Aim: Makyoyokukanto (MKYK) is a traditional Japanese medicine used for relieving arthralgia, neuralgia, and myalgia. However, the effectiveness and safety of MKYK remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of MKYK in patients with painful afflictions.
Folate is an important coenzyme for DNA biosynthesis and for many metabolic processes. Folate deficiency causes macrocytic anemia, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and breast cancer. There are many kinds of folate supplements such as synthetic folic acid (FA) and L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate as well as from natural sources like Chlorella. 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme involved in folate metabolism via one-carbon metabolism. MTHFR C677T polymorphism is related with autism, Alzheimer's disease, neural tube defects and CVD. We studied the effects of Chlorella pyrenoidosa on subjects of who had MTHFR C677T polymorphism. Seven outpatients were enrolled. Three were mutant homozygous genotype TT (TT), three were heterozygous genotype CT (CT) and one was CC type (CC). We conducted blood biochemical tests before and during supplementing with Chlorella pyrenoidosa for 3 months. There was a negative correlation (r = -0.43, p = 0.33) between folate and homocysteine before taking Chlorella pyrenoidosa. The TT group had a tendency of low folate concentration before this study (TT group 5.53 ng/mL, CT group 14.13 ng/mL) which increased after taking Chlorella pyrenoidosa (6.73 ng/mL). Two subjects showed an increase in serum albumin and iron levels. One case of hyperlipidemia (CT) showed a decrease of total cholesterol (305 mg/dL before, 256 mg/dL after). Blood sample analyses suggested that those with a baseline of low folate concentration showed a high serum homocysteine. High homocysteine has been reported to have a negative relationship with many health conditions. TT polymorphisms showed a tendency towards a low concentration of folate. This study showed the possibility of beneficial effects of Chlorella pyrenoidosa for folate metabolism and other nutritional benefits.
The most perilous immediate response to Hymenoptera stings is a systemic allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Given that eppikajutsuto (EKJT) exhibits the capacity to mitigate inflammatory swelling while possessing heatTraditional Medicine module 1 (TM1)-clearing and fluidTM1-regulating properties, we used it to treat an anaphylactic reaction to a wasp sting. A 67-year-old woman was brought to the emergency department with anaphylaxis resulting from a paper wasp sting. As her blood pressure was 210/90 mmHg, EKJT was administered instead of adrenaline, and remarkable symptomatic improvement was observed. This case demonstrates that EKJT can alleviate symptoms associated with anaphylactic reactions to Hymenoptera stings.
Purpose: Dehydration is an important risk of SGLT2 inhibitors. Although dehydration may lead to thrombosis and embolism, especially cerebral infarction, this concern has not been clinically validated. As a result, cerebral infarction is considered a suspected risk of these inhibitors. To determine whether treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors lead to cardiovascular adverse events, spontaneous adverse event reports were retrieved from a database and assessed using two statistical approaches.
Purpose: Angiogenesis inhibitor therapy for cancer is an efficient treatment as a "starvation tactic" against tumor tissues. Angiogenesis inhibitors, such as bevacizumab (avastin), a Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) inhibitor, and ramucirumab, a VEGF-A receptor inhibitor, have already been approved for cancer treatment. However, anti-angiogenic therapy has no specificity for target tissues; thus, angiogenesis inhibitors impede wound healing, causing bleeding and reopening of cuts. In this study, we investigated the possibility of genetic anti-angiogenic therapies that specifically target cancer cells using lentiviral vector-mediated transfection of the Cas9 gene, which is controlled by the promoter region of the growth factor cytokine, midkine. Midkine is a growth factor highly expressed in cancer cells, and its promoter region can be used to selectively regulate gene expression in cancer cells.
Immune system aging (immune senescence) is an important factor contributing to the increased incidence and mortality rates among the elderly. Immune senescence, characterized by a decline in immune function, can also lead to aging and tissue dysfunction in organs as well as the lymphatic system. This suggests that aged immune cells may contribute to systemic aging. Conversely, transplantation of young immune cells into aged mice has been shown to improve systemic aging traits, indicating that immune system senescent cells could be a significant therapeutic target for promoting healthy aging. However, the molecular mechanisms behind immune senescence are not fully understood. Advances in unraveling these molecular processes are expected to lead to the discovery of new methods for preventing aging and extending lifespan.
There are various types of airway stents for central airway stenosis (CAS) due to lung cancer. The placement of an airway stent is known to improve the patients' quality of life (QOL) and activities of daily living (ADL). Thus, we report 4 lung cancer cases with CAS managed with an Ultraflex stent, a type of airway stent, in which 3 patients showed improvement in performance status (PS) and could be discharged home. Since evidence for airway stenting is scarce, we reported and discussed the respective cases.
Adverse skin reactions to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been rare. Because eppikajutsuto (EPTJ), which can alleviate inflammatory swelling, has heatTraditional Medicine module 1 (TM1)-clearing and fluidTM1-regulating potentials, we used it in a case of adverse skin reactions to COVID-19 vaccine. A 35-year-old woman received the second COVID-19 vaccine and presented with hacking, headache, and red glow on the face soon after receiving the vaccine. Symptoms such as flushing and wheal on the upper body improved after treatment with EPTJ. EPTJ can be used to alleviate the symptoms of adverse skin reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two major causes of dementia. These diseases are both progressive neurodegenerative diseases whereas no curative treatment has not yet been established. Regenerative approaches have been extensively researched for AD and FTD, but they are still in early phase of pre-clinical trials. We show here, for the first time, that cytokines such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), and progranulin (PGRN) can induce the neurogenesis of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons in cerebral cortex and hippocampi of AD and FTD patients. We also showed the evidence, for the first time, that the atrophied hippocampi were significantly regenerated by cytokine-induced neurogenesis in AD and FTD patients, which was confirmed by MRI study and neurophysiological evaluations. We therefore explored the potentiality of cytokine cocktail treatment for AD and FTD and showed that cytokine-induced neurogenesis is a novel promising strategy to cure AD and FTD.
Purpose: This review aims to introduce the previous autologous invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell-targeted cancer immunotherapy and an ongoing clinical trial using allogeneic induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NKT cells (iPS-NKT cells) for head and neck cancer (HNC).
Cancer patients suffer from physical pain due to cancer itself and side effects by anticancer drugs, as well as social pain such as employment problems, psychological and spiritual pain. It is important to overcome these total pains with multidisciplinary medical care. Regarding drug treatment, if there is no drug effective in alleviating the patients' symptoms, it is necessary to develop a novel drug or drug repositioning to apply existing drugs. Among them, "Japanese herbal kampo medicine", introduced from China and developed in Japan, has come to occupy an important position as a complementary and alternative medicine to Western drugs.
Cell-based regenerative medicine entails culturing an abundance of cells outside of the body and then transfusing or injecting live cells back into the body. Our cancer immunotherapy uses multivalent Dendritic Cell (DC) vaccines and activated Natural Killer (NK) cells to increase the immune response against cancerous cells.
