Computed tomography findings of 50 patients diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia: A case series.

The effect of neglecting imaging in aspiration pneumonia diagnosis is not well understood. In this study, the computed tomography images of 50 patients diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia were retrospectively analyzed by three radiologists at a different hospital. Among these cases, 32%-42% were not classified as aspiration pneumonia based on imaging.

A case report of robot-assisted radical nephrectomy and inferior vena cava thrombectomy in a patient with renal cell carcinoma after pembrolizumab and axitinib combination therapy.

Background: Robot-assisted surgery is widely performed for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombi. Although many chemotherapeutic options are available for the treatment of unresectable RCC, there are very few reports on robot-assisted radical nephrectomy (RARN) with inferior vena cava thrombectomy (IVCT) after presurgical treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We believe that pre-surgical treatment can provide minimally invasive surgical benefits to high-risk patients during the perioperative period.

Insulin-inspired hippocampal neuron-targeting technology for protein drug delivery.

Hippocampal neurons can be the first to be impaired with neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Most drug candidates for causal therapy of AD cannot either enter the brain or accumulate around hippocampal neurons. Here, we genetically engineered insulin-fusion proteins, called hippocampal neuron-targeting (Ht) proteins, for targeting protein drugs to hippocampal neurons because insulin tends to accumulate in the neuronal cell layers of the hippocampus.

Children and adolescents with severe motor and intellectual disabilities who underwent kidney transplantation.

Background: Kidney transplantation (KT) in children and adolescents with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) has been a topic of controversy. A multicenter study in Japan showed that KT was not contraindicated for children with multiple handicaps, but no consensus has been reached on KT for patients with SMID. This study aimed to determine whether KT is a viable treatment option for children and adolescents with SMID.

Seminoma in a 46, XY patient with 17α-hydroxylase deficiency.

Introduction: 17α-Hydroxylase deficiency is a very rare disease reported to be associated with a risk of gonadal malignancy. We herein report a rare case of seminoma in a 46, XY patient with 17α-hydroxylase deficiency.

Case Presentation: A 52-year-old woman presented with a 9-cm pelvic tumor.

Dihydropyrazine induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibits autophagy in HepG2 human hepatoma cells.

Dihydropyrazines (DHPs) are formed by non-enzymatic glycation reactions in vivo and in food. We recently reported that 3-hydro-2,2,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine (DHP-3), which is a methyl-substituted DHP, caused severe oxidative stress and cytotoxicity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the cytotoxic pathways of the DHP response remain elusive.

Efficacy and safety of axitinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Real-world data on patients with renal impairment.

Objectives: Limited information is currently available on the efficacy and safety of axitinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients with renal impairment. Therefore, the present study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of axitinib in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Methods: Post-hoc analyses were performed on a Japanese multicenter cohort study of 477 mRCC patients who received axitinib followed by 1 or 2 regimens of systemic antiangiogenic therapy between January 2012 and December 2016.

Downregulation of PGC-1α during cisplatin-induced muscle atrophy in murine skeletal muscle.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of cisplatin on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, expressions of genes related to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and the factors related to mitochondrial biosynthesis in skeletal muscle. Systemic cisplatin administration decreased skeletal muscle mass, skeletal muscle strength, and endurance. The mitochondrial DNA /nuclear DNA ratio was also reduced after treatment with cisplatin.

A study on the chemical stability of cholesterol-lowering drugs in concomitant simple suspensions with magnesium oxide.

Background: Difficulty in taking solid medicines is a common issue particularly for the elderly because of a decline in swallowing function, also known as dysphagia. For patients with such a dysfunction, a simple suspension method, in which solid medicines are disintegrated and suspended using warm water, has been developed and widely used in Japanese clinical settings. However, there is little information on drug stability in the simple co-suspension of multiple formulations especially including acidic or alkaline ones.

Comparisons of Patients Living Alone versus Living with Others in Acute Coronary Syndrome.

We aimed to examine the relationship of living arrangements (i.e., living alone or living with others) with background, clinical severity, preintervention culprit lesion plaque morphology, and clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Patient Positioning Assistive Technology Applicable to the Existing Computed Tomography System: Estimation by Pixel Value of Scout Image.

This study aimed to propose a patient positioning assistive technique using computed tomography (CT) scout images. A total of 210 patients who underwent CT scans in a single center, including on the upper abdomen, were divided into a study set of 127 patients for regression and 83 patients for verification. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the R2 coefficient and the linear equation related to the mean pixel value of the scout image and ideal table height (TH ideal ).

Efficacy of daikenchuto after laparoscopic surgery for perforated appendicitis.

Background: Although many recent studies have scientifically verified the efficacy of the traditional herbal medicine daikenchuto (DKT) for postoperative gastrointestinal function, its efficacy has not been established in children. We retrospectively evaluated the effect of DKT in pediatric patients with panperitonitis associated with perforated appendicitis (PaPA) who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy.

Methods: Among 34 children with PaPA who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy from May 2012 to May 2021, 19 received DKT (group D) and 12 did not (group C).

Platinum-based anticancer drugs-induced downregulation of myosin heavy chain isoforms in skeletal muscle of mouse.

Cisplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug used frequently in cancer treatment, causes skeletal muscle atrophy. It was predicted that the proteolytic pathway is enhanced as the mechanism of this atrophy. Therefore, we investigated whether a platinum-based anticancer drug affects the expression of the major proteins of skeletal muscle, myosin heavy chain (MyHC).

IL-1β Derived Th17 Immune Responses Are a Critical Factor for Neutrophilic-Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation on Psychological Stress-Induced Immune Tolerance Breakdown in Mice.

Introduction: Asthma is an inflammatory reaction mediated by type 2 helper T (Th2) cells and is known to increase eosinophil levels. Our previous study showed that stress-related asthma can cause neutrophilic and eosinophilic airway inflammation by suppressing immune tolerance. However, the mechanism of stress-induced neutrophilic and eosinophilic airway inflammation remains unclear.

Excitatory amino acids, possible causative agents of nodding syndrome in eastern Africa.

Background: Nodding syndrome (NS) is one type of epilepsy and a progressive disease characterized by nodding symptoms with children in sub-Saharan Africa. The burden for NS children is heavy, not only mentally but financially for themselves and their families, and yet, the cause and cure of NS remain unknown. The kainic acid-induced model in experimental animals is a well-known epilepsy model that is useful for studying human diseases.

Early recurrence of attack after myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries: a case report.

Background: Diagnostic strategies depend on non-standardized workup, and the causes of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries remain unclear for some patients. Intracoronary imaging is recommended for detecting the missed causes by coronary angiography. Myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries is a heterogeneous entity; a meta-analysis of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary artery studies demonstrated that all-cause mortality rate at 1 year is 4.

Oxidative stress and cellular toxicity induced by dihydropyrazine: a comparative study with other Maillard reaction products.

Glycation products are generated during the Maillard reaction, a non-enzymatic reaction between reducing sugars and the amino groups of proteins, which accumulate in the body with aging and cause many diseases. Herein, we have focused on dihydropyrazines (DHPs), which are glycation products formed by the dimerization of D-glucosamine or 5-aminolevulinic acid, and have reported that DHPs can produce several kinds of radicals and induce cytotoxicity via oxidative stress. To advance our understanding of DHP-mediated cytotoxicity, we selected a DHP, 3-hydro-2,2,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine (DHP-3), and two major Maillard reaction products, N-(carboxymethyl)-L-lysine (CML) and acrylamide, and performed comparative experiments focusing on their cytotoxicity and their ability to induce oxidative stress.

Identification of Membrane-expressed CAPRIN-1 as a Novel and Universal Cancer Target, and Generation of a Therapeutic Anti-CAPRIN-1 Antibody TRK-950.

Unlabelled: Specific targets for cancer treatment are highly desirable, but still remain to be discovered. While previous reports suggested that CAPRIN-1 localizes in the cytoplasm, here we now show that part of this molecule is strongly expressed on the cell membrane surface in most solid cancers, but not normal tissues. Notably, the membrane expression of CAPRIN-1 extended to the subset of highly tumorigenic cancer stem cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-induced metastatic cancer cells.