Usefulness of mirtazapine and SSRIs in late-life depression: post hoc analysis of the GUNDAM study.

Objective: Mirtazapine and SSRIs are widely prescribed as first-line agents for late-life depression. However, evidence for these drugs is mostly based on non-elderly patients. Therefore, we reanalyzed a randomized controlled trial of mirtazapine versus SSRIs for depression in a sub-population of late-life patients.

Six-month safety and effectiveness of tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Japan: Interim analysis of post-marketing surveillance.

Objectives: We evaluated the real-world safety/effectiveness of tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in patients with RA in Japan registered in a post-marketing surveillance study.

Methods: This interim analysis included data from July 2013 to December 2018. Adverse events (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI)/Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)/Disease Activity Score in 28 joints, erythrocyte sedimentation rate [DAS28-4(ESR)] scores, and rates of SDAI/CDAI/DAS28-4(ESR)-defined remission and low disease activity were analysed using 6 months of data.

Treatment strategy for late-life depression.

With the unprecedented aging of the world's population, the number of elderly patients with depression is expected to increase. However, management and treatment of late-life depression (LLD) is more difficult than in early adults. Prior to treatment, diagnosis must take into account the differentiation from, and comorbidity with, organic brain diseases such as dementia and delirium, as well as depression caused by other physical diseases or medications.

Development and acceptability of a decision aid for major depressive disorder considering discontinuation of antidepressant treatment after remission.

Aim: While evidence-based antidepressant treatment is available for major depressive disorder, standard approaches for discontinuation of antidepressants after remission have not yet been established. Decision aids are structured clinical tools that facilitate shared decision-making between patients and healthcare providers. This study aimed to describe the development process and acceptability of decision aids for major depressive disorder following discontinuation of antidepressant treatment after remission.

A multicentre study of clinical features and HLA typing in Japanese patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Objectives: Due to the low prevalence of HLA-B27 and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Japan, rheumatologists have little experience with AS. We conducted a multicentre study to identify the characteristics and frequency of HLA-B types.

Methods: We analysed epidemiological and clinical data, blood tests, spine radiographs, and HLA-B types in Japanese AS patients.

A three-generation Muckle-Wells syndrome family: Detailed family history, physical examination, and inter-departmental collaboration.

Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) is a rare inherited autoinflammatory disease caused by gain-of-function mutations in the NLRP3 gene, with a genotype-phenotype correlation. The clinical presentation of each mutation has been previously studied. However, very few studies have reported on the clinical characteristics and treatment effectiveness across different generations within a family with the same mutation.

Prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese men: a meta-analysis.

Introduction: Perinatal depression is a widely discussed mental illness that occurs not only in women, but also in men. A previous international meta-analysis of the prevalence of paternal perinatal depression suggested that cross-cultural variables or socioeconomic environment may influence paternal depression. However, it is not clear that these data are general enough to apply to Japanese men, and there are few review articles about perinatal depression among this demographic.

Prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women: a meta-analysis.

Background: Perinatal depression is one of the important mental illnesses among women. However, not enough reviews have been done, and a certain consensus has not been obtained about the prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women. The purpose of our study is to reveal the reliable estimates about the prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women.

Relationship between characteristics of spinopelvic alignment and quality of life in Japanese patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Studies on characteristic spinal deformities in Japanese patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and data demonstrating a relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and spinopelvic alignment in these patients are lacking.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 50 patients with AS and without a surgical history, vertebral body fracture, or scoliosis as well as 30 control patients with degenerative lumbar kyphoscoliosis (DLKS) were included. Data collected included patient sex, age, spinopelvic parameters on sagittal full-spine standing radiographs, and HRQOL questionnaire responses.

Serum levels and mutual correlations of amyloid β in patients with depression.

Aim: Epidemiological studies have shown that depression is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the biological mechanism underlying the link between depression and AD is unclear, altered amyloid β (Aβ) metabolism in patients with depression has been suggested as a potential mechanism. Results from previous studies of Aβ metabolism in patients with depression have been inconsistent, and Aβ polymerization, which is a crucial process in AD pathology, has not previously been assessed.

Serum levels of TDP-43 in late-life patients with depressive episode.

Background: Recent reports have suggested a relationship between affective disorder including depression and bipolar disorder (BP) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). TAR DNA binding protein (TDP) -43 is a protein found in the brain and peripheral fluid of patients with FTD. To examine a possible association between affective disorders and FTD, serum levels of TDP-43 were evaluated in late-life patients with major depressive episode (MDE).

Difference in immunohistochemical characteristics between Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis: It may be better to distinguish them in the same age.

This study aimed to compare Takayasu arteritis (TAK) with giant cell arteritis (GCA) through immunohistochemistry principally of inflammatory cells; these two disorders may be on the spectrum within a single disease state. Nine TAK and 5 GCA surgically resected vessel specimens were selected. TAK specimen was divided into each three acute-, chronic-, and healed-phase samples based on intimal and adventitial thickening.

HLA-B46 is associated with severe sacroiliitis in Japanese patients with psoriatic arthritis.

The aim of the present study was to determine if the HLA phenotype is related to severe sacroiliitis in Japanese patients with psoriatic arthritis. This study was a single-center, retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study. We reviewed the clinical information and radiologic examinations of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who visited our hospital from January 2011 to December 2016.

Efficacy and safety of secukinumab in Japanese patients with active ankylosing spondylitis: 24-week results from an open-label phase 3 study (MEASURE 2-J).

Secukinumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes interleukin-17A, improved the signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in three Phase 3 global studies (MEASURE 1, 2, and 3). Here, we describe the efficacy and safety results through Week 24 of a study of secukinumab in Japanese patients with active AS. In this multicenter, open-label, single arm, 52-week study, 30 AS patients self-administered secukinumab 150 mg subcutaneously at baseline, Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4, and every 4 weeks thereafter.

Isolated nigral degeneration without pathological protein aggregation in autopsied brains with LRRK2 p.R1441H homozygous and heterozygous mutations.

Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is the most common causative gene for autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD) and is also known to be a susceptibility gene for sporadic PD. Although clinical symptoms with LRRK2 mutations are similar to those in sporadic PD, their pathologies are heterogeneous and include nigral degeneration with abnormal inclusions containing alpha-synuclein, tau, TAR DNA-binding protein 43, and ubiquitin, or pure nigral degeneration with no protein aggregation pathologies. We discovered two families harboring heterozygous and homozygous c.