1: Live Two-way Video Versus Face-to-Face Treatment for Depression, Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A 24-Week Randomized Controlled Trial.
Science of the Month - February 2024
Psychiatry Clin Neurosci..
2023 Dec 15. doi: 10.1111/pcn.13618.
Taishiro Kishimoto, Shotaro Kinoshita, Momoko Kitazawa, Akitoyo Hishimoto, Takeshi Asami, Akira Suda, Shogyoku Bun, Toshiaki Kikuchi, Mitsuhiro Sado, Akihiro Takamiya, Masaru Mimura, Yasunori Sato, Ryo Takemura, Kengo Nagashima, Takashi Nakamae, Yoshinari Abe, Tetsufumi Kanazawa, Yasuo Kawabata, Hiroaki Tomita, Koichi Abe, Seiji Hongo, Hiroshi Kimura, Aiko Sato, Hisashi Kida, Kei Sakuma, Michitaka Funayama, Naoya Sugiyama, Kousuke Hino, Toru Amagai, Maki Takamiya, Hideyuki Kodama, Kenichi Goto, Shuichiro Fujiwara, Hisanobu Kaiya, Kiichiro Nagao; J-PROTECT collaborators
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, online consultations became widely used in psychiatry globally, but their long-term therapeutic effects in clinical practice had not necessarily been studied. In Japan, in particular, its use was limited due to constraints on medical fees, and there was a demand for evidence within the domestic healthcare environment. This was a non-inferiority trial conducted to demonstrate that the therapeutic effect of online consultations is not inferior to that of face-to-face consultations within the framework of standard health insurance. In the trial, outpatients with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder were divided into a group using online consultations and a group that did not, and they underwent 24 weeks of outpatient treatment (see figure). The trial was conducted at 19 medical institutions across 11 prefectures in Japan, with 199 participants. The results verified the non-inferiority of the combined online consultation group compared to the face-to-face consultation group for the primary endpoint, the SF-36 MCS. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed between the two groups for many secondary endpoints, including treatment continuation rates and satisfaction. On the other hand, the combined online consultation group had shorter travel times and lower travel costs compared to the face-to-face group. The results of this study were cited in materials for the Council for Promotion of Regulatory Reform Working Group and the general meeting of the Central Social Insurance Medical Council, forming the basis for the 2024 revision of medical service fees. We intend to continue conducting research that can contribute to evidence-based policy making (EBPM).
(Taishiro Kishimoto, Project Professor, Hills Joint Research Laboratory for Future Preventive Medicine and Wellness, Class of '79; Shotaro Kinoshita, Project Assistant Professor)
2: Proximal and Distal Bronchioles Contribute to the Pathogenesis of Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB).
Am J Respir Crit Care Med .
Takanori Asakura, Kenichi Okuda, Gang Chen, Hong Dang, Takafumi Kato, Yu Mikami, Stephen A Schworer, Rodney C Gilmore, Giorgia Radicioni, Padraig Hawkins, Selene Margarita Barbosa Cardenas, Minako Saito, Anne Marie Cawley, Gabriela De la Cruz, Michael Chua, Neil E Alexis, Yohei Masugi, Peadar G Noone, Carla M P Ribeiro, Mehmet Kesimer, Kenneth N Olivier, Naoki Hasegawa, Scott H Randell, Wanda K O'Neal, Richard C Boucher
Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is an intractable disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and bronchiectatic lesions. In Japan, it had drawn attention as a complication of diffuse panbronchiolitis or post-tuberculosis, but in recent years, cases associated with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease have been increasing. The human airway is classified into the central airways (bronchus), which have cartilage and submucosal glands, and the peripheral airways (bronchioles), with the boundary around the 6th-8th generation. In NCFB, the importance of mucus plugs in the peripheral airways had been suggested. Using central and peripheral airway-specific markers from single-cell RNA analysis, we evaluated NCFB lungs in Japan and the US and identified findings of bronchial dilation in the peripheral airways. Additionally, mucus plugs were frequently observed in the peripheral airways, MUC5B was selectively increased in the distal bronchioles, and spatial transcriptome analysis confirmed the upregulation of pathways related to hypoxia and secretory cells. In human primary airway epithelial cells stimulated with sputum-derived supernatant from NCFB patients, MUC5B and MUC5AC levels increased, and these levels decreased with IL1R1 deletion, suggesting a potential therapeutic target. This study proposes the concept of 'bronchiolectasis,' indicating the dilation of bronchioles, and clarifies an important molecular basis for future research.
Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is an intractable disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and bronchiectatic lesions. In Japan, it had drawn attention as a complication of diffuse panbronchiolitis or post-tuberculosis, but in recent years, cases associated with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease have been increasing. The human airway is classified into the central airways (bronchus), which have cartilage and submucosal glands, and the peripheral airways (bronchioles), with the boundary around the 6th-8th generation. In NCFB, the importance of mucus plugs in the peripheral airways had been suggested. Using central and peripheral airway-specific markers from single-cell RNA analysis, we evaluated NCFB lungs in Japan and the US and identified findings of bronchial dilation in the peripheral airways. Additionally, mucus plugs were frequently observed in the peripheral airways, MUC5B was selectively increased in the distal bronchioles, and spatial transcriptome analysis confirmed the upregulation of pathways related to hypoxia and secretory cells. In human primary airway epithelial cells stimulated with sputum-derived supernatant from NCFB patients, MUC5B and MUC5AC levels increased, and these levels decreased with IL1R1 deletion, suggesting a potential therapeutic target. This study proposes the concept of 'bronchiolectasis,' indicating the dilation of bronchioles, and clarifies an important molecular basis for future research.
(Takanori Asakura, Department of Systems Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kitasato University / Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kitasato Institute Hospital, Class of '89)
Other Published Papers
1: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Thymic Epithelial Tumors Staging Project: An Overview of the Central Database Informing Revision of the Forthcoming (Ninth) Edition of the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors.
Journal of Thoracic Oncology .
Rimner A, Ruffini E, Cilento V, Goren E, Ahmad U, Appel S, Bille A, Boubia S, Brambilla C, Cangir AK, Detterbeck F, Falkson C, Fang WT, Filosso PL, Giaccone G, Girard N, Guerrera F, Huang J, Infante M, Kim DK, Lucchi M, Marino M, Marom EM, Nicholson AG, Okumura M, Rami-Porta R, Simone CB, II, Asamura H.
2: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Thymic Epithelial Tumor Staging Project: Proposal for the T Component for the Forthcoming (Ninth) Edition of the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors.
Journal of Thoracic Oncology .
Okumura M, Marino M, Cilento V, Goren E, Ruffini E, Dibaba D, Ahmad U, Appel S, Bille A, Boubia S, Brambilla C, Cangir AK, Detterbeck F, Falkson C, Fang WT, Filosso PL, Giaccone G, Girard N, Guerrera F, Huang JM, Infante M, Kim DK, Lucchi M, Marom EM, Nicholson AG, Rami-Porta R, Rimner A, Simone CB, Asamura H.