Degradation of glycosylinositol phosphoceramide during plant tissue homogenization.

A convenient method for the determination of plant sphingolipids (glycosylinositol phosphoceramide, GIPC; glucosylceramide, GluCer; phytoceramide 1-phosphate, PC1P and phytoceramide, PCer) was developed. This method includes the extraction of lipids using 1-butanol, alkali hydrolysis with methylamine and separation by TLC. The amounts of sphingolipids in the sample were determined based on the relative intensities of standard sphingolipids visualized by primulin/UV on TLC.

An Increase in Peroxiredoxin 6 Expression Induces Neurotoxic A1 Astrocytes in the Lumbar Spinal Cord of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Mice Model.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease with selective degeneration of motor neurons. It has been reported that an increase in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and glial cells such as reactive astrocytes is closely involved in the pathological progression of ALS. Recently, the levels of neuropathic cytotoxic (A1) astrocytes among reactive astrocytes have reportedly increased in the central nervous system of ALS mice, which induce motor neuron degeneration through the production of inflammatory cytokines and secretion of neuropathic factors.

Pre-Existing Interstitial Lung Abnormalities Are Independent Risk Factors for Interstitial Lung Disease during Durvalumab Treatment after Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Introduction/Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, is the standard treatment for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a life-threatening toxicity caused by these treatments; however, risk factors for the ILD have not yet been established. Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) are computed tomography (CT) findings which manifest as minor interstitial shadows.

Association Between Patient Preference for Inhaler Medications and Asthma Outcomes.

Purpose: Asthma guidelines recommend considering the patient preference to optimize medication choices. Patient preference for inhaler medication may affect asthma outcomes, but evidence regarding this is lacking. This study investigated the associations between patient preference for inhaler medications and asthma outcomes.

Smoldering adult T-cell leukemia complicated with pneumocystis pneumonia: A case report.

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a tumor of CD4-positive T cells that accompanies an infection by human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I). ATL is classified into four types-acute, lymphomatous, chronic, and smoldering. Opportunistic infections are known to occur in patients with acute or lymphomatous type ATL; however, whether patients with chronic or smoldering ATL also have a high risk of opportunistic infections is not yet known.

Atezolizumab-induced Sclerosing Cholangitis in a patient with lung cancer: A case report.

Atezolizumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor that is a key drug in non-small-cell lung cancer treatment. However, it can cause immune-related adverse events, including liver injury. Several patterns of liver injury associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy have been reported; however, not much is known about sclerosing cholangitis.

Multiple patchy pulmonary consolidation in granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Multiple patchy pulmonary consolidations that are unresponsive to antibiotics and/or exist at peri-bronchial sites and bloody bronchoalveolar lavage may effectively help clinicians diagnose granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Impacts of surgical interventions on the long-term outcomes in individuals with trisomy 18.

Objective: We aim to clarify whether surgical interventions can contribute to improve the long-term outcomes among individuals with trisomy 18.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 69 individuals with trisomy 18 admitted to 4 tertiary neonatal centers between 2003 and 2017. A cohort was divided into two groups: subjects with surgical interventions and conservative treatments.

Platinum-doublet chemotherapy followed by pembrolizumab therapy for lung cancer with lymphangitis carcinomatosa mimicking interstitial pneumonitis: A case report.

Rationale: Pembrolizumab, an immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), has been shown to be effective for treatment-naive patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). Therefore, treatment regimens containing pembrolizumab have become a standard therapy for these patients. However, the use of pembrolizumab is limited owing to the side effects of ICIs.

Pericardial Effusion With Tamponade in Lung Cancer Patients During Treatment With Nivolumab: A Report of Two Cases.

Nivolumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) that has shown efficacy for treating non-small cell lung cancer and has become a standard therapy for previously treated non-small cell lung cancer. Moreover, immune-related adverse events of ICI therapy are well-known. Malignant pericardial effusions occasionally arise in patients with lung cancer.

Nivolumab therapy for lung cancer with tracheo-parenchymal fistula: A case report.

Rationale: Tracheobronchial fistulas are rare complications in lung cancer patients. These lesions are associated with a high rate of mortality caused by infection and bleeding, and there is no consensus on a definitive optimal therapy.

Patient Concerns And Diagnoses: The patient was a 59-year-old man with a right lung mass showing mediastinal invasion and tracheal compression, diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, cT4N0M0, stage IIIA.

Small-Cell Lung Cancer Comorbid with Pulmonary Mycobacterium avium Infection: A Case Report.

Background: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) rarely coexists with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium intracellular complex (MAC) infection. The key drug for SCLC treatment is etoposide, which is metabolized by cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 3A4. Meanwhile, the key drugs for pulmonary MAC infection are clarithromycin (CAM) and rifampicin (RFP), and their metabolism influences CYP3A4.

ROS1-rearranged putative lung adenocarcinoma presenting as carcinoma of unknown primary site: a case report.

Carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUP) is diagnosed only in 2-9% of all cancer cases. Adenocarcinomas account for approximately 60% of CUP, and some of these are putative lung adenocarcinomas. The frequency of driver oncogene positivity in the putative lung adenocarcinomas is unknown, and the efficacy of targeting therapies for the driver oncogene is also unknown.

Changing relationship between the dead and the living in Japanese prehistory.

The aim of this paper is to propose a new insight on the changing burial practice by regarding it as a part of the cognitive system for maintaining complex social relationships. Development of concentrated burials and their transformation in Japanese prehistory are examined to present a specific case of the changing relationship between the dead and the living to highlight the significance of the dead in sociocultural evolution. The essential feature of the burial practices observed at Jomon sites is the centrality of the dead and their continuous presence in the kinship system.