Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide stimulates vascular smooth muscle cell migration through signal transducer and activator of transcription 3-mediated matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression

Periodontal diseases have been associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases. Accumulating evidences have indicated that Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major periodontopathic pathogen, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we demonstrated that P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increases the mRNA and protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. We showed that the MMP-9 expression induced by P. gingivalis LPS is mediated by the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in vascular smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, the inhibition of STAT3 activity reduced P. gingivalis LPS-induced migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. Overall, our findings indicate that P. gingivalis LPS stimulates the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells via STAT3-mediated MMP-9 expression.

Case Study on Safety Situation and Awareness through Risk Assessment of Hospital Foodservice Kitchen Area

This study was carried out to provide a basis for the development of a safety manual for kitchen accident prevention by identifying the safety situation and awareness through risk assessment of kitchen areas. The study was conducted in two phases. First, kitchen accidents and area risk assessment were investigated from February 2014 to September 2014, after which safety awareness of hospital foodservice employees was assessed in a survey. The results of this study were as followes. All of the respondents were women. The evaluation point of kitchen area risk assessment was reduced by 14%. After improvement, an initial score of 108 points decreased to 93 points. The number of accidents was also reduced by 78%; 14 accidents were decreased to three. The most common area of accidents was the kitchen area (58.8%), and burns was the most common accident (35.3%). Most of the employees deemed "enough staff" as the most major factor for good foodservice. "High indoor temperature and poor ventilation in the kitchen area" was chosen as the most common problem in the foodservice workplace. Taken together, our study quantitatively evaluated safety issues in hospital foodservice kitchen areas and provides a basis for the development of a safety manual for kitchen accident prevention.

Estimating the Burden of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Analysis of a Nationwide Korean Database

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) imposes a heavy economic burden. This study was to estimate the epidemiologic features of IBS and to report the IBS burden for the first time in the Korean population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the National Health Insurance (NHI) system database, which covers the entire population of Korea. IBS was defined as diagnostic code -10 in adults with any outpatient clinic visits or hospitalization related to IBS. We excluded diseases that mimic IBS symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 2.42 million (58.2% female) individuals were identified as patients with IBS, yielding an age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of 5.1% in males and 6.9% in females. The prevalence of IBS increased proportionally with age, with higher medical costs in middle-aged patients. Outpatient clinics were visited by 98.6% of IBS patients, and 1.9% were treated upon admission. Of these patients, 87.6% were given a prescription. Co-morbidities that commonly accompanied IBS included upper gastrointestinal (36.1%), respiratory (12.3%), musculoskeletal (8.0%) disease, somatoform (4.3%) and depression/anxiety disorders (3.1%). The NHI costs of IBS, which include the NHI covered cost and beneficiary copayment charges, were estimated to be 155 million USD, which accounts for 0.46% of the total NHI costs for the entire Korean population. CONCLUSIONS: According to the Korean national claims database, about 6% of the Korean population seeks medical care for IBS at least once per year. This high prevalence places a large economic burden on the Korean healthcare system, accounting for 0.46% of overall national medical expenditure.

Screening of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Gene Mutation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using a PCR-Based Enzymatic Digestion Method

PURPOSE: We applied a simplified method using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based enzymatic digestion for the detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 74 samples of adenocarcinoma of the lung with EGFR exons 19 and 21 that had been previously sequenced. We designed PCR primers and chose a DNA restriction enzyme. Seventy four additional lung cancer samples were tested as a test set. For test sets, the PCR-based method was performed first, followed by validation of the result by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: In the first sample group, we found 15 (20.3%) mutations in exon 19, and 9 (12.2%) mutations in exon 21 using the sequencing method. By using the PCR-based method, we were able to identify all of the mutated samples detected by the sequencing method. The PCR-based method also detected mutations in exon 19 in three additional samples and in exon 21 in one additional sample. In the second sample group, by performing the PCR-based method, we found 10 (13.5%) and 7 (9.5%) mutations in exons 19 and 21, respectively. Additional mutations in exon 19 were identified in 2 samples by the sequencing method. However, the sequencing method failed to identify a mutation in exon 21 in one sample. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity of the PCR-based enzymatic digestion method seems to be comparable to that of the traditional sequencing method for detecting EGFR mutations. Our method can be widely used as a screening test to select patients who may benefit from EGFR targeted therapy.