Sorafenib-Regorafenib Sequential Therapy in Japanese Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Relative Dose Intensity and Post-Regorafenib Therapies in Real World Practice.

Background: We aimed to explore the relative dose intensity (RDI) and post-regorafenib treatments in regorafenib therapy.

Methods: The medical records of 38 patients treated with regorafenib between July 2017 and June 2019 at our institution were collected. The RDI of regorafenib for the first month (1M-RDI) was calculated.

Lateralizing Asymmetry of Adrenal Imaging and Adrenal Vein Sampling in Patients With Primary Aldosteronism.

Context: In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), it remains unclear whether aldosterone-producing adenomas are likely to develop in the left or right adrenal gland.

Objective: To investigate left-right differences of PA laterality diagnoses via CT imaging and adrenal vein sampling (AVS).

Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Impact of transcatheter aortic valve replacement on hemodynamic status in patients with aortic stenosis and mitral stenosis: Doppler echocardiographic study.

Background: Mitral stenosis (MS) is often concomitant with aortic stenosis (AS). However, little is known about the functional status following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) alone in patients with severe AS and MS and the impact of TAVR for AS on MS hemodynamics.

Methods: We enrolled 11 patients (age 83.

Nicotinic receptor dependent regulation of cough and other airway defensive reflexes.

Nicotinic receptor activation in the airways evokes airway defensive reflexes including cough. These reflexes are the direct result of bronchopulmonary afferent nerve activation, which may occur directly, through activation of nicotinic receptors expressed on the terminals of airway sensory nerves, or indirectly, secondary to the end organ effects associated with autonomic nerve stimulation. The irritating effects of nicotine delivered topically to the airways are counterbalanced by an inhibitory effect of nicotinic receptor activation in the central nervous system.

The hepatic capsular arteries: imaging features and clinical significance.

Background: Although the anatomical features of the hepatic capsular arteries have been previously reported, the radiological and clinical importance of these arteries has not been well documented.

Imaging Findings: We injected barium sulfate into the intra- and extra-hepatic arteries in cadavers to investigate the hepatic capsular arteries. The web-like hepatic capsular arteries derived from the capsular branch of the peripheral hepatic arteries are called isolated arteries.

Oral activity of the antimalarial endoperoxide 6-(1,2,6,7-tetraoxaspiro[7.11]nonadec-4-yl)hexan-1-ol (N-251) against Leishmania donovani complex.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a major problem worldwide and causes significant morbidity and mortality. Existing drugs against VL have limitations, including their invasive means of administration long duration of treatment regimens. There are also concerns regarding increasing treatment relapses as well as the identification of resistant clinical strains with the use of miltefosine, the sole oral drug for VL.

suppression during the murine fetal period optimizes ovarian development by fine-tuning Notch signaling.

The nuclear receptor NR5A1 is equally expressed and required for development of the gonadal primordia of both sexes, but, after sex determination, it is upregulated in XY testes and downregulated in XX ovaries. We have recently demonstrated, in mice, that this downregulation is mediated by forkhead box L2 (FOXL2) and hypothesized that adequate suppression of is essential for normal ovarian development. Further, analysis of human patients with disorders/differences of sex development suggests that overexpression of can result in XX (ovo)testicular development.

Comparison of Rosuvastatin Versus Atorvastatin for Coronary Plaque Stabilization.

Statins are widely used to lower cholesterol and to reduce cardiovascular events. Whether all statins have similar effects on plaque stabilization is unknown. We aimed to investigate coronary plaque response to treatment with different statins that result in similar lipid reduction using serial multimodality intracoronary imaging.

A small-molecule ligand of valosin-containing protein/p97 inhibits cancer cell-accelerated fibroblast migration.

Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts are fibroblasts activated by surrounding cancer cells. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts exhibit enhanced cell migration, which plays an important role in cancer metastasis. Previously, we demonstrated enhanced migration of NIH3T3 fibroblasts when they were cultured in the presence of MCF7 breast cancer cells.

Effects of chocolate containing strain NTM048 on immune function: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Previous reports showed that oral administration of strain NTM048 increases IgA levels and CD4+ T cell population in feces and mice, respectively, as revealed by flow cytometric analysis of splenocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chocolate supplemented with strain NTM048 (> 1.00 × 10 CFU/day, NTM048) on the immune parameters of healthy subjects, using a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study design.

Patterns of adenoid and tonsil growth in Japanese children and adolescents: A longitudinal study.

Lymphoid tissues, such as adenoids (Ad) and tonsils (Tn), are suggested to undergo hypertrophy during childhood and involution in adulthood. Enlargement of Ad and Tn can cause transient obstruction of the respiratory airways, thus inducing obstructive sleep apnoea. To date, the standard Ad and Tn sizes have not been reported, and there are no explicit objective criteria for evaluating their sizes or deducing whether they have enlarged, reduced, or remained constant over time.

Symptom Perception, Evaluation, Response to Symptom, and Delayed Care Seeking in Patients With Acute Heart Failure: An Observational Study.

Background: Exacerbation of heart failure (HF) requires early intervention to prevent hospital admission and to reduce mortality. Early care seeking requires that patients perceive symptoms, accurately evaluate perceived symptoms, and respond appropriately. How perception, evaluation, and response to symptoms are associated with delay in seeking care for worsening symptoms has rarely been studied.

Three-year safety and two-year effectiveness of etanercept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Japan: Results of long-term postmarketing surveillance.

To evaluate the real-world safety and effectiveness of etanercept (ETN) in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This postmarketing surveillance study (NCT00503139) assessed the safety and effectiveness of ETN treatment over 3 and 2 years (from June 2007 to September 2011), respectively. Safety was evaluated by occurrence and seriousness of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and of adverse events (AEs) for malignancies.

NQO1 inhibits the TLR-dependent production of selective cytokines by promoting IκB-ζ degradation.

NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) protects cells against oxidative stress and toxic quinones. In this study, we found a novel role of NQO1 in suppressing Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated innate immune responses. NQO1-deficient macrophages selectively produced excessive amounts of IL-6, IL-12, and GM-CSF on LPS stimulation, and the deletion of NQO1 in macrophages exacerbated LPS-induced septic shock.

The Occurrence of Apparent Bilateral Aldosterone Suppression in Adrenal Vein Sampling for Primary Aldosteronism.

Context: In adrenal venous sampling (AVS) for patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), apparent bilateral aldosterone suppression (ABAS), defined as lower aldosterone/cortisol ratios in the bilateral adrenal veins than that in the inferior vena cava, is occasionally experienced. ABAS is uninterpretable with respect to lateralization of excess aldosterone production. We previously reported that ABAS was not a rare phenomenon and was significantly reduced after adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) administration.

Superiority of novel automated assessment of aortic annulus by intraoperative three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in patients with severe aortic stenosis: Comparison with conventional cross-sectional assessment.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an alternative to multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) for aortic valve sizing in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). However, conventional cross-sectional analysis of aortic annulus by 3D TEE has some limitations such as lengthy analytical time. A novel software for automated valve measurement has been developed for 3D TEE.

Higher incidence of metachronous advanced neoplasia in patients with synchronous advanced neoplasia and left-sided colorectal resection for colorectal cancer.

Background And Aims: There is an increased risk of developing metachronous colorectal cancer (CRC) in the remnant colorectum after surgical resection of CRC. We evaluated the incidence of metachronous advanced neoplasia (AN) after surgery for CRC according to resection type and synchronous AN.

Methods: This cohort study included patients who underwent surgical resection for initial CRC at a tertiary cancer center in Japan between September 2002 and December 2012.

Dullard deficiency causes hemorrhage in the adult ovarian follicles.

In mammals, the ovarian follicles are regulated at least in part by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family members. Dullard (also known as Ctdnep1) gene encodes a phosphatase that suppresses BMP signaling by inactivating or degrading BMP receptors. Here we report that the Col1a1-Cre-induced Dullard mutant mice displayed hemorrhagic ovarian cysts, with red blood cells accumulated in the follicles, resulting in infertility.

Comprehensive analysis of vitreous specimens for uveitis classification: a prospective multicentre observational study.

Purpose: To determine the clinical relevance of vitreous biomarkers in patients with uveitis.

Design: Multicentre, prospective, observational study.

Setting: Uveitis outpatient clinics of two academic medical centres in Japan.

Working memory and prefrontal/temporal hemodynamic responses during post-task period in patients with schizophrenia: A multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

The relationship between cognitive impairments and social dysfunction in schizophrenia is widely accepted. Neuroimaging studies in patients with schizophrenia have demonstrated abnormal function in the prefrontal region during various neurocognitive tasks. However, studies exploring the neural basis of these cognitive impairments are still limited.

Differential changes in the adenoids and tonsils in Japanese children and teenagers: a cross-sectional study.

When adenoids (Ad) and tonsils (Tn) become hypertrophied, craniofacial and general body growth is affected. However, there are no objective explicit criteria for evaluating the size of the Ad and Tn, and their respective growth patterns remain unclear. This study determined the average proportions of the Ad and Tn sizes to the upper airway area at various developmental stages in Japanese individuals.

Sexual dimorphisms of mRNA and miRNA in human/murine heart disease.

Background: Sexual dimorphisms are well recognized in various cardiac diseases such as ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Thorough understanding of the underlying genetic programs is crucial to optimize treatment strategies specified for each gender. By performing meta-analysis and microarray analysis, we sought to comprehensively characterize the sexual dimorphisms in the healthy and diseased heart at the level of both mRNA and miRNA transcriptome.

Live imaging of X chromosome inactivation and reactivation dynamics.

The epigenetic phenomenon called X chromosome inactivation plays critical roles in female development in eutherian mammals, and has attracted attention in the fields of developmental biology and regenerative biology in efforts to understand the pluripotency of stem cells. X chromosome inactivation is routinely studied after cell fixation, but live imaging is increasingly being required to improve our understanding of the dynamics and kinetics of X chromosome inactivation and reactivation processes. Here, we describe our live imaging method to monitor the epigenetic status of X chromosomes using a gene knock-in mouse strain named "Momiji" and give an overview of the application of this strain as a resource for biological and stem cell research.

Meeting Report of the Fifth International Cancer Epigenetics Conference in Beijing, China, October 2016.

Fifth International Cancer Epigenetics Conference, Beijing, China, 21-23 October 2016 This meeting reported many new findings in the field of cancer epigenetics, including basic science, translational and clinical studies. In this report, we summarize some of the main advancements and prospects in cancer epigenetics presented at this meeting.