Atopic dermatitis (AD) is chronic inflammatory skin disease with sever pruritus. However, the mechanisms of itching are not fully understood. In this study, we demonstrated that the involvement in the receptor subtypes (5-HT receptors) on spontaneous scratching, an itch-related behavior, in mice with atopy-like dermatitis. Male NC/Nga mice with AD-like dermatitis (dermatitis NC mice), which were bred under conventional condition with mites, and male healthy mice (healthy NC mice), which were bred under specific pathogen free condition, were used. An intradermal injection of serotonin, but not tryptophan and histamine, elicited scratching in healthy NC mice. Spontaneous scratching in dermatitis NC mice was inhibited by methysergide (5-HT 2 receptor antagonist), but not cyproheptadine (5-HT 2A receptor antagonist) or ondansetron (5-HT 3 receptor antagonist). An intradermal injection of a-methyl-5-HT (5-HT 2 receptor agonist) or BW723 C86 (5-HT 2B receptor agonist), but not KM-212 (5-HT 2C receptor agonist), induced scratching in healthy NC mice. Taken together, these findings suggest that 5-HT 2B receptor may be involved in the induction of spontaneous scratching in dermatitis NC mice.

The present study aimed to compare the image quality of the coronary arteries and in-stent lumen between super-resolution deep learning reconstruction (SR-DLR) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR). We prospectively enrolled 50 patients (median age, 68 years; interquartile range [IQR], 59–74 years; 34 men) who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) using a 320-detector row CT scanner between January and April 2022. The image noise in the ascending aorta, left atrium, and septal wall of the ventricle was measured, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the proximal coronary arteries were calculated. Of the ten stents, stent strut thickness and luminal diameter were quantitatively evaluated. The image noise on SR-DLR was significantly lower than that on MBIR (median 22.1 HU; IQR, 19.1–24.5 HU vs. 27.4 HU; IQR, 24.1–31.1 HU, p < 0.01), whereas the SNR (median 16.3; IQR, 12.0–22.0 vs. 13.9; IQR, 9.8–19.2, p = 0.03) and CNR (median 25.2; IQR, 16.9–30.8 vs. 19.5; IQR, 14.5–23.7, p < 0.01) on SR-DLR were significantly higher than that on MBIR. Stent struts were significantly thinner (median, 0.66 mm; IQR, 0.61–0.72 mm vs. 0.80 mm; IQR, 0.68–0.86 mm, p < 0.01) and in-stent lumens were significantly larger (median, 1.82 mm; IQR, 1.57–1.95 mm vs. 1.34 mm; IQR, 1.26–1.60 mm, p < 0.01) on SR-DLR than on MBIR. This study’s initial experience with SR-DLR improves the image quality of the coronary arteries and in-stent lumen at CCTA compared with conventional MBIR.

The patient was a 68-year-old man. In January 2017, he underwent aortic valve replacement Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna, 25 mm, Edwards Lifescience Corporation, Irvine, USA for aortic stenosis and coronary bypass surgery with two saphenous vein grafts SVG #7 and SVG-4PD for asymptomatic myocardial ischemia. He was treated as an outpatient by a local physician for at least a week during November 2017, with a principal complaint of mild fever, but no other significant symptoms. Transthoracic echocardiography suggested prosthetic valve endocarditis, so he was referred to the author s hospital. The day after admission, he had symptoms of thoracic discomfort, and emergency cardiac catheter examination showed a lesion thought to be due to a thrombus in the left main coronary trunk ; so, thrombus aspiration was carried out. However, no improvement in blood flow was achieved, so balloon angioplasty was carried out, with the aim of improving blood flow in the left circumflex artery, where coronary artery bypass grafting had not been performed. Improvement in blood flow was achieved, and a culture was carried out using the aspirated thrombus. Streptococcus pasteurianus was detected in the culture.

This study aimed to assess the image quality and accuracy of respiratory-gated real-time two-dimensional (2D) cine incorporating deep learning reconstruction (DLR) for the quantification of biventricular volumes and function compared with those of the standard reference, that is, breath-hold 2D balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cine, in an adult population. Twenty-four patients (15 men, mean age 50.7 ± 16.5 years) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance for clinical indications, and 2D DLR and bSSFP cine were acquired on the short-axis view. The image quality scores were based on three main criteria: blood-to-myocardial contrast, endocardial edge delineation, and presence of motion artifacts throughout the cardiac cycle. Biventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), and left ventricular mass (LVM) were analyzed. The 2D DLR cine had significantly shorter scan time than bSSFP (41.0 ± 11.3 s vs. 327.6 ± 65.8 s; p < 0.0001). Despite an analysis of endocardial edge definition and motion artifacts showed significant impairment using DLR cine compared with bSSFP (p < 0.01), the two sequences demonstrated no significant difference in terms of biventricular EDV, ESV, SV, and EF (p > 0.05). Moreover, the linear regression yielded good agreement between the two techniques (r ≥ 0.76). However, the LVM was underestimated for DLR cine (109.8 ± 34.6 g) compared with that for bSSFP (116.2 ± 40.2 g; p = 0.0291). Respiratory-gated 2D DLR cine is a reliable technique that could be used in the evaluation of biventricular volumes and function in an adult population.