Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in early-stage ovarian clear-cell carcinoma

Kosuke Yoshida,Nobuhisa Yoshikawa,Akira Shirakawa,Kaoru Niimi,Shiro Suzuki,Hiroaki Kajiyama,Fumitaka Kikkawa 대한부인종양학회 2019 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.30 No.6

Objectives: There is increasing evidence that systemic inflammatory response (SIR) markersare prognostic factors for various types of cancers. This is the first study to evaluate theusefulness of SIR markers for the prognosis of early-stage ovarian clear-cell carcinoma (OCCC). Methods: We retrospectively investigated 83 patients diagnosed with stage I–II OCCC whounderwent surgery between 2005 and 2017. Initially, receiver operating characteristic curveanalysis for overall survival (OS) was used to determine optimal cut-off values for neutrophilto-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Patients were stratifiedinto 2 groups by the cut-off values (NLR=3.26, PLR=160). Univariate and multivariateanalyses were performed to elucidate the significance of SIR markers as prognostic factors. Results: In the median follow-up period of 64.1 months, 16 patients experienced recurrence,and nine patients died. The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that OS of the NLR-low group wassignificantly longer than the NLR-high group (p=0.021). There was no significant differencein progression-free survival between the 2 groups (p=0.668), but the post-recurrencesurvival of the NLR-low group was significantly longer than the NLR-high group (p=0.019). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that increase in NLR is a significant independentprognostic factor for poor prognosis (hazard ratio=7.437, p=0.017). There was no significantdifference between PLR-low and PLR-high group. Conclusion: Results suggest that NLR can be a significant independent prognostic factor forearly-stage OCCC.

Novel mutations of CDKN1C in Japanese patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome

Hitomi Yatsuki,Ken Higashimoto,Kosuke Jozaki,Kayoko Koide,Junichiro Okada,Yoriko Watanabe,Nobuhiko Okamoto,Yoshinobu Tsuno,Yoko Yoshida,Kazutoshi Ueda,Kenji Shimizu,Hirofumi Ohashi,Tsunehiro Mukai,Hid 한국유전학회 2013 Genes & Genomics Vol.35 No.2

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an imprinting-related human disease that is characterized by macrosomia, macroglossia, abdominal wall defects, and variable minor features. BWS is caused by several genetic/epigenetic alterations, such as loss of methylation at KvDMR1,gain of methylation at H19-DMR, paternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 11, CDKN1C mutations, and structural abnormalities of chromosome 11. CDKN1C is an imprinted gene with maternal preferential expression, encoding for a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor. Mutations in CDKN1C are found in 40 % of familial BWS cases with dominant maternal transmission and in *5 % of sporadic cases. In this study, we searched for CDKN1C mutations in 37BWS cases that had no evidence for other alterations. We found five mutations—four novel and one known—from a total of six patients. Four were maternally inherited and one was a de novo mutation. Two frame-shift mutations and one nonsense mutation abolished the QT domain, containing a PCNA-binding domain and a nuclear localization signal. Two missense mutations occurred in the CDK inhibitory domain,diminishing its inhibitory function. The above-mentioned mutations were predicted by in silico analysis to lead to loss of function; therefore, we strongly suspect that such anomalies are causative in the etiology of BWS.

Preoperative serum microRNAs as potential prognostic biomarkers in ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Kazuhiro Suzuki,Akira Yokoi,Kosuke Yoshida,Tomoyasu Kato,Takahiro Ochiya,Yusuke Yamamoto,Hiroaki Kajiyama 대한부인종양학회 2023 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.34 No.3

Objective: Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a subtype of epithelial ovarian carcinoma with poor prognosis. However, no effective biomarkers have been established for predicting unfavorable events, including recurrence and poor prognoses. Serum microRNAs (miRNAs) have been increasingly reported to be useful in predicting a patient’s condition and have been recognized as a potentially less-invasive source for liquid biopsy in cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate serum miRNA profiles from patients with OCCC and to establish biomarker for predicting the prognoses. Methods: The GSE106817, which included preoperative serum miRNA profiles of patients with ovarian tumors, was used, and clinical information was investigated. In all, 66 patients with OCCC were included, excluding those with other histological subtypes or insufficient prognostic information. Moreover, miRNA profiles of OCCC tissues were also examined. Results: The median follow-up period was 64.3 (8.0–153.3) months. Based on multivariable Cox regression analyses and the expression of miRNAs in OCCC tissues, miR-150-3p, miR-3195, and miR-7704 were selected as miRNA candidates associated with both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Then, the prognostic index was calculated based on expression values of 3 serum miRNAs. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the prognostic index was significantly predictive of PFS and OS (p=0.004 and p=0.012, respectively). Conclusion: Preoperative serum miRNA profiles of miR-150-3p, miR-3195, and miR-7704 can be used to potentially predict the prognosis of patients with OCCC.

Expression and characterization of a recombinant Drosophila tyramine-β-hydroxylase in silkworm infected with recombinant baculovirus

Ahmed M.H. Ali,Jae Man Lee,Mayumi Yoshida,Kosuke Sakashita,Jumpei Torii,Takahiro Kusakabe,Akinori Hirashima 한국응용곤충학회 2012 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.15 No.4

The insect nervous systemcontains biogenic amines such octopamine (OA),which is synthesized fromtyramine (TA) by catalysis of tyramine-β-hydroxylase (TβH). In this study, the Drosophila 70 kDa tyramine-β-hydroxylase (DmTβH) protein was purified after the recombinant nucleopolyhedrovirus isolated from Bombyx mori (BmNPV) containing the TβH gene was injected into the hemocoel of the fifth instar larvae from the d17B. mori strain. Western blot analysis revealed an immunoreactive band with a molecular mass of 70 kDa. The products formed by incubating the enzyme reaction mixture were separated and detected by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The optimum pH, temperature, and incubation time for the conversion of TA to OAwere 7.6, 25 °C, and 30 min, respectively. The inhibitory experiments using various concentrations of 1-(2-methoxy-5-methylphenyl) imidazole-2(3H)-thione (MMIT) showed that MMIT inhibited DmTβH dose-dependently and that this method can be applied for screening DmTβH inhibitors.

Rehabilitation Nutrition and Exercise Therapy for Sarcopenia

Kakehi Shingo,Wakabayashi Hidetaka,Inuma Hayato,Inose Tomomi,Shioya Moeka,Aoyama Yohei,Hara Taiki,Uchimura Kosuke,Tomita Kazusa,Okamoto Mizuki,Yoshida Masato,Yokota Shohei,Suzuki Hayato 대한남성과학회 2022 The World Journal of Men's Health Vol.40 No.1

Sarcopenia is an age-related loss of skeletal muscle associated with adverse outcomes such as falls, fractures, disability, and increased mortality in older people and hospitalized patients. About half of older male nursing home residents have sarcopenia. The diagnostic criteria by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) have led to increased interest in sarcopenia. Exercise and nutritional management are crucial for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. Nutritional therapy for sarcopenia that includes 20 g of whey protein and 800 IU of vitamin D twice a day improves lower limb strength. Exercise therapy for sarcopenia, such as resistance training and 6 months of home exercises, improves muscle strength and physical function. Combination therapy that includes both nutritional and exercise therapy improves gait speed and knee extension strength more than either exercise alone or nutrition therapy alone. Excessive bedrest and mismanagement of nutrition in medical facilities can lead to iatrogenic sarcopenia. Iatrogenic sarcopenia is sarcopenia caused by the activities of health care workers in health care facilities. Appropriate nutritional management and exercise programs through rehabilitation nutrition are important for prevention and treatment of iatrogenic sarcopenia. Nutritional and exercise therapy should be started very early after admission and adjusted to the level of inflammation and disease status. Repeated assessment, diagnosis, goal setting, interventions, and monitoring using the rehabilitation nutrition care process is important to maximize treatment effectiveness and improve patients’ functional recovery and quality of life.