Lupus Nephritis with Thymoma Managed by Thoracoscopic Surgery and Prednisolone.

A 48-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital to undergo evaluation for fatigue, severe weight loss, and nephrotic range proteinuria. Light microscopy of a renal biopsy specimen revealed class III (A) lupus nephritis, while immunofluorescence and electron microscopy only showed sparse immune deposits with findings that were not typical of lupus nephritis. Computed tomography revealed a mass in the anterior mediastinum, which was resected.

Two cases with solitary pulmonary nodule due to non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection showing intense 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography scan.

We report an 81-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman with a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) due to infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). In each case, the nodule showed a high (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake with the maximum standardized uptake values (SUV) of 13.2 and 4.

Evaluation of pancreatic exocrine secretion using 13C-dipeptide (benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-[1-(13)C]alanine) breath test: focusing on pancreatoduodenectomy cases.

Objectives: We investigated whether a breath test using benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-[1-(13)C]alanine (Bz-Tyr-Ala) allows assessment of pancreatic exocrine function.

Methods: Benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-[1-(13)C]alanine was orally administered, and changes in (13)CO2 were expressed as delta per thousand. The breath test was performed in chronic pancreatitis patients and healthy subjects in a preliminary study and, subsequently, in 17 pancreatoduodenectomy patients, to examine the difference between the results obtained at the times of pancreatic tube insertion and removal, the relationship between breath test results after tube removal and the volume of pancreatic juice drained, and the difference in results between the presence versus the absence of histological changes of chronic pancreatitis.

Synthetic 13C-dipeptide breath test for the rapid assessment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency in rats.

Objective: (13)C-breath tests have been investigated in order to assess pancreatic exocrine function using various (13)C-compounds, but they have not been accepted for routine clinical use. One of the barriers to their acceptance is that these tests are time-consuming and require up to several hours for breath collection. The purpose of this study was to design a novel (13)C-compound that would make a rapid (13)C-breath test for assessing exocrine pancreatic function possible.

Measurement of extra-pancreatic secretory function by 13C-dipeptide breath test.

A simple breath test was developed for assessment of exocrine pancreatic function employing 13C-dipeptide [ie, benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-[1-(13)C]alanine (Bz-Tyr-Ala)], and this test was examined to determine whether it can be used to diagnose exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The subjects, 24 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 16 healthy adult controls, underwent the Bz-Tyr-Ala breath test, in which breath samples were collected every 10 min up to 90 min after oral administration of an aqueous solution of 5-mg/kg Bz-Tyr-Ala (7 mM). They also underwent a breath test with [1-(13)C]alanine equimolar to that contained in Bz-Tyr-Ala and the N-benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-p-aminobenzoic acid (BT-PABA) test.

Usefulness of rectally administering [1-(13)C]-butyrate for breath test in patients with active and quiescent ulcerative colitis.

Objective: Impaired butyrate metabolism plays a part in ulcerative colitis (UC). To assess the usefulness of measuring butyrate metabolism as an indication of inflammatory activity, we investigated the rate of butyrate metabolism by breath test after administering [1-(13)C]-butyrate rectally to patients with UC.

Material And Methods: Thirty-eight UC patients (22 active, 16 quiescent) and 15 healthy controls were given [1-(13)C]-butyrate enemas.

Patients with severe liver cirrhosis followed up by L-[1-(13)C] phenylalanine breath test.

Compared to healthy subjects, patients with severe liver cirrhosis (LC) are reported to show lower values in the L-[1-(13)C] phenylalanine breath test (PBT). We performed this test several times during the clinical course in two patients with severe liver cirrhosis (LC). Patient 1 was a 67-year-old woman with non-B, non-C LC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the lateral hepatic segment.

L-[1-13C] phenylalanine breath test reflects histological changes in the liver.

Objective: Compared with healthy individuals, patients with chronic liver disease reportedly have lower L-[1-13C] phenylalanine breath test (PBT) values. However, there is no report detailing the relationship between the results of PBT and pathological data in liver disease patients. This study was designed to investigate the degree of histological changes in the liver that induce PBT changes and the time of measurement that reflects the histological change.

L-[1-13C] phenylalanine breath test reflects phenylalanine hydroxylase activity of the whole liver.

Object: The purpose of this study was to perform L-[1-13C] phenylalanine breath test (PBT), measure phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) activity in liver tissue biopsies from patients, analyze the relationship between PBT results and PAH activity, and determine the time point at which measurements best reflect PAH activity in liver tissue.

Methods: PBT was performed in 25 patients (10 with normal liver and 15 with liver cirrhosis). After administering 10 mg/kg L-[1-13C] phenylalanine, 300 ml of expired air was collected over 90 min at 15-min intervals.

Recovery of liver function in two-third partial hepatectomized rats evaluated by L-[1-13C]phenylalanine breath test.

Background: We have previously reported that by means of a breath test with intravenously administered L-[1-13C] phenylalanine (13Cphe), hepatopathy could be quantitatively evaluated by measuring expiratory 13CO2 levels in a short period. It is known that phenylalanine hydroxylase activity (PAHA) plays an important role in phenylalanine metabolism. We examined the relationship between changes in PAHA and the results of the 13Cphe breath test during hepatic regeneration in a rat model of 70% hepatectomy, to assess their usefulness for evaluating hepatic regeneration.

l-[1-(13)C]Alanine is a useful substance for the evaluation of liver function.

Background: Using a rat model of hepatectomy, we investigated whether the severity of hepatopathy could be quantitatively measured from changes in expiratory (13)CO(2) levels after intravenous administration of l-[1-(13)C]alanine.

Materials And Methods: Under nembutal anesthesia, 20 mg/kg l-[1-(13)C]alanine was administered to rats via the femoral vein, and expiratory (13)CO(2) levels were measured for 15 min. Then, 30, 70, or 90% hepatectomy was performed.