SummaryBackgroundSeveral studies have shown that diabetes confers a higher relative risk of vascular mortality among women than among men, but whether this increased relative risk in women exists across age groups and within defined levels of other risk factors is uncertain. We aimed to determine whether differences in established risk factors, such as blood pressure, BMI, smoking, and cholesterol, explain the higher relative risks of vascular mortality among women than among men.MethodsIn our meta-analysis, we obtained individual participant-level data from studies included in the Prospective Studies Collaboration and the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration that had obtained baseline information on age, sex, diabetes, total cholesterol, blood pressure, tobacco use, height, and weight. Data on causes of death were obtained from medical death certificates. We used Cox regression models to assess the relevance of diabetes (any type) to occlusive vascular mortality (ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic stroke, or other atherosclerotic deaths) by age, sex, and other major vascular risk factors, and to assess whether the associations of blood pressure, total cholesterol, and body-mass index (BMI) to occlusive vascular mortality are modified by diabetes.ResultsIndividual participant-level data were analysed from 980 793 adults. During 9·8 million person-years of follow-up, among participants aged between 35 and 89 years, 19 686 (25·6%) of 76 965 deaths were attributed to occlusive vascular disease. After controlling for major vascular risk factors, diabetes roughly doubled occlusive vascular mortality risk among men (death rate ratio [RR] 2·10, 95% CI 1·97–2·24) and tripled risk among women (3·00, 2·71–3·33; χ2 test for heterogeneity p<0·0001). For both sexes combined, the occlusive vascular death RRs were higher in younger individuals (aged 35–59 years: 2·60, 2·30–2·94) than in older individuals (aged 70–89 years: 2·01, 1·85–2·19; p=0·0001 for trend across age groups), and, across age groups, the death RRs were higher among women than among men. Therefore, women aged 35–59 years had the highest death RR across all age and sex groups (5·55, 4·15–7·44). However, since underlying confounder-adjusted occlusive vascular mortality rates at any age were higher in men than in women, the adjusted absolute excess occlusive vascular mortality associated with diabetes was similar for men and women. At ages 35–59 years, the excess absolute risk was 0·05% (95% CI 0·03–0·07) per year in women compared with 0·08% (0·05–0·10) per year in men; the corresponding excess at ages 70–89 years was 1·08% (0·84–1·32) per year in women and 0·91% (0·77–1·05) per year in men. Total cholesterol, blood pressure, and BMI each showed continuous log-linear associations with occlusive vascular mortality that were similar among individuals with and without diabetes across both sexes.InterpretationIndependent of other major vascular risk factors, diabetes substantially increased vascular risk in both men and women. Lifestyle changes to reduce smoking...

The aim of the present study was to reveal the metabolic disorders most commonly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), blood glucose (BG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were analyzed. NAFLD was diagnosed using abdominal ultrasound (US), and TG, HDL, LDL, BG and HbA1c were immediately collected on the same day and subjected to multivariate regression analysis. Stepwise analysis was performed to select the variables that were closely associated with NAFLD. The patients who were positive for the hepatitis B antigen and hepatitis C antibody were excluded from the study. Additionally, the patients who were prescribed prednisolone or methotrexate were excluded from the study as these agents may cause NAFLD or liver toxicity. The study included 168 and 125 patients with and without NAFLD, respectively. TG, BG and HbA1c were strongly correlated with NAFLD. Among these parameters, TG was the strongest predictor of NAFLD (χ=9.89, P=0.0017). TG was the parameter that was most strongly associated with NAFLD. In conclusion, elevated TG was a marker of NAFLD.

In the present study, the threshold values of laboratory data for the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were investigated. The study enrolled patients who had undergone abdominal ultrasound (US) between April 2013 and August 2013, and for whom laboratory data were available on the same day. NAFLD was diagnosed following observations of a bright liver or hepatorenal echo contrast on the abdominal US scans. Patients were excluded from the study if they had liver diseases or had been prescribed prednisolone or methotrexate. Receiver operating characteristic curves, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Fisher’s exact probability test were used for data analysis. In total, 80 NAFLD and 94 non-NAFLD patients were enrolled in the study. The threshold levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and triglyceride (TG) for the diagnosis of NAFLD were 19.0 IU/l and 101 mg/dl, respectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to the levels of ALT and TG. Those with ALT levels of >19 IU/l and TG levels of >101 mg/dl were defined as the positive group, while the remaining patients were classified as the negative group. The specificity and positive predictive value using the combined threshold levels of ALT >19 IU/l and TG >101 mg/dl were 80.9 and 75.0%, respectively. Therefore, the results indicated that ALT levels of >19 IU/l or TG levels of >101 mg/dl were useful markers for the screening of NAFLD. However, NAFLD was more strongly suspected in patients with ALT levels of >19 IU/l and TG levels of >101 mg/dl.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of direct hemoperfusion using a Polymyxin B (PMX) immobilized fiber column in septic patients with chronic renal failure after emergency surgery. Twenty-four renal failure patients, including 19 dialysis patients, with sepsis or septic shock were treated with direct hemoperfusion after emergency surgery. The 24 consecutive patients included nine with necrotic enterocolitis, six with colonic perforation due to diverticulitis, three with ruptured suture after colectomy, one with duodenal perforation, four with blood access infection, and one with an infected abdominal aortic aneurysm. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score ranged from 13 to 26 (19 +/- 3). After completion of the first and the second hemoperfusion, mean blood pressure was significantly elevated from 69 +/- 12 mm Hg to 89 +/- 15 mm Hg and from 78 +/- 14 mm Hg to 95 +/- 13 mm Hg, respectively (P < 0.01). In addition, the catecholamine dosage needed to maintain the circulation could be decreased markedly after the treatment. The blood concentration of endotoxin in patients with Gram-negative sepsis, before and after the treatment, significantly decreased from 36 +/- 19 pg/mL to 19 +/- 19 pg/mL (P< 0.05). PMX was effective in patients with Gram-positive sepsis as well as Gram-negative sepsis. The 28-day mortality rate in patients who had emergency abdominal surgery was 10% (2/20), whereas that in patients with dialysis access infection was 50% (2/4). There was a significant difference in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score of all patients before and after treatment using PMX (9.2 +/- 3.3 vs. 7.5 +/- 3.5, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the SOFA score of survivors decreased significantly after PMX treatment (8.4 +/- 3.5 vs. 6.7 +/- 2.6, P < 0.01). Our results suggest that the early application of PMX may prevent multiple organ failure and improve survival in patients with chronic renal failure and sepsis/septic shock after emergency abdominal surgery, regardless of the type of pathogenic bacteria involved.

Following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, radioactive substances ((131) I, (134) Cs, (137) Cs) were detected in tap water throughout eastern Japan. There is now concern that internal exposure to radioactive substances in the dialysate could pose a danger to hemodialysis patients. Radioactive substances were measured in three hemodialysis facilities before and after purification of tap water for use in hemodialysis. Radioactive iodine was detected at levels between 13 and 15 Bq/kg in tap water from the three facilities, but was not detected by reverse osmosis membrane at any of the facilities. We confirmed that the amount of radioactive substances in dialysate fell below the limit of detection (7-8 Bq/kg) by reverse osmosis membrane. It is now necessary to clarify the maximum safe level of radiation in dialysate for chronic hemodialysis patients.