Blood DNA virome associates with autoimmune diseases and COVID-19.

Aberrant immune responses to viral pathogens contribute to pathogenesis, but our understanding of pathological immune responses caused by viruses within the human virome, especially at a population scale, remains limited. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing datasets of 6,321 Japanese individuals, including patients with autoimmune diseases (psoriasis vulgaris, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) or multiple sclerosis) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or healthy controls. We systematically quantified two constituents of the blood DNA virome, endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and anellovirus.

Refractory phenotype of -sensitized asthma with bronchiectasis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.

Background: Sensitization to mucus plugs, and bacterial colonization may coexist and relate to a refractory phenotype during follow-up in asthma with bronchiectasis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the features of -sensitized refractory asthma with bronchiectasis and determine the refractory phenotype in this population and ABPA.

Methods: This study included cases of the oldest available -specific IgE data and chest computed tomography images from a nationwide survey of refractory asthma with bronchiectasis.

A transphyletic study of metazoan β-catenin protein complexes.

Beta-catenin is essential for diverse biological processes, such as body axis determination and cell differentiation, during metazoan embryonic development. Beta-catenin is thought to exert such functions through complexes formed with various proteins. Although β-catenin complex proteins have been identified in several bilaterians, little is known about the structural and functional properties of β-catenin complexes in early metazoan evolution.

Prognostic Awareness and Knowledge of Acute Exacerbation in Patients Dying with Interstitial Lung Disease: A Nationwide Survey.

Rationale: Accurate prognostic awareness (PA) and knowledge of the disease are critical for decision-making regarding treatment options, advance care planning, and end-of-life care. However, they have not been investigated in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of patients with ILD who have accurate PA and/or knowledge of acute exacerbation.

Randomized Phase II Trial of Amrubicin Plus Irinotecan Versus Cisplatin Plus Irinotecan in Chemo-naïve Patients With Extensive-Disease Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Results of the Japan Multinational Trial Organization (JMTO) LC 08-01.

Background: We conducted a randomize phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topoisomerase II inhibitor amrubicin plus topoisomerase I inhibitor irinotecan (AI) compared with cisplatin plus irinotecan (PI) as first-line therapy in patients with extensive-disease (ED) small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Patients And Methods: Chemo-naïve patients with pathologically proven ED-SCLC (including limited disease (LD) SCLC with malignant effusion) were enrolled. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either AI (amrubicin 90mg/m on day 1 and irinotecan 50mg/m on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle) or PI (cisplatin 60mg/m on day 1 and irinotecan 60mg/m on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle).

Paraneoplastic neurological syndrome and its impact on the treatment outcomes of small-cell lung cancer: A single-center retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS) is associated with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, the frequency and characteristics of PNS and the efficacy of anticancer treatment for these patients have not been investigated in the Japanese/Asian population previously. Therefore, we aimed to better understand PNS by evaluating real-world data from patients with PNS complicated by SCLC.

Activities of daily living limitation and functional decline during hospitalization predict 180-day readmission and mortality in older patients with pneumonia: A single-center, retrospective cohort study.

Background: The role of activities of daily living (ADL) as a predictor of adverse outcomes in patients with pneumonia is unclear. This study aimed to assess the association between ADL, including physical and cognitive function, and death or readmission in older inpatients with pneumonia.

Methods: This retrospective, single-center, observational study included consecutive older inpatients with pneumonia between October 2018 and December 2019.

Anti-interferon gamma-inducible protein 16 antibodies: Identification of a novel autoantigen in idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and its clinical characteristics based on a multicenter cohort study.

Autoantibodies are detected in idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) without a clear connective tissue disease diagnosis, and their clinical significance is unclear. This study aimed to identify a novel autoantibody in IIPs. We screened 295 IIP patients using a S-methionine labeled protein immunoprecipitation assay.

Protein ligand binding site prediction using graph transformer neural network.

Ligand binding site prediction is a crucial initial step in structure-based drug discovery. Although several methods have been proposed previously, including those using geometry based and machine learning techniques, their accuracy is considered to be still insufficient. In this study, we introduce an approach that leverages a graph transformer neural network to rank the results of a geometry-based pocket detection method.

Neuronal and non-neuronal functions of the synaptic cell adhesion molecule neurexin in Nematostella vectensis.

The evolutionary transition from diffusion-mediated cell-cell communication to faster, targeted synaptic signaling in animal nervous systems is still unclear. Genome sequencing analyses have revealed a widespread distribution of synapse-related genes among early-diverging metazoans, but how synaptic machinery evolved remains largely unknown. Here, we examine the function of neurexins (Nrxns), a family of presynaptic cell adhesion molecules with critical roles in bilaterian chemical synapses, using the cnidarian model, Nematostella vectensis.

Prognostic impact of cytokines and chemokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid on acute exacerbation of fibrosing interstitial lung disease.

Background And Objective: Acute exacerbation of fibrosing interstitial lung disease (AE-FILD) is a serious condition with a high mortality rate. We aimed to comprehensively analyze cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and their association with the clinical course of AE-FILD.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 60 patients with AE-FILD who underwent bronchoalveolar lavage.

Successful intracranial response of lorlatinib after resistance with alectinib and brigatinib in patients with ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma: Implications of CNS penetration rate of brigatinib.

We present the case of a 34-year-old Japanese man with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small cell lung cancer and brain metastases. After central nervous system (CNS) disease progression with alecintib and brigatinib, treatment with lorlatinib resulted in a good intracranial response. In this case, we investigated brain penetration ratio of brigatinib using cerebrospinal fluid and paired serum samples, and the ratio was 0.

Pulmonary function and chest CT abnormalities 3 months after discharge from COVID-19, 2020-2021: A nation-wide multicenter prospective cohort study from the Japanese respiratory society.

Background: No comprehensive analysis of the pulmonary sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japan based on respiratory function tests and chest computed tomography (CT) has been reported. We evaluated post-COVID-19 conditions, especially focusing on pulmonary sequelae assessed by pulmonary function tests and chest CT.

Methods: For this prospective cohort study, we enrolled 1069 patients who presented pneumonia at the time of admission in 55 hospitals from February 2020 to September 2021.

Risk stratification and prognosis prediction using cardiac biomarkers in COVID-19: a single-centre retrospective cohort study.

Objective: There is a need for a robust tool to stratify the patient's risk with COVID-19. We assessed the prognostic values of cardiac biomarkers for COVID-19 patients.

Methods: This is a single-centre retrospective cohort study.

Multiple pulmonary nodules with diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia and minute pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules.

A 78-year-old woman presented with multiple pulmonary nodules, mixed with solid and ground-glass nodules. We pathologically confirmed that the multiple pulmonary nodules were a combination of diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) and multiple pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules (MPMNs). This is the first case report of concurrent DIPNECH and MPMNs.

Association between skin toxicity and efficacy of necitumumab in squamous non-small-cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of two randomized clinical trials-SQUIRE and JFCM.

Background: Efficacy of necitumumab [recombinant human monoclonal antibody that blocks the ligand binding epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)] in patients with squamous (SQ) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been confirmed in two randomized clinical trials (SQUIRE and JFCM). This study evaluated the association between efficacy and initial skin toxicity with necitumumab treatment by analyzing pooled data from two clinical trials (SQUIRE and JFCM).

Materials And Methods: Data of 635 patients with SQ-NSCLC (intent-to-treat population) treated with necitumumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin (N + GC) were pooled from two clinical trials (SQUIRE and JFCM).

A rare case of tumor-to-tumor metastasis from thymic carcinoma to an ovarian mature teratoma.

Metastasis from one neoplasm to another is referred to as tumor-to-tumor metastasis (TTM). TTM is rarely observed. Here, we present a patient with TTM from a thymic carcinoma to an ovarian mature teratoma.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with lung cancer having chronic interstitial pneumonia.

Background: In interstitial pneumonia (IP)-associated lung cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (ICIP) is common with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the safety and efficacy of ICI treatment for patients with lung cancer with IP.

Methods: This multicentre retrospective observational study was conducted from June 2016 to December 2020 in patients with primary lung cancer with IP who received ICI treatment.

Prognostic Factors for Discharge Directly Home in Patients With Thoracoscopic Surgery for Empyema: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is a widely recommended treatment for empyema in advanced stages. However, only a few studies have evaluated prognostic factors among patients with empyema who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated predictors of direct discharge home.

Combined home and clinic-based therapy versus home-based exercise programme after distal radial fracture: a randomized controlled study.

We investigated outcomes of clinic-based hand therapy combined with a home-based exercise programme after anterior plating for distal radial fractures. A total of 102 patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a home-based exercise programme alone; a home-based exercise programme combined with four hand therapy sessions in the clinic; and a home-based exercise programme with seven sessions in the clinic. Mean Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation scores at 6 weeks were significantly better for the group of patients with seven sessions in the clinic than in those with only home exercises (12 vs.

Long-Term Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor for Squamous Cell Carcinoma Lesion Transformed From -Mutated Adenocarcinoma After Osimertinib Treatment: A Case Report.

Histologic transformation is one of the mechanisms of resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor in patients with NSCLC with mutation. The transformation from adenocarcinoma to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has been recently recognized as a mechanism of resistance to osimertinib. The prognosis after transformation to SCC is considered to be poor, and the therapeutic strategy for these patients is unclear.

Clinical Impact of Pre-Existing Autoantibodies in Patients With SCLC Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.

Introduction: Although pretreatment autoantibodies have been associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment efficacy in some types of cancer, their importance has not been evaluated in patients with SCLC.

Methods: A multicenter prospective observational study was conducted on a total of 52 patients with extensive-disease SCLC who received immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy as the first-line treatment at either of the six participating centers in Japan. Pretreatment serum samples were collected and analyzed for autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies, and antithyroid).