“Playboy Bunny” Sign of Congestive Heart Failure

In emergency, ultrasound has been widely used as a noninvasive and effective examination to evaluate congestive heart failure. We highlight “Playboy Bunny” sign as a reliable marker and an important clue to the diagnosis of passive hepatic congestion, caused by congestive heart failure

Efficacy of fragmin/protamine microparticles containing fibroblast growth factor-2 (F/P MPs/FGF-2) to induce collateral vessels in a rabbit model of hindlimb ischemia

ObjectivesThe localized delivery of exogenous, angiogenic growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 has become a promising alternative treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia (CLI). The present study describes the efficacy of fragmin/protamine microparticles containing FGF-2 (F/P-MPs/FGF-2) to promote vessel growth in a rabbit model of hindlimb ischemia.MethodsA total of 24 rabbits were used to construct a model of hindlimb ischemia by resection of the left femoral artery. The rabbits were randomly divided into four groups 10 days after surgery (day 0); group A: control (non-treated; 1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline [PBS]); group B: FGF-2 (100 μg FGF-2 in 1 mL PBS)-treated; group C: F/P-MPs (12 mg dried F/P MPs in 1 mL PBS)-treated; and group D; F/P MPs/FGF-2 (100 μg FGF-2 and 12 mg dried F/P MPs in 1 mL PBS)-treated (n = 6 each). The drugs were administered intramuscularly to each group. Blood flow and blood pressure were measured in each group on days 0, 14, and 28. Angiography was performed to assess arteriogenesis on day 28. The number of capillaries on day 28 was determined by direct counting CD31− and α-smooth muscle antibody (α-SMA)-positive vessels.ResultsNeither death nor wound infection was observed throughout the experiment. The F/P MPs/FGF-2-treated group showed marked improvement in the blood flow ratio, blood pressure ratio, and capillary number in comparison to the control group, FGF-2-treated group, and F/P MPs-treated group. The F/P MPs-treated group showed intermediate improvement in blood flow ratio and capillary number in comparison to the control group and FGF-2-treated group.ConclusionsThe F/P MPs/FGF-2-treated group strongly induced functional collateral vessels in the rabbit model of hindlimb ischemia, indicating a possible therapy for PAD.Clinical RelevancePAD due to atherosclerotic vascular disease is a major health problem. Despite recent advances in surgical and radiologic vascular techniques, certain patients with CLI are not suitable for revascularization. A variety of strategies have been tried to promote development of collateral vessels. F/P MPs can act as carriers for controlled release of FGF-2. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of F/P MPs/FGF-2 to induce functional collateral vessels in a rabbit model of hindlimb ischemia. This study will lead to F/P MPs/FGF-2-therapy which is an effective therapeutic strategy for treating PAD patients in clinic

Enzymatic control of anhydrobiosis-related accumulation of trehalose in the sleeping chironomid, Polypedilum vanderplanki

Larvae of an anhydrobiotic insect, Polypedilum vanderplanki, accumulate very large amounts of trehalose as a compatible solute on desiccation, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this accumulation are unclear. We therefore isolated the genes coding for trehalose metabolism enzymes, i.e. trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP) for the synthesis step, and trehalase (TREH) for the degradation step. Although computational prediction indicated that the alternative splicing variants (PvTpsα/β) obtained encoded probable functional motifs consisting of a typical consensus domain of TPS and a conserved sequence of TPP, PvTpsα did not exert activity as TPP, but only as TPS. Instead, a distinct gene (PvTpp) obtained expressed TPP activity. Previous reports have suggested that insect TPS is, exceptionally, a bifunctional enzyme governing both TPS and TPP. In this article, we propose that TPS and TPP activities in insects can be attributed to discrete genes. The translated product of the TREH ortholog (PvTreh) certainly degraded trehalose to glucose. Trehalose was synthesized abundantly, consistent with increased activities of TPS and TPP and suppressed TREH activity. These results show that trehalose accumulation observed during anhydrobiosis induction in desiccating larvae can be attributed to the activation of the trehalose synthetic pathway and to the depression of trehalose hydrolysis

Designing isolation guidelines for COVID-19 patients with rapid antigen tests

新型コロナウイルス感染者の隔離短縮は可能か？. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-24.Appropriate isolation guidelines for COVID-19 patients are warranted. Currently, isolating for fixed time is adopted in most countries. However, given the variability in viral dynamics between patients, some patients may no longer be infectious by the end of isolation, whereas others may still be infectious. Utilizing viral test results to determine isolation length would minimize both the risk of prematurely ending isolation of infectious patients and the unnecessary individual burden of redundant isolation of noninfectious patients. In this study, we develop a data-driven computational framework to compute the population-level risk and the burden of different isolation guidelines with rapid antigen tests (i.e., lateral flow tests). Here, we show that when the detection limit is higher than the infectiousness threshold values, additional consecutive negative results are needed to ascertain infectiousness status. Further, rapid antigen tests should be designed to have lower detection limits than infectiousness threshold values to minimize the length of prolonged isolation

Revisiting the guidelines for ending isolation for COVID-19 patients

新型コロナウイルス感染者隔離を終了するのはいつが良い？. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-07-27.Reducing COVID-19 isolation times. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-07-27.Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, two mainstream guidelines for defining when to end the isolation of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals have been in use: the one-size-fits-all approach (i.e. patients are isolated for a fixed number of days) and the personalized approach (i.e. based on repeated testing of isolated patients). We use a mathematical framework to model within-host viral dynamics and test different criteria for ending isolation. By considering a fixed time of 10 days since symptom onset as the criterion for ending isolation, we estimated that the risk of releasing an individual who is still infectious is low (0–6.6%). However, this policy entails lengthy unnecessary isolations (4.8–8.3 days). In contrast, by using a personalized strategy, similar low risks can be reached with shorter prolonged isolations. The obtained findings provide a scientific rationale for policies on ending the isolation of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals