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Background: US and European guidelines recommend budesonide for the treatment of mild-to-moderate active ileocolic Crohn's disease (CD). However, budesonide has not been approved, and mesalazine is widely used as first-line treatment in Japan. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of budesonide in patients with mild-to-moderate active CD in Japan. Methods: In this phase 3 noninferiority study (NCT01514240), 112 patients with a baseline Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) score of 180-400 were randomized to budesonide or mesalazine for 8 weeks. Assessments included remission rate (CDAI score ≤150) at weeks 2, 4, and 8, change in CDAI score, health-related quality of life (measured using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire [IBDQ]), and tolerability. Results: The remission rate at week 8 was numerically higher in the budesonide group (30.4%) than in the mesalazine group (25.0%), and the noninferiority of budesonide to mesalazine was shown. The mean total CDAI score decreased to a greater extent with budesonide than with mesalazine. Mean IBDQ scores improved from baseline to weeks 2, 4, 8, and 10 in both groups; improvements were numerically higher with budesonide than with mesalazine. No safety concerns were found. Conclusion: Budesonide is comparably effective to mesalazine in the treatment of Japanese patients with mild-to-moderate active CD.

Because the genetic diversity of the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus) is very limited, wild-derived strains from this genus could provide invaluable experimental models for studies of mouse genetics and epigenetics such as quantitative trait locus analysis. However, such strains generally show poor reproductive performance under conventional husbandry conditions, so their use for large-scale analyses has been limited. This study was undertaken to devise assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) for the efficient production of offspring in two wild-derived strains, MSM/Ms and JF1/Ms (Mus musculus molossinus). First, as females of these strains are poor responders to equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) stimulation, we examined the efficiency of superovulation by injecting anti-inhibin serum followed by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Approximately four to six times more oocytes were ovulated than with eCG-hCG treatment in both strains, reaching ∼25-30 oocytes per female. Consequently, the procedures for in vitro fertilization using these superovulated oocytes and cryopreservation of embryos and spermatozoa could be optimized for both of the wild-derived strains. However, MSM/Ms embryos but not JF1/Ms embryos failed to develop to term after embryo transfer because of intrauterine death at mid to late gestation. We were able to overcome this obstacle by cotransfer of these embryos with those from laboratory strains combined with treatment of recipient females with an immunosuppressant (cyclosporin A). Thus, a series of ARTs essential for efficient production and preservation of the wild-derived strains were successfully devised. These technologies will facilitate systematic studies of mouse genetics and epigenetics using a wider range of genetic diversity than currently available in the genus Mus.

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BackgroundIntracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has been widely used to study the mechanisms of mammalian fertilization and to rescue male-factor infertility in humans and animals. However, very few systematic analyses have been conducted to define factors affecting the efficiency of ICSI. In this study, we undertook a large-scale series of ICSI experiments in mice to define the factors that might affect outcomes.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe used a 5×3×2 factorial design with the following factors: mouse genotype (ICR, C57BL/6, DBA/2, C3H/He, and 129/Sv strains), type of male germ cells (epididymal sperm, elongated or round spermatids), and their freeze–thawing treatment. The efficiencies (parameters) of each developmental step were analyzed by three-way ANOVA (significance level P<0.01). The type of male germ cells affected all the four parameters observed: oocyte survival after injection, cleavage of oocytes, implantation, and birth of offspring. Genotype affected the oocyte survival, cleavage and birth rates, whereas freeze–thawing had no effects on any of the parameters. There were significant genotype/cell type interactions for oocyte survival and cleavage, indicating that they were determined by a combination of strain and germ cell maturity. Multiple comparisons revealed that spermatozoa and elongated spermatids gave better implantation and birth rates than did round spermatids, while spermatozoa and elongated spermatozoa were indistinguishable in their ability to support embryonic development. The best overall efficiency (birth rate per oocytes injected) was obtained with frozen–thawed DBA/2 strain elongated spermatids (23.2±4.2%).Conclusions/SignificanceThe present study provides the first comprehensive information on ICSI using the mouse as a model and will contribute to the efficient use of materials, time, and efforts in biomedical research and clinics involving ICSI.