Objectives
The objective of this study is to analyze the clinical outcomes of abnormal cervical cytology and newly diagnosed human papillomavirus (HPV)-related disease after organ transplantation.
...Materials and methods
Medical records from July 2004 to August 2015 were reviewed, and thirteen patients were identified who had been newly diagnosed with HPV-related disease (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia CIN and cervical cancer) after organ transplantation. The median transition time to the aggravation of cervical cytology and the spontaneous regression rate of CIN were evaluated. Clinical outcomes of CIN1 and CIN2 were compared between the general population and patients with organ transplantation. We also reviewed the current literature regarding the incidence of HPV infection, Pap smear abnormality and/or CIN after organ transplantation.
Results
The cervical cytology aggravated in nine of the 13 patients (69 %). In seven of the 13 cases (54 %), treatments such as cervical conization, laser vaporization, or radiation therapy, were conducted. HPV-related disease disappeared after treatment in only three of the seven actively treated cases (43 %). In contrast, the lesions persisted in three (43 %) cases after treatment. One patient died from cervical cancer. The spontaneous regression rate of the HPV-related diseases, if left untreated, was 0 %. There was a statistically significant difference in the clinical outcomes of CIN1 and CIN2 between the general population and patients with organ transplantation (
p
= 0.0026 and 0.0315, respectively; chi-squared test).
Conclusions
HPV-related lesions that are newly diagnosed after organ transplantation do not seem to regress as spontaneously as in the general population. Physicians should recognize the importance of close monitoring and long-term follow-up.
Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) produced good tumor response in cases with lung squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Secreted protein acidic and ...rich in cysteine (SPARC) binds to albumin, suggesting that SPARC plays an important role in tumor uptake of nab-paclitaxel. There is as yet no predictive marker for cytotoxic agents against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and hence we believed that SPARC expression might be associated with tumor response to nab-paclitaxel.
We studied stromal SPARC reactivity and its association with clinicopathological characteristics in 200 cases of NSCLC using a custom tissue microarray fabricated in our laboratory by immunohistochemical staining. We also investigated the relationship between stromal SPARC reactivity and tumor response to nab-paclitaxel using biopsy or surgical specimens obtained from advanced or recurrent lung cancer patients.
High SPARC stromal reactivity (>50% of optical fields examined) was detected in 16.5% of cases and intermediate SPARC reactivity (10%-50%) in 56% of cases. High expression in cancer cells was rare (five cases). Stromal SPARC level was correlated with smoking index, squamous cell carcinoma, and vessel invasion. Furthermore, patients with high stromal SPARC reactivity in biopsy specimens such as transbronchial lung biopsy or surgical specimens tended to respond better to nab-paclitaxel.
Stromal SPARC was detected by immunohistochemical staining in ∼70% of NSCLC cases, and good tumor response to nab-paclitaxel was correlated with high stromal SPARC reactivity. SPARC may be a useful predictive marker for selecting patients likely to respond favorably to nab-paclitaxel treatment.
Background: In Japan, the rate of cervical cancer screening is remarkably low, especially among women in their twenties and thirties, when cervical cancer is now increasing dramatically. The aim of ...this study was to test whether a modified government reminder for 20-year-old women to engage in cervical cancer screening, acting through maternal education and by asking for a maternal recommendation to the daughter to receive the screening, could increase their participation rate. Methods: In two Japanese cities, 20-year-old girls who had not received their first cervical cancer screening before October of fiscal year 2014 were randomized into two study arms. One group of 1,274 received only a personalized daughter-directed reminder leaflet for cervical cancer screening. In the second group of 1,274, the daughters and their mothers received a combination package containing the same reminder leaflet as did the first group, plus an additional informational leaflet for the mother, which requested that the mother recommend that her daughter undergo cervical cancer screening. The subsequent post-reminder screening rates of these two study arms were compared. Results: The cervical cancer screening rate of 20-year-old women whose mothers received the information leaflet was significantly higher than that for women who received only a leaflet for themselves (11% vs 9%, P = 0.0049). Conclusions: An intervention with mothers, by sending them a cervical cancer information leaflet with a request that they recommend that their daughter receive cervical cancer screening, significantly improved their daughters’ screening rate.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tunnel structured β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) on the regenerative potential of basic fibroblast growth factor-2 (bFGF-2) in class III ...furcation defects in dogs. The furcations of 30 mandibular premolar teeth received: 1) 0.3% bFGF-2 solution in conjunction with β-TCP; 2) 0.3% bFGF-2 solution; and 3) no implant material (Control group). The dogs were sacrificed 8 weeks post-surgery, and healing was evaluated histologically. New bone formation was significantly greater in the bFGF-2/β-TCP group compared to the bFGF-2 solution and Control groups (p<0.01). New cementum formation in the bFGF-2/β-TCP and bFGF-2 solution groups was significantly greater than that in the Control group (p<0.01). These findings suggested that bFGF-2 alone enhances connective tissue attachment in a manner similar to the combination of bFGF-2 and β-TCP. Furthermore, this combination enhances bone formation up to the fornix in class III furcation defects.
The honey bee is a major insect used for pollination of many commercial crops worldwide. Although the use of honey bees for pollination can disrupt the habitat, the effects on their physiology have ...never been determined. Recently, honey bee colonies have often collapsed when introduced in greenhouses for pollination in Japan. Thus, suppressing colony collapses and maintaining the number of worker bees in the colonies is essential for successful long‐term pollination in greenhouses and recycling of honey bee colonies. To understand the physiological states of honey bees used for long‐term pollination in greenhouses, we characterized their gene expression profiles by microarray. We found that the greenhouse environment changes the gene expression profiles and induces immune‐suppression and oxidative stress in honey bees. In fact, the increase of the number of Nosema microsporidia and protein carbonyl content was observed in honey bees during pollination in greenhouses. Thus, honey bee colonies are likely to collapse during pollination in greenhouses when heavily infested with pathogens. Degradation of honey bee habitat by changing the outside environment of the colony, during pollination services for example, imposes negative impacts on honey bees. Thus, worldwide use of honey bees for crop pollination in general could be one of reasons for the decline of managed honey bee colonies.
The honey bee is a major insect used for pollination of many commercial crops worldwide. Although the use of honey bees for pollination can disrupt the habitat, the effects on their physiology have never been determined. In this study, we characterized the physiological states of honey bees used for long‐term pollination in strawberry and eggplant greenhouses. To understand the physiological states of honey bees used for long‐term pollination in greenhouses, we characterized their gene expression profiles by microarray.
The basic scheme of odor perception and signaling from olfactory cilia to the brain is well understood. However, factors that affect olfactory acuity of an animal, the threshold sensitivity to ...odorants, are less well studied. Using signal sequence trap screening of a mouse olfactory epithelium cDNA library, we identified a novel molecule, Goofy, that is essential for olfactory acuity in mice. Goofy encodes an integral membrane protein with specific expression in the olfactory and vomeronasal sensory neurons and predominant localization to the Golgi compartment. Goofy-deficient mice display aberrant olfactory phenotypes, including the impaired trafficking of adenylyl cyclase III, stunted olfactory cilia, and a higher threshold for physiological and behavioral responses to odorants. In addition, the expression of dominant-negative form of cAMP-dependent protein kinase results in shortening of olfactory cilia, implying a possible mechanistic link between cAMP and ciliogenesis in the olfactory sensory neurons. These results demonstrate that Goofy plays an important role in establishing the acuity of olfactory sensory signaling.
In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of hyperparasitic fungi in controlling powdery mildew (PM). In a greenhouse, we spray-inoculated single colonies of the melon PM-causing fungus ...Podosphaera xanthii strain KMP-6N at three different fungal developmental stages (i.e., 5, 10, and 15 days old) with spores of the hyperparasitic fungus Ampelomyces sp. strain Xs-q. After spray inoculation, we collected and counted KMP-6N conidia produced as asexual progeny from PM colonies using an electrostatic rotational spore collector. Collector insulator films were replaced at 24 h intervals until KMP-6N ceased to release additional progeny conidia. Conidial releases from each of the single Xs-q-inoculated KMP-6N colonies gradually reduced, then stopped within ca. 4 and 8 days of the first treatment in 5- and 10-day-old KMP-6N colonies, and within ca. 20 days of the second spray treatment in 15-day-old KMP-6N colonies, respectively. The total numbers of asexual progeny conidia collected from single 5-, 10-, and 15-day-old colonies were ca. 156, 1167, and 44,866, respectively. After electrostatic spore collection, conidiophores in Xs-q-uninoculated KMP-6N colonies appeared normal, whereas almost all conidiophores in 5- and 10-day-old Xs-q-inoculated KMP-6N colonies were completely deformed or collapsed due to the infection of the hyperparasitic fungus. This is the first study to apply electrostatic and digital microscopic techniques to clarify the impact of fungal hyperparasitism on mycohost survival, and, in particular, to assess quantitatively and visually the suppression of conidial release from any PM colonies infected with Ampelomyces.
Summary
Physicochemical properties of storage starch largely determine rice grain quality and food characteristics. Therefore, modification of starch property is effective to fine‐tune cooked rice ...textures. To obtain new resources with modified starch property as breeding materials, we screened a mutant population of a
japonica
cultivar Nipponbare and found two independent mutant lines,
altered gelatinization
(
age
)
1
and
age2
, with moderate changes in starch gelatinization property. A combination of conventional genetic analyses and the latest mapping method, MutMapPlus, revealed that both of these lines harbour novel independent mutant alleles of
starch branching enzyme
II
b
(
BEII
b
) gene. In
age1
, amino acid substitution of Met‐723 to Lys completely abolished
BEII
b enzyme activity without significant reduction in its protein level. A transposon insertion in an intron of
BEII
b
gene reduced
BEII
b protein level and activity in
age2
. Production of a series of the mutant lines by combining
age
alleles and
indica
‐type
starch synthase
II
a
allele established stepwise alteration of the physicochemical properties of starch including apparent amylose content, thermal property, digestibility by α‐amylase and branched structures of amylopectin. Consistent with the alteration of starch properties, the results of a sensory evaluation test demonstrated that warm cooked rice of the mutants showed a variety of textures without marked reduction in overall palatability. These results suggest that a series of the mutant lines are capable of manipulation of cooked rice textures.
Case
To present an extremely rare case of bilateral tubal pregnancies following a single‐embryo transfer in a woman with a 4 year history of infertility prior to seeking assisted reproductive ...technology.
Outcome
A pregnancy resulted from the transfer of an embryo that had been thawed from a frozen blastocyst during a hormone replacement cycle. An ultrasound that was performed at 5 weeks and 5 days of gestation revealed a gestational sac, embryo, and heartbeat in the right fallopian tube and similar signs of a gestational sac in the left fallopian tube. A laparoscopy revealed clear signs of an ectopic pregnancy in the ampulla of the right fallopian tube. Signs of swelling also were seen in the ampulla of the left fallopian tube. As the possibility of bilateral tubal pregnancies could not be ruled out, both fallopian tubes were removed. Pathological tests revealed chorionic villi and trophoblasts in both the left and right fallopian tubes.
Conclusion
All previously reported cases of bilateral tubal pregnancies have been a result of multiple ovulations or multiple‐embryo transfer and no case of bilateral tubal pregnancies after a single‐embryo transfer has ever been reported. No genetic testing was performed; thus, it cannot be definitively stated that the divided chorionic villi and trophoblasts came from only one embryo.
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