Analysis of Cytokine Profiles in Pediatric Myocarditis Multicenter Study.

Acute myocarditis (AM) is an inflammatory disease of the heart muscle that can progress to fulminant myocarditis (FM), a severe and life-threatening condition. The cytokine profile of myocarditis in children, especially in relation to fulminant myocarditis, is not well understood. This study aims to evaluate the cytokine profiles of acute and fulminant myocarditis in children.

Histopathological findings of pericarditis in a patient with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with COVID-19: A case report.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is associated with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been described as an inflammatory complication of exposure to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It carries a risk of serious and lethal complications, including cardiogenic shock. Here, we report the pathological findings of the pericardium in a 10-year-old child with MIS-C, who developed pericarditis-induced cardiac tamponade.

Design of a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of gastric lavage on coffee-ground emesis in neonates: study protocol.

Neonates who swallow a considerable amount of maternal blood may exhibit vomiting and suckling disorder during the first few days of the postnatal period. Some clinicians treat these neonates with gastric lavage (GL) to prevent vomiting and the establishment of enteral feeding empirically, but there was no study assessing the effect of GL for neonates with coffee-ground emesis. We designed a multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of GL in neonates with coffee-ground emesis.

Wnt and Shh signals regulate neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation in the optic tectum of adult zebrafish.

Adult neurogenesis occurs more commonly in teleosts, represented by zebrafish, than in mammals. Zebrafish is therefore considered a suitable model to study adult neurogenesis, for which the regulatory molecular mechanisms remain little known. Our previous study revealed that neuroepithelial-like neural stem cells (NSCs) are located at the edge of the dorsomedial region.

Beneficial Effects of Cocoa in Perivascular Mato Cells of Cerebral Arterioles in SHR-SP (Izm) Rats.

As previously reported, the cerebral arterioles are surrounded by unique perivascular Mato cells. They contain many inclusion bodies rich in hydrolytic enzymes, and have strong uptake capacity. They are thus considered scavenger cells of vascular and neural tissues in steady-state.

Enhanced gene expression of myocardial matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 after acute treatment with doxorubicin in mice.

We investigated the expression of the genes for matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in the ventricle for 1, 2 and 4 days after acute treatment with doxorubicin (DOX) to induce cardiomyopathy in mice, at a single dose of 25 mg kg(-1). Ventricle weights, ventricle weight-to-tail length ratios, and left ventricular systolic and diastolic internal dimensions all decreased time-dependently. Histology showed increased vacuolisation of cardiomyocytes in the DOX-treated mice on day 4 compared with controls.

Induction of heparanase gene expression in ventricular myocardium of rats with isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

Gene expression of heparanase, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 were examined in ventricles after chronic treatment with isoproterenol (ISO) induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats. Rats were treated with ISO (4 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) twice daily for 4 d. Ventricle weight of the heart and the ventricle weight/body weight ratio were increased respectively by 22% and 25% compared with control rats.

Ingested cocoa can prevent high-fat diet-induced obesity by regulating the expression of genes for fatty acid metabolism.

Objective: We previously found that ingested cocoa decreased visceral adipose tissue weight in rat. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of that effect, we carried out experiments aimed at analyzing biochemical parameters and gene expression profiles.

Methods: Rats were fed either of two high-fat diets, differing only in supplementation with real or mimetic cocoa.