Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Depressive Symptoms among Korean Adolescents: JS High School Study

<div><p>Introduction</p><p>Increasing evidence suggests that secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE) may affect not only physical health, but also mental health. Therefore, we evaluated the association between SHSE and depressive symptoms among Korean adolescents.</p><p>Methods</p><p>The JS High School Study enrolled 1071 high school freshmen from a rural community of South Korea. The current analysis was limited to 989 adolescents (495 male and 494 female adolescents), after excluding 48 ever-smokers, 3 students with physician-diagnosed depression, and 31 students who did not complete the depression questionnaire. SHSE was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire and was classified into three groups: none, occasional exposure, and regular exposure. Depressive symptoms were assessed according to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score, ranging from 0 to 63, and the presence of depressive symptoms was defined as a BDI score ≥10.</p><p>Results</p><p>Overall, adolescents with SHSE were more likely to have depressive symptoms than those without SHSE (p = 0.042).In a sex-specific analysis treating the BDI score as a continuous variable, regular SHSE was independently associated with higher BDI scores in male adolescents (β = 2.25, p = 0.026), but not in female adolescents (β = 1.11, p = 0.253). Compared to no SHSE, the odds ratio for having depressive symptoms among male adolescents with regular SHSE was 2.17 (95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 4.25) after adjusting for age, body mass index, and study year, and 3.65 (95% confidence interval, 1.52 to 8.73) after adjusting for age, body mass index, study year, exercise, and household income.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Regular exposure to secondhand smoke was associated with having depressive symptoms among Korean male adolescents.</p></div

Characteristics according to depressive symptoms status in 495 male adolescents and 494 female adolescents.

<p>Characteristics according to depressive symptoms status in 495 male adolescents and 494 female adolescents.</p

Sex-specific association between SHSE and BDI score.

<p>Sex-specific association between SHSE and BDI score.</p

Characteristics of participants by the status of SHSE.

<p>Characteristics of participants by the status of SHSE.</p

Increased Prevalence of Chronic Lymphocytic Thyroiditis in Korean Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer

<div><p>Background</p><p>In recent years, some reports have suggested that papillary thyroid cancers are more frequently associated with lymphocytic thyroiditis or Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This study investigated a potential increase in the prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis among papillary thyroid cancer patients.</p><p>Materials and Methods</p><p>We used national epidemiological survey data on thyroid cancer patients diagnosed in 1999, 2005, and 2008. A retrospective medical record survey was conducted by representative sampling of a national cancer incidence database. The analysis included 5,378 papillary thyroid cancer patients aged 20–79 years. We calculated the age-standardized prevalence and age-adjusted prevalence ratios using a binomial regression model with a log link for the prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis among papillary thyroid cancer patients by sex for each year.</p><p>Results</p><p>The prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis among papillary thyroid cancer patients was 4.0% and 12.8% for men and women in 1999, 6.5% and 24.6% in 2005, and 10.7% and 27.6% in 2008, respectively. Between 1999 and 2008, the age-standardized prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis increased 4.1-fold in male patients and 2.0-fold in female patients with papillary thyroid cancer. The prevalence of other thyroid diseases, however, did not increase in either gender.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Among Korean papillary thyroid cancer patients, the prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis increased between 1999 and 2008, whereas the prevalence of other thyroid disorders did not change.</p></div

Change in the prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis among papillary thyroid cancer patients from 1999 to 2008 in Korea.

<p>Change in the prevalence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis among papillary thyroid cancer patients from 1999 to 2008 in Korea.</p

Sex-specific association between SHSE by site of exposure and depression.

<p>Sex-specific association between SHSE by site of exposure and depression.</p

Change in the prevalence of other thyroid disease among papillary thyroid cancer patients from 1999 to 2008 in Korea.

<p>Change in the prevalence of other thyroid disease among papillary thyroid cancer patients from 1999 to 2008 in Korea.</p

Baseline characteristics of study participants of papillary thyroid cancer across the year.

<p>Baseline characteristics of study participants of papillary thyroid cancer across the year.</p

Effects of the Physicochemical, Colloidal, and Biological Characteristics of Different Polymer Structures between α‑Poly(l‑lysine) and ε‑Poly(l‑lysine) on Polymeric Gene Delivery

Though α-poly­(l-lysine) (APL) has been well-studied in gene delivery, ε-poly­(l-lysine) (EPL) with same repeating unit of l-lysine but different structure has been rarely investigated. This study compared various effects of their different structures in gene delivery processes. EPL showed less cytotoxicity and more proton buffering capacity for endosomal release than APL. Also, EPL/pDNA polyplexes represented higher nucleus preference than APL/pDNA polyplexes. However, EPL had weaker affinities with pDNA than APL, leading to formation of larger EPL/pDNA complexes with less compactness and successively faster decomplexation. The resultant difference of their pDNA binding affinity caused lower cellular uptake and lower transfection efficiency of EPL/pDNA complexes than APL/pDNA complexes. Thus, this study confirmed that various effects of gene delivery processes are changed by chemical structure of polymeric gene carriers. Especially, despite the low transfection efficiency of EPL-based polyplexes, the study found potentials of EPL in cytocompatibility, endosomal release, and nuclear import