Katsumi Otani

Cancer patients on Twitter: a novel patient community on social media

BackgroundPatients increasingly turn to the Internet for information on medical conditions, including clinical news and treatment options. In recent years, an online patient community has arisen alongside the rapidly expanding world of social media, or “Web 2.0.” Twitter provides real-time dissemination of news, information, personal accounts and other details via a highly interactive form of social media, and has become an important online tool for patients. This medium is now considered to play an important role in the modern social community of online, “wired” cancer patients.ResultsFifty-one highly influential “power accounts” belonging to cancer patients were extracted from a dataset of 731 Twitter accounts with cancer terminology in their profiles. In accordance with previously established methodology, “power accounts” were defined as those Twitter accounts with 500 or more followers. We extracted data on the cancer patient (female) with the most followers to study the specific relationships that existed between the user and her followers, and found that the majority of the examined tweets focused on greetings, treatment discussions, and other instances of psychological support. These findings went against our hypothesis that cancer patients’ tweets would be centered on the dissemination of medical information and similar “newsy” details.ConclusionsAt present, there exists a rapidly evolving network of cancer patients engaged in information exchange via Twitter. This network is valuable in the sharing of psychological support among the cancer community.

Circulating miR-223 in Oral Cancer: Its Potential as a Novel Diagnostic Biomarker and Therapeutic Target.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been detected in various types of cancer and have been proposed as novel biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. Until recently, however, no studies had comprehensively examined circulating miRNAs in oral cancer. The current study used an ultra-sensitive genome-wide miRNA array to investigate changes in circulating miRNAs in plasma from five patients with oral cancer and ten healthy individuals. Results indicated that there were only a few circulating miRNAs, including miR-223, miR-26a, miR-126, and miR-21, that were up-regulated in patients with oral cancer. A subsequent validation test indicated that circulating miR-223 levels were significantly higher (~2-fold, P< 0.05) in patients with oral cancer (n = 31) than in those without cancer (n = 31). Moreover, miR-223 was found to be up-regulated in tumor-adjacent normal tissue compared to tumor tissue from patients with oral cancer. A gain-of-function assay was performed to explore the potential roles of circulating miR-223 in the development of oral cancer. Results revealed that miR-223 functions as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. In conclusion, this study suggested that circulating miR-223 may serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosis and that it may represent a novel therapeutic target for treatment of oral cancer.

Gene-environment interactions in obesity: implication for future applications in preventive medicine.

Obesity is associated with environmental factors; however, information about gene–environment interactions is lacking. We aimed to elucidate the effects of gene–environment interactions on obesity, specifically between genetic predisposition and various obesity-related lifestyle factors, using data from a population-based prospective cohort study. The genetic risk score (GRS) calculated from East Asian ancestry single-nucleotide polymorphisms was significantly associated with the body mass index (BMI) at baseline (P<0.001). Significant gene–environment interactions were observed for six nutritional factors, alcohol intake, metabolic equivalents-hour per day and the homeostasis model assessment ratio. The GRS altered the effects of lifestyle factors on BMI. Increases in the BMI at baseline per unit intake for each nutritional factor differed depending on the GRS. However, we did not observe significant correlations between the GRS and annual changes in BMI during the follow-up period. This study suggests that the effects of lifestyle factors on obesity differ depending on the genetic risk factors. The approach used to evaluate gene–environment interaction in this study may be applicable to the practice of preventive medicine.

Proposed vector candidate: Leptotrombidium palpale for Shimokoshi type Orientia tsutsugamushi

To identify the vector species for Shimokoshi type Orientia tsutsugamushi, a survey of larval trombiculid mites was conducted in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan from April to May 2012. In all, 2889 larval trombiculid mites were obtained from 21 Apodemus speciosus rodent hosts, 2600 of which were morphologically classified into eight species in three genera. After screening of O. tsutsugamushi DNA in individual larval trombiculid mites using real‐time PCR targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, serotype‐specific nested PCRs targeting the 56 kDa protein gene were performed, followed by sequencing analysis. As a result, Shimokoshi type O. tsutsugamushi DNA was identified from 3 (1.9%) of 157 Leptotrombidium palpale. This is the first study to identify Shimokoshi type O. tsutsugamushi DNA in L. palpale. The results indicate that L. palpale is a possible vector for Shimokoshi type O. tsutsugamushi.

High Serum Adiponectin Level Is a Risk Factor for Anemia in Japanese Men: A Prospective Observational Study of 1,029 Japanese Subjects.

Erythroid abnormalities including anemia and polycythemia are often observed in the general clinical setting. Because recent studies reported that adiponectin negatively affects hematopoiesis, we performed a prospective observational study to assess the relationship between anemia and adiponectin, as well as other parameters, in 1029 Japanese subjects (477 men and 552 women) 40 years of age and older. Body measurements, blood tests, and nutrition intake studies were performed at baseline, and 5 to 7 years later (follow-up). Hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels in men with high serum adiponectin levels were lower at follow-up than at baseline. Multiple regression analysis showed that age, body mass index, adiponectin, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase were significantly associated with erythroid-related variables (red blood cells, Hb, and Hct) in both men and women (P <0.05). In a logistic regression analysis, adiponectin, fasting blood glucose, and β-natriuretic peptide were significant risk factors for anemia in men, and blood urea nitrogen and amylase were significant risk factors in women. Physical features and nutrient intake were not risk factors for anemia. Our study demonstrates, both clinically and epidemiologically, that a high serum adiponectin level decreases the amounts of erythroid-related variables and is a risk factor for anemia in Japanese men.

Applying Data Envelopment Analysis to Preventive Medicine: A Novel Method for Constructing a Personalized Risk Model of Obesity

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a method of operations research that has not yet been applied in the field of obesity research. However, DEA might be used to evaluate individuals’ susceptibility to obesity, which could help establish effective risk models for the onset of obesity. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate the feasibility of applying DEA to predict obesity, by calculating efficiency scores and evaluating the usefulness of risk models. In this study, we evaluated data from the Takahata study, which was a population-based cohort study (with a follow-up study) of Japanese people who are >40 years old. For our analysis, we used the input-oriented Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes model of DEA, and defined the decision-making units (DMUs) as individual subjects. The inputs were defined as (1) exercise (measured as calories expended) and (2) the inverse of food intake (measured as calories ingested). The output was defined as the inverse of body mass index (BMI). Using the β coefficients for the participants’ single nucleotide polymorphisms, we then calculated their genetic predisposition score (GPS). Both efficiency scores and GPS were available for 1,620 participants from the baseline survey, and for 708 participants from the follow-up survey. To compare the strengths of the associations, we used models of multiple linear regressions. To evaluate the effects of genetic factors and efficiency score on body mass index (BMI), we used multiple linear regression analysis, with BMI as the dependent variable, GPS and efficiency scores as the explanatory variables, and several demographic controls, including age and sex. Our results indicated that all factors were statistically significant (p < 0.05), with an adjusted R2 value of 0.66. Therefore, it is possible to use DEA to predict environmentally driven obesity, and thus to establish a well-fitted model for risk of obesity.

Pleiotropic effect of common variants at ABO glycosyltranferase locus in 9q32 on plasma levels of pancreatic lipase and angiotensin converting enzyme

For forty-three clinical test values presumably associated to common complex human diseases, we carried out a genome-wide association study using 600K SNPs in a general Japanese population of 1,639 individuals (1,252 after quality control procedures) drawn from a regional cohort, followed by a replication study for statistically significant SNPs (p = 1.95×10−9–8.34×10−39) using an independent population of 1,671 from another cohort. In this single two-stage study, we newly found strong and robust associations of common variants at the ABO histo-blood glycosyltransferase locus in 9q32 with the plasma levels of pancreatic lipase (P-LIP), in addition to successful confirmation of the known ABO association of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) independent of the ACE1 gene in 17q23.2 with the ACE level. Our results are compatible with the previously reported association between the ABO gene and pancreatic cancer, and show that the effect of these common variants at the ABO locus on the P-LIP and ACE levels is largely opposing and pleiotropic.

Applying spatial epidemiology to hematological disease using R: a guide for hematologists and oncologists

“Spatial statistics” is an academic field that deals with the statistical analysis of spatial data, and has been applied to econometrics and various other policy fields. These methods are easily applied by hematologists and oncologists using better and much less expensive software. To encourage physicians to use these methods, this review introduces the methods and demonstrates the analyses using R and FleXScan, which can be freely downloaded from the website, with sample data. It is demonstrated that spatial analysis can be used by physicians to analyze hematological diseases. In addition, applying the technique presented to the investigation of patient prognoses may enable generation of data that are also useful for solving health policy-related problems, such as the optimal distribution of medical resources.

Meteorological factors affecting scrub typhus occurrence: a retrospective study of Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, 1984-2014.

Climate change, by its influence on the ecology of vectors might affect the occurrence of vector-borne diseases. This study examines the effects of meteorological factors in Japan on the occurrence of scrub typhus, a mite-borne zoonosis caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Using negative binomial regression, we analysed the relationships between meteorological factors (including temperature, rainfall, snowfall) and spring-early summer cases of scrub typhus in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, during 1984-2014. The average temperature in July and August of the previous year, cumulative rainfall in September of the previous year, snowfall throughout the winter, and maximum depth of snow cover in January and February were positively correlated with the number of scrub typhus cases. By contrast, cumulative rainfall in July of the previous year showed a negative relationship to the number of cases. These associations can be explained by the life-cycle of Leptotrombidium pallidum, a predominant vector of spring-early summer cases of scrub typhus in northern Japan. Our findings show that several meteorological factors are useful to estimate the number of scrub typhus cases before the endemic period. They are applicable to establish an early warning system for scrub typhus in northern Japan.