Community integration and related factors among people with mental illness in Japan: Multiple regression analysis stratified by social isolation level.

Backgroud And Aim: Community integration is an essential for people with mental illness that affects their health and quality of life. The objective of this study is to find the factors useful in improving community integration of people with mental illness.

Methods: The study method was self-reporting questionnaires for people with mental illness living in the community.

In vitro toxicological support to establish specification limit for anti-CD3 monospecific impurity in a bispecific T cell engager drug, ERY974.

An emerging structure for anti-tumor antibody drugs utilizes a bispecific antibody (BiAb) that recognizes a tumor surface antigen and CD3 on T cells. An impurity that commonly contaminates these BiAb products is an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb). The most plausible cause of toxic activity by an anti-CD3 mAb is the induction of cytokines via T cell activation.

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Community Integration Measure for community-dwelling people with schizophrenia.

Background: Community integration is an essential right for people with schizophrenia that affects their well-being and quality of life, but no valid instrument exists to measure it in Japan. The aim of the present study is to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Community Integration Measure (CIM) for people with schizophrenia.

Methods: The Japanese version of the CIM was developed as a self-administered questionnaire based on the original version of the CIM, which was developed by McColl et al.

Loneliness and related factors among people with schizophrenia in Japan: a cross-sectional study.

Unlabelled: WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT?: Loneliness among people diagnosed with schizophrenia is a serious problem. Recent studies have focused on the loneliness; however, no study has examined the relationships between loneliness and both individual and environmental factors comprehensively. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The main results indicated that the community-dwelling people diagnosed with schizophrenia in Japan as well as in other countries experienced higher levels of loneliness.

Prostaglandin E2 inhibits elastogenesis in the ductus arteriosus via EP4 signaling.

Background: Elastic fiber formation begins in mid-gestation and increases dramatically during the last trimester in the great arteries, providing elasticity and thus preventing vascular wall structure collapse. However, the ductus arteriosus (DA), a fetal bypass artery between the aorta and pulmonary artery, exhibits lower levels of elastic fiber formation, which promotes vascular collapse and subsequent closure of the DA after birth. The molecular mechanisms for this inhibited elastogenesis in the DA, which is necessary for the establishment of adult circulation, remain largely unknown.

The effects of interleukin-6 signal blockade on immune system, reproductive and skeletal development in juvenile mice.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple disorders, including juvenile autoimmune diseases. IL-6 participates in a broad spectrum of physiological events, and the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) is widely distributed across multiple organs. The interrelationship of development phases in juveniles together with organs involved in IL-6 signaling called for evaluations of anti-IL-6R antibody induced effects in a juvenile mouse model to assess the safety of such an approach in human juvenile arthritis.

DNA microarray profiling identified a new role of growth hormone in vascular remodeling of rat ductus arteriosus.

The ductus arteriosus (DA), a fetal arterial connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, has a character distinct from the adjacent arteries. We compared the transcriptional profiles of the DA and the aorta of Wistar rat fetuses on embryonic day 19 (preterm) and day 21 (near-term) using DNA microarray analyses. We found that 39 genes were expressed 2.

A newly established GDL1 cell line from gpt delta mice well reflects the in vivo mutation spectra induced by mitomycin C.

In order to create a novel in vitro test system for detection of large deletions and point mutations, we developed an immortalized cell line. A SV40 large T antigen expression unit was introduced into fibroblasts derived from gpt delta mouse lung tissue and a selected clone was established as the gpt delta L1 (GDL1) cell line. The novel GDL1 cells were examined for mutant frequencies (MFs) and for molecular characterization of mutations induced by mitomycin C (MMC).

Full genomic analysis of hepatitis delta virus prevalent on Miyako Island, Japan.

The aims of this study were to determine the full-length genome sequences of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) in HDV RNA-positive subjects, and to elucidate the molecular specificity of the HDVs that are clustered on a distant island in Japan. This study included 3 subjects with chronic hepatitis who were positive for hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen and HDV RNA, and who were admitted to the Okinawa Prefectural Miyako Hospital in 1998. The full-length genome sequence of HDV was determined by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using four kinds of primer sets.

SEN virus infection influences the pathological findings in liver but does not affect the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis.

Background/aims: This investigation compared the histological findings in the livers of chronic hepatitis C patients who were or were not co-infected with SEN virus (SEN-V) to determine the histological and clinical characteristics of SEN-V infection in Japan.

Methods: Three hundred and ninety-two patients with hepatitis C virus-associated chronic hepatitis (CH) or liver cirrhosis (LC) were included in the study. Serum samples were tested for the presence of SEN-V DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction.

Decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C whose serum alanine aminotransferase levels became less than twice the upper limit of normal following interferon therapy.

Aim: The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in C-viral chronic hepatitis (CH) and liver cirrhosis (LC) patients after interferon (IFN) therapy was evaluated according to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.

Patients: Two hundred sixty-nine patients with C-viral CH and LC were treated with natural IFN-alpha. The efficacy of IFN therapy was evaluated based on virologic response and ALT levels using the following groups: virologic-sustained responders (VSR); biochemical-sustained responders (BSR); partial responders (PR), which consisted of BSR patients whose serum ALT levels later relapsed; non-responders (NR)1, which included patients with serum ALT levels that were usually less than 80 IU/l; and NR2, NR with ALT levels persistently more than 80 IU/l.

Detection of serum and intrahepatic KL-6 in anti-HCV positive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

We investigated the clinical significance of serum and intrahepatic KL-6/MUC1 (KL-6) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The subjects included 76 patients diagnosed with anti-HCV positive HCC, 69 with, and 51 without, liver cirrhosis (LC). Frozen serum samples were obtained from each subject to determine the serum KL-6 levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Long-term outcome, with monitoring of platelet counts, in patients with chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis after interferon therapy.

Objective: Because the determination of the stage of fibrosis depends on rather subjective judgment, more objective parameters are needed. In this study, we followed the long-term outcome, with monitoring of platelet counts, in patients with chronic hepatitis C or liver cirrhosis (LC) who had undergone interferon (IFN) therapy.

Methods: 596 patients who were diagnosed at our institute from 1987 to 1998 with chronic hepatitis C and LC were treated with IFNs.

Investigation of the mechanism of drug-induced autoimmune hemolytic anemia in cynomolgus monkeys elicited by a repeated-dose of a humanized monoclonal antibody drug.

We investigated the mechanism of hemolytic anemia detected in a repeated-dose toxicity study using cynomolgus monkeys that were treated with a humanized antibody drug. This drug was an IgG1 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) that binds to the human HM1.24 antigen named anti-HM1.

TT virus infection does not affect the clinical profiles of patients with hepatitis B and C in Yanbian City, China.

China is an area of high endemicity for viral hepatitis, and the molecular epidemiological investigation of TT virus (TTV) infection is of interest. In the present study, we investigated the epidemiology, clinical significance and molecular characteristics of TTV infection in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in Yanbian City, China. Serum samples obtained from 74 patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C who visited Yanbian Hospital, located in northeast China, were analyzed in this study.

Analysis of background factors and evaluation of a population at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: We investigated the background clinical factors of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosed at our institute and, from these results, determined those factors important for evaluation of a population at high risk of HCC.

Methods: This study comprised 250 patients diagnosed with HCC from 1990 through 1995 in the Nihon University Itabashi Hospital. Background clinical factors, such as the results of blood chemistry at the time of the first angiography, were examined.

The clinical significance of serum KL-6 levels in patients with type C liver diseases.

We determine whether the serum KL-6/MUC1 (KL-6) levels in patients with type C liver disease can be used to assay inflammatory activity and the stage of fibrosis of patients, as well as to screen high-risk groups for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Study subjects included 130 patients with type C chronic hepatitis (CH), 15 patients diagnosed with type C acute hepatitis (AH) and 17 healthy control subjects. Frozen serum samples were obtained from each subject to determine the KL-6 levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EIA) method.

Genotype analysis, using PCR with type-specific primers, of hepatitis B virus isolates from patients coinfected with hepatitis delta virus genotype II from Miyako Island, Japan.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA-positive patients and to characterize the HBV nucleotide sequences that may be found on a distant island of Japan.

Methods: This study included three patients with chronic hepatitis who were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ELISA), HDV antibody (ELISA) and HDV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The HBV genotype was determined by nested PCR using type-specific primers.

Molecular characterization of mitomycin C-induced large deletions and tandem-base substitutions in the bone marrow of gpt delta transgenic mice.

Deletion mutations constitute an important class of mutations that may result in a variety of human diseases, including cancer. Although many chemicals and ionizing radiations induce deletions, this class of mutation has been poorly characterized at the molecular level, particularly in vivo. Here we report the molecular nature of deletions as well as base substitutions induced by antitumor antibiotic mitomycin C (MMC) in the bone marrow using a novel transgenic mouse, gpt delta.

An adult patient with acute hepatitis type B which was protracted and complicated by polyarteritis nodosa: a case report.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), an extra-hepatic complication of hepatitis type B, is usually treated with a combination of immunosuppressive and antiviral drugs. Less commonly, interferon (IFN) has been used alone. A 57-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with epididymitis and acute hepatitis with genotype A, hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Serum concentrations of human hepatocyte growth factor is a useful indicator for predicting the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinomas in C-viral chronic liver diseases.

Background: Numerous reports have examined the relationship between hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and either the facilitation or suppression of the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: In this study, we measured serum HGF concentrations of blood samples and conducted prospective studies to examine the long-term outcome of C-viral chronic hepatitis (CH) and cirrhosis in patients. The subjects examined in this study include 99 patients with C-viral CH, cirrhosis, and HCC.

Severe complications after hypofractionated high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy following external beam irradiation for oesophageal carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate severe complications that developed after high dose rate (HDR) intracavitary brachytherapy for oesophageal carcinoma. Six consecutive patients with oesophageal carcinoma were treated by external beam irradiation (60 Gy in 30 fractions over 6 weeks) followed by hypofractionated intracavitary HDR brachytherapy (10 Gy in 2 fractions). Two of the six patients were alive and well for more than 2-3 years following therapy, but three of the six patients developed treatment-related oesophageal fistulae and died.

Computed tomography-guided frameless stereotactic radiotherapy for stage I non-small cell lung cancer: a 5-year experience.

Purpose: Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is highly effective for brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). As such, primary lesions of NSCLC may also be treated effectively by similar focal high-dose SRT.

Methods And Materials: Between October 1994 and June 1999, 50 patients with pathologically proven T1-2N0 M0 NSCLC were treated by CT-guided frameless SRT.