1: Is the use of contrast media in cardiac catheterization decreasing? - Current status revealed by a registry study of over 3 million people in the US - / 2: High abundance of Lactobacillus in the vagina during early pregnancy is associated with favorable pregnancy outcomes
Science of the Month - October 2025
1: Is the use of contrast media in cardiac catheterization decreasing? - Current status revealed by a registry study of over 3 million people in the US -
J Am Coll Cardiol.
Nobuhiro Ikemura, Paul S. Chan, David J. Cohen, Kevin F. Kennedy, Anezi Uzendu, Shun Kohsaka, and John A. Spertus
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a treatment to widen narrowed coronary arteries and can be considered a signature procedure of cardiology. However, the procedure cannot be performed without contrast media, which places a burden on the kidneys, and reducing the amount used has become a global challenge. In this study, under the guidance of Professor Spertus and Associate Professor Kohsaka (Cardiology) in the US, the author (Ikemura) used a national US database (ACC-NCDR) to analyze approximately 3.12 million PCI cases performed between 2018 and 2022. While validating the justification and results of the analysis required ingenuity, the results showed that the average amount of contrast media used decreased from 168 mL to 150 mL (despite patients being older and procedures becoming more complex) (Figure). It was also confirmed that patients at high risk for kidney injury tended to be treated with even less contrast media. On the other hand, there was significant variation in the amount of contrast media used by individual physicians, and only about 20% of all physicians had reduced their usage by 20% or more over the past five years. ACC-NCDR and our university have conducted numerous joint studies in the past. We believe this study demonstrates the results of past efforts to improve the safety of PCI while highlighting areas that "leave room for improvement" (Evidence-Practice Gap).
(Shun Kohsaka, Nobuhiro Ikemura, Department of Internal Medicine)
2: High abundance of Lactobacillus in the vagina during early pregnancy is associated with favorable pregnancy outcomes
Nature Communications.
Noriaki Oguri, Chie Kobayashi, Yuri Ozawa, Toshihiko Kimura, Yuu Nishinarita, Haruka Wada, Nobuki Nemoto, Masami Narita, Shinji Tanigaki, Tomoko Hanawa, Jun Miyoshi*, Tadakazu Hisamatsu* (Corresponding authors)
The maternal-infant microbiome during pregnancy and the perinatal period is thought to influence maternal health, the course of pregnancy, and the development of the offspring, but a definition of a "healthy microbiome" has not been established. A "healthy microbiome" could potentially serve as a target for new preventive medicine and treatments. In this study, we tracked the vaginal and intestinal microbiota of pregnant women and their offspring in Japan from 12 weeks of pregnancy until one month after birth. The results revealed that a high abundance of Lactobacillus in the vagina during early pregnancy is associated with a higher rate of pregnancy continuing beyond 38 weeks. Furthermore, unlike overseas cohort studies, Lactobacillus crispatus was dominant among the Lactobacillus species in the vagina of Japanese pregnant women. In the intestinal microbiota of the offspring, bacterial groups common to various parts of the mother were detected, and it was shown that the microbiota is constructed while changing dramatically from early after birth. The results of this study are considered a first step toward understanding the "healthy microbiome" of mothers and infants during pregnancy and the perinatal period in Japan. Furthermore, pursuing the differences and similarities with overseas research is expected to lead to the elucidation of the essence of the human "healthy microbiome."
(Jun Miyoshi, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine)
Other Published Papers
1: Heart failure-specific cardiac fibroblastscontribute to cardiac dysfunction via theMYC–CXCL1–CXCR2 axis
Nature Cardiovascular Research.
Jin Komuro, Hisayuki Hashimoto, Toshiomi Katsuki, Dai Kusumoto, Manami Katoh, Toshiyuki Ko, Masamichi Ito, Mikako Katagiri, Masayuki Kubota, Shintaro Yamada, Takahiro Nakamura, Yohei Akiba, Thukaa Kouka, Kaoruko Komuro, Mai Kimura, Shogo Ito, Seitaro Nomura, Issei Komuro, Keiichi Fukuda, Shinsuke Yuasa & Masaki Ieda
2: Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair vs medical therapy in atrial functional mitral regurgitation: a propensity score-based comparison from the OCEAN-Mitral and REVEAL-AFMR registries.
European Heart Journal.
Kaneko T, Kagiyama N, Okazaki S, Amano M, Sato Y, Ohno Y, Obokata M, Sato K, Morita K, Kubo S, Izumi Y, Asami M, Enta Y, Shirai S, Izumo M, Roland S, Watanabe Y, Amaki M, Kodama K, Otsuki H, Naganuma T, Bota H, Yamawaki M, Ueno H, Nakazawa G, Hachinohe D, Otsuka T, Saji M, Yamamoto M, Hayashida K.
3: Understanding the Differentiation Pathway to Bestrophin 4-Positive Cells in Human Colonic Epithelium.
Gastroenterology.
Wakisaka Y, Sugimoto S, Oda M, Pastuhov S, Fujii M, Sato T.
4: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Staging Project: The Database and Proposal for the Revision of the Staging of Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Carcinoma in the Forthcoming Ninth Edition of the TNM Classification for Lung Cancer.
Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Tsao MS, Rosenthal A, Nicholson AG, Detterbeck F, Eberhardt WEE, Lievens Y, Lim E, Matilla JM, Yatabe Y, Filosso PL, Beyruti R, Nishimura KK, Travis WD, Osarogiagbon RU, Rami-Porta R, Rusch V, Asamura H.