Current status of sperm banking for young cancer patients in Japanese nationwide survey

This study aimed to ascertain the current status of Japanese sperm banking for young cancer patients. During 2015, we mailed the directors of 695 institutes where sperm cryopreservation might be performed with questionnaires requesting information on the number of patients, age, precryopreservation chemotherapy, semen analyses results and diagnoses, cryopreservation success rate, and causes of unsuccessful cryopreservation. Of these 695 institutes, 92 had cryopreserved sperm before chemotherapy within the study period. In all, 820 cancer patients (237 testicular, 383 hematological, 46 bone and soft tissue, 20 brain, and 134 other malignancy) consulted the responding institutes for sperm cryopreservation. Except for testicular tumor, the number of patients whose sperm was preserved before cancer treatment was low compared to that of young cancer patients. Approximately 20% of patients with malignancies other than testicular tumor underwent chemotherapy before cryopreservation. The success rate of cryopreservation in hematological malignancy was 82.5%, significantly lower than that of both the testicular cancer (93.6%) and other malignancy groups (95.6%) (P < 0.05). The primary reasons for preservation failure were azoospermia and poor semen quality. Patients with hematological malignancies had a higher rate of unsuccessful cryopreservation compared to those in other groups, possibly due to the large number of patients requesting sperm cryopreservation after chemotherapy induction. In Japan, information regarding sperm banking prior to cancer treatment appears to be lacking. Information regarding sperm preservation before chemotherapy should be provided to all Japanese oncologists

COVID-19-related stress, exercise, and oral health-related quality of life among community-dwelling older adults who participated in the CHEER Iwamizawa project, Japan

This study examined the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related stress, exercise habits, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in a sample of 215 community-dwelling older adults in Japan (57 men, 158 women; M-age = 74.2 years, SD = 6.0). Data were collected during wellness checkups in October 2020 and included participants' demographic characteristics, measures of instrumental activities of daily living and depressive tendencies, number of teeth, oral hypofunction, OHRQoL, COVID-19-related stress, and exercise habits. Four mutually exclusive groups were created, using the presence or absence of COVID-19-related stress and lack of exercise habits as risk factors for poor OHRQoL (no COVID-19-related stress and no lack of exercise, COVID-19-related stress only, lack of exercise habits only, and both COVID-19-related stress and lack of exercise habits). Poisson regression with robust standard errors provided the prevalence ratio for poor OHRQoL. The presence of both COVID-19-related stress and lack of exercise habits (adjusted prevalence ratio: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.31- 3.69) was associated with poor OHRQoL. The results indicate that COVID-19-related stress and exercise habits should be considered when designing oral health and public health initiatives

Oral frailty and carriage of oral Candida in community-dwelling older adults (Check-up to discover Health with Energy for senior Residents in Iwamizawa; CHEER Iwamizawa)

Objective To examine the association between oral frailty and oral Candida carriage as a general indicator of deteriorating oral function in older adults. Background Older adults exhibit an elevated risk of oral candidiasis caused by Candida. Although many studies have identified factors associated with oral Candida carriage, none have evaluated its relationship with oral function. Materials and Methods This study included 210 community-dwelling older adults aged >= 60 years who participated in wellness checks. Fungal flora expression in saliva samples was evaluated to identify oral C. albicans and C. glabrata. Participants were categorised by detection of neither strain (group 1), either one of the strains (group 2), or both strains (group 3). The relationship between oral Candida carriage and oral frailty was evaluated by multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results The participants included 58 men and 152 women with a mean age of 74.2 +/- 6.1 years. A total of 88 (41.9%), 94 (44.8%) and 28 (13.3%) participants were assigned to groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. In the multinomial logistic regression analysis, significant associations were observed between group 1 and group 2 for "Have you choked on your tea or soup recently?" and the number of applicable oral frailty items. Between group 1 and group 3, significant associations were observed for the number of remaining teeth, masticatory performance and the number of applicable oral frailty items. Conclusion We obtained basic data useful for intervention studies aimed at verifying whether oral function management prevents deterioration of the oral bacterial flora

Association between Weight Loss and Food Form in Older Individuals Residing in Long-Term Care Facilities: 1-Year Multicenter Longitudinal Study

Changing the food form for older adults requiring nursing care from a regular to dysphagia diet is thought to impact their nutritional status. We assessed the association between changes in food form and weight loss over 1 year in older adults. Older adults residing in long-term care facilities in Japan (n = 455) who participated in the baseline (2018) and follow-up (2019) surveys were divided into two groups (regular diet, n = 284; dysphagia diet, n = 171). The regular diet group was further divided into the weight loss (n = 80; weight loss & GE;5% over 1 year) and weight maintenance (n = 204; weight loss < 5%) groups. After 1 year, the Barthel Index significantly decreased, and the proportion of participants who switched from a regular diet to a dysphagia diet significantly increased in the weight loss group than in the weight maintenance group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that Barthel index variation (odds ratio (OR): 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94-0.99), change from a regular diet to a dysphagia diet (OR: 4.41, 95% CI: 1.87-10.41), and body weight at baseline (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.11) were significantly associated with weight loss. Our results suggest that maintaining the food form inhibits weight loss and improves health outcomes in older adults.</p

Adverse effects of an active fragment of parathyroid hormone on rat hippocampal organotypic cultures

1. Adverse effects of an active fragment of parathyroid hormone (PTH(1–34)), a blood Ca(2+) level-regulating hormone, were examined using rat hippocampal slices in organotypic culture. 2. Exposure of cultured slice preparations to 0.1 μM PTH(1–34) for 60 min resulted in a gradual increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)); this effect was most obvious in the apical dendritic region of CA1 subfield. 3. When PTH(1–34) at a lower concentration (1 nM) was added to the culture medium and its toxic effects examined using a propidium iodide intercalation method, significant toxicity was seen 3 days after exposure and increased with time. Cells in the CA1 region seemed more vulnerable to the hormone than cells in other regions. At 1 week of exposure, the toxic effects were dose-dependent over the range of 0.1 pM to 0.1 μM, the minimum effective dose being 10 pM. 4. The adverse effects were not induced either by the inactive fragment, PTH(39–84), or by an active fragment of PTH-related peptide (PTHrP(1–34)), an intrinsic ligand of the brain PTH receptor. 5. The PTH(1–34)-induced adverse effects were significantly inhibited by co-administration of 10 μM nifedipine, an L-type Ca(2+) channel blocker, but not by co-administration of blockers of the other types of Ca(2+) channel. 6. The present study demonstrates that sustained high levels of PTH in the brain might cause degeneration of specific brain regions due to Ca(2+) overloading via activation of dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca(2+) channels, and suggests that PTH may be a risk factor for senile dementia