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Background: Plantar fasciitis (PF) is the most common cause of chronic heel pain, affecting young and older patients., Methods: This retrospective study included patients with PF refractory to conservative treatment who underwent intra-arterial embolization of abnormal neovessels. All patients received temporary embolic material through a needle percutaneously inserted into the posterior tibial artery. The numeric rating scale (NRS) pain score, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score, and procedure-related adverse events were evaluated., Results: Between January 2020 and February 2022, 66 patients with PF were treated with intra-arterial embolization without major adverse events. The NRS pain score improved significantly, and the AOFAS score increased from 65.8 pre-treatment to 92.8 at 1 year post-treatment. The treatment effect was maintained until the final follow-up (mean duration: 30.9 months)., Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided intraarterial embolization using temporary embolic material may be effective for PF., Level of Evidence: IV., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yuji Okuno has received consulting fees from Asahi Intecc and lecture fees from Terumo and Daiichi Sankyo outside the submitted work. The rest of the authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 European Foot and Ankle Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Assessing individual external exposure doses from ambient dose equivalents is valuable for predictive and retrospective purposes when personal dosimeters are impractical. This study developed a model to assess individual external exposure doses from ambient dose equivalents, considering daily life patterns (location and time spent in various places), and evaluated parameters associated with individual external exposure doses, such as the reduction effects of radiation due to buildings and vehicles. The model parameters were evaluated using the robust datasets of environmental radiation measured in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident. The effective dose estimated by the model was compared to 106 daily personal dose equivalents measured using personal dosimeters in the residents' living environments near the FDNPS. The estimated effective dose well consists with the measured personal dose equivalents, particularly when considering natural radiation in indoor dose estimation. This model is adequate for radiation protection, enabling the predictive and retrospective estimation of individual external exposure doses using environmental radiation monitoring data., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Cordyceps militaris, an entomopathogenic fungus, has been traditionally used in East Asian medicine. Recent research indicates that the fruit bodies of C. militaris are rich in bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides and nucleosides, which may offer health benefits. However, the specific components responsible for its immunostimulatory effects and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. This study explored the immunomodulatory activity of a fruit body extract from C. militaris, named Ryukyu-kaso (RK), and examined the effect of the β-glucan receptor Dectin-1 on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Our results demonstrated that RK, which contains 1,3-β-glucan, effectively stimulated BMDCs to secrete pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines and upregulated surface markers indicative of maturation and activation. Notably, these immunostimulatory effects were completely absent in BMDCs derived from Dectin-1-knockout mice, confirming that Dectin-1 is crucial for RK-induced immunomodulation. These findings provide new insights into the immunostimulatory mechanisms of C. militaris and underscore the potential of RK as a natural immunomodulatory agent for various therapeutic applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Toyokazu Nakasone and Shigemi Okamatsu are employees of Okinawa UKAMI Sericulture Co. Ltd. Takashi Kanno, Rui Tada, Yoichiro Iwakura, Kazuhiro Tamura, Hiroaki Miyaoka, and Yoshiyuki Adachi declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the preliminary treatment outcomes of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS)., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients with refractory CP/CPPS who underwent TAE between April 2022 and February 2023. All patients had persistent pelvic pain for at least 3 months, a total score of at least 15 on the NIH-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), and lacked evidence of infection. All procedures were performed by injecting imipenem/cilastatin sodium (IPM/CS) from bilateral prostatic arteries ± internal pudendal arteries. NIH-CPSI, pain numeric rating scale (NRS), and complications were evaluated at 1, 3, and 6 months after the initial TAE and at the final follow-up., Results: Out of 48 patients, 44 were included in this study, with four excluded because of loss of follow-up. No severe procedure-related complications were observed. Pretreatment and post-treatment evaluations at 1, 3, and 6 months after the initial TAE and at the final follow-up (mean 16.6 months) revealed a decrease in the mean NIH-CPSI scores from 27 ± 6 to 21 ± 8, 20 ± 9, 17 ± 9, and 18 ± 9, respectively (all P < 0.001). Pain NRS scores were also decreased from 7.0 ± 1.6 to 4.8 ± 2.5, 4.1 ± 2.6, 3.7 ± 2.4, and 3.4 ± 2.3, respectively (all P < 0.001). The proportions of clinical success, defined as a reduction of at least 6 points from baseline in the NIH-CPSI, at 6 months after TAE and at the final follow-up were 70 and 64%, respectively., Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the feasibility of TAE using IPM/CS for CP/CPPS, suggesting both symptomatic improvement and safety., (© 2024. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE).)

The traditional use of Cordyceps militaris, an entomopathogenic fungus, in East Asian medicine has been well documented. Our previous study revealed that the fruiting body powder of C. militaris, referred to as Ryukyu-kaso, contains 1,3-β-glucan and stimulates bone marrow-derived dendritic cells via a dectin-1-dependent pathway. However, the immunomodulatory effects of soluble 1,3-β-glucan in Ryukyu-kaso and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the immunostimulatory effects of the hot water extract of C. militaris fruiting body (RK-HWE) on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and the involvement of the β-glucan receptor dectin-1. Our findings revealed that the hot water extract of C. militaris fruiting body contains soluble 1,3-β-glucan and potently induces bone marrow-derived dendritic cells to secrete both pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines. Compared with the control, RK-HWE significantly increased the secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, interfer-on-в, IL-12p70, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (all ,i>p < 0.05), with TNF-α secretion increasing from 7.82 ± 1.57 (control) to 403.7 ± 59.7 pg/mL with (RK-HWE; p < 0.001). Notably, these immunostimulatory effects of RK-HWE were completely abolished in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells derived from dectin-1-knockout mice (p < 0.001, all cytokines), suggesting that dectin-1 is essential for immunomodulation induced by RK-HWE. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the immunostimulatory effects of RK-HWE and highlight its potential as a natural immunomodulatory agent for various therapeutic applications.

Background/aim: Ovarian cancer is a disease with significant impact, because more than half of cases exhibit recurrence despite platinum therapy. The choice of drug for cases of recurrence remains controversial, but the current option is pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD)., Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the use of PLD in patients with ovarian cancer refractory or resistant to platinum-based therapy at our Department. We also examined efficacy, predictive indices of efficacy, and adverse events as well., Results: In this study of PLD monotherapy for 60 platinum-refractory/resistant recurrent ovarian cancers, there was a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 4 months, median overall survival (OS) of 11 months, and the disease control rate (DCR) was 71.7%. The treatment effect can be predicted by the reduction of CA125 level after 2 courses. Patients with an increase and decrease in CA125 after 2 cycles of PLD, respectively, had a median OS of 14.5 (2-60) and 8 (2-51) months and a median PFS of 6 (2-38) months and 3 (0-47) months., Conclusion: PLD is clinically effective and useful because it provides a high DCR and is tolerable to adverse events. These findings can help support the use of PLD and guide physicians in their choice of treatment when encountering such cases., (Copyright © 2022 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Mixed tumour of the skin or chondroid syringoma (CS) is a rare and mostly benign neoplasm of the sweat glands. Although CS is frequently located on varied parts of the head and neck region, the lower lip is a rarely reported site. The present report describes a case of CS of the lower lip in a 58-year-old male as an expository case to further emphasise the need for proper diagnosis, appropriate treatment and prognostic evaluation. The patient presented with a round, non-tender, slightly hard and mobile mass beneath the mucocutaneous junction of his left lateral side of the lower lip. Radiology revealed a mass measuring 11x11x7 mm 3 in size at a depth of ~2 mm. Furthermore, magnetic resonance T1- and T2-weighted images showed slightly low and high signal intensities, respectively. A provisional diagnosis of benign tumour of the lower lip was made, and surgical excision biopsy taken under local anaesthesia, while considering the patient's cosmetic appearance. Histopathology demonstrated features akin to apocrine gland, chondroid and myxoid stroma consistent with the diagnosis of benign CS. No evidence of recurrence or satellites were recorded after a follow-up of nearly 2 years. Although rare, a high index of suspicion for CS among other cutaneous adnexal tumours of the lower lip is necessary. In addition, interprofessional collaboration in the management of such oral tumours could enhance patient satisfaction amid prevailing intraoral and aesthetic concerns., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © Gotoh et al.)