Evaluation of the Efficacy of Lusutrombopag for Chronic Liver Disease Based on Pre-Treatment Platelet Counts: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Background: Oral thrombopoietin receptor agonists are used to treat thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic liver disease who are scheduled for invasive procedures. The efficacy of lusutrombopag based on the pretreatment platelet count was investigated.

Methods: Patients treated at nine hospitals from December 2015 to December 2023 were included.

[Autoimmune hepatitis developed after COVID-19 vaccination and ameliorated temporarily but relapsed or stopped improving, and finally resolved by steroid therapy:a report of three cases].

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccine has contributed to infection control and the prevention of complications due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Conversely, the COVID-19 vaccine has been associated with adverse effects due to liver injury caused by autoimmunity or drugs. To date, Japanese journals have only published five reports of autoimmune liver damage associated with the COVID-19 vaccination.

Successful Treatment of Metastatic Gallbladder Carcinoma with a High Tumor Mutational Burden Using Pembrolizumab.

A woman in her 70s presented with gallbladder carcinoma with liver metastases and peritoneal dissemination. After standard chemotherapy failed, a liver biopsy was performed. A FoundationOne CDx analysis showed that the tumor mutational burden (TMB) was high (34 mutations/megabase).

The Role of the Albumin-Bilirubin Score for Predicting the Outcomes in Japanese Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Ramucirumab: A Real-World Study.

Aim: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of ramucirumab treatment under real-world conditions and to clarify the role of albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score in predicting outcomes.

Methods: Between June 2019 and May 2020, a total of 16 patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with ramucirumab in Gunma Saiseikai Maebashi Hospital and its affiliated hospitals was included.

Results: The median age was 71 (interquartile range [IQR] 65-74) years old, and 12 patients (75.

Impact of the Prognostic Nutritional Index on the Survival of Japanese Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Sorafenib: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Objective The purpose of this multicenter retrospective study was to investigate the impact of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) on the survival of Japanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with sorafenib. Methods A total of 178 HCC patients from May 2009 to December 2015 at our affiliated hospitals was included in this study. The PNI was calculated as follows: 10×serum albumin (g/dL) +0.

[A case of enterolith ileus secondary to acute pancreatitis associated with a juxtapapillary duodenal diverticulum].

A 63-year-old woman with abdominal pain was referred to our hospital. Her pancreatic enzymes were elevated, and an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed an enlarged pancreas, consistent with pancreatitis, and gas collection containing an impacted stone adjacent to Vater's papilla. This finding raised the suspicion of a duodenal diverticulum.

Gastric ulcer bleeding from a variant left gastric artery accompanied by congenital absence of the splenic artery successfully treated with coil embolization: a case report and review of the literature.

Endoscopic hemostasis is a useful treatment modality for gastric ulcer bleeding. However, it is sometimes difficult to achieve hemostasis in cases with arterial bleeding, especially those complicated with vascular abnormalities. We describe a case with gastric ulcer bleeding from a variant left gastric artery accompanied by congenital absence of the splenic artery.

Estimation of microinhomogeneity of conduction impairment by wavelet analysis during early phase of myocardial ischemia in pigs.

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is most frequent in the very early phase in acute coronary occlusion, and is triggered by the re-entrant mechanism in this phase. An inhomogeneous conduction in the ischemic myocardium would be substrates for re-entry. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the severity of irregularities of the QRS complex and VF.

Role of focal adhesion kinase in flow-induced dilation of coronary arterioles.

Background: Flow-induced regulation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) depends on integrin signaling and tyrosine kinase activation. Integrins cluster in focal adhesion complexes, where the extracellular matrix is connected to the cytoskeleton and where focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is located. FAK plays a central role in integrin signaling and Src activation.

Signal-crosstalk between Rho/ROCK and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase mediates migration of vascular smooth muscle cells stimulated by angiotensin II.

Background: Rho and its effector Rho-kinase/ROCK mediate cytoskeletal reorganization as well as smooth muscle contraction. Recent studies indicate that Rho and ROCK are critically involved in vascular remodeling. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Rho/ROCK are critically involved in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by mediating a specific signal cross-talk.

Cardiac myocytes control release of endothelin-1 in coronary vasculature.

Alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction in the coronary circulation is mediated through alpha-adrenoceptors on cardiac myocytes and subsequent release of endothelin, a very potent, long-lasting vasoconstrictor. Recent studies found that adult cardiac myocytes do not express the preproendothelin gene. Thus we hypothesized that alpha-adrenoceptor stimulation on the cardiac myocytes results in the production of an endothelin-releasing factor, which stimulates the coronary vasculature to produce endothelin.

Usefulness of endoscopic biopsy using immunostaining of p53 and Ki-67 in tumors of the ampulla of Vater.

We investigated the diagnostic and prognostic value of p53 expression and proliferative activity, as indicated by the Ki-67, in endoscopic biopsy specimens. Specimens were immunologically stained with p53 and MIB-1 (Ki-67), and the MIB-1/Ki-67 labeling index (LI) was calculated. Classification of adenomas was based on findings of H&E-stained preparations into those with low- or high-grade atypia.

Ligand-independent trans-activation of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor by reactive oxygen species requires protein kinase C-delta and c-Src.

Reactive oxygen species are involved in the mitogenic signal transduction cascades initiated by several growth factors and play a critical role in mediating cardiovascular diseases. Interestingly, H(2)O(2) induces tyrosine phosphorylation and trans-activation of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor and the epidermal growth factor receptor in many cell lines including vascular smooth muscle cells. To investigate the molecular mechanism by which reactive oxygen species contribute to vascular diseases, we have examined a signal transduction cascade involved in H(2)O(2)-induced platelet-derived growth factor receptor activation in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Metalloprotease inhibitor blocks angiotensin II-induced migration through inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation.

In vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), angiotensin II (AngII) induces transactivation of the EGF receptor (EGFR) which involves a metalloprotease that stimulates processing of heparin-binding EGF from its precursor. However, the identity and pharmacological sensitivity of the metalloprotease remain unclear. Here, we screened the effects of several metalloprotease inhibitors on AngII-induced EGFR transactivation in VSMCs.

Cyclosporin A inhibits angiotensin II-induced c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase activation but not protein synthesis in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Angiotensin II activates three major mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in vascular smooth muscle cells. Although other angiotensin II-induced MAPKs activation require transactivation of a growth factor receptor, the detailed mechanism by which angiotensin II activates c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) remains unclear. Here, an immunosuppressant, cyclosporin A but not FK506, selectively inhibited angiotensin II-induced JNK activation in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Requirement of Ca(2+) and PKCdelta for Janus kinase 2 activation by angiotensin II: involvement of PYK2.

In vascular smooth muscle cells, angiotensin II (AngII) stimulates association of its G protein-coupled AngII type 1 (AT(1)) receptor with Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), resulting in the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins. Although the association and activation of subsequent signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins appear to prerequire JAK2 activation, the signaling mechanism by which the AT(1) receptor activates JAK2 remains uncertain. Here, we have examined the signaling mechanism required for JAK2 activation by AngII in vascular smooth muscle cells.