Kanazawa Medical University

About: Kanazawa Medical University is a education organization based out in Kanazawa, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 3103 authors who have published 6322 publications receiving 144592 citations. The organization is also known as: Kanazawa ika daigaku.

Relationship between Advanced Glycation End Products and Plaque Progression in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: The JAPAN-ACS Sub-study

Abstract: The Japan Assessment of Pitavastatin and Atorvastatin in Acute Coronary Syndrome (JAPAN-ACS) trial demonstrated that early aggressive statin therapy in patients with ACS significantly reduces plaque volume (PV). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the receptors of AGEs (RAGE) may lead to angiopathy in diabetes mellitus (DM) and may affect on the development of coronary PV. The present sub-study of JAPAN-ACS investigates the association between AGEs and RAGE, and PV. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was undertaken, followed by the initiation of statin treatment (either 4 mg/day of pitavastatin or 20 mg/day of atorvastatin), in patients with ACS. In the 208 JAPAN-ACS subjects, PV using IVUS in non-culprit segment > 5 mm proximal or distal to the culprit lesion and, serum levels of AGEs and soluble RAGE (sRAGE) were measured at baseline and 8–12 months after PCI. At baseline, no differences in the levels of either AGEs or sRAGE were found between patients with DM and those without DM. The levels of AGEs decreased significantly with statin therapy from 8.6 ± 2.2 to 8.0 ± 2.1 U/ml (p < 0.001), whereas the levels of sRAGE did not change. There were no significant correlations between changes in PV and the changes in levels of AGEs as well as sRAGE. However, high baseline AGEs levels were significantly associated with plaque progression (odds ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 - 1.48; p = 0.044) even after adjusting for DM in multivariate logistic regression models. High baseline AGEs levels were associated with plaque progression in the JAPAN-ACS trial. This relationship was independent of DM. These findings suggest AGEs may be related to long-term glucose control and other oxidative stresses in ACS. NCT00242944

Influence of smoking combined with another risk factor on the risk of mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke: pooled analysis of 10 Japanese cohort studies.

Abstract: Background: In spite of the importance of a multifactorial approach to preventing cardiovascular disease in smokers, most information on the combined adverse effe

Hepatic Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Associated with Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract: Sixty-three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis received various kinds of treatment at our clinic during the past 21 years. Of these, 35 patients who underwent hepatic resection were divided into a large tumor group (tumors more than 5 cm in diameter) and a small tumor group (tumors less than 5 cm in diameter), and the operative results of both groups were studied. There was a difference in the average ages between the 2 groups (p <0.05), but there was no difference in the duration of illness or laboratory data. The resectability rate of the liver in 17 patients with small tumors was 89% and was significantly higher than that of 41% in 18 patients with large tumors (p<0.005). The overall operative mortality rate was 14% for both groups. Patients with tumors over 3 cm already exhibited the histological findings seen in advanced cancer. Cumulative 3-year survival rates of the large and small tumor groups were 0% and 53%, respectively, and there was a significant difference in survival curves between the 2 groups (p<0.005). The above results suggest that hepatic resection for patients with small tumors is effective as a treatment for hepatoma associated with cirrhosis.

Dietary tricin suppresses inflammation-related colon carcinogenesis in male Crj: CD-1 mice.

Abstract: The flavone 4′,5,7-trihydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxyflavone (tricin) present in rice, oats, barley, and wheat exhibits antigrowth activity in several human cancer cell lines and anti-inflammatory potential. However, the chemopreventive activity has not yet been elucidated in preclinical animal models of colorectal cancer. This study was designed to determine whether dietary tricin exerts inflammation-associated colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane and dextran sulfate sodium in mice. Male Crj: CD-1 mice were initiated with a single i.p. injection of azoxymethane (10 mg/kg body weight) and followed by a 1-week exposure to dextran sulfate sodium (1.5%, w/v ) in drinking water to induce colonic neoplasms. They were then given the experimental diet containing 50 or 250 ppm tricin. The experiment was terminated at week 18 to determine the chemopreventive efficacy of tricin. In addition, the effects of dietary tricin on the expression of several inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, were assayed. The development of colonic adenomas and adenocarcinomas was significantly reduced by feeding with 50 and 250 ppm tricin, respectively. Dietary tricin also significantly reduced the proliferation of adenocarcinoma cells as well as the numbers of mitoses/anaphase bridging in adenocarcinoma cells. The dietary administration with tricin significantly inhibited the expression of TNF-α in the nonlesional cypts. Our findings that dietary tricin inhibits inflammation-related mouse colon carcinogenesis by suppressing the expression of TNF-α in the nonlesional cyrpts and the proliferation of adenocarcinomas suggest a potential use of tricin for clinical trials of colorectal cancer chemoprevention.

The role of hypoxia in pulmonary vascular diseases: a perspective.

Abstract: From the discovery of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, responses to hypoxia have been considered as representative for the many alterations in lung vessels that occur in several chronic lung diseases, including pulmonary hypertension, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An essential part of preclinical research to explain the pathobiology of these diseases has been centered on the exposure of small and large animals to hypoxia. This review aims to summarize pivotal results of clinical and preclinical research on hypoxia, which still have important implications for researchers today.