Internal medicine
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Yezo virus is a novel virus transmitted by tick bites that causes fever with thrombocytopenia. To date, two reports have been published on patients with Yezo virus infection. ⋯ The patient had thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and elevated liver enzyme and serum ferritin levels. The patient was diagnosed with Yezo virus and Borrelia miyamotoi coinfection based on the detection of Yezo virus in a blood sample by polymerase chain reaction and the detection of elevated serum antibody titers to Yezo virus and Borrelia miyamotoi.
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Case Reports
Evidence of tosufloxacin deposition in the kidneys of a patient presenting with crystal nephropathy.
Tosufloxacin tosilate is classified as a new quinolone antibacterial agent, which has been reported to cause crystal nephropathy. However, the origin of these crystal deposits has not yet been elucidated. ⋯ The patient's renal function improved slowly with the withdrawal of tosufloxacin and steroid therapy. This is the first case to demonstrate the presence of crystal deposits consisting of tosufloxacin.
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Ovary microcystic stromal tumor (MCST) is an extremely rare subtype of sex cord-stromal neoplasm, and only 57 cases have been reported. We herein report a unique case of ovarian MCST with positive nestin expression in a 39-year-old Chinese woman. ⋯ To our knowledge, no report has described a case of ovarian MCST with positive staining for nestin protein. Our study provides new insights into the tumor biology of ovarian MCST.
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Objective Mucuna pruriens (MP) is a legume whose seeds contain levodopa (LD), which has potential therapeutic effects against Parkinson's disease (PD). However, further research is needed to thoroughly evaluate its efficacy and safety for treating this condition. In this study, we analyzed the pharmacokinetics of MP grown in Japan and investigated its mechanism of action in PD. ⋯ An analysis of the LD metabolites showed that the 3-O-methyl-dopa/LD metabolic ratio was significantly lower after MP ingestion than after LD/CD ingestion, indicating that MP has a catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitory effect. Conclusions This is the first report of a pharmacokinetic analysis conducted on actual patients with PD showing that MP significantly prolongs the ON time. The advantages of MP as a treatment for PD have been confirmed: it is inexpensive, as effective as LD, works faster and longer than LD, and does not increase dyskinesia.