A retrospective, longitudinal study of rheumatoid arthritis treatment patterns with Janus kinase inhibitors and other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in Japan.

Objectives: There is limited information on the clinical use of Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) for rheumatoid arthritis treatment in Japan. The aim of this study was to identify disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment patterns in Japan.

Methods: This retrospective, longitudinal study extracted data from the Japan Medical Data Center database.

Polyarteritis nodosa with perirenal hematoma due to the rupture of a renal artery aneurysm.

We present the case of a 67-year-old man in good health with perirenal hematoma due to a ruptured arterial aneurysm in the kidney. The patient developed weight loss, muscle weakness, multiple mononeuropathy, hypertension, anemia, renal insufficiency, and multiple lacuna infarctions about a month ago. He was admitted to the hospital due to worsening of his symptom.

Addition of Ipragliflozin to Metformin Treatment in Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Subgroup Analysis of a Phase 3 Trial.

Background: This is a subgroup analysis of Korean patients from a phase 3 clinical trial investigating the efficacy and safety of ipragliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus inadequately controlled with metformin.

Methods: This multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group study was carried out between November 2011 and January 2013. Patients entered a 2-week placebo pretreatment period, followed by a 24-week treatment period with either ipragliflozin (50 mg/day) or placebo, while continuing metformin.

Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ipragliflozin in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and inadequate glycemic control with metformin: Results of a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter trial.

Aims/introduction: To determine the efficacy and safety of ipragliflozin in combination with metformin in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Materials And Methods: This phase 3, multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group study was carried out at 18 sites in Korea and 12 sites in Taiwan. After an 8-week washout period for patients using drugs other than metformin and a 2-week run-in period, patients were randomized to either 50 mg ipragliflozin or a placebo for 24 weeks while continuing metformin.

Universal scaling for the dilemma strength in evolutionary games.

Why would natural selection favor the prevalence of cooperation within the groups of selfish individuals? A fruitful framework to address this question is evolutionary game theory, the essence of which is captured in the so-called social dilemmas. Such dilemmas have sparked the development of a variety of mathematical approaches to assess the conditions under which cooperation evolves. Furthermore, borrowing from statistical physics and network science, the research of the evolutionary game dynamics has been enriched with phenomena such as pattern formation, equilibrium selection, and self-organization.

Insight into the so-called spatial reciprocity.

Up to now, there have been a great number of studies that demonstrate the effect of spatial topology on the promotion of cooperation dynamics (namely, the so-called "spatial reciprocity"). However, most researchers probably attribute it to the positive assortment of strategies supported by spatial arrangement. In this paper, we analyze the time course of cooperation evolution under different evolution rules.

Referring to the social performance promotes cooperation in spatial prisoner's dilemma games.

We propose a new pairwise Fermi updating rule by considering a social average payoff when an agent copies a neighbor's strategy. In the update rule, a focal agent compares her payoff with the social average payoff of the same strategy that her pairwise opponent has. This concept might be justified by the fact that people reference global and, somehow, statistical information, not local information when imitating social behaviors.

Fas Ligand Has a Greater Impact than TNF-α on Apoptosis and Inflammation in Ischemic Acute Kidney Injury.

Background/aim: Fas ligand (FasL) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α are major pro-apoptotic molecules and also induce inflammation through cytokine and chemokine production. Although precise intracellular mechanisms of action have been reported for each molecule, the differential impact of these molecules on kidney injury in vivo still requires clarification.

Methods: We explored the differential impact of FasL and TNF-α upon apoptosis and inflammation in ischemic acute kidney injury using neutralizing anti-FasL antibodies and TNF-α receptor 1 (TNFR1)-deficient mice.

How is the equilibrium of continuous strategy game different from that of discrete strategy game?

Cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma (PD) played on various networks has been explained by so-called network reciprocity. Most of the previous studies presumed that players can offer either cooperation (C) or defection (D). This discrete strategy seems unrealistic in the real world, since actual provisions might not be discrete, but rather continuous.

Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase promotes peritoneal fibrosis by regulating fibrocytes.

Background: Peritoneal fibrosis is a serious complication of long-term peritoneal dialysis, and yet the precise pathogenic mechanisms of peritoneal fibrosis remain unknown. Fibrocytes participate in tissue fibrosis and express chemokine receptors that are necessary for migration. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway regulates the production of chemokines and has been demonstrated to contribute to the pathogenesis of various fibrotic conditions.

Involvement of CD11b+ GR-1 low cells in autoimmune disorder in MRL-Fas lpr mouse.

Objective: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have been identified as immunosuppressive cells in tumor-related inflammation. However, the pathogenesis of MDSCs for autoimmune disease has not been investigated as yet. The aim of this study was to address whether MDSCs contribute to autoimmune organ injury in lupus-prone mice.

Fibrocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of human chronic kidney disease.

The presence of chronic kidney disease in humans is associated with a risk of kidney function loss as well as the development of cardiovascular disease. Fibrocytes have been shown to contribute to organ fibrosis. In this study, the presence of fibrocytes was investigated immunohistochemically in kidney biopsy specimens from 100 patients with chronic kidney disease.

Suppression of ripples on ablated Ni surface via a polarization grating.

Gratings were recorded on the surface of nickel by ablation without formation of ripples using an interference of two p-polarized femtosecond laser beams at a pi/4 angle of incidence. The mechanism of ripples' suppression is explained by formation of a polarization grating and by ablation at the locations where the polarization is normal to the Ni surface. The aspect ratio of the ablated grooves was approximately 3 with the period approximately 570 nm at the central wavelength of irradiation of 800 nm.

Effect of sevelamer hydrochloride on markers of bone turnover in Japanese dialysis patients with low biointact PTH levels.

Background: In hemodialysis patients, adynamic bone disease has been reported to be closely associated with low levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) due to exposure to high levels of serum calcium following the administration of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or vitamin D agents. This study was conducted to clarify the therapeutic effect of a non-calcemic phosphate binder, sevelamer hydrochloride (sevelamer), for hypoparathyroidism in hemodialysis patients with or without diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Based on entry criteria, 40 Japanese chronic hemodialysis patients (22 males and 18 females with a mean age of 60.

Interleukin-1-dependent sequential chemokine expression and inflammatory cell infiltration in ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Objective: Ischemia-reperfusion injury is known to cause organ failure, but the mechanisms of pathogenesis remain unclear. Inflammation is a factor in tissue destruction in ischemia reperfusion injury, and interleukin (IL)-1 is a key promoter of inflammation.

Design: Prospective, randomized, and controlled study.

MCP-1/CCR2-dependent loop for fibrogenesis in human peripheral CD14-positive monocytes.

Monocyte/macrophage (Momicron) migration to sites of inflammation is a prerequisite cause of organ fibrosis. The recruitment and activation of Mo are regulated by C-C chemokines, especially monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [(MCP-1)/CC chemokine ligand 2], which interacts with CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2). However, the mechanisms leading to fibrosis via MCP-1/CCR2 signaling in Mo remain to be investigated.

Involvement of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 in human diabetic nephropathy.

Background: The involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in human diabetic nephropathy has not been fully investigated.

Methods: The presence of cells positive for the phosphorylated MAPK family (phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase [p-ERK], phosphorylated p38MAPK [p-p38MAPK]) was investigated immunohistochemically in kidneys of 30 patients with diabetic nephropathy. In addition, 10 patients with minimal change nephrotic syndrome, 10 patients with thin basement membrane disease, and 5 patients with benign nephrosclerosis were studied as disease controls.

The outcome and a new ISN/RPS 2003 classification of lupus nephritis in Japanese.

Background: A considerable diversity in prognosis is seen with lupus glomerulonephritis (LGN). Hence, the clinical usefulness of a recent International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society (ISN/RPS) 2003 classification to judge the long-term outcome of human LGN has been investigated.

Methods: We studied retrospectively 60 subjects with LGN (7 males, 53 females, mean age of 33 years old) who underwent renal biopsies and were followed from 1 to 366 months, with a mean of 187 months.

Effect of incadronate on corticosteroid-induced osteopenia in rats.

The effect of incadronate, a third-generation bisphosphonate, was evaluated in rats with corticosteroid-induced osteopenia. Male Wistar rats were treated with methylprednisolone acetate (1 mg/kg, s.c.

Synergism between interleukin-11 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in the healing of segmental bone defects in a rabbit model.

Recombinant human interleukin-11 (rHuIL-11) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rHuBMP-2) have been shown to act synergistically in the induction of osteoblast differentiation. To determine whether these two proteins can be used clinically in fracture healing and reconstructive surgery, we investigated whether rHuIL-11 and rHuBMP-2 act synergistically to heal segmental bone defects in a rabbit model. A 1.

Long-term stability of bone tissues induced by an osteoinductive biomaterial, recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 and a biodegradable carrier.

The long-term stability of bone tissues induced by recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) and poly[L-lactide-co-glycolide] copolymer-coated gelatin sponge (PGS) was examined. In 16 dogs, 2.5 cm unilateral bone defects were created in the left tibial diaphyses.

Interleukin-11 acts synergistically with bone morphogenetic protein-2 to accelerate bone formation in a rat ectopic model.

We previously demonstrated that recombinant human interleukin-11 (rHuIL-11) induced osteoblast differentiation of C3H10T1/2 progenitor cells and also acted synergistically with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rHuBMP-2) in performing the same function. In this study, we investigated the effect of rHuIL-11 and rHuBMP-2 on bone formation in a rat ectopic model. When placed in rats, implants consisting of polymer-coated gelatin sponges containing various concentrations of rHuBMP-2 showed a dose-dependent increase in calcium content.

Bone regeneration by recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 and a novel biodegradable carrier in a rabbit ulnar defect model.

The effects of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP)-2 and a novel carrier, PLGA-coated gelatin sponge (PGS), on bone defect repair was examined. A 1.5 cm unilateral segmental bone defect was created in the ulnar diaphysis of a Japanese white rabbit.

Incadronate inhibits osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats.

Incadronate is a highly effective inhibitor of stimulated bone resorption as demonstrated in a hypercalcemia model in rats, bone metastasis models in mice and rats, and an osteoporosis model in dogs. In this study, the effect of incadronate on osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats was examined. Incadronate dose-dependently inhibited decreases in second lumbar vertebrae bone mineral density (BMD) following oral administration for 4 or 12 weeks.