Identification of histopathological and clinical spectrum of diabetic kidney disease based on an unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis of elderly autopsy specimens.

Aim: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), a chronic kidney disease caused by diabetes and other comorbidities, is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. The pathogenesis of DKD is diverse and influenced by various causes, some but not all of which cause proteinuria. Some factors such as hypertension can modify DKD.

Autopsy study examining non-chronic kidney disease versus chronic kidney disease caused by hypertensive-nephrosclerosis in elderly subjects.

Background: The aim of this autopsy study was to clarify the differences of renal histopathology between non-chronic kidney disease (CKD) and CKD caused by hypertensive-nephrosclerosis in the elderly and during the aging process.

Methods: We examined autopsy specimens from 105 elderly patients (53 male subjects; mean age, 86.2 years) including 44 patients with CKD as a result of nephrosclerosis.

Efficacy and safety of low-dose corticosteroid with azathioprine in the treatment of elderly-onset IgA vasculitis with nephritis.

The diagnosis of elderly-onset IgA vasculitis (IgAV) and its prognosis can be difficult to ascertain because of its rarity and the frequent presence of comorbidities. Furthermore, the treatment of elderly-onset IgAV remains controversial. We report a case of IgAV in an 87-year-old patient.

Geriatric assessment of estimated glomerular filtration rate: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is routinely calculated based on the serum creatinine level. However, the validity of such calculation in the geriatric population has not been sufficiently assessed. To examine whether the discrepancies between the eGFR determined based on the serum creatinine (eGFRcr) and that based on the serum cystatin C (eGFRcys) may be influenced to a lesser degree, by factors such as aging and muscle mass.

Autochthonous sporadic acute hepatitis E caused by two distinct subgenotype 3b hepatitis E virus strains with only 90% nucleotide identity.

Hepatitis E, which is caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a public health concern in Japan, where the zoonotic food-borne transmission of HEV from domestic pigs and wild boars plays an important role. A 44-year-old Japanese man with autochthonous sporadic acute hepatitis E was admitted with general fatigue and moderate liver dysfunction. In the present study, two distinct HEV strains were recovered from the patient, who had consumed the raw or undercooked pig liver and intestine two or three times per week for 3 months before the disease onset.

[Evaluation of sub-maximal aerobic capacity level determined by double product break point (DPBP) among Japanese adults].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine sub-maximal aerobic capacity levels evaluated by metabolic equivalents (unit is METs) at the double product break point (DPBP) and elucidate the safe and effective average exercise intensity among Japanese adults. A total of 438 subjects (123 males and 315 females) who participated in the exercise prescription course with measurement of the DPBP during a continuous incremental exercise test with a bicycle

Methods: ergometer were enrolled in this study. The DP (heart rate-systolic blood pressure product) featured rapid increase with increasing exercise load during the continuous incremental exercise test.

Localization and ontogeny of aquaporin-1 and -4 expression in iris and ciliary epithelial cells in rats.

The precise localization of aquaporin (AQP)1 and AQP4 was studied in iris and ciliary epithelial cells, in both mature and developing rats, to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying aqueous humor balance. Anterior segments of eyes dissected from embryonic day (E)13, E15, E18, and E20, postnatal day (P)0, P7, and P14, and postnatal week 8 rats were subjected to immunofluorescence analysis with AQP isoform-specific antibodies. In adult rat eye, AQP1 was localized to the apical and basolateral plasma membranes of iris epithelial cell layers and of anterior ciliary non-pigmented epithelial (NPE) cells.