Association between hippocampal volume and serum adiponectin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with cognitive dysfunction and hippocampus volume. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the level of the adipocytokine adiponectin correlates with hippocampus volume and insulin resistance in patients with type 2 DM. A total of 45 patients with type 2 DM were divided into two groups: a low adiponectin group and a normal adiponectin group. Hippocampus volume was measured by computer-assisted analysis using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) voxel-based specific regional analysis system developed for the study of Alzheimer's disease as the end point for assessment of hippocampus volume. Mean hippocampus volume was lower in the low adiponectin group than in the normal adiponectin group (P<.0001). Fasting serum concentrations of glucose (P<.05) and insulin (P<.0001), and homeostasis model assessment index (P<.0001), were all higher in the low adiponectin group than in the normal adiponectin group. Multiple regression analysis showed that hippocampus volume independently predicted serum adiponectin level. These results suggest that circulating levels of adiponectin are related to hippocampus volume in patients with type 2 DM.     

A multi-centered epidemiological study evaluating the reliability of the treatment difficulty indices developed by the Japan Prosthodontic Society

BackgroundThe diagnostic assessment of the level of difficulty in treating patients who need prosthodontic care is useful to establish a medico-economically efficient system with primary care dentists and prosthodontic specialists.Materials and methodsA multi-axis assessment protocol was established using the newly established treatment difficulty indices. The protocol contains Axis I: oral physiological conditions (e.g., teeth damage and/or missing teeth); Axis II: general health and sociological conditions (e.g., medical disorders); Axis III: oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL; e.g., oral health impact profile: OHIP); and Axis IV: psychological health (e.g., mood, anxiety, somatoform disorders). A preliminary study on the test–retest consistency of the protocol was conducted to check the levels of reliability of the indices prior to a large-scale, multi-center cohort study on the validity of the protocol.ResultsThe test–retest consistency in terms of the oral physiological condition (Axis I) after data reduction was 0.63 for patients with teeth problems, 0.95 for partially edentulous patients, and 0.62 for edentulous patients. The reliability for general health and sociological conditions (Axis II), OHRQOL (Axis III), and psychological health (Axis IV) were 0.88, 0.74, and 0.61, respectively. These values reflect either “sufficient agreement” or “excellent agreement” in accordance with the criteria established by Landis and Koch (1977) [1].ConclusionThis protocol is the first multi-axis assessment scheme introduced for prosthodontic treatment with sufficient reliability. This new system is therefore expected to have a significant impact on future dental diagnostic nomenclature systems.     

Computer-aided measurement of mandibular cortical width on dental panoramic radiographs for identifying osteoporosis

Aim: To develop a computer‐aided diagnosis system to continuously measure mandibular inferior cortical width on dental panoramic radiographs and evaluate the system’s efficacy in identifying postmenopausal women with low‐skeletal bone mineral density. Methods: Mandibular inferior cortical width was continuously measured by enhancing the original X‐ray image, determining cortical boundaries, and evaluating all distances between the upper and lower boundaries in the region of interest. The system’s efficacy in identifying osteoporosis at the lumbar spine and the femoral neck was evaluated for 100 women (≥50 years): 50 in the development of the tool and 50 in its validation. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the cortical measurements for identifying the development patients were 90% (95% confidence interval shown in parentheses) (63.0–87.0) in women with low spinal bone mineral density, and 81.8% (70.1–91.8) and 69.2% (56.2–81.8) in those with low femoral bone mineral density, respectively. Corresponding values in the validation patients were 93.3% (85.9–100) and 82.9% (71.4–92.7) at the lumbar spine, and 92.3% (84.5–99.5) and 75.7% (63.0–87.0) at the femoral neck, respectively. Conclusion: Our new computer‐aided diagnosis system is a useful procedure in triage screening for osteoporosis.     

Synergistic anti-tumor effects of RAD001 with MEK inhibitors in neuroendocrine tumors: a potential mechanism of therapeutic limitation of mTOR inhibitor

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors have been clinically used as anticancer agents in several types of human malignancies including neuroendocrine tumor (NET) but the development of clinical resistances or their therapeutic limitations have been also reported. This clinical resistance has been proposed to be partly due to a compensatory activation of an mTOR upstream factor Akt and MEK/ERK pathway in NET cells but its details have not necessarily been reported. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effects of mTOR inhibitors on these activations and of the concomitant treatment of mTOR and MEK inhibitors in two NET cell lines, NCI-H727 and COLO320. We evaluated the effects of RAD001, mTOR inhibitor, and U0126, MEK inhibitor, on cell proliferation and migration of these cells. In addition, an alteration of the factors involved in Akt/mTOR and MEK/ERK pathways was also examined under administration of these agents. RAD001 and U0126 treatment significantly inhibited cell proliferation and their combined treatment synergistically decreased it in both cell lines. Additionally, these treatments above decreased the expression of cell cycle-related factors, suggestive of an involvement of cell cycle arrest in therapeutic effects. The combined treatment also inhibited the cell migration in NCI-H727 via the decrement of MMP2 and 9 in an additive manner. We demonstrated the potential synergistic/combined effects of inhibitors of mTOR and MEK on cell proliferation and migration. These results suggest the potential therapeutic efficacy of the combined therapy of mTOR and MEK inhibitors or a dual inhibitor for the treatment of NET patients.     

Inhibition of common cold-induced aggravation of childhood asthma by leukotriene receptor antagonists

Background: Virus infection is an important risk factor for aggravation of childhood asthma. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of drugs on aggravation of asthma induced by a common cold. Methods: Asthma control was examined in a survey of 1,014 Japanese pediatric patients with bronchial asthma. The occurrence of common cold, asthma control, and drugs used for asthma control were investigated using a modified Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) for patients aged <4 years old and 4 to 11 years old, and an Asthma Control Test (ACT) for patients aged 12 to 15 years old. Results: The status of asthma control did not differ among the age groups. The prevalence of common cold and aggravation of asthma were significantly higher in patients aged <4 years old. Control of asthma following common cold-induced aggravation was significantly less effective in patients aged <4 years old compared to those aged ≥4 years old. In patients aged <4 years old with a common cold, asthma control was significantly more effective for those treated with leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) compared to treatment without LTRAs. Asthma control did not differ between patients who did or did not take inhaled corticosteroids or long-acting β2 stimulants. Conclusions: These findings showed a high prevalence of common cold in younger patients with childhood asthma and indicated that common cold can induce aggravation of asthma. LTRAs are useful for long-term asthma control in very young patients who develop an asthma attack due to a common cold.     

Synchronous double cancers of primary hepatic adenosquamous carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma: report of a case

A 76-year-old male was referred for the treatment of liver tumors detected by abdominal computed tomography (CT). Dynamic CT revealed a low-density tumor with an irregularly enhanced rim in the left lateral sector, and a highly enhanced, well-circumscribed tumor in the caudate lobe, accompanied by dilation of the intrahepatic biliary ducts in the left lobe. Preoperative imaging studies led to the diagnosis of double cancers consisting of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Left hemihepatectomy with caudate lobectomy was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. Microscopic evaluation revealed that the tumor in the left lateral sector was adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC), whereas that in the caudate lobe was HCC. This report presents the first case describing the resection of synchronous double cancers of primary hepatic ASC and HCC.