Assessment of Allergic Rhinitis Websites in Korea

Objectives. The internet has become an important source of medical information and a great amount of information related to allergic rhinitis (AR) is available on the internet. However, the quality of this information is still a matter of debate. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the AR-related information on Korean websites. Methods. The key word "allergic rhinitis" was entered into 4 popular search engines, and this led to identifying 40 websites. After being categorized according to authorship, the informational value of these websites was evaluated using 4 different assessment tools such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, the DISCERN questionnaire, the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) 2008 Update and the Health On the Net (HON) code. Results. The 40 websites containing AR-related information were categorized according to their authorship as Western physician: 20, Oriental physician: 14, commercial: 1, and others: 5. The mean citation frequencies of the JAMA benchmarks and the ARIA 2008 Update concepts was 1.23 out of 4 and 4.33 out of 8, respectively, while the mean DISCERN score was 1.92 out of 5. When the websites were evaluated based on the type of authorship, the mean citation frequencies of the AMA 2008 Update concepts were Western physician: 5.35, Oriental physician: 2.64. Additionally, three websites authored by Western physicians and 13 authored by Oriental physicians contained unreliable information. Among these 16 websites, only 3 websites met the requirements for the HON code "Justification". Conclusion. AR-related information available on Korean websites is of variable quality and not all of the information provided is justifiable. Thus, performing surveillance of the medical information on these websites is necessary. Furthermore, common criteria that can be used to evaluate the websites created by both Western and Oriental physicians are also needed.Bousquet J, 2008, ALLERGY, V63, P8*HLTH NET FDN, 2006, HLTH NET COD COND VESILVA LVE, 2005, BRAZILIAN J OTHORHIN, V71, P590Park HW, 2004, J KOREAN MED SCI, V19, P364Winker MA, 2000, JAMA-J AM MED ASSOC, V283, P1600Charnock D, 1999, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V53, P105Silberg WM, 1997, JAMA-J AM MED ASSOC, V277, P1244

Purification and characterization of angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide from the jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai

The Nemopilema nomurai hydrolysate was produced by the reaction of papain, and an angiotensin-Ι converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide was purified by using the molecular cut-offs membrane filter, the gel filtration chromatography with Sephadex LH-20 and the reverse phase chromatographic method using C18 and C12 columns. Purification yield of the active peptide was estimated to be 0.2 ± 0.1%, starting from the lyophilized jellyfish. The infrared (IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) spectrometer analyses elucidated that the structure of the purified peptide is tyrosine-isoleucine (Tyr-Ile). The inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50) and Ki values were calculated to be 2.0 ± 0.3 μg/ml and 3.3 ± 0.3 μM, respectively, which acts as a competitive inhibitor to ACE.Keywords: Angiotensin-Ι converting enzyme, Jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai, Papain hydrolysate, Tyrosine-IsoleucineAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(15), pp. 1888-189

Photon Versus Proton Beam Therapy for T1–3 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Thoracic Esophagus Without Lymph Node Metastasis

Background and PurposeWe compared treatment outcomes and toxicities of photon radiotherapy versus proton beam therapy (PBT) and evaluated radiation field effects for T1–3 squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus (EC) without lymph node metastasis.MethodsMedical records of 77 patients with T1–3N0M0 thoracic EC treated with radiotherapy between 2011 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Among these patients, 61 (79.2%) individuals had T1 EC. The initial clinical target volume encompassed the whole esophagus with or without supraclavicular and/or abdominal lymph nodes (extended-field radiotherapy; 67 patients, 87.0%) or the area 3–5 cm craniocaudally and 1–2 cm radially from the gross tumor volume (involved-field radiotherapy; 10 patients, 13.0%). The final clinical target volume included margins of at least 1 cm from the gross tumor volume, with total radiation doses of 50–66 (median, 66) cobalt gray equivalent. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and PBT were used in twenty-four, five, and forty-eight patients, respectively. Concurrent chemotherapy was administered to 17 (22.0%) patients overall and only five (8.0%) T1 patients.ResultsPBT showed significantly lower lung and heart radiation exposure in mean dose, V5, V10, V20, and V30 than photon radiotherapy. The median follow-up for all patients was 46 (interquartile range, 22–72) months. The 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 56.5 and 64.9%, respectively, with no significant survival difference between photon radiotherapy and PBT. In patients with T1 EC, 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 62.6 and 73.5%, respectively.ConclusionsExtended-field radiotherapy using modern radiotherapy techniques without chemotherapy showed satisfactory clinical outcomes for lymph node-negative T1 EC

Transmission of Seasonal Outbreak of Childhood Enteroviral Aseptic Meningitis and Hand-foot-mouth Disease

This study was conducted to evaluate the modes of transmission of aseptic meningitis (AM) and hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) using a case-control and a case-crossover design. We recruited 205 childhood AM and 116 HFMD cases and 170 non-enteroviral disease controls from three general hospitals in Gyeongju, Pohang, and Seoul between May and August in both 2002 and 2003. For the case-crossover design, we established the hazard and non-hazard periods as week one and week four before admission, respectively. In the case-control design, drinking water that had not been boiled, not using a water purifier, changes in water quality, and contact with AM patients were significantly associated with the risk of AM (odds ratio [OR]=2.8, 2.9, 4.6, and 10.9, respectively), while drinking water that had not been boiled, having a non-water closet toilet, changes in water quality, and contact with HFMD patients were associated with risk of HFMD (OR=3.3, 2.8, 6.9, and 5.0, respectively). In the case-crossover design, many life-style variables such as contact with AM or HFMD patients, visiting a hospital, changes in water quality, presence of a skin wound, eating out, and going shopping were significantly associated with the risk of AM (OR=18.0, 7.0, 8.0, 2.2, 22.3, and 3.0, respectively) and HFMD (OR=9.0, 37.0, 11.0, 12.0, 37.0, and 5.0, respectively). Our findings suggest that person-to-person contact and contaminated water could be the principal modes of transmission of AM and HFMD

Acupuncture Enhances the Synaptic Dopamine Availability to Improve Motor Function in a Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) and the depletion of striatal dopamine (DA). Acupuncture, as an alternative therapy for PD, has beneficial effects in both PD patients and PD animal models, although the underlying mechanisms therein remain uncertain. The present study investigated whether acupuncture treatment affected dopamine neurotransmission in a PD mouse model using 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). We found that acupuncture treatment at acupoint GB34 improved motor function with accompanying dopaminergic neuron protection against MPTP but did not restore striatal dopamine depletion. Instead, acupuncture treatment increased dopamine release that in turn, may lead to the enhancement of dopamine availability in the synaptic cleft. Moreover, acupuncture treatment mitigated MPTP-induced abnormal postsynaptic changes, suggesting that acupuncture treatment may increase postsynaptic dopamine neurotransmission and facilitate the normalization of basal ganglia activity. These results suggest that the acupuncture-induced enhancement of synaptic dopamine availability may play a critical role in motor function improvement against MPTP

Melatonin receptor 1 B polymorphisms associated with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>Two SNPs in <it>melatonin receptor 1B </it>gene, <it>rs10830963 </it>and <it>rs1387153 </it>showed significant associations with fasting plasma glucose levels and the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in previous studies. Since T2DM and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) share similar characteristics, we suspected that the two genetic polymorphisms in <it>MTNR1B </it>may be associated with GDM, and conducted association studies between the polymorphisms and the disease. Furthermore, we also examined genetic effects of the two polymorphisms with various diabetes-related phenotypes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 1,918 subjects (928 GDM patients and 990 controls) were used for the study. Two <it>MTNR1B </it>polymorphisms were genotyped using TaqMan assay. The allele distributions of SNPs were evaluated by <it>x</it>²models calculating odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and corresponding <it>P </it>values. Multiple regressions were used for association analyses of GDM-related traits. Finally, conditional analyses were also performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found significant associations between the two genetic variants and GDM, <it>rs10830963</it>, with a corrected <it>P </it>value of 0.0001, and <it>rs1387153</it>, with the corrected <it>P </it>value of 0.0008. In addition, we also found that the two SNPs were associated with various phenotypes such as homeostasis model assessment of beta-cell function and fasting glucose levels. Further conditional analyses results suggested that <it>rs10830963 </it>might be more likely functional in case/control analysis, although not clear in GDM-related phenotype analyses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There have been studies that found associations between genetic variants of other genes and GDM, this is the first study that found significant associations between SNPs of <it>MTNR1B </it>and GDM. The genetic effects of two SNPs identified in this study would be helpful in understanding the insight of GDM and other diabetes-related disorders.</p

Impact of Parenchymal Tuberculosis Sequelae on Mediastinal Lymph Node Staging in Patients with Lung Cancer

Because tuberculous (TB) involvement of mediastinal lymph nodes (LN) could cause false positive results in nodal staging of lung cancer, we examined the accuracy of nodal staging in lung cancer patients with radiographic sequelae of healed TB. A total of 54 lung cancer patients with radiographic TB sequelae in the lung parenchyma ipsilateral to the resected lung, who had undergone at least ipsilateral 4- and 7-lymph node dissection after both chest computed tomography (CT) and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/CT were included for the analysis. The median age of 54 subjects was 66 yr and 48 were males. Calcified nodules and fibrotic changes were the most common forms of healed parenchymal pulmonary TB. Enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (short diameter > 1 cm) were identified in 21 patients and positive mediastinal lymph nodes were identified using FDG-PET/CT in 19 patients. The overall sensitivity and specificity for mediastinal node metastasis were 60.0% and 69.2% with CT and 46.7% and 69.2% with FDG-PET/CT, respectively. In conclusion, the accuracy of nodal staging using CT or FDG-PET/CT might be low in lung cancer patients with parenchymal TB sequelae, because of inactive TB lymph nodes without viable TB bacilli

Korean Version of Mini Mental Status Examination for Dementia Screening and Its' Short Form

Objective We developed a Korean version of Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) optimized for screening dementia (MMSE-DS) and its short form (SMMSE-DS). Methods We constructed the MMSE-DS using the items of the two current Korean versions of MMSE and then construct the SMMSE-DS consisted of 13 items from the MMSE-DS based on the diagnostic accuracy of individual items for dementia. We investigated reliability and validity of MMSE-DS and SMMSE-DS on 1,555 subjects (1,222 nondemented controls, 333 dementia patients). We compared the diagnostic accuracy of the SMMSE-DS with that of the three full Korean versions of MMSE, and examined its age- and education-specific optimal cutoff scores for dementia. Results The internal consistency obtained by Cronbach`s coefficient alpha was 0.826. The inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability were 0.968 (p<0.001) and 0.825 (p<0.001), respectively. It showed significant correlation with the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) (r=-0.698, p<0.05) and the three full Korean versions of MMSE (r=0.839-0.938, p<0.001). The area under the receiver operator curve for dementia of the SMMSE-DS was larger than those of the three full Korean versions of MMSE (p<0.001). Age, education and gender explained 19.4% of the total variance of SMMSE-DS scores. The optimal cutoff scores for dementia of the SMMSE-DS were estimated differently by age and educational attainment of the subjects. Conclusion The SMMSE-DS was found to be accurate, brief and portable instrument for screening dementia in Korean elders, and may be particularly useful for screening dementia in elderly populations with wide variation in educational levels. Psychiatry Investig 2010;7:102-108This study was supported by a research grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea (Grant NO. 08-2009-014).Han C, 2008, ARCH GERONTOL GERIAT, V47, P302, DOI 10.1016/j.archger.2007.08.012PARK JH, 2007, PSYCHIAT INVEST, V4, P84Kim KW, 2005, DEMENT GERIATR COGN, V19, P324, DOI 10.1159/000084558JHOO JH, 2005, J KOREAN NEUROPSYCHI, V44, P98KIM HS, 2005, HYEONDAE GUGEO SAYON, V2Boustani M, 2003, ANN INTERN MED, V138, P927KANG Y, 2003, NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SLee JH, 2002, J GERONTOL B-PSYCHOL, V57, pP47LEE DY, 2002, J KOREAN NEUROPSYCHI, V41, P508PARK J, 1999, J KOREAN NEUROPSYCHI, V38, P173Malloy PF, 1997, J NEUROPSYCH CLIN N, V9, P189KANG Y, 1997, J KOREAN NEUROL ASS, V15, P300WOO JL, 1996, J KOREAN NEUROPSYCHI, V35, P122LINN RT, 1995, ARCH NEUROL-CHICAGO, V52, P485MASUR DM, 1994, NEUROLOGY, V44, P1427*AM PSYCH ASS, 1994, DIAGN STAT MAN MENTIMAI Y, 1994, J HONG KONG COLL PSY, V4, P20MORRIS JC, 1993, NEUROLOGY, V43, P2412CRUM RM, 1993, JAMA-J AM MED ASSOC, V269, P2386TOMBAUGH TN, 1992, J AM GERIATR SOC, V40, P922FEHER EP, 1992, ARCH NEUROL-CHICAGO, V49, P87HODGES JR, 1990, J NEUROL NEUROSUR PS, V53, P1089GALASKO D, 1990, ARCH NEUROL-CHICAGO, V47, P49OCONNOR DW, 1989, PSYCHOL MED, V19, P771PARK JH, 1989, J KOREAN NEUROPSYCHI, V28, P508OCONNOR DW, 1989, J PSYCHIAT RES, V23, P87HANLEY JA, 1983, RADIOLOGY, V148, P839HUGHES CP, 1982, BRIT J PSYCHIAT, V140, P566ANTHONY JC, 1982, PSYCHOL MED, V12, P397FOLSTEIN MF, 1975, J PSYCHIATR RES, V12, P198