Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) occurs frequently in patients undergoing dialysis, but early intervention for PAD may not be fully implemented. We evaluated the effects of financially incentivising dialysis facilities that provided early detection and management of PAD on outcomes of PAD care.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified patients aged 18-74 years who received maintenance haemodialysis between April 2016 and March 2021 from the JMDC Claims Database.
Rhodococcus equi has recently been identified in various animals, including ruminants. Several studies have highlighted the emergence of pVAPN-harboring strains, isolated from multiple abscesses, in the liver and lungs of ruminants. Epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that pVAPN-harboring strains are pathogenic in ruminants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNihon Saikingaku Zasshi
February 2024
Rhodococcus equi is a facultative intracellular gram-positive coccobacillus which is a well-known cause of foal pneumonia and/or enteritis in equine veterinary medicine. More than 300 cases of R. equi infection have been reported since the first description of human disease in 1968.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirulent Rhodococcus equi strains expressing virulence-associated 15-17 kDa protein (VapA) and having a large virulence plasmid (pVAPA) of 85-90 kb containing vapA gene are pathogenic for horses. In the last two decades, following pVAPA, two host-associated virulence plasmid types of R. equi have been discovered: a circular plasmid, pVAPB, associated with porcine isolates in 1995, and a recently detected linear plasmid, pVAPN, related to bovine and caprine isolates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFcan cause infection in ruminants, and its pathogenicity is suggested to be associated with VapN. Despite its wide distribution, no immunological diagnostic method has been developed for VapN-producing . Against this background, we attempted to develop monoclonal antibodies targeting VapN and assess their application in immunostaining.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobiol Resour Announc
October 2023
We had previously isolated AH4, a strain capable of degrading rat milk oligosaccharides. In this study, we determined the whole-genome sequence of AH4. This whole-genome information will expand our understanding of milk oligosaccharide-mediated symbioses between bacteria and host mammals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Male pseudohermaphroditism is a developmental anomaly wherein animals are genetically and gonadally male, but their internal and/or external genitalia resemble those of females. In cattle, pseudohermaphroditism is often accompanied by multiple severe malformations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of male pseudohermaphroditism in a complex malformed calf born with an acardius amorphous cotwin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: What baseline predictors would be involved in mortality in people with primary Sjögren syndrome (SjS) remains uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the baseline characteristics collected at the time of diagnosis of SjS associated with mortality and to identify mortality risk factors for all-cause death and deaths related to systemic SjS activity measured by the ESSDAI score.
Methods: In this international, real-world, retrospective, cohort study, we retrospectively collected data from 27 countries on mortality and causes of death from the Big Data Sjögren Registry.
The populations of Japanese deer and boar have increased dramatically and have a serious impact on farming and mountain villages. Although the Japanese government promotes the use of captured wild animals, game meat is not subject to sanitary control considering that it is not subject to meat inspection or quality control. Here, we have attempted to isolate Staphylococcus aureus, a typical foodborne pathogen, as a part of an investigation of contamination in the meats of wild animals and their processing stages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Although elevated serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels are thought to exclude a diagnosis of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), IgG4-RD has been definitively diagnosed in some patients despite elevated serum IgA levels. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence of elevated IgA levels in patients with IgG4-RD and to compare the clinical features of IgG4-RD patients with and without elevated IgA levels.
Methods: The clinical features of 169 IgG4-RD patients were retrospectively compared among those with and without elevated serum IgA levels.
Ren Replace Ther
February 2023
Background: Hemodialysis patients are more likely to be severely affected if infected by COVID-19. Contributing factors include chronic kidney disease, old age, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Therefore, action against COVID-19 for hemodialysis patients is an urgent issue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The present study compared the clinical features of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) with and without nephrolithiasis and/or nephrocalcinosis to determine factors related to renal dysfunction.
Methods: The clinical features of 68 patients with anti-Sjogren's syndrome antigen A (SSA)/Ro-antibody-positive pSS with and without nephrolithiasis and/or nephrocalcinosis who underwent abdominal computed tomography and/or ultrasonography were retrospectively analysed.
Results: Of the 68 patients with anti-SSA-antibody-positive pSS, 23 (33%) had renal nephrolithiasis and/or nephrocalcinosis, whereas 45 (67%) did not.
Oligonucleotide therapeutics, drugs consisting of 10-50 nucleotide-long single- or double-stranded DNA or RNA molecules that can bind to specific DNA or RNA sequences or proteins, include antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), aptamers, and decoys. These oligonucleotide therapeutics could potentially become the third pillar of drug development. In particular, ASOs and siRNAs are advanced tools that are widely used to silence gene expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA previously reported method for evaluating the intracellular growth of Rhodococcus equi using enhanced green fluorescent protein is unsuitable for the quantitative evaluation of the entire sample because the signal can be detected only in the excitation region. Therefore, we created an autobioluminescent using luciferase (). First, we connected to the functional promoter P and introduced it into the chromosomes of ATCC33701 and ATCC33701_P-.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRhodococcus equiis the causative agent of pyogenic pneumonia in foals, and a virulence-associated protein A (VapA) encoded on the pVAPA virulence plasmid is important for its pathogenicity. In this study, we analyzed the virulence of R. equi strain U19, originally isolated in the Netherlands in 1997 and the genetic characteristics of the pVAPA_U19 plasmid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTracheal washing fluid was collected from 170 foals at 28 and 35 d old from February to July in a foaling season on horse-breeding farms with sporadic rhodococcosis in Japan and was investigated by quantitative culture. The history of the 170 foals followed up for the next few months. The proportion of R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To clarify the efficacy and safety of intravenous abatacept for glandular and extraglandular involvements in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Materials And Methods: We performed an open-label, prospective, 1-year, observational multicenter study (ROSE and ROSE II trials). The primary endpoint was the remission rate as measured by SDAI at 52 weeks.
Traditionally, removable partial dentures (RPDs) have been made by using an elastic impression material and casting from a framework wax pattern on a refractory cast. In this short communication, the procedures for digitally fabricating removable partial dentures using an intraoral scanner (IOS) and additive manufacturing system (AM) are described. The adaptation accuracy of the RPD using IOS and AM techniques was evaluated subjectively as good or satisfactory.
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