The effect of midazolam administration for the prevention of emergence agitation in pediatric patients with extreme fear and non-cooperation undergoing dental treatment under sevoflurane anesthesia, a double-blind, randomized study.

Sevoflurane is generally the preferred anesthetic agent for general anesthesia in pediatric patients, due to its rapid induction and recovery characteristics. However, it has been recognized that a major complication is emergence agitation when awakening from general anesthesia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence rate of emergence agitation in the operating room and postoperative recovery area following intraoperative administration of midazolam to pediatric patients under general anesthesia.

Nitrous Oxide Inhalation Sedation Through a Nasal High-Flow System: The Possibility of a New Technique in Dental Sedation.

High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) systems are increasingly used for patients with both acute and chronic respiratory failure because of the clinical effectiveness and patient comfort associated with their use. Recently, HFNC has been used not only as a respiratory support device, but also as a drug delivery system. HFNC is designed to administer heated and humidified inspiratory oxygen flows (100% relative humidity at 37°C).

Effect of nasal high-flow oxygen therapy on the swallowing reflex: an in vivo volunteer study.

Objective: The advantages of nasal high-flow oxygen therapy (NHF) include not only allowing talking, but also eating and drinking, during the therapy. However, the effect of NHF on the swallowing reflex remains unclear. In the present study, we aimed to assess the effects of NHF on the swallowing reflex.

A pilot study of upper airway management using a remote-controlled artificial muscle device during propofol anesthesia.

Study Objective: To test the hypothesis that the jaw closure using a pneumatic actuator device affect airway collapsibility and resistance during propofol anesthesia.

Design: Prospective, randomized study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

Upside-down mask ventilation technique for a patient with a long and narrow mandible.

Mask ventilation, along with tracheal intubation, is one of the most basic skills for managing an airway during anesthesia. Facial anomalies are a common cause of difficult mask ventilation, although numerous other factors have been reported. The long and narrow mandible is a commonly encountered mandibular anomaly.

Interleukin-16 promotes cardiac fibrosis and myocardial stiffening in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (HFpEF) is observed in half of all patients with CHF and carries the same poor prognosis as CHF with reduced LV ejection fraction (HFrEF). In contrast to HFrEF, there is no established therapy for HFpEF. Chronic inflammation contributes to cardiac fibrosis, a crucial factor in HFpEF; however, inflammatory mechanisms and mediators involved in the development of HFpEF remain unclear.

The effects of hormonal status on upper airway patency in normal female subjects during propofol anesthesia.

Study Objective: To determine the mechanical upper airway properties and compensatory neuromuscular responses to obstruction during propofol anesthesia in the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle.

Design: Prospective, randomized study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

Successful treatment of acquired hemophilia A, complicated by chronic GVHD, with tocilizumab.

A 65-year-old woman who had suffered from chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) presented with extensive purpura and was diagnosed with acquired hemophilia A. Because she was refractory to corticosteroids and her condition was complicated with diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, and hypoglobulinemia, she was treated with tocilizumab. Tocilizumab treatment increased the activity of factor VIII in a rapid and sustained manner, leading to a reduction of the prednisolone dose.

The skin of patients with systemic sclerosis softened during the treatment with anti-IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab.

Objective: SSc is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Although the aetiology remains uncertain, many reports have suggested that IL-6 is involved in SSc pathogenesis. Tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, is an anti-arthritis medicine that works through the blockade of IL-6 functions.

Calicheamicin γ1(I) and phenyl tert-butyl nitrone (PBN): observation of a kinetic isotope effect by an ESR study.

ESR study of enediyne calicheamicin gamma(1)(I) with phenyl tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) gave a significant kinetic isotope effect (k(H)/k(D) = 1.8) for the formation of the phenyl radical PBN monoadducts.

Minimal influence of tocilizumab on IFN-gamma synthesis by tuberculosis antigens.

Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production is a critical step of antituberculosis (anti-TB) immune response. The purpose of this study was to determine the influences of biologics, including the interleukin (IL)-6 receptor-inhibitor tocilizumab (TCZ), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists infliximab (INF) and etanercept (ETA), on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) antigen-induced IFN-gamma production. MTB antigen (ESAT-6 and CFP-10)-induced IFN-gamma-releasing assay was performed with or without addition of biologics (TCZ, ETA, and INF) using whole blood from patients with active TB.

A case of Mikulicz's disease with Th2-biased cytokine profile: possible feature discriminable from Sjögren's syndrome.

This article concerns a male patient with Mikulicz's disease (MD) accompanied with marked elevation of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G4 and IgE levels. His peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) showed markedly enhanced in vitro production of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, but not interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) compared with patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and healthy donors, suggesting distinct Th2 bias in this MD patient. Besides the prominent infiltration of IgG4-producing plasma cells, the enhanced expression of both CD40 and CD40 ligand (CD40L) were observed in the swollen salivary gland of the MD patient, suggesting enhanced signaling pathways for the induction of IgG4 and IgE switching.

Imatinib mesylate inhibited rat adjuvant arthritis and PDGF-dependent growth of synovial fibroblast via interference with the Akt signaling pathway.

Overgrowth of the synovium plays an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is one of the most potent mitogenic factors of synovial cells, and imatinib mesylate (imatinib) is a specific inhibitor of the PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase. The aim of this study was to elucidate the anti-rheumatic activity of imatinib.

Preventative effect of a flavonoid, enzymatically modified isoquercitrin on ocular symptoms of Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Background: Flavonoids are nutrients that exert anti-allergic effects. We investigated the preventative effect of enzymatically modified isoquercitrin (EMIQ), a flavonoid, to relieve the symptoms of Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Methods: In a parallel-group, double-blind placebo-controlled study design, 24 subjects with Japanese cedar pollinosis took 100mg EMIQ or a placebo for 8 weeks, starting 4 weeks prior to the onset of pollen release.

Effect of enzymatically modified isoquercitrin, a flavonoid, on symptoms of Japanese cedar pollinosis: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Flavonoids exert antiallergic and antioxidant effects. We investigated the efficacy of enzymatically modified isoquercitrin (EMIQ), a flavonoid, to relieve symptoms of pollinosis.

Methods: In a parallel-group, double-blind placebo-controlled study design, 20 subjects with Japanese cedar pollinosis took two capsules daily of 100 mg EMIQ or a placebo for 8 weeks during the pollen season.

[Successful therapy with steroid and cyclophosphamide pulse for CNS lupus and lupus myelitis].

The patient was a 33 year female. In 2001, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and treated with prednisolone and ciclosporin. In May 2006, she noticed slight muscle weakness in the bilateral lower limbs.

Flavonoids and related compounds as anti-allergic substances.

The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased all over the world during the last two decades. Dietary change is considered to be one of the environmental factors that cause this increase and worsen allergic symptoms. If this is the case, an appropriate intake of foods or beverages with anti-allergic activities is expected to prevent the onset of allergic diseases and ameliorate allergic symptoms.

Luteolin, a flavonoid, inhibits CD40 ligand expression by activated human basophils.

Background: We have previously shown that flavonoids such as luteolin, apigenin and fisetin inhibit interleukin 4 and interleukin 13 production. In this study, we investigated whether luteolin can suppress CD40 ligand expression by basophils.

Methods: A human basophilic cell line, KU812, was stimulated with A23187 and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) with or without various concentrations of luteolin or other flavonoids for 12 h, and CD40 ligand expression was analyzed by FACS.

IL-18 gene polymorphisms affect IL-18 production capability by monocytes.

We previously demonstrated a significant association between IL-18 gene polymorphism 105A/C and asthma. In this study, we investigated the relationship of IL-18 gene polymorphism to IL-18 production capability by monocytes. The frequency of gene polymorphisms including IL-18-105A/C and IL-18--137G/C was determined by PCR analyses.

Luteolin, a flavonoid, inhibits AP-1 activation by basophils.

Flavonoids including luteolin, apigenin, and fisetin are inhibitors of IL-4 synthesis and CD40 ligand expression by basophils. This study was done to search for compounds with greater inhibitory activity of IL-4 expression and to clarify the molecular mechanisms through which flavonoids inhibit their expression. Of the 37 flavonoids and related compounds examined, ayanin, luteolin, and apigenin were the strongest inhibitors of IL-4 production by purified basophils in response to anti-IgE antibody plus IL-3.