Relationship between obesity and depression in the Korean working population.

This study was conducted to investigate potential relationship between obesity and depression in Korean working population. A total of 8,121 workers, aged 21-75 yr, participated in this nationwide cross-section research. The participants asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the socio-demographic factors and health-related behaviors, height, and weight. To measure degree of depression, the Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) was used. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the degree of association between obesity and depression. Compared to normal-weight women, overweight women had a lower adjusted odds ratio (OR) for depression (OR=0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.46 to 0.97). Underweight (1.42, 0.83 to 2.44) and obese women (BMI ≥30) had higher ORs for depression (1.47, 0.64 to 3.36), but these were insignificant. Compared to normal-weight men, obese men had higher crude ORs (1.94, 1.03 to 3.62) and adjusted ORs (1.77, 0.89 to 3.53) for depression, while underweight and overweight men showed no significant differences. These findings suggest that being overweight may protect Korean female worker against depression.

Hair nicotine levels in non-smoking pregnant women whose spouses smoke outside of the home.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether spouses who only smoke cigarettes outside the home can reduce the secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure of non-smoking pregnant women to the levels of those with non-smoking spouses. METHODS: In this cross-sectional survey performed between 1 October 2006 and 31 July 2007, 896 non-smoking pregnant women in their 35th gestational week were included. Hair nicotine levels and the smoking behaviour of their spouses at home were assessed. RESULTS: The geometric means of the hair nicotine levels of the participants with non-smoking spouses (group A), the participants with spouses who only smoked outside the home (group B), and the participants with spouses who smoked inside the home (group C) were 0.33 ng/mg (95% CI 0.30 to 0.35), 0.51 ng/mg (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.57) and 0.58 ng/mg (95% CI, 0.51 to 0.65), respectively. The mean log hair nicotine level of group A was significantly different from the other groups (p<0.001, Scheffe's post hoc test). Multiple linear regression analysis of the log-transformed hair nicotine levels of the participants after adjusting for confounding showed that the mean differences (SE of the mean difference) of groups B and C compared to the reference group A were 0.43 (0.07; p<0.001) and 0.44 (0.10; p<0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Spouses who only smoked outside the home did not reduce the level of SHS exposure of pregnant women to the level of pregnant women with non-smoking spouses. A strategy based on the separation of pregnant women and the smoking activity of their spouses might be inadequate to protect pregnant women from SHS at home.

Association between serum vaspin concentrations and visceral adipose tissue in Korean subjects.

Adipokines modulate multiple signaling pathways of insulin resistance via endocrine, paracrine, or autocrine mechanisms. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT)-derived serpin (vaspin) is a novel adipokine with potential insulin-sensitizing effects. We investigated the association between serum vaspin concentrations and abdominal adiposity. We recruited subjects (N = 150) aged 20 to 69 years who visited our hospital for regular health examinations. Abdominal VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue areas were assessed by computed tomography. We measured serum vaspin concentrations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analysis was performed after stratification, using a homeostasis model for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Serum vaspin concentrations correlated positively with age (r = 0.196) when data from all subjects were analyzed. In the higher-HOMA-IR group, serum vaspin levels correlated more prominently with age (r = .344) and VAT area (r = .327) although these associations were not found in the lower-HOMA-IR group. In multivariate linear regression analysis, the VAT area was independently correlated with serum vaspin concentrations in the higher-HOMA-IR group. The association between serum vaspin concentrations and VAT differs according to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance might influence the correlation between serum vaspin concentration and VAT in human subjects.