Metabolomic analysis of healthy human urine following administration of glimepiride using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Glimepiride, a third generation sulfonylurea, is an antihyperglycemic agent widely used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, an untargeted urinary metabolomic analysis was performed to identify endogenous metabolites affected by glimepiride administration. Urine samples of twelve healthy male volunteers were collected before and after administration of 2 mg glimepiride. These samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and then subjected to multivariate data analysis including principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis. Through this metabolomic profiling, we identified several endogenous metabolites such as adenosine 3′, 5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), quercetin, tyramine, and urocanic acid, which exhibit significant metabolomic changes between pre- and posturine samples. Among these, cAMP, which is known to be related to insulin secretion, was the most significantly altered metabolite following glimepiride administration. In addition, the pathway analysis showed that purine, tyrosine, and histidine metabolism was affected by pharmacological responses to glimepiride. Together, the results suggest that the pharmacometabolomic approach, based on LC-MS/MS, is useful in understanding the alterations in biochemical pathways associated with glimepiride action.

Analysis of Current Status of the Community Health Nursing Practice Education

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to provide basic evidence to improve community health nursing practice education by analyzing the current status of actual operation, program outcomes and evaluation methods, and the level of achieving learning goals. METHODS: Data were collected through an e-mail survey from 155 professors teaching community health nursing in April 2016. Out of 45 responses in total, 42 cases were used for analysis (response rate 29.0%). RESULTS: Community health nursing practice was a 3-credit course in most of the schools (66.7%) and included a practice at public health centers without exception. The most common diagnosis classification system was OMAHA (81.0%). The core fundamental nursing skills evaluated during the practice were subcutaneous injection, vital signs, oral administration, and intradermal injection. Among the subjects of community health nursing practice, the area with the highest potential for achieving learning goals was primary health care provision (4.4/5) and the area with the lowest potential was disaster management (2.4/5). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that there would be active efforts to complement and improve several problems of the community health nursing practice among the community health nursing practice instructors for more effective and qualitative community health nursing practice.

Effects of Psychological Variances in Internet Addiction of 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders from Low Income Families

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to internet addiction in 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from low income families. METHODS: Participants for this study were 201 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from low income families living in Taegu. Data were collected from March, 2 to May, 29, 2013 using self-report structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS/Win 20.0 programme. RESULTS: Among the students, 78.6% were regular users, 14.4% were potential users, and 7.0% were high-risk users. The factors influencing internet addiction, in order of importance, were; conversation with family, followed by depression. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that efforts should make to monitor use of internet by elementary school children from low income families, and preventive strategies should be developed taking into consideration factors that influence internet addiction.

Factors Affecting Alcohol Drinking of Sixth-grade Children in South Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing 6th graders' alcohol drinking. METHODS: Data were collected by questionnaires from 524 6th-graders in G City. The data were analyzed using SAS 9.1.3 programme. RESULTS: Of the children, 63.7% had no education about drinking, implying that drinking prevention education is not done properly in elementary schools. In addition, 70.6% of the children experienced drinking. Among those who had drinking experience, 24.9% experienced the first drinking before entrance into elementary school and this was the highest percentage. Logistic regression analysis showed that the predictors are religion, family type, mother's drinking frequency, and alcohol attitude. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that complementing home environment and parenting education would be effective for reducing children's drinking. Also, it is recommended that drinking prevention programs for children should be developed in consideration of various factors affecting children's drinking including the factors identified in the present study, and the effectiveness of those programs should be assessed.

Comparison of Perceived Health Status, Health Promoting Behaviors and Depression between Korean and Foreign Students at a Women's University

PURPOSE: This research was conducted to investigate perceived health status, health promoting behaviors and depression level in Korean and foreign students at women's university. METHODS: The sample group of this study consists of 100 Korean students at a women's university and 98 foreign students from China and Vietnam who were enrolled at the same university in G City. The research results were analyzed using the SAS program (Version 8.2) with Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and t-test. RESULTS: 1) The Korean students showed a significantly higher score in drinking and smoking than foreign students. Also, age, religion, part time job, stress and allowance were significantly different between the two groups. 2) The foreign students showed a significantly higher score in perceived health status and health promoting behavior than the Korean students. 3) The foreign students showed a significantly higher score in depression than the Korean students. CONCLUSION: In the development of health programs for foreign students, it is necessary to focus on reducing depression and to consider the traditions of their own countries. It is desired to conduct further study about health promoting behavior and factors affecting health with respect to the countries where the foreign students originated.

The Effects of the Drinking-Reduction Program Adopting Transtheoretical and Leisure Models on Problem Drinking Behavior and Cognition

PURPOSE: This study is to examine the effects of the drinking-reduction program that utilizes transtheoretical model and leisure ability model on the problem drinking behavior, alcohol outcome expectancy, and abstinence self-efficacy of problem drinkers at workplaces. METHOD: The subjects consisted of 54 male problem drinkers who scored over 12 points in the AUDIT-K with 23 persons in the experimental group and 31 persons in the control group. The research results were analyzed using the SAS program with Chi-square test, t-test, repeated ANOVA, and post-hoc comparison. RESULTS: 1) The experimental group showed a significantly lower score in problem drinking behavior than the control group. 2) The experimental group showed a significantly lower score in alcohol outcome expectancy than the control group. 3) The experimental group showed a significantly higher score in abstinence self-efficacy than the control group. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the drinking-reduction program effectively reduces the drinking behavior of problem drinkers at workplaces, reduces alcohol outcome expectancy, and enhances abstinence self-efficacy. Accordingly, it is considered that a drinking-reduction program can be a useful nursing intervention method for problem drinkers at workplaces to reduce drinking and improve the quality of life.