Role of immature choroid plexus in the pathology of model mice and human iPSC-derived organoids with autism spectrum disorder.

During gestation, the choroid plexus (ChP) produces protein-rich cerebrospinal fluid and matures prior to brain development. It is assumed that ChP dysfunction has a profound effect on developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the mechanisms linking immature ChP to the onset of ASD remain unclear.

Oral intake of degalactosylated whey protein increases peripheral blood telomere length in young and aged mice.

In order to elucidate novel actions of degalactosylated whey protein (D-WP) in comparison with intact whey protein (WP), the effects of oral intake of D-WP on peripheral blood telomere length and telomerase were examined in young and aged mice. In young mice, peripheral blood telomere length was significantly elongated following oral intake of D-WP for 4 weeks. mRNA expression of both telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomerase RNA component (TERC) was significantly increased in the peripheral blood following oral intake of D-WP for 4 weeks.

Risk Factors and Prevalence of Sleep Disturbance in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.

Background: Sleep disturbances, especially those lasting more than one hour, are under-researched in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). This study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for such disturbances in DCM patients undergoing decompression surgery and to identify factors contributing to poor postoperative improvement.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective observational study was conducted on consecutive patients diagnosed with DCM who underwent cervical decompression surgery between April 2018 and August 2022.

Risk assessment of late biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: Usefulness of ultra-sensitive prostate-specific antigen measurement.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate predictors of late biochemical recurrence in patients with no recurrence at 5 years after radical prostatectomy (RP).

Methods: We retrospectively investigated patients who underwent RP for prostate cancer in our institute from 1999 to 2016, selecting those with no biochemical recurrence at 5 years post-RP. These patients did not receive neoadjuvant and adjuvant hormone therapy.

Head-to-head comparison among FAST, MAST, and multiparametric MRI-based new score in diagnosing at-risk MASH.

Objectives: New scores were developed to identify at-risk metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) using multiparametric MRI (mpMRI).

Materials And Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 176 patients with suspected or diagnosed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) paired with an MR scan, vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE), and liver biopsy. Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), proton density fat fraction (PDFF), and mpMRI-based corrected T1 (cT1) were combined to develop a one-step strategy, named MPcT (MRE + PDFF + cT1, combined score), and a two-step strategy-MRE-based LSM followed by PDFF with cT1 (M-PcT, paired score) for diagnosing at-risk MASH.