Details of a Researcher - Fukunaga, Koichi

Papers - Fukunaga, Koichi

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ASTHMA PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 2021

Fukunaga K.

Japanese Journal of Allergology 71 ( 3 ) 214 - 219 2023

ISSN 00214884

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Barrier Factors of Adherence to Dupilumab Self-Injection for Severe Allergic Disease: A Non-Interventional Open-Label Study

Hosoya K., Komachi T., Masaki K., Suzaki I., Saeki H., Kanda N., Nozaki M., Kamide Y., Matsuwaki Y., Kobayashi Y., Ogino E., Osada S.I., Usukura N., Kurumagawa T., Ninomia J., Asako M., Nakamoto K., Yokoi H., Ohyama M., Tanese K., Kanzaki S., Fukunaga K., Ebisawa M., Okubo K.

Patient Preference and Adherence 17 861 - 872 2023

Purpose: The status of dupilumab self-injection at home is not well understood. We therefore aimed to identify the barriers to adherence to dupilumab self-injection. Patients and Methods: This non-interventional open-label study was conducted between March 2021 and July 2021. Patients with atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps receiving dupilumab, from 15 sites, were requested to complete a self-administered questionnaire regarding the frequency and effectiveness of dosing as well as their use and satisfaction with dupilumab. Barriers to adherence were assessed using the Adherence Starts with Knowledge-12. Results: We included 331 patients who used dupilumab for atopic dermatitis (n = 164), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (n = 102), and bronchial asthma (n = 65). The median efficacy of dupilumab scored 9.3 on the visual analog scale. Overall, 85.5% of the patients self-injected dupilumab, and 70.7% perfectly complied with the established injection dates. The pre-filled pen was significantly superior to the conventional syringe in terms of usability, operability, ease of pushing the plunger, and patient satisfaction. However, the pre-filled pen caused more pain during self-injection than did the syringe. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that adherence decreased with longer dupilumab treatment duration (p = 0.017) and was not associated with age, sex, underlying disease, or device type. There was a difference in responses related to “inconvenience/forgetfulness” between the good and poor adherence groups. Conclusion: The pre-filled dupilumab pen was superior to the syringe in terms of usability, operability, ease of pushing the plunger, and satisfaction. Repetitive instructions are recommended for preventing poor adherence to dupilumab self-injection.

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Nasopharyngeal Mycobacterium abscessus Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review

Kaji M., Namkoong H., Nagao G., Azekawa S., Nakagawara K., Tanaka H., Morita A., Asakura T., Kamata H., Uwamino Y., Yoshida M., Fukunaga K., Hasegawa N.

Infection and Drug Resistance 16 3955 - 3963 2023

Background: Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) is a rapidly growing bacterium (RGM) that causes refractory pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections. However, studies investigating pharyngeal and laryngeal M. abscessus infections are limited. Case Presentation: A 41-year-old immunocompetent woman complaining of bloody sputum was referred to our hospital. Although her sputum culture tested positive for M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, radiological findings were not indicative of pulmonary infection or sinusitis. Further diagnostic workup, including laryngeal endoscopy and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), confirmed the presence of nasopharyngeal M. abscessus infection. The patient was initially treated with intravenous amikacin, imipenem/ cilastatin, azithromycin, and clofazimine for 28 days, after which the patient was provided with amikacin, azithromycin, clofazimine, and sitafloxacin for four months. After the completion of antibiotic therapy, the patient showed negative results on sputum smear and culture and normal findings on PET/CT and laryngeal endoscopy. Whole-genome sequencing of this strain revealed that it belonged to the ABS-GL4 cluster, which has a functional erythromycin ribosomal methylase gene, although it is not a major lineage in non-cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in Japan and Taiwan and in CF patients in European countries. We conducted a literature review and identified seven patients who developed pharyngeal/laryngeal non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infection. Four of the eight patients had a history of immunosuppressant use, including steroids. Seven of the eight patients responded well to their treatment regimens. Conclusion: Patients whose sputum culture tests are positive for NTM and who meet the diagnostic criteria for NTM infection but do not have intrapulmonary lesions should be evaluated for otorhinolaryngological infections. Our case series revealed that immunosup-pressant use is a risk factor for pharyngeal/laryngeal NTM infection and that patients with pharyngeal/laryngeal NTM infections respond relatively well to antibiotic therapy.

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Successful Steroid Treatment of Pembrolizumab-induced Agranulocytosis That Developed after Splenectomy in a Patient with Non-small-cell Lung Cancer

Okuzumi S., Kamata H., Emoto K., Shimizu T., Otake S., Irie H., Chubachi S., Ikemura S., Yasuda H., Fukunaga K.

Internal Medicine 62 ( 14 ) 2113 - 2121 2023

ISSN 09182918

Neutropenia, a rare immune-related adverse event, affects patients receiving treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). We herein report a case of pembrolizumab-induced agranulocytosis. An 83-year-old man was diagnosed with advanced-stage lung carcinoma concomitant with splenomegaly complicated by hypersplenism, causing pancytopenia. To avoid the risk of bone marrow suppression due to cytotoxic chemotherapy, pembrolizumab monotherapy was chosen. However, the patient developed agranulocytosis despite the resolution of pancytopenia through splenectomy performed after the fourth pembrolizumab cycle. Neutrophil counts improved after steroid treatment but not after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment. This case demonstrated that neutropenia can sometimes develop abruptly after several ICI therapy cycles.

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Real-world effects of once-daily inhaled steroid (fluticasone furoate) combined with long-acting beta-2 agonist (vilanterol) and long-acting muscarinic antagonist (umeclidinium) on lung function tests of asthma patients in Japan

Umeda A., Shimada H., Yamane T., Mochizuki T., Inoue Y., Tsushima K., Miyagawa K., Mochida A., Takeda H., Okada Y., Masaki K., Matsusaka M., Fukunaga K.

Frontiers in Physiology 14 2023

Background: The Japanese drug use system allowed the once-daily use of inhaled corticosteroid fluticasone furoate (FF) combined with a long-acting beta-2 agonist vilanterol (VI) and a long-acting muscarinic antagonist umeclidinium (UMEC) against asthma on 18 February 2021. We investigated the real-world effects of these drugs (FF/UMEC/VI) mainly on lung function tests. Methods: This was an open-label, uncontrolled, within-group time-series (before-after) study. Prior asthma treatment (inhaled corticosteroid with/without a long-acting beta-2 agonist with/without a long-acting muscarinic antagonist) was switched to FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg. Subjects were evaluated by lung function tests prior to, and 1–2 months after, initiation of FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg. Patients were asked questions regarding the asthma control test and preference for drugs. Results: Overall, 114 asthma outpatients (97% Japanese) were enrolled from February 2021 to April 2022: 104 subjects completed the study. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s, peak flow, and asthma control test score of FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg-treated subjects were significantly increased (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p < 0.01, respectively). In contrast with FF/VI 200/25 μg, instantaneous flow at 25% of the forced vital capacity and expiratory reserve volume were significantly increased by FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, respectively). Sixty-six percent of subjects declared they wanted to continue FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg in the future. Adverse effects, mainly local, were seen in 30% of patients, but no serious adverse effects were seen. Conclusion: Once-daily FF/UMEC/VI 200/62.5/25 μg was effective against asthma without serious adverse events. This is the first report that demonstrated FF/UMEC/VI dilated peripheral airways using lung function tests. This evidence on drug effects may improve our understanding of pulmonary physiology and the pathophysiology of asthma.

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Potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies with therapeutic effects in two animal models

Takeshita M., Fukuyama H., Kamada K., Matsumoto T., Makino-Okamura C., Uchikubo-Kamo T., Tomabechi Y., Hanada K., Moriyama S., Takahashi Y., Ishigaki H., Nakayama M., Nguyen C.T., Kitagawa Y., Itoh Y., Imai M., Maemura T., Furusawa Y., Ueki H., Iwatsuki-Horimoto K., Ito M., Yamayoshi S., Kawaoka Y., Shirouzu M., Ishii M., Saya H., Kondo Y., Kaneko Y., Suzuki K., Fukunaga K., Takeuchi T.

iScience 25 ( 12 ) 2022.12

The use of therapeutic neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 infection has been highly effective. However, there remain few practical antibodies against viruses that are acquiring mutations. In this study, we created 494 monoclonal antibodies from patients with COVID-19-convalescent, and identified antibodies that exhibited the comparable neutralizing ability to clinically used antibodies in the neutralization assay using pseudovirus and authentic virus including variants of concerns. These antibodies have different profiles against various mutations, which were confirmed by cell-based assay and cryo-electron microscopy. To prevent antibody-dependent enhancement, N297A modification was introduced. Our antibodies showed a reduction of lung viral RNAs by therapeutic administration in a hamster model. In addition, an antibody cocktail consisting of three antibodies was also administered therapeutically to a macaque model, which resulted in reduced viral titers of swabs and lungs and reduced lung tissue damage scores. These results showed that our antibodies have sufficient antiviral activity as therapeutic candidates.

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Comparison of Lung, Lobe, and Airway Volumes between Supine and Upright Computed Tomography and Their Correlation with Pulmonary Function Test in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Yamada Y., Chubachi S., Yamada M., Yokoyama Y., Tanabe A., Matsuoka S., Niijima Y., Murata M., Fukunaga K., Jinzaki M.

Respiration 101 ( 12 ) 1110 - 1120 2022.12

ISSN 00257931

Background: Correlations between upright CT and pulmonary function test (PFT) measurements, and differences in lung/lobe/airway volumes between supine and standing positions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unknown. Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate correlations between lung/airway volumes on both supine and upright CT and PFT measurements in patients with COPD, and compare CT-based inspiratory/expiratory lung/lobe/airway volumes between the two positions. Methods: Forty-eight patients with COPD underwent both conventional supine and upright CT in a randomized order during inspiration and expiration breath-holds, and PFTs within 2 h. We measured the lung/lobe/airway volumes on both CT. Results: The correlation coefficients between total lung volumes on inspiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT total lung capacity and vital capacity were 0.887/0.920 and 0.711/0.781, respectively; between total lung volumes on expiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT functional residual capacity and residual volume, 0.676/0.744 and 0.713/0.739, respectively; and between airway volume on inspiratory CT in supine/standing position and PFT forced expiratory volume in 1 s, 0.471/0.524, respectively. Inspiratory/expiratory bilateral upper and right lower lobe, bilateral lung, and airway volumes were significantly higher in the standing than supine position (3.6-21.2% increases, all p < 0.05); however, inspiratory/expiratory right middle lobe volumes were significantly lower in the standing position (4.6%/15.9% decreases, respectively, both p < 0.001). Conclusions: Upright CT-based volumes were more correlated with PFT measurements than supine CT-based volumes in patients with COPD. Unlike other lobes and airway, inspiratory/expiratory right middle lobe volumes were significantly lower in the standing than supine position.

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Memory B Cells and Memory T Cells Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Booster Vaccination or Infection Show Different Dynamics and Responsiveness to the Omicron Variant

Mise-Omata S., Ikeda M., Takeshita M., Uwamino Y., Wakui M., Arai T., Yoshifuji A., Murano K., Siomi H., Nakagawara K., Ohyagi M., Ando M., Hasegawa N., Saya H., Murata M., Fukunaga K., Namkoong H., Lu X., Yamasaki S., Yoshimura A.

Journal of Immunology 209 ( 11 ) 2104 - 2113 2022.12

ISSN 00221767

Although the immunological memory produced by BNT162b2 vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been well studied and established, further information using different racial cohorts is necessary to understand the overall immunological response to vaccination. We evaluated memory B and T cell responses to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein before and after the third booster using a Japanese cohort. Although the Ab titer against the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) decreased significantly 8 mo after the second vaccination, the number of memory B cells continued to increase, whereas the number of memory T cells decreased slowly. Memory B and T cells from unvaccinated infected patients showed similar kinetics. After the third vaccination, the Ab titer increased to the level of the second vaccination, and memory B cells increased at significantly higher levels before the booster, whereas memory T cells recovered close to the second vaccination levels. In memory T cells, the frequency of CXCR5+CXCR3+CCR62 circulating follicular Th1 was positively correlated with RBD-specific Ab-secreting B cells. For the response to variant RBDs, although 60-80% of memory B cells could bind to the omicron RBD, their avidity was low, whereas memory T cells show an equal response to the omicron spike. Thus, the persistent presence of memory B and T cells will quickly upregulate Ab production and T cell responses after omicron strain infection, which prevents severe illness and death due to coronavirus disease 2019.

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Most Important Things and Associated Factors With Prioritizing Daily Life in Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer

Kameyama N., Sato T., Arai D., Fujisawa D., Takeuchi M., Nakachi I., Kawada I., Yasuda H., Ikemura S., Terai H., Nukaga S., Nakano Y., Hirano T., Minematsu N., Asakura T., Kamatani T., Tanaka K., Suzuki S., Miyawaki M., Naoki K., Fukunaga K., Soejima K.

JCO Oncology Practice 18 ( 12 ) E1977 - E1986 2022.12

ISSN 26881527

PURPOSE:Patients' values and priorities in their lives should be appreciated from an early phase of incurable diseases such as advanced cancer. However, studies examining these characteristics have been lacking. This study attempted to determine what patients with advanced lung cancer valued most, once they had been diagnosed, and any associated factors.METHODS:Patients with newly diagnosed advanced lung cancer (N = 248) were enrolled in a questionnaire survey conducted at 16 hospitals in Japan. Their priorities were assessed using a free-text response to the question what is the most important thing to you now? at the time of diagnosis and 3 months after diagnosis. The free-text responses were classified into 10 categories for quantification. The clinical characteristics associated with the category describing daily life were further examined.RESULTS:Free-text comments were obtained from 103 (44.0%) and 66 (42.6%) patients at the time of diagnosis and at 3 months, respectively. The most frequent categories were family (at diagnosis: 50.5%; at 3 months: 50.0%) and daily life (at diagnosis: 33.0%; at 3 months: 36.4%), followed by health (at diagnosis: 32.0%; at 3 months: 27.3%) at both time points. The patients mentioning daily life, the issues related to how to spend daily life, showed significantly higher total scores and functional well-being subscale scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung scale at both time points and lower depression scores at diagnosis and lower anxiety scores at 3 months on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.CONCLUSION:Family and daily life were highly valued by patients with advanced lung cancer at diagnosis. A better quality of life and better mood were associated with mentioning daily life, which should be taken into account in care planning to maintain patients' involvement in daily life even with incurable diseases.

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The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

Wang Q.S., Edahiro R., Namkoong H., Hasegawa T., Shirai Y., Sonehara K., Tanaka H., Lee H., Saiki R., Hyugaji T., Shimizu E., Katayama K., Kanai M., Naito T., Sasa N., Yamamoto K., Kato Y., Morita T., Takahashi K., Harada N., Naito T., Hiki M., Matsushita Y., Takagi H., Ichikawa M., Nakamura A., Harada S., Sandhu Y., Kabata H., Masaki K., Kamata H., Ikemura S., Chubachi S., Okamori S., Terai H., Morita A., Asakura T., Sasaki J., Morisaki H., Uwamino Y., Nanki K., Uchida S., Uno S., Nishimura T., Ishiguro T., Isono T., Shibata S., Matsui Y., Hosoda C., Takano K., Nishida T., Kobayashi Y., Takaku Y., Takayanagi N., Ueda S., Tada A., Miyawaki M., Yamamoto M., Yoshida E., Hayashi R., Nagasaka T., Arai S., Kaneko Y., Sasaki K., Tagaya E., Kawana M., Arimura K., Takahashi K., Anzai T., Ito S., Endo A., Uchimura Y., Miyazaki Y., Honda T., Tateishi T., Tohda S., Ichimura N., Sonobe K., Sassa C.T., Nakajima J., Nakano Y., Nakajima Y., Anan R., Arai R., Kurihara Y., Harada Y., Nishio K., Ueda T., Azuma M., Saito R., Sado T., Miyazaki Y., Sato R., Haruta Y., Nagasaki T., Yasui Y., Hasegawa Y., Mutoh Y., Kimura T., Sato T.

Nature Communications 13 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection.

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Early intubation and decreased in-hospital mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019

Yamamoto R., Kaito D., Homma K., Endo A., Tagami T., Suzuki M., Umetani N., Yagi M., Nashiki E., Suhara T., Nagata H., Kabata H., Fukunaga K., Yamakawa K., Hayakawa M., Ogura T., Hirayama A., Yasunaga H., Sasaki J.

Critical Care 26 ( 1 ) 2022.12

ISSN 13648535

Background: Some academic organizations recommended that physicians intubate patients with COVID-19 with a relatively lower threshold of oxygen usage particularly in the early phase of pandemic. We aimed to elucidate whether early intubation is associated with decreased in-hospital mortality among patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who required intubation. Methods: A multicenter, retrospective, observational study was conducted at 66 hospitals in Japan where patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 were treated between January and September 2020. Patients who were diagnosed as COVID-19 with a positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test and intubated during admission were included. Early intubation was defined as intubation conducted in the setting of ≤ 6 L/min of oxygen usage. In-hospital mortality was compared between patients with early and non-early intubation. Inverse probability weighting analyses with propensity scores were performed to adjust patient demographics, comorbidities, hemodynamic status on admission and time at intubation, medications before intubation, severity of COVID-19, and institution characteristics. Subgroup analyses were conducted on the basis of age, severity of hypoxemia at intubation, and days from admission to intubation. Results: Among 412 patients eligible for the study, 110 underwent early intubation. In-hospital mortality was lower in patients with early intubation than those with non-early intubation (18 [16.4%] vs. 88 [29.1%]; odds ratio, 0.48 [95% confidence interval 0.27–0.84]; p = 0.009, and adjusted odds ratio, 0.28 [95% confidence interval 0.19–0.42]; p < 0.001). The beneficial effects of early intubation were observed regardless of age and severity of hypoxemia at time of intubation; however, early intubation was associated with lower in-hospital mortality only among patients who were intubated later than 2 days after admission. Conclusions: Early intubation in the setting of ≤ 6 L/min of oxygen usage was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality among patients with COVID-19 who required intubation. Trial Registration None.

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Differences in lung and lobe volumes between supine and upright computed tomography in patients with idiopathic lung fibrosis

Chubachi S., Okamori S., Yamada Y., Yamada M., Yokoyama Y., Niijima Y., Kamata H., Ishii M., Fukunaga K., Jinzaki M.

Scientific Reports 12 ( 1 ) 2022.12

No clinical study has compared lung or lobe volumes on computed tomography (CT) between the supine and standing positions in patients with idiopathic lung fibrosis (IPF). This study aimed to compare lung and lobe volumes between the supine and standing positions and evaluate the correlations between the supine/standing lung volumes on CT and pulmonary function in patients with IPF. Twenty-three patients with IPF underwent a pulmonary function test and both low-dose conventional (supine position) and upright CT (standing position) during inspiration breath-holds. The volumes of the total lungs and lobes were larger in the standing than in the supine position in patients with IPF (all p < 0.05). Spearman's correlation coefficients between total lung volumes on chest CT in supine/standing positions and vital capacity (VC) or forced VC (FVC) were 0.61/0.79 or 0.64/0.80, respectively. CT-based volumes on upright CT were better correlated with VC and FVC than those on supine CT. Lung and lobe volumes in the standing position may be useful biomarkers to assess disease severity or therapeutic effect in patients with IPF.

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Comparison of inspiratory and expiratory airway volumes and luminal areas among standing, sitting, and supine positions using upright and conventional CT

Yamada Y., Yamada M., Chubachi S., Yokoyama Y., Matsuoka S., Tanabe A., Niijima Y., Murata M., Abe T., Fukunaga K., Jinzaki M.

Scientific Reports 12 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Upright computed tomography (CT) provides physiologically relevant images of daily life postures (sitting and standing). The volume of the human airway in sitting or standing positions remains unclear, and no clinical study to date has compared the inspiratory and expiratory airway volumes and luminal areas among standing, sitting, and supine positions. In this prospective study, 100 asymptomatic volunteers underwent both upright (sitting and standing positions) and conventional (supine position) CT during inspiration and expiration breath-holds and the pulmonary function test (PFT) within 2 h of CT. We compared the inspiratory/expiratory airway volumes and luminal areas on CT among the three positions and evaluated the correlation between airway volumes in each position on CT and PFT measurements. The inspiratory and expiratory airway volumes were significantly higher in the sitting and standing positions than in the supine position (inspiratory, 4.6% and 2.5% increase, respectively; expiratory, 14.9% and 13.4% increase, respectively; all P < 0.001). The inspiratory and expiratory luminal areas of the trachea, bilateral main bronchi, and average third-generation airway were significantly higher in the sitting and standing positions than in the supine position (inspiratory, 4.2‒10.3% increases, all P < 0.001; expiratory, 6.4‒12.8% increases, all P < 0.0001). These results could provide important clues regarding the pathogenesis of orthopnea. Spearman’s correlation coefficients between the inspiratory airway volume on CT and forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s on PFT were numerically higher in the standing position than in the supine position (0.673 vs. 0.659 and 0.669 vs. 0.643, respectively); however, no statistically significant differences were found. Thus, the airway volumes on upright and conventional supine CT were moderately correlated with the PFT measurements.

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Clinical clustering with prognostic implications in Japanese COVID-19 patients: report from Japan COVID-19 Task Force, a nation-wide consortium to investigate COVID-19 host genetics

Otake S., Chubachi S., Namkoong H., Nakagawara K., Tanaka H., Lee H., Morita A., Fukushima T., Watase M., Kusumoto T., Masaki K., Kamata H., Ishii M., Hasegawa N., Harada N., Ueda T., Ueda S., Ishiguro T., Arimura K., Saito F., Yoshiyama T., Nakano Y., Mutoh Y., Suzuki Y., Murakami K., Okada Y., Koike R., Kitagawa Y., Kimura A., Imoto S., Miyano S., Ogawa S., Kanai T., Fukunaga K.

BMC Infectious Diseases 22 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Background: The clinical course of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is diverse, and the usefulness of phenotyping in predicting the severity or prognosis of the disease has been demonstrated overseas. This study aimed to investigate clinically meaningful phenotypes in Japanese COVID-19 patients using cluster analysis. Methods: From April 2020 to May 2021, data from inpatients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with COVID-19 and who agreed to participate in the study were collected. A total of 1322 Japanese patients were included. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using variables reported to be associated with COVID-19 severity or prognosis, namely, age, sex, obesity, smoking history, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, malignancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperuricemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic liver disease, and chronic kidney disease. Results: Participants were divided into four clusters: Cluster 1, young healthy (n = 266, 20.1%); Cluster 2, middle-aged (n = 245, 18.5%); Cluster 3, middle-aged obese (n = 435, 32.9%); and Cluster 4, elderly (n = 376, 28.4%). In Clusters 3 and 4, sore throat, dysosmia, and dysgeusia tended to be less frequent, while shortness of breath was more frequent. Serum lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, KL-6, d-dimer, and C-reactive protein levels tended to be higher in Clusters 3 and 4. Although Cluster 3 had a similar age as Cluster 2, it tended to have poorer outcomes. Both Clusters 3 and 4 tended to exhibit higher rates of oxygen supplementation, intensive care unit admission, and mechanical ventilation, but the mortality rate tended to be lower in Cluster 3. Conclusions: We have successfully performed the first phenotyping of COVID-19 patients in Japan, which is clinically useful in predicting important outcomes, despite the simplicity of the cluster analysis method that does not use complex variables.

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Characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 during the first to fifth waves of infection: a report from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force

Lee H., Chubachi S., Namkoong H., Asakura T., Tanaka H., Otake S., Nakagawara K., Morita A., Fukushima T., Watase M., Kusumoto T., Masaki K., Kamata H., Ishii M., Hasegawa N., Harada N., Ueda T., Ueda S., Ishiguro T., Arimura K., Saito F., Yoshiyama T., Nakano Y., Mutoh Y., Suzuki Y., Murakami K., Okada Y., Koike R., Kitagawa Y., Kimura A., Imoto S., Miyano S., Ogawa S., Kanai T., Fukunaga K.

BMC Infectious Diseases 22 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Background: We aimed to elucidate differences in the characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring hospitalization in Japan, by COVID-19 waves, from conventional strains to the Delta variant. Methods: We used secondary data from a database and performed a retrospective cohort study that included 3261 patients aged ≥ 18 years enrolled from 78 hospitals that participated in the Japan COVID-19 Task Force between February 2020 and September 2021. Results: Patients hospitalized during the second (mean age, 53.2 years [standard deviation {SD}, ± 18.9]) and fifth (mean age, 50.7 years [SD ± 13.9]) COVID-19 waves had a lower mean age than those hospitalized during the other COVID-19 waves. Patients hospitalized during the first COVID-19 wave had a longer hospital stay (mean, 30.3 days [SD ± 21.5], p < 0.0001), and post-hospitalization complications, such as bacterial infections (21.3%, p < 0.0001), were also noticeable. In addition, there was an increase in the use of drugs such as remdesivir/baricitinib/tocilizumab/steroids during the latter COVID-19 waves. In the fifth COVID-19 wave, patients exhibited a greater number of presenting symptoms, and a higher percentage of patients required oxygen therapy at the time of admission. However, the percentage of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation was the highest in the first COVID-19 wave and the mortality rate was the highest in the third COVID-19 wave. Conclusions: We identified differences in clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in each COVID-19 wave up to the fifth COVID-19 wave in Japan. The fifth COVID-19 wave was associated with greater disease severity on admission, the third COVID-19 wave had the highest mortality rate, and the first COVID-19 wave had the highest percentage of patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

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Analysis of adverse drug events in pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease using spontaneous reporting system

Ozawa T., Namkoong H., Takaya R., Takahashi Y., Fukunaga K., Enoki Y., Taguchi K., Kizu J., Matsumoto K., Hasegawa N.

BMC Infectious Diseases 22 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Background: In Japan, Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease (MAC-LD) is the most common in nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease. Patients often experience adverse events, resulting in the discontinuation of treatment, which causes treatment failure. The JADER (Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report) database is a database of adverse events that allows us to collect real-world data on adverse events. We can collect large-scale data cost-effectively and detect signals of potential adverse events such as reporting odds ratio (ROR) by using spontaneous reporting systems. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the adverse events of clarithromycin (CAM), ethambutol (EB), and rifampicin (RFP) using the JADER database. Methods: We included cases of MAC-LD between April 2004 and June 2017. We investigated sex, age, and medications that may have caused the adverse events, outcomes, and time of onset. We calculated the safety signal index as the ROR. Time-to-event analysis was performed using the Weibull distribution. Results: The total number of adverse events of CAM, EB, and RFP was 2780, with 806 patients. In the overall adverse events, hematologic and lymphatic disorders were the most common adverse events, with 17.3%, followed by eye disorders (16.6%), and hepatobiliary disorders (14.0%). The outcomes were as follows: recovery, 40.0%; remission, 27.1%; non-recovery, 11.2%; and death, 7.1%. Regarding the most common onset time of CAM, EB, and RFP was within 120 days at 40%, 181–300 days at 43.6%, and within 120 days at 88.5%. For CAM, the RORs of infections and infestations, hepatobiliary system disorders, and immune system disorders were 4.13 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3–7.44), 2.61 (95% CI, 1.39–4.91), and 2.38 (95% CI, 1.04–5.44). For EB, the ROR of eye disorders was 215.79 (95% CI, 132.62–351.12). For RFP, the RORs of renal and urinary tract disorders and investigations were 7.03 (95% CI, 3.35–14.77) and 6.99 (95% CI, 3.22–15.18). The β value of EB was 2.07 (95% CI, 1.48–2.76), which was classified as a wear-out failure type. Conclusions: For MAC-LD, the adverse event which has the highest ROR is infections and infestations in CAM, eye disorders in EB, renal and urinary tract disorders in RFP. Adverse events of EB occur after 180 days, whereas the adverse events of CAM and RFP occur early in the course of treatment.

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Effects of mild obesity on outcomes in Japanese patients with COVID-19: a nationwide consortium to investigate COVID-19 host genetics

Lee H., Chubachi S., Namkoong H., Tanaka H., Otake S., Nakagawara K., Morita A., Fukushima T., Watase M., Kusumoto T., Masaki K., Kamata H., Ishii M., Hasegawa N., Harada N., Ueda T., Ueda S., Ishiguro T., Arimura K., Saito F., Yoshiyama T., Nakano Y., Mutoh Y., Suzuki Y., Murakami K., Okada Y., Koike R., Kitagawa Y., Kimura A., Imoto S., Miyano S., Ogawa S., Kanai T., Fukunaga K.

Nutrition and Diabetes 12 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Background: Obesity is reported to be a risk factor for severe disease in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, there are no specific reports on the risk of severe disease according to body mass index (BMI) in Japan. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of obesity stratified by BMI on the severity of COVID-19 in the general Japanese population. Methods: From February 2020 to May 2021, 1 837 patients aged ≥18 years were enrolled in the Japan COVID-19 Task Force. Patients with known BMI and disease severity were analyzed. Severity was defined as critical if the patient was treated in the intensive care unit, required invasive mechanical ventilation, or died. Results: Class 1 obesity (25.0 ≤ BMI < 30.0 kg/m2), class 2 obesity (30.0 ≤ BMI < 35.0 kg/m2), and class 3 or 4 obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) were present in 29%, 8%, and 3% of the cases, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis with known risk factors for critical illness indicated that class 2 obesity was an independent risk factor for oxygenation (adjusted odds ratio, 4.75) and critical cases (adjusted odds ratio, 1.81). Class 1 obesity and class 3 or 4 obesity were independent risk factors for oxygen administration (adjusted odds ratios 2.01 and 3.12, respectively), but not for critical cases. However, no differences in the mortality rates were observed between the BMI classes (P = 0.5104). Conclusion: Obesity is a risk factor for respiratory failure in Japanese patients with COVID-19, regardless of the degree of obesity. However, it may not cause severe COVID-19 in a dose–response relationship with BMI. COVID-19 patients with mild obesity may benefit from aggressive intensive care.

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Short-term intermittent cigarette smoke exposure enhances alveolar type 2 cell stemness via fatty acid oxidation

Irie H., Ozaki M., Chubachi S., Hegab A.E., Tsutsumi A., Kameyama N., Sakurai K., Nakayama S., Kagawa S., Wada S., Ishii M., Betsuyaku T., Fukunaga K.

Respiratory Research 23 ( 1 ) 2022.12

ISSN 14659921

Background: Cigarette smoke (CS) is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer. However, the underlying pathological mechanisms are not well understood. We recently reported that mice exposed to long-term intermittent CS for 3 months developed more severe emphysema and higher incidence of adenocarcinoma than mice exposed to long-term continuous CS for 3 months and long-term continuous CS exposure activated alveolar stem cell proliferation. However, the influence of variations in the CS exposure pattern in alveolar stem cell in unknown. Here, we exposed mice to 3 weeks of continuous or intermittent CS to identify whether different CS exposure patterns would result in differential effects on stem cells and the mechanisms underlying these potential differences. Methods: Female mice expressing GFP in alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells, which are stem cells of the alveolar compartment, were exposed to mainstream CS via nasal inhalation. AT2 cells were collected based on their GFP expression by flow cytometry and co-cultured with fibroblasts in stem cell 3D organoid/colony-forming assays. We compared gene expression profiles of continuous and intermittent CS-exposed AT2 cells using microarray analysis and performed a functional assessment of a differentially expressed gene to confirm its involvement in the process using activator and inhibitor studies. Results: AT2 cells sorted from intermittent CS-exposed mice formed significantly more colonies compared to those from continuous CS-exposed mice, and both CS-exposed groups formed significantly more colonies when compared to air-exposed cells. Comparative microarray analysis revealed the upregulation of genes related to fatty acid oxidation (FAO) pathways in AT2 cells from intermittent CS-exposed mice. Treatment of intermittent CS-exposed mice with etomoxir, an inhibitor of the FAO regulator Cpt1a, for 5 weeks resulted in a significant suppression of the efficiency of AT2 cell colony formation. In vitro treatment of naïve AT2 cells with a FAO activator and inhibitor further confirmed the relationship between FAO and AT2 stem cell function. Conclusions: Alveolar stem cell function was more strongly activated by intermittent CS exposure than by continuous CS exposure. We provide evidence that AT2 stem cells respond to intermittent CS exposure by activating stem cell proliferation via the activation of FAO.

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Pro108Ser mutation of SARS-CoV-2 3CL<sup>pro</sup> reduces the enzyme activity and ameliorates the clinical severity of COVID-19

Abe K., Kabe Y., Uchiyama S., Iwasaki Y.W., Ishizu H., Uwamino Y., Takenouchi T., Uno S., Ishii M., Maruno T., Noda M., Murata M., Hasegawa N., Saya H., Kitagawa Y., Fukunaga K., Amagai M., Siomi H., Suematsu M., Kosaki K.

Scientific Reports 12 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Recently, an international randomized controlled clinical trial showed that patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection treated orally with the 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) inhibitor PF-07321332 within three days of symptom onset showed an 89% lower risk of COVID-19-related hospital admission/ death from any cause as compared with the patients who received placebo. Lending support to this critically important result of the aforementioned trial, we demonstrated in our study that patients infected with a SARS-Cov-2 sub-lineage (B.1.1.284) carrying the Pro108Ser mutation in 3CLpro tended to have a comparatively milder clinical course (i.e., a smaller proportion of patients required oxygen supplementation during the clinical course) than patients infected with the same sub-lineage of virus not carrying the mutation. Characterization of the mutant 3CLpro revealed that the Kcat/Km of the 3CLpro enzyme containing Ser108 was 58% lower than that of Pro108 3CLpro. Hydrogen/deuterium-exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) revealed that the reduced activity was associated with structural perturbation surrounding the substrate-binding region of the enzyme, which is positioned behind and distant from the 108th amino acid residue. Our findings of the attenuated clinical course of COVID-19 in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 strains with reduced 3CLpro enzymatic activity greatly endorses the promising result of the aforementioned clinical trial of the 3CLpro inhibitor.

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Osteoporosis in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study

Tanaka H., Asakura T., Suzuki S., Okamori S., Kusumoto T., Ogawa T., Uno S., Morita A., Lee H., Namkoong H., Kamata H., Sato Y., Uwamino Y., Nishimura T., Ishii M., Fukunaga K., Hasegawa N.

BMC Pulmonary Medicine 22 ( 1 ) 2022.12

Background: Since nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) is common in middle-aged/elderly slender women at risk of osteoporosis, we hypothesized that NTM-PD could be associated with osteoporosis. The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with NTM-PD compared with that in the general population and determine the factors associated with osteoporosis in the subjects, including the serum estradiol (E2) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels. Methods: We have recruited 228 consecutive adult patients with NTM-PD from a prospective cohort study at the Keio University Hospital, who had no history of osteoporosis or osteoporosis-associated bone fracture but underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-based bone mineral density (BMD) evaluation from August 2017–September 2019. The E2 and 25OHD levels were measured in 165 patients with available stored serum samples. We performed multivariable logistic regression analyses for osteopenia and osteoporosis. Results: Osteoporosis (T-score ≤ − 2.5) and osteopenia (T-score − 1 to − 2.5) were diagnosed in 35.1% and 36.8% of patients with NTM-PD, respectively. Compared with the general population, the proportion of osteoporosis was significantly higher in 50–59-, 60–69-, and 70–79-year-old women with NTM-PD. Multivariable analysis revealed that older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for 1-year increase = 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07–1.18), female sex (aOR = 36.3; 95% CI = 7.57–174), lower BMI (aOR for 1 kg/m2 decrease = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.14–1.65), and chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infection (aOR = 6.70; 95% CI = 1.07–41.8) were independently associated with osteoporosis. Additionally, multivariable analysis in 165 patients whose serum E2 and 25OHD levels were measured showed that both low E2 levels (< 10 pg/mL) and lower 25OHD levels were independently associated with osteoporosis. Conclusions: Middle-aged/elderly women with NTM-PD have a higher prevalence of osteoporosis than the general population. BMD screening should be considered in NTM-PD, especially in older females with severe diseases such as chronic PA infection and lower BMI, and low serum E2 and 25OHD levels.

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