Increased levels of proteases, such as trypsin, in the distal intestine have been implicated in intestinal pathological conditions1–3. However, the players and mechanisms that underlie protease regulation in the intestinal lumen have remained unclear. Here we show that Paraprevotella strains isolated from the faecal microbiome of healthy human donors are potent trypsin-degrading commensals. Mechanistically, Paraprevotella recruit trypsin to the bacterial surface through type IX secretion system-dependent polysaccharide-anchoring proteins to promote trypsin autolysis. Paraprevotella colonization protects IgA from trypsin degradation and enhances the effectiveness of oral vaccines against Citrobacter rodentium. Moreover, Paraprevotella colonization inhibits lethal infection with murine hepatitis virus-2, a mouse coronavirus that is dependent on trypsin and trypsin-like proteases for entry into host cells4,5. Consistently, carriage of putative genes involved in trypsin degradation in the gut microbiome was associated with reduced severity of diarrhoea in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, trypsin-degrading commensal colonization may contribute to the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis and protection from pathogen infection.

In recent years, many studies shows that the ERS (event-related synchronization) in the gamma band is associated with cortical activation during the imagination of body parts movement. It is also known that the ERD (event-related desynchronization) in the micro and beta band are caused by the imagination of body parts movement. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the gamma ERS and micro/beta ERDs. We recorded 64-channel EEG in order to obtain the power map of the gamma component. Furthermore, we compared the characteristics of the gamma waveform and micro/beta waveforms at the locations where the gamma ERS appeared clearly. As a result, we obtained three conclusions. Firstly, gamma ERS caused by the imagination of body parts movement appears at near somatosensory area and motor area. Gamma ERS caused by the imagination of right arm movement appears at the left side of the somatosensory area, that of left arm movement appears at the right side of the somatosensory area, and that of the foot movement appears at the center of the motor area. Secondly, micro/beta ERDs appear simultaneously with the preparation of the imagination, and they continue during the imagination. However, gamma ERS appeared simultaneously with the imagination of body parts movement. Finally, the power of the micro/beta component decrease gradually, but that of the gamma component increases significantly.

No abstract

We report here a case of primary hepatic carcinoid tumor (PHCT) recurring in the remnant liver 13 yr and 10 mo after first resection. A 70-yr-old man developed four hypervascular tumors in the liver in December 2003. He had undergone curative left-lobe hepatectomy for PHCT in February 1990. Histopathological examination of the tumor biopsy specimen showed that the tumor was composed of uniform round-to-oval cells with solid arrangement and the tumor cells stained positive for chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and neuron-specific enolase. We diagnosed this case as an intrahepatic metastasis of PHCT with a long latency period, based on the fact that no primary site of carcinoid tumor could be found despite intensive examination and the immunohistochemical findings of the resected tumors were essentially same as those of PHCT in 1990. Although PHCT is reported to have a more favorable prognosis than other hepatic cancer or metastatic carcinoid tumor in the liver, long-term observation is recommended.

summary A 69_ year_ old man visiting our hospital with an epigastralgia and tarry stool was diagnosed as having Behçet's dis ease on the basis of repetitious aphthous stomatitis, erythema nodosum and arthralgia in 1991. The next year, he suered from double active ulcers in the antrum of the stomach, and he had been operated on for intestinal perforation. In 1994, endoscopic examination revealed the gastric mucosal bridge between the double ulcers. The double ulcer healed after an eradication therapy of H.pylori, but the gastric mucosal bridge has remained there on the gastrointestinal en doscopy. The gastric mucosal bridge with Behçet's disease has not been reported in Japan, being considered to be very rare.