A single-center pilot study on the efficacy and safety of acetic acid-enhanced magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging for diagnosis of colorectal epithelial neoplasms.

Background And Aims: We investigated the ideal acetic acid (AA) concentration for AA-enhanced narrow-band imaging magnifying endoscopy (ANBI-ME) in the diagnosis of superficial colorectal neoplasms and evaluated its clinical efficacy.

Methods: During the exploratory phase, we investigated 4 concentrations (1.5%, 2.

Association of anti-TPM4 autoantibodies with vasculopathic cutaneous manifestations in juvenile dermatomyositis.

Objectives: AECAs are detected in multiple forms of vasculitis or vasculopathy, including JDM. High levels of tropomyosin alpha-4 chain (TPM4) gene expression in cutaneous lesions and TPM4 protein expression in some endothelial cells (ECs) have been proven. Furthermore, the presence of autoantibodies to tropomyosin proteins have been discovered in DM.

Association of anti-HSC70 autoantibodies with cutaneous ulceration and severe disease in juvenile dermatomyositis.

Objectives: JDM is an inflammatory myopathy characterized by prominent vasculopathy. AECAs are frequently detected in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. We sought to determine whether AECAs correlate with clinical features of JDM, and thus serve as biomarkers to guide therapy or predict outcome.

Identification of a -Glycosyltransferase Involved in Medermycin Biosynthesis.

-Glycosylation in the biosynthesis of bioactive natural products is quite unique, which has not been studied well. Medermycin, as an antitumor agent in the family of pyranonaphthoquinone antibiotics, is featured with unique -glycosylation. Here, a new -glycosyltransferase (-GT) Med-8 was identified to be essential for the biosynthesis of medermycin, as the first example of -GT to recognize a rare deoxyaminosugar (angolosamine).

Safety and Recipient Satisfaction of Propofol Sedation in Outpatient Endoscopy: A 24-Hour Prospective Investigation Using a Questionnaire Survey.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of sedation with propofol as an alternative to benzodiazepine drugs in outpatient endoscopy.

Methods: In this prospective study, examinees who underwent outpatient endoscopy under propofol sedation and submitted a nextday questionnaire with providing informed consent were evaluated. Periprocedural acute responses, late adverse events within 24 hours, and examinee satisfaction were evaluated.

Distinct Functions of Acyl/Alkyl Dihydroxyacetonephosphate Reductase in Peroxisomes and Endoplasmic Reticulum.

Plasmalogens are a subclass of ether glycerophospholipids characterized by a vinyl-ether bond at the -1 position of the glycerol backbone. Plasmalogen biosynthesis is initiated in peroxisomes. At the third step of plasmalogen synthesis, alkyl-dihydroxyacetonephosphate (DHAP) is enzymatically reduced to 1-alkyl--glycero-3-phospate by acyl/alkyl DHAP reductase (ADHAPR), whose activity is found in both peroxisomes and microsomes.

Predictive Factors for Short-Term Survival after Non-Curative Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection for Early Gastric Cancer.

Background/aims: For early gastric cancer (EGC) treated using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) with poor curability defined by the Japanese Guidelines (non-curative EGC, N-EGC), additional gastrectomy has been recommended. However, N-EGC patients without additional gastrectomy often die of other diseases within a relatively short interval after ESD. It has been unclear whether additional gastrectomy is beneficial or not for such patients.

Analysis of the Relationship of Microbial Contamination with Temperature and Cleaning Frequency and Method of Domestic Refrigerators in Japan.

Abstract: Hygiene management of domestic refrigerators is an important aspect of food poisoning prevention. The aim of the present study was to confirm the relationship between microbial contamination and hygiene management by measuring microbial levels and investigating temperature and cleaning frequency and method of domestic refrigerators in Japan. We analyzed three internal sections (the egg compartment, bottom shelf, and vegetable drawer) of 100 domestic refrigerators in Japan.

Mycorrhizosphere Bacterial Communities and their Sensitivity to Antibacterial Activity of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi.

We investigated whether ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal species exhibit antibacterial activity towards culturable bacterial communities in mycorrhizospheres. Four hundred and thirty bacterial strains were isolated from the ECM root tips of Pinus densiflora and bulk soil, and 21 were co-cultured with six ECM fungal species. Three hundred and twenty-nine bacterial 16S rDNA sequences were identified in ECM roots (n=185) and bulk soil (n=144).

Comparison of the long-term outcomes of the self-expandable metallic stent and transanal decompression tube for obstructive colorectal cancer.

Aim: Endoscopic decompression using the self-expandable metallic colonic stent (SEMS) or transanal decompression tube (TDT) can convert emergency surgery into elective one-stage surgery for obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC). The aim of the present study was to clarify the effect of SEMS and TDT on long-term oncological outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 76 consecutive pathological stage II and III OCRC patients who were inserted with SEMS or TDT as a bridge to curative surgery between 2009 and 2018.

Metal Stent Placement in the Afferent Loop Obstructed by Peritoneal Metastases-Experience of Five Cases.

Afferent loop syndrome is often difficult to resolve. Among patients with afferent loop syndrome whose data were extracted from databases, 5 patients in whom metal stent placement was attempted were included and evaluated in this study. The procedure was technically successful without any adverse events in all patients.

Multiple target autoantigens on endothelial cells identified in juvenile dermatomyositis using proteomics.

Objective: Although generally classified within the group of inflammatory myopathies, JDM displays many pathological features of vasculitis. Previous work has shown that AECA are abundant in other forms of vasculitis. We therefore investigated whether such antibodies might also be detected in JDM.

Proceedings of the 2016 Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Scientific Meeting : Toronto, Canada. 14-17 April 2016.

P1 Serologic evidence of gut-driven systemic inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Lampros Fotis, Nur Shaikh, Kevin Baszis, Anthony French, Phillip Tarr P2 Oral health and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Sriharsha Grevich, Peggy Lee, Sarah Ringold, Brian Leroux, Hannah Leahey, Megan Yuasa, Jessica Foster, Jeremy Sokolove, Lauren Lahey, William Robinson, Joshua Newsom, Anne Stevens P3 Novel autoantigens for endothelial cell antibodies in pediatric rheumatic diseases identified by proteomics Rie Karasawa, Mayumi Tamaki, Megumi Tanaka, Toshiko Sato, Kazuo Yudoh, James N. Jarvis P4 Transcriptional profiling reveals monocyte signature associated with JIA patient poor response to methotrexate Halima Moncrieffe, Mark F. Bennett, Monica Tsoras, Lorie Luyrink, Huan Xu, Sampath Prahalad, Paula Morris, Jason Dare, Peter A.

Importance of the Direct Contact of Amorphous Solid Particles with the Surface of Monolayers for the Transepithelial Permeation of Curcumin.

The amorphization has been generally known to improve the absorption and permeation of poorly water-soluble drugs through the enhancement of the solubility. The present study focused on the direct contact of amorphous solid particles with the surface of the membrane using curcumin as a model for water-insoluble drugs. Amorphous nanoparticles of curcumin (ANC) were prepared with antisolvent crystallization method using a microreactor.

Effect of tactile stimulation on primary motor cortex excitability during action observation combined with motor imagery.

We aimed to investigate the effects of the tactile stimulation to an observer's fingertips at the moment that they saw an object being pinched by another person on the excitability of observer's primary motor cortex (M1) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In addition, the above effects were also examined during action observation combined with the motor imagery. Motor evoked potentials (MEP) were evoked from the subjects' right first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles.

Excitability changes in the left primary motor cortex innervating the hand muscles induced during speech about hand or leg movements.

In the present study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the changes in the excitability of the left primary motor cortex (M1) innervating the hand muscles and in short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) during speech describing hand or leg movements. In experiment 1, we investigated the effects of the contents of speech on the amplitude of the motor evoked potentials (MEPs) induced during reading aloud and silent reading. In experiment 2, we repeated experiment 1 with an additional condition, the non-vocal oral movement (No-Voc OM) condition, and investigated the change in SICI induced in each condition using the paired TMS paradigm.

Usefulness of the thread-traction method in esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection: randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aim: To assess the usefulness of the thread-traction method (TT method) in esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).

Methods: A total of 40 lesions that were scheduled to be treated by esophageal ESD were included in the study. The TT method was used for 20 lesions (group TT) and conventional ESD was used for 20 lesions (group C) after randomization.

[Evaluation of cut-off value for autoantibodies against double-stranded DNA-complexed nucleosomes based on enzyme linked immunosorbent assay].

The new classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) published in 2012 have defined positive level titer of antibody against double stranded (ds) DNA as more than double the reference range if tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The aim of this study was to evaluate optimal cut-off value and diagnostic performance of the anti-dsDNA nucleosome-complexed (anti-dsDNA-NcX) ELISA, which uses salmon testis DNA complexed with purified nucleosomes as antigens, for diagnosis of SLE. Titers of antibodies against dsDNA-complexed nucleosome were measured in sera of 76 patients with SLE, 148 with other connective tissue diseases, and 323 healthy volunteers.

Novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for bivalent ZnT8 autoantibodies.

Autoantibodies to zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A) are a powerful diagnostic or predictive marker in type 1 diabetes. However, the widely used current ZnT8A radioligand binding assay (RBA) has proved to be difficult for many laboratories to implement. The aim of this study was the development and characterization of the performance of a novel fluid-phase ZnT8A enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in relation to standard RBA in type 1 diabetes.

Clinicopathological study on endocrine cell micronests associated with early gastric cancer.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to review cases of early gastric cancer associated with Endocrine cell micronests (ECM) and investigate the incidence and characteristics of these lesions.

Methods: A total of 482 patients who had undergone endoscopic or surgical resection for gastric epithelial neoplasms from April 2008 to March 2010 were enrolled in this study. After detection of ECM in the lamina propria mucosa by histological examination of the resected specimens with hematoxilin-eosin staining, immunostaining was also performed.

O-linked glucosylation of a therapeutic recombinant humanised monoclonal antibody produced in CHO cells.

An unpredictable modification of a therapeutic recombinant humanised monoclonal antibody (rh-mAbX) produced using CHO cells was found. LC/MS analysis of rh-mAbX indicated the presence of heterogeneity in the light chain with a corresponding mass shift of 162 Da compared to the theoretical mass. To characterise the heterogeneity, that is, the attached moiety, several analyses were performed.

Efficacy of acetic acid-spraying method in diagnosing extension of Barrett's cancer under the squamous epithelium.

Aim: Endoscopic diagnosis of the lateral extension of Barrett's cancer under the squamous epithelium (BCUS) is sometimes difficult because the cancer is unobservable in the esophageal lumen. The aim of the present study was to clarify the endoscopic features of the extension of BCUS and verify the usefulness of the acetic acid-spraying method (AAS) for diagnosis.

Methods: A total of 25 patients with Barrett's cancer who had undergone endoscopic resection were included in this study.

Sensitive detection of chemical-induced genotoxicity by the Cypridina secretory luciferase reporter assay, using DNA repair-deficient strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Yeast-based reporter assays are useful for detecting various genotoxic chemicals. We established a genotoxicity assay using recombinant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, each containing a reporter plasmid with the secretory luciferase gene from Cypridina noctiluca, driven by a DNA damage-responsive promoter of the yeast RNR3 gene. This system detected the genotoxicity of methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) as sensitively as conventional yeast-based reporter assays, using the β-galactosidase gene in a concentration-dependent manner; it also detects four other genotoxic chemicals, allowing us to monitor DNA damage easily by skipping the cell extraction process for the assay.