Observer agreement for the diagnosis of intestinal acute graft-vs.-host disease based on the presence of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum.

Intestinal graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) is a serious complication of allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Villous atrophy in the terminal ileum is considered a useful diagnostic indicator for GVHD.

Long-term outcomes of patients with Crohn's disease who received infliximab or adalimumab as the first-line biologics.

Background And Aim: Although previous studies compared the efficacy of infliximab (IFX) versus adalimumab (ADA) as the first-line biologics for Crohn's disease (CD), the difference in long-term prognosis based on which biologic was used first has scarcely been reported. In particular, the clinical courses after loss of response (LOR) of the first-line biologics are largely unknown.

Methods: A multicenter, retrospective study was performed.

Slight increases in the disease activity index and platelet count imply the presence of active intestinal lesions in C-reactive protein-negative Crohn's disease patients.

Objective: Although the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level may, to some extent, predict the disease activity in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), it is not always elevated during periods of disease activity. This study aimed to identify factors predicting the presence of active intestinal lesions in CD patients without an elevated CRP level.

Methods: CD patients in whom the presence or absence of active intestinal lesions was evaluated using endoscopic and/or radiologic modalities were divided into two groups based on a negative (<3 mg/L) or positive (≥3 mg/L) CRP level.

Cytoskeletal dynamics during mammalian gametegenesis and fertilization: Implications for human reproduction.

From gamete to neonate, human fertilization is a series of cell motilities (motion and morphological changes). Cytoskeletons play a role in cell motility as they work as a field worker in the cell. The present study is a review of dynamic motility of cytoskeletons (microfilaments and microtubules) during mammalian gamategenesis and fertilization.

Dynamics of microtubules and positioning of female pronucleus during bovine parthenogenesis.

The zygote centrosome, consisting of both paternal and maternal centrosomal components, is the microtubule-organizing center necessary for pronuclear migration and positioning in fertilization. Maternal centrosomal function in microtubule organization and pronuclear positioning, however, remains unclear. In the present study, we sought to elucidate the function of maternal centrosomes during bovine parthenotes in the microtubule organizational processes required to move the pronucleus to the cell center without sperm centrosomal components.

A trial to restore defective human sperm centrosomal function.

Background: In human fertilization, sperm centrosome function is essential for male and female pronuclear movement and fusion. In this study, we investigated the possibility of restoring human sperm centrosomal function in sperm exhibiting abnormalities in microtubule organization.

Methods: Semen was obtained from both a fertile donor and a patient with dysplasia of the fibrous sheath (DFS).

Use of Mammalian eggs for assessment of human sperm function: molecular and cellular analyses of fertilization by intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Problems: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI ) has been described as the 'cure' for male sterility because a single sperm can now be directly introduced into an egg with some chance of pregnancy. While ICSI has revolutionized the practice of assisted reproductive techniques (ART), there are few molecular and cellular studies about its safety and efficacy. Even by using ICSI, fertilization in humans succeeds only if the sperm effectively accomplishes a number of tasks including 'post-ICSI events' in fertilization.

Cul-de-sac packing with a metreurynter in gasless laparoscopic cystectomy during pregnancy.

Gasless laparoscopic cystectomy was performed for a woman in the fifteenth week of pregnancy. An ovarian cyst that had been sinking behind the uterus appeared spontaneously after ballooning the metreurynter in the pouch of Douglas. This allowed extraperitoneal cystectomy, and the patient's subsequent antenatal course was uneventful.