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Abstract Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a chronic disease that can rapidly deteriorate into circulatory collapse when complicated by comorbidities. We herein describe a case involving a 43‐year‐old woman with class III obesity (body mass index of 63 kg/m2) and severe CTEPH associated with total occlusion of the left main pulmonary artery who subsequently developed circulatory collapse along with multiple comorbidities, including acute kidney injury, pulmonary tuberculosis, and catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome. The patient was successfully treated with two sessions of rescue balloon pulmonary angioplasty with veno‐arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V‐A ECMO) support under local anesthesia without sedation, at cannulation and during the V‐A ECMO run, to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation. This case suggests the potential usefulness of rescue balloon pulmonary angioplasty under awake V‐A ECMO support for rapidly deteriorating, inoperable CTEPH in a patient with class III obesity complicated with multiple comorbidities.

Highlights We examined whether maximum body mass index (BMI) before the onset of diabetes (MBBO) affects histological findings of islet cells. We divided patients into two groups according to an MBBO cutoff of 25 kg/m2 or BMI cutoff of 21 kg/m2. We compared immunohistochemical parameters between the MBBO groups or BMI groups. The relative alpha‐cell area in the high MBBO group was significantly higher than that in the low MBBO group. There was no difference in the other parameters between the MBBO groups or BMI groups.

Abstract Dietary soybean isoflavones (SIs) and soyasaponins (SSs) individually exert inhibitory effects on contact hypersensitivity (CHS), which is an animal model of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD); however, the beneficial effects of diets containing a mixture of SIs and SSs on CHS remain unclear. Here, we investigated the CHS‐suppressive effects of diets containing a mixture of SIs and SSs at physiologically relevant doses, and the role of the gut microbiota. The diets attenuated ear swelling and reduced the number of Gr‐1‐positive cells infiltrating the auricle tissues. Ear swelling was inhibited in the SI‐ and SS‐treated mice compared to the SI‐treated mice. Compared to the CHS controls, the levels of chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) ligand 2 and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells‐1 (TREM‐1) were lower in the auricle tissues of SI‐ and SS‐treated mice, whereas TREM‐1 production was not suppressed in SI‐ or SS‐treated mice. In addition, vancomycin treatment had little effect on the CHS‐inhibitory activity of SI and SS diets, whereas ciprofloxacin and metronidazole treatments blocked the effects of SI and SS diets. These antibiotics exhibited differing effects on the microbiota composition deduced from the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Therefore, consuming a mixture of SIs and SSs has ACD‐preventive effects and is affected by the gut microbiota.

Abstract Aims/Introduction Taste receptors, T1rs and T2rs, and the taste‐selective G‐protein, α‐gustducin, are expressed outside the taste‐sensing system, such as enteroendocrine L cells. Here, we examined whether α‐gustducin also affects nutrition sensing and insulin secretion by pancreatic β‐cells. Materials and Methods The expression of α‐gustducin and taste receptors was evaluated in β‐cell lines, and in rat and mouse islets either by quantitative polymerase chain reaction or fluorescence immunostaining. The effects of α‐gustducin knockdown on insulin secretion and on cyclic adenosine monophosphate and intracellular Ca2+ levels in rat INS‐1 cells were estimated. Sucralose (taste receptor agonist)‐induced insulin secretion was investigated in INS‐1 cells with α‐gustducin suppression and in islets from mouse disease models. Results The expression of Tas1r3 and α‐gustducin was confirmed in β‐cell lines and pancreatic islets. Basal levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, intracellular calcium and insulin secretion were significantly enhanced with α‐gustducin knockdown in INS‐1 cells. The expression of α‐gustducin was decreased in high‐fat diet‐fed mice and in diabetic db/db mice. Sucralose‐induced insulin secretion was not attenuated in INS‐1 cells with α‐gustducin knockdown or in mouse islets with decreased expression of α‐gustducin. Conclusions α‐Gustducin is involved in the regulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, intracellular calcium levels and insulin secretion in pancreatic β‐cells in a manner independent of taste receptor signaling. α‐Gustducin might play a novel role in β‐cell physiology and the development of type 2 diabetes.

This study investigated the effects of bamboo powder as an alternative feed for rabbits. The normal hay diet of rabbits was replaced with bamboo culm powder (10% and 20%) and fed to the rabbits until they were 90 days old. The blood samples were collected when the rabbits were 46, 66, and 90 days old to assess the effects of bamboo powder on blood parameters. The organs and intestinal contents were harvested at the age of 90 days, and the functions and morphologies of different organs were evaluated. The concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and the composition of microbiota in the cecum were measured. Substituting bamboo powder did not affect the growth, hematology profile, intestinal morphologies, and cecum SCFA concentration in rabbits. In contrast, it significantly altered the cecum microbiota composition, particularly the abundance of Ruminococcus and Bacteroides related to fiber degradation and Tyzzerella spp., associated with large intestine inflammation. These findings suggest that the substitution of hay with bamboo powder in rabbit diets does not negatively affect the overall health of rabbits and could be considered an alternative feed for rabbits; nevertheless, the protein and lipid deficiency in the bamboo powder should be taken into account., (© 2022 Japanese Society of Animal Science.)