Publications by authors named "Toshikazu Kobayashi"

Objectives: Localized autoimmune pancreatitis is difficult to differentiate from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma on endoscopic ultrasound images. In recent years, deep learning methods have improved the diagnosis of diseases. Hence, we developed a special cross-validation framework to search for effective methodologies of deep learning in distinguishing autoimmune pancreatitis from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma on endoscopic ultrasound images.

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Although liver regeneration has been extensively studied, the effects of bile-derived extracellular vesicles (bile EVs) on hepatocytes has not been elucidated. We examined the influence of bile EVs, collected from a rat model of 70% partial hepatectomy (PH), on hepatocytes. We produced bile-duct-cannulated rats.

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Fish bone migration into the bile duct in patients with surgically altered anatomy is a very rare cause of bile duct stones. Recently, balloon-assisted endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (BAERCP) is performed for biliary lesions in patients with surgically altered anatomy. We report on a 73-year-old Japanese man with a history of pancreaticoduodenectomy for intraductal papillary mucinous adenoma.

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Background: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas is categorized into four distinct types: the gastric, intestinal, pancreatobiliary, and oncocytic. Each type is associated with specific clinicopathological features. We aimed to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of these types of IPMN.

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from all cells. Bile directly contacts bile duct tumor; bile-derived EVs may contain high concentrations of cancer biomarkers. We performed a proteomic analysis of human bile-derived EVs and identified a novel biomarker of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

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Article Synopsis
  • There are different ways to treat hepatolithiasis, like special camera procedures and surgery.
  • A 77-year-old woman had to undergo a procedure called BAERCP for her condition, but accidentally, her small intestine got a hole in it which needed emergency surgery.
  • After fixing the hole and a bit of waiting in the hospital, she had another procedure to remove gallstones and did well afterwards, showing that doctors should be careful but can still help if mistakes happen.
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Intestinal-type intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas is clinicopathologically distinctive. Our research aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of the development and progression of the intestinal-type IPMN. In 60 intestinal-type IPMN specimens, histological transitions from gastric-type epithelia to intestinal-type epithelia were observed in 48 cases (80%).

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Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly lethal malignancy, with a 5-year survival rate of 6%. Cancer gene panel testing is expected to allow selection of suitable therapeutic drugs in individual patients with PC and improve their prognosis. Although somatic mutations can be identified in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples derived from surgical specimen, the rate of surgical indication among patients with PC is only 20%.

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Signet-ring cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater is a rare tumor. A 74-year-old woman presented with epigastric pain and was diagnosed with cholangitis. Her liver enzyme levels were elevated.

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The low phospholipid-associated cholelithiasis (LPAC) syndrome was reported in European adults with cholelithiasis and a mutation of the ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member 4 (ABCB4). The ABCB4 encodes multidrug resistance 3, which is a phospholipid translocator. Reduced phospholipid transport can lead to the formation of biliary cholesterol stones.

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Natural medicines (i.e., herbal medicines, traditional formulas) are useful for treatment of multifactorial and chronic diseases.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is difficult to distinguish from autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) because of their clinical and radiological similarities, and therefore simple and minimally invasive surrogate markers for differential diagnosis would be useful. In our previous studies, we identified four microRNAs (miRNAs)-miR-7, miR-34a, miR-181d, and miR-193b -as MAPK-associated microRNAs whose expression was altered significantly with upregulation of the MAPK signaling pathway. Recently it has been reported that these miRNAs could be used as biomarkers in serum samples for accurate diagnosis of pancreatic lesions.

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An 84-year-old Japanese man was admitted with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). He underwent transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Three weeks later, he developed sudden-onset right pleural effusion mixed with bile.

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Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we provide genetic evidence that Drosophila Ide (dIde) antagonizes the insulin signaling pathway and human Abeta-induced neurotoxicity in Drosophila. In this study, we also generated a dIde knockout mutant (dIde(KO)) by gene targeting, and found that loss of IDE increases the content of the major insect blood sugar, trehalose, thus suggesting a conserved role of IDE in sugar metabolism.

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By co-expression of heme oxygenase and various bilin reductase(s) in a single operon in conjunction with apophytochrome using two compatible plasmids, we developed a system to produce phytochromes with various chromophores in Escherichia coli. Through the selection of different bilin reductases, apophytochromes were assembled with phytochromobilin, phycocyanobilin, and phycoerythrobilin. The blue-shifted difference spectra of truncated phytochromes were observed with a phycocyanobilin chromophore compared to a phytochromobilin chromophore.

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