Stem cells in regenerative medicine are advancing rapidly, with significant progress made in recent years. Our bibliometric review is a significant contribution to the field and is essential for advancing research. However, there is a noticeable lack of reviews that focus on stem cells and their clinical applications in regenerative medicine. Our study addressed this gap using advanced tools such as R-Studio and VOSviewer to explore publication volumes, intellectual structures, and emerging trends in the field, ensuring the validity and reliability of our findings. We utilized Scopus and Web of Science to extract 1,274 relevant articles and employed rigorous descriptive analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and text-mining techniques. Our study identified the most influential journals based on productivity and citation volume. These journals are: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, Biomaterials, Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Regenerative Therapy, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, and Cytotherapy. The top-cited articles highlight mRNA, stem cell reprogramming, and innovative therapeutic techniques. Our analysis of the links between stem cells and disease underscores the significant focus on mesenchymal stem cells and pluripotent stem cells, with the most frequently treated conditions being knee osteoarthritis, various types of cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. We also identified emerging areas classified as materials, methods, and technologies such as biopolymers, nanotechnology, deep learning, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, three-dimensional printers, and bioprinting. By investigating this focused area, this study provides valuable insights into the current landscape and future directions of stem cell-based regenerative medicine with a clear clinical translation pathway.

Nonsuicidal self-injury typically involves deliberate harm without suicidal intent; however, rare cases exist where self-injury occurs unintentionally, without conscious awareness. This report presents the case of a 16-year-old boy who exhibited unintentional self-harm during sleep, associated with severe academic stress and perfectionism. Despite psychological and medical interventions, the behavior persisted until academic stress was alleviated. This case highlights the need for a differentiated clinical approach to managing unintentional self-harm, emphasizing the importance of stress management and psychological support in adolescents to address the underlying emotional and behavioral triggers.

Lithium is the first-line medication for the treatment of bipolar disorder (BD), but its exact biological mechanisms have not been identified. One of the major obstacles in lithium-related research is the difficulty in precisely and reliably measuring the response to lithium. The Alda scale was developed to retrospectively measure lithium response in a standardized way. However, several aspects should be considered in understanding previous studies that used the Alda scale. In this narrative review, we aim to review previous studies and present the limitations of prior findings. Additionally, we suggest future strategies for applying the Alda scale in measuring lithium response. Initial studies using the Alda scale mainly included patients who were on lithium monotherapy for a long-term period. However, lithium monotherapy is relatively rare in clinical practice. More importantly, in clinical practice, if patients do not respond well to lithium, clinicians do not prescribe it for a long-term period. Thus, a modified approach to include diverse patients is necessary to identify true poor responders. Most previous studies also mainly included European populations, and ancestrally diverse populations should be included in the research. Furthermore, applying the same scale to explore the effects of other medications would also enhance our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric medications in BD. Applying electronic health record data in evaluating lithium response would soon facilitate large-scale studies. Future studies that include diverse clinical populations reflecting the clinical practice are necessary to advance precision psychiatry.

Urinary complications are uncommon after percutaneous cryoablation for the treatment of small cell carcinoma. This minimally invasive treatment results in less urothelial damage than other thermal ablation techniques. However, urine leakage can occur from the cryoablation track on which the applicator is placed during the procedure. However, only a small number of studies have investigated the clinical outcomes of post-cryoablation urinary complications. Recently, we encountered a case of urine leakage following computed tomography-guided cryoablation. The purpose of this case report is to describe the causes, findings, and management of post-cryoablation urine leakage.

Purpose: Colistin heteroresistance mediates the failure of antibiotic treatments, is prone to lead to colistin resistance, and has been frequently reported in <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>. This study investigated origins of the increase in colistin resistance following colistin exposure to colistin-heteroresistant <i>K. pneumoniae</i>.Methods: A modeled colistin-heteroresistant <i>K. pneumoniae</i> strain (i.e., mimicking colistin- heteroresistant [m-CL<sup>HR</sup>]) was generated using a susceptible <i>K. pneumoniae</i> strain ATCC 10031 and its resistance-induced mutant. Heteroresistance patterns were investigated through population analysis profiling (PAP), competition assays, and fluctuation and stability tests. An <i>in vitro</i> time-killing assay for colistin was performed for the m-CL<sup>HR</sup> to identify the change in susceptible and resistant populations before and after colistin exposure.Results: The generated m-CL<sup>HR</sup> strain showed a typical heteroresistance pattern for colistin in PAP, and its competition assay did not show fitness costs for any population. The ratio of resistant cells to susceptible cells did not deviate significantly from the range of heteroresistance in the fluctuation test, while the ratios of resistant cells preserved their stability. The <i>in vitro</i> time-killing assay thus showed that the resistant cells increased upon colistin exposure; sequencing analyses confirmed that the surviving resistant cells did not originate from susceptible cells by mutation. This study successfully modeled a colistin-heteroresistant <i>K. pneumoniae</i> strain, i.e., m-CL<sup>HR</sup>.Conclusion: In this modeled heteroresistant strain, only the colistin-resistant population survived the colistin treatment—this suggests that the development of colistin resistance from heteroresistant strain is because of the selection of a resistant population and not by the induction of resistance through mutations in susceptible populations.

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by chronic granulomatous inflammation of any part of the body, primarily the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and is increasing in incidence worldwide. As CD is a systemic disease, the features of CD typically manifest in the GI tract; however, a variety of extra-intestinal manifestations, such as the involvement of joints, skin, and eyes may also occur. Although pyogenic liver abscess itself is rare in the general population (approximately 3–5 per 100,000 hospital admissions), it is also an unusual and rare presentation in pediatric CD patients. In this report, we present a case of pyogenic liver abscess in a 7-year-old female CD patient and discuss the clinical features, laboratory findings, imaging studies, and pathologic report of liver biopsy.

As the overall survival of patients with cancer has increased over the past decade, the need for bronchoscopic intervention to resolve malignant central airway obstruction (MCAO) has correspondingly increased. The response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is slow and cannot be guaranteed to adequately address MCAO. Surgery is often impossible because of the extent of disease or the poor performance status of patients. Bronchoscopic intervention results in immediate therapeutic response and is considered safe. Accordingly, many interventional pulmonologists and oncologists are interested in this field, but it is challenging and detailed techniques are not properly standardized, which are barriers to entry into this field. This review aimed to explore the indications and clinical applications of bronchoscopic intervention for patients with MCAO using previously reported data and representative cases from our pioneering experiences. In particular, we focused on rigid bronchoscopy for MCAO, excluding procedures for fistulas or radiation-induced bronchitis stenosis that occurred secondary to anti-cancer treatment.

Chronic low-grade inflammation plays a role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that periodontitis can affect the central nervous system by activating inflammatory mediators in the brain. However, only a few studies have examined the association between periodontitis and bipolar disorder. Here, we aimed to review the current evidence on the association between periodontal diseases and bipolar disorder, its potential mechanisms, and future research directions. Studies so far suggested that periodontal diseases were more common in patients with bipolar disorder than in the general population. Patients with bipolar disorder generally have poor oral hygiene owing to poor self-care, smoking, alcohol abuse, and the effects of psychotropic medications. Proposed mechanisms underlying this association include the effects of inflammatory mediators, direct invasion of oral microbiota, modulation of the neurotransmitter system, and impact on the vagus nerve and hypothalamus-pituitary- adrenal axis. Additional clinical studies examining the prevalence of periodontal diseases and their association with the clinical features of bipolar disorder are necessary. Clinical studies targeting the treatment of periodontal diseases for primary or secondary prevention of bipolar disorder are warranted.

Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a noninflammatory and nonatherosclerotic disease that predominantly affects the renal and internal carotid arteries. However, the cause of this disease remains unclear. Radiological studies are important diagnostic methods, which generally involve luminal features on computed tomographic angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and digital subtraction angiography. However, the high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) features of FMD have not yet been reported. Herein, we report the HR-MRI features of patients with FMD who showed typical involvement of the internal carotid arteries. Although both patients presented a beading appearance typical of medial fibroplasia, HR-MRI nevertheless showed distinct features. HR-MRI revealed concentric wall thickening and circular enhancement with dystrophic calcification in one and wall thickening, but no enhancement in the others. Further studies are required to determine whether these HR-MRI features are related to the type of FMD or patient prognosis.

Methylene blue (MB) is a well-known pharmaceutical ingredient that is thought to have a multi-targeted therapeutic effect as an anti-malarial and neuroprotective agent and has recently been identified as a treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this review, we present an overview of relevant clinical trials, including ongoing trials, on the therapeutic uses of MB. A search for clinical trials on clinicaltrials.gov was performed using the terms “methylene blue” and “methylthionine chloride.” This review focuses on clinical trials of MB-based therapies applied to brain diseases, cancer imaging and diagnosis, infectious diseases such as malaria or COVID-19, and cardiovascular diseases. Nanoparticle-based delivery techniques have also been briefly discussed in addition to common delivery methods.