A randomized, controlled trial of once-weekly teriparatide injection versus alendronate in patients at high risk of osteoporotic fracture: primary results of the Japanese Osteoporosis Intervention Trial-05.

In this randomized, controlled trial, treatment with once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide for 72 weeks was found to be associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures compared with alendronate in women with primary osteoporosis who were at high risk of fracture. INTRODUCTION: To determine whether the anti-fracture efficacy of teriparatide is superior to that of alendronate, a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial was performed. METHODS: Japanese women aged at least 75 years were eligible for the study if they had primary osteoporosis and were at high risk of fracture. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive sequential therapy (once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide 56.5 µg for 72 weeks followed by alendronate for 48 weeks) or monotherapy with alendronate for 120 weeks. The primary endpoint was the incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures at 72 weeks (at the end of teriparatide treatment). RESULTS: Between October 2014 and December 2017, 1011 patients (505 in the teriparatide group and 506 in the alendronate group) were enrolled. Of these, 778 patients (351 and 427, respectively) were included in the primary analysis. The incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures was significantly lower in the teriparatide group (56 per 419.9 person-years, annual incidence rate 0.1334) than in the alendronate group (96 per 553.6 person-years, annual incidence rate 0.1734), with a rate ratio of 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.61 to 0.99, P = 0.04). In both groups, adverse events were most frequently reported in the following system organ classes: infections and infestations, gastrointestinal disorders, and musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders. CONCLUSION: Once-weekly subcutaneous injection of teriparatide significantly reduced the incidence of morphometric vertebral fractures compared with alendronate in women with primary osteoporosis who were at high risk of fracture. TRIAL REGISTRATION: jRCTs031180235 and UMIN000015573, March 12, 2019.

Study of twice-weekly injections of Teriparatide by comparing efficacy with once-weekly injections in osteoporosis patients: the TWICE study.

A 48-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, non-inferiority trial (the TWICE study) conducted in Japanese primary osteoporosis patients with a high risk of fractures demonstrated that a 28.2-µg twice-weekly regimen of teriparatide can provide comparable efficacy to a 56.5-µg once-weekly regimen of teriparatide, while also improving safety. INTRODUCTION: While a 56.5-µg once-weekly regimen of teriparatide has high efficacy for osteoporosis, treatment continuation rates are low, with one of the major causes being adverse drug reactions such as nausea or vomiting. The TWICE study was therefore conducted to investigate whether a twice-weekly regimen with 28.2-µg teriparatide can provide comparable efficacy to the 56.5-µg once-weekly regimen while improving safety. METHODS: A 48-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, non-inferiority trial was conducted in Japan. Patients with primary osteoporosis aged ≥ 65 years at high risk of fractures (n = 553) were randomly allocated to the 28.2-µg twice-weekly group (n = 277) or the 56.5-µg once-weekly group (n = 276). The primary endpoint was the percentage change in lumbar spine (L2-L4) bone mineral density (BMD) at final follow-up. RESULTS: The percentage changes in lumbar spine (L2-L4) BMD at final follow-up in the 28.2-µg twice-weekly and 56.5-µg once-weekly groups were 7.3% and 5.9%, respectively; the difference (95% confidence interval [CI]) in percentage change was 1.3% (0.400-2.283%). Since the lower limit of the 95% CI was above the pre-specified non-inferiority margin (- 1.6%), non-inferiority of the 28.2-µg twice-weekly group was demonstrated. Adverse drug reactions were significantly less frequent in the 28.2-µg twice-weekly group (39.7% vs 56.2%; p < 0.01); the incidence of major adverse drug reactions was lower, and the number of subjects who discontinued due to adverse drug reactions was less in the 28.2-µg twice-weekly group. CONCLUSIONS: A 28.2-µg twice-weekly regimen of teriparatide can provide comparable efficacy to a 56.5-µg once-weekly regimen while improving safety. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: JapicCTI-163477 .

Efficacy and safety of once-yearly zoledronic acid in Japanese patients with primary osteoporosis: two-year results from a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study (ZOledroNate treatment in Efficacy to osteoporosis; ZONE study).

In a 2-year randomized, placebo-controlled study of 665 Japanese patients with primary osteoporosis, once-yearly administration of zoledronic acid (5 mg) reduced the risk of new morphometric vertebral fractures. INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of once-yearly intravenous infusion of ZOL in Japanese patients with primary osteoporosis. METHODS: This was a two-year multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group comparative study (ZONE Study). Subjects were 665 Japanese patients between the ages of 65 and 89 years who had prevalent vertebral fracture. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive once-yearly intravenous infusion of 5 mg of ZOL or placebo at baseline and 12 months. RESULTS: The 2-year incidence of new morphometric vertebral fracture was 3.0 % (10/330 subjects) in the ZOL group and 8.9 % (29/327) in the placebo group (p = 0.0016). The 24-month cumulative incidence of new morphometric vertebral fracture was 3.3 % in the ZOL group versus 9.7 % in the placebo group (log-rank test: p = 0.0029; hazard ratio: 0.35; 95 % confidence interval: 0.17-0.72). The cumulative incidence of any clinical fracture, clinical vertebral fracture, and non-vertebral fracture was significantly reduced in the ZOL group by 54, 70, and 45 %, respectively, compared to the placebo group. At 24 months, ZOL administration increased bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip (t test: p < 0.0001). No new adverse events or osteonecrosis of the jaw were observed in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Once-yearly administration of ZOL 5 mg to Japanese patients with primary osteoporosis reduced the risk of new morphometric vertebral fractures and was found to be safe.

Three-year denosumab treatment in postmenopausal Japanese women and men with osteoporosis: results from a 1-year open-label extension of the Denosumab Fracture Intervention Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial (DIRECT).

SUMMARY: A 12-month extension phase of DIRECT in Japanese subjects with osteoporosis showed that total 3 years of denosumab treatment in Japanese postmenopausal women and men with osteoporosis was associated with low fracture rates, persistent bone turnover marker (BTM) reductions, continuous bone mineral density (BMD) increases, and a favorable overall benefit/risk profile. INTRODUCTION: The DIRECT trial demonstrated that 2 years of treatment with denosumab 60 mg subcutaneously every 6 months significantly reduced the incidence of vertebral fracture compared to placebo in Japanese postmenopausal women and men with osteoporosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of denosumab treatment for up to 3 years. METHODS: This study includes a 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase and a 1-year open-label extension phase in which all subjects received denosumab. The data correspond to 3 years of denosumab treatment in subjects who received denosumab (long-term group) and 1 year of denosumab treatment in subjects who received placebo (cross-over group) in the double-blind phase. RESULTS: Eight hundred and ten subjects who completed the double-blind phase enrolled into the extension phase, and 775 subjects completed the study. All subjects received denosumab with daily supplements of calcium and vitamin D. The cumulative 36-month incidences of new or worsening vertebral fractures and new vertebral fractures were 3.8 and 2.5 %, respectively, in the long-term group. In this group, the BMD continued to increase, and the reduction in BTMs was maintained. In the cross-over group, comparable BMD increases and BTMs reductions to those of in their first year of the long-term group were confirmed. Adverse events did not show a notable increase with long-term denosumab administration. One event of osteonecrosis of the jaw occurred in the cross-over group. CONCLUSIONS: Three-year denosumab treatment in Japanese subjects with osteoporosis showed a favorable benefit/risk profile.

The effects of once-weekly teriparatide on hip structure and biomechanical properties assessed by CT.

SUMMARY: Once-weekly administration of 56.5 µg teriparatide improved cortical bone parameters and biomechanical parameters at the proximal femur by CT geometry analysis. INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of weekly administration of teriparatide [human PTH (1-34)] on bone geometry, volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), and parameters of bone strength at the proximal femur which were longitudinally investigated using computed tomography (CT). METHODS: The subjects were a subgroup of a recent, randomly assigned, double-blind study (578 subjects) comparing the anti-fracture efficacy of a once-weekly subcutaneous injection of 56.5 µg teriparatide with placebo (TOWER trial). RESULTS: Sixty-six ambulatory postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were enrolled at 15 study sites having multi-detector row CT, and included women injected with teriparatide (n = 29, 74.2 ± 5.1 years) or with placebo (n = 37, 74.8 ± 5.3 years). CT data were obtained at baseline and follow-up scans were performed at 48 and 72 weeks. The data were analyzed to obtain cross-sectional densitometric, geometric, and biomechanical parameters including the section modulus (SM) and buckling ratio (BR) of the femoral neck, inter-trochanter, and femoral shaft. We found that once-weekly teriparatide increased cortical thickness/cross-sectional area (CSA) and total area, and improved biomechanical properties (i.e., decreasing BR) at the femoral neck and shaft. Teriparatide did not change the cortical perimeter. CONCLUSIONS: Our longitudinal analysis of proximal femur geometry by CT revealed that once-weekly administration of 56.5 µg teriparatide improved cortical bone parameters at the femoral neck and shaft and also improved biomechanical parameters.

Efficacy and safety of monthly oral minodronate in patients with involutional osteoporosis.

UNLABELLED: Monthly minodronate at 30 or 50 mg had similar efficacy as 1 mg daily in terms of change in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover markers with similar safety profiles. This new regimen provides patients with a new option for taking minodronate. INTRODUCTION: Minodronate at a daily oral dose of 1 mg has been proven to have antivertebral fracture efficacy. In the present study, the efficacy and safety of oral minodronate at monthly doses of either 30 mg or 50 mg were compared with a daily dose of 1 mg. METHODS: A total of 692 patients with involutional osteoporosis were randomized to receive minodronate at either 30 or 50 mg monthly or a daily dose of 1 mg. The primary endpoint was the percent change from baseline in lumbar spine (LS) BMD at 12 months. Total hip BMD, bone turnover markers, serum calcium (Ca), and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were also evaluated. RESULTS: Minodronate at monthly doses of 30 or 50 mg were noninferior to the 1 mg daily dose in terms of change in LS-BMD. Changes in total hip BMD were also comparable. Although a transient decrease in serum Ca and increase in PTH levels were observed in all three groups at slightly different magnitudes and time courses, changes in bone turnover markers were comparable among the different dosage groups with a similar time course. Safety profiles were also comparable. CONCLUSION: Minodronate at monthly doses of 30 or 50 mg has similar efficacy to the daily 1 mg dose in terms of BMD and bone turnover markers with similar tolerability.

A versatile nonviral vector system for tetracycline-dependent one-step conditional induction of transgene expression.

In this study, we describe a novel self-contained, nonviral vector system for the rapid development of tetracycline (Tet)-inducible transgene expression systems in mammalian cell lines. To avoid multiple rounds of clonal selection for the establishment of stably transfected cell clones, as is necessary with conventional systems, we constructed a multicomplementary DNA(cDNA) expression vector that enables both one-step targeted genomic integration and conditional induction of transgene expression. This vector system consists of several modules including a Tet-inducible promoter directing the expression of a transgene and two Tet repressor expression units placed in tandem on a single vector. The cell clones, generated using a one-step phiC31 integrase-mediated chromosomal integration of the multi-cDNA expression construct, showed a stable and robust expression with high induction rates upon addition of doxycycline inducer in five different cell lines tested. By using this system, we show c-Src-induced cell transformation and anticancer cell therapy for this transformation in cultured fibroblast cells. The results show a rapid production and accumulation of target protein on addition of the inducer starting from extremely low background levels and reduction to background levels in a matter of days after the inducer was withdrawn from the culture medium.

Fish consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence from laboratory and animal studies suggests that high fish consumption may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, but the results of studies in humans have been inconsistent. The objective of this study was to prospectively examine the association between fish consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer incidence in Japan, where fish is widely consumed. METHODS: We analysed data from 39 498 men and women registered in the Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort Study who were 40-79 years old and free of cancer at the baseline. Fish consumption was assessed at the baseline using a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: During 9 years of follow-up, we identified 566 incident cases of colorectal cancer (379 men and 187 women). The hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for colorectal cancer incidence in the highest quartile of fish consumption compared with the lowest quartile were 1.07 (95% CIs; 0.78-1.46, P-trend=0.43) for men, and 0.96 (95% CIs; 0.61-1.53, P-trend=0.69) for women. CONCLUSION: The results of this prospective cohort study revealed no association between fish consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and psychological intervention for workers with mild to moderate depression: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: This study assessed whether a combined intervention of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and psychoeducation better improved mild to moderate depression in workers compared to psychoeducation alone. METHODS: This study was a double-blinded, parallel group, randomized controlled trial that compared the intervention group, receiving omega-3 fatty acids, with a control group, receiving a placebo supplement. Participants receiving omega-3 fatty acids took 15 × 300 mg capsules per day for 12 weeks. The total daily dose of omega-3 PUFAs was 500 mg docosahexaenoic acid and 1000 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The Beck Depression Inventory®-II (BDI-II) was used to assess the severity of depression after treatment. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of treatment, BDI-II scores were significantly lower in the placebo and omega-3 group, when compared to their respective baseline scores (Placebo: t = - 4.6, p < 0.01; Omega-3: t = - 7.3, p < 0.01). However, after 12 weeks of treatment, we found no significant difference between both groups with respect to changes in the BDI-II scores (0.7; 95% CI, - 0.7 to 2.1; p = 0.30). LIMITATIONS: This study did not measure blood omega-3 fatty acid concentration and presented a high-dropout rate. Moreover, our results may not be generalizable to other regions. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that a combination of omega-3 fatty acids and psychoeducation and psychoeducation alone can contribute to an improvement in symptoms in people with mild to moderate depression. However, there is no difference between the interventions in ameliorating symptoms of depression.

Green tea consumption and lung cancer risk: the Ohsaki study.

We examined the risk of lung cancer in relation to green tea consumption in a population-based cohort study in Japan among 41,440 men and women, aged 40-79 years, who completed a questionnaire in 1994 regarding green tea consumption and other health-related lifestyle factors. During the follow-up period of 7 years (from 1995 to 2001), 302 cases of lung cancer were identified, and the Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The multivariable-adjusted HRs of lung cancer incidence for green tea consumption of 1 or 2, 3 or 4, and 5 or more cups/day as compared to less than 1 cup/day were 1.14 (95% CI: 0.80-1.62), 1.18 (95% CI: 0.83-1.66), and 1.17 (95% CI: 0.85-1.61), respectively (P for trend=0.48). This cohort study has found no evidence that green tea consumption is associated with lung cancer.

Sleep duration and the risk of prostate cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study.

In a prospective study of prostate cancer incidence (127 cases), among 22 320 Japanese men, sleep duration was associated with lower risk; the multivariate hazard ratio of men who slept >or=9 h per day compared with those who slept less was 0.48 (95% confidence interval: 0.29-0.79, P for trend=0.02).

Sleep duration and the risk of breast cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study.

In a prospective study of 23 995 Japanese women, short sleep duration was associated with higher risk of breast cancer (143 cases), compared with women who slept 7 h per day, the multivariate hazard ratio of those who slept

Jump exercise during remobilization restores integrity of the trabecular architecture after tail suspension in young rats.

Three-dimensional trabecular architecture was investigated in the femora of tail-suspended young growing rats, and the effects of jump exercise during remobilization were examined. Five-week-old male Wistar rats (n = 35) were randomly assigned to five body weight-matched groups: tail-suspended group (SUS; n = 7); sedentary control group for SUS (S(CON); n = 7); spontaneous recovery group after tail suspension (S+R(CON), n = 7); jump exercise group after tail suspension (S+R(JUM); n = 7); and age-matched control group for S+R(CON) and S+R(JUM) without tail suspension and exercise (S(CON)+R(CON); n = 7). Rats in SUS and S(CON) were killed immediately after tail suspension for 14 days. The jump exercise protocol consisted of 10 jumps/day, 5 days/wk, and jump height was 40 cm. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur and three-dimensional trabecular bone architecture at the distal femoral metaphysis were measured. Tail suspension induced a 13.6% decrease in total femoral BMD (P < 0.001) and marked deterioration of trabecular architecture. After 5 wk of free remobilization, femoral BMD, calf muscle weight, and body weight returned to age-matched control levels, but trabeculae remained thinner and less connected. On the other hand, S+R(JUM) rats showed significant increases in trabecular thickness, number, and connectivity compared with S+R(CON) rats (62.8, 31.6, and 24.7%, respectively; P < 0.05), and these parameters of trabecular architecture returned to the levels of S(CON)+R(CON). These results indicate that suspension-induced trabecular deterioration persists after remobilization, but jump exercise during remobilization can restore the integrity of trabecular architecture and bone mass in the femur in young growing rats.

Helical polyacetylene-a conductive material for self-contained molecular electronic device use.

We describe mono-substituted helical poly(phenyl)acetylene, a structural variation of polyacetylene that may overcome its problem: the lack of chemical stability. Helical polyacetylene shows an intrinsic stiff rod structure, which can be enhanced by the choice of suitable side groups. The structure looks like a narrow spiral with a conjugated electron system, covered by attached side groups spiralling in the opposite sense. We consider this unique material as a prototype for molecular electronic device use. It provides the electronic function, mechanical packaging and electrical insulation through a variety of side groups and exhibits useful self-assembly properties. We provide evidence that such materials, in many variations, show the expected overall structure, can be synthesized through living polymerization (which is necessary for the fabrication of monomers by monomer controlled structures), do show enhanced chemical stability, are amenable to self-assembly, may be deposited in an oriented fashion and do show electrical conductivity.

Calreticulin as a new histone binding protein in mitotic chromosomes.

Calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional Ca(2+)-binding protein that mainly functions in the endoplasmic reticulum as a molecular chaperone for newly synthesized proteins. Recently we reported the protein composition of human metaphase chromosomes (Uchiyama et al., 2004), which included CRT. Here we describe new characteristics of CRT in vitro as well as its localization on the surface of metaphase chromosomes in vivo. CRT was detected in the chromosomal fraction by Western blotting and its binding partners were identified as core and linker histones by ligand overlay assay. Surface plasmon resonance sensor analyses revealed that CRT is bound to chromatin fibers. Moreover, we found that CRT has both supercoiling activity, which assists core histone assembly into chromatin fibers, and binding ability to histone H2A/H2B dimers and histone H3/H4 tetramers. Unlike the chromosome scaffold proteins, indirect immunofluorescent staining revealed that CRT is located on the surface of metaphase chromosomes. These results suggest that CRT plays a role which involves chromatin dynamics on the surface of mitotic chromosomes.

Production of interleukin 1 beta, a potent bone resorbing cytokine, by cultured human myeloma cells.

Supernatants of freshly isolated human myeloma cell cultures were examined both for bone-resorbing activity (BRA) in vitro using newborn mouse calvaria, and for identification of the causal substances of the BRA. Eight of 14 culture supernatants of myeloma cells had BRA. All of these BRA-positive supernatants were from patients with marked destructive bone lesions of multiple myeloma. The presence of interleukin 1 (IL-1), especially IL-1 beta, was demonstrated in seven of these BRA-positive supernatants but not in BRA-negative supernatants. The concentrations of IL-1 beta were high enough to induce bone resorption in the newborn mouse calvaria assay and the BRA was totally abolished by pretreatment of the supernatants with anti-IL-1 beta antibody but not with either anti-IL-1 alpha antibody or normal serum. Other bone resorbing cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor or lymphotoxin were not present in high enough concentrations to stimulate bone resorption and their levels did not correlate with the BRA. IL-1 beta mRNA was also identified in BRA-positive myeloma cells. These results demonstrate that IL-1 beta is the principal agent of BRA present in supernatants of myeloma cell cultures, and also identify a possible role of IL-1 beta in destructive bone lesions in patients with multiple myeloma.

Cloning and sequence analysis of a hamster liver cDNA encoding a novel putative carboxylesterase.

A full-length cDNA encoding for a putative carboxylesterase was isolated from a hamster liver cDNA library. The cDNA consisting of 1911 base pairs contained an open reading frame of 1683 base pairs encoding for a polypeptide of 561 amino-acid residues, including 27 N-terminal amino-acid residues for signal peptide. The deduced amino-acid sequence of the cDNA is in 67% homology with the amino-acid sequence of rabbit form 2 carboxylesterase, which has not yet been cloned. It also had many structural features highly conserved among carboxylesterase isozymes.

Maleylated human serum albumin inhibits HIV-1 infection in vitro.

Maleylated-human serum albumin (Mal-HSA) inhibited human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection of MT-4 cells in vitro. It was also found to inhibit the fusion between uninfected CD4+ cells (Molt-4 clone 8 cells) and HIV-1 infected cells (Molt-4/HIV-1) to form syncytia. To investigate the mechanism of the inhibition, a study was designed to determine whether Mal-HSA could bind to CD4+ cells. Mal-HSA could bind to both MT-4 cells and Molt-4 clone 8 cells with high affinity, Kd = 2.0 nM and Kd = 5.8 nM, respectively. However, Mal-HSA could neither inhibit anti CD4 antibody Leu 3a binding to Molt-4 clone 8 cells nor modulate the expression of CD4 molecules on the surface of the cells. Mal-HSA binding to Molt-4 clone 8 cells was completely inhibited by sulfated polysaccharides bearing anti-HIV activity, such as dextran sulfate, fucoidan and carrageenan. Other HIV-1 susceptible human T-cell lines, such as Molt-4, CEM-5, H-9 and HuT-78 cells, also have Mal-HSA binding sites showing a high affinity, Kd = 0.9 +/- 0.4 nM. Mal-HSA binding proteins of Molt-4 clone 8 cells were identified by ligand blotting as 155 and 220 kDa proteins. Unlike dextran sulfate, Mal-HSA could not inhibit reverse transcriptase activity of HIV-1. These results indicate that Mal-HSA inhibits HIV-1 infection and syncytia formation, and suggest that 155 and/or 220 kDa proteins of target cells are involved in HIV-1 adsorption and/or the membrane fusion between HIV-1 and target cells.

Angiographic no-reflow phenomenon as a predictor of adverse long-term outcome in patients treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty for first acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to elucidate the long-term prognostic importance of angiographic no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND: Angiographic no-reflow phenomenon, a reduced coronary antegrade flow (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] flow grade < or =2) without mechanical obstruction after recanalization, predicts poor left ventricular (LV) functional recovery and survival in the early phase of AMI. We hypothesized that angiographic no-reflow phenomenon also predicts long-term clinical outcome. METHODS: We studied 120 consecutive patients with their first AMI treated by PTCA without flow-restricting lesions. The patients were classified as either no-reflow (n = 30) or reflow (TIMI-3) (n = 90) based on post-PTCA cineangiograms to follow up (5.8 +/- 1.2 years) for cardiac death and nonfatal events. RESULTS: Patients with no-reflow had congestive heart failure (p < 0.0001), malignant arrhythmia (p = 0.038), and cardiac death (p = 0.002) more often than did those with reflow. Kaplan-Meier curves showed lower cardiac survival and cardiac event-free survival (p < 0.0001) in patients with no-reflow than in those with reflow. Multivariate analyses disclosed that no-reflow phenomenon was an independent predictor of long-term cardiac death (relative risk [RR] 5.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.85 to 14.9, p = 0.002) and cardiac events (RR 3.71, 95% CI 1.79 to 7.69, p = 0.0004). At follow-up, survivors with no-reflow had higher end-diastolic and end-systolic LV volume indices and plasma brain natriuretic peptide levels, and lower LV ejection fractions (p = 0.0002, p < 0.0001, p = 0.002, p < 0.0001, respectively) than did those with reflow, indicating that no-reflow may be involved in LV remodeling. CONCLUSIONS: Angiographic no-reflow phenomenon strongly predicts long-term cardiac complications after AMI; these complications are possibly associated with LV remodeling.