Unusual Cause of Acute Right Ventricular Dysfunction: Rapid Progression of Superior Vena Cava Aneurysm Complicated by Thrombosis and Pulmonary Thromboembolism

Aneurysms of the major thoracic veins are rare. They are usually asymptomatic and thus treated conservatively. We report an extremely rare case of rapidly progressing superior vena cava (SVC) aneurysm complicated by thrombosis and acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) with right ventricular dysfunction. Thrombolytic therapy for hemodynamically significant acute PTE was harmful to the patient in the present case, because it induced further thrombosis and mobilization of the thrombi within the aneurysm, subsequently causing de novo PTE. Surgical aneurysmectomy combined with pulmonary artery embolectomy would be a treatment of choice in patients with SVC aneurysm complicated by acute PTE

Iatrogenic Left Internal Mammary Artery to Great Cardiac Vein Anastomosis Treated With Coil Embolization

Inadvertent left internal mammary artery (LIMA)-great cardiac vein (GCV) anastomosis is a rare complication of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Patients with iatrogenic aortocoronary fistula (ACF) were usually treated surgical repair, percutaneous embolic occlusion with coil or balloon. We report a case of iatrogenic LIMA to GCV anastomosis successfully treated with coil embolization and protected left main coronary intervention through the percutaneous transfemoral approach

Prospective study of oncologic outcomes after laparoscopic modified complete mesocolic excision for non-metastatic right colon cancer (PIONEER study): study protocol of a multicentre single-arm trial

Abstract Background The introduction of complete mesocolic excision (CME) with central vascular ligation (CVL) for right-sided colon cancer has improved the oncologic outcomes. Recently, we have introduced a modified CME (mCME) procedure that keeps the same principles as the originally described CME but with a more tailored approach. Some retrospective studies have reported the favourable oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic mCME for right-sided colon cancer; however, no prospective multicentre study has yet been conducted. Methods This study is a multi-institutional, prospective, single-arm study evaluating the oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic mCME for adenocarcinoma arising from the right side of the colon. A total of 250 patients will be recruited from five tertiary referral centres in South Korea. The primary outcome of this study is 3-year disease-free survival. Secondary outcome measures include 3-year overall survival, incidence of surgical complications, completeness of mCME, and distribution of metastatic lymph nodes. The quality of laparoscopic mCME will be assessed on the basis of photographs of the surgical specimen and the operation field after the completion of lymph node dissection. Discussion This is a prospective multicentre study to evaluate the oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic mCME for right-sided colon cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first study to prospectively and objectively assess the quality of laparoscopic mCME. The results will provide more evidence about oncologic outcomes with respect to the quality of laparoscopic mCME in right-sided colon cancer. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03992599 (June 20, 2019). The posted information will be updated as needed to reflect protocol amendments and study progress

Body mass index and prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Korean adults before and after the COVID-19 outbreak: a retrospective longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES Studies evaluating weight changes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have yielded inconsistent results, and most of those studies were based on self-reported anthropometric measures. We investigated changes in body mass index (BMI), professionally measured waist circumference (WC), and metabolic syndrome components from before to during the pandemic in a sample of the adult population in Korea. METHODS This retrospective study included 1,118 male and female (age≥18 years) who underwent health checkups at a university medical center between January 1, 2016 and March 31, 2022. Changes in BMI, lifestyles, and metabolic syndrome components during the pandemic were analyzed using the paired t-test, McNemar test, generalized estimating equations, and repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS Changes in body weight, BMI, and body fat percentage during the pandemic were not clinically significant. However, statistically significant results were found for decreased physical activity (p<0.001) and WC (p<0.001), and exacerbation of all metabolic syndrome components (except serum triglyceride levels). Moreover, the metabolic syndrome prevalence increased significantly from 20.2% to 31.2% during the pandemic (p<0.001). The prevalence of abdominal obesity and high fasting blood glucose levels also significantly increased from 2019 to 2021. CONCLUSIONS Metabolic syndrome, its components, and fat distribution worsened significantly after the implementation of social distancing and lockdowns, despite no clinically significant changes in body weight and BMI. Further studies on the post- pandemic period should investigate the long-term impact of social lockdowns on BMI and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome

Expression of a thioredoxin‐related protein‐1 is induced by prostaglandin E2

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays an important role in protection of the gastric mucosa against various damaging agents and growth‐inhibitory activity on tumor cells. However, the precise regulation mechanism of PGE2 in gastric cancer cells is still unclear. In this study, we isolated a gene, which is regulated by PGE2 in SNU‐1, human gastric adenocarcinoma cells, using differential display RT‐PCR (DD RT‐PCR) and characterized the function of the gene induced by PGE2. The full‐length cDNA of the gene was cloned by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends method. The 1659 base pair cDNA consists of a 30‐nt 5′‐noncoding region, an 891‐nt open reading frame and a 738‐nt 3′noncoding region that includes a poly (A) signal. As a result of protein motif search, we found that it has a conserved thioredoxin‐active site, Cys‐Gly‐Pro‐Cys and a Myb‐DNA binding domain repeat signature. Thus, we designated this gene product as thioredoxin‐related protein‐1, TRP‐1. TRP‐1 was expressed in a lower extent in renal, gastric and colon cancer tissues and is translated into 33 kDa protein in nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions. TRP‐1 has a thioredoxin activity, which was detected using the insulin disulfide reduction assay. Another potential role of TRP‐1 is repression of B‐Myb activity through direct binding to B‐Myb, a transcriptional factor induced at G1–S transition. Finally, TRP‐1 overexpression inhibits mammalian cell proliferation and specifically predispose to G0/G1 phase arrest. In conclusion, these results imply that TRP‐1 is a mammalian thioredoxin and plays as a transcriptional repressor through direct binding to the transcription factor B‐Myb. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc

Phytochemical Investigation of Bioactive Compounds from White Kidney Beans (Fruits of Phaseolus multiflorus var. Albus): Identification of Denatonium with Osteogenesis-Inducing Effect

Phaseolus multiflorus var. albus (Leguminosae), commonly known as “white kidney bean”, is a twining perennial vine whose fruit has been used as a popular food worldwide owing to its high nutritional content, in terms of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins. As part of our ongoing study to investigate novel bioactive components from various natural resources, a phytochemical investigation of the extract of P. multiflorus var. albus fruits resulted in the isolation of three phenolic compounds (1–3) and one dipeptide (4). The chemical structures of the compounds (1–4) were determined through 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high-resolution-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry; they were identified as denatonium (1), trans-ferulic acid ethyl ester (2), eugenin (3), and α-L-glutamyl-L-Leucine (4). Intriguingly, denatonium (1) is known to be the most bitter chemical compound. To the best of our knowledge, denatonium (1) was identified from natural sources for the first time, and compounds 2–4 were reported for the first time from P. multiflorus var. albus in this study; however, compound 2 turned out to be an artifact produced by an extraction with ethanol. The isolated compounds 1–4 were tested for their regulatory effects on the differentiation between osteogenesis and adipogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Compound 4 slightly suppressed the adipogenic differentiation of MSCs, and compounds 1 and 4 stimulated osteogenic differentiation, unlike the negative control. These findings provide experimental evidence that compounds 1 and 4 may induce the osteogenesis of MSCs and activate bone formation