Outcomes of Surgical Interrupted Aortic Arch Repair in 181 Patients With Biventricular Circulation.

Background: This study compared the outcomes of primary and staged surgery for interrupted aortic arch (IAA) with biventricular circulation.

Methods: A search of our surgical database identified 181 patients with biventricular anatomy who underwent surgical repair of IAA between 1982 and 2022. The patients were divided according to whether they underwent surgery in 1982 to 2001 or 2002 to 2022 and were categorized according to their anomalies into a simple group and a complex group.

Surgical Management of Norwood Procedure for Atypical Aortic Arch.

Postoperative restenosis of the aortic arch after the Norwood procedure is still an important complication that significantly affects surgical outcomes. The rarity of the Norwood procedure for atypical aortic morphology means appropriate arch reconstruction methods and postoperative complications are still unknown. This study aimed to assess the rate of arch reintervention and clinical outcomes after the Norwood procedure for atypical aortic arch.

Acute Dapagliflozin Administration Ameliorates Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury in a Rabbit Model.

Background:  Several studies have shown that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors have a renoprotective effect on acute kidney injury (AKI), but their effect on cardiac surgery-associated AKI is unknown.

Methods And Results:  AKI was induced in 25 rabbits without diabetes mellitus by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for 2 h and they were divided into 5 groups: sham; dapagliflozin-treated sham; CPB; dapagliflozin-treated CPB; and furosemide-treated CPB (n=5 in each group). Dapagliflozin was administered via the femoral vein before initiating CPB.

Using a survey, analyzing the current situation of allergic March in elementary and junior high school students of oyama and tochigi cities, Japan.

Background: Over the past few decades, allergic diseases have become more prevalent and impact around 20% of the global population. There is clinical significance of allergic march as it places a burden on the quality of life of children and their families.

Objectives: To assess the current situation of allergy conditions experienced by children attending elementary and junior high schools in Oyama and Tochigi cities, Japan.

Suppressed pediatric asthma hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, from a national survey.

Background: Acute asthma exacerbation in children is often caused by respiratory infections. In this study, a coordinated national surveillance system for acute asthma hospitalizations and causative respiratory infections was established. We herein report recent trends in pediatric acute asthma hospitalizations since the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Placental extract suppresses lipid droplet accumulation by autophagy during the differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells into mature adipocytes.

Objective: Placental extract, which contains various bioactive compounds, has been used as traditional medicine. Many studies have demonstrated additional applications of placental extract and provided a scientific basis for the broad spectrum of its effects. We have previously reported that porcine placental extract (PPE) strongly suppresses adipogenesis in a 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line, inhibiting differentiation.

Altered renin-angiotensin system gene expression in airways of antigen-challenged mice: ACE2 downregulation and unexpected increase in angiotensin 1-7.

Objective: Evidence suggest that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is activated in people with asthma, although its pathophysiological role is unclear. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the major enzyme that converts angiotensin II to angiotensin 1-7 (Ang-1-7), and is also known as a receptor of SARS-CoV-2. The current study was conducted to identify the change in RAS-related gene expression in airways of a murine asthma model.

Sutureless Repair of Extracardiac Univentricular Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the results of sutureless repair of extracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) with a functional single ventricle at a single institution, including changes in the anastomotic site over time.

Methods: The database contained 98 patients with single-ventricle anatomy who underwent extracardiac TAPVC repair from 1996 to 2022. The median age and body weight at surgery were 59 days and 3.

Pollen Food Allergy Syndrome in Japanese Children and Adolescents: Risk Factors and Pollen Sensitisation.

Pollen food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is caused by cross-reactivity with pollen; however, not all-pollen-sensitised individuals develop PFAS, and studies on the characteristics of PFAS development are limited in Japan. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors for the development of PFAS in Japanese children and adolescents sensitised to pollen and their association with pollen-specific IgE levels. The characteristics of PFAS were investigated in patients with allergies aged 3-18 years who visited Dokkyo Medical University Hospital between January 2016 and December 2019.

A lncRNA MALAT1 is a positive regulator of RhoA protein expression in bronchial smooth muscle cells.

Aims: Augmented smooth muscle contractility of the airways associated with an increased expression of RhoA, a monomeric GTPase responsible for Ca sensitization of contraction, is one of the causes of airway hyperresponsiveness. However, the mechanism of the altered properties of airway smooth muscle cells, including the RhoA upregulation, is not fully understood. This study aims to define functional role of a long non-coding RNA MALAT1 in the RhoA expression and development of bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) hyper-contractility.

Downregulation of Sparc-like protein 1 during cisplatin-induced inhibition of myogenic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts.

Patients with cancer often experience muscle atrophy, which worsens their prognosis. Decreased muscle regenerative capacity plays an important role in the complex processes involved in muscle atrophy. Administration of cisplatin, a cancer chemotherapeutic agent, has been implicated as a cause of muscle atrophy.

An improved method to assess skeletal muscle mass in patients with liver cirrhosis based on computed tomography images.

Aim: Conventionally, the skeletal muscle area with computed tomography (CT) attenuation ranging from -29 to +150 Hounsfield unit (HU) divided by height squared (the conventional skeletal muscle index [SMI]) was used as an index of skeletal muscle mass. However, it includes fat-infiltrated skeletal muscle, which is known to have poor function. This study aims to determine whether the low-fat SMI, which uses skeletal muscle mass with CT attenuation ranging from +30 to +150 HU, or conventional SMI appropriately reflects the function of skeletal muscle.

COL8A1 facilitates the growth of triple-negative breast cancer via FAK/Src activation.

Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive breast cancer subtypes, and treatment options are limited because of the lack of signature molecules and heterogeneous properties of cancer. COL8A1 expression is higher in breast cancer than in normal tissues and is strongly correlated with worse overall survival in patients with breast cancer. However, the biological function of COL8A1 on cancer progression is not fully understood.

Obesity and myosteatosis: the two characteristics of dynapenia in patients with cirrhosis.

Objective: In patients with liver cirrhosis, the clinical characteristics of dynapenia, a condition in which skeletal muscle mass is maintained but muscle strength is reduced, are not yet known. This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of dynapenia and its impact on quality of life (QOL) in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 116 patients with cirrhosis.

Ascending aortic extension to enlarge the retroaortic space in children after the Norwood procedure.

Left pulmonary artery stenosis is a well-recognized complication following the Norwood procedure. We herein report two cases in which ascending aortic extension was performed to enlarge the retroaortic space in children with left pulmonary artery stenosis after the Norwood procedure. We used graft interposition in the ascending aorta to increase the retroaortic apace and concomitantly performed extended left pulmonary artery reconstruction.

Down-regulation of miR-140-3p is a cause of the interlukin-13-induced up-regulation of RhoA protein in bronchial smooth muscle cells.

The current study aimed to determine the role of a microRNA (miRNA), miR-140-3p, in the control of RhoA expression in bronchial smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). In cultured human BSMCs, incubation with interleukin-13 (IL-13) caused an up-regulation of RhoA protein concurrently with a down-regulation of miR-140-3p. Transfection of the cells with a miR-140-3p inhibitor caused an increase in basal RhoA protein level.

Fossil decapods from the Upper Quaternary in Shinjima Island in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan, and description of a new species of ghost shrimp (Axiidea, Eucalliacidae).

Five species of decapod crustaceans, including Calliax nishiki sp. nov. (Axiidea, Eucalliacidae) and Carcinoplax longimana (de Haan), are described from the upper part of the Moeshima Silt Bed (latest Pleistocene to Holocene: ca 13,000 to 8,000 cal BP).