Publications by authors named "Yoshihisa Okada"

This study aimed to assess the diagnosis of diabetes after detecting high blood glucose levels through screening among insured individuals in Gunma, Japan. Data for men and women 35 to 74 years of age were provided by Japan Health Insurance Association, and 4133 individuals with high blood glucose levels while not currently being treated for diabetes were included in the study. About 13% received a diagnosis of diabetes at a subsequent physician visit, and individuals who were under treatment for hypertension were less likely to receive the added diagnosis of diabetes compared with those not being treated for hypertension (odds ratio = 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Statins, like rosuvastatin, may help treat steatohepatitis, a liver condition caused by high-fat and high-cholesterol diets, by reducing cholesterol levels and associated liver damage.
  • In a rat study, rosuvastatin significantly decreased liver fat content, inflammation markers, and fibrotic changes compared to control diets, indicating potential therapeutic effects.
  • The research suggests that these benefits occur through improved oxidative processes in the liver, highlighting the broader protective roles of statins beyond just lowering cholesterol.
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We previously reported that hepatocellular aging can be assessed by measuring the nuclear size of hepatocytes. We attempted to elucidate whether this method is useful to identify the high risk group of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the patients with non-B non-C non-alcoholic liver injury. Fourteen patients with HCC and 78 without HCC, both of whom presented with non-B non-C non-alcoholic chronic liver injury and underwent liver biopsy, were selected.

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Background: Oxidative stress (OS) plays an important role in the progression of chronic liver disease and hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the role of OS in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess whether OS promotes angiogenesis in HCC.

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We have developed the simple estimation method of a finger tapping dynamics model for investigating muscle resistance and stiffness during tapping movement in normal subjects. We measured finger tapping movements of 207 normal subjects using a magnetic finger tapping detection system. Each subject tapped two fingers in time with a metronome at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Hz.

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Telomere-specific quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridization (Q-FISH) accurately evaluates hepatocellular aging on histological sections, but it requires appropriate tissue processing. To establish a more simple method for the assessment of hepatocellular aging, the usefulness of nuclear size measurement was clarified using biopsy liver samples from 64 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a model for oxidative stress-associated hepatocellular aging, and 11 control individuals. Relative telomere intensity (RTI) was measured on Q-FISH, and the relative nuclear size (RNS) was calculated as the average nuclear size of the hepatocytes divided by that of lymphocytes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Continuous oxidative stress (OS) contributes to the worsening of chronic liver diseases and cancer progression by shortening telomeres in liver cells, though its exact effects on human liver cancer (HCC) are still unclear.
  • The study analyzed oxidative stress levels, telomere lengths, and telomerase activity in 68 HCC samples, finding that higher OS grades correlated with shorter telomeres and increased telomerase activity.
  • Results indicate that in HCC, high OS promotes cancer cell proliferation and reduces apoptosis, linking OS to poor cancer prognosis and suggesting its potential as a clinical assessment marker for HCC.
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The N-terminal amino-acid sequence was determined for a major rice phloem protein with a molecular mass of 31 kDa, named RPP31. The corresponding full-length rice EST-clone was cloned based on the amino acid sequence. The predicted total amino-acid sequence of RPP31 shared high similarity with plant glutathione S-transferases (GSTs).

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