Phase II study of fezolinetant for treatment of vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: The phase II STARLIGHT study was conducted to investigate the efficacy/safety of fezolinetant in Japanese women and identify the optimal dose for future evaluation. METHOD: Participants were perimenopausal/postmenopausal women aged ≥40 to ≤65 years from 36 centers in Japan seeking treatment/relief for vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause. After screening, participants were randomized 1:1:1, stratified by menopausal status, to receive fezolinetant 15 or 30 mg or placebo orally once daily for 12 weeks. Participants completed a daily VMS diary. The primary endpoint was mean change in frequency of VMS of any severity from baseline to week 8. Secondary endpoints included mean change in VMS frequency from baseline each week up to week 12 and frequency/severity of adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 147 participants were randomized (placebo, n = 47; fezolinetant 15 mg, n = 53; fezolinetant 30 mg, n = 47). Fezolinetant 15 and 30 mg demonstrated statistically significant reductions in mean VMS frequency at week 8 versus placebo. Least-squares mean estimates of mean change in frequency of VMS from baseline to week 8 were -7.04 for fezolinetant 15mg, -6.31 for fezolinetant 30mg, and -4.55 for placebo. The difference in least-squares mean estimates was -2.50 (95% CI: -4.03, -0.96), p = 0.002 for fezolinetant 15mg and placebo, and was -1.76 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.35, -0.17), p = 0.030 for fezolinetant 30mg and placebo. Reductions from baseline in mean VMS frequency versus placebo were seen after week 1 of treatment, maintained throughout 12 weeks. Fezolinetant was well tolerated, with no safety signals of concern for either dose to week 12. CONCLUSION: Oral fezolinetant at once-daily doses of 15 or 30 mg was efficacious and well tolerated for treatment of mild, moderate and severe VMS associated with menopause in this Japanese study.

Efficacy and safety of fezolinetant for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause among women in East Asia: a phase 3 randomized study (MOONLIGHT I).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of fezolinetant for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause in East Asian women. METHODS: In this phase 3, randomized, double-blind study, postmenopausal women with moderate to severe VMS (minimum average frequency in the 10 days before randomization, ≥7/day or 50/week) received fezolinetant 30 mg/day or placebo (weeks 1-12), followed by an open-label extension phase with fezolinetant 30 mg/day (weeks 13-24). The co-primary endpoints were the mean changes in the daily frequency and severity of VMS at weeks 4 and 12. RESULTS: Among 301 participants, the difference in the least squares mean change (95% confidence interval) from baseline in the daily frequency of moderate to severe VMS versus placebo was -0.65 (-1.41 to 0.12) at week 4 and -0.55 (-1.35 to 0.26) at week 12. The differences in the least squares mean change from baseline in the VMS severity score versus placebo were -0.06 (-0.14 to 0.03) and -0.13 (-0.27 to 0.01) at weeks 4 and 12, respectively. Serious adverse events occurred in 0.7% of participants receiving fezolinetant in weeks 1 to 12, compared with 1.3% of those receiving placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Fezolinetant was generally safe but did not reduce the frequency or severity of VMS versus placebo in postmenopausal women in this study.ClinicalTrials.Gov Identifier: NCT04234204.

Long-term safety of fezolinetant in Chinese women with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: the phase 3 open-label MOONLIGHT 3 clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess long-term safety and tolerability of fezolinetant, a nonhormonal neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist, among Chinese women with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause participating in the MOONLIGHT 3 trial. METHODS: In this phase 3 open-label study, women in menopause aged 40-65 years received fezolinetant 30 mg once daily for 52 weeks. The primary endpoint was frequency and severity of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), assessed at every visit through week 52 and one follow-up visit at week 55. RESULTS: Overall, 150 women were enrolled (mean age, 54 years) and 105 completed treatment. The frequency of TEAEs was 88.7%. Most TEAEs were mild (63.3%) or moderate (22.7%). The most common TEAE was upper respiratory tract infection (16.0%), followed by dizziness, headache, and protein urine present (10.7% each). There was no clinically relevant change (mean ± standard deviation) in endometrial thickness (baseline, 2.95 ± 1.11 mm; week 52, 2.94 ± 1.18 mm). Alanine aminotransferase and/or aspartate aminotransferase levels >3 times the upper limit of normal were reported in 1.4% of women; no Hy's Law cases occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Fezolinetant 30 mg once daily was generally safe and well tolerated over a 52-week period among women in China with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04451226.

Chitin- and Streptavidin-Mediated Affinity Purification Systems: A Screening Platform for Enzyme Discovery.

Affinity purification of recombinant proteins is an essential technique in biotechnology. However, current affinity purification methods are very cost-intensive, and this imposes limits on versatile use of affinity purification for obtaining purified proteins for a variety of applications. To overcome this problem, we developed a new affinity purification system which we call CSAP (chitin- and streptavidin-mediated affinity purification) for low-cost purification of Strep-tag II fusion proteins. The CSAP system is designed to utilize commercially available chitin powder as a chromatography matrix, thereby significantly improving the cost-efficiency of protein affinity purification. We investigated the CSAP system for protein screening in 96-well format as a demonstration. Through the screening of 96 types of purified hemoproteins, several proteins capable of the catalytic diastereodivergent synthesis of cyclopropanes were identified as candidates for an abiotic carbene transfer reaction.

Genetic Perturbation Alters Functional Substates in Alkaline Phosphatase.

Enzymes inherently exhibit molecule-to-molecule heterogeneity in their conformational and functional states, which is considered to be a key to the evolution of new functions. Single-molecule enzyme assays enable us to directly observe such multiple functional states or functional substates. Here, we quantitatively analyzed functional substates in the wild-type and 69 single-point mutants of Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase by employing a high-throughput single-molecule assay with a femtoliter reactor array device. Interestingly, many mutant enzymes exhibited significantly heterogeneous functional substates with various types, while the wild-type enzyme showed a highly homogeneous substate. We identified a correlation between the degree of functional substates and the level of improvement in promiscuous activities. Our work provides much comprehensive evidence that the functional substates can be easily altered by mutations, and the evolution toward a new catalytic activity may involve the modulation of the functional substates.

Complete Genome Sequences of Thermus Strains Isolated from Senami Hot Spring in Japan.

Extremely thermophilic strains belonging to the genus Thermus were isolated from Senami Hot Spring in Japan. Here, I report the complete genome sequences of five Thermus thermophilus strains and one Thermus brockianus strain, which were obtained by combining Oxford Nanopore long-read and DNBSEQ or Illumina short-read sequencing data.

Complete Genome Sequences of Four Parageobacillus Strains Isolated from Soil in Japan.

We isolated four Parageobacillus strains from soil in Japan and completely sequenced their genomes. Three of four strains showed ≥98.9% average nucleotide identity (ANI) to Parageobacillus caldoxylosilyticus S1812T, while one strain, designated KH3-4, showed the highest ANI (91%) to Parageobacillus thermantarcticus M1T, suggesting the species novelty of KH3-4.

Complete Genome Resequencing of Thermus thermophilus Strain TMY by Hybrid Assembly of Long- and Short-Read Sequencing Technologies.

Complete genome resequencing was conducted for Thermus thermophilus strain TMY by hybrid assembly of Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read and MGI short-read data. Errors in the previously reported genome sequence determined by PacBio technology alone were corrected, allowing for high-quality comparative genomic analysis of closely related T. thermophilus genomes.

Complete Genome Sequences of Four Halophilic Thermus thermophilus Strains Isolated from Arima Hot Spring in Japan.

We isolated four Thermus thermophilus strains from Arima Hot Spring in Japan. Complete genome sequencing revealed that they showed average nucleotide identities of ≥99.21% to each other and to strains previously isolated from the same spot, but of ≤97.86% to strains from geographically different spots in Japan, reflecting habitat-specific genomic conservation.

Complete Genome Sequences of Thermus thermophilus Strains HB5002 and HB5008, Isolated from Mine Hot Spring in Japan.

We isolated Thermus thermophilus strains HB5002 and HB5008 from Mine Hot Spring in Japan. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that they showed ∼100% average nucleotide identity to each other, ≥98.53% to the T. thermophilus strains originating from the same spot but ≤97.64% to the T. thermophilus strains from geographically different places in Japan.

Complete Genome Sequence of Thermus thermophilus Strain HB5018, Isolated from Mine Hot Spring in Japan.

We isolated Thermus thermophilus strain HB5018 from Mine Hot Spring in Japan, where the type strain HB8 was isolated nearly half a century ago. The complete genome sequence of HB5018 showed 99.1% average nucleotide identity with HB8, suggesting strict species conservation in the habitat over the past 50 years.

Complete Genome Sequence of Thiohalobacter sp. Strain COW1, Isolated from Activated Sludge Treating Coke Oven Wastewater.

A thiocyanate-degrading bacterium, Thiohalobacter sp. strain COW1, was isolated from activated sludge treating coke oven wastewater, and the complete genome sequence was determined. COW1 contained a single circular chromosome (3.23 Mb; G+C content, 63.4%) in which 2,788 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and 3 rRNA genes were identified.

Factors associated with high placebo response in clinical studies of hot flashes: a meta-analysis.

IMPORTANCE: High placebo response can often mask the evaluation of active treatment in clinical studies for women with hot flashes and potentially undermine the evaluation of new treatments. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the factors associated with high placebo response (defined as the reduction in the mean number of hot flash frequency from baseline) in randomized, controlled, double-blind studies enrolling women with hot flashes. EVIDENCE REVIEW: To identify eligible studies, Embase, MEDLINE, and BIOSIS Previews were searched for English-language articles published between April 1975 and August 2020. Placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized studies that assessed changes in hot flash frequency were included if they satisfied the defined criteria. We conducted univariate and multivariate analyses using categorical and numerical data. Categorical data included the following variables and levels in brackets: active treatment type (hormone therapy /non- hormone therapy /complementary and alternative medicine), administration route (oral/non-oral), study region (in/excluded the US), breast cancer population (in/excluded), entry criteria of hot flash severity (moderate to severe only/all included), parallel or crossover study, placebo run-in period before treatment (yes/no), and menopausal status (postmenopausal only/include perimenopausal/include premenopausal). Numerical data included published year, pretreatment period duration, treatment period duration, number of sites, number of total participants, number of placebo participants, number of treatment arms, mean age, BMI, and hot flash frequency at baseline. FINDINGS: Forty-three of the 802 identified publications were included in the review. Multivariate analysis identified three individual factors associated with high placebo response: treatment period duration, number of treatment arms, and BMI. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: We identified several factors associated with high placebo response in clinical studies of women with hot flashes. Knowing these factors may enable proactive implementation of operational and analytic strategies that further aid in determining the true treatment effect of an intervention.

Complete Genome Sequence of Vibrio rotiferianus Strain AM7.

We isolated the novel strain Vibrio rotiferianus AM7 from the shell of an abalone. In this article, we report the complete genome sequence of this organism, which was obtained by combining Oxford Nanopore long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing data.

Complete Genome Sequence of Geobacillus sp. Strain E55-1, Isolated from Mine Geyser in Japan.

We report here the complete genome sequence of Geobacillus sp. strain E55-1, isolated from the hot sediments of Mine Geyser in Japan. This strain exhibited ∼85% average nucleotide identity and ∼98.5% 16S rRNA sequence identity with the most closely related Geobacillus species.

Complete Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas otitidis Strain MrB4, Isolated from Lake Biwa in Japan.

We isolated Pseudomonas otitidis strain MrB4 from the near-shore area of Lake Biwa in Japan and generated its complete genome sequence. MrB4 possesses a single circular chromosome of 6,089,454 bp, with ∼97% average nucleotide identity to the P. otitidis type strain MCC10330 (draft genome).

Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus cereus Strain PL1, Isolated from Soil in Japan.

We isolated the soil bacterium strain PL1 and herein report its complete genome sequence. The strain presented 97% average nucleotide identity (ANI) to Bacillus cereus and 91% ANIs to other members of the B. cereus group, indicating that it is affiliated with B. cereus.

Complete Genome Sequences of Rhodothermus marinus Strains AA2-13 and AA3-38, Isolated from Arima Onsen Hot Spring in Japan.

We isolated Rhodothermus marinus strains AA2-13 and AA3-38 from Arima Onsen, a hot spring in Japan, and sequenced their genomes. The average nucleotide identity between their genomes was 99.2%, and that with the genome of R. marinus strain DSM 4252T (isolated from Iceland) was ∼95.2%, suggesting close relationships among these strains.

Complete Genome Sequence of Staphylococcus arlettae Strain P2, Isolated from a Laboratory Environment.

Staphylococcus arlettae is one coagulase-negative species in the bacterial genus Staphylococcus Here, we describe the closed complete genome sequence of S. arlettae strain P2, which was obtained using a hybrid approach combining Oxford Nanopore long-read and Illumina MiSeq short-read sequencing data.

Complete Genome Sequence of Alteromonas sp. Strain I4, Isolated from the Japan Sea.

A novel strain of Alteromonas, I4, was isolated from a shallow beach of the Japan Sea. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of I4; this strain contains a single circular chromosome (5,133,645 bp; G+C content, 48.4%) and a single circular putative plasmid (123,836 bp; G+C content, 45.1%).