Clinical impact of Academic Research Consortium for High Bleeding-Risk scores on clinical outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

High bleeding risk (HBR), as defined by the Academic Research Consortium for High Bleeding Risk (ARC-HBR) criteria, has been recently reported to be associated with an increased risk of major bleeding events and cardiovascular events. We investigated the association between the ARC-HBR score and clinical outcomes in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We assessed 328 consecutive patients with stable CAD who underwent PCI between January 2017 and December 2020.

Agile 3+ and Agile 4, noninvasive tests for liver fibrosis, are excellent formulae to predict liver-related events in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Aim: The noninvasive tests (NITs) Agile 3+ and Agile 4 effectively identify patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) complicated with advanced fibrosis (F3-4) and cirrhosis (F4), respectively. Little information is available on associations between Agile scores and intra-/extrahepatic events. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive performance of Agile scores for intra-/extrahepatic events in Asian patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Serious mental illness and in-hospital mortality among hospitalized patients with acute COVID-19: A large-database analysis in Japan.

Objective: The association of serious mental illness (affective or non-affective psychotic disorders) with higher mortality in patients infected with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been suggested. Although this association remains significant after adjusting for medical comorbidities in previous studies, admission clinical status and treatment modalities should be considered as important confounding factors.

Methods: We aimed to assess whether serious mental illness is associated with in-hospital mortality, in patients with COVID-19 by adjusting for comorbidities, admission clinical status, and treatment modalities.

Effect of Novel Stratified Lipid Risk by "LDL-Window" and Flow-Mediated Dilation on the Prognosis of Coronary Artery Disease Using the FMD-J Study A Data.

Background: Elevated levels of triglyceride (TG) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) are regarded as a residual lipid risk in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering therapy. This study investigated the association between lipid risk stratified by TG and non-HDL-C and the prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), and the association between stratified lipid risk and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) index.

Methods and results: The 624 CAD patients enrolled in flow-mediated dilation (FMD)-J study A were divided into 4 groups: low-risk group (n=413) with TG <150 mg/dL and non-HDL-C <170 mg/dL; hyper-TG group (n=180) with TG ≥150 mg/dL and non-HDL-C <170 mg/dL; hyper-non-HDL group (n=12) with TG <150 mg/dL and non-HDL-C ≥170 mg/dL; and high-risk group (n=19) with TG ≥150 mg/dL and non-HDL-C ≥170 mg/dL.

C-reactive Protein Levels and Cardiovascular Outcomes After Febuxostat Treatment in Patients with Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia: Post-hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Study.

Purpose: Inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, leading to poor clinical outcomes. Hyperuricemia is associated with the activation of the Nod-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome. Here, we investigated whether inhibition of inflammation using febuxostat lowered the risk of cardiovascular events.

Exocrine scent marking: Coordinative role of arginine vasopressin in the systemic regulation of social signaling behaviors.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neurohypophysial hormone that coordinatively regulates central socio-emotional behavior and peripheral control of antidiuretic fluid homeostasis. Most mammals, including rodents, utilize exocrine or urine-contained scent marking as a social signaling tool that facilitates social adaptation. The exocrine scent marking behavior is postulated to fine-tune sensory and cognitive abilities to recognize key social features via exocrine/urinary olfactory cues and subsequently control exocrine deposition or urinary marking through the mediation of osmotic fluid balance.

Contrasting central and systemic effects of arginine-vasopressin on urinary marking behavior as a social signal in male mice.

Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is a neurohypophyseal peptide that plays a critical role in the regulation of social behavior in mammals. Neuronal AVP regulates male-specific social signaling processes, such as exocrine urinary scent deposition and marking behavior in mice. In the periphery, AVP is transported to the portal bloodstream and acts as an antidiuretic hormone.

Glenoid wear after humeral head replacement with using a single implant in patients with cuff tear arthropathy more than five years.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate glenoid wear in patients with humeral head replacement with a smaller humeral head, who were observed for >5 years, and to examine the relationship between radiographic changes and clinical outcome.

Methods: In this study, 41 shoulders of 41 patients (13 men, 28 women) were followed up for >5 years. The mean patient age at the time of surgery was 70.

Incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent reports indicate that respiratory infectious diseases were suppressed during the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 led to behavioral changes aimed to control droplet transmission or contact transmission. In this study, we examined the incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effect of febuxostat on clinical outcomes in patients with hyperuricemia and cardiovascular disease.

Background: We previously reported on the FREED study, which found that febuxostat reduced the risk of adverse clinical outcome in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia without gout. We have now investigated outcomes in subgroups of FREED patients with and without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: We performed a post hoc subgroup analysis of 1070 patients randomized to the febuxostat or non-febuxostat group and followed for 36 months.

Optimal uric acid levels by febuxostat treatment and cerebral, cardiorenovascular risks: post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Hyperuricaemia is recognized as an independent risk marker for cardiovascular and renal diseases. However, uric acid is a powerful free-radical scavenger, and the optimal level of serum uric acid (SUA) determining outcomes is unknown. This study explored whether interventional treatments for excessive SUA reduction were harmful and what constituted the optimal lowering of SUA levels for the prevention of events in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricaemia.

Two-year longitudinal trajectory patterns of albuminuria and subsequent rates of end-stage kidney disease and all-cause death: a nationwide cohort study of biopsy-proven diabetic kidney disease.

Introduction: Data on the association between longitudinal trajectory patterns of albuminuria and subsequent end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and all-cause mortality in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) are sparse.

Research Design And Methods: Drawing on nationally representative data of 329 patients with biopsy-proven DKD and an estimated glomerular filtration rate above 30 mL/min/1.73 m at the time of biopsy, we used joint latent class mixed models to identify different 2-year trajectory patterns of urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) and assessed subsequent rates of competing events: ESKD and all-cause death.

Serum hemoglobin concentration and risk of renal function decline in early stages of diabetic kidney disease: a nationwide, biopsy-based cohort study.

Background: Prognosticating disease progression in patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is challenging, especially in the early stages of kidney disease. Anemia can occur in the early stages of kidney disease in diabetes. We therefore postulated that serum hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, as a reflection of incipient renal tubulointerstitial impairment, can be used as a marker to predict DKD progression.

Dietary protein intake, kidney function, and survival in a nationally representative cohort.

Background: High-protein diets (e.g., Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, ketogenic) have gained popularity as a means to promote weight loss and avoid excess carbohydrate consumption.

Infrequent use of nighttime dialysis for emergency admission due to worsening heart failure in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

In the emergency admission due to worsening heart failure (HF) in patients on maintenance hemodialysis, emergent dialysis may be indicated, which increases personnel expenses. To clarify the characteristics and in-hospital management of the patients, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study including 142 patients on maintenance hemodialysis emergently admitted for worsening HF (71.6 ± 9.

Clinicopathological features of fast eGFR decliners among patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Introduction: The speed of declining kidney function differs among patients with diabetic nephropathy. This study was undertaken to clarify clinical and pathological features that affect the speed of declining kidney function in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Research Design And Methods: This study was design as multicenter retrospective study.

A high normal ankle-brachial index is associated with biopsy-proven severe renal small artery intimal thickening and impaired renal function in chronic kidney disease.

A significant relationship has been established between central hemodynamics and renal microvascular damage. We hypothesized that the increase in the ankle-brachial index (ABI) with age is due to increased arterial stiffness and wave reflection and is thus associated with the pathogenesis of the renal small artery in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We recruited 122 patients with CKD (stages 1-5) who underwent renal biopsy and ABI measurements between 2010 and 2013.

Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity Versus Its Stiffness Index β-Transformed Value as Risk Marker for Cardiovascular Disease.

Background The difference in the predictive ability of the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and its stiffness index β-transformed value (β-baPWV, ie, baPWV adjusted for the pulse pressure) for the development of pathophysiological abnormalities related to cardiovascular disease or future occurrence of cardiovascular disease was examined. Methods and Results In study 1, a 7-year prospective observational study in cohorts of 3274 men and 3490 men, the area under the curve in the receiver operator characteristic curve analysis was higher for baPWV than for β-baPWV for predicting the development of hypertension (0.73, 95% CI=0.

Changing trends in lymphoid neoplasm distribution in South Korea: analysis of 8615 cases from a single institute, 1997-2016: An observational study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the proportion of lymphoid neoplasm subtypes in South Korea. A total of 8615 cases of lymphoid neoplasms diagnosed in 1997-2016 at Samsung Medical Center in South Korea were classified according to the 2008 World Health Organization system. The total number and proportion of lymphoid neoplasms were compared between these two decades, with data from nationwide studies, and with other countries.

Effects of Lactotripeptide Supplementation on Tele-Monitored Home Blood Pressure and on Vascular and Renal Function in Prehypertension - Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over Study.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study was conducted to examine the effects of lactotripeptide supplementation on 7-day mean tele-monitored home blood pressure (BP), and also on the markers of vascular function and renal damage in Japanese subjects with prehypertension. A total of 26 subjects with prehypertension were randomly allocated to receive the active product (lactotripeptide tablet) or a placebo tablet for 8 weeks each in a cross-over manner. Urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein-to-creatine ratio (UFABPCR) and vascular function were measured at the end of each intervention.

Effect of Standard vs Intensive Blood Pressure Control on the Risk of Recurrent Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial and Meta-analysis.

Importance: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) demonstrated that a systolic blood pressure (BP) target less than 120 mm Hg was superior to less than 140 mm Hg for preventing vascular events. This trial excluded patients with prior stroke; therefore, the ideal BP target for secondary stroke prevention remains unknown.

Objective: To assess whether intensive BP control would achieve fewer recurrent strokes vs standard BP control.

Febuxostat for Cerebral and CaRdiorenovascular Events PrEvEntion StuDy.

Aims: To compare the occurrence of cerebral, cardiovascular, and renal events in patients with hyperuricaemia treated with febuxostat and those treated with conventional therapy with lifestyle modification.

Methods And Results: This multicentre, prospective, randomized open-label, blinded endpoint study was done in 141 hospitals in Japan. A total of 1070 patients were included in the intention-to-treat population.