Related Factors and Clinical Outcomes of Osteosarcopenia: A Narrative Review

Osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia are common geriatric diseases among older adults and harm activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL). Osteosarcopenia is a unique syndrome that is a concomitant of both osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia. This review aimed to summarize the related factors and clinical outcomes of osteosarcopenia to facilitate understanding, evaluation, prevention, treatment, and further research on osteosarcopenia. We searched the literature to include meta-analyses, reviews, and clinical trials. The prevalence of osteosarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults is significantly higher in female (up to 64.3%) compared to male (8–11%). Osteosarcopenia is a risk factor for death, fractures, and falls based on longitudinal studies. However, the associations between osteosarcopenia and many other factors have been derived based on cross-sectional studies, so the causal relationship is not clear. Few studies of osteosarcopenia in hospitals have been conducted. Osteosarcopenia is a new concept and has not yet been fully researched its relationship to clinical outcomes. Longitudinal studies and high-quality interventional studies are warranted in the future.     

Comparative study of a novel selective urate reabsorption inhibitor “dotinurad” among patient groups with different stages of renal dysfunction

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology - Dotinurad is a selective urate reabsorption inhibitor (SURI), which selectively inhibits URAT1 to lower serum uric acid levels in patients with hyperuricemia....     

Effect of chromosome loss on the leavening ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in dough

Summary To investigate the leavening ability of yeast in dough, chromosome loss was induced by benomyl treatment in YOY1037, a diploid between a baking strain and a laboratory strain, and its effect on the leavening ability was studied. When benomyl-treated cells were spread on plates with a dye indicator for ploidy, about 20% of the visible colonies were stained dark blue or dark purple; the rest stained pale blue, similar to the diploid YOY1037. Strains showing the MAT phenotype, and non-galactose fermenting strains, apparently having lost particular chromosomes, were observed only in those with darkcoloured colonies. Strains with dark-coloured colonies showed a wider range of leavening ability than did those with pale-coloured colonies.     

Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma at baseline and 1 year after initiation of nucleos(t)ide analog therapy for chronic hepatitis B

Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) cannot completely suppress the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study aimed to identify the risk factors for HCC development in naïve CHB patients treated with current NA. Patients receiving NA (n = 905) were recruited retrospectively from the 17 hospitals of the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group. All treatment-naïve patients had been receiving current NA continuously for more than 1 year until the end of the follow-up. We analyzed the accuracy of predictive risk score using the area under receiver operating characteristic curve. The albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) score was significantly improved by NA therapy (−0.171 ± 0.396; p < 0.001 at Week 48). A total of 72 (8.0%) patients developed HCC over a median follow-up of 6.2 (1.03–15.7) years. An independent predictive factor of HCC development was older age, cirrhosis, lower platelet counts at baseline and ALBI score, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 1 year after NA therapy according to multivariate analysis. The accuracy was assessed using the PAGE-B, mPAGE-B, aMAP, APA-B, and REAL-B scores that included these factors. Discrimination was generally acceptable for these models. aMAP and REAL-B demonstrated high discrimination with 0.866/0.862 and 0.833/0.859 for 3- and 5-year prediction from the status of 1 year after NA therapy, respectively. Baseline age and platelet count, as well as ALBI and AFP one year after NA, were useful for stratifying carcinogenesis risk. The aMAP and REAL-B scores were validated with high accuracy in Japanese CHB patients.     

Reactive oxygen species in NMDA receptor-mediated glutamate neurotoxicity

In search of endogenous protective substances that inhibit neurotoxic action of glutamate and nitric oxide (NO), we found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), acting on TrkB receptor tyrosine kinase, inhibited neurotoxicity induced by glutamate and NO donors in cultured cortical neurons. In co-cultures of the mesencephalon and striatum, projection of mesencephalic dopamine neurons to the striatum attenuated N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-induced cytotoxicity in dopamine neurons themselves. Growth factors such as neurotrophins, which the target cells in the striatum would synthesize and secrete, may offer the protection of dopamine neurons against glutamate neurotoxicity.     

Stent intubation for the airway stenosis under PCPS

Placement of stents for the tracheal or carinal stenosis have a meaning of maintaining the airway. Failure of the stenting causes death. In cases of severe airway stenosis and low pulmonary function, the pulmonary support method should be performed instead of intubation and mechanical ventilation. Generally, PCPS (percutaneous cardio-pulmonary support system) is used as a pulmonary support. This method was very useful to place stents for airway stenosis. We concluded that PCPS was useful in emergency cases, and in cases of severe fixed type airway stenosis and low pulmonary function it had be on stand-by.     

Mediastinal lymph node metastasis of colon cancer: Report of a case

We herein describe a patient with mediastinal lymph node metastases which occurred after both a primary sigmoid colon cancer and metachronous ovarian metastasis had been resected. The most likely route of metastases to the mediastinum in this case is the paravertebral venous plexus probably connected to the ovarian metastasis, or so-called remetastasis. This case illustrates that the mediastinum is thus a possible metastatic site in patients with colon cancer. Surgeons should therefore pay attention to the mediastinum as well as the lung fields when checking chest X-ray films during a follow-up of patients after a resection of colon cancer.     

Vasogenic edema on MELAS: a serial study with diffusion-weighted MR imaging

The authors performed a serial study of a patient with mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like syndrome (MELAS) who presented with diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI). DWI demonstrated a higher apparent diffusion coefficient in the lesion than in the control region during the acute stage of stroke. Vasogenic edema is present in stroke-like episodes in MELAS.     

Release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol in gerbil hippocampal CA1 neurons after transient forebrain ischemia

We examined cytosolic cytochrome c in gerbil hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions after induction of 5-min ischemia by immunoblotting. In the CA1 region, cytochrome c was detected in the cytosolic fraction from 1 to 6 h after ischemia by Western blotting, while it was not detected in the CA3 region. Following intraventricular administration of cyclosporin A (CsA), detectable cytosolic cytochrome c was dramatically decreased, and about 80% of CA1 neurons survived after ischemia. The present studies demonstrate that cytochrome c is translocated from mitochondria to the cytosol in the early stage of delayed neuronal cell death, and suggest the involvement of the mitochondrial permeability transition.