Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a potent mitogen for heptaocytes, was purified from the plasma of patients with fulminant hepatic failure in 1986. The molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of HGF are currently being examined in detail using in vitro and in vivo experiments. Through these investigations, HGF has shown potential as a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of fatal liver diseases. We have worked for many years to make recombinant human HGF (rh-HGF) available as a drug. We performed a translational medicine protocol with rh-HGF: after performing a number of preclinical tests with rh-HGF, we started an investigator-initiated ICH-GCP registered phase I/II clinical trial in 2005 for the treatment of fulminant hepatic failure, to examine the safety and clinical efficacy of rh-HGF. Tewnty patients with FH or LOHF were evaluated for participation in this clinical trial, and four patients were enrolled. Repeated doses of intravenous rh-HGF did not induce severe adverse events, and was well tolerated in patients with fulminant hepatic failure. It is desirable to conduct further investigations to determine the efficacy of rh-HGF.

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 In order to clarify mechanisms of swallowing initiation and patterns of swallowing motor sequence, numerous physiological studies have been done over the decades. In human studies, electromyographic and kinesiological recordings of related muscles/organs are commonly employed. The present study aimed at analyzing the effects of liquid stimulation applied to the pharynx on swallowing behaviors by means of simultaneous measurement of laryngeal movement and electromyogram of suprahyoid muscles. Both voluntary and involuntary swallowings were recorded during pharyngeal liquid stimulation using distilled water or 0.3 M NaCl solution in ten healthy volunteers. During voluntary swallow, we found the difference in the the first phase of laryngeal elevation between the liquids, in that the time duration of the first phase was shorter in swallowing of distilled water than that of NaCl solution. Between voluntary and involuntary swallows, the time duration of the first phase was longer while that of the second phase was shorter in voluntary swallow. The results suggest that the first phase of laryngeal elevation may represent effort of elevation of hyolaryngeal complex to initiate pharyngeal swallowing while the second phase may represent transition from voluntary component of movement to reflexively evoked movement.

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 The Main Occluding Area is thought to be located between the functional cusps of the upper and lower first molar. However, there are several differences between the upper and lower molars in various aspects. We hypothesise that the Main Occluding Area location is influenced by the occlusal relationship between upper and lower dentitions. We investigated the impact of upper and lower dentitions and the occlusal relationship as determinants of the Main Occluding Area. The location of the Main Occluding Area was analysed in 20 normally dentate subjects (40 molar dentitions). According to the method by Kato et al., temporally filling materials were used to evaluate the locations of the Main Occluding Area. To evaluate the occlusal contact area in the intercuspal position, subjects were instructed to bite the occlusal contact checking material with a moderate bite force. The origin of coordinate system was the central fossa of the first molar for detailed quantitative investigation of the centroid of the Main Occluding Area. As a result, the Main Occluding Area was concentrated on the functional cusps of the upper first molar and dispersed on lower first and second molars. In subjects whose upper first molar was in occlusal contact with the lower first and second molar at the intercuspal position, the Main Occluding Area was located significantly more distally than in subjects whose upper first molar made contact only with the lower first molar under the lower coordinate system; no significant difference was found between the groups under the upper coordinate system. In this study, the location of the Main Occluding Area was more selectively concentrated on the occlusal surface of the upper first molar than on the lower first molar, and it was suggested that the assessment of the occlusal relationship between the upper and lower molars is indispensable for clarifying the Main Occluding Area.

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