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Rationale: Complement deficiency are known to be predisposed to disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). We herein present a case of DGI involving a Japanese man who latently had a complement 7 deficiency with compound heterozygous variants., Patient Concerns: A previously healthy 51-year-old Japanese man complained of sudden-onset high fever. Physical examination revealed various skin lesions including red papules on his trunk and extremities, an impetigo-like pustule on left forearm, and tendinitis of his right forefinger., Diagnosis: Blood culture testing detected gram-negative cocci, which was confirmed to be Neisseria gonorrhoeae based on mass spectrometry and a pathogen-specific PCR test., Interventions: Screening tests for underlying immunocompromised factors uncovered that complement activities (CH50) was undetectable. With a suspicion of a congenital complement deficiency, genetic analysis revealed rare single nucleotide variants in complement 7 (C7), including c.281-1G>T and a novel variant c.1454C>T (p.A485V). CH50 was normally recovered by adding purified human C7 to the patient's serum, supporting that the patient has C7 deficiency with compound heterozygous variants., Outcomes: Under a diagnosis of DGI, the patient underwent an antibiotic treatment with cefotaxime for a week and was discharged without any sequela., Lessons: DGI is a rare sexually-transmitted infection that potentially induces systemic complications. Complement immunity usually defeats N. gonorrhoeae and prevents the organism from causing DGI. This case highlighted the importance of suspecting a complement deficiency when a person develops DGI., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: An inverse relationship exists between hospital case volume and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). However, hospital performance factors associated with mortality in HF patients have not been examined. We aimed to identify these using exploratory factor analysis and assess the relationship between these factors and 7-day, 30-day, and in-hospital mortality among HF patients in Japan., Methods and results: We analyzed the records of 198,861 patients admitted to 683 certified hospitals of the Japanese Circulation Society between 2012 and 2014. Records were obtained from the nationwide database of the Japanese Registry Of All cardiac and vascular Diseases-Diagnostic Procedure Combination (JROAD-DPC). Using exploratory factor analysis, 90 hospital survey items were grouped into 5 factors, according to their collinearity: "Interventional cardiology", "Cardiovascular surgery", "Pediatric cardiology", "Electrophysiology" and "Cardiac rehabilitation". Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between these factors and mortality. The 30-day mortality was 8.0%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed the "Pediatric cardiology" (odds ratio (OR) 0.677, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.628-0.729, P<0.0001), "Electrophysiology" (OR 0.876, 95% CI: 0.832-0.923, P<0.0001), and "Cardiac rehabilitation" (OR 0.832, 95% CI: 0.792-0.873, P<0.0001) factors were associated with lower mortality. In contrast, "Interventional cardiology" (OR 1.167, 95% CI: 1.070-1.272, P<0.0001) was associated with higher mortality., Conclusions: Hospital factors, including various cardiovascular therapeutic practices, may be associated with the early death of HF patients.

The complement was named after "a complement", a protein molecule that supports an antibody. It was considered previously that the complement mainly participates in protecting against microbial infections. But later, as research on biological functions in complement activation advanced drastically, it was elucidated that the complement could be involved in the onset of various diseases. In 2007, eculizumab (ECZ), an anti-C5 (complement factor 5) monoclonal antibody, was approved as a drug for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) in the United States. In Japan, ECZ was approved for PNH and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) in 2010 and 2013, respectively. The success of ECZ created an opportunity for drug companies to develop new therapeutics targeting the complement system; development of complement therapeutics is now a major venture of pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Here, I will provide an outline of the approved complement therapeutics and those that are in development and clinical trial phase currently.

In Japan, Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is recommended as a treatment option for centrally located early-stage lung cancers (CLELCs). It is a minimally invasive treatment with excellent anti-tumor effects. The 2nd generation photosensitizer, talaporfin sodium has strong anti-tumor effects with much less photosensitivity than porfimer sodium. Moreover, the laser equipment is compact and portable, and talaporfin sodium is now the current mainstay of PDT for lung cancer. For successful PDT, accurate evaluation of tumor extent and bronchial invasion is crucial. Detailed examination of the tumor using autofluorescence bronchoscopy and endobronchial ultrasonography or optical coherence tomography is extremely useful before PDT. At present, PDT has become the 1st choice of treatment for CLELC in institutions with the necessary equipment. It can also be effective for advanced lung cancer causing tracheobronchial obstruction. With such advances in PDT for CLELC, we are expanding the indications of PDT for not only CLELC, but also peripheral type lung cancer.

Background: Recent advances in endoscopic therapy, including conventional endoscopic resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), have led to a large number of patients with early colorectal cancer (CRC) being cured; however, when resected specimens obtained by these procedures manifest risk factors for lymph node metastasis, additional treatments need to be considered. The aim of our study was to evaluate the outcomes of salvage surgery in CRC patients treated initially by advanced therapeutic endoscopy., Methods: We investigated 145 patients who underwent salvage surgery in our department after endoscopic therapy for CRC between April 2006 and March 2015. Demographic and pathological data, endoscopic procedures, reasons for surgery, and operative outcomes, including perioperative details and recurrence-free and disease-specific survival after surgery, were analyzed. These data were further compared with those of 59 patients with submucosal invasive CRC treated by conventional endoscopic resection/ESD alone and 133 patients treated by surgery alone., Results: Overall lymph node metastases were observed in 14% of patients who underwent salvage surgery after therapeutic endoscopy and 16% of those who received abdominal surgery alone. In analyses of surgical cases, patients with lymph node metastases more frequently included cases with lymphatic infiltration (63%) and ESD-treated cases (45%) than those without metastases (21%, P < .0001 and 22%, P = .02; respectively). A logistic regression analysis identified lymphatic infiltration as an independent predictive factor for lymph node metastases (odds ratio: 8.77, 95% confidence interval: 2.90-33.31, P < .0001). Long-term outcomes were favorable in both lymphatic infiltration-negative and positive cases. Moreover, survivals were comparable among the different treatment groups., Conclusion: Because of the high rate of nodal involvement, adequate lymphadenectomy need to be performed in salvage surgery after upfront endoscopic therapy., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is diagnosed by the presence of dysphagia and intraepithelial eosinophilic infiltration of ≥15 per high-power field (HPF). EoE should be distinguished from proton pump inhibitor-responsive esophageal eosinophilic infiltration (PPI-R EEI) in patients that are responsive to PPI treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of EoE and PPI-R EEI in Japanese patients in a multicenter study., Methods: Ten hospitals participated in this study. Esophageal biopsy was performed when the patients had typical EoE symptoms or when endoscopic findings revealed a typical EoE appearance. EEI was defined as the intraepithelial eosinophilic infiltration of ≥15 per HPF. Patients with EEI received rabeprazole for 8 weeks to distinguish EoE from PPI-R EEI., Results: A total of 13,634 subjects that underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy because of further examination or as a routine checkup were enrolled. Seventy-one (0.5%) patients suspected with EoE were examined by biopsy. A histological examination of 7 (9.9%) cases revealed EEI. Two of these 7 patients showed no symptoms and the other 5 were treated with PPI. Two (0.01%) patients were diagnosed with EoE and 3 (0.02%) with PPI-R EEI., Conclusion: EoE and PPI-R EEI were rare in Japanese patients that underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

One hundred sixty-four patients with Down syndrome (DS) were confirmed in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, from 1980 to 1999. The sex ratio of 1.52 (99 males and 65 females) was comparable to that reported in previous studies. The live birth prevalence per 1,000 was 1.52 (95% CI: 1.29-1.75) from 1980 to 1999, with a prevalence of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.05-1.63) recorded between 1980 and 1989, and 1.74 (95% CI: 1.37-2.11) between 1990 and 1999. There was no statistically significant change between these two decades (chi(2)-test). Live birth prevalence in these two decades showed a significant increase (chi(2)-test, P < 0.005) compared with that recorded in 1969-1978 in Tottori Prefecture (0.803, 95% CI: 0.677-0.929). Mean ages of mothers at the birth of a DS patient were 31.0 years in 1980-1989 and 32.4 years in 1990-1999 (t-test, no significant difference). Dispersion analysis on the mean age of mothers at birth for patients born between 1969-1978, 1980-1989, and 1990-1999 showed a significant difference (t-test, P < 0.005), while comparing the mean age of mothers in 1969-1978 to those in 1990-1999 also revealed a significant difference (t-test, P < 0.001). Live birth prevalence has increased due to the rise in fertility rates among older women, although maternal age-specific risk rates remain unchanged. The widespread introduction of induced abortion following prenatal diagnosis decreased live birth prevalence of DS largely in European (and a few Asian) countries after 1990, or kept prevalence steady, despite increasing fertility rates among women aged 30 and over. In contrast, all published studies have reported an increase in live birth prevalence of this syndrome in Japan, probably resulting from the fact that prenatal diagnoses are used only exceptionally in this country (due to the negative attitude toward selection of life in Japanese culture).

Background and Objectives: We have been engaged in basic and clinical research on photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) for more than 25 years., Study Design/materials and Methods: PDT for 264 centrally located early-stage lung cancer lesions yielded an initial complete response (CR) rate of 84.8%. PDT is now becoming a standard option for centrally located stage 0 (TisN0M0) and stage I (T1N0M0) lung cancer. It is an attractive option for elderly patients in poor physical condition., Results: Recent results of interstitial PDT for peripheral-type lung cancers suggest that it may be a promising local curative treatment modality for lesions less than 1.0 cm in diameter., Conclusions: In this article, we introduce our recent clinical trials of PDT for lung cancers (both central and peripheral), and new techniques of PDD in sentinel node navigation biopsy for breast cancers. Moreover, we introduce basic research on cancers and infectious diseases in order to expand the clinical applications of PDT., (Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Genetic contributions to the etiology of substance abuse and dependence are topics of major interest. Acute and chronic cannabis use can produce drug-induced psychosis resembling schizophrenia and worsen positive symptoms of schizophrenia. The endocannabinoid system is one of the most important neural signaling pathways implicated in substance abuse and dependence. The fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a primary catabolic enzyme of endocannabinoids. To clarify a possible involvement of FAAH in the etiology of methamphetamine dependence/psychosis or schizophrenia, we examined the genetic association of a nonsynonymous polymorphism of the FAAH gene (Pro129Thr) by a case-control study. We found no significant association in allele and genotype frequencies of the polymorphism with either disorder. Because the Pro129Thr polymorphism reduces enzyme instability, it is unlikely that dysfunction of FAAH and enhanced endocannabinoid system induce susceptibility to either methamphetamine dependence/psychosis or schizophrenia.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a key element in innate immunity with functions and structure similar to that of complement C1q. It has been reported that MBL deficiency is associated with occurrence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We hypothesized that anti-MBL antibodies, if present, would affect the occurrence or disease course of SLE, by reduction of serum MBL levels, interference of MBL functions, or binding to MBL deposited on various tissues. To address this hypothesis, we measured the concentration of anti-MBL antibodies in sera of 111 Japanese SLE patients and 113 healthy volunteers by enzyme immunoassay. The titres of anti-MBL antibodies in SLE patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls. When the mean + 2 standard deviations of controls was set as the cut off point, individuals with titres of anti-MBL antibodies above this level were significantly more frequent in SLE patients (9 patients) than in controls (2 persons). One SLE patient had an extremely high titre of this antibody. No associations of titres of anti-MBL antibodies and (i) genotypes of MBL gene, (ii) concentrations of serum MBL, or (iii) disease characteristics of SLE, were apparent. Thus, we have confirmed that anti-MBL antibodies are indeed present in sera of some patients with SLE, but the significance of these autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of SLE remains unclear.

Since the first report by Brenner et al. of mutations in the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene in patients with Alexander disease, several molecular genetic studies have been performed in different ethnic groups. We previously reported a Japanese patient with a mutation, R239C, which is identical to one commonly found in American patients. Here we have analyzed four additional Japanese patients by screening for known mutations or, if no known mutation was found, by sequencing of all exons of the GFAP gene. We detected three missense mutations; one was a novel mutation, R79L, and two were previously reported mutations, R239C and R79C. All of our patients were heterozygous for their mutations. Together with the novel mutation, R79L, four different nucleotide changes altering the R79 residue have been reported, implying that any alternation of this arginine residue can give the GFAP protein a dominant negative effect, leading to accumulation of GFAP as Rosenthal fibers. We conclude that molecular genetic analysis of the GFAP gene is feasible for antemortem diagnosis of Alexander disease in Japanese patients.

Collectins are a family of C-type lectins found in vertebrates. These proteins have four regions, a relatively short N-terminal region, a collagen-like region, an alpha-helical coiled coil, and a carbohydrate recognition domain. Collectins are involved in host defense through their ability to bind carbohydrate antigens on microorganisms. Type A scavenger receptors are classical-type scavenger receptors that also have collagen-like domains. We previously described a new scavenger receptor, collectin from placenta [collectin placenta 1 (CL-P1)]. CL-P1 is a type II membrane protein with all four regions. We found that CL-P1 can bind and phagocytize both bacteria and yeast. In addition to that, it reacts with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) but not with acetylated LDL. These results suggest that CL-P1 might play important roles in host defenses and/or atherosclerosis formation. One rational strategy to study the role of CL-P1 in these pathological conditions would be to perform a haplotype association study using human samples. As a first step for this strategy, we analyzed the haplotype structure of the CL-P1gene. By sequencing the CL-P1 gene in ten Japanese volunteers, we identified five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with a minor allele frequency of at least 29%. To obtain SNPs in the 5'-upstream region of the gene, we screened a total of 20 SNPs described in the database and finally picked up one SNP for the present study. Thus, a total of six SNPs, one in the 5'-upstream region, two in intron 2, one in exon 5, and two in exon 6, were used to analyze the haplotype structure of the gene, with DNAs derived from 54 individuals (108 alleles). The analysis revealed that only two of six SNPs showed significant linkage disequilibrium ( r(2) > 0.5) with each other. This haplotype information may be useful in disease-association studies in which a contribution of the CL-P1 gene has been suspected, especially in immunological disturbance or atherosclerosis. Two SNPs in exon 6, both leading to amino acid substitutions, could be candidates for influencing disease susceptibility.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a key element of the innate immunity, with a structure similar to complement C1q. Serum MBL levels are greatly affected by the polymorphisms of the MBL gene. In particular, codon 54 mutation of the MBL gene results in a significant reduction of serum MBL. To determine whether polymorphism of the MBL gene is associated with occurrence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome in the Japanese population, we analyzed the MBL gene polymophisms of these patients and controls, by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. We found that patients studied had a significantly higher frequency of having homozygous codon 54 mutation compared to controls. In particular, patients with SLE or Sjögren's syndrome showed higher probabilities of being homozygous for this mutation. Among subjects with the same genotype, SLE patients tended to have higher serum MBL concentration than controls. Analysis of the promotor region suggested that SLE patients heterozygous for the codon 54 mutation have a higher probability of having a low producing haplotype for the gene without the codon 54 mutation. We conclude that persons homozygous for codon 54 mutation of the MBL gene may be prone to occurrence of autoimmune disorders including SLE, in the Japanese. MBL may have protective effects on occurrence and progression of SLE.

The authors studied the epidemiology of spina bifida in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, from 1976 to 1995. Thirty-four patients (16 men and 18 women) were registered in this study. Consanguineous marriages, familial occurrence, and abnormalities in prenatal history were not observed. The incidence rate in the entire prefecture and in the eastern, central, and western regions was 0.234, 0.148, 0.425, and 0.230 per 1,000 live births, respectively. The incidence rate in the central region was greater than that in the eastern region with statistical significance (P < 0.05), but the cause of the cluster is unknown. The incidence rate of 0.234 per 1,000 live births for 20 years is compatible with the previous two studies of 1922-1940 and 1948-1954 in Japan. Such apparently stable trends suggest that environmental factors have affected the Japanese less than genetic factors. Seasonal variations are not demonstrated.

Clinical cases of sensory neuropathy produced by a megadose of vitamin B6 have been reported in English literatures. We investigated the ordinary daily dosage and maximal dose of vitamin B6 widely adopted in Japan, and the amount of vitamin B6 per unit (per tablet, capsule or ampule) available in our medical practice. We concluded that in Japan it is very rare to administer such a large dose of vitamin B6 that produced sensory neuropathy described in the literatures. In our experimental study, Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally given a total amount of 14,000 mg/kg of body weight of pyridoxine hydrochloride in ten separate doses. They developed an ataxic gait. The occurrence of the degeneration of nerve cell bodies and peripheral axons of lumbar primary sensory neurons were histologically demonstrated. Although in Japan no clinical cases of neuropathy produced by a megadose of vitamin B6 have been reported to our knowledge, it is necessary to be aware of the possible occurrence of such neuropathy among patients with polyneuropathy of unknown etiology or who have been receiving vitamin B6 for a long time.

From the changing incidence of cerebral palsy (CP) in the Tottori joint study, the absolute number of saved non-CP babies in the period 1955-1984 in the whole of Japan was calculated as about 33,000. The significant decrease of the incidence in the period 1955-1980 was mainly related to the advances made in perinatal medicine. In contrast, the recent reincrease is attributable to low-birth-weight CP. As for the risk factors for quadriplegia or double hemiplegia of CP, maternal toxemia, low Apgar scores and neonatal abnormal signs were important. Diplegia and paraplegia were significantly correlated with low birth weight. Among the babies weighing below 2,000 g, there was a more than 40-fold increased risk of CP compared with that in the general population. As for the risk for low-birth-weight diplegic CP, the number of abnormal signs in the neonatal period is correlated with the brain damage. The next step in preventing perinatal brain damage might be to give more attention to fetal deprivation and to well-balanced and sensible neonatal care of risk babies.