Masakazu Ichinose

..It has also been reported that some primary lung tumours produce AFP. However, these tumours are mainly poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas or large cell carcinomas. A lung carcinoid that produces AFP is extremely rare...

..As many cytokines are involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory lung diseases, inhibitory agents of the synthesis of multiple cytokines may be more useful tools. Several such agents are now in clinical development...

..This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the long-acting β₂-agonist formoterol in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD...

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..Simultaneous monitoring of airway inflammation and physiology might be useful for asthma management...

..These distinct inflammatory patterns in both diseases seem to cause pathological differences in asthma and COPD...

..However, there are no reports on the efficacy of tulobuterol combined with an anticholinergic. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of transdermal tulobuterol combined with inhaled tiotropium in COPD...

..To compare the efficacy and safety of tiotropium inhaled via Respimat Soft Mist Inhaler, a multidose propellant-free inhaler and HandiHaler, a single-dose dry powder inhaler, in a phase 2 study of Japanese COPD patients...

..This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the formoterol Turbuhaler at dosages of 4.5, 9 and 18 microg bid compared with placebo in Japanese patients with COPD...

..In this review, I describe briefly the current recommendation for pharmacological therapy of stable COPD according to the global and Japanese guidelines for COPD...

..In this review, I describe some inflammatory molecules that seem to be involved in the inflammatory process in each disease...

..This intervention may be useful in the future management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

..We hypothesized that nitrosative stress markers including Calv, inducible type of NO synthase (iNOS), and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT), are upregulated in EP...

..The aim of this study was to assess the production of 27-OHC in the airways of patients with COPD and to elucidate the possible role of 27-OHC in the tissue fibrosis of COPD...

..Modulation of this pathway may be a therapeutic target for viral-induced exacerbations of COPD...

..Although the overexpression of Hck causes emphysema-like histologic changes in mice, its expression and activity in patients with COPD are unclear...

..01) and inhibited by anti-TGF-beta antibody. These results suggest that RNS can affect the differentiation to myofibroblasts and excessive ECM production via a NF-kappaB-TGF-beta(1)-dependent pathway...

..In the present study, we examined whether 25-HC affects the release of cytokines and also modulates the responses of toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in airway epithelial cells...

..We evaluated the additive effects of LM with ICS on pulmonary function and airway inflammation in asthmatics with or without AR...

..However, the effects of cigarette smoke on TLR3 remain unclear. In this study, it was examined whether cigarette smoke affects the expression and responses of TLR3 in human macrophages...

..However, it remains unknown whether TLR8 signaling is potentiated by oxidative stress. The aim of this study is to examine whether oxidative stress modulates TLR8 signaling in vitro...

..In this study, we investigated the prevalence of COPD in patients with liver diseases by recruiting a large number of patients, and also investigated was the effect of hepatitis virus infection on COPD prevalence...

..The aim of the present study was to determine whether or not COPD is different among patients already suffering from other diseases...

..The aim of this study was to assess the production of 25-HC in the airways and to elucidate the role of 25-HC in neutrophil infiltration in the airways of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...

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..Furthermore, there is no detailed study that investigated the cutoff values that takes into account patient factors that influence the FE(NO) levels...

..CONCLUSIONS: Assisted inhalation therapy is expected to be useful in general and also in terms of expanding the application of ICS in the asthma in the elderly...

..An accurate index that shows the degree of AHR may be obtained by combining the index of airway lability with the parameters that represent airway caliber...

..Objectives: The validity of the Actimarker was evaluated in COPD patients...

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..We initially evaluated the reproducibility of the DAM in Japanese healthy subjects. Next, the within-subject repeatability and the determinants of physical activity were investigated in Japanese COPD patients...

..01) and they were inhibited by anti-TGF-beta antibody. These results suggest that activation of TLR3 can affect the differentiation to myofibroblasts and enhance ECM production via the NF-kappaB-TGF-beta(1)-dependent pathway...

..Furthermore, the influence of salivary contamination on the measurement of protein-bound 3-NT in induced sputum by means of HPLC-ECD was very small and could be negligible...

..The aim of the present study was to investigate the surface expression of molecules in circulating neutrophils and to clarify their possible role in the airflow limitation of COPD...

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..Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) measurements have recently been reported to be useful for the detection of inflammatory molecules in the airways. However, the clinical relevance of EBC analysis in asthma therapy has not been determined yet...

..Recent reports showed that nitrative stress induced tissue remodeling in vitro, which is associated with a component of refractoriness in asthma. However, there is no report that nitrative stress is involved in refractory asthma...

..In healthy adults, there have been a few studies of the reference ranges for FE(NO) in Caucasians. A community study in other regions may reveal any possible ethnic differences in the FE(NO) levels...

..54 +/- 0.34 mg/dl versus 0.87 +/- 0.24 mg/dl at 40 h after ischemia). Thus, these results indicate that deletion of the kinase domain from DAPK molecule can attenuate tubular cell apoptosis and renal dysfunction after IR injury...

..In conclusion, UFT administration after TACE was an effective treatment and showed no severe adverse events. This regimen may have an adjuvant role and antiangiogenic function in advanced HCC...

..In the present paper, we review the physiological and pathophysiological effects of NO and NO-related molecules in the respiratory system and in inflammatory lung diseases...

..4, TNF-alpha 1.9 microA/cm(2)). These data suggest that TNF-alpha may affect the pathophysiology of acute lung injury and pulmonary edema through the inhibition of alveolar liquid clearance and sodium transport...

..TGF-beta(1) has been reported to decrease the intracellular glutathione level and stimulate the production of reactive oxygen species...

..Conclusion: Combining FE(NO) and specific IgE may be a useful marker for predicting the response to ICS/LABA on airflow limitation in COPD...

..The present study provides evidence that ICS/LABA combination therapy results in a more rapid improvement in asthma symptoms, lung function, and airway inflammation compared to ICS monotherapy in steroid-naive patients with asthma...

..Cytologically, atypical plasma cells, and T-cell predominant lymphocytes were also present. These findings are likely to be characteristic of pleural effusions associated with AILD and may prove to be a useful marker for diagnosis...

..This review describes the rapidly accruing data linking oxidative and nitrative events to the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma...

..Our findings also suggest that the STAT6 pathway may have a promotive effect on renal fibrosis by activating collagen synthesis following ureteral obstruction...

..Combination HAI therapy may have a potent therapeutic effect on malignant melanoma metastasis to the liver, and our regimen using DAV and CDDP may be beneficial to the improvement of prognosis without serious side effects...

..Thus, our results suggest that the kinase domain deleted by gene targeting plays a suppressive role for the development of renal fibrosis through inhibition of the tubular epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in a mouse model of COU...

..Thus, these results indicate that the part of the kinase domain deleted by the gene targeting is crucial for the execution of tubular cell apoptosis, but is not essential for interstitial cell apoptosis in a COU model in mice...

..However, it has never been done on the basis of urinary urea nitrogen (UUN). The aim of this study, therefore, is to determine the usefulness of the estimated protein intake (EPI) based on UUN in patients with LC...

..This study showed that EDA reduces liver fibrosis in a rat of cirrhosis induced by DMN. These data suggest that the reduction of liver fibrosis by EDA may be induced by the suppression of activated hepatic stellate cells...

..We successfully performed emergency TAE, but the patient died of liver failure. Rapid seeding of multiple intrahepatic tumors after PEIT is a rare event, but such a possibility must be kept in mind...

..This case is considered important because, to the best of our knowledge, this may be the first report of a planned pregnancy and childbirth in a patient under administration of a biological preparation...

..However, the natural history and risk factors of obstructive change for such asthmatic patients have not been fully elucidated...

..5 months after admission. There has been no report of a case of DM with MBD. This report may provide useful data with regard to the mechanisms of central nervous system (CNS) disorders in patients with DM...

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..8 % of COPD patients, and the prevalence of COPD is high in heart failure, ischemic heart failure and liver diseases. The effort to decrease the mortality of COPD in Japan is necessary...

..AA deficiency in HD patients may result in high TBARS levels, which reflect increased oxidative stress. Adequate AA supplementation should therefore be considered in such patients...

..Thus, we diagnosed the patient as hepatic encephalopathy with status epilepticus. We consider the status epilepticus of this patient to a rare and interesting finding in hepatic encephalopathy...

..More importantly, they show that increased RNS production in the airways seems to contribute in a critical way to the pathogenesis of COPD, and that the effects of RNS in airways may differ in asthma and COPD...

..Previous studies showing that tiotropium improves multiple end points in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) led us to examine the long-term effects of tiotropium therapy...

..Because the XO activity was significantly correlated with the degree of airway obstruction, these cytokine-XO production pathways may play a key role in the inflammation of COPD...

..CONCLUSIONS: Screening spirometry in outpatients in a primary care setting can identify many COPD patients. However, COPD management appears to be poor in Japan...

..Symptom-based questionnaires may be helpful in diagnosing patients with COPD. The aim of this study was to determine whether two COPD questionnaires designed in Western countries were applicable to Japanese and other Asian patients...

..Furthermore, allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness appeared to occur independently of airway eosinophilia in our present model...

..The tulobuterol patch (Hokunalin) is a transdermal patch preparation of the beta2-adrenoceptor agonist (beta2-agonist) tulobuterol designed to yield sustained beta(2)-agonistic effects for 24 hours when applied once daily...

..These results suggest that heating of the liver may efficiently induce cellular immune responses to liver cancers...

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..These findings suggest the possibility that the topical corticosteroid therapy influenced the clinical course of pulmonary sarcoidosis, inducing some delay in the spontaneous remission in the longterm course...

..In future, we need COPD specific anti-inflammatory agents, including histone deacetylase (HDAC) activator...

..Despite high smoking rates, few prevalence studies of COPD have been performed in Asia. The Nippon COPD Epidemiology (NICE) Study used spirometry to measure prevalence of airflow limitation in Japanese adults...