Efficacy and safety of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor sitagliptin compared with α-glucosidase inhibitor in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on sulfonylurea alone (SUCCESS-2): a multicenter, randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial

We assessed the efficacy and safety of sitagliptin compared with α-glucosidase inhibitor (αGI) in 120 of Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) inadequately controlled on stable ≤2 mg/day glimepiride alone [mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 7.7%] by the randomized, active-controlled, non-inferiority trial. Patients were randomly assigned to receive additional sitagliptin or αGI for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in HbA1c from baseline to week 12. After 12 weeks, sitagliptin reduced HbA1c by -0.44% (p < 0.001) relative to αGI. At 24 weeks, the reduction was almost identical between the groups (-0.091%, p = 0.47). Gastrointestinal disorders were more common with αGI than with sitagliptin, but only minor hypoglycaemia occurred in both groups at similar frequency. These data suggested that sitagliptin was not inferior to αGI for reduction of HbA1c in Japanese T2DM patients receiving glimepiride alone, and well tolerated with minimum risk of gastrointestinal symptoms and hypoglycaemia.

Threshold levels for wettability in nano- and micro-meter periodic structures

The purposes of this study are to clarify the relationship between surface wettability and the pitch and size of periodic structures on the surface and to determine the thresholds at which the wettability switches from being hydrophobic to hydrophilic. To this various nano- and micro-meter scale periodic structures were fabricated. By applying a fine periodic structure to the surface, the wettability can be controlled between + 50° (hydrophobic) and -55° (hydrophilic). The pitch of the periodic structure at which the wettability switches from hydrophilic to hydrophobic was found to between 500 and 1,000 nm. Additionally, the height of the periodic structure at which the wettability switches from hydrophobic to hydrophilic was found to between 300 and 700 nm.

Mutations of p53, E-cadherin, alpha- and beta-catenin genes and tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin in human gastric carcinomas

We investigated whether dysfunction of p53 and E-cadherin participate in invasiveness and metastasis of human gastric carcinoma. We examined twenty-five human gastric carcinomas for p53, E-cadherin, alpha- and beta-catenin gene alteration by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (RT-PCR-SSCP) method and sequencing analysis. Three samples (13%) showed p53 gene mutation (two missense mutations and 6 bp deletion). 25% (3/12) of the carcinomas with lymph node metastasis had p53 gene mutations. One sample (4%) showed E-cadherin silent mutation. We were not able to detect alpha- or beta-catenin gene alteration. Therefore we investigated tyrosine-phosphorylation of E-cadherin, a and beta-catenin. Tyrosine-phosphorylated beta-catenin was detected in 13% (2/15) of poorly differentiated carcinomas. These results suggest that the p53 gene mutations have some correlation with lymph node metastasis, and tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin rather than cadherin/catenin gene mutation is at least partly responsible for the loosening of cell-cell contact and invasiveness of poorly differentiated carcinomas.