Novel 8-wire basket catheter is useful for endoscopic removal of common bile duct stones up to 10 mm: A multicenter prospective study.

Background/purpose: Endoscopic treatment of common bile duct (CBD) stones involves the use of basket or balloon catheters; however, what is the appropriate device remains controversial. In this study we aimed to prospectively evaluate the usefulness of a novel 8-wire helical basket (8WB) catheter made of Nitinol for the removal of CBD stones ≤10 mm.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective trial.

A new device for fiducial registration of image-guided navigation system for liver RFA.

Purpose: Radiofrequency ablation for liver tumors (liver RFA) is widely performed under ultrasound guidance. However, discriminating between the tumor and the needle is often difficult because of cavitation caused by RFA-induced coagulation. An unclear ultrasound image can lead to complications and tumor residue.

Evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma tumor vascularity using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography as a predictor for local recurrence following radiofrequency ablation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the hypervascularity of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) prior to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a significant risk factor for local recurrence after RFA.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. Overall, 208 patients (mean age, 71.

A case of multiple hepatic lesions associated with methotrexate-associated lymphoproliferative disorder.

Patients receiving methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of autoimmune disease are at a high risk of developing lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD), the so-called methotrexate-associated lymphoproliferative disorders (MTX-LPD). We recently performed abdominal ultrasonography (US) in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had developed hepatic dysfunction during the course of MTX therapy; the examination revealed multiple well-demarcated hepatic tumors with slightly irregular borders, the largest one measuring 9 cm in diameter. In view of the finding of portal and hepatic veins perforating the tumor, we suspected a diagnosis of malignant lymphoma and performed a hepatic tumor biopsy.

A haplotype of the GOSR2 gene is associated with myocardial infarction in Japanese men.

Aims: The Golgi SNAP Receptor Complex Member 2 (GOSR2) gene is a Golgi-associated soluble factor attachment receptor (SNARE) protein. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the GOSR2 gene have been found to be associated with myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of the present study was to assess the association between the human GOSR2 gene and MI using a haplotype-based case-control study.

Changes in ankle brachial pulse wave velocity during a five-year follow-up period in older Japanese adults: sub-analysis results of the health research volunteer study in Japan.

Objective: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness. However, precisely how aging, hypertension and other factors influence this in progressively stiffening large arteries, especially in older adults, remains uncertain. We examined changes in arterial stiffness in a population of active older Japanese adults using a five-year follow-up cohort study.

Association of the smoothelin (SMTN) gene with cerebral infarction in men: a haplotype-based case-control study.

Smoothelin is a specific type of cytoskeletal protein found in smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Several previous research studies have examined the relationship between smoothelin and atherosclerotic plaque. The aim of the present study was to further assess the association between the human SMTN gene and cerebral infarction (CI) using a haplotype-based case-control study.

A pilot trial to predict frailty syndrome: the Japanese Health Research Volunteer Study.

Most definitions of frailty utilize US populations in their development. The concept of frailty has not been well studied in Japan, which has the largest percentage of older patients (per capita) in the world. We created a 5-year prospective cohort study of community-dwelling older Japanese adults.

Effects of aging and persistent prehypertension on arterial stiffening.

An age-related association of blood pressure in the non-hypertensive range (non-hypertensive blood pressure) to the cardiovascular mortality has been demonstrated. This prospective study was conducted to examine the effects of age, persistence of pre-hypertension (preHYP) during the study period, and the interaction between these factors on the rate of progression of arterial stiffening. Among 1563 healthy Japanese subjects without hypertension (age range: 29-95 years), the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured twice (i.

The haplotype of the CACNA1B gene associated with cerebral infarction in a Japanese population.

Cerebral infarction (CI) is thought to be a multifactorial disease that is affected by several environmental factors and genetic variants. N-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), which are expressed primarily in the neurons, have various roles in neuronal functions and are especially involved with neurotransmitter release at the sympathetic nerve terminals. We considered the α1B subunit of the N-type voltage-gated calcium channel (CACNA1B) to be representative of the general characteristics of this channel type.

Development and validation of a 15-item Japanese Health Knowledge Test.

Background: Health literacy affects the acquisition of health knowledge and is thus linked to health outcomes. However, few scales have been developed to assess the level of health knowledge among the general public.

Methods: The 15-item Japanese Health Knowledge Test (J-HKT) was developed by using item response theory to score an item pool.

Association of the purinergic receptor P2Y, G-protein coupled, 2 (P2RY2) gene with myocardial infarction in Japanese men.

Background: Atherosclerosis leads to myocardial infarction (MI) and P2RY2 plays an important role in this process. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between human P2RY2 and MI via a haplotype-based case-control study that additionally analyzed the group by sex.

Methods And Results: The 310 MI patients and 254 controls were genotyped for 5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the human P2RY2 gene (rs4944831, rs1783596, rs4944832, rs4382936, rs10898909).

Purinergic receptor P2Y, G-protein coupled, 2 (P2RY2) gene is associated with cerebral infarction in Japanese subjects.

G-protein-coupled purinergic receptor P2Y2 (P2RY2) has an important role in the process of atherosclerosis related to cerebral infarction (CI). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the P2RY2 gene and CI through a haplotype-based case-control study, including the separate analysis of two gender groups. A total of 237 CI patients and two control groups (control 1, 254; control 2, 255) were genotyped for five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human P2RY2 gene (rs4944831, rs1783596, rs4944832, rs4382936, rs10898909).

Relationship between haplotypes of KCNN4 gene and susceptibility to human vascular diseases in Japanese.

Background: Human vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction (MI) and cerebral infarction (CI) are thought to be affected by several environmental factors and genetic variants. It has been suggested that the expression of the KCNN4 calcium-activated potassium channel is associated with the developing vascular smooth-muscle cells of human neointimal hyperplasia. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human KCNN4 gene or haplotypes and the incidence of MI or CI in Japanese.

Haplotype-based case-control study between human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox effector factor-1 gene and cerebral infarction.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cerebral infarction (CI) and the human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox effector factor-1 (APE1/REF-1) gene using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a haplotype-based case-control study.

Design And Methods: We selected 5 SNPs in the human APE1/REF1 gene (rs1760944, rs3136814, rs17111967, rs3136817 and rs1130409), and performed case-control studies in 177 CI patients and 309 control subjects.

Results: rs17111967 was found to have no heterogeneity in Japanese.

Health literacy and physical and psychological wellbeing in Japanese adults.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of low health literacy and investigate the relationship between low health literacy and physical and psychological wellbeing in the Japanese general population.

Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in a national sample of Japanese adults. Health literacy was measured by self-report using the validated single-item screening question, "How confident are you filling out forms by yourself?" Wellbeing was measured with the physical and psychological domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-BREF.

Association of extracellular superoxide dismutase gene with cerebral infarction in women: a haplotype-based case-control study.

It has been reported that oxidative stress is a factor in cerebral infarction (CI). Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) is important in preventing oxidative stress, and the cerebral infarct size of EC-SOD knockout mice is significantly larger than that in wild-type controls. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CI and the human EC-SOD gene using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Japanese individuals.

A haplotype of the CYP4F2 gene associated with myocardial infarction in Japanese men.

This study assessed associations between the CYP4F2 gene and myocardial infarction (MI), using a haplotype-based case-control study of 234 MI patients and 248 controls genotyped for 5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs3093105, rs3093135, rs1558139, rs2108622, rs3093200). For men, G allele frequency of rs2108622 and frequency of the T-C-G haplotype were significantly higher, and frequency of the T-C-A haplotype was significantly lower for MI patients than for controls (P=0.006, P=0.

Haplotype-based case-control study of the association between the guanylate cyclase activator 2B (GUCA2B, Uroguanylin) gene and essential hypertension.

Uroguanylin (gene name: guanylate cyclase activator 2B, GUCA2B) is a peptide regulator of intestinal salt and water transport. It has been reported that the uroguanylin knockout mouse exhibits elevated blood pressure. Therefore, the GUCA2B gene is thought to be a susceptibility gene for essential hypertension (EH).

Genotyping of triallelic SNPs using TaqMan PCR.

Methods for analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) are well developed. However, most ready-made SNP genotyping kits (e.g.

Polymorphism of the C-reactive protein (CRP) gene is related to serum CRP Level and arterial pulse wave velocity in healthy elderly Japanese.

The objective of this study was to clarify relationships between the C-reactive protein (CRP) gene and both the serum level of CRP and arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV), using haplotype analysis of healthy elderly Japanese. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the human CRP gene (rs1341665, rs3091244, rs1800947, rs1130864 and rs1205) were used to genotype 315 healthy elderly Japanese subjects (mean age, 77.9 +/- 4.

Influences of increased oxidative stress on endothelial function, platelets function, and fibrinolysis in hypertension associated with glucose intolerance.

The effect of oxidative stress on endothelial function, platelet function, and fibrinolysis in hypertension with or without glucose intolerance was examined. The endothelium, platelets and fibrinolysis play important roles in the progression of atherosclerosis and interact with each other. We have previously demonstrated that glucose intolerance impairs endothelial function in hypertension, but its precise mechanisms have not been clarified.

Influences of age and gender on results of noninvasive brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement--a survey of 12517 subjects.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the influences of age and gender on the results of noninvasive brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). In 12517 subjects who had no medication and no history of cardiovascular diseases, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that age, blood pressure, body mass index, triglycerides, blood glucose, and uric acid were significant variables for baPWV in both genders. From this population, we extracted 7881 "healthy subjects" (4488 males and 3393 females, 25-87 years) without any of the atherogenic risk factors, and the results of baPWV were analyzed chronologically in 5-year age intervals.