Beneficial effects of time-restricted feeding on gentamicin cytotoxicity in mouse cochlea and vestibular organs.

Objective: Time restricted feeding (TRF), which is an intermittent fasting protocol, has been reported to decrease the toxicity and mortality rate associated with systemic gentamicin (GM) administration. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of TRF on GM-induced vestibular and auditory function in mice.

Methods: Japan Central Laboratory for Experimental Animals:Institute of Cancer Research (Jcl:ICR) mice were housed in a light-dark (LD) cycle (12:12) and were divided into three groups: (1) GM treatment at a dose of 220 mg/kg with TRF (feeding time: 8 h [9:00-17:00] during the light phase [7:00-19:00]) (GM + TRF group), (2) GM treatment at a dose of 220 mg/kg without TRF (GM group), and (3) saline injection with TRF (NS + TRF group).

Sudden bilateral hearing loss after vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials.

This case report presents bilateral hearing loss after vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) testing. The loud acoustic stimulus used in VEMP testing can cause noise-induced hearing loss in some cases with high sensitivity to noise exposure or by exceeding individual cochlear safety thresholds.

Singleton pregnancy outcomes after assisted and non-assisted reproductive technology in infertile patients.

Purpose: Singleton pregnancy after assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been associated with higher risks of adverse pregnancy outcome than naturally conceived singleton pregnancy. This study was to elucidate whether the ART procedure is responsible for abnormal pregnancy outcome comparing those after ART and non-ART in infertile patients.

Methods: We compare the singleton pregnancy outcome of infertile patients in our university hospital between 2000 and 2008 following ART (351 pregnancies) and non-ART (213 pregnancies) procedures.

Recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (follitropin alfa) versus purified urinary follicle-stimulating hormone in a low-dose step-up regimen to induce ovulation in Japanese women with anti-estrogen-ineffective oligo- or anovulatory infertility: results of a single-blind Phase III study.

Purpose: We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (follitropin alfa) and purified urinary human follicle-stimulating hormone (urofollitropin) for ovulation induction in Japanese women with anovulatory infertility;also to verify the noninferiority (in terms of ovulation rate) of follitropin alfa versus urofollitropin.

Methods: In a Phase III, multicenter, single-blind, parallel-group study, we enrolled 265 Japanese women aged 20-39 years. The patients were menstruating without apparent ovulation or were amenorrheic (with a positive progestin challenge test), and had failed to conceive with anti-estrogen ovulation-induction therapy.

Recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (follitropin alfa) for ovulation induction in Japanese patients with anti-estrogen-ineffective oligo- or anovulatory infertility: results of a phase II dose-response study.

Purpose: To determine the optimal regimen of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (r-hFSH) for ovulation induction (OI) in Japanese women with amenorrhea I or anovulatory infertility.

Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, dose-finding study, women aged 20-39 years were enrolled. Patients underwent a chronic low-dose step-up regimen with starting doses of r-hFSH of 37.

Current concepts of the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a disease that causes the health of women of reproductive age to deteriorate. The implantation theory is the most widely accepted pathogenesis of the disease, although many points remain poorly understood concerning this theory. According to this theory, regurgitated endometrial debris has to go through various sequential events for the disease to develop.

Predictive factors of successful pregnancy after assisted reproductive technology in women aged 40 years and older.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the factors that predict successful pregnancy (live birth) in assisted reproductive technology (ART) for infertile women aged 40 and older.

Methods: Patients who underwent first ART treatments at the age of 40 and older at our institution were enrolled. Several factors which can be evaluated before the first treatments were retrospectively compared among those patients who did and did not achieve live birth.

Hypopharyngeal small cell carcinoma: a case report.

We report a 67-year-old woman with small cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx, a very rare entity with few reports. Our treatment consisted of carboplatin (CBDCA) and etoposide (VP-16) in the same way as small cell carcinoma of the lung is treated. This achieved a complete response.

Prediction of canal paresis using head-shaking nystagmus test.

Objective: To compare the incidence of head-shaking nystagmus (HSN) with the value of canal paresis (CP) obtained from a caloric test and to propose the optimal value of CP that can be predicted by the presence of HSN.

Material And Methods: HSN and caloric tests, together with other vestibular tests, were performed in 132 dizzy patients. HSN was recorded using electronystagmography with Frenzel's glasses.

Expression pattern of vascular endothelial growth factor-C in human colorectal normal mucosa and neoplastic mucosa.

Background/aims: Vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) is a potent growth factor stimulating lymphangiogenesis.

Methodology: We examined the expression of VEGF-C immunohistochemically in neoplastic as well as normal mucosa of colorectal tissues, and evaluated the significance of VEGF-C in colorectal carcinogenesis and as a marker to predict the outcome of colorectal cancer.

Results: VEGF-C was strongly stained in 70/79 adenomas (89%), but the staining was focal in all cases, and the expression pattern in adenomas was not significantly related to either dysplasia or size of the adenoma.

Constitutive activation of proto-oncogen protein p21 induces cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase in contact-inhibited vascular endothelial cells.

In an attempt to find a strategy to modulate the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells, we examined whether constitutive activation of proto-oncogen protein p21 (Ras) induced the reentry of confluent human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) into the S phase. When an adenovirus construct expressing a constitutively active Ras mutant (Ad/RasG12V) was infected into HUVECs, their morphology changed strikingly and they appeared to be transformed. However, Ad/RasG12V-infected HUVECs did not enter the S phase, as determined by assessing 3H-thymidine incorporation.

Cerebral metabolism of nitric oxide during retrograde cerebral perfusion.

The aim of this study was to determine whether alpha- or pH-stat protects the brain during deep hypothermic retrograde cerebral perfusion. Fifteen anesthetized dogs on cardiopulmonary bypass were cooled to 18 degrees C under alpha-stat and underwent retrograde cerebral perfusion for 90 minutes under alpha-stat or pH-stat, or underwent antegrade cardiopulmonary bypass under alpha-stat as the control. Cerebral blood flow of the cortex was monitored and serial analyses of blood gases and total nitric oxide oxidation products made.

Comparison of duration of deafness and tumour invasion to the inner ear from metastatic tumours of the internal auditory canal: human temporal bone pathology.

Four cases (seven ears) of metastatic tumour of the internal auditory canal were studied. The histopathological findings confirmed that the inner ear invasion of the tumour follows a unique course, as reported in the literature. Relationship between duration of deafness and extent of tumour invasion in the inner ear is discussed.

[beta-amyloidogenesis].

How and when does amyloid beta-protein accumulate in the brain? We sought to learn about when and how amyloid beta-protein (A beta) accumulates in the cortex of normal individuals and about the difference in the A beta accumulation between normal aged and Alzheimer's disease brains. From consecutive autopsy cases (n = 76; age range: 24-92 years) and confirmed Alzheimer's disease cases (n = 7; age range: 60-79 years), hippocampus CA1 and occipitotemporal cortex T4 were sampled for A beta quantitation. The A beta 42 level increased steeply from age 50 to age 70 years in T4 and a little later in CA1.

The molecular mechanism of organelle transport along microtubules: the identification and characterization of KIFs (kinesin superfamily proteins).

In the cells various kinds of organelles are transported and distributed to their proper destinations in the cell. Organelle transports are very important for cellular morphogenesis and functions, with the conveying and targeting of essential materials to their correct destination being conducted, often at considerable velocities. Recently we have identified at least 10 new microtubule-associated motor proteins named as KIFs (kinesin superfamily proteins).

HLA-B27 subtypes in Japanese with seronegative spondyloarthropathies and healthy controls.

Objective: To determine HLA-B27 subtype frequencies in Japanese patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA) and healthy controls.

Methods: We determined HLA-B27 subtypes of 20 Japanese patients with ankylosing spondylitis and one with Reiter's syndrome, and 11 healthy Japanese individuals using a polymerase chain reaction sequence specific oligonucleotide hybridization method specifically designed for the discrimination of B*2701-09.

Results: 14 of 21 (67%) patients and 9 of 11 (82%) controls were typed as B*2704.

[Nocturnal pulmonary hypertension in an elderly patient with sleep apnea syndrome].

We report a case of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) with nocturnal pulmonary hypertension (NPH) in a 71-year-old man suffering from dyspnea during sleep. Severe snoring at night and daytime sleepiness were noticed before admission by his wife. Nocturnal oxygen desaturation (NOD) was documented with a pulse oximeter and severe sleep apnea syndrome was diagnosed on the basis of results of respiratory inductive plethysmography, an apnea index (AI) > 20, minimum SpO2 56%.

Abnormal gene product identified in Huntington's disease lymphocytes and brain.

Huntington's disease(HD) is associated with expansion of an unstable CAG repeat. Using antibodies against the synthetic peptide corresponding to the sequence of HD gene IT15, we have identified the HD gene product in normal lymphocytes as a approximately 350kDa protein by immunoblot analysis. Moreover, when a modified SDS-PAGE using a low concentration of methylenbisacrylamide was run longer, abnormal immunoreactive bands larger than normal ones were found exclusively in HD samples.

Down-regulation of vascular adhesion molecule-1 by fluid shear stress in cultured mouse endothelial cells.

This study was undertaken to determine whether blood flow modulates the adhesive property of vascular endothelial cells to lymphocytes and, if it does, what adhesion molecules are involved. Cultured mouse endothelial cells were exposed to medium flow in a parallel plate chamber, and binding assay using fluorescence-labeled lymphocytes was carried out. The adhesion rate of endothelial cells to lymphocytes, which was high in the static control state, decreased when exposed to shear stress (1.

Temporary latency shifts in auditory evoked potentials by injection of lidocaine in the rat.

Temporary latency shifts in auditory evoked potentials by intravenous injection of lidocaine were investigated in albino rats. Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were recorded with 4000Hz short tone bursts. There was no significant difference of latencies in wave Pl of the ABR between drug-administered group (6 mg/kg body weight of lidocaine) and control group (0.

[Two elderly cases with acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia].

We studied two cases of the elderly with acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia to elucidate a prognostic role of super oxide generation in peripheral whole blood. The first case was a 70-year-old man, who presented with acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia and was hospitalized. Following steroid-pulse therapy, CRP, ESR, blood-gas and his physical condition improved, resulting in successful discharge.

[Anesthetic management of a patient with Alzheimer's disease].

We gave anesthesia to a 60-year-old female patient in stage III (end stage) of Alzheimer's disease for sigmoidectomy. She had myoclonus and parkinsonism and it was not possible to communicate with her verbally. After induction of anesthesia with thiopental, she had a catheter inserted into epidural space.

[Clinical application of new cytokines].

Recent progress of molecular biology and gene technology has developed a novel approach of clinical treatment. Several recombinant cytokines are already applied to clinical field. In this symposium, I introduced clinical application of some cytokines including GM-CSF, interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-3.