Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by recurrent obstruction of the upper airway, causing apneas that are associated with oxygen desaturation and frequent arousals from sleep. The diagnosis of OSAS is usually obvious, presenting features of snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, general fatigue, and obesity. Hochuekkito is a KAMPO medicine, Indicated for general fatigue, lack of will power, weakness of arms and legs, daytime sleepiness, gastric ptosis, hemorrhoids, prolapsus ani, ptosis of the uterus, and impotence.
Weakness of the upper airway dilator muscles induces obstruction of upper airway, and apnea. Hochuekkito may improve the muscle tone of the upper airway. The effect of Hochuekkito were studied in 13 patients with OSAS (5 patients diagnosed by polysomnography and 8 patients diagnosed by apnomonitor). The results indicate that there exist statistically significant differences in apnea index (AI) and desaturation (AI 23.1±4.8→9.6 ±2.6/h., mean SaO₂ (%) 83.7±0.7→94.0±0.9, p<0.05, mean±SD). We conclude that Hochuekkito increases the upper airway activity causing reduction of sleep apnea and snoring.

The basal metabolic rate (BMR) of 70 postmenopausal women (age: 60.6±4.2 yrs., height: 154.9±5.2cm, body weight (BW) : 52.7±6.2kg; mean ±SD) was evaluated in relation to body composition (body fat mass (FM) : 17.3±3.9kg, lean body mass (LBM) : 35.3±3.6kg) . BMR was 1, 148±126kcal/day, 21.9±2.2kcal/kgBW/day, 32.7±3.2kcal kgLBM/day in all subjects. BMR (kcal/day) significantly correlated with BW (r=.635, p<0.001) and LBM (r=.598, p<0.001) . When divided into two groups, (lower %fat group (LF; <35%fat) and higher %fat group (HF; ≥35%fat) ), BW and FM were significantly higher in HF than in LF (BW: 56.6±6.4 vs 51.0±5.3 kg, FM: 21.7±2.8 vs 15.5±2.7 kg, p<0.001, respectively) . No difference was observed in LBM between the two groups (34.9±3.9 vs 35.5±3.5 kg) . BMR (kcal/kgBW/day) was lower in HF than in LF (21.0±1.8 vs 22.3±2.3, p<0.05), but HF group had higher BMR in terms of kcal/kgLBM/ day than LF (34.0±3.1 vs 32.1±3.1, p<0.05) . Multiple regression analysis was performed to predict BMR. A single predictor LBM and a pair of predictors LBM and FM explained 35.7% and 42.7% of the variance of BMR. This study suggested that a decrease in LBM is a major factor in affecting the reduction of BMR in postmenopausal women, whereas FM gained after menopause could be considered to have metabolic activity related to BMR.

Paraquat is one the most popular herbicides in agriculture in Japan. To study the chronic toxicological effects of paraquat on animals, rats were fed a paraquat-containing diet for 1 year and 2 months (1, 5, 25mg/kg of body weight/day). Paraquat administration induced serious histochemical changes in various organs, such as the lung, heart, kidney and liver in rast. Pulmonary fibrosis occurred in the group of rats given 1mg paraquat/kg of body weight/day in diet.
The alkaline phosphatase activity and creatinine content in the blood serum significantly increased. The concentrations of cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid in the serum decreased significantly.
A significant increase of lipid peroxidation was observed in the brain, kidney and liver.

The purpose of this study was to introduce our patient-specific bioactive porous titanium implant manufactured using selective laser melting (SLM) and to establish the efficacy and safety of the implant for stand-alone anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) based on a prospective clinical trial. We designed a customized ACDF implant using patient-specific data and manufactured the implant using SLM. We produced a bioactive surface through a specific chemical and thermal treatment. Using this implant, we surgically treated four patients with cervical degenerative disc disease and evaluated the clinical and radiological results. We achieved successful bony union in all but one patient without autologous bone grafting within 1 year. We observed no implant subsidence during the follow-up period, and all clinical parameters improved significantly after surgery, with no reported implant-related adverse effects. Our customized bioactive porous titanium implant is a safe and promising implant for stand-alone ACDF.

The purpose of this study was to introduce our patient-specific bioactive porous titanium implant manufactured using selective laser melting (SLM) and to establish the efficacy and safety of the implant for stand-alone anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) based on a prospective clinical trial. We designed a customized ACDF implant using patient-specific data and manufactured the implant using SLM. We produced a bioactive surface through a specific chemical and thermal treatment. Using this implant, we surgically treated four patients with cervical degenerative disc disease and evaluated the clinical and radiological results. We achieved successful bony union in all but one patient without autologous bone grafting within 1 year. We observed no implant subsidence during the follow-up period, and all clinical parameters improved significantly after surgery, with no reported implant-related adverse effects. Our customized bioactive porous titanium implant is a safe and promising implant for stand-alone ACDF.