Partial cloning and characterization of an arginine decarboxylase in the kidney

Partial cloning and characterization of an arginine decarboxylase in the kidney. Using homology-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, we demonstrate the presence of arginine decarboxylase mRNA in tissues involved in arginine metabolism (brain, kidney, gut, adrenal gland, and liver of the rat) but not in organs (lung, heart, and spleen) in which arginine metabolism is low or absent. The polymerase chain reaction product from the kidney had a nucleotide sequence 61% identical to that of the E. coli biosynthetic arginine decarboxylase. On a whole tissue basis, kidney homogenates were three times more active than brain homogenates at decarboxylating [1-14C]arginine. Subcellular fractionation localized the arginine decarboxylase activity of the kidney to the mitochondria fraction. Agmatine, one of the products of arginine decarboxylation, was found to inhibit nitric oxide formation by post-mitochon-drial supernatants of the brain or kidney. We propose that arginine is metabolized to two structurally different signaling molecules, nitric oxide and agmatine. Furthermore, agmatine can influence the nitric oxide synthase pathway

Impact of Sacral Surface Therapeutic Electrical Stimulation on Early Recovery of Urinary Continence after Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy: A Pilot Study

Objectives. To investigate whether sacral surface therapeutic electrical stimulation (SSTES) initiated during the early postoperative period would be effective towards early recovery of postprostatectomy urinary continence. Methods. A total of 35 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon were enrolled in this study. Twenty early patients began pelvic floor muscle exercise (PME). Fifteen subsequent patients received SSTES postoperatively with no instruction for PME provided. Immediate urinary function just after catheter removal was evaluated with frequency-volume chart and 24-hour pad test. Results. There were no differences between the SSTES and PME groups in maximum voided volume capacity (MVV) and urine loss ratio (ULR) on the first day after removal of urethral catheter. However, on day 3 MVV was significantly larger and ULR was also significantly lower in the SSTES group. Conclusions. SSTES treatment is feasible and appears to be effective for early recovery of urinary continence after radical prostatectomy

Clinical Study Impact of Sacral Surface Therapeutic Electrical Stimulation on Early Recovery of Urinary Continence after Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy: A Pilot Study

Objectives. To investigate whether sacral surface therapeutic electrical stimulation (SSTES) initiated during the early postoperative period would be effective towards early recovery of postprostatectomy urinary continence. Methods. A total of 35 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon were enrolled in this study. Twenty early patients began pelvic floor muscle exercise (PME). Fifteen subsequent patients received SSTES postoperatively with no instruction for PME provided. Immediate urinary function just after catheter removal was evaluated with frequency-volume chart and 24-hour pad test. Results. There were no differences between the SSTES and PME groups in maximum voided volume capacity (MVV) and urine loss ratio (ULR) on the first day after removal of urethral catheter. However, on day 3 MVV was significantly larger and ULR was also significantly lower in the SSTES group. Conclusions. SSTES treatment is feasible and appears to be effective for early recovery of urinary continence after radical prostatectomy

Changes in conditional net survival and dynamic prognostic factors in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer initially treated with androgen deprivation therapy

Background The purpose of this study was to identify predictive factors associated with conditional net survival in patients with metastatic hormone-naive prostate cancer (mHNPC) initially treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Methods At nine hospitals in Tohoku, Japan, the medical records of 605 consecutive patients with mHNPC who initially received ADT were retrospectively reviewed. The Pohar Perme estimator was used to calculate conditional net cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) for up to 5 years subsequent to the diagnosis. Using multiple imputation, proportional hazard ratios for conditional CSS and OS were calculated with adjusted Cox regression models. Results During a median follow up of 2.95 years, 208 patients died, of which 169 died due to progressive prostate cancer. At baseline, the 5-year CSS and OS rates were 65.5% and 58.2%, respectively. Conditional 5-year net CSS and OS survival gradually increased for all the patients. In patients given a 5-year survivorship, the conditional 5-year net CSS and OS rates improved to 0.906 and 0.811, respectively. Only the extent of disease score (EOD) >= 2 remained a prognostic factor for CSS and OS up to 5 years; as survival time increased, other variables were no longer independent prognostic factors. Conclusions The conditional 5-year net CSS and OS in patients with mHNPC gradually increased; thus, the risk of mortality decreased with increasing survival. The patient\u27s risk profile changed over time. EOD remained an independent prognostic factor for CSS and OS after 5-year follow-up. Conditional net survival can play a role in clinical decision-making, providing intriguing information for cancer survivors

Prognostic significance of early changes in serum biomarker levels in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer

We evaluated the impact of early changes in serum biomarker levels on the survival of patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) who were initially treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). We retrospectively investigated 330 patients with mHSPC whose serum maker levels were at baseline and at 2-4 months. An optimal Cox regression model was established with the highest optimism-corrected concordance index based on 10-fold cross-validation. The median cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were 7.08 and 6.47 years (median follow-up, 2.53 years), respectively. In the final optimal Cox model with serum biomarker levels treated as time-varying covariates, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), hemoglobin (Hb), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) significantly increased the risk of poor survival in the context of both CSS and OS. Kaplan-Meier curves stratified by the three risk factors of high PSA, low Hb and high ALP desmondtated that median OS were not reached with none of these factors, 6.47 years with one or two factors, and 1.76 years with all three factors. Early changes in serum biomarker levels after ADT may be good prognostic markers for the survival of patients with mHSPC

Nutcracker現象 : 外科的1治療例と診断基準

A surgically treated case of the nutcracker phenomenon is reported. Severe left flank pain and gross hematuria were relieved by direct renocaval reimplantation. We proposed the diagnostic criteria of the nutcracker phenomenon causing severe flank pain and/or renal hematuria

Pure Stage I Seminoma with an Elevated hCG of 25,265 mIU/ml: A Case Report

We report a histologically pure stage 1 seminoma with an elevated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A 38 year-old man was referred for the evaluation of the left testicular swelling. He showed an elevated serum hCG level of 25,265 mIU/ml with normal a fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase. Imaging showed heterogeneous tumor without any metastatic lesions. We conducted 4 courses of chemotherapy before detecting hCG nadir. The final pathological report showed pure seminoma with syncytiotrophoblastic cells but no choriocarcinoma components. The patient remains disease free until present time. The case raised several questions regarding diagnosis and treatment strategy for bulky testicular seminoma

Ship-based observations of atmospheric potential oxygen and regional air–sea O2 flux in the northern North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean

Simultaneous observations of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO=O2+1.1×CO2) and air–sea O2 flux, derived from dissolved oxygen in surface seawater, were carried out onboard the research vessel MIRAI in the northern North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean in the autumns of 2012–2014. A simulation of the APO was also carried out using a three-dimensional atmospheric transport model that incorporated a monthly air–sea O2 flux climatology. By comparing the observed and simulated APO, as well as the observed and climatological air–sea O2 fluxes, it was found that the large day-to-day variation in the observed APO can be attributed to the day-to-day variation in the local air–sea O2 fluxes around the observation sites. It was also found that the average value of the observed air–sea O2 fluxes was systematically higher than that of the climatological O2 flux. This could explain the discrepancy between the observed and simulated seasonal APO cycles widely seen at various northern hemispheric observational sites in the fall season