Comparison of the clinical features of invasive pneumococcal disease with those of pneumococcal pneumonia in adults

Background: Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is an infectious disease where Streptococcus pneumoniae can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid or blood.Methods: Eight patients presented to our hospital with adult IPD. We compared with 69 cases of pneumococcal pneumonia treated in our department between 2012 and 2014. None of the patients had a history of pneumococcal vaccine administration.Results: Hematological examination showed the platelet count was significantly lower and the serum C-reactive protein level was significantly higher in the IPD group. There was a significant difference in the use of a respirator and mortality in the IPD group. About antibiotics, Carbapenem and quinolone were used for the treatment of many patients in the IPD group. In the fatal three cases of IPD, the age of all members were 65 years or younger. Two of three had no underlying disease.Conclusion: IPD develops without elderly people and in those without underlying disease. Also, the patients who took a sudden course may result in death. In line with previous studies that have reported the effectiveness of the pneumococcal vaccine, our study findings emphasize the need of administering vaccination for prevention of IPD in person who was younger than 65 years old.     

Effect of depression on progression to end‐stage renal disease or pre‐end‐stage renal disease death in advanced diabetic nephropathy: A prospective cohort study of the Diabetes Study from the Center of Tokyo Women’s Medical University

Aims/IntroductionThis study aimed to determine the effect of depression on the progression to end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) and pre‐ESRD death in patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy.Materials and MethodsThis single‐center prospective cohort study enrolled Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced diabetic nephropathy. The total Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 score was used to evaluate depression at baseline and classified patients into: no, mild and severe depression groups. The outcomes were ESRD, defined as initiation of renal replacement therapy, and pre‐ESRD death. The relationship between the severity of depression and these outcomes was analyzed using a competing risks model, defining each outcome as the competing risk of the other outcome.ResultsOf the 486 patients with a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 37.1 ± 21.1 mL/min/1.73 m², 345 were men. During the median follow up of 4.4 years, 164 patients progressed to ESRD and 50 died. The cumulative incidence function of ESRD was significantly higher in the severe depression group (Gray’s test, P = 0.003). The ESRD risk increased by 12.4% and 45.1% in patients with mild and severe depression, respectively, compared with those without depression, although these differences did not reach statistical significance in the multivariate subdistribution hazard model (P = 0.450 and 0.161, respectively). The cumulative incidence of death was similar for the study groups.ConclusionDepression potentially has a weak impact on progression to ESRD, however, the presence of comorbidities might have the possibility to reduce the effect of depression on the renal outcome in patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy.     

A comprehensive study on the relieving effect of Lilium brownii on the intestinal flora and metabolic disorder in p-chlorphenylalanine induced insomnia rats

ContextThe bulb of Lilium brownii F. E. Brown (Liliaceae) (LB) is a common Chinese medicine to relieve insomnia.ObjectiveTo investigate the molecular mechanism of LB relieving insomnia.Materials and methodsInsomnia model was induced by intraperitoneally injection p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) in Wistar rats. Rats were divided into three groups: Control, PCPA (400 mg/kg, i.p. 2 days), LB (598.64 mg/kg, oral 7 days). The levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), norepinephrine (NE), melatonin (MT), and the expression of GABA_A, 5-HT1A and MT receptors, as well as pathological changes in hypothalamus, were evaluated. 16S rDNA sequencing and UPLC-MS/MS were used to reveal the change of the intestinal flora and metabolic profile.ResultsThe adverse changes in the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora and faecal metabolic phenotype altered by PCPA in rats were reversed after LB treatment, accompanied by the up-regulated levels of 5-HT as 8.14 ng/mL, MT as 16.16 pg/mL, 5-HT1A R and GABA_A R, down-regulated level of NE as 0.47 ng/mL, and the improvement of pathological phenomena of cells in the hypothalamus. And the arachidonic acid metabolism and tryptophan metabolism pathway most significantly altered by PCPA were markedly regulated by LB. Besides, it was also found that LB reduced the levels of kynurenic acid related to psychiatric disorders and trimethylamine-N-oxide associated with cardiovascular disease.ConclusionThe mechanism of LB relieving insomnia involves regulating flora and metabolites to resemble the control group. As a medicinal and edible herb, LB could be considered for development as a health-care food to relieve increasing insomniacs in the future.     

Inflammatory polyarthritis in mice transgenic for human t cell leukemia virus type i

Objective. We have recently reported that arthropathy develops in high incidence among transgenic mice carrying the pX region of human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I). In the present study, the histopathologic features of the joints in these mice were examined in order to compare the animal disease with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in humans. Methods. Paraffin sections of limbs (right and left fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, toes, knees, and ankles) were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid–Schiff, azan-Mallory, or phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin, and examined by light microscopy. Results. Abnormalities of the limbs began to occur as early as 3 weeks of age, and the incidence gradually increased until the mice were 12 months old. The incidence of arthropathy was 22% (48 of 217) at 3 months of age and 28% (18 of 64) at 6 months. The severity of the histopathologic changes in the joints of the transgenic mice ranged from grade I to grade IV. Conclusion. The major histopathologic features in the joints of HTLV-I transgenic mice are similar to those in humans with RA. Thus, these mice may represent a useful model for the study of the disease in humans.     

Anion gap‐opening metabolic acidosis and urinary findings in the early diagnosis of ethylene glycol poisoning: A case report

Causative agent identification is important in the treatment of poisoning. We report the case of a patient who presented with an altered level of consciousness after drinking a fluorescent pink liquid. Upon measuring the anion gap and urinary calcium oxalate level, the patient was diagnosed with early ethylene glycol poisoning.     

Association of PD-L1 and ZEB-1 expression patterns with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) are immune checkpoint inhibitors that play an important role in the host immune avoidance mechanism of tumors. The relationship between PD-L1 expression and malignancy has been reported in various types of cancer, such as lung and gastric cancer. In addition, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells is deeply involved in the invasion and metastasis of cancer. It has been reported that zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB-1), an EMT inducer, contributes to metastasis in pancreatic and colon cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the expression patterns of two markers, PD-L1 and ZEB-1, and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Biopsy or surgical excision specimens from 169 patients with OSCC were used in the present study. Immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal anti-PD-L1 antibody and anti-ZEB-1 antibody was conducted. Cases with >1% tumor cells positive for PD-L1 and those with >10% tumor cells positive for ZEB-1 were considered positive, respectively. The findings revealed that individual expression of PD-L1 and ZEB-1 in OSCC was not associated with tumor size, degree of differentiation or Yamamoto-Kohama invasion pattern classification. However, co-expression of PD-L1 and ZEB-1 was associated with higher cervical lymph node metastasis and a lower survival rate. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that co-expression of PD-L1 and ZEB-1 could serve as a potential marker for the prognosis of patients with OSCC.     

自动定量分析法测定表皮生长因子受体在口咽癌中的定量表达

目的 评价自动定量分析法（automated quantitative analysis,AQUA）测定表皮生长因子受体（epidermal growth factor receptor,EGFR）在口咽部鳞状细胞癌组织中的表达水平,了解其在判定预后中的价值.方法 AQUA系统分析了一个由95例口咽癌石蜡标本组成的组织微阵列中EGFR的表达,并进行临床和组织病理学资料的相关性分析,将细胞角蛋白（cytokeratin）设为标志物,将数码相机自动拍摄的显示其表达强度的图像载入自动分析系统,设定了每个微阵列点的肿瘤范围,同时用荧光色素原Cy5的耦连抗体显示靶抗原EGFR,并自动计算EGFR表达的像素密度,将其表达数字化,这样就产生了一个数字化的连续变量,它与单位面积内阳性表达的靶抗原分子数量成正比.按表达变量的中位数划分其表达强弱,分成高、低表达组.结果 ①5年局部复发率,肿瘤组织中EGFR细胞高表达组为57.8%,而低表达组为17.2%,相比有显著的统计学意义（P＜0.01）;在肿瘤组织中EGFR细胞核高表达组的5年局部复发率为54.4%,低表达组为21.4%,相比也有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;②在5年无瘤生存率方面,EGFR肿瘤细胞高表达组（19.0%）及细胞核高表达组（19.0%）,分别与细胞低表达组（43.4%）和细胞核低表达组（44.8%）相比也有显著的统计学差异（P均＜0.05）;③多变量风险回归分析,肿瘤细胞和细胞核EGFR高表达都是一个独立的预后负相关因子,有统计学意义.结论 AQUA系统可以有效地对石蜡组织切片中EGFR的表达进行连续变量分析,揭示了EGFR的表达与其产生的生物学作用的联系,EGFR的AQUA数值有望成为能预测EGFR靶向治疗敏感性的一个生物学指标.     

The effect of remimazolam on postoperative memory retention and delayed regeneration in breast surgery patients: Rationale and design of an exploratory,randomized, open,propofol-controlled,single-center clinical trial: A study protocol

Background:Remimazolam, a benzodiazepine ultra-short-acting sedative, has been used in general anesthesia since August 2020. It is used in awake surgeries that require awakening the patient in the middle of the surgery because of its rapid awakening effect as well as antagonistic interactions. If remimazolam has associated anterograde amnesia similar to benzodiazepines, it will have a positive effect on preventing psychological trauma. However, to our knowledge, the effect of remimazolam on anterograde amnesia has not been previously examined.Methods/design:The aim of this exploratory, open, propofol-controlled, single-center, randomized clinical trial is to examine the effect of remimazolam on postoperative memory retention and delayed regeneration. Seventy patients undergoing breast surgery will be included in the study. The patients will be randomly assigned to receive propofol or remimazolam as sedatives during surgery. The primary endpoint is the number of posters patients remember 24 hours after surgery (among 4 posters shown after awakening from anesthesia) as an assessment of anterograde amnesia. Secondary endpoints are retrograde amnesia, dose of analgesic given from the time the patient returns to the ward until 24 hours after surgery, immediate postoperative pain numerical rating scale scores, and pain numerical rating scale scores 24 hours after leaving the operating room. Recruitment will take place between October 2021 and March 2022 to achieve the target sample size.Discussion:To our knowledge, this is the first trial designed to examine the effects of remimazolam on postoperative memory retention and delayed regeneration in patients undergoing breast surgery.Trial registration:This clinical trial was registered at the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Center on September 28, 2021 (UMIN-CTR: UMIN000045593).