Search

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and residual urine volume in patients undergoing bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy. Methods: Patients requiring BCG therapy, including those with carcinoma in situ, were enrolled prospectively. The urine volume collected through urethral catheterization was measured as post-voiding residual volume (PVR) during BCG therapy. Patients were divided into two groups: small PVR (SPVR), with PVR less than 30 ml, and large PVR (LPVR), with PVR greater than or equal to 30 ml. QOL status was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 system before and after BCG therapy. Moreover, some patients were assessed by International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at the same time as assessment with the EORTC QLQ-C30 system. The primary end point was the evaluation of QOL during BCG therapy. Results: Among the 69 patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer included in this study, 43 were in the SPVR group and 26 were in the LPVR group. The proportions of women and analgesic use in the SPVR group were higher than that in the LPVR group; however, medication use for dysuria in the SPVR group was less than that in the LPVR group. In the QOL analyses, cognitive function and emotional function in the functional scale and fatigue, nausea/vomiting, and dyspnoea in the symptomatic scale were worse in the SPVR group than in the LPVR group. In the multivariate analysis, fatigue was worse in the SPVR group than in the LPVR group. Conclusions: During BCG therapy, patients in the SPVR group had worse QOL, especially fatigue, than those in the LPVR group. Level of evidence: Not applicable for this multicentre audit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 74-year-old woman presented to our hospital with the main complaint of anorexia and weight loss for several months. Computed tomography (CT) revealed right urinary stone, hydronephrosis, multiple lymphadenopathy, and a mass in the right kidney. Considering these findings, she was suspected to have renal malignancy (kidney or renal pelvis cancer) with multiple lymph node metastases; therefore, nephrectomy was performed. Her pathological diagnosis was xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGPN). There was no postoperative renal function decline, and multiple lymphadenopathy also disappeared on CT 3 months after surgery. It was judged to be reactive swelling due to inflammation. XGPN is a pathological condition characterized by accumulation of mast cells and activated macrophages in the renal tissue; and, the renal tissue recognizes yellowish granulation growth because of repeating pyelonephritis due to urinary tract passing impairment. In some cases, it is difficult to differentiate XGPN from renal malignancy. Moreover, lymphadenopathy may be lymph node metastasis but may also present reactive enlargement due to the effect of inflammation, making it even more difficult to differentiate when accompanied by lymphadenopathy. We report this case in which it was difficult to differentiate XGPN from renal malignancy considering the scarcity of reports of XGPN accompanied by multiple lymphadenopathy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a new active collagenase inhibitor, Pirocton Olamine (PO), on acid demineralization in dentin and to investigate possible mechanisms of the inhibitory effects., Methods: Demineralized bovine dentin sections were cyclically exposed to one of the test solutions containing PO (0-0.33%) and NaF (0.07%) for 3 minutes, then to a Clostridium histolyticum (Ch-collagenase) collagenase solution for 16 hours and finally to an acetate buffer solution for 6 hours for further demineralization within a single day. This cyclic treatment was repeated three times for 3 days. Changes in the mineral loss and lesion depth were quantified by transverse microradiography, and the extent of the degradation by the collagenase in the collagen matrix was measured by microscopic observation after the completion of the 3-day cyclic treatments. Possible mechanisms of PO inhibitory effects on collagen matrix degradation were tested by incubating PO with one of the substances (Ch-collagenase, bovine tendon collagen pieces, zinc2+ (acetate) which is essential ion for collagenolytic activity) at 37 degrees C. Following 1 hour incubation, the incubated solutions were filtrated and PO concentrations (unbound to the substances) in the filtrates were spectroscopically measured., Results: With increasing PO concentrations, the inhibition rates of collagen matrix degradation and the mineral loss were increased. Moreover, there was a positive statistical correlation between mineral loss and collagen matrix degradation, demonstrating that preservation of the collagen matrix would contribute to inhibiting acid demineralization. While the spectroscopic measurements indicated that PO possessed binding to these substances, PO exerted its inhibitory action primarily on the collagenolytic activity.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is a form of chronic glomerulonephritis of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Immunogenetic studies have not conclusively indicated that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is involved. As a first step in investigating a possible relationship between HLA class II genes and IgAN, we analyzed the extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in this region of chromosome 6p21.3 in a Japanese test population and found extended LD blocks within the class II locus. We designed a case-control association study of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each of those LD blocks, and determined that SNPs located in the HLA- DRA gene were significantly associated with an increased risk of IgAN ( P = 0.000001, odds ratio = 1.91 [95% confidence interval 1.46-2.49]); SNPs in other LD blocks were not. Our data imply that some haplotype of the HLA- DRA locus has an important role in the development of IgAN in Japanese patients.