De novo vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm after internal trapping of the contralateral vertebral artery

We present the case of a de novo vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA) after endovascular trapping of a ruptured VADA on the contralateral side. The first ruptured VADA involved the posterior inferior cerebellar artery, which was successfully treated by endovascular internal trapping using a stent. A follow-up study at 3 months revealed a de novo VADA on the contralateral side. The second VADA was successfully embolized using coils while normal arterial flow in the vertebral artery was preserved using a stent. Increased hemodynamic stress may cause the development of a de novo VADA on the contralateral side

Physiological and Pathological Mitochondrial Clearance Is Related to Pectoralis Major Muscle Pathogenesis in Broilers With Wooden Breast Syndrome

Wooden breast syndrome (WB) constitutes an emerging myopathy in the pectoralis major muscle (PM) of broiler chickens, characterized by myofiber hypertrophy and degeneration along with severe fibrosis. WB pathogenesis has been considered to involve hypoxia induced by rapid growth of the PM. In this study, we focused on mitochondrial morphology and dynamics in the myofibers, as these organelles are sensitive to damage by hypoxia, and examined the effects on WB pathogenesis. Specifically, the PMs of a flock of 35 broilers at 50 days of age were evaluated. First, the severity of disease in each bird was determined by measuring histopathological indices including the fibrotic area (FA) in the muscle and circularity of myofibers (CM). These values were 29.4 ± 9.6% and 0.70 ± 0.042, respectively, showing variety among the flock. Myofiber vacuolization was observed in all birds including numerous small- or large-rimmed vacuoles, with the former consisting of ultrastructurally autophagosome-like vacuoles engulfing degenerated mitochondria. The large-rimmed vacuoles frequently occurred in the PMs with more severe FA and CM, indicating a relationship between altered autophagy/mitophagy and WB severity. Next, the expression levels of hypoxia-adaptive and mitochondrial dynamics-related genes were analyzed, and their correlations with the histopathological indices were examined. The histopathological indices were negatively correlated with the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), indicating that less angiogenesis owing to weakened hypoxia-inducible factor signaling induces more severe WB pathology. In addition, the observed negative correlation with mitochondrial dynamics-related genes implied that WB pathology deteriorates concomitant with reduced mitochondrial dynamics. Furthermore, the expression of mitochondrial dynamics-related genes showed strong positive correlation with that of VEGFA and autophagy-/mitophagy-related genes. These results revealed that the PMs of broilers possess the mechanism of physiological clearance of mitochondria damaged by the hypoxia resulting from the continuous mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy/mitophagy accompanying rapid PM growth. In turn, the altered mitochondrial clearance induced by chronic hypoxia and the accumulation of damaged mitochondria likely underly the severe pathological features of WB.ArticleFrontiers in Pharmacology.11:579(2020)journal articl

Cerebellar Blood Flow and Gene Expression in Crossed Cerebellar Diaschisis after Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats

Crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) is a state of hypoperfusion and hypometabolism in the contralesional cerebellar hemisphere caused by a supratentorial lesion, but its pathophysiology is not fully understood. We evaluated chronological changes in cerebellar blood flow (CbBF) and gene expressions in the cerebellum using a rat model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). CbBF was analyzed at two and seven days after MCAO using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). DNA microarray analysis and western blotting of the cerebellar cortex were performed and apoptotic cells in the cerebellar cortex were stained. CbBF in the contralesional hemisphere was significantly decreased and this lateral imbalance recovered over one week. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that a gene set for "oxidative phosphorylation" was significantly upregulated while fourteen other gene sets including "apoptosis", "hypoxia" and "reactive oxygen species" showed a tendency toward upregulation in the contralesional cerebellum. MCAO upregulated the expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the contralesional cerebellar cortex. The number of apoptotic cells increased in the molecular layer of the contralesional cerebellum. Focal cerebral ischemia in our rat MCAO model caused CCD along with enhanced expression of genes related to oxidative stress and apoptosis

A comparison of the prevalence and risk factors of complications in intracranial tumor embolization between the Japanese Registry of NeuroEndovascular Therapy 2 (JR-NET2) and JR-NET3

BACKGROUND: The Japanese Registry of NeuroEndovascular Therapy 2 (JR-NET2) and 3 (JR-NET3) were nationwide surveys that evaluated clinical outcomes after neuroendovascular therapy in Japan. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence and risk factors of complications of intracranial tumor embolization between JR-NET2 and JR-NET3. METHODS: A total of 1018 and 1545 consecutive patients with intracranial tumors treated with embolization were enrolled in JR-NET2 and JR-NET3, respectively. The prevalence of complications in intracranial tumor embolization and related risk factors were compared between JR-NET2 and JR-NET3. RESULTS: The prevalence of complications in JR-NET3 (3.69%) was significantly higher than that in JR-NET2 (1.48%) (p = 0.002). The multivariate analysis in JR-NET2 showed that embolization for tumors other than meningioma was the only significant risk factor for complication (odds ratio [OR], 3.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-12.10; p = 0.032), and that in JR-NET3 revealed that embolization for feeders other than external carotid artery (ECA) (OR, 3.56; 95% CI, 2.03-6.25; p  CONCLUSIONS: Embolization for feeders other than ECA and use of liquid materials could increase the complication rate in intracranial tumor embolization

Comparison of Mortality between Japanese Peritoneal Dialysis and Hemodialysis Patients: A 5-Year Multicenter Follow-Up Study

To examine the relationship between dialysis modality and prognosis in Japanese patients, we conducted a prospective multicenter observational study. We recruited 83 background-matched peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 83 hemodialysis (HD) patients (average age, 64.9 years; men, 53.6%; diabetic patients, 22.9%; median duration of dialysis, 48 months in all patients) and followed them for 5 years. During the follow-up period, 27 PD patients (16 cardiovascular and 11 non-cardiovascular deaths) and 27 HD patients died (14 cardiovascular and 13 non-cardiovascular deaths). There were 8 PD patients switched to HD, and 6 PD patients received renal transplantation. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the crude survival rate was not significantly different at the end of 5 years (PD 67.5% versus 67.5%, log-rank P = 0.719). The difference in cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortalities between PD and HD was not statistically significant. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that the independent predictors for death were age and serum albumin levels, but not the dialysis modality. This study showed that the overall mortality was not significantly different between PD and HD patients, which suggests that dialysis modality might not be an independent factor for survival in Japanese patients

ER Stress Protein CHOP Mediates Insulin Resistance by Modulating Adipose Tissue Macrophage Polarity

Obesity represents chronic inflammatory states promoted by pro-inflammatory M1-macrophage infiltration into white adipose tissue (WAT), thereby inducing insulin resistance. Herein, we demonstrate the importance of an ER stress protein, CHOP, in determining adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) polarity and systemic insulin sensitivity. A high-fat diet (HFD) enhances ER stress with CHOP upregulation in adipocytes. CHOP deficiency prevents HFD-induced insulin resistance and glucose intolerance with ATM M2 predomination and Th2 cytokine upregulation in WAT. Whereas ER stress suppresses Th2 cytokine expression in cultured adipocytes, CHOP knockdown inhibits this downregulation. In contrast, macrophage responsiveness to Th1/Th2 cytokines is unchanged regardless of whether CHOP is expressed. Furthermore, bone marrow transplantation experiments showed recipient CHOP to be the major determinant of ATM polarity. Thus, CHOP in adipocytes plays important roles in ATM M1 polarization by altering WAT micro-environmental conditions, including Th2 cytokine downregulation. This molecular mechanism may link adipose ER stress with systemic insulin resistance

The royal food of termites shows king and queen specificity

シロアリの王と女王の特別食を世界初解明 --王と女王の繁殖と長寿を支えるロイヤルフード--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-07-13.Society in eusocial insects is based on the reproductive division of labor, with a small number of reproductive individuals supported by a large number of non-reproductive individuals. Because inclusive fitness of all colony members depends on the survival and fertility of reproductive members, sterile members provide royals with special treatment. Here we show that termite kings and queens each receive special food of a different composition from workers. Sequential analysis of feeding processes demonstrated that workers exhibit discriminative trophallaxis, indicating their decision-making capacity in allocating food to the kings and queens. LC-MS/MS analyses of the stomodeal food and midgut contents revealed king- and queen-specific compounds including diacylglycerols and short-chain peptides. DESI-MSI analyses of ¹³C-labelled termites identified phosphatidylinositol and acetyl-L-carnitine in the royal food. Comparison of the digestive tract structure showed remarkable differences in the volume ratio of the midgut-to-hindgut among castes, indicating that digestive division of labor underlies reproductive division of labor. Our demonstration of king- and queen-specific food in termites provides insight into the nutritional system that underpins the extraordinary reproduction and longevity of royals in eusocial insects

Effects of a trauma center on early mortality after trauma in a regional city in Japan: a population-based study

Background: Although the effects of the trauma center(TC) were researched in several studies, there have been few studies on changes in the regional mortality due to the implementation of a TC.An emergency medical center (EMC) and TC were implemented at Nagasaki University Hospital (NUH) for the first time in the Nagasaki medical region of Japan in April 2010 and October 2011, respectively, and they have cooperated with each other in treating trauma patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on the early mortality at population level of a TC working in cooperation with an EMC. Methods: This is a retrospective study using standardized regional data (ambulance service record) in Nagasaki medical region from April 2007 through March 2017. We included 19,045 trauma patients directly transported from the scene. The outcome measures were prognosis for one week. To examine the association between the implementation of the EMC and TC and mortality at a region, we fit adjusted logistic regression models. Results: The number of patients of each fiscal year increased from 1492 in 2007 to 2101 in 2016.The number of all patients transported to NUH decreased until 2009 to 70, but increased after implementation of the EMC and TC. Overall mortality of all patients in the region improved from 2.3% in 2007 to 1.0% in 2016.In multivariate logistic regression model, odds ratio of death was significantly smaller at 2013 and thereafter if the data from 2007 to 2011 was taken as reference. Conclusions: Implementation of the EMC and TC was associated with early mortality in trauma patients directly transported from the scene by ambulance. Our analysis suggested that the implementation of EMC and TC contributed to the improvement of the early mortality at a regional city with 500000 populations. Level of evidence: Level III