Prednisolone plus low-dose aspirin improves the implantation rate in women with autoimmune conditions who are undergoing in vitro fertilization

Objective: To evaluate the effect of prednisolone plus low-dose aspirin (PSL/LDA) in women with autoimmune conditions who were enrolled in an IVF-ET program.

Design: A retrospective clinical study.

Setting: In vitro fertilization unit, Niigata University Hospital, Niigata, Japan.

Patient(s): Three hundred seven women who underwent IVF-ET between January 1996 and December 1997.

Intervention(s): Prednisolone (10 mg/d) and aspirin (81 mg/d) were administered to the women with autoantibodies who chose to participate.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy and implantation rates with IVF-ET.

Result(s): Women undergoing IVF who had positive antinuclear antibodies, with or without antiphospholipid antibodies, had significantly lower pregnancy and implantation rates than did women without autoantibodies (14.8% versus 21.7% and 6.8% versus 10.4%, respectively). The administration of PSL/LDA to women with antinuclear antibodies significantly improved the outcome of IVF-ET (40.6% pregnancy rate and 20.3% implantation rate).

Conclusion(s): A high proportion of women who are undergoing IVF-ET have autoantibodies, which are associated with poor IVF outcomes. The administration of PSL/LDA to these women may improve their implantation rate.     

Therapeutic Potential of Monteplase in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Thrombolysis with conventional thrombolytic agents prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has had no impact on the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the development of mutant tissue type plasminogen activators (mt-PA) has prompted us to reassess the combination of thrombolysis and PCI. Monteplase is a newly developed mt-PA that can be administered as a single intravenous bolus injection. The results of the COMA (COmbining Monteplase with Angioplasty) trial, suggest that monteplase administration prior to emergent PCI in AMI improves 6-month outcomes and possibly the long-term prognosis of myocardial infarction. Combining monteplase administration on presentation at a community hospital with prompt transfer to a tertiary center for PCI would be an ideal strategy for the treatment of AMI.     

Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective review of 162 patients.

PURPOSE: We present results of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with proton beam therapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We reviewed 162 patients having 192 HCCs treated from November 1985 to July 1998 by proton beam therapy with or without transarterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection. The patients in the present series were considered unsuitable for surgery for various reasons, including hepatic dysfunction, multiple tumors, recurrence after surgical resection, and concomitant illnesses. The median total dose of proton irradiation was 72 Gy in 16 fractions over 29 days. RESULTS: The overall survival rate for all of the 162 patients was 23.5% at 5 years. The local control rate at 5 years was 86.9% for all 192 tumors among the 162 patients. The degree of impairment of hepatic functions attributable to coexisting liver cirrhosis and the number of tumors in the liver significantly affected patient survival. For 50 patients having least impaired hepatic functions and a solitary tumor, the survival rate at 5 years was 53.5%. The patients had very few acute reactions to treatments and a few late sequelae during and after the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Proton beam therapy for patients with HCC is effective, safe, well tolerable, and repeatable. It is the useful treatment mode for either cure or palliation for patients with HCC irrespective of tumor size, tumor location in the liver, insufficient feeding of the tumor with arteries, presence of vascular invasion, impaired hepatic functions, and coexisting intercurrent diseases.     

Reduced anxious behavior in mice lacking the CCK2 receptor gene.

Cholecystokinin 2 (CCK2) receptors have been implicated as mediators of anxiety in standard mouse models such as exploratory behavior both in black and white test boxes and in elevated plus-mazes. We investigated the role of the CCK2 receptor in anxiety by evaluating the behavior of mice lacking the gene for this receptor in these standard anxiety models (i.e., exploratory behavior in a black and white test box and exploratory behavior in an elevated plus-maze). In the black and white test box, mice lacking the CCK2 receptor gene showed significantly increased numbers of transitions between the boxes compared to control mice. In the elevated plus-maze, mice lacking the CCK2 receptor gene displayed significantly more head dips than control mice. These results suggest that mice lacking the CCK2 receptor gene are less anxious than normal mice.     

AdIκBα转染通过诱导凋亡逆转人非小细胞肺癌对泰素的耐药性

目的研究携带抑制性核因子κBα(IκBα)的腺病毒(AdIκBα)联合化疗对人非小细胞肺癌细胞株H460及H460荷瘤小鼠的作用。方法(1)检测50%抑制浓度(IC50)以确定化疗单用或联合AdIκBα对H460细胞增殖的影响,同时采用Annexin-V/PI染色法和caspase3活性测定来检测治疗引起的细胞凋亡情况;(2)观察泰素单用及联合不同浓度AdIκBα转染对H460荷瘤小鼠的作用,同时通过免疫组化染色观察核因子κB(NFκB)与p53及NFκB与血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)之间的关系。结果(1)联合AdIκBα3moi转染明显降低了泰素对H460的IC50,与激活caspase3途径而诱导了更多的细胞凋亡有关;在低剂量化疗组,联合治疗的疗效更加明显。(2)体内联合治疗明显抑制了H460荷瘤小鼠的肿瘤生长;免疫组化染色证实泰素治疗诱导了H460移植瘤细胞的NFκB表达增加,AdIκBα转染则消除了其表达,同时伴有轻度增加的VEGF表达,而p53表达不受影响。结论IκBα可通过阻滞NFκB表达和诱导凋亡而增加化疗疗效,同时减弱了VEGF表达,但与p53状态无关。推测联合治疗可减少化疗药的剂量,从而增加临床应用的耐受性。     

Reproductive technology: in Japan, consensus has limits

As part of a Hastings Center Report series of six articles on reproductive technologies around the world, three Japanese scholars report on the situation in their country. At present, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization are offered to infertile married couples, and research is performed on early embryos up to 14 days after fertilization. Neither surrogate mothers nor donated gametes are used in Japan. Bai, Shirai, and Ishii identify several issues that they believe merit further public debate, among them the legal status of AID children, the experimental nature of in vitro fertilization, genetic manipulation of embryos, and gender selection. They summarize the findings of four opinion surveys that show a lack of consensus among the Japanese on the acceptability of reproductive technologies, which in the words of the authors "create a tension and a link between traditional belief and contemporary practice."     

Association between Serum Inorganic Phosphorus Levels and Adverse Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease: The Fukushima CKD Cohort Study

Objective Although an association between serum inorganic phosphorus levels and a poor prognosis has been noted in dialysis patients, these associations have been insufficiently reported in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients. This study attempted to determine the association between serum inorganic phosphorus levels and adverse outcomes in Japanese NDD-CKD patients. Methods We investigated the relationships between serum inorganic phosphorus levels and adverse outcomes, such as kidney events, cardiovascular events, and all-cause death, in Japanese NDD-CKD patients using longitudinal data from the Fukushima CKD Cohort Study with a median follow-up period of 2.8 years. The study evaluated 822 patients with NDD-CKD enrolled between June 2012 and July 2014. A kidney event was defined as a combination of doubling of the baseline serum creatinine or end-stage renal disease. Cox regression was performed to analyze the relationships of the quartile of the serum inorganic phosphorus with kidney events, cardiovascular events, and all-cause death. Results The frequency of kidney events per 1,000 person-years exhibited a U-shaped distribution based on serum inorganic phosphorus levels, with these levels not significantly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause death. A multivariable Cox regression analysis showed an increased risk of kidney events for the highest quartile of the serum inorganic phosphorus levels (≥3.7 mg/dL) versus the second quartile (2.9-3.2 mg/dL, hazard ratio, 3.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.50-7.28; p=0.003). There were no significant associations between the serum calcium levels and adverse outcomes. Conclusion Serum inorganic phosphorus levels were associated with an increased risk of CKD progression in Japanese NDD-CKD patients.     

Pembrolizumab-related Immune Thrombocytopenia in a Patient with Lung Adenocarcinoma Treated by Radiotherapy: Potential Immune-related Adverse Event Elicited by Radiation Therapy

The effect of radiotherapy during immunotherapy on immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is not fully understood. We herein report a 74-year-old woman diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma with programmed death ligand 1 expression ≥50% and treated with pembrolizumab. She developed fatal immune thrombocytopenia associated with pembrolizumab immediately following radiotherapy. A flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood detected an increased expression of programmed death-1 (PD-1) and Ki-67 in CD4^＋ and CD8^＋ T cells after radiotherapy, compared with pre-irradiation measurements. This case suggests that radiotherapy may evoke irAEs during treatment with anti-PD-1 antibodies, which physicians should consider when using radiotherapy in patients treated with these drugs.     

Combining the Tumor Contact Length and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Better Predicts Extraprostatic Extension of Prostate Cancer with Capsular Abutment: A 3 Tesla MR Imaging Study

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic performance of the tumor contact length (TCL) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for predicting extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer with capsular abutment (CA).Methods: Ninety-three patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer underwent 3-Tesla MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging (b value = 0, 2000 s/mm²) and radical prostatectomy. Two experienced radiologists, blinded to the clinicopathological data, retrospectively assessed the presence of CA on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). TCL on T2WI and ADC values were measured on detecting CA in prostate cancer. We used the receiver operating characteristic curves to assess the diagnostic performance of TCL and ADC values for predicting EPE.Results: CA was present in 58 prostate cancers among 93 patients. The cut-off value for TCL was 6.9 mm, which yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.75. This corresponded to a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.2%, 61.5%, and 69.0%, respectively. The cut-off value for ADC was 0.63 × 10^–3 mm²/s, which yielded an AUC of 0.76. This, in turn, corresponded to a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.2%, 59.0%, and 67.2%, respectively. The combined cut-off value of TCL and ADC yielded an AUC of 0.82. The specificity (84.6%) and accuracy (81.0%) of the combined value were superior to their individual values (P < 0.05).Conclusion: A combination of TCL and ADC values provided high specificity and accuracy for detecting EPE of prostatic cancer with CA.