A 39-year-old male underwent distal gastrectomy for a high grade gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 107 mo after the operation, revealed a cystic mass (14 cm in diameter) and a solid mass (9 cm in diameter) in the right and left lobes of the liver, respectively. A biopsy specimen of the solid mass showed a liver metastasis of GIST. The patient received imatinib mesylate (IM) treatment, 400 mg/day orally.

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Sivelestat sodium hydrate (sivelestat), a neutrophil elastase inhibitor, is used to treat acute lung injury (ALI) associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Effects of the agent on the intestine have not been elucidated. In the present study, the effects of sivelestat were investigated in LPS-induced intestinal paralysis in conscious guinea pigs, about which we reported previously. Intestinal movement and body temperature of guinea pigs were measured successively. Intestinal movement was observed by telemetry using a force transducer installed on the taenia caecum. Simultaneously, body temperature was measured using a plate-type thermometer attached to the dorsum of the animal. On the 4th post-operative day, when intestinal movement was stabilized, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, E. coli, 0111: B4) was administered intraperitoneally. In guinea pigs that received sivelestat 10 min before and 1 h after LPS administration, the intestinal relaxation and lowering of body temperature 2 h after LPS administration were suppressed by sivelestat dose-dependently. Guinea pig plasma elastase activity increased significantly 2 h after LPS administration. The increase was suppressed significantly by sivelestat. On histopathological examination, there was no neutrophil accumulation in the taenia caecum 2 h after LPS administration at the dose used in the study. The above findings suggest that the neutrophil elastase inhibitor sivelestat is effective for LPS-induced intestinal paralysis.

Background & aims Fatty liver is associated with incident diabetes, and the fatty liver index (FLI) is a surrogate marker for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to determine whether or not FLI was associated with incident diabetes in relation to obesity and prediabetic levels in the general Japanese population. Methods This was a retrospective study using the Japanese health check-up database of one health insurance from FY2015 to FY2018. This study included 28,991 individuals with prediabetes. First, we stratified all participants into two groups: “high-risk,” comprising patients with HbA1c >6.0%, and “standard,” comprising the rest. Subsequently, we divided them into four groups according to FLI (<30 or not) and obesity (BMI <25 kg/m2 or not). Subsequently, the incidence rate of diabetes was compared among the groups after 3 years of follow-up using multiple logistic regression models after adjusting for potential confounders. Results After 3 years of follow-up, 1,547 new cases of diabetes were found, and the cumulative incidence was 2.96% for the standard group and 26.1% for the high-risk group. In non-obese individuals, odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for FLI ≥30 versus FLI <30 were: 1.44 (1.09–1.92) for the standard group and 1.42 (0.99–2.03) for the high-risk group. In the high-risk group, obesity (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) but FLI <30 was not a risk factor for developing diabetes. Conclusion Although high FLI is generally considered to be a risk factor for developing diabetes, obesity might have been a confounding factor. However, the present study showed that high FLI is a risk factor for the development of diabetes, even in non-obese individuals. Our results include suggestion to develop a screening tool to effectively identify people at high risk of developing diabetes from the population (especially non-obese prediabetes) who are apparently at low health risk and are unlikely to be targeted for health guidance.

Asthma exacerbation impairs the quality of life of pediatric patients and negatively impacts future respiratory function and health economics. Several risk factors associated with exacerbations have been identified; however, most studies report the risk of each factor. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the risk of each factor and a combination of factors. We performed a retrospective cohort study using Japanese claims data and extracted factors associated with exacerbations using multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression and stepwise method. Risk scores were then calculated from the extracted factors and validated by tenfold cross validation. Of the 1,748,111 asthma patients in the database, the data of 14,980 were extracted, and 1988 (13.3%) had exacerbation. Factors associated with asthma exacerbation were age of 3–5 years, exacerbation history before cohort entry date, allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, otitis externa, blepharitis, upper respiratory infections, urticaria, LTRA prescription, were determined. A four-level risk score was calculated from 9-factors and the AUC derived from cross validation was 0.700. Most factors extracted in our study are consistent with those of previous studies. We showed that combining each factor is more helpful in assessing the increased risk of asthma exacerbation than assessing each factor alone.