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Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using the NAVITOR system has been relatively underreported due to its recent introduction in Japan. This study aimed to assess the short-term outcomes of TAVI with the NAVITOR in real-world clinical practice. Patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVI using the NAVITOR system at our institution between December 2022 and December 2023 were prospectively enrolled. We evaluated the 30-day post-TAVI outcomes using the Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 (VARC-3). Among 32 consecutive patients (mean age, 84 years; 19% female), technical success was achieved in 31 (96.8%). One patient developed a subclavian artery vascular dissection, requiring balloon angioplasty during the TAVI procedure, and another received a permanent pacemaker due to persistent advanced atrioventricular block. At the 30-day follow-up, device success was achieved in 31 (96.8%) patients, with early safety observed in 27 (84.3%). One patient experienced sudden unexplained death after discharge. None of the patients experienced myocardial infarction, valve embolisation, life-threatening bleeding, or acute kidney injury within 30 days after the procedure. Echocardiographic follow-up showed a median effective orifice area index of 1.26 ± 0.27. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography was performed in 19 patients 30 days after the procedure, revealing hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening (HALT) in 10 (52.6%). Although the 30-day outcomes of TAVI using the NAVITOR system appeared promising, a relatively high incidence of HALT was observed., Competing Interests: Declarations. Consent to participate: Written informed consent was obtained from all the patients. Consent to publish: Written informed consent was obtained from all the patients. Ethics approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Kindai University Hospital (R03-040). Conflict of interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The use of collagen in cell cultures promotes cell proliferation and differentiation, and it has been commercialized. In this study, we separated and purified collagen from adipose tissue discarded during liposuction and prepared collagen-coated dishes. After collagen was identified from human adipose tissue, type identification and quantification were performed using SDS-PAGE and FPLC. Collagen type I was used to coat culture dishes. Human skin fibroblasts and human adipose tissue-derived stem cells were seeded at a density of 2.5 × 105 cells/ml on prepared dishes at a collagen concentration of 3 mg/ml and cultured for 7 days. Cell viability was then measured and analyzed. The WST-1 assay was used to evaluate the results. The amount of collagen in 300 g of adipose tissue was 25.5 mg for type I, 41.4 mg for type III, 10.6 mg for type IV, 6.5 mg for type V and 15 mg for type VI. The highest rates were observed for adipose stem cells cultured on human adipose tissue-derived collagen-coated dishes. In cell cultures, cell affinity was higher when cells and the substrate used were of the same origin, and affinity was stronger when the tissue of origin was the same., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japanese Biochemical Society. All rights reserved.)

Herein, we studied the expression of endocannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2R), a known inflammation mediator, in several lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) animal models and evaluated it as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for these diseases. CB2R was highly elevated in the plasma of Farber disease and mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type IIIA mice, followed by Fabry disease and MPS type I mice. Mice with acid sphingomyelinase-deficient Niemann-Pick disease (ASMD) and rats with MPS type VI exhibited little or no plasma CB2R elevation. High-level expression of CB2R was also observed in tissues of Farber and MPS IIIA mice. Treatment of MPS IIIIA patient cells with CB2R agonists led to a reduction of CB2R and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a chemotactic factor that is elevated in this LSD. Treatment of MPS IIIA mice with one of these agonists (JWH133) led to a reduction of plasma and tissue CB2R and MCP-1, a reduction of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the brain, and an improvement in hanging test performance. JWH133 treatment of Farber disease mice also led to a reduction of MCP-1 in tissues and plasma, and treatment of these mice by enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) led to a reduction of plasma CB2R, indicating its potential to monitor treatment response. Overall, these findings suggest that CB2R should be further examined as a potential therapeutic target for the LSDs and may also be a useful biomarker to monitor the impact of therapies., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of SSIEM.)