Long-term effects of ipragliflozin and pioglitazone on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: 5 year observational follow-up of a randomized, 24 week, active-controlled trial: Effect of ipragliflozin in MASLD.

Aims/introduction: We conducted a 5 year post-trial monitoring study of our previous randomized 24 week, open-label, active-controlled trial that showed beneficial effects of ipragliflozin on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), identical to those of pioglitazone.

Materials And Methods: In our previous trial, 66 patients with MASLD and type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to receive either ipragliflozin (n = 32) or pioglitazone (n = 34). Upon its conclusion, 61 patients were monitored for 5 years for outcome measures of MASLD, glycemic, and metabolic parameters.

Encapsulating Peritoneal Sclerosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Systemic Sclerosis.

We encountered a 57-year-old Japanese woman with encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and systemic sclerosis. The patient was admitted to our hospital because of ascites retention. Administration of tocilizumab, an anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody, for her RA reduced the refractory ascites remarkably; however, she developed sudden acute gastrointestinal bleeding and died a year later.

Arm heating to relieve Raynaud's phenomenon in systemic sclerosis: A single-arm multicentre prospective clinical trial.

Objectives: Raynaud's phenomenon, one of the major symptoms of systemic sclerosis (SSc), is difficult to treat. Although it is empirically considered that warming is a beneficial technique, there is no supportive evidence. We conducted a multicentre study to evaluate whether continuous heating of the arm alleviates Raynaud's phenomenon in SSc.

Effects of Dapagliflozin Compared with Sitagliptin and Metformin in Drug-Naïve Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A 12-Week, Open-Label, Randomized, Active-Controlled Trial.

Introduction: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of dapagliflozin with those of sitagliptin and metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes who have never received glucose-lowering agents.

Methods: In this randomized, 12-week, open-label, active-controlled trial, 32 patients were randomly assigned to receive dapagliflozin 5 mg, sitagliptin 50 mg, or metformin 1000 mg per day for 12 weeks. At baseline and at week 12, the patients underwent a meal tolerance test (MTT).

Long-Term Effects of Ipragliflozin on Diabetic Nephropathy and Blood Pressure in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: 104-Week Follow-up of an Open-Label Study.

Background: In our previous study, we investigated the efficacy of ipragliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 2 inhibitor on diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes and demonstrated that ipragliflozin significantly improved diabetic nephropathy in addition to reducing HbA1c and body weight. Herein, we conducted post-trial monitoring to determine whether these lowering effects on blood glucose and body weight or the beneficial effects on diabetic nephropathy were maintained long-term (104 weeks) after starting ipragliflozin treatment.

Methods: Initially, during a 24-week interventional trial period, a 50 mg dose of ipragliflozin was administered to 50 patients with type 2 diabetes without changing other treatments.

Comparison of Ipragliflozin and Pioglitazone Effects on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, 24-Week, Open-Label, Active-Controlled Trial.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of ipragliflozin versus pioglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes complicated by nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Research Design And Methods: In this open-label, randomized, active-controlled trial, we randomly assigned 66 patients with type 2 diabetes and NAFLD to receive ipragliflozin 50 mg ( = 32) or pioglitazone 15-30 mg ( = 34) orally once daily. The primary outcome was a change from baseline in the liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio (L/S ratio) on computed tomography at week 24.

Detection of synovial inflammation in rheumatic diseases using superb microvascular imaging: Comparison with conventional power Doppler imaging.

Aim: Superb microvascular imaging (SMI), a novel ultrasonography, is based on the sensitivity of Doppler technology. This study evaluated power Doppler (PD) ultrasound signals in patients with rheumatic disease using SMI and conventional PD imaging (cPDI) and compared the correlations of these signals to clinical assessments.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients with rheumatic disease (27 rheumatoid arthritis [RA] and 12 non-RA) were enrolled.

Effects of Ipragliflozin on Diabetic Nephropathy and Blood Pressure in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: An Open-Label Study.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are novel agents used to treat type 2 diabetic patients. We investigated the efficacy of the SGLT2 inhibitor ipragliflozin on diabetic nephropathy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A 50 mg dose of ipragliflozin was administered for 24 weeks to 50 patients with type 2 diabetes who were concomitantly managed with diet and exercise therapy alone or antidiabetic medications other than SGLT2 inhibitors.

A Case of Abdominal Aortic Retroperitoneal and Mesenteric Amyloid Light Chain Amyloidoma.

We report the case of a Japanese woman with amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidoma in the abdominal aortic retroperitoneum and mesentery. Irregular soft tissue mass lesions with calcification in the abdominal aortic retroperitoneum and mesentery were initially detected by computed tomography at another hospital. The lesions gradually compressed the duodenum, causing symptoms of bowel obstruction.

Efficacy and Clinical Characteristics of Liraglutide in Japanese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Liraglutide was first released in Japan as a long-acting once-daily glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. The maximum dose in Japan is 0.9 mg/day, which is half of that used in the United States and the European Union (1.

The efficacy of vildagliptin concomitant with insulin therapy in type 2 diabetic subjects.

Background: In Japan, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitors have become standard therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes, and numbers of patients receiving insulin therapy combined with DPP4 inhibitors, which is a highly effective regimen, are increasing.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of vildagliptin administered at the dose of 100 mg twice daily in 57 patients with type 2 diabetes already receiving insulin treatment.

Results: The 36 patients who simply received add-on vildagliptin showed a 0.

[Use of StyletScope in a patient with airway injury].

A forty-year old man hanged himself and was transported to our hospital. On arrival his consciousness was clear but he showed dyspnea, dysphagia, and oral bleeding. Tracheal intubation was attempted but was failed and emergency tracheostomy was successfully accomplished.

Relationship between the three-dimensional structure of the human plantar epidermis and the dermoscopic patterns seen in melanocytic nevi.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate the relationship between the distribution of the dermoscopic patterns seen in plantar melanocytic nevi and the 3-dimensional structures of the epidermis.

Methods: The precise locations of 69 melanocytic nevi on the sole and the border areas were investigated, with attention paid to each dermoscopic pattern. In addition, the basal surfaces of the plantar epidermis from 14 anatomical areas were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Correspondence between dermoscopic features and epidermal structures revealed by scanning electron microscope.

It is already known that some typical dermoscopic patterns seen in melanocytic nevi on the sole have their own favorite site. In the weight-bearing area, melanocytic nevi with a parallel furrow pattern were preferentially observed. Those with a lattice-like pattern were observed in the arch area, whereas those with a crista reticulated pattern were seen in the border area.

Intensified consolidation therapy with dose-escalated doxorubicin did not improve the prognosis of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: the JALSG-ALL97 study.

We designed a treatment protocol for newly diagnosed adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the pre-imatinib era, employing intensified consolidation therapy with a total of 330 mg/m² doxorubicin and adopting slightly modified induction and maintenance regimen of the CALGB 8811 study. Of 404 eligible patients (median age 38 years, range 15-64 years), 298 (74%) achieved complete remission (CR). The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 32%, and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 33%.

[Diabetic osteopahty and vitamin K].

Diabetes mellitus is considered as a risk factor for fractures, and there are some reports showing that metabolic effects of poor glycemic control resulted in lower bone turnover. Previous studies have revealed that this reduction of bone turnover increases bone fragility, independently of bone mineral density, so that the mechanisms of diabetic osteopahty seem to be more closely related to bone quality than bone quantity. The mechanisms of the preventive effect on fractures by vitamin K treatment should be related to amelioration of bone quality via increasing amounts of carboxylated osteocalcin.

Successful treatment with imatinib mesylate in a case of minor BCR-ABL-positive acute myelogenous leukemia.

Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a rare disease that is resistant to conventional antitumor chemotherapy and has a poor prognosis. We describe a case of Ph chromosome-positive AML in which imatinib mesylate was used and a favorable outcome was obtained.A 64-year-old man was found to have Ph chromosome-positive, minor BCR-ABL-positive AML.

Re-evaluation of secondary amenorrheic patients one year after initial diagnosis: a prospective study.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to re-evaluate women with secondary amenorrhea one year after the first visit evaluation.

Study Methods: One hundred and seventy-five women with secondary amenorrhea were evaluated on the first visit. Their ages ranged from 18 to 29.

[Lymph node and peritoneum metastases of bile duct cancer responding to chronochemotherapy--a case report].

A 68-year-old man underwent curative pancreaticoduodenectomy for bile duct cancer. The histological diagnosis was well differentiated, invasive type tubular adenocarcinoma, which was 2 x 2 cm in size and had invaded to the adventitia. Lymph node metastasis was not present.

Uterine cervix metastasis from rectal carcinoma: a case report and a review of the literature.

A 59-year-old woman underwent a radical hysterectomy for a metastatic uterine cervix tumor caused by rectal carcinoma, which had been previously resected. Metastatic carcinoma from the large bowel to the uterus is rare. A total of 48 patients (including nine Japanese patients) with metastasis from the large bowel to the uterus were reviewed.

[Exostosis of the external auditory canal and sensorineural hearing loss in professional divers].

Audiometric survey and endoscopic study of the external auditory canal were performed on a group of 31 professional divers, all of whom had experienced frequent exposure to dysbaric conditions. The results are as follows. 1) Over 40% had exostosis of the external auditory canal.

[Effects of age on blood pressure, heart rate, and sensory blockade by spinal anesthesia with plain 0.5% bupivacaine].

To discover the influence of age on spinal blockade with plain bupivacaine, 23 patients were administered a subarachnoid injection of approximately 4.0 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine.

Serum or urinary concentration of type IV collagen in diabetics.

Concentrations of serum or urinary type IV collagen, determined by sandwich enzyme immunoassay, were significantly elevated in diabetics compared to controls (P less than .01). Serum or urinary levels of type IV collagen were significantly increased in patients with microangiopathy compared to those without microvascular disease (P less than .