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Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection occurs in immunosuppressed individuals and is known to increase mortality. Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are often treated with steroids, require intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, and may therefore be at risk for HCMV infection. However, which factors predispose severely ill patients with COVID-19 to HCMV infection and the prognostic value of such infections remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to examine the incidence and potential risk factors of HCMV infection in patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and evaluate the relationship between HCMV infection and mortality., Methods and Findings: We used administrative claims data from advanced treatment hospitals in Japan to identify and analyze patients with severe or critical COVID-19. We explored potential risk factors for HCMV infection using multivariable regression models and its contribution to mortality in patients with COVID-19. Overall, 33,151 patients who progressed to severe or critical COVID-19 illness were identified. The incidence of HCMV infection was 0.3-1.7 % depending on the definition of HCMV infection. Steroids, immunosuppressants, ICU admission, and blood transfusion were strongly associated with HCMV infection. Furthermore, HCMV infection was associated with patient mortality independent of the observed risk factors for death., Conclusions: HCMV infection is a notable complication in patients with severe or critical COVID-19 who are admitted to the ICU or receive steroids, immunosuppressants, and blood transfusion and can significantly increase mortality risk., (Copyright © 2024 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Identifying elderly individuals with locomotive syndrome is important to prevent disability in this population. Although screening tools for locomotive syndrome are available, these require time commitment and are limited by an individual's ability to complete questionnaires independently. To improve on this limitation, we developed a screening tool that uses information on the distribution of pressure on the plantar surface of the foot with an artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision system to identify patients with locomotor syndrome. Herein, we describe our AI-based system and evaluate its performance., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 409 participants (mean age, 73.5 years). A foot scan pressure system was used to record the planter pressure distribution during gait. In the image processing step, we developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) to return the logit of the probability of locomotive syndrome based on foot pressure images. In the logistic regression step of the AI model, we estimated the predictor coefficients, including age, sex, height, weight, and the output of the CNN, based on foot pressure images., Results: The AI model improved the identification of locomotive syndrome among elderly individuals compared to clinical data, with an area under curve of 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.79-0.88) for the AI model compared to 0.80 (95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.85) for the clinical model. Including the footprint force distribution image significantly improved the prediction algorithm (the net reclassification improvement was 0.675 [95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.90] P < 0.01; the integrated discrimination improvement was 0.059 [95% confidence interval, 0.039-0.088] P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The AI system, which includes force distribution over the plantar surface of the foot during gait, is an effective tool to screen for locomotive syndrome., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2022 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) are involved in various cellular events, including DNA repair. PARP inhibitors including olaparib and rucaparib, have been specially developed against breast and ovarian cancers deficient in DNA repair systems. In this study, we found that PARP1-defective olaparib-resistant A2780 cells (ola-R cells) cells were still sensitive to two PARP inhibitors, rucaparib and veliparib. Metabolomic analysis revealed that rucaparib suppressed the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-mediated conversion of pyruvic acid to lactic acid in A2780 cells, although olaparib did not. The inhibition of LDH by siRNA-mediated knockdown or by LDH inhibitors suppressed the growth of ovarian cancer cells. Our results suggested that the suppression of the LDH-associated pathway contributed to the pharmacological effects of rucaparib., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Limited use of linezolid for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection was approved in Japan in 2006. We report here the status of linezolid-resistant MRSAs in Japan. Eleven linezolid-resistant clinical isolates from 11 patients at six hospitals were collected from 2006 through 2008. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of linezolid in these strains varied from 8 to 64 μg/ml. All strains had at least one G2576T mutation in the chromosomal gene(s) encoding domain V of the 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Chromosomal DNA encoding five copies of the domain V region was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Strains with the linezolid MICs of 64, 32, 16, and 8 μg/ml had the G2576T mutation(s) in four, three (or four), two, and one copy of the 23S rRNA genes, respectively. These results suggest that the level of linezolid resistance seems to be roughly correlated with the number of mutations in the genes encoding 23S rRNA. DNA samples from all 11 strains were subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and were classified into seven independent clones having >92% identity. Among the 11 patients, five had been treated with linezolid and the remainder, in two hospitals, had no history of prior linezolid use. The results suggested possible nosocomial infections by linezolid-resistant MRSA.