Distribution changes of non-self-test cells and self-tunic cells surrounding the outer body during Ciona metamorphosis.

Background: Ascidians significantly change their body structure through metamorphosis, but the spatio-temporal cell dynamics in the early metamorphosis stage has not been clarified. A natural Ciona embryo is surrounded by maternally derived non-self-test cells before metamorphosis. However, after metamorphosis, the juvenile is surrounded by self-tunic cells derived from mesenchymal cell lineages.

Efficacy and safety of apararenone (MT-3995) in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: A randomized controlled study.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of apararenone 10 mg/day in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II study, patients received apararenone 10 mg or placebo once daily for 72 weeks. The primary efficacy end-point was percent change in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) from baseline to 24 weeks after randomization.

Apararenone in patients with diabetic nephropathy: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 dose-response study and open-label extension study.

Background: We investigated the efficacy and safety of apararenone (MT-3995), a non-steroidal compound with mineralocorticoid receptor agonist activity, in patients with stage 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Methods: The study had two parts: a dose-response, parallel-group, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase 2, 24-week study and an open-label, uncontrolled, 28-week extension study. Primary and secondary endpoints were the 24-week percent change from baseline in urine albumin to creatine ratio (UACR) and 24- and 52-week UACR remission rates.

Activities of daily living as an additional predictor of complications and outcomes in elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Age is an important determinant of outcome in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, in clinical settings, there is an occasional mismatch between chronological age and physical age. We evaluated whether activities of daily living (ADL), which reflect physical age, also predict complications and prognosis in elderly patients with AMI.

Marginal zone B cells exacerbate endotoxic shock via interleukin-6 secretion induced by Fcα/μR-coupled TLR4 signalling.

Marginal zone (MZ) B cells produce a first wave of antibodies for protection from blood-borne pathogens. However, the role of MZ B cells in inflammatory responses has not been elucidated. Here we show that MZ B cells produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), and exacerbate systemic inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Apoptotic epithelial cells control the abundance of Treg cells at barrier surfaces.

Epithelial tissues continually undergo apoptosis. Commensal organisms that inhabit the epithelium influence tissue homeostasis, in which regulatory T cells (Treg cells) have a central role. However, the physiological importance of epithelial cell apoptosis and how the number of Treg cells is regulated are both incompletely understood.

Toll-like receptor 4 and MAIR-II/CLM-4/LMIR2 immunoreceptor regulate VLA-4-mediated inflammatory monocyte migration.

Inflammatory monocytes play an important role in host defense against infections. However, the regulatory mechanisms of transmigration into infected tissue are not yet completely understood. Here we show that mice deficient in MAIR-II (also called CLM-4 or LMIR2) are more susceptible to caecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced peritonitis than wild-type (WT) mice.

Gut dysbiosis promotes M2 macrophage polarization and allergic airway inflammation via fungi-induced PGE₂.

Although imbalances in gut microbiota composition, or "dysbiosis," are associated with many diseases, the effects of gut dysbiosis on host systemic physiology are less well characterized. We report that gut dysbiosis induced by antibiotic (Abx) treatment promotes allergic airway inflammation by shifting macrophage polarization in the lung toward the alternatively activated M2 phenotype. Adoptive transfer of alveolar macrophages derived from Abx-treated mice was sufficient to increase allergic airway inflammation.

Molecular mechanism of strigolactone perception by DWARF14.

Strigolactones (SLs) are phytohormones that inhibit shoot branching and function in the rhizospheric communication with symbiotic fungi and parasitic weeds. An α/β-hydrolase protein, DWARF14 (D14), has been recognized to be an essential component of plant SL signalling, although its precise function remains unknown. Here we present the SL-dependent interaction of D14 with a gibberellin signalling repressor SLR1 and a possible mechanism of phytohormone perception in D14-mediated SL signalling.

Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of combination therapy with candesartan cilexetil and amlodipine besilate compared with candesartan cilexetil monotherapy and amlodipine besilate monotherapy in Japanese patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension: a multicenter, 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study.

Background: Blood pressure is reported to be insufficiently controlled in >50% of patients with hypertension. Guidelines for the management of hypertension recommend using drugs with different mechanisms of action when >1 agent is needed to achieve the blood pressure target. The combination of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and a calcium channel blocker is recommended as the preferred antihypertensive medication combination, and candesartan cilexetil (CC) and amlodipine besilate (AML) are commonly used in Japan.

Efficacy and safety of combination therapy with candesartan cilexetil and pioglitazone hydrochloride in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with candesartan cilexetil (CC) and pioglitazone hydrochloride (PIO) in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: A 12-week, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study in patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus was followed by a 40-week, single-blind study. Patients (N = 377) were randomized to treatment with CC 8 mg/PIO 30 mg (n = 62), CC 8 mg/PIO 15 mg (n = 63), CC 4 mg/PIO 30 mg (n = 63), CC 4 mg/PIO 15 mg (n = 63), CC 8 mg/PIO 0 mg (n = 63), or CC 0 mg/PIO 30 mg (n = 63).

The immunoreceptor adapter protein DAP12 suppresses B lymphocyte-driven adaptive immune responses.

DAP12, an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif-bearing adapter protein, is involved in innate immunity mediated by natural killer cells and myeloid cells. We show that DAP12-deficient mouse B cells and B cells from a patient with Nasu-Hakola disease, a recessive genetic disorder resulting from loss of DAP12, showed enhanced proliferation after stimulation with anti-IgM or CpG. Myeloid-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor (MAIR) II (Cd300d) is a DAP12-associated immune receptor.

Activation of neutrophils by a novel triggering immunoglobulin-like receptor MAIR-IV.

Neutrophils play a central role in host defenses against infectious microbial pathogens. However, molecular basis for their triggering signals has been incompletely understood. Here, we show molecular and functional characteristics of myeloid-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor (MAIR)-IV.

Extracorporeal bioartificial liver using the radial-flow bioreactor in treatment of fatal experimental hepatic encephalopathy.

An extracorporeal bioartificial liver (BAL) that could prevent death from hepatic encephalopathy in acute hepatic insufficiency was aimed to develop. A functional human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (FLC-4) was cultured in a radial-flow bioreactor. The function of the BAL was tested in mini-pigs with acute hepatic failure induced by alpha-amanitin and lipopolysaccharide.

Dual assemblies of an activating immune receptor, MAIR-II, with ITAM-bearing adapters DAP12 and FcRgamma chain on peritoneal macrophages.

Certain activating immune receptors expressed on myeloid cells noncovalently associate with either DAP12 or FcepsilonRIgamma (FcRgamma chain), the ITAM-bearing transmembrane adapter proteins. An activating receptor, myeloid-associated Ig-like receptor (MAIR) II, is expressed on a subset of B cells and macrophages in the spleen and peritoneal cavity of mice and associates with DAP12 in these cells. However, we demonstrate here that cross-linking MAIR-II with mAb induced secretion of a significant amount of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 from DAP12(-/-) as well as wild-type (WT) peritoneal macrophages.

[The effect of preoperative topical antibiotics in cataract surgery].

Purpose: We studied whether topical antibiotics prevent endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.

Methods: Cefmenoxime hydrochloride (CMX) or artificial tears (AT) were randomly instilled 72 hours before surgery. Conjunctival swab samples were taken before the instillation of eye drops (1) and after the instillation of eye drops (2).

Surgical outcome of blowout fracture: early repair without implants and the usefulness of balloon treatment.

Purpose: To determine the surgical intervention time, which is most likely to achieve a high success rate for blowout fracture repair without implants and the usefulness of treatment with an intramaxillary sinus balloon.

Methods: Two hundred patients with isolated fractures of the orbit were evaluated by the Hess screen test, the Hertel exophthalmometer, and coronal computed tomography of the orbit. Operative criteria included diplopia within 30 degrees and enophthalmos >3 mm.

A Single-Center, Open-Label, Randomized, Parallel-Group Study Assessing the Differences Between an Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonist and an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor in Hypertensive Patients with Congestive Heart Failure: The Research for Efficacy of Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonist in Hypertensive Patients with Congestive Heart Failure Study.

Background: Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) have been used to treat congestive heart failure (CHF). According to a MEDLINE search, however, few studies are available on the clinical differences between ARBs and ACEIs in CHF.

Objective: To examine the clinical differences between an ARB (candesartan cilexetil) and an ACEI (lisinopril) in the treatment of CHF, we investigated exercise capacity, ventricular function, and neurohormonal levels in hypertensive patients with CHF before and after treatment with these agents.

[A case of isolated coronary ostial stenosis in a middle-aged woman].

Coronary ostial stenosis with otherwise normal coronary vessels occurs in patients with syphilis or Takayasu's aortitis. Iatrogenic ostial stenosis may develop as a complication of coronary angiography or after coronary perfusion at the time of cardiac surgery. Isolated ostial stenosis in the absence of these factors has been reported infrequently and its unique clinical and angiographic profile has been noted recently.

[Two cases of Marfan syndrome complicated with aortic dissection during pregnancy].

Two women with Marfan syndrome who developed aortic dissection during pregnancy are reported. Case 1: A 38-year-old woman had experienced severe back pain five years before (at the age of 33) when she was in the 38th week of gestation, followed by labour with no problem. Three years ago, she was examined in our hospital for enlarged thoracic aorta pointed out in a somatoscopy and was diagnosed as having Marfan syndrome and aortic dissection of DeBakey type IIIb.

Modified SRK formula for axial myopia (24.5 mm < or = axial length < 27.0 mm).

When used for eyes with greater than average axial length (AXL), the SRK formula has been reported to have a tendency to yield more myopic refractions than those predicted. To further evaluate such findings, we studied 609 eyes with AXLs between 24.5 and 27.

New antitumor principles, casearins A-F, for Casearia sylvestris Sw. (Flacourtiaceae).

New antitumor clerodane diterpenes, named casearins A-F, have been isolated from the leaves of Casearia sylvestris Sw. (Flacourtiaceae). These structures have been completely elucidated by two dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, circular dichroism spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and chemical evidences.