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The article investigates changes in hemodialysis treatment at Nippon Medical School Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyzes data from before and after the pandemic using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) system. It finds an increase in emergency and maintenance dialysis patients post-pandemic, along with a rise in surgeries for maintenance dialysis patients.

The article discusses a study on atypical clinical courses of Graves' disease, conducted by Yuji Yamaguchi et al., published in the journal "J Nippon Med Sch 2024." The research examines the challenges in differentiating painless thyroiditis from Graves' disease in patients with hyperthyroidism, highlighting the confounding effects of atypical presentations of Graves' disease and the need for a reevaluation of diagnostic paradigms to improve accuracy in diagnosis and patient management.

A novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) modulator, Z-551, having both PPARα agonistic and PPARγ antagonistic activities, has been developed for the treatment of obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders. We examined the effects of Z-551 on obesity and the metabolic disorders in wild-type mice on the high-fat diet (HFD). In mice on the HFD, Z-551 significantly suppressed body weight gain and ameliorated insulin resistance and abnormal glucose and lipid metabolisms. Z-551 inhibited visceral fat mass gain and adipocyte hypertrophy, and reduced molecules involved in fatty acid uptake and synthesis, macrophage infiltration, and inflammation in adipose tissue. Z-551 increased molecules involved in fatty acid combustion, while reduced molecules associated with gluconeogenesis in the liver. Furthermore, Z-551 significantly reduced fasting plasma levels of glucose, triglyceride, free fatty acid, insulin, and leptin. To elucidate the significance of the PPAR combination, we examined the effects of Z-551 in PPARα-deficient mice and those of a synthetic PPARγ antagonist in wild-type mice on the HFD. Both drugs showed similar, but weaker effects on body weight, insulin resistance and specific events provoked in adipose tissue compared with those of Z-551 as described above, except for lack of effects on fasting plasma triglyceride and free fatty acid levels. These findings suggest that Z-551 ameliorates HFD-induced obesity, insulin resistance, and impairment of glucose and lipid metabolisms by PPARα agonistic and PPARγ antagonistic activities, and therefore, might be clinically useful for preventing or treating obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]