Publications by authors named "Tetsuya Ichijo"

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) exacerbation is relatively rare as compared with hepatitis B virus reactivation in patients treated with immunosuppressive or anticancer drugs. We herein present the first reported case of acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis in a patient with HCV persistent infection caused by combination treatment with daratumumab (DARA), bortezomib, and dexamethasone (DVd therapy). A 79-year-old woman diagnosed as having chronic HCV infection 11 years prior without successful viral elimination was referred to our hospital for the treatment of acute liver injury.

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Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P) are direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We investigated G/P effectiveness for HCV patients based on real-world experience and the clinical features of retreatment cases. HCV patients (n = 182) were compared for clinical features and outcomes between first treatment (n = 159) and retreatment (n = 23) G/P groups.

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Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment can achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection regardless of a history of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC [+]). We examined 838 patients (370 men, median age: 69 years) who were treated with DAAs for comparisons of clinical findings between 79 HCC (+) (9.4%) and 759 HCC (-) (90.

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A 33-year-old man visited a hospital after vomiting blood. Emergent esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed the presence of varices in the lower esophagus. The patient did not have a past history of alcohol consumption and was negative for hepatitis B and C viruses.

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Unlabelled: The long-term outcome of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in Japan has not been well-defined. The aim of this study was to clarify the outcome of this disease over a long follow-up period compared with that of the general Japanese population as well as that among patients. A total of 203 AIH patients were enrolled for a mean follow-up period of 131 months.

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IL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV). To assess whether the IL28B rs8099917 SNP also affects the progression of chronic HCV infection, we genotyped 511 Japanese HCV patients, including 69 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The T/T genotype of rs8099917 was not associated with the development of HCC (p = 0.

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Background: Both IL28B gene polymorphisms and serum levels of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12p40 and IL-18 have been reported to affect the outcome of natural and pegylated interferon and ribavirin-treated HCV infection.

Methods: To clarify their association and predictive value in treatment outcome of genotype 1 HCV-infected patients, we measured pretreatment serum IL-10, IL-12p40 and IL-18 levels using multiplex assays and determined IL28B gene polymorphisms (rs 8099917) in 52 cases with chronic hepatitis C.

Results: High baseline levels of IL-10 (P<0.

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Unlabelled: Along with twin and family studies, recent genome-wide association studies suggest that genetic factors contribute to the susceptibility and severity of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Although several reports have demonstrated that the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1*08:03 allele is associated with disease susceptibility in Japan, the precise analysis of HLA haplotypes and the role of amino acid alignment have not been fully clarified. We investigated HLA class I A, B, and C and HLA class II DRB1 and DQB1 alleles and haplotypes in 229 Japanese patients with PBC and compared them with the published data of 523 healthy subjects.

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Article Synopsis
  • A 58-year-old woman undergoing treatment for chronic hepatitis C developed interstitial pneumonia during her therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG IFN)-α-2a and ribavirin (RBV).
  • Serum levels of KL-6, a marker for lung disease activity, increased significantly during the treatment, indicating a potential problem.
  • The patient recovered after stopping the therapy, suggesting that regular monitoring of KL-6 levels could help prevent the progression of interstitial pneumonia related to this treatment.
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A 40-year-old man was admitted with a continuous high grade fever accompanying a relatively large solitary liver abscess with septations. A puncture of the abscess revealed gram-negative rods that could be identified histologically as Fusobacterium necrophorum, which was later confirmed by tissue culture. The patient was switched to meropenem and penicillin, and cured of the infection.

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Aim:   Serum chemokine levels and amino acid substitutions in the interferon-sensitivity determining region (ISDR) and core region have been associated with treatment outcome of pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy in genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. The present study was conducted to clarify the association between serum chemokines and treatment outcome in patients with chronic HCV-1 infection in a Japanese cohort.

Methods:   A total of six serum chemokines were quantified before, during and after pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment in 79 genotype 1 chronic HCV patients using a multiple bead array system.

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Aim:   Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic hepatitis of unknown etiology, although several cytokines have been implicated in its pathogenesis and severity. This study investigated the relationship between circulating cytokines in the pretreatment phase and remission following corticosteroid therapy phase in Japanese AIH patients.

Methods:   A total of 28 cytokines were measured simultaneously by multiple bead array technology in the sera of 40 patients with AIH collected during pretreatment and remission phases.

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Background: We sought to clarify the associations among serum cytokines, amino acid substitutions in the interferon sensitivity-determining region (ISDR) and core region, and treatment outcome of pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy in genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients.

Methods: We quantified a total of 8 serum cytokines before, during, and after treatment in 79 genotype 1 chronic HCV patients. Viral ISDR and core region variants were determined by direct sequencing.

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Background: Immunoglobulin (Ig) G4-associated autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a recently identified and possibly new disease entity. However, the epidemiology and clinical features of IgG4-associated AIH remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the clinical, serological, and histological characteristics of IgG4-associated AIH.

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Background & Aims: It is well-known that hepatic triglycerides (TG) diminish with the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which has been designated as burned-out NASH, but its mechanism remains unclear. We aimed to explore the changes in hepatic fatty acid (FA) and TG metabolism with disease progression.

Methods: Hepatic expression of key genes in healthy individuals (n=6) and patients with simple steatosis (SS, n=10), mild NASH (fibrosis stage 1-2, n=20), and advanced NASH (fibrosis stage 3-4, n=20) were assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

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A 33-year-old man presented with pain and palsy of the leg in 2008 for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with huge distant metastases. The patient's tumors had slowly enlarged despite several treatments. Oral administration of sorafenib at 800 mg/day with careful observation was commenced in 2009.

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Background And Goals: Reliable noninvasive biomarkers to assess the histologic activity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have not been established. As the frequency of Mallory bodies is known to be closely associated with the disease severity, we hypothesized that serum levels of Mallory body-related proteins were correlated with NAFLD histologic activity and evaluated this possibility.

Study: Serum levels of total and fragmented cytokeratin (CK) 18, heat shock protein (Hsp) 70, Hsp90alpha, ubiquitin+1, and p38alpha at the time of liver biopsy were measured in 118 NAFLD patients and their association with histologic findings and NAFLD histologic activity score (NAS) was investigated.

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Background: Despite the increase in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Japanese adults, its prevalence in adolescents remains unclear. This prompted us to evaluate the incidence and clinical characteristics of NAFLD among junior high school students.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among students in a single junior high school in Nagano prefecture.

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Primary liver cancer, 95% of which is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is ranked third in men and fifth in women as a cause of death from malignant neoplasms in Japan. The number of deaths and death rate of HCC began to increase sharply in 1975. These numbers peaked at 34,510 and 27.

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We here report the first case of cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CoCC) visualized with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) using a second-generation contrast agent, Sonazoid. A 76-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of a hepatic tumor. The tumor was described as having hyper-enhancement in the early phase and persistent enhancement in the late phase by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as hypervascularity by angiography.

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The interferon sensitivity determining region (ISDR) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and T-helper type 1 and type 2 (Th1/Th2) ratio were analyzed along with other host and viral factors for their ability to predict the response of patients with chronic hepatitis C to pegylated interferon alpha-2b (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy. A total of 120 chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1 HCV and high baseline viral loads who were to undergo combination therapy scheduled for 48 weeks were enrolled. Sustained virologic response (SVR) was achieved in 54 (45%) of the 120 patients.

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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is classified as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or simple steatosis (SS) according to histological findings. It is well recognized that NASH may develop into cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), both with unfavorable prognoses. Although the outlook of SS is reported to be better than that of NASH, the long-term prognosis of SS remains unclear.

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Background/aims: Recent studies using transgenic mouse models have demonstrated that the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) singularly induces insulin resistance (IR). When evaluated in humans, the exclusion of other factors influencing IR, such as obesity, alcohol intake, hepatic inflammation and steatosis is needed, but only few studies have been performed to these ends. Therefore, we aimed at exploring the singular effects of HCV on glucose metabolism through analysis of HCV carriers with persistently normal serum aminotransferase.

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Aim: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the liver. Although the HLA DR4 allele is associated with type 1 AIH in Japanese, the exact genetic etiology of AIH remains undefined. The cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4) is an inhibitory receptor expressed by T-cells that acts largely as a negative regulator of T-cell responses, and polymorphisms of CTLA4 have been reported to be associated with susceptibility to various autoimmune diseases.

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Since first being described in 1998, de novo autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) after liver transplantation has been reported in several cases suffering from non-autoimmune liver diseases and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Glutathione S-transferase (GST) T1 genotype mismatches between donor and recipient have also been suggested to constitute a risk factor for de novo AIH. Here, we report a 33-yr-old woman who presented complaining of marked fatigue and jaundice four yr after living-donor liver transplantation for PBC.

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