potential during primary and secondary cerebral energy failure observed in asphyxiated infants. We report here the results of experiments using newborn piglets subjected to severe transient cerebral hypoxia-ischemia followed by resuscitation. We examined cerebral energy metabolism by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and changes in levels of amino acid neurotransmitters in the cortex by microdialysis before, during, and up to 24 h after the hypoxic-ischemic insult.

Ethosuximide induced agranulocytosis.

Agranulocytosis caused by ethosuximide is extremely rare in children. Drug-induced agranulocytosis is an unexpected side effect of a drug, and delay in diagnosis of agranulocytosis can result in a fatal outcome. We experienced a case of a 16-month-old male infant with Down syndrome in whom fever appeared 16 days after the start of administration of ethosuximide and then severe pneumonia developed.