Intraportal administration of DPP-IV inhibitor regulates insulin secretion and food intake mediated by the hepatic vagal afferent nerve in rats.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) stimulates insulin secretion and suppresses food intake. Recent studies indicate that the hepatic vagal afferent nerve is involved in this response. Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitor extends the half-life of endogenous GLP-1 by preventing its degradation.

Telmisartan effectively improves insulin sensitivity in hypertensive patients with insulin resistance.

Objective: The angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) telmisartan has been shown to activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and increase adiponectin protein content in adipocytes. We tested the hypothesis that telmisartan can increase the serum level of adiponectin and improve insulin resistance.

Methods: The study participants were 25 consecutive hypertensive patients (8 females, 17 males; 65 ± 10 years).

Candesartan restored cardiac Hsp72 expression and tolerance against reperfusion injury in hereditary insulin-resistant rats.

Aims: We tested the hypothesis that candesartan, an angiotensin II (AII) type 1 receptor antagonist, would restore the depressed phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3) kinase-dependent Akt phosphorylation, an essential signal to induce heat-shock protein 72 (Hsp72) in response to hyperthermia, in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats.

Methods And Results: At 14 weeks of age, male OLETF rats and Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats were treated with candesartan (0.25 mg/kg/day) for 2 weeks.

The earliest finding of indocyanine green lymphography in asymptomatic limbs of lower extremity lymphedema patients secondary to cancer treatment: the modified dermal backflow stage and concept of subclinical lymphedema.

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment are as important for management of secondary lymphedema following cancer treatment as in primary cancer treatment. Indocyanine green lymphography is the modality of choice for routine follow-up evaluation of patients at high risk of developing lymphedema after cancer therapy.

Methods: Fifty-six limbs of 28 so-called unilateral secondary lower extremity lymphedema patients who underwent indocyanine green lymphography were compared with dermal backflow patterns of indocyanine green lymphography on 28 asymptomatic limbs and assessed using leg dermal backflow stage.

Pure skin perforator flap for microtia and congenital aural atresia using supermicrosurgical techniques.

Unlabelled: Microtia or pinna deformities with congenital aural atresia are severe conditions that significantly affect the quality of life. Although several surgical treatments have been proposed for aural atresia, revision surgery is often required to address complications associated with the initial procedure, which include external auditory canal stenosis, lateralization of the tympanic membrane and chronic recurrent otorrhea. However, such problems may be addressed by using vascularized skin.

[A case of pulmonary carcinomatous lymphangitis and multiple pulmonary infarctions from gastric cancer].

We report a case of pulmonary carcinomatous lymphangitis and multiple pulmonary infarctions from gastric cancer. A 58-year-old housewife presented with a complaint of a worsening cough over the previous 6 weeks. Chest radiography and CT scans revealed infiltration and diffuse ground-glass opacities in both lung fields, and she was hospitalized for further examination.

Computed tomography analysis of the association between the SH2B1 rs7498665 single-nucleotide polymorphism and visceral fat area.

Visceral fat accumulation has an important role in increasing morbidity and mortality rate by increasing the risk of developing several metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. New genetic loci that contribute to the development of obesity have been identified by genome-wide association studies in Caucasian populations. We genotyped 1279 Japanese subjects (556 men and 723 women), who underwent computed tomography (CT) for measuring visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA), for the following single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): NEGR1 rs2815752, SEC16B rs10913469, TMEM18 rs6548238, ETV5 rs7647305, GNPDA2 rs10938397, BDNF rs6265 and rs925946, MTCH2 rs10838738, SH2B1 rs7498665, MAF rs1424233, and KCTD15 rs29941 and rs11084753.

Association of variations in the FTO, SCG3 and MTMR9 genes with metabolic syndrome in a Japanese population.

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a cluster of multiple risk factors, including central obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance, that increase cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Genetic factors are important in the development of metabolic syndrome, as are environmental factors. However, the genetic background of metabolic syndrome is not yet fully clarified.

Dosing time-dependency of the arthritis-inhibiting effect of tacrolimus in mice.

Stiffness and cytokine in blood levels show 24-h rhythms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. We previously revealed that higher therapeutic effects were obtained in RA patients and RA model animals when the dosing time of methotrexate was chosen according to the 24-h rhythms to cytokine. In this study, we examined whether a dosing time-dependency of the therapeutic effect of tacrolimus (TAC) could be detected in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and MRL/lpr mice.

Indocyanine green-enhanced lymphography for upper extremity lymphedema: a novel severity staging system using dermal backflow patterns.

Background: Management of arm lymphedema following breast cancer treatment is challenging, and emphasis should be put on early diagnosis and prevention of secondary lymphedema. Indocyanine green lymphography is becoming a method of choice for evaluation of lymphedema.

Methods: Twenty patients with secondary arm lymphedema after breast cancer treatment underwent indocyanine green lymphography.

Effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy on cardiac sympathetic nervous dysfunction and serum C-reactive protein level.

Background:  Cardiac autonomic dysfunction is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF). Systemic inflammation is elevated in patients with HF. We hypothesized that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves cardiac sympathetic nervous dysfunction and systemic inflammation.

Adult-onset Still's disease with macrophage activation syndrome successfully treated with a combination of methotrexate and etanercept.

We report a 16-year-old female case of intractable adult-onset Still's disease accompanied by macrophage activation syndrome, who went into full remission after switching from infliximab to etanercept. Although the disease promptly relapsed when etanercept was discontinued, she again responded fully upon the reintroduction of etanercept. Furthermore, the effect of etanercept was apparently enhanced by combining it with a sufficient dose of methotrexate.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 is associated with silent cerebral infarction in patients on haemodialysis.

Background: In patients with chronic renal failure undergoing haemodialysis (HD), silent cerebral infarctions (SCI) are associated with high mortality. Levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) increase with renal dysfunction and may be a novel predictor for cerebrovascular events. We tested the hypothesis that increased MCP-1 concentration correlate with the occurrence of SCI in HD patients.

Ghrelin in small intestine, its contribution to regulation of food intake and body weight in cross-intestinal parabiotic rats.

Ghrelin has been shown to be associated with feeding behavior in humans and rodents. It has been suggested that ghrelin may play a role behind the effect of bariatric surgery. Inbred rats were made into parabiotic pairs so that they shared a single abdominal cavity.

Lambda-shaped anastomosis with intravascular stenting method for safe and effective lymphaticovenular anastomosis.

Background: Lymphaticovenular anastomosis has become an increasingly common treatment for lymphedema. Supermicrosurgical techniques are essential for the successful performance of lymphaticovenular anastomosis. A positive correlation between the number of lymphaticovenular anastomoses performed and therapeutic efficacy has been reported, and in performing these anastomoses, the establishment of as many bypasses as possible is important.

Human skeletal muscles replaced to a high degree by white adipose tissue.

Extreme replacement of skeletal muscles by adipose tissue was found in an 86-year old Japanese male cadaver during dissection practice for medical students at Oita University School of Medicine. Especially, the bilateral sartorius muscles looked overall like adipose tissue. The man had suffered from diabetes mellitus, renal failure, hypertension and hypothyroidism before his death.

Gender difference in baroreflex sensitivity to predict cardiac and cerebrovascular events in type 2 diabetic patients.

Background: Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is a major complication in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) reportedly can predict cardiovascular prognosis in type 2 DM patients. The hypothesis that cardiovascular events are associated with gender differences in BRS was tested in the present study.

Methods And Results: From 1998, we have evaluated BRS by phenylephrine methods in 185 consecutive type 2 DM patients.

Methotrexate chronotherapy is effective against rheumatoid arthritis.

Methotrexate (MTX) is the most important drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been stated that cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA, and that cytokine levels increase and show 24-h rhythms in RA patients. Previously, we found that arthritis was relieved after the administration of MTX at specific times in synchronization with the 24-h rhythm of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) animals.

Vascularized nerve flap for spinal cord repair-a preliminary study.

Object: By making the "vascularized nerve flap for complete spinal cord gap" model, we assessed the histological effect of this method.

Method: Eight female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 2 groups: group A and group B. Group A included "nonvascularized nerve flap" models, whereas group B consisted of "vascularized nerve flap" models.