Relationships of walking activity with depressed mood and suicidal ideation among the middle-aged Korean population: a nationwide cross-sectional study

IntroductionThe suicide rate of middle-aged adults has increased rapidly, which is a significant public health concern. A depressed mood and suicidal ideation are significant risk factors for suicide, and non-pharmacological interventions such as exercise therapy have been suggested as potential treatments. Walking is a feasible and accessible form of exercise therapy for middle-aged adults.MethodsWe conducted a study based on the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018) data of 6,886 general middle-aged adults in South Korea to investigate the relationships of walking exercise with depressed mood and suicidal ideation. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for confounding variables. Sampling weights were applied to obtain estimates for the general Korean population.ResultsParticipants who walked ≥5 days per week had a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for depressed mood [OR = 0.625, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.424–0.921, p = 0.018] and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.252, 95% CI: 0.125–0.507, p < 0.001) compared to those who never walked, regardless of the duration of exercise. The same results were obtained for males after stratifying the data by sex and suicidal ideation was associated with walking in females.ConclusionRegular walking exercise was associated with diminished mental health problems in middle-aged adults. Light walks may serve as a useful starting point for patients with serious mental health issues, such as suicidal ideation

Sulforaphane, a natural component of broccoli, inhibits vestibular schwannoma growth in vitro and in vivo

Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is an intracranial tumor that causes significant morbidity, including hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, and possibly even death from brainstem compression. However, FDA-approved pharmacologic treatments for VS do not exist. Sulforaphane (SFN) is a naturally occurring isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, with potent chemoprotective effects in several cell types. Our objective was to determine whether SFN is effective against VS in vitro and in vivo. Human primary VS cells, HEI-193 schwannoma cells, and SC4 Nf2−/− Schwann cells were used to investigate the inhibitory effects of SFN in vitro. Cell proliferation was assessed by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, and cell viability and metabolic activity was calculated by MTT assay. Apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, and Western blot for cleaved caspases. A mouse model with a murine schwannoma allograft was also used to examine the antitumor activity of SFN. SFN exhibited significant antiproliferative activity in schwannoma cells in vitro, via the inhibition of HDAC activity and the activation of ERK. SFN treatment induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. SFN also significantly inhibited schwannoma growth in vivo. Our preclinical studies motivate a future prospective clinical study of SFN for the treatment of VS

Long-term prognosis and the need for histologic assessment of chronic hepatitis B in the serological immune-tolerant phase

Background/Aims The histologic status of the immune-tolerant (IT) phase of chronic hepatitis B relative to long-term outcomes is unclear. This study aimed to discover how the serological criteria currently in use correspond to histologic criteria in determining the IT phase and indication for liver biopsy. Methods Patients in the serological IT phase determined by positive hepatitis B e antigen, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA ≥106 IU/mL, and normal or minimally elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤60 IU/L, who underwent liver biopsy at three different hospitals were included. The distribution of the histologic IT phase, defined as fibrosis of stage 1 or less and inflammation of grade 1 or less, was compared with that of the serological IT phase. The risk factors for the incidence of liver-related events, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, liver transplantation, and death, were also analyzed. Results Eighty-two (31.7%) out of 259 clinically suspected IT phase patients belonged to the histologic IT phase. Age over 35, high AST, and low albumin were useful for ruling out the histologic IT phase. Risk factors predicting liver-related events were age and significant fibrosis stage. There was no significant difference in the proportion of histologic IT phase and clinical prognosis between normal ALT and mildly elevated ALT groups. However, even in patients with normal ALT, age was an important factor in predicting the presence of the histologic IT phase. Conclusions A significant number of patients who belonged to the serological IT phase were not in the histologic IT phase. Patients over 35 years and those with high AST, low albumin, and low HBV DNA levels were more likely to experience poor long-term clinical outcomes. Therefore, additional histologic assessment should be considered

Functional links between clustered microRNAs: suppression of cell-cycle inhibitors by microRNA clusters in gastric cancer

microRNAs (miRNAs) play integral roles in diverse processes including tumorigenesis. miRNA gene loci are often found in close conjunction, and such clustered miRNA genes are transcribed from a common promoter to generate polycistronic primary transcript. The primary transcript (pri-miRNA) is then processed by two RNase III proteins to release the mature miRNAs. Although it has been speculated that the miRNAs in the same cluster may play related biological functions, this has not been experimentally addressed. Here we report that the miRNAs in two clusters (miR-106b∼93 ∼ 25 and miR-222 ∼ 221) suppress the Cip/Kip family members of Cdk inhibitors (p57Kip2, p21Cip1 and p27Kip1). We show that miR-25 targets p57 through the 3′-UTR. Furthermore, miR-106b and miR-93 control p21 while miR-222 and miR-221 regulate both p27 and p57. Ectopic expression of these miRNAs results in activation of Cdk2 and facilitation of G1/S phase transition. Consistent with these results, both clusters are abnormally upregulated in gastric cancer tissues compared to the corresponding normal tissues. Ectopic expression of miR-222 cluster enhanced tumor growth in the mouse xenograft model. Our study demonstrates the functional associations between clustered miRNAs and further implicates that effective cancer treatment may require a combinatorial approach to target multiple oncogenic miRNA clusters

Multi-strain probiotics alleviate loperamide-induced constipation by adjusting the microbiome, serotonin, and short-chain fatty acids in rats

Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal (GI) disorders worldwide. The use of probiotics to improve constipation is well known. In this study, the effect on loperamide-induced constipation by intragastric administration of probiotics Consti-Biome mixed with SynBalance® SmilinGut (Lactobacillus plantarum PBS067, Lactobacillus rhamnosus LRH020, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BL050; Roelmi HPC), L. plantarum UALp-05 (Chr. Hansen), Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 (Chr. Hansen), and Streptococcus thermophilus CKDB027 (Chong Kun Dang Bio) to rats was evaluated. To induce constipation, 5 mg/kg loperamide was intraperitoneally administered twice a day for 7 days to all groups except the normal control group. After inducing constipation, Dulcolax-S tablets and multi-strain probiotics Consti-Biome were orally administered once a day for 14 days. The probiotics were administered 0.5 mL at concentrations of 2 × 108 CFU/mL (G1), 2 × 109 CFU/mL (G2), and 2 × 1010 CFU/mL (G3). Compared to the loperamide administration group (LOP), the multi-strain probiotics not only significantly increased the number of fecal pellets but also improved the GI transit rate. The mRNA expression levels of serotonin- and mucin-related genes in the colons that were treated with the probiotics were also significantly increased compared to levels in the LOP group. In addition, an increase in serotonin was observed in the colon. The cecum metabolites showed a different pattern between the probiotics-treated groups and the LOP group, and an increase in short-chain fatty acids was observed in the probiotic-treated groups. The abundances of the phylum Verrucomicrobia, the family Erysipelotrichaceae and the genus Akkermansia were increased in fecal samples of the probiotic-treated groups. Therefore, the multi-strain probiotics used in this experiment were thought to help alleviate LOP-induced constipation by altering the levels of short-chain fatty acids, serotonin, and mucin through improvement in the intestinal microflora

Current status of ultrasonography in national cancer surveillance program for hepatocellular carcinoma in South Korea: a large-scale multicenter study

Background/Aim Abdominal ultrasonography (USG) is recommended as a surveillance test for high-risk groups for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to analyze the current status of the national cancer surveillance program for HCC in South Korea and investigate the effects of patient-, physician-, and machine-related factors on HCC detection sensitivity. Methods This multicenter retrospective cohort study collected surveillance USG data from the high-risk group for HCC (liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B or C >40 years of age) at eight South Korean tertiary hospitals in 2017. Results In 2017, 45 experienced hepatologists or radiologists performed 8,512 USG examinations. The physicians had a mean 15.0±8.3 years of experience; more hepatologists (61.4%) than radiologists (38.6%) participated. Each USG scan took a mean 12.2±3.4 minutes. The HCC detection rate by surveillance USG was 0.3% (n=23). Over 27 months of follow-up, an additional 135 patients (0.7%) developed new HCC. The patients were classified into three groups based on timing of HCC diagnosis since the 1st surveillance USG, and no significant intergroup difference in HCC characteristics was noted. HCC detection was significantly associated with patient-related factors, such as old age and advanced fibrosis, but not with physician- or machine-related factors. Conclusions This is the first study of the current status of USG as a surveillance method for HCC at tertiary hospitals in South Korea. It is necessary to develop quality indicators and quality assessment procedures for USG to improve the detection rate of HCC

Superensemble Approach to S2S Model for Predicting Surface Air Temperature in Summer in East Asia from 2016 to 2020

A multimodel superensemble technique was applied to improve the accuracy of a model predicting the subseasonal surface air temperatures in East Asia. Superensemble forecast data based on seven subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecast models were produced for the initial times from May to August in 2016–2020 and forecast days in weeks 1–4. Superensemble techniques based on the root-mean-square error ensemble mean (SUPR) and the linear regression coefficient ensemble mean (SUPL) were evaluated and compared with the forecast bias-removed ensemble mean (ENS) data. The magnitudes of the forecasting root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of the SUPR and SUPL methods were 4.2% and 13.8% lower, respectively, than that of the ENS method, and the most significant effect was in 2020. The RMSE improvements of SUPR and SUPL were high when the initial date was in May, June, and August, and the forecast date was within weeks 1–4. Applying multimodel superensemble methods effectively reduced the forecasting errors of the S2S models. If weight coefficients based on the characteristics of the models are appropriately applied, the forecasting performance can be significantly improved

Seasonal changes in surface ozone over South Korea

Recently, the surface ozone concentration in the Korean peninsula has been increasing more rapidly than in the past, and seasonal changes are appearing such as increases in the number of ozone alerts in springtime. We examined changes in the timing of annual maximum South Korean O3 levels by fitting a sine function to data from 54 air-quality monitoring sites over a 10-year period (2005–2014). The analytical results show that the date of maximum ozone concentration at 23 points in the last 10 years has been advanced by about 2.1 days per year (E-sites), while the remaining 31 points have been delayed by about 2.5 days per year (L-sites). We attribute these differences to seasonal O3 changes: E-sites show a larger increase in O3 level in March–April (MA) than in June–July (JJ), while L-sites show a larger increase in JJ than in MA. Furthermore, these shifts are significantly larger in magnitude than those reported for Europe and North America. We also examined one possible reason for these seasonal differences: the relationship between O3 and precursors such as NO2 and CO. E-sites showed a rapid decrease in NO2 (NO) concentration in MA over the last decade. As a result, the ozone concentration at E-sites seems to have increased due to the absence of ozone destruction by NOx titration in early spring. In L-Sites, the concentrations of ozone precursors such as NO2 and CO in JJ showed a smaller decrease than those at other sites. Therefore, in L-sites, relatively large amounts of ozone precursors were distributed in JJ, implying that more ozone was generated. We suggest that shifts in the South Korean O3 seasonal cycle are due to changes in early spring and summer NO2 (NO) and CO levels; this should be tested further by modeling studies