Novel Hybrid Hydroxyapatite Spacers Ensure Sufficient Bone Bonding in Cervical Laminoplasty

Nobuhiro Tanaka,Kazuyoshi Nakanishi,Naosuke Kamei,Toshio Nakamae,Shinji Kotaka,Yoshinori Fujimoto,Mitsuo Ochi,Nobuo Adachi 대한척추외과학회 2018 Asian Spine Journal Vol.12 No.6

Study Design: Prospective observational study. Purpose: This prospective analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and bone-bonding rate of hybrid hydroxyapatite (HA) spacers in expansive laminoplasty. Overview of Literature: Various types of spacers or plates have been developed for expansive laminoplasty. Methods: Expansive open-door laminoplasty was performed in 146 patients with cervical myelopathy; 450 hybrid HA spacers and 41 autogenous bone spacers harvested from the spinous processes were grafted into the opened side of each lamina. The patients were followed up using computed tomography (CT), and their bone-bonding rates for hybrid HA and autogenous spacers, bone-fusion rates of the hinges of the laminae, and complications associated with the implants were then examined. Results: Clinical symptoms significantly improved in all patients, and no major complications related to the procedure were noted. The hybrid HA spacers exhibited sufficient bone bonding on postoperative CT. The hinges completely fused in over 95% patients within 1 year of the procedure. Only 4 spacers (0.9%) developed lamina sinking, and most expanded laminae maintained their positions without sinking or floating throughout the follow-up period. Conclusions: Hybrid HA spacers contributed to high bone-fusion rates of the spacers and hinges of the laminae, and no complications were associated with their use. Cervical laminoplasty with these spacers is safe and simple, and it yields sufficient fixation strength while ensuring sufficient bone bonding during the immediate postoperative period.

Amine/Hydrido Bifunctional Nanoporous Silica with Small Metal Nanoparticles Made Onsite: Efficient Dehydrogenation Catalyst

Zhu, Yang,Nakanishi, Takahiro,Kanamori, Kazuyoshi,Nakanishi, Kazuki,Ichii, Shun,Iwaida, Kohji,Masui, Yu,Kamei, Toshiyuki,Shimada, Toyoshi,Kumamoto, Akihito,Ikuhara, Yumi H.,Jeon, Mina,Hasegawa, George American Chemical Society 2017 ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES Vol.9 No.1

<P>Multifunctional catalysts are of great interest in catalysis because their multiple types of catalytic or functional groups can cooperatively promote catalytic transformations better than their constituents do individually. Herein we report a new synthetic route involving the surface functionalization of nanoporous silica with a rationally designed and synthesized dihydrosilane (3-aminopropylmethylsilane) that leads to the introduction of catalytically active grafted organoamine as well as single metal atoms and ultrasmall Pd or Ag-doped Pd nanoparticles via on-site reduction of metal ions. The resulting nanomaterials serve as highly effective bifunctional dehydrogenative catalysts for generation of H-2 from formic acid.</P>

Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life by Patient Education and Rehabilitation Based on a Behavior Change Program in Knee Osteoarthritis

Nagai Takako,Uei Hiroshi,Nakanishi Kazuyoshi 대한재활의학회 2024 Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine Vol.48 No.3

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine how rehabilitation and patient education for knee osteoarthritis improves health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and to identify factors influencing HRQOL.Methods: Between May 2020 and March 2022, 30 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were treated conservatively and rehabilitated with a patient education program. The patient education program was based on the health belief model by Sedlak et al., and patient education using pamphlets was provided during the rehabilitation intervention. The survey items were patient basic information, instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) (FAI), fear of falling (FES), degree of depression (GDS), HRQOL (SF-8), knee function assessment (JOA score), and X-ray classification (K-L classification), and the survey method was a self-administered questionnaire at the start of rehabilitation, 1 month after the intervention, and at the end of the rehabilitation intervention. We examined factors affecting the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) of HRQOL scores.Results: JOA score, FES, FAI, GDS, and SF-8 improved significantly (p<0.01). MCS was also negatively correlated with FES and age (r=-0.486, -0.368). Sex was extracted as a factor for PCS as a factor affecting HRQOL (p<0.01). MCS was extracted with FES as a factor (p=0.046).Conclusion: A rehabilitation intervention incorporating patient education in osteoarthritis of the knee showed improvement in HRQOL and may be useful for improving depression, fear of falling, and instrumental ADL.

Endothelial progenitor cells promote astrogliosis following spinal cord injury through Jagged1-dependent Notch signaling.

Kamei, Naosuke,Kwon, Sang-Mo,Ishikawa, Masakazu,Ii, Masaaki,Nakanishi, Kazuyoshi,Yamada, Kiyotaka,Hozumi, Katsuto,Kawamoto, Atsuhiko,Ochi, Mitsuo,Asahara, Takayuki M.A. Liebert 2012 JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA - Vol.29 No.9

<P>Interactions between endothelial and neural stem cells are believed to play a critical role in the kinetics of neural stem cells in the central nervous system. Here we demonstrate that endothelial progenitor cells promote the repair of injured spinal cord through the induction of Notch-dependent astrogliosis and vascular regulation. The transplantation of Jagged1(+/+) endothelial progenitor cells, but not Jagged1(-/-) endothelial progenitor cells, increased the number of reactive astrocytes during the acute phase, and improved functional recovery following spinal cord injury. Expression of the Notch effector Hes5 was upregulated in the injured spinal cord after Jagged1(+/+) endothelial progenitor cell transplantation. Furthermore, we found that the Notch ligand Delta-like-1 was highly expressed in Jagged1(-/-) endothelial progenitor cells. Transplantation of Delta-like-1, as well as Jagged1-overexpressing 3T3 cells, revealed that only Jagged1-overexpressing 3T3 stromal cells enhanced astrogliosis following spinal cord injury. In addition, Jagged1(+/+) endothelial progenitor cells exhibited not only dramatic pro-angiogenic effects, but also morphologically abnormal vessel stabilization, compared with Jagged1(-/-)endothelial progenitor cells in injured spinal cord. Thus, transplanted endothelial progenitor cells promote astrogliosis, vascular regulation, and spinal cord regeneration through activation of Jagged1-Notch signaling.</P>

Quantitative Assessment of Bone Marrow Edema in Adolescent Athletes with Lumbar Spondylolysis Using Contrast Ratio on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Nakamae Toshio,Kamei Naosuke,Tamura Takayuki,Kanda Tsukasa,Nakanishi Kazuyoshi,Adachi Nobuo 대한척추외과학회 2021 Asian Spine Journal Vol.15 No.5

Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate bone marrow edema (BME) in the pedicle on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for adolescent athlete patients with spondylolysis. Overview of Literature: Spondylolysis, a stress fracture of the pars interarticularis, is a common occurrence in adolescent athletes with low back pain. T2-weighed fat-saturated MRI is reportedly useful for the detection of BME in the pedicle in the early stage of spondylolysis; however, to our knowledge, the quantitative assessment of BME in spondylolysis has not been reported. Methods: Adolescent athletes with spondylolysis, including those with symptoms of low back pain, were enrolled. The sporting activity of the patients was restricted, and a hard brace was attached to the spine. The BME range of interest was taken on T2-weighed fat-saturated MRI, and the signal intensity (SI) of the BME (SIedema) was measured. The contrast ratio (CR) between the SI of the BME and SI of the spinal cord (SIcord) was calculated per the following formulae: CRedema=(SIedema–SIcord)/(SIedema+SIcord). The CR of the normal pedicle was measured as a control per the following formulae: CRcontrol=(SIcontrol–SIcord)/(SIcontrol+SIcord). Results: The study enrolled 32 men and one woman; the mean patient age was 15.2 years (range, 12–18 years). The average CR of the edema and normal pedicle at the first visit was 0.506 (range, 0.097–0.804) and 0.137 (range, -0.741 to 0.572), respectively. The CR of the edema was significantly higher as compared to that of the normal pedicle (p<0.01). MRI that was performed 1 month after the first visit showed that the CR of the edema had decreased to 0.204 (range, -0.152 to 0.517). The CR of the edema 1 month thereafter was significantly lower than that at the first visit (p<0.01). Conclusions: Quantitative assessment of BME using CR on MRI is useful in the evaluation of the healing process of spondylolysis.