Publications by authors named "Takashi Kurashige"

Sporadic late-onset nemaline myopathy (SLONM) is distinct from congenital nemaline myopathies, which are associated with genetic abnormalities. There are many cases of SLONM with M-proteinemia, but treatment response and life expectancy are poor. Several studies have reported that patients with M protein-positive SLONM treated with high-dose melphalan combined with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDM-ASCT) presented good long-term outcomes.

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The causes of peripheral neuropathy are diverse and include numerous systemic diseases. Polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome is a pertinent condition and is characterized by elevated serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, several other diseases with elevated VEGF have been reported besides POEMS syndrome.

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Optineurin is a causative gene of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and has many roles in processes such as autophagy and inflammation. However, it is unclear how optineurin causes ALS. Optineurin knock-out (Optn-KO) mice, which have been generated by several researchers, exhibit motor neuron degeneration and TDP-43 aggregates, but no motor deficits.

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  • Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) is an inflammatory muscle disease that typically doesn't present with skin rashes, but patients with the specific HMGCR antibody may exhibit atypical skin conditions.
  • A study of 100 IIM patients revealed that 34% had skin conditions, with 42% of those with HMGCR-IMNM showing atypical lesions, which were distinct from typical IIM-related rashes.
  • Skin biopsies from HMGCR-IMNM patients revealed similar microscopic features, specifically Bcl-2-positive lymphocyte infiltrations, suggesting that these atypical skin manifestations could be a clue for diagnosing HMGCR-IMNM.
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  • The study investigates the genetic basis of frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) by analyzing multiple family members with different disease symptoms.
  • Researchers performed genetic and biochemical tests, identifying a specific mutation (c.896_897insACA) in the MAPT gene that correlates with reduced tau protein functionality and abnormal tau aggregation in affected individuals.
  • The findings indicate that this mutation leads to symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease initially, progressing to atypical features like progressive supranuclear palsy, highlighting the need for further research on MAPT mutations and their effects.
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  • Pontine autosomal dominant microangiopathy and leukoencephalopathy is a hereditary condition linked to small vessel diseases affecting the brain, marked by small infarctions in the pons region.
  • Researchers conducted genetic sequencing and clinical assessments on a family with this undiagnosed condition and identified a specific genetic variant that confirmed the diagnosis in two other patients.
  • A notable radiological feature termed the "raisin bread sign" was discovered, characterized by multiple oval small infarctions in the pons, which corresponds with specific pathological changes observed postmortem.
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Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4), the strongest risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been revealed to cause greater accumulation of extracellular amyloid β (Aβ) aggregates than does APOE3 in traditional transgenic mouse models of AD. However, concerns that the overexpression paradigm might have affected the phenotype remain. Amyloid precursor protein (APP)-knock-in (KI) mice, incorporating APP mutations associated with AD development, offer an alternative approach for overproducing pathogenic Aβ without needing overexpression of APP.

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The discovery of transacting response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) led to a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Since this discovery, blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of ALS have been reported. However, these biomarkers do not exhibit sufficient specificity for ALS.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons. Although repeat expansion in C9orf72 is its most common cause, the pathogenesis of ALS isn't fully clear. In this study, we show that repeat expansion in LRP12, a causative variant of oculopharyngodistal myopathy type 1 (OPDM1), is a cause of ALS.

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Myocarditis is often reported as a complication of COVID-19 infection or post-vaccination, but there are few reports of "myocarditis for Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome", and many unknowns still remain. Apart from that, an association between COVID-19 infection and dermatomyositis has also been reported. We describe the clinical presentation of acute myocarditis in a patient who had developed COVID-19 syndrome one-month earlier.

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GNE myopathy is a distal myopathy caused by biallelic variants in GNE, which encodes a protein involved in sialic acid biosynthesis. Compound heterozygosity of the second most frequent variant among Japanese GNE myopathy patients, GNE c.620A>T encoding p.

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Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy type1 (FSHD1) patients with a shortened D4Z4 repeat containing the DUX4 gene have a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. In addition, high expression of DUX4 protein with an aberrant C terminus is frequently identified in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We investigated clinical manifestations in 31 FSHD1 patients and 30 non-affected individuals.

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  • The WHO's 2016 classification introduced "diffuse midline glioma, H3 K27M-mutant" as a distinct tumor type found in the central nervous system (CNS).
  • A case study presented a 16-year-old girl with a glioblastoma showing an H3 K27M mutation in a non-midline location (left temporal stem), which is unusual.
  • The findings suggest that H3 K27M mutations should be considered in glioblastomas outside of midline areas, expanding the criteria for diagnosis and understanding of tumor characteristics.
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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are particles released from most cell types delimited by a lipid bilayer. Small EVs (sEVs) are nanosized (<200 nm) and include exosomes. Brain-derived sEVs may provide a source for new biomarkers of brain status.

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Rationale: Muscle weakness due to cancer-associated dermatomyositis (CADM) can be misdiagnosed as cancer cachexia and disuse atrophy.

Patient Concerns: A 75-year-old female was admitted to our institute with muscle weakness, dysphagia, and suspected gallbladder cancer. Computed tomography and cytopathological examinations of the liver biopsy and fine-needle aspiration from swollen lymph nodes using endoscopic ultrasonography revealed cancer in the gallbladder body and metastasis to the lymph nodes around the abdominal aorta.

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Spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14) is an autosomal dominant SCA caused by variants of the PRKCG encoding protein kinase C gamma (PKCγ). Although the toxic gain-of-function mechanism is the main cause of SCA14, its molecular pathophysiology remains unclear. To elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of SCA14, we analyzed two families with the variants in PRKCG.

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Importance: Degeneration of neuromuscular junctions and axons is considered an important aspect of the pathomechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, a mechanism including the role of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) in axons has not been pathologically clarified.

Objective: To identify and characterize the histopathology of peripheral axons in the skeletal muscle of patients with ALS.

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Background: Although hypercoagulability using D-dimer levels may be a useful marker for predicting outcomes in ischemic stroke patients with cancer, other biological markers for predicting outcomes are unclear. We aimed to investigate the associations between several biological markers and short-term or long-term outcomes among ischemic stroke patients with cancer.

Methods: Consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients with cancer (n = 309) were registered.

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Mutations in optineurin (OPTN) have been identified in a small proportion of sporadic and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases. Recent evidences suggest that OPTN would be involved in not only the pathophysiological mechanisms of motor neuron death of ALS but also myofiber degeneration of sporadic inclusion body myositis. However, the detailed role of OPTN in muscle remains unclear.

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A 68-year-old man with a 2-month history of progressive weakness and spontaneous pain in proximal limb muscles presented to our hospital with a dropped head. He started experiencing progressive dysphagia several days before admission. On admission, he had muscle weakness of the limbs and neck extensors with edema and induration in distal extremities.

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Background: Both fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) and late-onset neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) show CGG/GGC trinucleotide repeat expansions. Differentiating these diseases are difficult because of the similarity in their clinical and radiological features. It is unclear that skin biopsy can distinguish NIID from FXTAS.

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Cancer-associated ischemic stroke (CAS) refers to a hypercoagulation disorder related to malignant tumors, especially adenocarcinoma. Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125 is a mucinous serum marker that might reflect hypercoagulation status, but the association between CA 125 and CAS is unclear across various types of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations among tumor markers, coagulation markers, and clinical factors in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with active cancer.

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Synopsis of recent research by authors named "Takashi Kurashige"

  • Takashi Kurashige's recent research focuses on the intersection of immunological, genetic, and pathological aspects of neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders, showcasing his investigations into rare conditions and their clinical manifestations.
  • His studies include the identification of atypical skin conditions in anti-HMGCR antibody-positive myopathy and the exploration of genetic mutations linked to frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, indicating a commitment to understanding complex disease mechanisms.
  • Kurashige's work also highlights the implications of systemic conditions, such as COVID-19, on pre-existing myopathies and cancer associations, emphasizing a multidimensional approach to studying disease pathology and its broader effects on patient health.