Publications by authors named "Sekiya M"

Sleep quality and quantity decrease with age, and sleep disturbance increases the risk of many age-associated diseases. There is a significant relationship between nutritional status and sleep outcomes, with malnutrition inducing poor sleep quality in older adults. However, it remains elusive whether, and if so how, nutritional supplementation prevents age-associated sleep problems.

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Certain somatic mutations provide a fitness advantage to hematopoietic stem cells and lead to clonal expansion of mutant blood cells, known as clonal hematopoiesis (CH). Among the most common CH mutations, ASXL1 mutations pose the highest risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), yet the mechanisms by which they contribute to CVDs are unclear. Here we show that hematopoietic cells harboring C-terminally truncated ASXL1 mutant (ASXL1-MT) accelerate the development of atherosclerosis in Ldlr mice.

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A man in his late 30s with gait difficulty, dysarthria, impaired consciousness and polyuria was diagnosed with left thalamic infarction. Hypercalcaemia (3.52 mmol/L (2.

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  • Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive condition leading to dementia, primarily driven by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ), which causes chronic neuroinflammation and is a focal point for new treatments.
  • Recent studies highlight the importance of discovering blood-based biomarkers that reflect this neuroinflammation and could improve diagnostic methods beyond traditional approaches.
  • Analysis of plasma metabolites in a mouse model of Aβ amyloidosis revealed decreased levels of nicotinamide, suggesting that its measurement could indicate neuroinflammatory responses, making nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism potential therapeutic targets for AD.
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  • Amikacin liposome inhalation suspension (ALIS) showed effectiveness in increasing sputum culture conversion rates in patients with refractory Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease (MAC-PD) after 6 months of treatment in a phase 3 trial.
  • A study involving 12 patients at Toho University revealed that 58.3% achieved culture conversion, with factors like shorter previous treatment duration and fewer cavitary lesions on chest CT linked to better outcomes.
  • While improvements in chest CT findings were noted, they did not always match with culture conversion results, indicating that the correlation between imaging and treatment success is complex.
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  • * During a recent survey, three new myxosporean species were found in Japanese freshwater fish, which had previously only been recorded in parts of the Russian Far East.
  • * These new species were identified using both morphological observations and genetic sequencing, showing phylogenetic differences that indicate they are distinct from previously known Japanese myxosporeans, highlighting the need for more genetic data to establish reliable species identification.
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Background: Immunosuppressive conditions within the tumor microenvironment (TME) can allow tumors to evade the immune system, including by hampering programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor activity. Interleukin (IL)-8 contributes to immunosuppression and fibrosis in the TME. AMY109, a humanized anti-IL-8 monoclonal antibody, reduced fibrosis and decreased immunosuppressive cells in tumor tissue in animals.

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The construction of a chemical library based on natural products is a promising method for the synthesis of natural product-like compounds. In this study, we synthesized a terpenoid alkaloid-like compound library based on the humulene skeleton. Our strategy, which enables access to diverse ring systems such as 11-membered monocyclic, oxabicyclic, and medium-sized aza ring-containing scaffolds, involves the introduction of a nitrogen atom, an intermolecular C-O bond formation via Lewis acid-mediated epoxide-opening transannulation, and a ring-reconstruction strategy based on olefin metathesis.

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  • The study investigates two cases of extremely low HDL cholesterol levels linked to mutations in the ABCA1 gene, which is important for cholesterol transport, particularly in Tangier disease.
  • In the first case, a 20-year-old woman with multiple health issues showed mutations leading to decreased cholesterol efflux and ABCA1 protein levels, while also having another condition called Krabbe disease.
  • The second case involved a 51-year-old woman with similar low HDL levels and different mutations confirming Tangier disease, highlighting the complexity of mutations and their pathogenic mechanisms.
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A 66-year-old woman was found to have abnormal shadows on a chest radiograph at a previous hospital 4 years ago, which led to a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, cT2aN1M1b stage IVA. First-line treatment included carboplatin and paclitaxel plus thoracic radiotherapy and stereotactic radiation therapy for brain metastases. The patient later underwent second-line pemetrexed treatment, followed by third-line nivolumab, fourth-line docetaxel and bevacizumab, fifth-line tegafur-gimeracil-oteracil, and sixth-line gemcitabine.

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The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-embedded transcription factors, sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), master regulators of lipid biosynthesis, are transported to the Golgi for proteolytic activation to tune cellular cholesterol levels and regulate lipogenesis. However, mechanisms by which the cell responds to the levels of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids remain underexplored. Here, we show that RHBDL4/RHBDD1, a rhomboid family protease, directly cleaves SREBP-1c at the ER.

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We collected 3180 records of oleic acid (C18:1) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) measured using gas chromatography (GC) and 6960 records of C18:1 and MUFA measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in intermuscular fat samples of Japanese Black cattle. We compared genomic prediction performance for four linear models (genomic best linear unbiased prediction [GBLUP], kinship-adjusted multiple loci [KAML], BayesC, and BayesLASSO) and five machine learning models (Gaussian kernel [GK], deep kernel [DK], random forest [RF], extreme gradient boost [XGB], and convolutional neural network [CNN]). For GC-based C18:1 and MUFA, KAML showed the highest accuracies, followed by BayesC, XGB, DK, GK, and BayesLASSO, with more than 6% gain of accuracy by KAML over GBLUP.

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Allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis (ABPM) is a chronic immune-mediated pulmonary disease, which is caused by fungal infection of the airways. species are the main causative fungi and standard treatment typically comprises systemic corticosteroid therapy with or without adjunct antifungal agents. We describe our experience with a case of ABPM caused by (), with satisfactory response to treatment with a combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting β 2-agonist.

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  • Type 2 diabetes is linked to hyperglycemia and impaired insulin secretion, involving a decline in β-cell function and mass, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear.
  • Researchers used single-cell RNA sequencing on pancreatic islet cells from db/db mice (a model for type 2 diabetes) and identified a unique transcriptome landscape in prediabetes and diabetes with different β- and α-cell subpopulations.
  • They discovered a new prediabetic gene, Anxa10, which affects calcium influx and insulin secretion in β-cells, highlighting processes like mitochondria dysfunction and the transdifferentiation of β-cells into acinar-like cells during diabetes progression.
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Approximately one-third of fibrosing interstitial lung diseases exhibit progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF), a clinicopathological condition distinct yet resembling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). PPF in ANCA-positive ILD (ANCA-ILD) is poorly documented. To clarify incidence, predictors of PPF in ANCA-ILD, and their prognostic impact, 56 patients with ANCA-ILD were followed for ≥ 1 year (April 2004 to April 2021).

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Metabolism is one of the vital functions of cells and living organisms, and the systems to sense and respond to the metabolic alterations play pivotal roles in a plethora of biological processes, including cell proliferative activities, immune cell functions, aging processes, and neuronal functions. Recently, we have reported that a transcriptional cofactor, C-terminal binding protein 2 (CtBP2), serves as a critical metabolite sensor in this context. CtBP2 has a structural pocket called Rossmann fold to accommodate metabolites, and it has been reported to be activated upon binding to NADH/NAD.

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A 75-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of a productive cough and an abnormal shadow on chest radiography. She was diagnosed as having metastatic lung adenocarcinoma harbouring ROS proto-oncogene 1 (). First-line therapy was instituted with entrectinib 600 mg daily, and a gradual decrease in serum sodium level was noticed on day 6, which deteriorated to Grade 3 hyponatremia on day 12.

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We present a case of lung carcinoma with a unique biphasic feature. The patient was a 67-year-old male smoker with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A subpleural tumor in the left lower lobe, embedded in fibrotic tissue, was resected.

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  • In the early stages of obesity, insulin secretion increases as a protective measure to keep glucose levels stable, but this can’t last forever, leading to the failure of β cells and the onset of diabetes.
  • The protein CtBP2 plays a vital role in regulating insulin gene expression in β cells by interacting with another factor, NEUROD1, which helps to open up chromatin at the insulin gene promoter.
  • Reduced levels of CtBP2 in pancreatic islets are observed in both mouse models and humans with obesity, and mice lacking CtBP2 specifically in β cells show glucose intolerance and impaired insulin secretion, indicating its importance in maintaining β cell health and offering potential targets for obesity-related treatments.
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Background: The ATS/JRS/ALAT Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (GL for HP) were published in 2020. Humidifier lung and summer-type HP are forms of HP, but it is unclear whether they can be diagnosed using GL for HP. This study examined the level of confidence where humidifier lung and summer-type HP can be diagnosed with GL for HP.

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In a previous study, we demonstrated that the carotenoid neoxanthin was contained in young leafy vegetables including spinach and showed a fat accumulation inhibitory effect in vitro. To evaluate the bioavailability of neoxanthin, a raw young spinach leaf (100 g day-1 for 4 weeks) intake test was performed on 14 participants (36.5 ± 8.

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Ultrasound-guided transthoracic needle biopsy is a relatively safe procedure diagnosing subpleural pulmonary mass and has high sensitivity in the diagnosis of lung cancer. However, the usefulness in other rare malignancies is unknown. This case shows the effectiveness in diagnosing not only lung cancer but also rare malignancies including primary pulmonary lymphoma.

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  • Maintaining the balance of metabolism is really important, but too much food can mess it up, especially in obesity.
  • Researchers found out how two important proteins, PPARα and CtBP2, interact in a way that can slow down fat processing when there's extra fat in the body.
  • In obese people, this interaction gets stronger, making it harder for the body to break down fat, which could lead to new treatments for obesity-related diseases.
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Background: The tau protein phosphorylated at Thr181 (p-tau181) in cerebrospinal fluid and blood is a sensitive biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Increased p-tau181 levels correlate well with amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology and precede neurofibrillary tangle formation in the early stage of AD; however, the relationship between p-tau181 and Aβ-mediated pathology is less well understood. We recently reported that p-tau181 represents axonal abnormalities in mice with Aβ pathology (AppNLGF).

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