Liver transplant from an ABO-incompatible and hepatitis C antibody-positive but an HCV-RNA negative living donor in a familial amyloid polyneuropathy patient.

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy is a rare, progressively disabling, and ultimately fatal inherited disease. Liver transplant is currently the only available treatment proven to halt the progression of familial amyloid polyneuropathy. We report a 31-year-old woman with familial amyloid polyneuropathy who received a living-donor liver transplant from her husband who was hepatitis C virus antibody-positive but HCV-RNA negative and ABO incompatible.

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis after living donor liver transplantation: a case successfully treated with tamoxifen: report of a case.

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) is a rare cause of bowel obstruction. It is difficult to diagnose and the prognosis is poor. This report describes a case of SEP after living donor liver transplantation that was successfully treated with tamoxifen.

Sudden death of an infant with coronary involvement due to Takayasu arteritis.

We present an unusual case of sudden death of an 8-month-old female infant with coronary involvement due to Takayasu arteritis. She had been thought to be healthy, but died after presenting to a hospital with complains of vomiting. At autopsy, the aorta and its main branches were thickened and stenotic, with the abdominal aorta below the level of the orifice of renal arteries most severely affected.

Current state of domino transplantation in Japan in terms of surgical procedures and de novo amyloid neuropathy.

The status of domino liver transplantation (DLT) in Japan was evaluated. DLT and familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) recipients who underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) at Kumamoto University were reviewed with attention to surgical procedures. Thirty-nine DLTs were performed in Japan until 2010, and survival rates at 1 and 3 years were 82% and 63.

Prevalent founder mutation c.736T>A of LIPH in autosomal recessive woolly hair of Japanese leads to variable severity of hypotrichosis in adulthood.

Background: Mutations in LIPH are a cause of autosomal recessive woolly hair (ARWH). Homozygous c.736T>A (p.

A thoracoabdominal approach in revision of the hepatic hilum after left lobe living donor liver transplantation.

We present an approach to safely expose the hepatic hilum for revision procedures after left lobe living donor liver transplantation. A 14-year-old adolescent girl who had undergone left lobe living donor liver transplantation experienced repeated episodes of cholangitis. Because treatment with interventional techniques failed, surgical revision was indicated.

Relative bone width of the edentulous maxillary ridge. Clinical implications of digital assessment in presurgical implant planning.

Background: Healthy, well-structured mucosa may clinically disguise atrophic jawbone in preimplant diagnosis.

Purpose: To analyze bone width in relation to the complete ridge thickness comparing the anterior with the posterior edentulous maxilla.

Materials And Methods: Data of 52 patients (mean age 62 ± 9 years) who were edentulous for at least 1 year and who received implant treatment were analyzed.

The effects of low-dose methamphetamine pretreatment on endoplasmic reticulum stress and methamphetamine neurotoxicity in the rat midbrain.

Methamphetamine (METH) neurotoxicity is involved in METH-related deaths. It has been suggested that the midbrain, together with the striatum, is affected by METH neurotoxicity and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is induced in the processes of METH neurotoxicity. In this study, we examined the effects of low-dose METH administration for 5d on GRP78 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), both of which are induced under ER stress, and METH neurotoxicity in the rat midbrain.

RAGE mediates vascular injury and inflammation after global cerebral ischemia.

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a multi-ligand receptor involved in a diverse range of pathological conditions. To analyze the roles of RAGE and its decoy receptor, endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE), in the global cerebral ischemia, three different mouse cohorts, wild-type, RAGE⁻/⁻, and esRAGE transgenic (Tg) mice were subjected to bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO). RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis revealed that expression of RAGE was induced in the vascular cells at 12 h, and then in the neurons and glia from 3 to 7 days in the hippocampus after BCCAO.

Factors predicting persistent thrombocytopenia after living donor liver transplantation in pediatric patients.

Thrombocytopenia is common after LT for pediatric end-stage liver diseases. Seventy-six pediatric patients (≤15 yr old) who underwent LDLT were evaluated for the incidence and predictive factors of post-transplant thrombocytopenia (PLT <100, 000/mm(3) ). The prevalence of thrombocytopenia at two wk and at 12 months post-transplant was 22/76 (28.

Development of hepatic angiomyolipoma accompanied with focal nodular hyperplasia long after treatment of pelvic rhabdomyosarcoma.

Survivors of childhood cancer have a higher risk of developing a secondary neoplasm in their lifetime. The increased risk of a second malignant neoplasm is related to treatment of the primary tumor and genetic predisposition. We describe a 19-year-old man with 2 hepatic masses, one of which was diagnosed as a hepatic angiomyolipoma and the other as focal nodular hyperplasia 14 years after the treatment of stage IV pelvic rhabdomyosarcoma.

The effect of Ndrg2 expression on astroglial activation.

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (Ndrg2) is a differentiation- and stress-associated molecule predominantly expressed in astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS). To study the expression and possible role of Ndrg2 in quiescent and activated astrocytes, mice were administrated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropypridine (MPTP), a Parkinson disease (PD)-related neurotoxin which causes both neurodegeneration and glial activation. Immunohistological analysis revealed that Ndrg2 was highly expressed in both types of astrocytes, but less so in astrocytes during the early process of activation.

αL β2 integrin is indispensable for CD8+ T-cell recruitment in experimental pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer.

Recruitment of activated leukocytes from peripheral blood into the tumor tissue is a crucial step of the immune response, which is controlled by the interaction between specific adhesion molecules such as endothelial ICAM-1 and leukocyte β(2) -integrins. Although attenuated expression of adhesion molecules on tumor endothelium has been proposed to represent a mechanism, which suppresses the intratumoral leukocyte infiltration, the relevance of adhesion molecules for leukocyte recruitment in tumor tissue is poorly understood. The present study is the first investigation of the role of ICAM-1 and β(2) -integrins in leukocyte recruitment in pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer in vivo, which was studied using knockout mice, intravital time-lapse microscopy and immunohistochemistry.

Coefficient factor for graft weight estimation from preoperative computed tomography volumetry in living donor liver transplantation.

In the clinical setting of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), it is common to find a discrepancy between the graft volume estimated by preoperative computed tomography volumetry and the actual graft weight (AGW) measured on the back-table. In this study, we attempt to find the coefficient factor that correlates the estimated graft volume to the AGW. Whole livers explanted in 25 LDLT recipients (17 cirrhotic and 8 morphologically normal with familial amyloid polyneuropathy) were evaluated to compare cirrhotic livers and noncirrhotic normal livers.

Separation of C70 over C60 and selective extraction and resolution of higher fullerenes by syndiotactic helical poly(methyl methacrylate).

A one-handed helical polymer, syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (st-PMMA), recognizes the size and chirality of higher fullerenes through an induced-fit mechanism and can selectively extract enantiomers of the higher fullerenes, such as C(76), C(80), C(84), C(86), C(88,) C(90), C(92), C(94), and C(96). This discovery will generate a practical and valuable method for selectively extracting the elusive higher fullerenes and their enantiomers and opens the way to developing novel carbon cage materials with optical activities.

Overexpression of LEDGF/DFS70 induces IL-6 via p38 activation in HaCaT cells, similar to that seen in the psoriatic condition.

Lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF)/dense fine speckles 70  kDa protein (DFS70) is a transcription cofactor that enhances growth and is overexpressed in various cancers. In the epidermis, LEDGF/DFS70 localizes to the nucleus of keratinocytes (KCs) in the basal layers and to the cytoplasm of cells in the upper layers. However, the biological and pathological relevance of LEDGF/DFS70 in the epidermis is virtually unknown.

Bicyclic imidazoles for modular synthesis of chiral imidazolium salts.

The preparation of new chiral bicyclic imidazoles 5 and their transformation into imidazolium salts 6 and 7 are reported. The utility of the salts as precursors for chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes was demonstrated by the synthesis of C-N-C pincer Ni-complex 13h, the structure of which was characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis.

4-dimensional intravital microscopy: a new model for studies of leukocyte recruitment and migration in hepatocellular cancer in mice.

Introduction: Although it is accepted that the immune system plays a role in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the exact mechanisms of leukocyte recruitment into HCC are poorly understood. Progress in the study of this aspect has been hindered by technical limitations.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, we describe the use of 4D intravital microscopy which represents an advantageous technology for the investigation of the microvascular system and leukocyte migration in HCC.

Microglial and astrocytic changes in the striatum of methamphetamine abusers.

Little is known about the role of glial cells in the striatum of chronic methamphetamine (METH) users. In this study, we immunohistochemically examined glial reactions in the striatum of chronic METH users who did not abstain from METH use and died of drug intoxication. Human glucose transporter 5 (hGLUT), a useful marker of microglia, and CR3.

Multiple hepatocellular carcinomas developed 15 months after commencement of chemotherapy for elderly acute myelogenous leukemia.

In May 2006, a 72-year-old man with acute myelogenous leukemia (M4Eo) was admitted to our hospital. He had been receiving antiandrogen treatment for prostate cancer (after an operation in 1998) and treatment for diabetes mellitus. He received chemotherapy according to the JALSG GML200 protocol, which led to complete remission; however, in January 2007, his leukemia recurred.