Tatsuma Okazaki

Pneumonia is a major cause of death in older people, and the number of such deaths is increasing. Present guidelines for pneumonia management are based on a pathogen-oriented strategy that relies on the optimal application of antibiotics. Older pneumonia inpatients show the high incidence of aspiration pneumonia. The main cause of aspiration pneumonia is an impairment in the swallowing and cough reflexes. These facts suggest a limitation of present management strategies and a requirement for new

Aspiration pneumonia induced muscle atrophy in the respiratory, skeletal, and swallowing systems in a preclinical animal model and in human patients. Diaphragmatic atrophy may weaken the force of cough to expectorate sputum or mis-swallowed contents. Skeletal muscle atrophy may cause secondary sarcopenia. The atrophy of swallowing muscles may weaken the swallowing function. Thus, muscle atrophy could become a new therapeutic target of aspiration pneumonia.

Recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is used for cancer patients with myelosuppression induced by chemotherapy. G-CSF has been reported to progress tumor growth and angiogenesis, but the precise mechanism of tumor angiogenesis activated by G-CSF has not been fully clarified. N-terminal-mutated recombinant human G-CSF administration increased WBCs and neutrophils in peripheral blood and reduced bone marrow stromal cell-derived factor-1 in mice, indicating its biological relev

Erythropoietin (Epo), a known hematopoietic growth factor, has been reported to promote tumor growth and angiogenesis in Epo receptor (EpoR)-positive tumors, but its effects on EpoR-negative tumors have not been clearly shown. Here, we show that Epo accelerates the growth of EpoR-negative tumors by promoting tumor angiogenesis. Mice were inoculated with Lewis lung carcinoma cells and treated with Epo. Erythropoietin accelerated tumor growth and increased intratumoral microvessel density, althoug

Although M-CSF has been used for myelosuppression due to chemotherapy in patients with solid tumors, the effect of exogenous M-CSF on tumor angiogenesis has not been studied. In this study we showed that M-CSF has the ability to accelerate solid tumor growth by enhancing angiogenesis with a novel mechanism. M-CSF accelerated intratumoral vessel density in tumors inoculated into mice, although it did not accelerate the proliferation of malignant cells and cultured endothelial cells in vitro. In b

Chronic inflammation induces lymphangiogenesis and blood vessel remodelling. Since aged pneumonia patients often have repeated episodes of aspiration pneumonia, the pathogenesis may involve chronic inflammation. For lymphangiogenesis, VEGFR-3 and its ligand VEGF-C are key factors. No previous studies have examined chronic inflammation or vascular changes in aspiration pneumonia or its mouse models. In lung inflammation, little is known about the effect of blocking VEGFR-3 on lung lymphangiogenes

Respiratory muscle weakness, lower body trunk muscle mass, and malnutrition were risk factors for the onset of pneumonia in older people. For the relapse of pneumonia, malnutrition was a risk factor.

Lung fibrosis is an important pulmonary disease with a high mortality rate, but its pathophysiological mechanism has not been fully clarified. Various types of cells have been implicated in the development of lung fibrosis, including T cells. However, the contribution of functional molecules expressed on T cells to the development of lung fibrosis remains largely unknown. In this study, we determined whether costimulation via CD28 on T cells was crucial for the development of lung fibrosis by in

These results suggest that nuclear factor-κB signaling within skeletal muscle fibers is a key pathway leading to diaphragmatic weakness during acute endotoxemia, most likely via effects on multiple inflammatory mediators. In addition, inhibition of nuclear factor-κB signaling within diaphragm muscle fibers has complex effects on caspase-3 activation, which could have implications for the treatment of sepsis-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction.

This is the first identified case of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-derived cutaneous tuberculosis that localizes at a place different from the vaccination site in hosts without immune deficiency. A healthy baby with a developing abscess is described. A multiplex PCR identified the abscess as originating from M. bovis BCG Tokyo 172.

Impaired % predicted value forced vital capacity (% FVC) is related to higher all-cause mortality in aged adults, and strong muscle force may improve this relationship. A muscle disease, sarcopenia, causes higher mortality. We aimed to identify the unknown disease that relates impaired % FVC with higher mortality in aged adults among the three major leading causes of death, and the effect of strong leg force on this relationship. Cox proportional hazard model analyzed the longitudinal Tsurugaya