A case report of breakthrough infection with the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant and household transmission: Role of vaccination, anti-spike IgG and neutralizing activity.

There have been several reports of breakthrough infections, which are defined as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections among individuals who had received at least two doses of vaccine at least 14 days before the onset of infection, but data on the antibody titers, including SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody activity, and the clinical course of individuals with breakthrough infections are limited. We encountered a case of breakthrough infection with the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in a 31-year-old female healthcare worker (the index case, Case 1) and a secondary case (Case 2) in her unvaccinated 33-year-old husband. We studied the role of the anti-spike immunoglobulin G (IgG) and neutralizing antibody activity in the two case patients.

Isolation of human monoclonal antibodies with neutralizing activity to a broad spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 viruses including the Omicron variants.

Monoclonal antibody therapy is a promising option for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and a cocktail of antibodies (REGN-COV) has been administered to infected patients with a favorable outcome. However, it is necessary to continue generating novel sets of monoclonal antibodies with neutralizing activity because viral variants can emerge that show resistance to the currently utilized antibodies. Here, we isolated a new cocktail of antibodies, EV053273 and EV053286, from peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from convalescent patients infected with wild-type SARS-CoV-2.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adult after First Dose of mRNA Vaccine.

A 32-year-old man in Japan experienced respiratory failure after receiving the first dose of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. He was treated with noninvasive ventilation and corticosteroids. Serologic test results suggested previous COVID-19; therefore, he received a diagnosis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

Case Report: Changes in Cytokine Kinetics During the Course of Disease in a Japanese Patient With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a severe disease that is reportedly linked to coronavirus disease 2019. Affected patients present with gastrointestinal symptoms and cardiovascular dysfunction, in addition to Kawasaki disease-like features, suggesting the potential for overlapping disease mechanisms. Kawasaki disease has been reported among individuals of East Asian ethnicities, whereas there is minimal clinical literature regarding the occurrence of MIS-C among individuals of Asian ethnicities.

Retrotransposition and senescence in mouse heart tissue by viral protein R of human immunodeficiency virus-1.

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has greatly improved the prognosis of patients with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection. However, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a serious issue even in the post-cART era. Viral protein R (Vpr), an accessory gene product of HIV-1, exerts pleiotropic activities such as the induction of DNA damage signals, apoptosis by mitochondrial membrane depolarization, G2/M-phase cell cycle abnormalities, and retrotransposition.

Modulation of long interspersed nuclear element-1 in the mouse hippocampus during maturation.

Background: Retrotransposition of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (L1-RTP) is proposed to contribute to central nervous system (CNS) plasticity by inducing mosaicism of neuronal cells. Clinical studies have identified increased L1 copy numbers in the brains of patients with psychiatric disorders. These observations implicate that L1-RTP is important for neurogenesis and that its deregulation represents a risk factor for mental disorders.

A possible port of entry into the eye of dog during erratic canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) parasitism.

A dog was suspected of suffering from ectopic Dirofilaria immitis infection, because a large white nematode worm was detected in the anterior chamber of the left eye. A cylinder-shaped fibrin sac in the anterior chamber was found in the eye of the dog by slit lamp microscopy. After successful surgical removal of the worm, the corneal wound produced by the keratotomy healed in a short period.

Preliminary genome-wide association study of bipolar disorder in the Japanese population.

Recent progress in genotyping technology and the development of public databases has enabled large-scale genome-wide association tests with diseases. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of bipolar disorder (BD) in Japanese cohorts. First we used Affymetrix 100K GeneChip arrays in the analysis of 107 cases with bipolar I disorder and 107 controls, and selected markers that were nominally significant (P < 0.

Bowel obstruction due to diaphragmatic hernia in an elder child after pediatric liver transplantation.

A 10-yr-old boy with end-stage liver cirrhosis due to Wilson's disease received a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) at our institution. The donor was his father and the graft was a left lateral segment. The liver transplantation procedure and the postoperative course were uneventful.

Feasibility of using the cystic duct for biliary reconstruction in right-lobe living donor liver transplantation.

Duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction has been introduced in adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). In right-lobe grafts, however, the presence of two or three separated bile duct orifices is not rare and makes an alternative approach for reconstruction necessary. We used the cystic duct for one of the anastomoses in biliary reconstruction for 5 right-lobe living donor liver transplants with two separated ducts.

Living domino liver transplantation in an adult with congenital absence of portal vein.

Congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) is a rare malformation of the splanchnic venous system. Although CAPV is usually detected in the pediatric age group, our patient was a 35-year-old woman. She had been diagnosed with CAPV in 1996 when she was 27 years old.

Duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction in pediatric living donor liver transplantation.

The results of duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction in six pediatric patients who received a living donor liver transplant aged from 2 months to 11 yr old are reported. The graft was either entire or a part of the left lateral segments. The orifice of the bile duct of the graft was anastomosed to the recipients' hepatic duct in an end-to-end fashion by interrupted suture using 6-0 absorbable material.

Rescue for rare complications of the hepatic artery in living donor liver transplantation using grafts of autologous inferior mesenteric artery.

This report describes two rescued cases with rare complications of the hepatic artery in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT). In both cases a segment of the autologous inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) was successfully used as an arterial graft for re-vascularization under microsurgery. The first case was that of a pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery, which caused massive gastrointestinal bleeding.

Early graft failure due to a veno-occlusive disease after a pediatric living donor liver transplantation.

A 10-month-old boy with biliary atresia after Kasai procedure underwent a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Five days after the LDLT, high fever and increased ascites followed by poor bile drainage was accompanied by elevation of serum liver enzymes. Liver biopsy showed occlusion of the central veins by fibro-edematous endothelium and submassive necrosis of the parenchyma.

[Analysis of the fyn kinase gene in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia].

Reelin is a protein which plays an important role in cell construction and proliferation of neurons during the development of the central nervous system. Several lines of evidence suggest a possible role for reelin-related genes in the etiology of neurodevelopmental as well as neurodegenerative diseases. It is possible that variations in reelin-related genes (Reelin, VLDLR, FYN, CNRs, a3b1INTEGRIN, mDAB1) may be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.