Publications by authors named "Saeki C"
Frailty and fractures are closely associated with adverse clinical outcomes. This retrospective study investigated the prognostic impact of frailty, prevalent fractures, and the coexistence of both in patients with cirrhosis. Frailty was defined according to the Fried frailty phenotype criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slowness, and low physical activity.
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- Pareidolias are perceptual deficits where people see meaningful shapes in ambiguous visuals, studied in neurodegenerative diseases using a noise pareidolia test.
- This research explored differences between paper-based and digital testing methods for pareidolias among healthy individuals and patients with Alzheimer's, DLB, and Parkinson's disease.
- Results show that pareidolic perceptions remain consistent in both testing formats, and digital testing on smartphones can effectively maintain the functionality of assessing these visual illusions.
Article Synopsis
- Sarcopenia and osteoporosis negatively affect patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), and this study compares two methods for assessing muscle mass: bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
- The study included 173 patients and found strong correlation and agreement between ASMI values obtained from BIA and DXA for diagnosing sarcopenia and osteosarcopenia.
- It concludes that DXA is a valuable tool for a thorough assessment of muscle and bone health in CLD patients, highlighting the need for effective diagnostics in managing these conditions.
Article Synopsis
- Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) often experience malnutrition and increased risk of bone diseases, which can lead to worse health outcomes.
- This study included 209 CLD patients and found that those in the "nutrition-related risk" group had a higher prevalence of osteoporosis compared to those without such risk.
- The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) was determined to be a strong predictor for osteoporosis and fracture risk, indicating its potential use as an important tool for managing bone health in these patients.
Background: Freezing of gait is one of the most disturbing motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the effective connectivity between key brain hubs that are associated with the pathophysiological mechanism of freezing of gait remains elusive.
Objective: The aim of this study was to identify effective connectivity underlying freezing of gait.
Objective: This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q) and investigate its validity and reliability.
Methods: After translating the NFOG-Q according to a standardised protocol, 56 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were administered it. Additionally, the MDS-UPDRS parts II and III, Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage, and number of falls over 1 month were evaluated.
Article Synopsis
- The study highlights the limitations of traditional liver cancer markers, α-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), particularly in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in patients with liver issues.
- Researchers evaluated serum protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) as a potential new biomarker for HCC diagnosis and found it to have high sensitivity and specificity, even in early stages of the disease.
- PKCδ levels remained consistent regardless of hepatitis C virus (HCV) status, liver injury, or warfarin treatment, making it a promising alternative to conventional markers for more accurate HCC detection.
Association of chronic liver disease with bone diseases and muscle weakness.
J Bone Miner Metab
July 2024
The liver is a vital organ involved in nutrient metabolism, hormone regulation, immunity, cytokine production, and gut homeostasis. Impairment in liver function can result in malnutrition, chronic inflammation, decreased anabolic hormone levels, and dysbiosis. These conditions eventually cause an imbalance in osteoblast and osteoclast activities, resulting in bone loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Malnutrition, which increases the risk of liver disease-related events and mortality, is a serious complication in cirrhosis. This study aimed to investigate whether the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) could predict the long-term prognosis in patients with cirrhosis.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 266 patients with cirrhosis and classified them into two groups based on baseline GNRI scores: risk (≤98, = 104) and no-risk groups (>98, = 162).
Purpose: The accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is associated with various diseases and age-related impairments, including loss of muscle mass and function. We investigated the association between plasma pentosidine, which is one of the AGEs, and sarcopenia, low gait speed, and mortality in patients with cirrhosis.
Methods: This retrospective study divided 128 patients with cirrhosis into three groups by 25th and 75th quartiles of baseline plasma pentosidine levels: low (L)-, intermediate (I)-, and high (H)-pentosidine (Pen) groups.
Aim: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is primarily produced in hepatocytes and is associated with liver functional reserve, plays a crucial role in the pathological condition of cirrhosis. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of serum IGF-1 levels for predicting the long-term prognosis and decompensation development in patients with cirrhosis.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 148 patients with cirrhosis and divided them into three groups according to baseline IGF-1 levels: low (L)-, intermediate (I)-, and high (H)-IGF-1 groups.
Background & Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and has a poor prognosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying hepatocarcinogenesis and progression remain unknown. gain- and loss-of-function analyses in cell lines and xenografts revealed that dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) influences tumour growth in HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Osteosarcopenia, defined as the coexistence of sarcopenia and osteoporosis, is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The present study investigated the prognostic significance of osteosarcopenia in patients with cirrhosis.
Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 126 patients with cirrhosis.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined how the combination of Child-Pugh class B/C cirrhosis, sarcopenia, and severe vitamin D deficiency affects the survival prognosis of cirrhosis patients.
- The researchers evaluated 104 patients and found that those with both high-risk cirrhosis and either sarcopenia or severe vitamin D deficiency had significantly lower survival rates compared to those without these complications.
- The findings suggest that assessing nutritional issues like sarcopenia and vitamin D levels is crucial for understanding and improving the prognosis of patients with cirrhosis.
Patients with cirrhosis are at high risk for sarcopenia and malnutrition, which are associated with reduced quality of life and increased mortality. We investigated the relationship between the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and sarcopenia/gait speed and assessed the usefulness of the GNRI for predicting sarcopenia in patients with cirrhosis. We evaluated 202 patients with cirrhosis and divided them into three groups based on baseline GNRI values: low (L)-GNRI (< 94.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Selection criteria for self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) with or without cover during palliative treatment of distal malignant biliary obstruction (DMBO) remain unclear. We evaluated factors associated with time to recurrent biliary obstruction (TRBO) in fully covered SEMSs (FCSEMSs) and uncovered SEMSs (UCSEMSs).
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients with DMBO who received a SEMS.
Background: Recently, the common marmoset () has attracted significant interest as a non-human primate stroke model. Functional impairment in non-human primate stroke models should be evaluated quantitatively and successively after stroke, but conventional observational assessments of behavior cannot fully fit this purpose. In this paper, we report a behavioral analysis using MarmoDetector, a three-dimensional motion analysis, in an ischemic stroke model using photosensitive dye, along with an observational behavioral assessment and imaging examination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) plays an important role in bone growth and maintenance, and its decreased levels are associated with bone disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the association of serum IGF-1 levels with osteoporosis, prevalent fractures and fracture risk based on the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). This study included 127 consecutive patients with PBC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy is frequently used as first-line treatment for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). RFA is often associated with pain; however, no definitive solution has been established for its relief. We retrospectively analyzed the safety and efficacy of the combination of pentazocine and midazolam to relieve pain experienced by HCC patients undergoing RFA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackgrounds And Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cancer with a poor prognosis. Identification of an alternative biomarker that can detect early-stage and conventional tumor marker-negative HCC is urgently needed. We found that protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) is specifically secreted from HCC cell lines into extracellular space and contributes to tumor development and that its serum levels were elevated in HCC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackgrounds: Centrilobular zonal necrosis (CZN) is described as a histological feature present in a small number of autoimmune hepatitis (CZN-AIH) patients. CZN may be detected in the absence of significant interface hepatitis, which is the most important histological finding of AIH. The clinical and histopathological spectra of CZN-AIH were not homogeneous, and the concept of CZN-AIH as a distinctive subtype of AIH remains controversial, due to the rarity of CZN-AIH and the ambiguous definition of CZN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and could be biomarkers of disease activity. This study aimed to identify highly expressed circulating miRNAs in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and to evaluate their association with clinical characteristics.
Methods: Microarray analyses were performed, and miRNA expression profiling for AIH, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and overlap syndrome (OS) using the serum of patients and healthy individuals was done.
Background/aim: We aimed to investigate the association between The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and the tolerability of lenvatinib in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Patients And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 61 HCC patients treated with lenvatinib and compared those with low GNRI (≤98, n=26) to those with high GNRI (>98, n=35).
Results: The discontinuation of lenvatinib due to adverse events was more frequent in the low GNRI group (46.
Introduction: Management of elderly patients with cancer has become a global issue. We investigated the safety and tolerability of lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients ≥80 years old.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 61 HCC patients and divided them into 2 groups: an elderly group (n = 13, ≥80 years old) and a younger group (n = 48, <80 years old).