Acute effects of (-)-gallocatechin gallate-rich green tea extract on the cerebral hemodynamic response of the prefrontal cortex in healthy humans.

Objective: The benefits of long-term consumption of green tea on the brain are well known. However, among many ingredients of green tea, the acute effects of (-)-gallocatechin gallate-rich green tea extract (GCG-GTE), have received comparatively less attention. Herein, we investigated the acute effects of oral ingestion of green tea with GCG-GTE, which contains close replicas of the ingredients of hot green tea, on task-dependent hemodynamics in the prefrontal cortex of healthy adult human brains.

β-endorphin suppresses ultraviolet B irradiation-induced epidermal barrier damage by regulating inflammation-dependent mTORC1 signaling.

Solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation triggers excessive inflammation, disrupting the epidermal barrier, and can eventually cause skin cancer. A previous study reported that under UVB irradiation, epidermal keratinocytes synthesize the proopiomelanocortin-derived peptide β-endorphin, which is known for its analgesic effect. However, little is known about the role of β-endorphin in UVB-exposed skin.

Kaempferol tetrasaccharides restore skin atrophy via PDK1 inhibition in human skin cells and tissues: Bench and clinical studies.

Skin aging is a major risk factor for the dermal diseases, and interventions to attenuate cellular senescence are expected to reduce the risk for age-related diseases involving skin atrophy. However, blocking cell death or extending proliferation causally results in side effects and an increased cancer risk. For identification of a safer approach, we focused on PDK1 inhibition, which could revert cellular senescence and reduce senescence factors in skin in vitro, in a human skin equivalent model and in an exploratory, placebo-controlled, interventional trial.

Platelet-to-White Blood Cell Ratio Is Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Cirrhotic Patients with Acute Deterioration.

Background: The platelet-to-white blood cell ratio (PWR) is a hematologic marker of the systemic inflammatory response. Recently, the PWR was revealed to have a role as an independent prognostic factor for mortality in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related acute-on-chronic failure (ACLF) and HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) with acute decompensation (AD). However, the prognostic role of the PWR still needs to be investigated in LC patients with AD.

The Role of Gut Dysbiosis in Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is an important syndrome of liver failure that has a high risk of short-term mortality in patients with chronic liver disease. The development of ACLF is associated with proinflammatory precipitating events, such as infection, alcoholic hepatitis, and intense systemic inflammation. Recently, the role of the gut microbiome has increasingly emerged in human health and disease.

Inhibition of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1) can revert cellular senescence in human dermal fibroblasts.

Cellular senescence is defined as a stable, persistent arrest of cell proliferation. Here, we examine whether senescent cells can lose senescence hallmarks and reenter a reversible state of cell-cycle arrest (quiescence). We constructed a molecular regulatory network of cellular senescence based on previous experimental evidence.

A quantitative, objective method for evaluating the surgical outcomes of baggy eyelid correction using orbital gray scale analysis.

Background: Baggy lower eyelids (BLEs) are a common cosmetic problem that is treated using various methods. However, validated objective methods for evaluating the treatment are limited.

Aims: A novel BLE correction procedure, transconjunctival fat resection, and subsequent fat grafting, was assessed using the orbital gray scale (OGS), a previously suggested objective measure for BLEs.

Effectiveness of Transconjunctival Fat Removal and Resected Fat Grafting for Lower Eye Bag and Tear Trough Deformity.

Importance: The main treatment of lower eye bags is changing from fat removal techniques to fat repositioning techniques. However, fat repositioning techniques have potential complications because of disruption of the middle lamellae, leading to contracture and shortening.

Objective: To determine whether transconjunctival fat removal followed by resected fat grafting is an effective alternative method of eye bag treatment.

Assessment of age- and sex-related changes in baggy lower eyelids using a novel objective image analysis method: Orbital gray scale analysis.

Background: Baggy lower eyelids (BLEs) are a common aesthetic problem of aging. Valid and reliable assessment tools for BLEs are required to evaluate the current status and treatment outcome.

Aims: Age- and sex-related changes in BLEs were assessed with the orbital gray scale (OGS), a novel objective image analysis method.

BAF53b, a Neuron-Specific Nucleosome Remodeling Factor, Is Induced after Learning and Facilitates Long-Term Memory Consolidation.

Although epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression regulation have recently been implicated in memory consolidation and persistence, the role of nucleosome-remodeling is largely unexplored. Recent studies show that the functional loss of BAF53b, a postmitotic neuron-specific subunit of the BAF nucleosome-remodeling complex, results in the deficit of consolidation of hippocampus-dependent memory and cocaine-associated memory in the rodent brain. However, it is unclear whether BAF53b expression is regulated during memory formation and how BAF53b regulates fear memory in the amygdala, a key brain site for fear memory encoding and storage.

Donor-Site Morbidity after Partial Second Toe Pulp Free Flap for Fingertip Reconstruction.

Background: In this study, we characterize the morbidity at the donor-site of partial second toe pulp free flaps in terms of wound management as well as long-term outcomes.

Methods: A single-institutional retrospective review was performed for patients who had undergone partial second toe pulp free flap transfer to the fingertip. Patient charts were reviewed for infection, skin necrosis, wound dehiscence, and hematoma for the donor site.

Selective Control of Fear Expression by Optogenetic Manipulation of Infralimbic Cortex after Extinction.

Evidence from rodent and human studies has identified the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, specifically the infralimbic cortex (IL), as a critical brain structure in the extinction of conditioned fear. However, how IL activity controls fear expression at the time of extinction memory retrieval is unclear and controversial. To address this issue, we used optogenetics to precisely manipulate the activity of genetically targeted cells and to examine the real-time contribution of IL activity to expression of auditory-conditioned fear extinction in mice.

Serum gastrin levels in different stages of distal gastric carcinogenesis: is there a role for serum gastrin in tumor growth?

Background/aims: Elevated levels of serum gastrin (SG) have been associated with tumorigenic effects in a number of gastrointestinal cancers. We decided to investigate the relationship between SG and gastric epithelial lesions.

Materials And Methods: A total of 90 patients with gastric epithelial lesions (hyperplastic polyp, 12; adenoma, 41; early gastric cancer, 29; advanced gastric cancer, 8) were enrolled as the case group and 79 patients without epithelial lesions were enrolled as the control group.

Optogenetic activation of presynaptic inputs in lateral amygdala forms associative fear memory.

In Pavlovian fear conditioning, the lateral amygdala (LA) has been highlighted as a key brain site for association between sensory cues and aversive stimuli. However, learning-related changes are also found in upstream sensory regions such as thalamus and cortex. To isolate the essential neural circuit components for fear memory association, we tested whether direct activation of presynaptic sensory inputs in LA, without the participation of upstream activity, is sufficient to form fear memory in mice.

Memory recall and modifications by activating neurons with elevated CREB.

Memory is supported by a specific ensemble of neurons distributed in the brain that form a unique memory trace. We previously showed that neurons in the lateral amygdala expressing elevated levels of cAMP response-element binding protein are preferentially recruited into fear memory traces and are necessary for the expression of those memories. However, it is unknown whether artificially activating just these selected neurons in the absence of behavioral cues is sufficient to recall that fear memory.

CREB and neuronal selection for memory trace.

Despite considerable progress over the past several decades, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying memory encoding, storage, and expression in a complex neural network are far from complete. In particular, how some neurons rather than others are selectively engaged to encode memory remains largely unknown. Using virus-mediated gene delivery into a small subset of neurons in a given network, molecular imaging of neuronal activity, pharmacological perturbation of specific neurons' activity and animal behavior assays, recent studies have begun to provide insight into molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for the selection of neurons for inclusion into a memory trace.

Brain region-specific activity patterns after recent or remote memory retrieval of auditory conditioned fear.

Memory is thought to be sparsely encoded throughout multiple brain regions forming unique memory trace. Although evidence has established that the amygdala is a key brain site for memory storage and retrieval of auditory conditioned fear memory, it remains elusive whether the auditory brain regions may be involved in fear memory storage or retrieval. To investigate this possibility, we systematically imaged the brain activity patterns in the lateral amygdala, MGm/PIN, and AuV/TeA using activity-dependent induction of immediate early gene zif268 after recent and remote memory retrieval of auditory conditioned fear.

[A case of iatrogenic tension pneumoperitoneum following colonoscopy in a patient with cytomegalovirus colitis].

Perforation of the colon occurs in 0.2 to 2% of all colonoscopic examinations. The most common sites of perforation are rectosigmoid junction and cecal area.

Topical photodynamic therapy using intense pulsed light for treatment of actinic keratosis: clinical and histopathologic evaluation.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is suitable for the treatment of actinic keratosis, and, recently, topical PDT using intense pulsed light as a light source has been reported. However, evaluations of its therapeutic effects have been clinically based.

Objective: The objective of this study was to confirm the histopathologic resolution of actinic keratosis treated by topical PDT using intense pulsed light as a light source.

A serologically diagnosed human case of cutaneous larva migrans caused by Ancylostoma caninum.

A 15-year-old boy, who had recently arrived back from a trip to Cambodia for a missionary camp, presented with several serpiginous thread-like skin lesions that began as small papules on the left upper extremities 2 weeks before his visit to Hospital. The skin lesions were pruritic and erythematous, and had migrated to the chest and abdomen. The histopathological findings showed only lymphocytic and eosinophilic infiltrations in the dermis of the biopsied skin lesion.