Serum tau protein as a marker for the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Total tau protein (t-tau) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (CSF-tau) are markedly elevated in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Some CSF-tau may leak into the blood. We evaluated t-tau levels in serum (serum-tau) as a possible marker for the differential diagnosis of CJD from Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) and other rapidly progressive dementias (RPD). Serum- and CSF-tau levels were determined in patients with sporadic CJD (n = 12), AD (n = 10) and RPD but no CJD (non-CJD-RPD; n = 9) who showed RPD fulfilling the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for possible CJD at onset and had a final diagnosis other than CJD. We also analyzed serum-tau levels in healthy volunteers as a control group (n = 10). Serum- as well as CSF-tau levels were significantly elevated in CJD group compared to those in AD, non-CJD-RPD and healthy control groups. Serum-tau would be a simple and useful marker to distinguish CJD from AD and non-CJD-RPD, requiring further large study to confirm this. © 2011 Springer-Verlag

Superficial Carcinoma of the Esophagus

Four cases of esophageal carcinoma in which the invasion is limited to the mucosal layer (m-carcinoma) and 7 cases of it in which the invasion invades the submucosal layer (sm-carcinoma) are studied. In the cases of m-carcinoma, both lymphatic invasion and blood vessel invasion were not found. On the other hand, lymphatic invasion was noted in 4 cases among 7 cases of sm-carcinoma, and in these 4 oases, lymphatic invasion or blood vessel invasion was demonstrated in the primary sites. Among 4 patients who had lymph node metastasis, 2 died of the recurrence of carcinoma, and the other 2 died of other diseases. The prognosis of patients without lymph node metastasis was satisfactory. The best way to elevate the prognosis of esophageal carcinoma is to discover it at the stage of m-carcinoma, and in order to achieve it, endoscopic observation combined withh the Lugol-staining method is most influential. It is also recommended to perform the esophageal endoscopic examination with patients visiting us with other diseases

The Yuu-yuu Health Circle as a Place for Learning and Playing

The Yuu-yuu Health Circle is a place for students to learn and deepen their understanding and interest by putting into practice the knowledge and skills they have gained in class at the university. This chapter introduces its maintenance and promotion activities for older adults in the community that were participated by students of the Departments of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy at Kinjo University before and during the coronavirus pandemic. The activity method and contents changed significantly during the pandemic. However, as a medical and welfare university, its job to develop human resources that deal with people has not changed. As an educational method toward such purpose, the activities helped students, who need to actively communicate with people of different ages and improve their interpersonal communication skills even during the pandemic

Administration of oxygen ultra-fine bubbles improves nerve dysfunction in a rat sciatic nerve crush injury model

Ultra-fine bubbles (<200 nm in diameter) have several unique properties and have been tested in various medical fields. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oxygen ultra-fine bubbles (OUBs) on a sciatic nerve crush injury (SNC) model rats. Rats were intraperitoneally injected with 1.5 mL saline, OUBs diluted in saline, or nitrogen ultra-fine bubbles (NUBs) diluted in saline three times per week for 4 weeks in four groups: (1) control, (sham operation + saline); (2) SNC, (crush + saline); (3) SNC+OUB, (crush + OUB-saline); (4) SNC+NUB, (crush + NUB-saline). The effects of the OUBs on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and Schwann cells (SCs) were examined by serial dilution of OUB medium in vitro. Sciatic functional index, paw withdrawal thresholds, nerve conduction velocity, and myelinated axons were significantly decreased in the SNC group compared to the control group; these parameters were significantly improved in the SNC+OUB group, although NUB treatment did not affect these parameters. In vitro, OUBs significantly promoted neurite outgrowth in DRG neurons by activating AKT signaling and SC proliferation by activating ERK1/2 and JNK/c-JUN signaling. OUBs may improve nerve dysfunction in SNC rats by promoting neurite outgrowth in DRG neurons and SC proliferation.Matsuoka H., Ebina K., Tanaka H., et al. Administration of oxygen ultra-fine bubbles improves nerve dysfunction in a rat sciatic nerve crush injury model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 19, 1395 (2018); https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19051395

Medical procedures and risk for sporadic creutzfeldt-jakob disease, Japan, 1999-2008

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系To elucidate the association between medical procedures and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), we analyzed medical procedures (any surgical procedure, neu- rosurgery, ophthalmic surgery, and blood transfusion) for patients registered by the CJD Surveillance Committee in Japan during 1999-2008. We conducted an age-stratified case-control study with 753 sCJD patients and 210 controls and a study of patients who underwent neurosurgical or ophthalmic surgical procedures at the same hospital. Although the control group was relatively small, no evidence was found that prion disease was transmitted through the investigated medical procedures before onset of sCJD. After onset of sCJD, 4.5% of the sCJD patients underwent operations, including neurosurgical for 0.8% and ophthalmic for 1.9%; no special precautions against transmission of prion diseases were taken. Fortunately, we have not identified patients with prion disease attributed to these operations. Our findings indicate that surgical procedures or blood transfusion had little effect on the incidence of sCJD

Ophthalmic Surgery in Prion Diseases

Eleven (1.8%) of 597 patients underwent ophthalmic surgery within 1 month before the onset of prion disease or after the onset. All ophthalmologists reused surgical instruments that had been incompletely sterilized to eliminate infectious prion protein. Ophthalmologists should be aware of prion diseases as a possible cause of visual symptoms and use disposable instruments whenever possible

Enhanced stability of hippocampal place representation caused by reduced magnesium block of NMDA receptors in the dentate gyrus

BACKGROUND: Voltage-dependent block of the NMDA receptor by Mg(2+) is thought to be central to the unique involvement of this receptor in higher brain functions. However, the in vivo role of the Mg(2+) block in the mammalian brain has not yet been investigated, because brain-wide loss of the Mg(2+) block causes perinatal lethality. In this study, we used a brain-region specific knock-in mouse expressing an NMDA receptor that is defective for the Mg(2+) block in order to test its role in neural information processing. RESULTS: We devised a method to induce a single amino acid substitution (N595Q) in the GluN2A subunit of the NMDA receptor, specifically in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in mice. This mutation reduced the Mg(2+) block at the medial perforant path–granule cell synapse and facilitated synaptic potentiation induced by high-frequency stimulation. The mutants had more stable hippocampal place fields in the CA1 than the controls did, and place representation showed lower sensitivity to visual differences. In addition, behavioral tests revealed that the mutants had a spatial working memory deficit. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the Mg(2+) block in the dentate gyrus regulates hippocampal spatial information processing by attenuating activity-dependent synaptic potentiation in the dentate gyrus