1.Safety of fucoidan from Gagome kombu (Kjellmaniella crassifolia) in healthy adult volunteers
Hiromu OHNOGI ; Yusuke NAKADE ; Yuko TAKIMOTO ; Akiko SEKIYA ; Takuya KAWASHIMA ; Andrew SCHNEIDER ; Takanari ARAI ; Kazuo UEBABA ; Nobutaka SUZUKI
Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011;8(2):45-53
Object: Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide in brown marine algae. Gagome kombu (Kjellmaniella crassifolia) is a Japanese edible seaweed and contains fucoidan abundantly. Recently, it was reported that fucoidan from Gagome kombu (GKF) had anti-tumor, immune-enhancing and anti-coagulant activities. In this study, we conducted a safety of GFK on the healthy adult.
Methods: Thirty-two healthy volunteers were randomly divided into 4 groups and administered a standard volume and three times volume of two kinds of test drinks containing GKF for 4 weeks.
Result: No abnormal changes were observed after test drinks ingestion on blood chemistry, urinalysis, hematological data and blood pressure. No severe adverse events related to test drinks were observed. Moreover, increase of Th1 cells was observed in immunological analysis.
Conclusion: This study suggests that GKF is safe in healthy adults.
2.Absorption of Folic Acid from Potato Chips in Humans
Katsuyuki ISHIHARA ; Akiko SEKIYA ; Kazuo UEBABA ; Takuya KAWASHIMA ; Yusuke NAKADE ; Fenghao XU ; Hiroyuki MUGITA ; Rui SAKUMA ; Hidenori KOGA ; Katsushi KAWABATA ; Nobutaka SUZUKI
Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2014;11(1):35-40
Folic acid contained in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers is concentrated in potato chips by dehydration during frying. It is a vitamin recommended to young women which helps protect fetus from congenital disease. Additionally, folic acid can lower plasma homocysteine concentrations, a known independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to determine whether the dietary consumption of potato chips affect serum folic acid concentration and plasma homocysteine concentration in human subjects. Results showed a significant increase in serum concentrations of folate 1, 3, and 6 hours after ingestion. Vitamin B6, on the other hand, increased significantly after 3 hours of intake. In contrast, plasma homocysteine concentration decreased significantly 6 hours after ingestion. These results suggest that potato chips would be a good dietary source of folic acid for humans.
3.Current status of the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis by ultrasonographic elastography
Kazunori NAKAOKA ; Senju HASHIMOTO ; Ryoji MIYAHARA ; Hiroki KAWASHIMA ; Eizaburo OHNO ; Takuya ISHIKAWA ; Takamichi KUWAHARA ; Hiroyuki TANAKA ; Yoshiki HIROOKA
The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine 2022;37(1):27-36
Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is pathologically characterized by the loss of exocrine pancreatic parenchyma, irregular fibrosis, cellular infiltration, and ductal abnormalities. Diagnosing CP objectively is difficult because standard diagnostic criteria are insufficient. The change of parenchymal hardness is the key factor for the diagnosis and understanding of the severity of CP. The ultrasonography (US) or endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) elastography have been used to diagnose pancreatic diseases. Both strain elastography (SE) and shear wave elastography are specific diagnostic techniques for measuring tissue hardness. Most previous studies were conducted with SE. There are three methods of interpreting SE; the method of recognizing the patterns in SE distribution images in the region of interest, the method of using strain ratio to compare the hardness of adipose tissue or connective tissue with that of the lesion, and the method of evaluating the hardness distribution of a target by histogram analysis. These former two methods have been used primarily for neoplastic diseases, and histograms analysis has been used to assess hardness distribution in the evaluation of CP. Since the hardness of the pancreas increases with aging, it is necessary to consider the age in the diagnosis of pancreatic disorders using US or EUS elastography.
4.Effect of Coix Seed with Husks on Bovine Cutaneous Papillomas
Nobutaka SUZUKI ; Takuya KAWASHIMA ; Hoko KYO ; Kazuo UEBABA
Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2018;15(2):117-120
We evaluated the effect of Coix seed with husks on bovine cutaneous papillomas. Boiled coix seed with husks was administered to two cows with intractable cutaneous papillomas. The nodules disappeared or diminished on week 6. Further examination will be needed to confirm these findings.
5.Two Cases of Intractable Warts and A Case of Intractable Vaginal Condyloma That Were Cured by Coix-seed Reactive Derivatives (CRD) and Vitamin Combination Therapy
Nobutaka SUZUKI ; Takuya KAWASHIMA ; Hoko KYO ; Kazuo UEBABA
Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2018;15(2):133-139
We reported 2 cases of intractable warts and a case of intractable vaginal condyloma that were cured by Coix-seed Reactive Derivatives (CRD) and vitamin (folic acid・B1・B6・B12)combination therapy. Further studies are needed to define the efficacy of this treatment.
6.Effect of Coix-seed Reactive Derivatives (CRD) on Skin Pigmentation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Nobutaka SUZUKI ; Takuya KAWASHIMA ; Hoko KYO ; Kazuo UEBABA
Japanese Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2018;15(2):85-90
We evaluated the effects of the extract of Coix-seed Reactive Derivatives (CRD) on female skin pigmentation. Ninety females with facial pigmentation were assigned randomly to 3 groups and CRD (2g/day, 4g/day or placebo) was administrated for 8weeks. We confirmed the safety of CRD, and both the rate of change of facial pigmentation and erythema in 4g/day group decreased significantly (p<0.01). Further studies are needed to define the optimal dose of CRD.
7.Impact of sarcopenia on biliary drainage during neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer
Kunio KATAOKA ; Eizaburo OHNO ; Takuya ISHIKAWA ; Kentaro YAMAO ; Yasuyuki MIZUTANI ; Tadashi IIDA ; Hideki TAKAMI ; Osamu MAEDA ; Junpei YAMAGUCHI ; Yukihiro YOKOYAMA ; Tomoki EBATA ; Yasuhiro KODERA ; Hiroki KAWASHIMA
Clinical Endoscopy 2024;57(1):112-121
Background/Aims:
Since the usefulness of neoadjuvant chemo(radiation) therapy (NAT) for pancreatic cancer has been demonstrated, recurrent biliary obstruction (RBO) in patients with pancreatic cancer with a fully covered self-expandable metal stent (FCSEMS) during NAT is expected to increase. This study investigated the impact of sarcopenia on RBO in this setting.
Methods:
Patients were divided into normal and low skeletal muscle index (SMI) groups and retrospectively analyzed. Patient characteristics, overall survival, time to RBO (TRBO), stent-related adverse events, and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to identify the risk factors for short TRBO.
Results:
A few significant differences were observed in patient characteristics, overall survival, stent-related adverse events, and postoperative complications between 38 patients in the normal SMI group and 17 in the low SMI group. The median TRBO was not reached in the normal SMI group and was 112 days in the low SMI group (p=0.004). In multivariate analysis, low SMI was the only risk factor for short TRBO, with a hazard ratio of 5.707 (95% confidence interval, 1.148–28.381; p=0.033).
Conclusions
Sarcopenia was identified as an independent risk factor for RBO in patients with pancreatic cancer with FCSEMS during NAT.
8.A Practical Grading Scale for Predicting Outcomes of Radiosurgery for Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas: JLGK 1802 Study
Hirotaka HASEGAWA ; Masahiro SHIN ; Jun KAWAGISHI ; Hidefumi JOKURA ; Toshinori HASEGAWA ; Takenori KATO ; Mariko KAWASHIMA ; Yuki SHINYA ; Hiroyuki KENAI ; Takuya KAWABE ; Manabu SATO ; Toru SERIZAWA ; Osamu NAGANO ; Kyoko AOYAGI ; Takeshi KONDOH ; Masaaki YAMAMOTO ; Shinji ONOUE ; Kiyoshi NAKAZAKI ; Yoshiyasu IWAI ; Kazuhiro YAMANAKA ; Seiko HASEGAWA ; Kosuke KASHIWABARA ; Nobuhito SAITO ;
Journal of Stroke 2022;24(2):278-287
Background:
and Purpose To assess the long-term outcomes of intracranial dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone or embolization and SRS (Emb-SRS) and to develop a grading system for predicting DAVF obliteration.
Methods:
This multi-institutional retrospective study included 200 patients with DAVF treated with SRS or Emb-SRS. We investigated the long-term obliteration rate and obliteration-associated factors. We developed a new grading system to estimate the obliteration rate. Additionally, we compared the outcomes of SRS and Emb-SRS by using propensity score matching.
Results:
The 3- and 4-year obliteration rates were 66.3% and 78.8%, respectively. The post-SRS hemorrhage rate was 2%. In the matched cohort, the SRS and Emb-SRS groups did not differ in the rates of obliteration (P=0.54) or post-SRS hemorrhage (P=0.50). In multivariable analysis, DAVF location and cortical venous reflux (CVR) were independently associated with obliteration. The new grading system assigned 2, 1, and 0 points to DAVFs in the anterior skull base or middle fossa, DAVFs with CVR or DAVFs in the superior sagittal sinus or tentorium, and DAVFs without these factors, respectively. Using the total points, patients were stratified into the highest (0 points), intermediate (1 point), or lowest (≥2 points) obliteration rate groups that exhibited 4-year obliteration rates of 94.4%, 71.3%, and 60.4%, respectively (P<0.01).
Conclusions
SRS-based therapy achieved DAVF obliteration in more than three-quarters of the patients at 4 years of age. Our grading system can stratify the obliteration rate and may guide physicians in treatment selection.
9.Terminal Anguish among Delirious Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Multicenter, Prospective, Observational Study
Natsuki KAWASHIMA ; Takayuki HISANAGA ; Jun HAMANO ; Isseki MAEDA ; Kengo IMAI ; Akihiro SAKASHITA ; Yoshihisa MATSUMOTO ; Keiichi UEMURA ; Takuya ODAGIRI ; Asao OGAWA ; Kazuhiro YOSHIUCHI ; Satoru IWASE
Palliative Care Research 2019;14(3):237-243
Objective: This study aimed to reveal the prevalence and characteristics of anguish among delirious patients with advanced cancer receiving specialized palliative care services. Methods: We conducted a subanalysis of a multicenter, prospective, observational study at 14 inpatient palliative care units and 10 general wards that offered psycho-oncology consultation service in Japan. We consecutively enrolled the patients with advanced cancer who were diagnosed with delirium and prescribed antipsychotics. Palliative care specialists decided whether patients suffered from anguish or not. We assessed patients’ background and severity of delirium with the Delirium Rating Scale-Revised (DRS-R-98). Results: Of 818 enrolled patients, 99 (12.1%) suffered from anguish. We observed a significant difference in the mean age (68.9±12.6 vs. 72.1±11.2, p=0.009), prevalence of dementia (2% vs. 10.4%, p=0.005) between patients with anguish and those without anguish. Patients with anguish had lower DRS-R-98 total scores before medication than those without anguish (15.3±8.1 vs. 17.3±7.8, p=0.018), but higher severity score in lability of affect (1.2±0.8 vs 1.0±0.9, p=0.023). Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that patients with anguish tend to be younger, mostly do not have dementia, and have lower delirium severity score but higher score in lability of affect. Nevertheless, further research, investigating appropriate evaluations and medical interventions for patients with anguish is warranted.