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Recent progress in genotyping technology and the development of public databases has enabled large-scale genome-wide association tests with diseases. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of bipolar disorder (BD) in Japanese cohorts. First we used Affymetrix 100K GeneChip arrays in the analysis of 107 cases with bipolar I disorder and 107 controls, and selected markers that were nominally significant (P < 0.01) in at least one of the three models (1,577 markers in total). In the follow-up stage, we analyzed these markers using an Illumina platform (1,526 markers; 51 markers were not designable for the platform) and an independent sample set, which consisted of 395 cases (bipolar I + II) and 409 controls. We also assessed the population stratification of current samples using principal components analysis. After the two-stage analysis, 89 markers remained nominally significant (allelic P < 0.05) with the same allele being consistently over-represented in both the first and the follow-up stages. However, none of these were significant after correction for multiple-testing by false discovery rates. Sample stratification was virtually negligible. Collectively, this is the first GWAS of BD in the Japanese population. But given the small sample size and the limited genomic coverage, these results should be taken as preliminary.

The chromosomes of six Lycoris species and three interspecific hybrids were investigated using genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) to clarify the chromosome constitution in this genus. Total DNA from L. aurea (2n = 13, 9M + 4T) and L. sprengeri (2n = 22, 22A) was used as probe and blocking DNA, respectively. All the chromosomes of L. aurea (9M + 4T) and L. longituba (6M + 10T) were hybridized with probe DNA and were visualized as yellow labeled chromosomes, while those of L. sprengeri (22A), L. radiata var. pumila (22A) and L. sanguinea (22A) remained unlabeled and appeared as red chromosomes. Eight labeled (3M + 5T) and 22 unlabeled chromosomes (20A + 1M′ + 1m) were observed in GISH of L. incarnata. Eight labeled (3M + 5T) and 33 unlabeled chromosomes (31A + 1M′ + 1m) were detected in GISH of three interspecific hybrids between L. incarnata and 3 diploid species. The distinction between M + T and A type chromosomes at the DNA sequence level by GISH demonstrated that genome differentiation had occurred in the genus Lycoris.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a severe disease that is reportedly linked to coronavirus disease 2019. Affected patients present with gastrointestinal symptoms and cardiovascular dysfunction, in addition to Kawasaki disease-like features, suggesting the potential for overlapping disease mechanisms. Kawasaki disease has been reported among individuals of East Asian ethnicities, whereas there is minimal clinical literature regarding the occurrence of MIS-C among individuals of Asian ethnicities. A few reports thus far have described changes in cytokine kinetics during the course of disease in patients with MIS-C. We followed the temporal cytokine kinetics in a 9-year-old Japanese girl who exhibited a classical trajectory of MIS-C. The patient exhibited right cervical swelling and pain, abdominal pain, vomiting, and lip reddening, which developed 31 days after she was diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection. The patient was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease on her fifth day of illness; because she fulfilled the criteria for MIS-C, she was also diagnosed with this disease on her fifth day of illness. Her fever rapidly resolved upon administration of intravenous immunoglobulin, aspirin, and prednisolone. On the patient's sixth day of illness, she developed acute myocarditis, which was treated with two diuretics and one vasodilator; the myocarditis ameliorated within a few days. Analyses of temporal kinetics for 71 serum cytokines revealed several patterns of cytokine changes that were consistent with the patient's clinical course of disease. Importantly, there was a clear distinction between cytokines that did and did not decrease rapidly following post-treatment fever resolution. These findings may be useful for the assessment of disease status and selection of therapy in patients with similar symptoms; they may also provide insights for basic and clinical research regarding MIS-C.

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