Evaluation of Group Genetic Counseling Sessions via a Metaverse-based Application

Background@#Group genetic counseling has been implemented to meet growing demand.A metaverse platform, in which a society is built and activities are carried out in the virtual world, has not yet been implemented in group genetic counseling. We investigated whether a metaverse platform could be an alternative service-delivery model for group genetic counseling. @*Methods@#Participants (N=131) were divided into three groups: patient (N=45), family (N= 43), and interested (N = 43) groups. Participants entered the metaverse through a link sent to their mobile phones and attended a 20-min group genetic counseling session reviewing hereditary breast cancer, followed by a 10-min question-and-answer period. @*Results@#The overall median score of post-educational knowledge (9.0, range 8.0–10.0) significantly increased compared to that of pre-educational knowledge (6.0, range 3.0– 8.0) (P 0.05). Most participants (95%) responded that their understanding of hereditary breast cancer had increased after the group genetic counseling session and that their satisfaction was high. The main advantage noted with metaverse was no limit of space and location while attending the session (97%), and the main disadvantage was a possibility of missing content due to an unstable internet connection (67%). @*Conclusions@#The metaverse platform would be acceptable as an alternative group genetic counseling service. More studies are needed to investigate how, for whom, and in what circumstances metaverse can be effectively utilized.

Association of Diabetes with Serum Vitamin D in Korean Adults : Analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013~2014)

Insufficient vitamin D intake is a major health problem around the world. Recently, many studies have suggested that vitamin D intake may influence insulin resistance. However, little is known about the association between vitamin D and diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and diabetes mellitus in Korean adults. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of 3,686 participants of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2013~2014 aged 19 years and higher. The results showed that the mean serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) level in Korean adults was 16.77 ng/mL, and 74.2% of them had an insufficient serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) level (below 20 ng/mL). In normal and pre-diabetic groups, the serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) level significantly increased with age (P30 ng/mL), after adjusting for variables that may affect fasting blood glucose, but this result was not significant. In conclusion, although no significant association was observed between diabetes prevalence and vitamin D levels in this study, further studies are needed because the effect of vitamin D on diabetes remains controversial. This nutrient plays a crucial role in the body, and levels are insufficient in the Korean population.

Luteolin and fisetin suppress oxidative stress by modulating sirtuins and forkhead box O3a expression under in vitro diabetic conditions

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Chronic hyperglycemia induces oxidative stress via accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and contributes to diabetic complications. Hyperglycemia induces mitochondrial superoxide anion production through the increased activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. This study aimed to determine whether fisetin and luteolin treatments suppress the oxidative stress by modulating the expression of sirtuins (SIRTs) and forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a) under hyperglycemic conditions in human monocytes. MATERIALS/METHODS: Human monocytic cells (THP-1) were cultured under osmotic control (14.5 mmol/L mannitol), normoglycemic (NG, 5.5 mmol/L glucose), or hyperglycemic (HG, 20 mmol/L glucose) conditions, in the absence or presence of fisetin and luteolin for 48 h. To determine the effect of fisetin and luteolin treatments on high glucose-induced oxidative stress, western blotting and intracellular staining were performed. RESULTS: Hyperglycemic conditions increased the ROS production, as compared to normoglycemic condition. However, fisetin and luteolin treatments inhibited ROS production under hyperglycemia. To obtain further insight into ROS production in hyperglycemic conditions, evaluation of p47phox expression revealed that fisetin and luteolin treatments inhibited p47phox expression under hyperglycemic conditions. Conversely, the expression levels of SIRT1, SIRT3, SIRT6, and FOXO3a were decreased under high glucose conditions compared to normal glucose conditions, but exposure to fisetin and luteolin induced the expression of SIRT1, SIRT3, SIRT6, and FOXO3a. The above findings suggest that fisetin and luteolin inhibited high glucose-induced ROS production in monocytes through the activation of SIRTs and FOXO3a. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study supports current researches that state fisetin and luteolin as potential agents for the development of novel strategies for diabetes.

Nutritional Factors Affecting Mental Health

Dietary intake and nutritional status of individuals are important factors affecting mental health and the development of psychiatric disorders. Majority of scientific evidence relating to mental health focuses on depression, cognitive function, and dementia, and limited evidence is available about other psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. As life span of human being is increasing, the more the prevalence of mental disorders is, the more attention rises. Lists of suggested nutritional components that may be beneficial for mental health are omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids, cholesterol, niacin, folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. Saturated fat and simple sugar are considered detrimental to cognitive function. Evidence on the effect of cholesterol is conflicting; however, in general, blood cholesterol levels are negatively associated with the risk of depression. Collectively, the aims of this review are to introduce known nutritional factors for mental health, and to discuss recent issues of the nutritional impact on cognitive function and healthy brain aging.