Dietary taurine intake, nutrients intake, dietary habits and life stress by depression in Korean female college students: a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary taurine intake, nutrients intake, dietary habits and life stress by depression in Korean female college students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, research data were collected in March 2009 and 65 patients with depression and 65 controls without depression participated. The CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression) scale was used for depression measure and controls were matched for age. A 3-day recall method was used for dietary assessment (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Average height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were 161.3±0.5cm, 55.3±1.0kg and 21.2±0.4kg/m² for depression patients and those of control group were 161.4±0.7cm, 53.1±0.8kg and 20.3±0.2kg/m², respectively. Average dietary taurine intakes of depression patients and control group were 89.1 and 88.0 mg/day, respectively. There was no significant difference in dietary taurine intake between depression patients and control group. The average intakes of vitamin A (p<0.05), β-carotene (p<0.01), vitamin C (p<0.05), folic acid (p<0.05) and fiber (p<0.05) of depression patients were significantly lower compared to control group. The average total dietary habit score of depression patients (47.2) was significantly lower than that of control group (51.3) (p<0.01). The average dietary habit scores of “eating meals at regular times” (p<0.05), “eating adequate amount of meals” (p<0.05), “having meals with diverse foods” (p<0.05), “avoiding eating spicy foods” (p<0.01) and “eating protein foods such as meat, fish, eggs, beans more than 2 times a day” (p<0.05) were significantly lower in depression patients compare to control group. The average scores of total life stress (p<0.001) and all stress categories of depression patients were significantly higher than those of control group except faculty problem score.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results show that depression patients have poor dietary habits and unbalanced nutrition status. Also depression patients have higher life stress score.</p> <p>Therefore, continuous nutrition education and counselling for good dietary habits and balanced nutrition status are needed to prevent depression in Korean college students.</p

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Insulin Biosynthesis: A Review

Insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell dysfunction are major contributors to the pathogenesis of diabetes. Various conditions play a role in the pathogenesis of pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and are correlated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Pancreatic beta cells are susceptible to ER stress. Many studies have shown that increased ER stress induces pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and diabetes mellitus using genetic models of ER stress and by various stimuli. There are many reports indicating that ER stress plays an important role in the impairment of insulin biosynthesis, suggesting that reduction of ER stress could be a therapeutic target for diabetes. In this paper, we reviewed the relationship between ER stress and diabetes and how ER stress controls insulin biosynthesis

The Impacts of Role Overload and Role Conflict on Physicians\u27 Technology Adoption

Technology adoption is an important solution for physicians to increase work efficiency, and thus deal with role conflict among their multiple job roles. Prior studies have not investigated how multiple job roles and role conflict influence physicians’ technology adoption intentions. Based on role strain theory and role identity theory, we present a model of physicians’ technology adoption intentions to support their primary (clinical care) versus secondary (teaching or research) job roles. We test the model using surveys with 156 physicians at nine medical schools in Korea. The results of our data analysis largely support our hypotheses. Role overload in each of their job roles increases role conflict between any pair of associated roles. Furthermore, role conflict between a physician’s primary and secondary role is affected more by role overload in the secondary role than by overload in the primary role. Moreover, the impact of role conflict on technology adoption intentions is also influenced by the hierarchical relationship between two roles. This study contributes to technology adoption research by demonstrating how physicians’ job characteristics affect technology adoption

Astaxanthin decreased oxidative stress and inflammation and enhanced immune response in humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Astaxanthin modulates immune response, inhibits cancer cell growth, reduces bacterial load and gastric inflammation, and protects against UVA-induced oxidative stress in <it>in vitro </it>and rodent models. Similar clinical studies in humans are unavailable. Our objective is to study the action of dietary astaxanthin in modulating immune response, oxidative status and inflammation in young healthy adult female human subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants (averaged 21.5 yr) received 0, 2, or 8 mg astaxanthin (n = 14/diet) daily for 8 wk in a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Immune response was assessed on wk 0, 4 and 8, and tuberculin test performed on wk 8.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Plasma astaxanthin increased (<it>P </it>< 0.01) dose-dependently after 4 or 8 wk of supplementation. Astaxanthin decreased a DNA damage biomarker after 4 wk but did not affect lipid peroxidation. Plasma C-reactive protein concentration was lower (P < 0.05) on wk 8 in subjects given 2 mg astaxanthin. Dietary astaxanthin stimulated mitogen-induced lymphoproliferation, increased natural killer cell cytotoxic activity, and increased total T and B cell subpopulations, but did not influence populations of T_helper, T_cytotoxicor natural killer cells. A higher percentage of leukocytes expressed the LFA-1 marker in subjects given 2 mg astaxanthin on wk 8. Subjects fed 2 mg astaxanthin had a higher tuberculin response than unsupplemented subjects. There was no difference in TNF and IL-2 concentrations, but plasma IFN-γ and IL-6 increased on wk 8 in subjects given 8 mg astaxanthin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Therefore, dietary astaxanthin decreases a DNA damage biomarker and acute phase protein, and enhances immune response in young healthy females.</p

Antiobesity and hypolipidemic effects of lotus leaf hot water extract with taurine supplementation in rats fed a high fat diet

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lotus (<it>Nelumbo nucifera</it>) leaf has been used to treat obesity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antiobesity and hypolipidemic effects of lotus leaf hot water extract with taurine supplementation in high fat diet-induced obese rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups with 8 rats in each group for a period of 6 weeks (normal diet, N group; high fat diet, HF group; high fat diet + lotus leaf hot water extract, HFL group; high fat diet + lotus leaf hot water extract + taurine, HFLT group). Lotus leaf hot water extract was orally administrated to HFL and HFLT groups and the same amount of distilled water was orally administered (400 mg/kg/day) to N and HF groups. Taurine was supplemented by dissolving in feed water (3% w/v).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The body weight gain and relative weights of epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissues were significantly lower in N, HFL and HFLT groups compared to HF group. HFL and HFLT groups showed lower concentrations of total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum. HFLT group showed higher the ratio of high density lipoprotein cholesterol/total cholesterol compared to HFL group. HFLT group showed better blood lipid profiles compared to HFL group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lotus leaf hot water extract with taurine supplementation showed antiobesity and hypolipidemic effects in high fat diet-induced obese rats, which was more effective than lotus leaf hot water extract alone.</p

Intra-abdominal angiosarcoma developing in a capsule of a foreign body: report of a case with associated hemorrhagic diathesis

BACKGROUNDS: Angiosarcoma occurs very rarely in the gastrointestinal tract and can present great diagnostic difficulty, especially when it is associated with intraabdominal abscess or granulation tissue. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case where the angiosarcoma was diagnosed after the occurrence of disseminated angiosarcoma and concurrent hemoperitoneum. The tumor developed in the fibrous capsule of a foreign body, which was possibly related to the previous appendectomy twenty years ago, and became a widely disseminated malignant neoplasm in the abdomen. After the operation, the patient's course was dominated by a fatal consumptive coagulapathy. Pathologic examination of the multiple intra-abdominal lesions showed the histological and immunohistological characteristics of the angiosarcoma. CONCLUSION: Even though angiosarcoma in the gastrointestinal tract is extremely rare, when dealing with intraabdominal abscess or the gastrointestinal bleeding in patients who have undergone surgery or radiation therapy in the past, the possibility of angiosarcoma should be considered. To make the definite diagnosis of angiosarcoma and to avoid the misdiagnosis of foreign body granuloma, thorough histological examination and immunohistochemical staining may be prerequisite

Utility of targeted deep sequencing for detecting circulating tumor DNA in pancreatic cancer patients.

Targeted deep sequencing across broad genomic regions has been used to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. However, since most PDACs harbor a mutation in KRAS, sequencing of broad regions needs to be systemically compared to analyzing only KRAS mutations for PDAC. Using capture-based targeted deep sequencing, we detected somatic tumor mutations in 17 fine needle aspiration biopsy and 69 longitudinal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples from 17 PDAC patients. KRAS mutations were detected in 10 out of 17 pretreatment patient plasma samples. Next, interrogation of genetic alterations in matched primary tumor samples detected ctDNA in 12 of 17 pretreatment plasma samples and cfDNA sequencing across the 83 target genes identified ctDNA in 15 of 17 cases (88.2% sensitivity). This improved sensitivity of ctDNA detection resulted in enhanced tumor burden monitoring when we analyzed longitudinal plasma samples. We found that cfDNA sequencing detected the lowest mutant allelic fractions and number of variants when complete response or partial response to chemotherapy was achieved. We demonstrated that ctDNA levels measured by targeted deep sequencing sensitively indicate the presence of cancer and correlate well with clinical responses to therapy and disease progression in PDAC patients

Antioxidant and hepatic protective effects of lotus root hot water extract with taurine supplementation in rats fed a high fat diet

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Nelumbo nucifera</it>, known as sacred lotus, is a well-known medicinal plant and this lotus root is commonly used as food compared to different parts of this plant. This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant and hepatic protective effects of lotus root hot water extract with taurine supplementation in high fat diet-induced obese rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats (4-week-old) were randomly divided into four groups (n=8) for 6 weeks (normal diet, N group; high fat diet, HF group; high fat diet + lotus root hot water extract, HFR group; high fat diet + lotus root hot water extract + taurine, HFRT group). Lotus root hot water extract was orally administrated (400mg/kg/day) to HFR and HFRT groups and the same amount of distilled water was orally administered to N and HF groups. Taurine was supplemented by dissolving in feed water (3% w/v).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase in serum were lower in HFR and HFRT groups compared to HF group. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance contents in all groups fed a high fat diet were higher compared to N group. The activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes were higher in HFR and HFRT groups compared to HF group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that lotus root hot water extract with taurine supplementation shows antioxidant and hepatic protective effects in high fat diet-induced obese rats.</p

Gene silencing in HIV-1 latency by polycomb repressive group

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The persistence of latently Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infected cellular reservoirs in resting CD4⁺T cells is a major obstacle to HIV-1 eradication. The detailed mechanism of HIV-1 latency remains unclear. We investigated histones and their post-translational modification associated with HIV-1 latency in novel HIV-1 latently infected cell lines established previously, NCHA cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To examine histones and their modification linked with HIV-1 latency, the expression profiles for core histone proteins and histone deacetylases (HDACs) in NCHA cells were characterized by RT-PCR, ELISA, and western blot. The levels of histone acetylation and methylation at histone H3 Lys⁹(H3K9) and Lys²⁷(H3K27) in HIV-1 latently infected cells were analyzed by western blot and chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-seq).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The expression levels for four core histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) and HDACs (HDAC1-8) in NCHA cells were not significantly different from those in their parental cells. Histone H3K9 and H3K27 acetylations in NCHA cells showed no difference in parental and NCHA cells, whereas the levels of di- and tri-methylation were increased in NCHA cells. The expression of EED which is a component of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), and BMI1 and RING2 which are constituents of PRC1, were upregulated in NCHA cells. In addition, more ubiquitylation at histone H2A was detected in NCHA cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that tri-methylation of histone H3K27 and H2A ubiquitylation via polycomb group protein may play a crucial role in epigenetic silencing accounting for HIV-1 latency in NCHA cells.</p