Downregulation of pattern recognition receptors on macrophages involved in aggravation of endometriosis.

Problem: In women of reproductive age, endometriosis may contribute to dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia, infertility, adenomyosis, and endometrial ovarian cyst (EOC). Recent studies have shown that chronic inflammation occurs in the pelvis of endometriosis patients and that this inflammation is exacerbated by immunosuppression, leading to survival endometrial debris. However, the detailed immunological mechanisms underlying the aggravation of inflammation and immunosuppression in endometriosis patients remain unclear.

Clinical characteristics of allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis caused by Schizophyllum commune.

Background: Allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis (ABPM) is an allergic disease caused by type I and type III hypersensitivity to environmental fungi. Schizophyllum commune, a basidiomycete fungus, is one of the most common fungi that causes non-Aspergillus ABPM.

Objective: Herein, we attempted to clarify the clinical characteristics of ABPM caused by S.

Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on the Enzymolytic and Biomechanical Profiles of Abdominal Aortic Adventitia Tissue.

Background: The abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is defined as an increase in aortic diameter by more than 50% and is associated with a high risk of rupture and mortality without treatment. The aim of this study is to analyze the role of aortic adventitial collagen photocrosslinking by UV-A irradiation on the biomechanical profile of the aortic wall.

Methods: This experimental study is structured in two parts: the first part includes in vitro uniaxial biomechanical evaluation of porcine adventitial tissue subjected to either short-term elastolysis or long-term collagenolysis in an attempt to duplicate two extreme situations as putative stages of aneurysmal degeneration.

Case Report: Borderline Lepromatous Leprosy Therapy Complicated by Type 1 Leprosy Reaction and Adverse Reactions with Dapsone and Clofazimine.

Leprosy is a global health issue, causing long-term functional morbidity and stigma. Rapid diagnosis and appropriate treatment are important; however, early diagnosis is often challenging, especially in nonendemic areas. Here, we report a case of borderline lepromatous leprosy accompanied by dapsone-induced (neutropenia, anemia, and methemoglobinemia) and clofazimine-induced (skin discoloration and ichthyosis) side effects and type 1 leprosy reactions during administration of the multidrug therapy.

The prognostic impact of treatment centralization in patients with testicular germ cell tumors: analysis of hospital-based cancer registry data in Japan.

Background: To identify the prognostic impact of treatment centralization in patients with testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT).

Methods: We used a hospital-based cancer registry data in Japan to extract seminoma and non-seminoma cases that were diagnosed in 2013, histologically confirmed, and received the first course of treatment. To compare the 5-years overall survival (OS) rates of patients stratified by institutional care volume, we performed a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method to adjust patient backgrounds.

Positive association between blood glucose in physical examinations and self-reported fractures among middle-aged and elderly Japanese men: a prospective cohort study.

Unlabelled: The association between blood glucose and fractures is not consistent across populations. Blood glucose was associated with fractures five years later in middle-aged and elderly men who underwent health examinations in Japan, respectively. Blood glucose-targeted fracture alerts are crucial for middle-aged and elderly individuals.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Remnant-like Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Improve the Ankle-Brachial Index of Hemodialysis Patients with Dyslipidemia: A Pilot Study.

Omega-3 fatty acids have potent lipid-lowering and antiplatelet effects; however, randomized controlled trials have yet to examine the effect of high-dose omega-3 fatty acid administration on peripheral artery disease (PAD) in hemodialysis patients with dyslipidemia. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and remnant-like lipoprotein cholesterol (RLP-C) levels, which are indicators of PAD severity. Thirty-eight participants (mean age: 73.

Evaluation of the Mechanisms Involved in the Development of Bladder Toxicity following Exposure to Occupational Bladder Cancer Causative Chemicals Using DNA Adductome Analysis.

Occupational exposure to aromatic amines (AAs) is an important risk factor for urinary bladder cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of AAs and analyze the carcinogenic mechanisms in rat bladder by comprehensive analysis of DNA adducts (DNA adductome). DNA was extracted from the bladder epithelia of rats treated with AAs, including acetoacet--toluidine (AAOT) and -toluidine (OTD), and adductome analysis was performed.

Impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on phenotypic diversity in NBAS-associated disease.

Biallelic pathogenic variants in neuroblastoma-amplified sequence (NBAS) cause a pleiotropic multisystem disorder. Three clinical subgroups have been defined correlating with the localisation of pathogenic variants in the NBAS gene: variants affecting the C-terminal region of NBAS result in SOPH syndrome (short stature, optic atrophy, Pelger-Huët anomaly), variants affecting the Sec 39 domain are associated with infantile liver failure syndrome type 2 (ILFS2) and variants affecting the ß-propeller domain give rise to a combined phenotype. However, there is still unexplained phenotypic diversity across the three subgroups, challenging the current concept of genotype-phenotype correlations in NBAS-associated disease.

The clinical trial of alternative relugolix administration for uterine leiomyoma prior to surgically treatment: a study protocol for Non-Adverse Relugolix Administration (NARA) trial.

Background: Uterine leiomyomas are common for reproductive-aged women and affect women's quality of life due to heavy menstrual bleeding or dysmenorrhea. Leiomyomas grow according to estradiol exposure and decrease after post-menopause. In case serious symptoms are caused by leiomyomas, pharmacotherapy or surgical treatment is proposed.

Risk of Major Congenital Malformations Associated with the Use of Japanese Traditional (Kampo) Medicine Containing Ephedra During the First Trimester of Pregnancy.

Background: Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicines containing ephedra may be used to treat colds during pregnancy. There are reports that ephedrine, a component of ephedra, has a risk of teratogenicity; however, the evidence remains equivocal.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the risk of major congenital malformations (MCMs) associated with exposure to Kampo medicines containing ephedra during the first trimester of pregnancy using the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study (TMM BirThree Cohort Study).

Diagnostic performance of deep-learning-based virtual chromoendoscopy in gastric neoplasms.

Backgrounds: Cycle-consistent generative adversarial network (CycleGAN) is a deep neural network model that performs image-to-image translations. We generated virtual indigo carmine (IC) chromoendoscopy images of gastric neoplasms using CycleGAN and compared their diagnostic performance with that of white light endoscopy (WLE).

Methods: WLE and IC images of 176 patients with gastric neoplasms who underwent endoscopic resection were obtained.

activation triggers hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell death resulting in bone marrow failure in mice.

Human bone marrow failure (BMF) syndromes result from the loss of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC), and this loss has been attributed to cell death; however, the cell death triggers, and mechanisms remain unknown. During BMF, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interferon-γ (IFNγ) increase. These ligands are known to induce necroptosis, an inflammatory form of cell death mediated by RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL.

MHC-DRB alleles with amino acids Val11, Phe13, and the shared epitopes promote collagen-induced arthritis and a rapid IgG1 response in Filipino cynomolgus macaques.

Macaques are useful animal models for studying the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the development of anti-rheumatic drugs. The purpose of this study was to identify the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) polymorphisms associated with the pathology of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and anti-collagen IgG induction in a cynomolgus macaque model, as MHC polymorphisms affect the onset of CIA in other animal models. Nine female Filipino cynomolgus macaques were immunized with bovine type II collagen (b-CII) to induce CIA, which was diagnosed clinically by scoring the symptoms of joint swelling over 9 weeks.

Clinical outcomes and anticoagulation therapy in elderly non-valvular atrial fibrillation and heart failure patients.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist. Older age is strongly associated with stroke, HF, and mortality. The association between coexistence of HF and a risk of clinical outcomes and the effectiveness of anticoagulation therapy including direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in elderly patients with AF and HF have not been investigated.

CEP-1347 Dually Targets MDM4 and PKC to Activate p53 and Inhibit the Growth of Uveal Melanoma Cells.

Uveal melanoma (UM) is among the most common primary intraocular neoplasms in adults, with limited therapeutic options for advanced/metastatic disease. Since UM is characterized by infrequent p53 mutation coupled with the overexpression of MDM4, a major negative regulator of p53, we aimed to investigate in this study the effects on UM cells of CEP-1347, a novel MDM4 inhibitor with a known safety profile in humans. We also examined the impact of CEP-1347 on the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway, known to play a pivotal role in UM cell growth.

A Gelatin Hydrogel Nonwoven Fabric Enhances Subcutaneous Islet Engraftment in Rats.

Although subcutaneous islet transplantation has many advantages, the subcutaneous space is poor in vessels and transplant efficiency is still low in animal models, except in mice. Subcutaneous islet transplantation using a two-step approach has been proposed, in which a favorable cavity is first prepared using various materials, followed by islet transplantation into the preformed cavity. We previously reported the efficacy of pretreatment using gelatin hydrogel nonwoven fabric (GHNF), and the length of the pretreatment period influenced the results in a mouse model.

Impact of pleural effusion at an early period after posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis on future pulmonary function and lung volume.

Background: Posterior spinal fusion (PSF) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has a potential risk for postoperative pleural effusion. Although pleural effusion at an early period after PSF for AIS occurs with a relatively high frequency and occasionally requires some treatments, the impact of postoperative pleural effusion on future pulmonary function or lung volume (LV) has not been clarified to date. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pleural effusion after PSF for AIS on the postoperative pulmonary function and LV.

Persistence of Marine Bacterial Plasmid in the House Fly (Musca domestica): Marine-Derived Antimicrobial Resistance Genes Have a Chance of Invading the Human Environment.

The house fly is known to be a vector of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in animal farms. It is also possible that the house fly contributes to the spread of ARB and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among various environments. We hypothesized that ARB and ARGs present in marine fish and fishery food may gain access to humans via the house fly.

[Clinical Features of Myasthenia Gravis as an Immune-related Adverse Event].

Neurological and muscular immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with cancer treatment using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may show a diverse clinical presentation. Myasthenia gravis (MG) represents a serious irAE associated with the aforementioned therapy. Recent studies have discussed the clinical features of MG that occurs as an irAE (irAE-MG).