Management of esophageal stricture after complete circular endoscopic submucosal dissection for superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) permits removal of esophageal epithelial neoplasms <it>en bloc</it>, but is associated with esophageal stenosis, particularly when ESD involves the entire circumference of the esophageal lumen. We examined the effectiveness of systemic steroid administration for control of postprocedural esophageal stricture after complete circular ESD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seven patients who underwent wholly circumferential ESD for superficially extended esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in this study. In 3 patients, prophylactic endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) was started on the third post-ESD day and was performed twice a week for 8 weeks. In 4 patients, oral prednisolone was started with 30 mg daily on the third post-ESD day, tapered gradually (daily 30, 30, 25, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 mg for 7 days each), and then discontinued at 8 weeks. EBD was used as needed whenever patients complained of dysphagia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>En bloc </it>ESD with tumor-free margins was safely achieved in all cases. Patients in the prophylactic EBD group required a mean of 32.7 EBD sessions; the postprocedural stricture was dilated up to 18 mm in diameter in these patients. On the other hand, systemic steroid administration substantially reduced or eliminated the need for EBD. Corticosteroid therapy was not associated with any adverse events. Post-ESD esophageal stricture after complete circular ESD was persistent, requiring multiple EBD sessions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Use of oral prednisolone administration may be an effective treatment strategy for reducing post-ESD esophageal stricture after complete circular ESD.</p

Activation of TORC1 transcriptional coactivator through MEKK1-induced phosphorylation

CREB is a prototypic bZIP transcription factor and a master regulator of glucose metabolism, synaptic plasticity, cell growth, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis. Transducers of regulated CREB activity (TORCs) are essential transcriptional coactivators of CREB and an important point of regulation on which various signals converge. In this study, we report on the activation of TORC1 through MEKK1-mediated phosphorylation. MEKK1 potently activated TORC1, and this activation was independent of downstream effectors MEK1/MEK2, ERK2, JNK, p38, protein kinase A, and calcineurin. MEKK1 induced phosphorylation of TORC1 both in vivo and in vitro. Expression of the catalytic domain of MEKK1 alone in cultured mammalian cells sufficiently caused phosphorylation and subsequent activation of TORC1. MEKK1 physically interacted with TORC1 and stimulated its nuclear translocation. An activation domain responsive to MEKK1 stimulation was mapped to amino acids 431-650 of TORC1. As a physiological activator of CREB, interleukin 1α triggered MEKK1-dependent phosphorylation of TORC1 and its consequent recruitment to the cAMP response elements in the interleukin 8 promoter. Taken together, our findings suggest a new mechanism for regulated activation of TORC1 transcriptional coactivator and CREB signaling. © 2008 by The American Society for Cell Biology.published_or_final_versio

Molecular Determinants and Dynamics of Hepatitis C Virus Secretion

The current model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) production involves the assembly of virions on or near the surface of lipid droplets, envelopment at the ER in association with components of VLDL synthesis, and egress via the secretory pathway. However, the cellular requirements for and a mechanistic understanding of HCV secretion are incomplete at best. We combined an RNA interference (RNAi) analysis of host factors for infectious HCV secretion with the development of live cell imaging of HCV core trafficking to gain a detailed understanding of HCV egress. RNAi studies identified multiple components of the secretory pathway, including ER to Golgi trafficking, lipid and protein kinases that regulate budding from the trans-Golgi network (TGN), VAMP1 vesicles and adaptor proteins, and the recycling endosome. Our results support a model wherein HCV is infectious upon envelopment at the ER and exits the cell via the secretory pathway. We next constructed infectious HCV with a tetracysteine (TC) tag insertion in core (TC-core) to monitor the dynamics of HCV core trafficking in association with its cellular cofactors. In order to isolate core protein movements associated with infectious HCV secretion, only trafficking events that required the essential HCV assembly factor NS2 were quantified. TC-core traffics to the cell periphery along microtubules and this movement can be inhibited by nocodazole. Sub-populations of TC-core localize to the Golgi and co-traffic with components of the recycling endosome. Silencing of the recycling endosome component Rab11a results in the accumulation of HCV core at the Golgi. The majority of dynamic core traffics in association with apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and VAMP1 vesicles. This study identifies many new host cofactors of HCV egress, while presenting dynamic studies of HCV core trafficking in infected cells

Validation of two automatic devices, Omron HEM-6232T and HEM-6181, for self-measurement of blood pressure at the wrist according to the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 protocol and the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010 [Corrigendum]

Saito K, Hishiki Y, Takahashi H. Vasc Health Risk Manag.&nbsp;2019;15:47&ndash;55.The authors advise that an image in Figure 1 was not&nbsp;correct. An image of an HEM-6323T was mistakenly&nbsp;shown instead of an image of an HEM-6232T. The authors&nbsp;apologize for this error and confirm that this correction has&nbsp;no impact on the findings of the study.Read the original articl

Validation of two automatic devices, Omron HEM-6232T and HEM-6181, for self-measurement of blood pressure at the wrist according to the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 protocol and the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010

Kanako Saito,1 Yukiko Hishiki,1 Hakuo Takahashi2 1Department of Technology Development, Omron Healthcare Co, Ltd., Mukou City, Kyoto, Japan; 2Department of Cardiology, Biwako Central Hospital, Otsu City, Shiga, Japan Objective: The performance of Omron HEM-6232T and Omron HEM-6181 for monitoring blood pressure (BP) at the wrist was validated in accordance with the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 protocol (ANSI/AAMI/ISO) and the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010 (ESH IP2).Methods: Three trained medical technologists validated the performance of these devices by comparing data obtained from these devices with those obtained using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer.Results: The mean differences between the devices and mercury readings for SBP and DBP were as follows: HEM-6232T, &ndash;0.4&plusmn;6.7 mmHg and 1.6&plusmn;5.4 mmHg, respectively; HEM-6181, &ndash;0.7&plusmn;6.2 mmHg and &ndash;0.7&plusmn;5.2 mmHg, respectively, satisfying the ANSI/AAMI/ISO protocol. The mean device&ndash;observer measurement difference was &ndash;0.9&plusmn;5.7 mm&thinsp;Hg and 0.2&plusmn;4.6 mm&thinsp;Hg for SBP and 0.5&plusmn;4.9 &thinsp;mm&thinsp;Hg and 1.4&plusmn;3.5 &thinsp;mm&thinsp;Hg for DBP, for HEM-6232T and HEM-6181, respectively, satisfying part 1 of the ESH-IP2. All differences for SBP and DBP in both devices satisfied part 2 of the ESH-IP2. The number of absolute differences in the values obtained using the devices and those measured by the observers fulfilled the requirements of the ANSI/AAMI/ISO and the ESH IP2.Conclusion: The Omron HEM-6232T and HEM-6181 devices met all the requirements of the ANSI/AAMI/ISO and the ESH IP2. Keywords: blood pressure measurement, device, guideline, international protocol, validatio