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Background/Aim: The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been reported as an immunonutritional index that can easily evaluate nutritional status and immunocompetence from blood tests. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of PNI as a prognostic factor in postoperative gastric cancer patients. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated 258 patients with pStage I-III gastric cancer who underwent radical resection at Yokohama City University Hospital, from 2015 to 2021. To examine the association with prognosis, we analyzed clinicopathological factors including PNI (<47/=47), age (<75/=75), sex (male/female), depth (pT1/=pT2), lymph node metastasis (pN+/pN-), lymphatic invasion (ly+/ly-), vascular invasion (v+/v-), histological type (enteric/spread) and postoperative complications. Results: In univariate analysis, PNI (p<0.001), depth of tumor invasion (p<0.001), lymph node involvement (p<0.001), age (p=0.002), lymphatic invasion (p<0.001), vascular invasion (p<0.001), and postoperative complications (p=0.003) were associated with overall survival. In multivariate analysis, PNI (HR=2.100, 95% confidence interval 1.225-3.601, p=0.007), tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and postoperative complications were shown as poor prognostic factors for overall survival. Conclusion: PNI is an independent prognostic factor for overall and recurrence-free survival in postoperative gastric cancer patients. PNI could be implemented in clinical practice to identify patients at higher risk for poor outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Our procedure may provide a useful alternative in cases where previous surgeries have failed to eradicate the cholesteatoma.

Our procedure may provide a useful alternative in cases where previous surgeries have failed to eradicate the cholesteatoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been reported as an immunonutritional index that can easily evaluate nutritional status and immunocompetence from blood tests. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of PNI as a prognostic factor in postoperative gastric cancer patients., Patients and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated 258 patients with pStage I-III gastric cancer who underwent radical resection at Yokohama City University Hospital, from 2015 to 2021. To examine the association with prognosis, we analyzed clinicopathological factors including PNI (<47/≥47), age (<75/≥75), sex (male/female), depth (pT1/≥pT2), lymph node metastasis (pN+/pN-), lymphatic invasion (ly+/ly-), vascular invasion (v+/v-), histological type (enteric/spread) and postoperative complications., Results: In univariate analysis, PNI (p<0.001), depth of tumor invasion (p<0.001), lymph node involvement (p<0.001), age (p=0.002), lymphatic invasion (p<0.001), vascular invasion (p<0.001), and postoperative complications (p=0.003) were associated with overall survival. In multivariate analysis, PNI (HR=2.100, 95% confidence interval 1.225-3.601, p=0.007), tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and postoperative complications were shown as poor prognostic factors for overall survival., Conclusion: PNI is an independent prognostic factor for overall and recurrence-free survival in postoperative gastric cancer patients. PNI could be implemented in clinical practice to identify patients at higher risk for poor outcomes., (Copyright © 2023, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Many studies have shown that epigenetic regulation of ERs (oestrogen receptors) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of leukaemia. In the present study, it was found that the methylated status of ERα-A might serve as an epigenetic biomarker of leukaemias. In this study, the protein expression and cell apoptosis, cycle, proliferation and viability with and without 5-aza-dC (5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine) were evaluated with Western blotting, 3H-TdR (3H-thymidine) incorporation, propidium iodide staining and Trypan Blue staining respectively. The protein expression of ERα was significantly enhanced in all leukaemic cell lines using treatment with the DNA demethylation reagent 5-aza-dC. However, no obvious change in the protein expression of ERβ takes place with 5-aza-dC. And with 5-aza-dC, cell apoptosis, cell cycle, cell proliferation and viability were all inhibited significantly. We also tracked 40 cases of leukaemias with ERα-A methylation (95%; 38 of 40) to observe the prognosis 1 year after chemotherapy treatment. The patients with ERα-A methylation have no obvious symptomatic relief; however, two patients without ERα-A methylation have obtained effective relief. This result suggested that ERα plays a significant role in leukaemogenesis, and the methylated status of ERα-A not only might serve as an epigenetic biomarker of leukaemias for diagnosis, but also has the potential to serve as a predictor of prognosis in leukaemias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Whereas most patients with Graves’ disease (GD) have antibodies against the thyrotropin receptor, which are measured as thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin (TBII), the TBII of 10% or less of Japanese patients with GD is undetectable at the first visit and throughout the entire clinical course, and these patients tend to respond well to medications and follow the better clinical course. Therefore, the absence of TBII at the first visit may be a predictor of good prognosis. Ninety-seven patients with GD who had remained TBII negative for at least 2 years from the onset, as well as 142 typical TBII-positive GD patients, were examined to reveal the HLA-linked immunogenetic background for this predictor. Compared with a healthy control population, the frequencies of HLA-A*0206 (OR = 2.17, p = 9.73 × 10−4) and DPB1*0501 (OR = 3.26, p = 3.31 × 10−7) carriers were increased in the typical patients, whereas those of HLA-A*0201 (OR = 2.16, p = 1.92 × 10−3), A*0207 (OR = 3.19, p = 7.17 × 10−4), and DPB1*0202 (OR = 3.13, p = 3.97 × 10−4) were increased in the TBII-negative group. These two patient groups were associated with similar HLA-A alleles and different HLA-DPB1 alleles, suggesting the presence of two genetic factors for GD within the HLA region; one is HLA-A linked and may be related to thyroid organ specificity, the other is HLA-DP linked and may control the severity of autoimmunity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: A Japanese prospective, nation-wide, multicenter registry (J-MINUET) showed that long-term outcomes were worse in non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), diagnosed by increased cardiac troponin levels, compared to STEMI. This was observed in both non-STEMI with elevated creatine kinase (CK) (NSTEMI+CK) and non-STEMI without elevated CK (NSTEMI-CK). However, predictive factors for long-term outcomes in STEMI, NSTEMI+CK, and NSTEMI-CK have not been elucidated. Methods: Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we determined significant independent predictors of long-term outcomes from a total of 111 parameters evaluated in the J-MINUET study in each of our groups, including STEMI, NSTEMI+CK, and NSTEMI-CK. Then, we calculated the risk score using the regression coefficients for the determined independent predictors for the strict prediction of long-term outcomes. Results: Prognostic factors, as well as composite cardiovascular events and all-cause death, were different between STEMI, NSTEMI+CK, and NSTEMI-CK. Risk scores could effectively and powerfully predict both composite cardiovascular events and all-cause death in each group. Conclusions: The prediction of long-term outcomes using cored parameters of baseline demographics and clinical characteristics is feasible and could prove useful in establishing therapeutic strategies in patients with STEMI, NSTEMI+CK, and NSTEMI-CK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In our experience, the change in body weight (BW) during hospitalization varies greatly in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (HF). Since the clinical significance of a change in BW is not clear, we investigated whether a change in BW could predict mortality., Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 130 patients (72 males; aged 68 ± 10 years) who were hospitalized due to acute decompensated HF and followed for 2 years after discharge. The change in the BW index during hospitalization (ΔBWI) was calculated as (BW at hospital admission minus BW at hospital discharge)/body surface area at hospital discharge., Results: The patients were divided into quartiles according to ΔBWI, and the 2-year mortality rates in the quartiles with the lowest, second, third and highest ΔBWI were 18.8%, 12.1%, 3.1% and 9.1%, respectively. In a multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis after adjusting for variables with a P value less than 0.05, ΔBWI was independently associated with 2-year mortality (P = 0.0002), and the quartile with the lowest ΔBWI had a higher relative risk (RR) for 2-year mortality than the quartile with the highest ΔBWI (RR: 7.46, 95% confidence interval: 1.03 - 53.99, P = 0.04)., Conclusion: In conclusion, ΔBWI was significantly associated with 2-year mortality after discharge, which indicates that ΔBWI might be a simple predictor of prognosis in acute decompensated HF.