Clinical Features of Children with COVID-19 in Initial Time of Pandemic.

Objectives: COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is now a global pandemic. Although children are said to have mild symptom, their clinical features are not known well. We conducted a retrospective study during initial term of pandemic to understand the difference of clinical features including clinical symptoms and patients' characteristics of COVID-19 children and those without COVID-19.

Case report: Mild encephalitis with a reversible splenial lesion associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a patient with variant.

We report a 14-year-old girl with a heterozygous p. Gln403Arg variant in the gene, who had five episodes of encephalopathy. She experienced reduced consciousness, numbness in the arm, and impaired verbal communication from day 4 of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A validation study of after direct-acting antivirals recommendation for surveillance score for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis C virus infection who had received direct-acting antiviral therapy and achieved sustained virological response.

Background And Aim: The pathogenic process underlying the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not yet clear in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have received direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy and achieved sustained virological response (SVR). This study validated a composite predictive model for HCC in these patients.

Methods: This study included 3058 patients in whom HCV was eradicated with DAA therapy.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk Assessment for Patients With Advanced Fibrosis After Eradication of Hepatitis C Virus.

The identification of patients with advanced fibrosis who do not need any further hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance after the eradication of hepatitis C is pivotal. In this study, we developed a simple serum-based risk model that could identify patients with low-risk HCC. This was a nationwide multicenter study involving 16 Hospitals in Japan.

Real-world clinical outcomes of sofosbuvir and velpatasvir treatment in HCV genotype 1- and 2-infected patients with decompensated cirrhosis: A nationwide multicenter study by the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group.

The real-world virological efficacy and safety of interferon-free direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy with sofosbuvir (SOF) and velpatasvir (VEL) were assessed in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1- and 2-infected patients with decompensated cirrhosis. A total of 65 patients with HCV-related decompensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh score of 7 points or more) who were treated with the SOF/VEL regimen were enrolled. The sustained virological response (SVR) rate and safety profile were analyzed.

Change in Fibrosis 4 Index as Predictor of High Risk of Incident Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Eradication of Hepatitis C Virus.

Background: It is unclear whether the fibrosis 4 index (FIB-4), a marker of liver fibrosis, at baseline and change in FIB-4 after sustained virological response (SVR) is associated with incident hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk. In this study, we examined the association of incident HCC risk with baseline FIB-4 and sustained high FIB-4 (>3.25) at any time point after SVR.

Detectable HBV DNA during nucleos(t)ide analogues stratifies predictive hepatocellular carcinoma risk score.

Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NA) suppress hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, NA cannot suppress carcinogenesis completely in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The aims of this study were to identify risk factors for HCC and develop a refined carcinogenesis prediction model.

Real-world efficacy of elbasvir and grazoprevir for hepatitis C virus (genotype 1): A nationwide, multicenter study by the Japanese Red Cross Hospital Liver Study Group.

Aim: The present study aimed to determine the real-world efficacy and safety of the non-structural protein (NS)5A inhibitor elbasvir (EBR) combined with the NS3/4A protease inhibitor grazoprevir (GZR) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 (GT1) infection.

Methods: This study retrospectively evaluated the rate of sustained virologic response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) and the safety of EBR/GZR treatment in 159 men and 194 women with a median age of 72 years, and it assessed factors associated with the SVR12 rate. The attending physicians were responsible for selecting candidate patients for EBR/GZR in this retrospective study.

Real-world efficacy and safety of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection: a nationwide multicenter study by the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group.

Background: We aimed to describe the real-world efficacy and safety of combination therapy with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 (GT1) infection.

Methods: This retrospective analysis of a prospective, nationwide, multicenter registry included GT1-infected patients treated with LDV/SOF for 12 weeks. We assessed the rate of sustained virological response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12), incidence of adverse events, and serum markers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Efficacy of daclatasvir plus asunaprevir in patients with hepatitis C virus infection undergoing and not undergoing hemodialysis.

Aim: To evaluate the virologic responses and clinical course of daclatasvir plus asunaprevir treatment in non-hemodialysis (non-HD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients infected with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Methods: A total of 1113 non-HD patients and 67 HD patients were assessed. To evaluate pretreatment factors contributing to sustained virological response at 12 weeks (SVR12), univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out.

Complex Pattern of Resistance-Associated Substitutions of Hepatitis C Virus after Daclatasvir/Asunaprevir Treatment Failure.

Backgrounds & Aims: We aimed to clarify the characteristics of resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) after treatment failure with NS5A inhibitor, daclatasvir (DCV) in combination with NS3/4A inhibitor, asunaprevir (ASV), in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1b infection.

Methods: This is a nationwide multicenter study conducted by the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group. The sera were obtained from 68 patients with virological failure after 24 weeks of DCV/ASV treatment.

One year of infliximab therapy successfully improved a case of refractory pouchitis without the use of antibiotics.

A 29-year-old woman with ulcerative colitis underwent total colectomy with ileal-pouch-anal canal anastomosis in 1999. After the surgery, she developed refractory pouchitis. We administered metronidazole, mesalamine and ciprofloxacin; however, her clinical symptoms improved only very slightly.

Ulcerative colitis accompanied by idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and Helicobacter pylori infection.

The coexistence of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and active ulcerative colitis (UC) has been reported. We herein report a rare case of UC accompanied by ITP and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection.

A conserved non-reproductive GnRH system in chordates.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a neuroendocrine peptide that plays a central role in the vertebrate hypothalamo-pituitary axis. The roles of GnRH in the control of vertebrate reproductive functions have been established, while its non-reproductive function has been suggested but less well understood. Here we show that the tunicate Ciona intestinalis has in its non-reproductive larval stage a prominent GnRH system spanning the entire length of the nervous system.

DGKζ is degraded through the cytoplasmic ubiquitin-proteasome system under excitotoxic conditions, which causes neuronal apoptosis because of aberrant cell cycle reentry.

Recent reports have described the involvement of the diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) family in various pathological conditions. In an animal model of transient ischemia, DGKζ containing a nuclear localization signal (NLS) is shown to translocate quickly from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in hippocampal neurons and to disappear gradually after reperfusion. Those neurons die a delayed neuronal death because of glutamate excitotoxicity.

DGKζ is involved in LPS-activated phagocytosis through IQGAP1/Rac1 pathway.

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) plays an important role in phosphoinositide signaling cascade by regulating the intracellular level of diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid. The DGK family is involved in various pathophysiological responses that are mediated through unique binding partners in different tissues and cells. In this study, we identified a small GTPase effector protein, IQGAP1, as a novel DGKζ-associated complex protein.

Membrane-induced alteration of the secondary structure in the SWAP-70 pleckstrin homology domain.

Differences in the conformation of the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of switch-associated protein-70 (SWAP-70) in solution and at the lipid bilayer membrane surface were examined using CD, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopy. Intracellular relocalization of SWAP-70 from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane and then to the nucleus is associated with its cellular functions. The PH domain of SWAP-70 contains a phosphoinositide-binding site and a nuclear localization signal, which localize SWAP-70 to the plasma membrane and nucleus, respectively.

Interaction of nucleosome assembly proteins abolishes nuclear localization of DGKζ by attenuating its association with importins.

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is involved in the regulation of lipid-mediated signal transduction through the metabolism of a second messenger diacylglycerol. Of the DGK family, DGKζ, which contains a nuclear localization signal, localizes mainly to the nucleus but translocates to the cytoplasm under pathological conditions. However, the detailed mechanism of translocation and its functional significance remain unclear.

Calcium fluxes cause nuclear shrinkage and the translocation of phospholipase C-delta1 into the nucleus.

Phospholipase C-delta1 (PLCdelta1) is the most fundamental form of the eukaryotic PLC and thought to play important roles in the regulation of cells. We previously reported that PLCdelta1 shuttles between the cytoplasm and nucleus, and an influx of Ca2+ triggers the nuclear import of PLCdelta1 via Ca2+-dependent interaction with importin beta1, although the physiological meaning of this is unclear. Here we have examined the distribution of PLCdelta1 using primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons.

Painful hepatic hemangioma: report of a case with an emphasis on sonographic findings.

Hepatic hemangiomas are usually asymptomatic and very rarely produce abdominal symptoms. We report a painful 10 × 9 cm hemangioma situated at the hepatic surface of segment 6. The lesion showed a heterogeneous internal structure, composed irregularly of hyperechoic and hypoechoic areas, and it also showed weak posterior echo enhancement.

Influence of membrane curvature on the structure of the membrane-associated pleckstrin homology domain of phospholipase C-delta1.

The effects of geometric properties of membranes on the structure of the phospholipase C-delta1 (PLC-delta1) pleckstrin homology (PH) domain were investigated using solid state (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Conformations of the PLC-delta1 PH domain at the surfaces of multilamellar vesicles (MLV), small unilamellar vesicles (SUV), and micelles were examined to evaluate the effects of membrane curvature on the PH domain. An increase in curvature of the water-hydrophobic layer interface hinders membrane-penetration of the amphipathic alpha2-helix of the PH domain that assists the membrane-association of the PH domain dominated by the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) specific lipid binding site.

Sonographic detection of an aneurysm of the gastroepiploic artery.

Gastroepiploic artery aneurysm (GEAA) is very rare.1 Furthermore, most GEAA cases are diagnosed after their rupture. We report a case of asymptomatic GEAA.

Phosphorylation of phospholipase C-delta 1 regulates its enzymatic activity.

Phosphorylation of phospholipase C-delta(1) (PLC-delta(1)) in vitro and in vivo was investigated. Of the serine/threonine kinases tested, protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylated the serine residue(s) of bacterially expressed PLC-delta(1) most potently. It was also demonstrated that PLC-delta(1) directly bound PKC-alpha via its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain.