Quantitative evaluation of the neuroprotective effects of a short-acting β-adrenoceptor antagonist at a clinical dose on forebrain ischemia in gerbils: effects of esmolol on ischemic depolarization and histologic outcome of hippocampal CA1.

BACKGROUND: Neuroprotective effects of esmolol in laboratory and clinical settings have been reported. The present study was designed to quantitatively evaluate the neuroprotective effects of esmolol using logistic regression curves and extracellular potentials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 42 gerbils, bilateral occlusion of common carotid arteries was performed for 3, 5, or 7 minutes (n=7 in each group). In treated animals, esmolol (200 µg/kg/min) was administered for 90 minutes, 30 minutes before the onset of ischemia. Direct current potentials were measured in the bilateral CA1 regions, in which histologic evaluation was performed 5 days later. Relations of neuronal damage with ischemic duration and duration of ischemic depolarization were determined using logistic regression curves. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in onset time between the 2 groups (the control group vs. the esmolol group: 1.65±0.46 vs. 1.68±0.45 min, P=0.76), and significant differences in durations of ischemic depolarization were not observed with any ischemic duration. However, logistic regression curves indicated that esmolol has a neuroprotective effect from 2.95 to 7.66 minutes of ischemic depolarization (P<0.05), and esmolol prolonged the duration of ischemic depolarization causing 50% neuronal damage from 4.97 to 6.34 minutes (P<0.05). Logistic regression curves also indicated that esmolol has a neuroprotective effect from 3.77 to 7.74 minutes of ischemic duration (P<0.05), and esmolol prolonged the ischemic duration causing 50% neuronal damage from 4.26 to 4.91 minutes (P<0.05)

A patient with octopus pot-shaped cardial cancer that metastasized to multiple organs

A 71-year-old male was admitted for abdominal fullness. The condition rapidly deteriorated in a short period (3weeks), and the patient died. Autopsy revealed a protruding lesion measuring about 3 cm with erosion measuring 5mmin diameter immediately below the esophago-gastric conjugation site, suggesting primary cardial undifferentiated adenocarcinoma. In the primary focus, changes on the mucosal surface were almost normal. However, below the mucosa, infiltration of cancer cells was observed in an approximately 3 cm area along the gastric wall. Simultaneously, the site of infiltration was markedly increased in deep areas. Extra serous infiltration was observed. The morphology was special, and resembled an octopus pot, a trap used to catch octopuses in Japan, with a narrow top and a broad base. In our patient, metastatic lesions were detected in multiple organs, including the stomach

Postazacitidine clone size predicts long-term outcome of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and related myeloid neoplasms

Azacitidine is a mainstay of therapy for MDS-related diseases. The purpose of our study is to elucidate the effect of gene mutations on hematological response and overall survival (OS), particularly focusing on their post-treatment clone size. We enrolled a total of 449 patients with MDS or related myeloid neoplasms. They were analyzed for gene mutations in pre- (n=449) and post- (n=289) treatment bone marrow samples using targeted-capture sequencing to assess the impact of gene mutations and their post-treatment clone size on treatment outcomes. In Cox proportional hazard modeling, multi-hit TP53 mutation (HR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.42-2.91; P<.001), EZH2 mutation (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.14-2.54; P=.009), and DDX41 mutations (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.17-0.62; P<.001), together with age, high-risk karyotypes, low platelet, and high blast counts, independently predicted OS. Post-treatment clone size accounting for all drivers significantly correlated with International Working Group (IWG)-response (P<.001, trend test), except for that of DDX41-mutated clones, which did not predict IWG-response. Combined, IWG-response and post-treatment clone size further improved the prediction of the original model and even that of a recently proposed molecular prediction model, IPSS-M (c-index, 0.653 vs 0.688; P<.001, likelihood ratio test). In conclusion, evaluation of post-treatment clone size, together with pre-treatment mutational profile as well as IWG-response have a role in better prognostication of azacitidine-treated myelodysplasia patients

Pneumonia Caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Influenza Virus: A Multicenter Comparative Study

Background: Detailed differences in clinical information between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia (CP), which is the main phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 disease, and influenza pneumonia (IP) are still unclear. Methods: A prospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted by including patients with CP who were hospitalized between January and June 2020 and a retrospective cohort of patients with IP hospitalized from 2009 to 2020. We compared the clinical presentations and studied the prognostic factors of CP and IP. Results: Compared with the IP group (n = 66), in the multivariate analysis, the CP group (n = 362) had a lower percentage of patients with underlying asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P < .01), lower neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (P < .01), lower systolic blood pressure (P < .01), higher diastolic blood pressure (P < .01), lower aspartate aminotransferase level (P < .05), higher serum sodium level (P < .05), and more frequent multilobar infiltrates (P < .05). The diagnostic scoring system based on these findings showed excellent differentiation between CP and IP (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.889). Moreover, the prognostic predictors were different between CP and IP. Conclusions: Comprehensive differences between CP and IP were revealed, highlighting the need for early differentiation between these 2 pneumonias in clinical settings

Amplified EPOR/JAK2 Genes Define a Unique Subtype of Acute Erythroid Leukemia

ゲノム解析から急性赤白血病の変異プロファイルと治療標的を解明 --特定の遺伝子変異群の組み合わせと、特徴となる遺伝子の増幅が鍵--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-05.Acute erythroid leukemia (AEL) is a unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia characterized by prominent erythroid proliferation whose molecular basis is poorly understood. To elucidate the underlying mechanism of erythroid proliferation, we analyzed 121 AEL using whole-genome/exome and/or targeted-capture sequencing, together with transcriptome analysis of 21 AEL samples. Combining publicly available sequencing data, we found a high frequency of gains/amplifications involving EPOR/JAK2 in TP53-mutated cases, particularly those having >80% erythroblasts designated as pure erythroid leukemia (10/13). These cases were frequently accompanied by gains/amplifications of ERG/ETS2 and associated with a very poor prognosis, even compared with other TP53-mutated AEL. In addition to activation of the STAT5 pathway, a common feature across all AEL cases, these AEL cases exhibited enhanced cell proliferation and heme metabolism and often showed high sensitivity to ruxolitinib in vitro and in xenograft models, highlighting a potential role of JAK2 inhibition in therapeutics of AEL

Thymoma with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

A 38-year-old Japanese male was referred to our hospital with abnormal chest X-ray results and severe Coombs-positive hemolytic anemia. He was diagnosed with a stage IV, WHO type A thymoma and was treated with oral prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day) and subsequent chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, the patient underwent surgical resection of the thymoma. Hemolysis rapidly disappeared and did not return after the discontinuation of oral corticosteroids. Corticosteroid therapy may be preferable to chemotherapy or thymoma surgical resection in the management of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with thymoma

Bacterial Communities in Various Parts of Air-Conditioning Units in 17 Japanese Houses

HVAC systems have a significant impact on the indoor environment, and microbial contamination in HVAC systems has a significant effect on the indoor air quality. In this study, to gain a better understanding of the microbial contamination inside ACs, we used NGS to analyze the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria adhering to AC filters, cooling coils, fans, and air outlet surfaces. The five phyla in terms of the highest relative abundance were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The surface of an AC filter provides a history of indoor airborne bacterial contamination, and of the 10 bacterial genera we detected with the highest abundance (in the following order: Pseudomonas &gt; Staphylococcus &gt; Paracoccus &gt; Corynebacterium &gt; Acinetobacter &gt; Streptococcus &gt; Methylobacterium &gt; Enhydrobacter &gt; Sphingomonas &gt; Actinotignum) on the filter surface, the top 6 genera were Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, the seventh-most abundant genus adhering to the filter surface (Methylobacterium) was the second-most abundant genus on the cooling coil and fan, and the ninth-most abundant genus on the air filter (Sphingomonas) was the third-most abundant genus on the cooling coil. Various factors impact the bacterial flora inside AC units, including the location of the house, AC unit usage, and occupant activity