Background and Aim
Although tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), as well as entecavir (ETV), is widely used as first‐line treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B, there are only a few studies ...comparing sequential therapy from ETV to TAF and continuous ETV monotherapy in patients with maintained virologic response to ETV.
Methods
In a retrospective multicenter study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of sequential therapy from ETV to TAF (ETV‐TAF group) and compared them with continuous ETV monotherapy (ETV group), using propensity score matching, in chronic hepatitis B patients.
Results
From 442 patients, we analyzed 142 patients from each group comprising 71 patients matched for several data, including age, HBV genotype, hepatitis B envelope antigen, cirrhosis, alanine aminotransferase, platelet count, prior ETV monotherapy period, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) change during prior ETV monotherapy. In the ETV‐TAF group, HBsAg levels significantly decreased from baseline to 48 weeks after switching to TAF (−0.02 log IU/mL, P = 0.038). HBcrAg levels also significantly decreased after switching to TAF (−0.1 log IU/mL, P = 0.004). However, there were no significant differences in the reduction of HBsAg and HBcrAg levels between the ETV‐TAF and ETV groups. There was no significant difference in the change of estimated glomerular filtration rate levels from baseline to 48 weeks between the two groups.
Conclusions
The present study indicated that the efficacy, especially of the HBsAg‐reducing action, and safety of sequential therapy from ETV to TAF were similar to those of continuous ETV monotherapy among chronic hepatitis B patients with maintained virologic response to ETV.
In a retrospective, multicenter study involving 17 institutions, we investigated the efficacy and safety of sequential therapy from entecavir (ETV) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) (ETV‐TAF group). The present study indicated that the efficacy, especially of the hepatitis B surface antigen‐reducing action, and safety of sequential therapy from ETV to TAF were similar to those of continuous ETV monotherapy.
Previous studies in Western populations have linked caffeine intake with health status. While detailed dietary assessment studies in these populations have shown that the main contributors to ...caffeine intake are coffee and tea, the wide consumption of Japanese and Chinese teas in Japan suggests that sources of intake in Japan may differ from those in Western populations. Among these teas, moreover, caffeine content varies widely among the different forms consumed (brewed, canned or bottled), suggesting the need for detailed dietary assessment in estimating intake in Japanese populations. Here, because a caffeine composition database or data obtained from detailed dietary assessment have not been available, we developed a database for caffeine content in Japanese foods and beverages, and then used it to estimate intake in a Japanese population.
The caffeine food composition database was developed using analytic values from the literature, 16 d weighed diet records were collected, and caffeine intake was estimated from the 16 d weighed diet records.
Four areas in Japan, Osaka (Osaka City), Okinawa (Ginowan City), Nagano (Matsumoto City) and Tottori (Kurayoshi City), between November 2002 and September 2003.
Two hundred and thirty Japanese adults aged 30-69 years.
Mean caffeine intake was 256.2 mg/d for women and 268.3 mg/d for men. The major contributors to intake were Japanese and Chinese teas and coffee (47 % each). Caffeine intake above 400 mg/d, suggested in reviews to possibly have negative health effects, was seen in 11 % of women and 15 % of men.
In this Japanese population, caffeine intake was comparable to the estimated values reported in Western populations.
The Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan do not include information on trans fatty acids. Previous studies estimating trans fatty acid intake among Japanese have limitations regarding the ...databases utilized and diet assessment methodologies. We developed a comprehensive database of trans fatty acid food composition, and used this database to estimate intake among a Japanese population.
The database was developed using analytic values from the literature and nutrient analysis software encompassing foods in the US, as well as values estimated from recipes or nutrient compositions. We collected 16-day diet records from 225 adults aged 30 to 69 years living in 4 areas of Japan. Trans fatty acid intake was estimated based on the database and the 16-day diet records.
Mean total fat and trans fatty acid intake was 56.9 g/day (27.7% total energy) and 1.7 g/day (0.8% total energy), respectively, for women and 66.8 g/day (25.5% total energy) and 1.7 g/day (0.7% total energy) for men. Trans fatty acid intake accounted for greater than 1% of total energy intake, which is the maximum recommended according to the World Health Organization, in 24.4% of women and 5.7% of men, and was particularly high among women living in urban areas and those aged 30-49 years. The largest contributors to trans fatty acid intake were confectionaries in women and fats and oils in men.
Although mean trans fatty acid intake was below the maximum recommended intake of the World Health Organization, intake among subgroups was of concern. Further public health efforts to reduce trans fatty acid intake should be encouraged.
Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) protein 2 is critical for the beginning of DNA replication and is a notable marker for proliferating cells. The prognosis and management of ameloblastoma are based on ...histology and other factors. However, immunohistologic markers capable of detecting recurrence-prone ameloblastoma with a poor prognosis have not been adequately investigated. This study aimed to identify the association between MCM2 overexpression and recurrence prognosis and risk stratification.
Thirty-two patients who had been diagnosed with ameloblastoma at our department between January 1982 and December 2019 were included in this study. Thirty-two (fifteen follicular, ten plexiform, five unicystic, two desmoplastic) subtype cases were analyzed for immunohistochemical expressions of MCM2 and Ki-67.
Disease-free survival (DFS) analysis revealed that patients with MCM2high/Ki-67high ameloblastoma had a significantly shorter median survival time (63 vs. 360 months) and lower DFS survival rate (50.0% vs. 90.0%) than those with MCM2low/Ki-67low (p = 0.003). Multivariate analysis revealed that a location (maxillary primary ameloblastoma) and MCM2high/Ki-67high were independent risk factors for DFS.
Our results identified MCM2high/Ki-67high ameloblastoma as a subgroup with poor recurrent prognosis and DFS. Ameloblastoma should be assessed using immunohistochemical staining. Our study revealed that tumors with a worse recurrent prognosis require appropriate clinical surveillance.
We studied the effects of
d-glucose on transgene expression in mammalian cells by a reporter gene assay using CV-1 cells and a CMV promoter-controlled EGFP gene. Treatment of CV-1 cells with 5%
...d-glucose unchanged the number of fluorescent cells in fluorescence microscopic observation but significantly intensified fluorescence in the fluorometric assay. Furthermore, EGFP itself and mRNA became more abundant in Western blot and quantitative RT–PCR analyses of 5%
d-glucose-treated cells, respectively. These results indicate that elevated
d-glucose can activate transgene expression via transcriptional stimulation, at least in part. The same concentrations of
l-glucose led to only negligible increases in transgene expression, indicating that
d-glucose's effect is different from its osmotic effect. The
d-glucose-induced augmentation of fluorescence was observed not only in the experiment using the CMV promoter-controlled EGFP gene but also in experiments using the SV40 and RSV promoter-controlled ones, suggesting that elevated
d-glucose can enhance transgene expression regulated by various promoters commonly used in transgene expression. The assessment of
d-glucose analogs for their enhancive effects on transgene expression revealed that 1,6-anhydro-
d-glucose and β-methyl-
d-glucoside had stronger effects than
d-glucose. From this result, we can expect to find more effective carbohydrates to enhance transgene expression. The α- and β-M-
d-glucosides, which are slightly different from each other in three-dimensional structure, exerted largely distinct stimulative effects on transgene expression, suggesting that fundamental rules determine the enhancive effects of saccharides and that the modification of the saccharide by applying such rules will enable us to develop more powerful substances for transgene expression.
Aim: Many psychophysiological tests have been widely researched in the search for a biological marker of schizophrenia. The exploratory eye movement (EEM) test involves the monitoring of eye ...movements while subjects freely view geometric figures. Suzuki et al. (2009) performed discriminant analysis between schizophrenia and non‐schizophrenia subjects using EEM test data; consequently, clinically diagnosed schizophrenia patients were identified as having schizophrenia with high probability (73.3%). The aim of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of schizophrenia patients who were identified as having schizophrenia on EEM discriminant analysis (SPDSE) or schizophrenia patients who were identified as not having schizophrenia on EEM discriminant analysis (SPDNSE).
Methods: The data for the 251 schizophrenia subjects used in the previous discriminant‐analytic study were analyzed, and the demographic or symptomatic characteristics of SPDSE and SPDNSE were investigated. As for the symptomatic features, a factor analysis of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) rating from the schizophrenia subjects was carried out.
Results: Five factors were found for schizophrenia symptoms: excitement/hostility; negative symptoms; depression/anxiety; positive symptoms; and disorganization. SPDSE had significantly higher factor scores for excitement/hostility, negative symptoms and disorganization than SPDNSE. Furthermore, the BPRS total score for the SPDSE was significantly higher than that for the SPDNSE.
Conclusion: SPDSE may be a disease subtype of schizophrenia with severe symptoms related to excitement/hostility, negative symptoms and disorganization, and EEM parameters may detect this subtype. Therefore, the EEM test may be one of the contributors to the simplification of the heterogeneity of schizophrenia.
Here we report a 74-year-old man with squamous cell lung cancer who was administered pembrolizumab. The patient was admitted to our hospital because of frequent diarrhea and abdominal pain after 31 ...cycles of pembrolizumab. Given the clinical, radiological, endoscopic, and pathological findings, the patient was diagnosed with irAE colitis. The patient's symptoms improved with prednisolone after cessation of pembrolizumab. However, he developed aspiration pneumonia. After cessation of prednisolone and treating with antibiotics, he had pseudomembranous colitis and CMV colitis. Both metronidazole and ganciclovir were initiated. Then irAE colitis had recurred and oral 5-ASA was administered. Thereafter, the patient's general condition has improved and colonoscopy showed a slight rough mucosa but improved visible vascular pattern 6 months after the treatment of 5-ASA.
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