Publications by authors named "M Kakimoto"

Introduction: Neutralizing antibodies have been approved for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment; however, no study has clarified the link among their neutralizing effect in vitro, the period of infectious virus shedding, and symptoms in the acute phase. Here, we aimed to assess the duration of virus shed and fever in patients with mild COVID-19 stratified by their characteristics and type of neutralizing antibody administered.

Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of neutralizing antibodies in terms of the duration of infectious virus excretion and fever in three groups: patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta strain treated with REGEN-CoV2 (REGN-CoV2 group) and patients infected with Omicron strain treated with S309 (S309 group) or untreated (untreated group).

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Congenital cystic eye (CCE) is a rare congenital ocular disease, which has been suggested to be caused by problems with optic vesicle invagination. This is characterized by the formation of intraorbital cystic lesions lined by undifferentiated neuroepithelium. However, cases involving ocular structures with varying degrees of differentiation have also been reported as CCE in humans and animals.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the traditional uses of Ephedra spp. in East Asian medicine, specifically focusing on E. sinica for conditions like colds and COVID-19, and E. przewalskii, which is thought to lack harmful ephedrine alkaloids but requires more research for its antiviral properties.
  • The aim was to compare the effects of E. przewalskii and E. sinica extracts against SARS-CoV-2 strains in vitro, examining their antiviral capabilities and potential differences among various strains.
  • Results showed that E. przewalskii extract displayed notable antiviral efficacy when tested against different SARS-CoV-2 strains, offering a promising alternative for treatment, particularly in comparison to
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Background: Xanthine oxidase (XO) generates reactive oxygen species during uric acid production. Therefore, XO inhibitors, which suppress oxidative stress, may effectively treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and atherosclerosis via uric acid reduction. In this study, we examined the antioxidant effect of the XO inhibitor febuxostat on NASH and atherosclerosis in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive 5 (SHRSP5/Dmcr) rats.

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The liver X receptor (LXR) can enhance cholesterol transporters, which could remove excess cholesterol from foam cells in atheromas. LXR has two subtypes: LXRα, which aggravates hepatic lipid accumulation, and LXRβ, which does not. In 2018, ouabagenin (OBG) was reported as a potential LXRβ-specific agonist.

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