Role of leukotriene B4 (LTB4)-LTB4 receptor 1 signaling in post-incisional nociceptive sensitization and local inflammation in mice.

Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is a potent lipid mediator involved in the recruitment and activation of neutrophils, which is an important feature of tissue injury and inflammation. The biological effects of LTB4 are primarily mediated through the high-affinity LTB4 receptor, BLT1. Postoperative incisional pain is characterized by persistent acute pain at the site of tissue injury and is associated with local inflammation.

Lysophosphatidic acid receptor antagonist inhibits the activation of satellite glial cells and reduces acute nociceptive responses.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) exerts various biological activities through six characterized G protein-coupled receptors (LPA ). While LPA-LPA  signaling contributes toward the demyelination and retraction of C-fiber and induces neuropathic pain, the effects of LPA-LPA  signaling on acute nociceptive pain is uncertain. This study investigated the role of LPA-LPA  signaling in acute nociceptive pain using the formalin test.

Inhibition of autotaxin activity ameliorates neuropathic pain derived from lumbar spinal canal stenosis.

Lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) or mechanical compression of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is one of the causes of low back pain and neuropathic pain (NP). Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a potent bioactive lipid mediator that is produced mainly from lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) via autotaxin (ATX) and is known to induce NP via LPA receptor signaling in mice. Recently, we demonstrated that LPC and LPA were higher in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with LSS.

Prospective evaluation of visual function in patients with ocular diseases after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy.

Objectives: To investigate intraocular pressure and visual function in patients with ocular diseases undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy.

Methods: We carried out a prospective clinical study of patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer at The University of Tokyo Hospital from December 2015 to March 2017. An ophthalmologist measured intraocular pressure, and carried out visual field testing at 0-2 months before and 7 days after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy.

Alteration of the lysophosphatidic acid and its precursor lysophosphatidylcholine levels in spinal cord stenosis: A study using a rat cauda equina compression model.

Cauda equina compression (CEC) is a major cause of neurogenic claudication and progresses to neuropathic pain (NP). A lipid mediator, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), is known to induce NP via the LPA receptor. To know a possible mechanism of LPA production in neurogenic claudication, we determined the levels of LPA, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and LPA-producing enzyme autotaxin (ATX), in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and spinal cord (SC) using a CEC as a possible model of neurogenic claudication.

Quantitative evaluation of stress in Japanese anesthesiology residents based on heart rate variability and psychological testing.

Clinical anesthesiologists, particularly residents, work in stressful environments. However, evidence-based physiological and psychological tests to evaluate stress are still lacking. In this single-center study of 33 residents, we investigated the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV), which had the potential to screen residents' stress levels using Holter electrocardiography (ECG) and psychological mood as assessed by the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire.

Preoperative balloon pulmonary angioplasty enabled noncardiac surgery of a patient with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH): A case report.

Rationale: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a disease with a poor prognosis, characterized by chronic thromboembolic obstruction of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary hypertension. Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is a newly emergent treatment for CTEPH, which may substitute pulmonary endarterectomy, the standard but more invasive treatment for CTEPH. Here, we report the case of a CTEPH patient who underwent 2 noncardiac surgeries without complications after preoperative intervention of BPA.

Recovery from Extreme Hemodilution (Hemoglobin Level of 0.6 g/dL) in Cadaveric Liver Transplantation.

Decompensated hepatic failure occurred in a patient with a rare blood type. The patient had extreme hemodilution due to massive bleeding during liver transplantation. A shortage of matched and universal donor blood prompted us to transfuse albumin and fresh frozen plasma for intravascular volume resuscitation.

The absence of the leukotriene B4 receptor BLT1 attenuates peripheral inflammation and spinal nociceptive processing following intraplantar formalin injury.

Background: Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is a potent lipid mediator of inflammation, and its biological effects are mediated primarily through the high affinity LTB4 receptor BLT1. Although numerous studies have reported that LTB4-BLT1 signaling is involved in inflammatory diseases, the role of BLT1 signaling in pain remains undefined. To clarify the role of LTB4-BLT1 signaling in acute inflammatory pain induced by tissue injury, we performed pain behavioral analysis and assessment of local inflammation induced by peripheral formalin injections in BLT1 knockout mice.

Application of lobe-selective bronchial blockade against airway bleeding.

A 48-year-old man underwent resection of a right upper lobe necrotic tumor and part of his chest wall. Lobe-selective bronchial blockade of bleeding from the right upper lobe was achieved by combining a left-side double-lumen endotracheal tube with a bronchial blocker placed at the right intermediate bronchus. The bleeding right upper lobe was isolated, and the other lobes were protected from blood contamination during the lobectomy procedure.

[Anesthetic management of a patient with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome].

We report anesthetic management of a patient with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). A 33-year-old woman presented with severe abdominal acites and effusion after ovarian stimulation with HMG followed by ovulation induction with HCG. She was suspected of having intraabdominal hemorrhage because of ectopic pregnancy.

[Identification of 23 mycobacterial species by Invader assay with targeting 16S rRNA gene and ITS-1 region--comparison with DDH method in clinical isolates].

Purpose And Method: The Invader assay was developed to identify 23 mycobacterial species using probes derived from the species-specific region of the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) region, with minor modifications of our previous study. In the present study, we compared the identification capability between the Invader assay and DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) method. DDH is commonly used to identify non-tuberculosis mycobacterium in Japan and 636 clinical mycobacterial strains cultured on Ogawa slants were tested.

Evaluation of the invader assay with the BACTEC MGIT 960 system for prompt isolation and identification of mycobacterial species from clinical specimens.

Rapid and accurate identification of mycobacterial species is essential for patient management. We describe the use of the Invader assay in conjunction with the BACTEC MGIT 960 system that together provide an efficient procedure for clinical use. This assay discriminates single-base differences (e.

[Anesthetic management of a morbidly obese patient with mental retardation].

We report successful anesthetic management of a morbidly obese patient with mental retardation employing inhalation induction with sevoflurane in sitting position and epidural catheterization using ultrasound sonography. Inhalation induction with sevoflurane keeps spontaneous respiration and induction in sitting position may provide a greater margin of safety for airway control. Therefore, this method of induction is useful for morbidly obese patient.

Change in the concentration of neutrophil elastase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid during anesthesia and its inhibition by cholesterol sulfate.

Unlabelled: Cholesterol sulfate (CS) in the gastrointestinal tract exhibits a mucosal protective activity in mouse ulcer model. To clarify the possible role of CS for protection from the epithelial injury due to neutrophil elastase in the tracheobronchi, the authors determined the concentrations of CS and neutrophil elastase in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients under anesthesia, and they examined the inhibitory activity of CS toward neutrophil elastase. The concentrations of CS and neutrophil elastase were determined by thin-layer chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assaying, respectively, and the effect of CS on the activity of elastase was determined with a chromogenic substrate.

[Outline and effectiveness of support system in the surgical center by supply, processing and distribution center (SPD)].

Supply, Processing and Distribution system had been introduced to surgical center (the University of Tokyo Hospital) since October of 2002. This system had reduced stock for medicine and materials and decreased medical cost dramatically. We designed some kits for therapeutic drugs related to anesthesia.

Bradykinin produces pain hypersensitivity by potentiating spinal cord glutamatergic synaptic transmission.

Bradykinin, an inflammatory mediator, sensitizes nociceptor peripheral terminals reducing pain threshold. We now show that the B2 kinin receptor is expressed in rat dorsal horn neurons and that bradykinin, a B2-specific agonist, augments AMPA- and NMDA-induced, and primary afferent-evoked EPSCs, and increases the frequency and amplitude of miniature EPSCs in superficial dorsal horn neurons in vitro. Administration of bradykinin to the spinal cord in vivo produces, moreover, an NMDA-dependent hyperalgesia.

Peripheral axonal injury results in reduced mu opioid receptor pre- and post-synaptic action in the spinal cord.

In both the spared nerve injury (SNI) and spinal nerve ligation (SNL) rat peripheral neuropathic pain models the presynaptic inhibitory effect of the mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonist (DAMGO) on primary afferent-evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) and miniature EPSCs in superficial dorsal horn neurons is substantially reduced, but only in those spinal cord segments innervated by injured primary afferents. The two nerve injury models also reduce the postsynaptic potassium channel opening action of DAMGO on lamina II spinal cord neurons, but again only in segments receiving injured afferent input. The inhibitory action of DAMGO on ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) activation in dorsal horn neurons is also reduced in affected segments following nerve injury.

SNPs in the promoter region of the osteopontin gene as a marker predicting the efficacy of interferon-based therapies in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background: The T-helper (Th)1 immune reaction is essential for the eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) during interferon (IFN) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Osteopontin is a cytokine crucial for the initiation of the Th1 response. Recently, we identified four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of the osteopontin gene (OPN), at nucleotide (nt) -155, -443, -616, and -1748, and suggested that the SNP at nt -443 was a marker reflecting hepatitis activity in patients with HCV.

Lipid compositions of human gastric fluid and epithelium: the role of sulfated lipids in gastric cytoprotection.

Background: Gastric sulfatide, whose carbohydrate moiety resembles that of the anti-ulcer drug sucralfate, has been shown to play a role in mucosal protection in an experimental ulcer model. To elucidate the functional significance of gastric lipids, precise determination of the lipids in human gastric fluid and epithelium was performed, and the anti-ulcer effects of all lipids in the fluid were measured in mouse ulcer models.

Methods: The lipids in human gastric fluid and epithelium were analyzed by thin layer chromatography and immunostaining, and the anti-ulcer effects of gastric lipids were determined using mouse ulcer models.

Requirement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation and calcium influx for leukotriene B4-induced enzyme release.

Leukotriene B(4) (LTB(4)) is a potent lipid mediator involved in host defense and inflammatory responses. It causes chemotaxis, generation of reactive oxygen species, and degranulation. However, only little is known of the molecular mechanisms by which LTB(4) induces these biological activities.