Versatile application of fast green FCF as a visible cholangiogram in adult mice to medium-sized mammals.

An aqueous solution of a common food dye, Fast Green FCF (FG), mimics cholyl-lysyl-fluorescein to visualize embryonic bile flow via single peritoneal injection into intrauterine mouse embryos. Despite its efficacy in embryos, its suitability for adult mice and small to medium-sized mammals remained uncertain. In this study, we investigated FG cholangiography in adult mice, dogs, and goats.

Identification of Gallbladder-Specific Distal Regulatory Sequence of Murine Sox17.

Sox17 is a key transcriptional regulator of endoderm formation and function in the gallbladder, blood vessels and reproductive organs. Although multiple transcript variants of Sox17 have been suggested, the precise mechanisms underlying their time- and tissue-specific expression remain unclear. In this study, we discovered two putative regulatory sequences (R1 and R2) adjacent to different transcription start sites of mouse Sox17 exon 1 and generated deletion mice for these regions (Sox17).

Impact of gallbladder hypoplasia on hilar hepatic ducts in biliary atresia.

Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is an intractable disease of unknown cause that develops in the neonatal period. It causes jaundice and liver damage due to the destruction of extrahepatic biliary tracts,. We have found that heterozygous knockout mice of the SRY related HMG-box 17 (Sox17) gene, a master regulator of stem/progenitor cells in the gallbladder wall, exhibit a condition like BA.

Skin graft with dermis and appendages generated in vivo by cell competition.

Autologous skin grafting is a standard treatment for skin defects such as burns. No artificial skin substitutes are functionally equivalent to autologous skin grafts. The cultured epidermis lacks the dermis and does not engraft deep wounds.

Elution behavior of drugs in high-speed counter-current chromatography using on-column complexation with metal ions.

In this study, determination of (nitrogen containing) drugs by on-column complexation with metal ions in high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was investigated. Bromazepam (BMP) was strongly retained in the organic upper stationary phase (UP) of the two-phase solvent system composed of tert-butyl methyl ether-acetonitrile-water (2:2:3, v/v/v) by eluting the aqueous lower mobile phase (LP) at a flow rate of 2 mL min. On the other hand, BMP (200 µg mL) was eluted faster without retention to the organic UP with the two-phase system containing 100 μg mL of copper ions (CuCl) because a very polar BMP-Cu complex was immediately formed in the aqueous LP.

Long-term Health-related Quality of Life and Physical Function of COVID-19 Survivors with ICU-acquired Weakness.

Objectives: This study examined the long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and physical function of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) survivors diagnosed with intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW). The correlation between muscle weakness at ICU discharge and HRQOL was assessed.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU at Hyogo Medical University Hospital between January 2021 and November 2021.

Prototype and evaluation of automatic fingertip-blood-sampling system that uses fingertip blood-vessel images to determine puncture position.

We are developing an automatic fingertip-blood-sampling system to reduce the burden on trained medical personnel. For this system to withdraw a consistent volume of sampled blood for blood tests, we developed a mechanism for our system to select and puncture the vicinity of a large blood vessel from the blood-vessel image of an individual's fingertip. We call this mechanism the fingertip-vessel-puncture mechanism.

Evaluation of the clinical and quantitative performance of a practical HPLC-UV platform for in-hospital routine therapeutic drug monitoring of multiple drugs.

Background: In-hospital therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) requires a suitable quantification method for target drugs from the viewpoint of precision, throughput, and testing costs. We previously developed a practical HPLC-UV platform for quantification of serum levels of various drugs. In this report, the platform was effectively applied to the quantification of patient serum levels of five different drugs by clinical professionals in our hospital during their daily work.

Effect of Optimizing Medical Rehabilitation System for Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 Using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method.

Objectives: Coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) is an indication for rehabilitation medicine, especially in severe cases. However, there has been no system analysis of safe and continuous provision of medical rehabilitation for COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to confirm the effectiveness of rehabilitation for severe COVID-19 and to analyze the optimization of the medical rehabilitation system using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM).

Ingestion of Indigestible Cacao Proteins Promotes Defecation and Alters the Intestinal Microbiota in Mice.

Background: In animals, the health effects of ingested cacao proteins are unknown because the proteins are difficult to extract and purify from cacao beans.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop an extraction and purification method for cacao proteins and reveal the effect of ingestion of cacao proteins on defecation and intestinal microbiota in mice.

Methods: Three groups of mice were fed a control diet (AIN-93 G), a cacao lignin diet (AIN-93 G containing 1.

Development of a colorimetric assay for quantification of favipiravir in human serum using ferrihydrite.

We developed a colorimetric analytical method for favipiravir (FPV), a promising treatment for COVID-19. FPV forms yellow complexes with ferrihydrite (Fh) by a ligand substitution reaction with the iron (III) hydroxyl surface groups in Fh. Fh-coated microbeads were packed into a capillary tube with an inner diameter of 1 mm.

Cell surface fluctuations regulate early embryonic lineage sorting.

In development, lineage segregation is coordinated in time and space. An important example is the mammalian inner cell mass, in which the primitive endoderm (PrE, founder of the yolk sac) physically segregates from the epiblast (EPI, founder of the fetus). While the molecular requirements have been well studied, the physical mechanisms determining spatial segregation between EPI and PrE remain elusive.

Development of a surface plasmon resonance sensor using an optical fiber prepared by electroless displacement gold plating and its application to immunoassay.

A simple and low-cost method of fabricating an optical fiber for a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor was proposed. The method is based on the electroless nickel plating and subsequent displacement gold plating of the core of the optical fiber. The thickness of the nickel and gold thin films deposited on the core of the optical fiber could be controlled by measuring the reflected light intensity from the tip of the optical fiber during the plating processes.

Extracellular matrix dysfunction in Sorsby patient-derived retinal pigment epithelium.

Sorsby Fundus Dystrophy (SFD) is a rare form of macular degeneration that is clinically similar to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and a histologic hallmark of SFD is a thick layer of extracellular deposits beneath the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Previous studies of SFD patient-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived RPE differ as to whether these cultures recapitulate this key clinical feature by forming increased drusenoid deposits. The primary purpose of this study is to examine whether SFD patient-derived iPSC-RPE form basal deposits similar to what is found in affected family member SFD globes and to determine whether SFD iPSC RPE may be more oxidatively stressed.

Elevated blood favipiravir levels are inversely associated with ferritin levels and induce the elevation of uric acid levels in COVID-19 treatment: A retrospective single-center study.

Introduction: Measurement of blood Favipiravir (FPV) levels and accumulation of data in COVID-19 patients are critical for assessing FPV efficacy and safety. We performed a retrospective study based on measurements of blood levels of FPV and related factors in COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital. Furthermore, we also investigated the association between blood FPV levels and uric acid level alterations before and after FPV administration.

Status epilepticus suspected autoimmune: Neuronal surface antibodies and main clinical features.

Objectives: Status epilepticus (SE) can be associated with neuronal surface antibodies (NS-Abs) but NS-Ab detection rate remains unknown in patients with SE of unclear etiology at symptom presentation but suspected of having an autoimmune etiology (SE suspected autoimmune). We aimed to determine the NS-Ab detection rate and the clinical features that predict the presence of NS-Abs in patients with SE suspected autoimmune.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical information of 137 patients with SE suspected autoimmune who underwent testing for NS-Abs between January 2007 and September 2020.

[Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis].

Anti-NMDA receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune disease caused by autoantibodies against the extracellular conformational epitope of the NR1 subunit of the NMDAR (GluN1 antibodies). A series of autoantibodies directed against neuronal surface (NS) or synaptic proteins play an important role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of post-herpes simplex encephalitis (post-HSE), overlapping autoimmune encephalitis and demyelinating syndrome, epileptic seizures, psychosis, involuntary movements (orofacial and limb dyskinesias, catatonia, dystonia, chorea, myoclonus, psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, and faciobrachial dystonic seizures), postpartum psychosis, stiff-person spectrum disorder (including progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus [PERM]), cerebellar ataxia, and sleep behavior disorders. These NS antibodies are identified with cell-based assays and immunohistochemistry using nonperfused paraformaldehyde-fixed rodent brain tissue.

Asymptomatic acute ischemic lesions in intracerebral hemorrhage: Its frequency, MRI features, and risk factors.

Background: Asymptomatic acute ischemic lesions (AIL) may be coincidentally found on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) obtained during the acute phase of intracerebral hemorrhage, but its clinical significance has yet to be determined. The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of asymptomatic AIL, its characteristic features of brain MRI and risk factors in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical information of 108 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage who underwent brain MRIs within 30 days of hospitalization between April 2013 and January 2018.

Naive stem cell blastocyst model captures human embryo lineage segregation.

Human naive pluripotent cells can differentiate into extraembryonic trophectoderm and hypoblast. Here we describe a human embryo model (blastoid) generated by self-organization. Brief induction of trophectoderm leads to formation of blastocyst-like structures within 3 days.