Newly found leaf arrangement to reduce self-shading within a crown in Japanese monoaxial tree species.

A newly found leaf arrangement to reduce self-shading was observed in a Japanese warm-temperate forest. For monoaxial trees that deploy leaves directly on a single stem, leaf arrangements involving progressive elongation of the petiole and progressive increase in deflection angle (the angle between stem and petiole) from the uppermost to the lowermost leaves act to reduce self-shading. However, the progressive reduction in petiole length and deflection angle from the uppermost to the lowermost leaves should also result in the reduction of self-shading. Nevertheless, the latter leaf arrangement has not been reported previously for any tree species. Four Araliaceae species, namely, Gamblea innovans, Chengiopanax sciadophylloides, Dendropanax trifidus and Fatsia japonica, which are typical monoaxial tree species in Japan, were studied. We examined the crown structure of saplings growing in the light-limited understorey in a Japanese warm-temperate forest. Two evergreen species, Dendropanax trifidus and F. japonica showed progressive petiole elongation and progressive increase in the deflection angle from the uppermost to the lowermost leaves. In contrast, saplings of deciduous species, G. innovans and C. sciadophylloides had a leaf arrangement involving progressive reduction in petiole length and deflection angle from the uppermost to the lowermost leaves. The leaf arrangement has diversified among members of the same family, but all four studied species develop a crown with little self-shading that is adapted for growth in the light-limited understorey. Although trees are likely to be under the same selective pressure to reduce self-shading, this study revealed that there is flexibility in its morphological realisation, which has been poorly appreciated previously.

[Second-line therapy with mycophenolate mofetil in patients with autoimmune hepatitis who were intolerant or failed to respond to standard treatment].

Although standard treatment for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) comprises prednisolone (PSL) and azathioprine (AZA), some patients are intolerant to or do not respond to PSL and/or AZA. The clinical practice guidelines of AIH in Europe and North America recommend mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) as second-line treatment in these patients. We administered MMF as second-line therapy to 7 patients with AIH (male/female 1/6, age range 27-79 years) who were intolerant to or failed to respond to standard treatment. At the commencement of MMF, the median ALT value was 84U/L (28-254U/L), and the PSL dose was 15.0mg/day (0-45mg/day). In terms of adverse effects of PSL, diabetes mellitus was observed in 4 patients (insulin injection in 2) and femoral head necrolysis in 2. Adverse effects of AZA were present in 2, and 5 patients were not treated with AZA. At 24 weeks of MMF treatment, the median ALT and daily PSL dose were decreased to 16U/L (6-41U/L) and 7.0mg, respectively. Blood sugar control improved, and insulin injection was discontinued in both the patients. While intractable diarrhea developed in 1 patient with cirrhosis, no adverse effect was observed in other 6 patients. In conclusion, MMF appeared effective and safe in at least non-cirrhotic patients with AIH who were intolerant or failed to respond to standard treatment with PSL and AZA in Japanese clinical practice.

Extensive gastric mucosal atrophy is a possible predictor of clinical effectiveness of acotiamide in patients with functional dyspepsia
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BACKGROUND: Acotiamide is known as an effective agent for functional dyspepsia. However, clinical factors related to its effectiveness have not been fully elucidated, so it is difficult to predict the drug's effectiveness prior to its administration in patients. AIMS: The present retrospective study was conducted to examine the relationship between clinical factors and the effectiveness of acotiamide for functional dyspepsia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study subjects were 149 patients with functional dyspepsia who were prescribed acotiamide. Based on medical records and clinical factors, including endoscopic findings, the effectiveness of acotiamide was investigated. RESULTS: Significant clinical factors associated with acotiamide's effectiveness were identified. These included postprandial syndrome, concomitant mental disorder, and extensive gastric mucosal atrophy. On multiple regression analysis, extensive gastric mucosal atrophy showed the strongest relationship with the clinical effectiveness of acotiamide; the other significant factor was concomitant mental disorder. CONCLUSION: Although the pathophysiology of the relationship between mucosal atrophy and acotiamide remains uncertain, a decrease in hormonal secretion, such as that of ghrelin, may be a possible mechanism.
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Does monocarpic Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis regenerate after flowering in Japan? Insights from 3 years of observation after flowering.

Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis, a monocarpic bamboo with a 120-year flowering interval, is next predicted to flower in Japan in the 2020s. Because a huge area of the country is presently covered by stands of this species, post-flowering dieback of these stands and ensuing drastic changes in land cover may cause serious social and/or environmental problems. No study on the regeneration of this bamboo species was conducted during the last flowering event in the 1900s, and the regeneration process of this species is thus still unknown. In 2020, we encountered a localized flowering of P. nigra var. henonis in Japan and used this discovery as a rare opportunity to study the initial regeneration process of the species. Over 3 years, more than 80% of culms in the study site bloomed, but no seed was produced. In addition, no established seedlings were located. These facts strongly suggest that P. nigra var. henonis lacks the ability to produce seeds and cannot undergo sexual regeneration. Some bamboo culms were produced after flowering but died within 1 year of emergence. Small, weak culms (dwarf ramets) also appeared after flowering, but most died within 1 year as well. Three years after flowering, all culms had died, with no sign of regeneration detected. According to our 3 years of observation, this bamboo appears to be hard to regenerate-an idea completely contradicted by the fact that this species has long persisted in Japan. We thus considered other possible regeneration modes for P. nigra var. henonis.

Clinical Factors Associated with Severity of Colonic Diverticular Bleeding and Impact of Bleeding Site.

Factors associated with serious colonic diverticular bleeding (CDB) are unclear, although the incidence of CDB has increased. We carried out this study to clarify factors associated with serious CDB and rebleeding. Subjects included 329 consecutive patients hospitalized for confirmed or suspected CDB between 2004 and 2021. Patients were surveyed regarding backgrounds, treatment, and clinical course. Of 152 with confirmed CDB, 112 showed bleeding from the right colon, and 40 did from the left colon. Patients received red blood cell transfusions in 157 (47.7%), interventional radiology in 13 (4.0%), and surgery in 6 (1.8%) cases. Early rebleeding within one month occurred in 75 (22.8%) patients, and late rebleeding within one year occurred in 62 (18.8%). Factors associated with red blood cell transfusion included confirmed CDB, anticoagulants, and high shock index. The only factor related to interventional radiology or surgery was confirmed CDB, which was also associated with early rebleeding. Late rebleeding was associated with hypertension, chronic kidney disease and past CDB. Right CDB showed higher rates of transfusion and invasive treatment than left CDB. Confirmed CDB had high frequencies of transfusion, invasive treatment, and early rebleeding. Right CDB seemed to be a risk for serious disease. Factors related to late rebleeding were different from those related to early rebleeding of CDB.

Risk Factors for Elevated D-Dimer Levels in Patients with Gastrointestinal Tumors Treated with Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is almost always performed with a sedative because of the longer procedure times involved. The risk of post-ESD deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has been reported as relatively high, and D-dimer levels are sometimes elevated after ESD. This retrospective study evaluated factors affecting changes in D-dimer levels from before to after ESD to identify causes of elevated D-dimer levels after ESD. This retrospective analysis included 117 patients with gastrointestinal tumors resected using ESD. After excluding eight patients with pre-ESD levels of D-dimer >1.5 µg/mL, factors correlating with changes in D-dimer from before to after ESD were analyzed using logistic regression analysis in 109 patients. Sedation was accomplished primarily using midazolam, but, because the sedative effect of midazolam shows marked inter-individual variability, a "corrected midazolam dose" was determined by dividing the total midazolam dose by the initial dose to correct for inter-individual differences in the sedative effect of midazolam. This value was used as one potential explanatory variable in the subgroup analysis of the 103 patients who received midazolam. In the subgroup analysis using the corrected midazolam dose as an explanatory variable, only the corrected midazolam dose correlated with a change in D-dimer ≥1.0 µg/mL in multivariate analysis (odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43-0.95; p = 0.030). The corrected midazolam dose correlated with increases in post-ESD D-dimer levels. This potential relationship indicates that patients undergoing ESD and requiring extended sedation may be at increased risk of DVT.

Gastrointestinal Bleeding During Direct Oral Anticoagulant Therapy in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation and Risk of Polypharmacy.

Although concomitant medications have been raised as a factor affecting hemorrhage during direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy, details remain unelucidated. This study was conducted to clarify the relationship between concomitant medications with possible pharmacokinetic interactions and number of concomitant medications, and bleeding and embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation on DOACs. The subjects were 1010 patients prescribed DOACs from a single-center at the Teikyo University Hospital between April 2011 and June 2018. This study was an exploratory analysis and investigated their course between the first prescription and December 2018, including the presence or absence of clinically relevant bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Impacts of medications were evaluated by the general linear model with inverse probability-weighted propensity score. The observation period was 2272 patient-years. The rate of bleeding was 4.7%/year, gastrointestinal bleeding was 2.8%/year, and major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events were 2.0%/year. Taking 10 or more oral medications concurrently was a significant risk for gastrointestinal bleeding (hazard ratio, 2.046 [95%CI, 1.188-3.526]; P = .010). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the only significant risk for gastrointestinal bleeding. Clinicians should be aware of gastrointestinal bleeding when using DOACs with patients taking more than 10 medications and/or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Adsorptive Granulocyte and Monocyte Apheresis Is Effective in Ulcerative Colitis Patients Both with and without Concomitant Prednisolone.

BACKGROUND: The number of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients is increasing in Japan and other countries. Selective depletion of myeloid lineage leucocytes by adsorptive granulocyte and monocyte apheresis (GMA) with an Adacolumn (JIMRO, Takasaki, Japan) was introduced as a nonpharmacologic treatment strategy in UC patients in 2000. GMA has been reported to be effective in clinical trials; however, the effect of concomitant prednisolone (PSL) on GMA needs to be clarified. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with active UC were treated with GMA at our institute between June 2009 and September 2018. All patients received GMA therapy once or twice a week with the Adacolumn. Conventional medication was to be continued during the whole GMA treatment course. The clinical response was retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: According to the partial Mayo score, remission was 33.3%, significant efficacy 25.6%, effective 25.6%, and no response 15.4%. The average partial Mayo score was 6.2 ± 1.4 at entry and significantly declined to 1.8 ± 1.8 after GMA sessions (p < 0.0001). The average number of bowel movements was 9.5 ± 5.6 at entry and significantly declined to 3.0 ± 2.8 after GMA sessions (p < 0.0001). In a comparison between the group treated with concomitant PSL and the group without PSL, the change in partial Mayo score or the number of bowel movements from entry to after GMA sessions was not significantly different. Among 24 patients treated by GMA with concomitant PSL, 75% (18/24) became steroid free. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of GMA with concomitant PSL and that of GMA without PSL were not different, and GMA was effective irrespective of PSL administration. The present study showed that GMA had efficacy and led many UC patients treated by PSL to be steroid free with no safety concern in the real world, although there is the possibility of recruitment bias due to the retrospective nature of the study.

Difference between the Upper and the Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Patients Taking Nonvitamin K Oral Anticoagulants.

Nonvitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) sometimes cause hemorrhage, and the gastrointestinal tract is a common site of involvement. However, clinical characteristics of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) during NOAC therapy have not been fully elucidated. We studied 658 patients who were prescribed dabigatran, rivaroxaban, or apixaban between April 2011 and November 2015. Medical charts were reviewed to examine whether clinically relevant bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria type 2 or greater) developed. The incidence of GIB was 2.0%/year, and one-third was from the upper GI. Among all hemorrhagic events, GIB was the most common cause. The extent of bleeding from the GI tract, particularly the upper GI tract, was more serious than bleeding from the other site. Multiple regression analysis showed that both past digestive ulcer and absence of concomitant proton pump inhibitors were significantly associated with the incidence of upper GIB, while concomitant nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, dual antiplatelets, and past GIB were significant factors regarding lower GIB. GIB was common and serious in patients taking NOACs. Upper GIB tended to become more serious than lower GIB. Proton pump inhibitors seem to be key drugs for preventing upper GIB during NOAC therapy.

Possible Effect of Concomitant Prokinetics and Herbal Medicines against Nausea in Patients Taking Lubiprostone.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Lubiprostone is a novel laxative that sometimes causes nausea, but preventive strategies remain unconfirmed. METHODS: We retrospectively chose 126 patients prescribed lubiprostone from 2013 to 2016. Medical records were reviewed to clarify whether nausea developed after administration of the drug. Background characteristics, including concomitant medicines, were also reviewed. RESULTS: The most common adverse symptom was diarrhea (23.8%). Nausea occurred in 16 patients (12.7%). Patients taking either prokinetics or herbal medicines or both were unlikely to develop nausea (p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant prokinetics and/or herbal medicines may help alleviate lubiprostone-induced nausea.

Right recumbent position on gastric emptying of water evidenced by (13)C breath testing.

AIM: To compare the impact of the right recumbent position with the sitting position on gastric emptying of water. METHODS: In eight healthy male volunteers, the 13C acetate breath test was performed twice to assess gastric emptying of 100 mL tap water. Subjects were seated in one test and lying on their right side in the other. In both positions, pulmonary (13)CO(2) exhalation curves were obtained by plotting breath data against time. Percent gastric retention curves were created by analyzing data using the Wagner-Nelson protocol. RESULTS: No significant posture effect was found in pulmonary (13)CO(2) output curves (P = 0.2150), whereas a significant effect was seen in gastric retention curves (P = 0.0315). The percent retention values at 10 min and 15 min were significantly smaller when subjects were in the right recumbent position compared with the seated position (P < 0.05). Our results verified the accelerating effect of the right recumbent position on gastric emptying of non-nutritive solutions. Concerning clinical implications, this study suggests that placing patients with acute pain on their right side after oral administration of analgesic drugs in solution is justified as an effective practice for rapid pain relief. For patients with gastrointestinal reflux symptoms, sleeping in the right recumbent position may reduce nocturnal symptoms, as delayed gastric emptying can cause reflux symptoms. CONCLUSION: Gastric emptying of water occurs more quickly when a subject lies on the right side compared with sitting.

Prophylactic effect of compression stockings for elevated D-dimer levels following endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Objectives: A relationship between endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and deep vein thrombosis has been recognized. We previously reported that a high corrected midazolam dose (total midazolam dose/initial dose of midazolam used to induce sedation) is related to elevated D-dimer levels after ESD. In this study, the effect of compression stockings (CSs) in preventing thrombosis following ESD under sedation was evaluated by measuring D-dimer levels before and after ESD. Methods: The participants were patients who underwent ESD for upper gastrointestinal tumors during the period between April 2018 and October 2022. Patients with pre-ESD D-dimer levels ≥1.6 µg/m and patients with corrected midazolam doses ≤3.0 were excluded. A retrospective investigation of the relationship between CS use and high post-ESD D-dimer levels (difference in D-dimer levels ≥1.0 µg/mL between before and after ESD) was conducted. Results: There were 27 patients in the non-CS group (NCS) and 33 patients in the CS group. The number of patients with high post-ESD D-dimer levels was 13 (48.2%) in the non-CS group and six (18.2%) in the CS group; the number in the CS group was significantly lower (p = 0.024). On logistic regression analysis, a relationship was seen between the wearing of CSs and a lower number of patients with high post-ESD D-dimer levels (odds ratio 0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.08-0.79, p = 0.019). Conclusion: Wearing CSs was related to a lower risk of high post-ESD D-dimer levels. This result suggests that thrombus formation is a cause of elevated D-dimer levels after ESD.