Prediction of Anemia From Cerebral Venous Sinus Attenuation on Deep-Learning Reconstructed Brain Computed Tomography Images.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to evaluate whether the prediction of anemia is possible using quantitative analyses of unenhanced cranial computed tomography (CT) with deep learning reconstruction (DLR) compared with conventional methods. METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study included 116 participants (76 males; mean age, 66.7) who had hemoglobin (Hb) levels obtained within 24 hours of unenhanced cranial CT, which included 2 reconstruction methods: DLR and hybrid iterative reconstruction. Regions of interest were the confluence of sinuses (CoS) and the right and left transverse sinuses. In addition, edge rise distance of cerebrospinal fluid and venous was measured. RESULTS: Spearman rank correlation coefficient demonstrated a positive association between Hb levels and sinus attenuation values. Among these, the CoS in DLR had the best correlation ( r = 0.703, P < 0.001). For the prediction of anemia (Hb < 11 g/dL), the area under the curve of CoS in DLR (area under the curve = 0.874; 95% confidence interval, 0.798-0.949; P < 0.001) was the highest; however, there were no significant differences among reconstruction method and sinus. The attenuation values of DLR were significantly higher than those of hybrid iterative reconstruction ( P < 0.001, paired t test), and the differences between the 2 methods were 4.1 (standard deviation [SD], 1.6) for CoS, 5.2 (SD, 2.2) for right transverse sinuses, and 5.8 (SD, 2.4) for left transverse sinuses. The signal-to-noise ratio ( P < 0.001, paired t test) and edge rise distance ( P < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed rank test) of DLR was significantly higher. CONCLUSIONS: Higher CT attenuation values should be considered for predicting anemia based on brain DLR images.

CSF1R-Expressing Tumor-Associated Macrophages, Smoking and Survival in Lung Adenocarcinoma: Analyses Using Quantitative Phosphor-Integrated Dot Staining.

CSF1R-expressing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) induce a tumor-promoting microenvironment by regulating immunity. Evidence demonstrates that the expression and single nucleotide polymorphisms of CSF1R relate with survival and risk of lung cancer in never smokers. However, no previous studies have examined the association of CSF1R expression in TAMs with mortality or whether the prognostic association differs according to smoking status in lung adenocarcinoma. Quantitative phosphor-integrated dot staining was used to precisely assess CSF1R expression in TAMs. Using 195 consecutive cases of lung adenocarcinoma, we examined the association of CSF1R expression with mortality and whether the prognostic association differs according to smoking status. We observed high expression levels of CSF1R in TAMs in 65 of 195 (33%) cases of lung adenocarcinoma. High expression levels of CSF1R were associated with high lung cancer-specific mortality (log-rank p = 0.037; hazard ratio (HR) = 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-2.52, p = 0.043). This prognostic association differed according to smoking status (p for interaction = 0.049, between never-smoking and ever-smoking patients). The association between high expression levels of CSF1R and lung cancer-specific mortality was stronger in never-smoking patients (log-rank p = 0.0027; HR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.41-6.11, p = 0.0041) than in ever-smoking patients (log-rank p = 0.73; HR = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.59-2.00, p = 0.73). The findings suggest that CSF1R-expressing TAMs may exert stronger tumor-promoting immunity in never-smoking patients with lung adenocarcinoma and serve as a therapeutic target in precision immunotherapies.

Identification of a prostaglandin D2 metabolite as a neuritogenesis enhancer targeting the TRPV1 ion channel.

Mast cells play important roles in allergic inflammation by secreting various mediators. In the present study, based on the finding that the medium conditioned by activated RBL-2H3 mast cells enhanced the nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neuritogenesis of PC12 cells, we attempted to isolate an active compound from the mast cell conditioned culture medium. Our experiment identified 15-deoxy-Δ(12,14)-PGJ2 (15d-PGJ2), one of the PGD2 metabolites, as a potential enhancer of neuritogenesis. 15d-PGJ2 strongly enhanced the neuritogenesis elicited by a low-concentration of NGF that alone was insufficient to induce the neuronal differentiation. This 15d-PGJ2 effect was exerted in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, but independently of the NGF receptor TrkA. Importantly, 15d-PGJ2 activated the transient receptor potential vanilloid-type 1 (TRPV1), a non-selective cation channel, leading to the Ca(2+) influx. In addition, we observed that (i) NGF promoted the insertion of TRPV1 into the cell surface membrane and (ii) 15d-PGJ2 covalently bound to TRPV1. These findings suggest that the NGF/15d-PGJ2-induced neuritogenesis may be regulated by two sets of mechanisms, one for the translocation of TRPV1 into the cell surface by NGF and one for the activation of TRPV1 by 15d-PGJ2. Thus, there is most likely a link between allergic inflammation and activation of the neuronal differentiation.