Leptin-producing monocytes in the airway submucosa may contribute to asthma pathogenesis.

Background: Obesity leads to an increase in the incidence and severity of asthma. Adipokines, such as leptin, secreted by adipocytes induce systemic inflammation, causing airway inflammation. We previously reported that leptin activates both inflammatory and structural cells, including lung fibroblasts.

The Treatment and Prognosis of Older Tuberculosis Patients with a Poor Performance Status Caused by Underlying Diseases.

Objective The incidence of tuberculosis in Japan has been decreasing in the overall population but is increasing in older patients ≥90 years old. A poor performance status due to underlying diseases makes it difficult for patients with tuberculosis to receive standard oral treatment. However, there is no consensus concerning alternative treatments.

Efficacy and safety of isavuconazole against deep-seated mycoses: A phase 3, randomized, open-label study in Japan.

Objectives: Isavuconazole is a convenient triazole antifungal agent with a broad antifungal spectrum. A randomized, open-label study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471988) was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of isavuconazole in Japanese patients with deep-seated mycoses.

Immunoglobulin A promotes IL-6 and IL-8 production, proliferation, and migration by the human bronchial smooth muscle cells.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is important in biological defense, mainly in the mucosal area, and plays pathogenic roles in various diseases by activating both inflammatory and structural cells. The current study aimed to validate the effects of IgA on the human bronchial smooth muscle cell (BSMC), which plays a major role in airway inflammation and remodeling. Serum IgA induced interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 production at both mRNA and protein levels, and enhanced cell proliferation and migration by the BSMCs.

First-Line Pembrolizumab Monotherapy for Advanced NSCLC With Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Expression Greater Than or Equal to 50%: Real-World Study Including Older Patients in Japan.

Introduction: Pembrolizumab became available in Japan in February 2017 for first-line monotherapy of unresectable advanced and metastatic NSCLC with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score (TPS) greater than or equal to 50%. This retrospective chart review study aimed to describe real-world clinical outcomes of first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy, including for patients 75 years or older, who are under-represented in clinical trials.

Methods: We identified patients (≥20 y old) at 23 sites initiating first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy from July 1, 2017, to December 20, 2018, for stages IIIB, IIIC, and IV NSCLC with PD-L1 TPS greater than or equal to 50% and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 2 or unknown.

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike Antibody Titers and Neutralizing Antibodies in Vaccinated Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A serological test is used to assess the efficacy of vaccination. It has been reported that anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and neutralizing antibody (Ab) levels are lower following vaccination in patients with rheumatic disease.

Predicting systemic therapy toxicity in older adult patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A prospective multicenter study of National Hospital Organization in Japan.

Introduction: Previous studies have developed risk stratification schemas to assess systemic therapy toxicity. However, it is controversial which geriatric assessment variables should be used to assess the individual risk of severe treatment-associated toxicity in older adult patients.

Materials And Methods: Patients aged ≥70 years with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated at 24 National Hospital Organization institutions completed a pre-first-line systemic therapy assessment, including patient characteristics, treatment variables, laboratory test values, and geriatric assessment variables.

Evaluation of tuberculosis diagnostic biomarkers in immunocompromised hosts based on cytokine levels in QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious health concern globally. QuantiFERON-TB (QFT) is a diagnostic tool for TB detection, and its sensitivity is reduced in immunocompromised hosts with low T lymphocyte counts or abnormal T cell function. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between T cell and cytokine levels in patients with active TB using QFT-Plus.

Findings of Analyses of Basophil Functions May Help Us Better Understand Drug Desensitization.

Drug hypersensitivity can be an important problem during pharmacological management of various diseases. Patients diagnosed as having a drug allergy usually need to avoid the offending drug, either temporarily or for life. Another way of overcoming a drug allergy is to establish desensitization using the allergen drug itself.

Economic and clinical burden from carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections and factors contributing: a retrospective study using electronic medical records in Japan.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to global health and the world economy. The economic burden of carbapenem-resistant infections has not previously been evaluated. We aimed to compare the potential economic burden and clinical outcomes between carbapenem-resistant infections and carbapenem-susceptible infections in Japan.

Clinical variables, including novel joint index, associated with future patient-physician discordance in global assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity based on a large RA database in Japan.

Background: Discordance between patient global assessment (PGA) and physician global assessment (PhGA) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity is mainly determined by pain and functional disabilities. This study aimed to investigate the shift in PGA-PhGA discordance and the variables associated with future positive discordance (PGA > PhGA) based on the NinJa database in Japan.

Methods: We examined 7557 adults with RA registered in both NinJa 2014 and 2018, with a discordance cutoff of 3 on a 10-cm scale.

Predisposition of HLA-DRB1*04:01/*15 heterozygous genotypes to Japanese mixed connective tissue disease.

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a rare systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of anti-U1 ribonucleoprotein antibodies and systemic symptoms similar to those of some other autoimmune diseases. HLA-DRB1 polymorphisms are important genetic risk factors for MCTD, but precise associations of DRB1 genotypes with MCTD have not been reported in Japanese people. Genotyping of HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 was performed in Japanese MCTD patients (n = 116) and controls (n = 413).

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid, Spike, and Neutralizing Antibodies in Vaccinated Japanese.

Serological detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), and neutralizing antibodies (Abs) is commonly undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of vaccination. However, the relative efficiency of different SARS-CoV-2 Ab detection systems has not been extensively investigated. Here, we evaluated serological test systems in vaccinated Japanese.

Impact of lung cancer surgery on comorbid complex lung disease-A case series.

The number of cases with and lung diseases complex lung disease [MACLD are increasing globally. Lung cancer can sometimes present as a comorbidity with MACLD; however, the clinical presentation and outcomes of comorbid MACLD following lung cancer resection remain unclear. Therefore, we retrospectively assessed 17 patients with MACLD undergoing lung cancer resection to determine the impact of lung cancer surgery on comorbid MACLD.

Identification of ANXA2 on epithelial cells as a new receptor for secretory IgA using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry.

Secretory immunoglobulin A plays an important role in the protection against exogenous pathogens and antigens, but it has also been reported to have pathogenic potential. We previously found that secretory immunoglobulin A accumulated in the peripheral lungs during idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and that transferrin receptor/CD71 was partially involved in secretory immunoglobulin A-induced inflammatory cytokine production in A549 cells. This study aimed to identify the receptor responsible for the induction of cytokine production by secretory immunoglobulin A-stimulated airway epithelial cells.

Lack of Association of rs12702634 in With Interstitial Lung Diseases in Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is occasionally complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). A recent genome-wide association study of ILD in RA reported an association with the polymorphism rs12702634 in . We conducted an association study of this variant with ILD in Japanese RA patients to replicate this association.

Prospective multicenter survey for Nursing and Healthcare-associated Pneumonia in Japan.

Introduction: Nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia (NHCAP) was proposed by the Japanese Respiratory Society in 2011. However, the clinical characteristics of NHCAP are still unclear. Thus, this study aimed to clarify its clinical characteristics.

False-positive detection of IgM anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Possible effects of IgM or IgG rheumatoid factors on immunochromatographic assay results.

Objectives: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causes coronavirus disease 2019. A serological test is conducted to determine prior infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We investigated whether the results of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody tests are modified in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Association Between Systemic Corticosteroid Use and Mortality in Patients with Epiglottitis.

Objectives: To clarify whether treatment with systemic corticosteroids at a certain dose was associated with better outcomes in patients with epiglottitis requiring airway management (tracheotomy or airway intubation).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study on patients hospitalized for epiglottitis requiring airway management from a nationwide inpatient database (between July 2010 and March 2019). Patients treated with systemic corticosteroids equivalent to methylprednisolone ≥40 mg/d within 2 days of admission and patients who were not treated with corticosteroids within 2 days of admission were compared after inverse probability of treatment weighting using covariate balancing propensity score.

Integrated model for COVID-19 diagnosis based on computed tomography artificial intelligence, and clinical features: a multicenter cohort study.

Background: We developed and validated a machine learning diagnostic model for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, integrating artificial-intelligence-based computed tomography (CT) imaging and clinical features.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in 11 Japanese tertiary care facilities that treated COVID-19 patients. Participants were tested using both real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and chest CTs between January 1 and May 30, 2020.

Evaluation of cytokine levels in response to mitogen among HIV-1-infected blood cells and their relationships to the number of T cells.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection causes loss and anergy of CD4 and CD8 T cells, leading to opportunistic infections, including tuberculosis (TB). QuantiFERON®-TB (QFT) is used as a diagnostic tool to detect TB, but it exhibits limited accuracy among subjects with low CD4 T cell numbers, including HIV-1-infected individuals. The present study aimed to determine the effect of HIV-1 infection and patients' blood T cell numbers on cytokine production in response to mitogen (Mit) stimulation.

A Case of Iliopsoas Hematoma Caused by Prophylactic Anticoagulation against COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and prophylactic anticoagulation is recommended for the prevention of VTE in COVID-19 patients. We encountered a patient with COVID-19 who developed iliopsoas hematoma (IPH) that was likely caused by prophylactic anticoagulation against VTE; we report the case here because IPH is an important risk in rehabilitation treatment.

Case: The patient was a 73-year-old man with severe COVID-19 who received anticoagulation therapy from the time of admission (day 0).