Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are associated with different lipid profile disorders: a nationwide population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The relationships between lipid profiles and IBD remain elusive. AIM: To determine the association of IBD with serum lipid profiles. METHODS: A nationwide population-based study was performed using claims data from the Korean National Healthcare Insurance service. A total of 9 706 026 subjects undergoing medical check-ups in 2009 were enrolled and followed up until 2016. Individuals who developed Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) were identified during follow-up. Adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) by age, sex, body mass index, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise, income and underlying comorbidities was calculated to define the impact of serum lipid profiles on developing IBD. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 7.3 years, IBD was detected in 7,058 (0.07%) individuals. Compared with the highest quartile of serum total cholesterol (TC) levels, lower TC levels were associated with higher incidence of CD (aHR: Q1, 2.52; Q2, 1.52; Q3, 1.27), but not UC. Lower serum LDL-C levels were associated with higher incidence of CD (aHR: Q1, 1.92; Q2, 1.47; Q3, 1.22), but not UC. Moreover, lower serum HDL-C levels were associated with higher incidence of CD (aHR: Q1, 2.49; Q2, 1.90; Q3, 1.43), but not UC. In contrast, lower serum triglyceride levels were associated with higher incidence of UC (aHR: Q1, 1.22; Q2, 1.19; Q3, 1.19), but not CD. CONCLUSIONS: Low serum TC, LDL-C and HDL-C levels were associated with CD. Low serum triglyceride levels were related to UC.

Effect of mistletoe on endometrial stromal cell survival and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in patients with endometriosis.

Research Question: To evaluate the effect of mistletoe on the cell viability of patients with endometriosis, the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured, and the change in the expression level of VEGF following mistletoe treatment was recorded. Design: Forty reproductive-aged women with endometriosis (stage I/II [group 1, n=20], and stage III/IV [group 2, n=20]) were prospectively enrolled. Twenty women who underwent gynaecologic operations for benign conditions were selected as the control group. Both eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues were obtained from the endometriosis patients. The endometrial tissues were cultured and the stromal cells were separated. The cells were cultured for 24 hours with peritoneal fluid from patients and controls with and without mistletoe supplementation (200 ng/mL), respectively. The MTT assay was used to assess cell viability, and VEGF expression was analysed by Western blotting and ELISA. Results: Using peritoneal fluid from endometriosis patients treated with mistletoe, we found that both eutopic and ectopic endometrial stromal cell viability increased after treatment with peritoneal fluid from patients with early-stage (I and II) endometriosis. After mistletoe treatment, the cell viability was decreased, in both eutopic and ectopic endometrial stromal cells in all stages of endometriosis. These findings were verified consistently by evaluating the expression and concentration of VEGF, a marker of angiogenesis. Conclusions: The present study showed that mistletoe can reduce the cell viability of endometrial stromal cells and the peritoneal fluid-induced elevation of VEGF in eutopic and ectopic endometrial stromal cells obtained from endometriosis patients, especially in the early stage. Mistletoe might have anti-angiogenic activity on endometrial stromal cells and thus is a potential candidate for the treatment of endometriosis.

Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterium Induced Pseudoaneurysm of the Common Carotid Artery.

An 81-year-old male patient presented with complaint of a pulsating neck mass. The patient had a previous history of cervical lymphadenopathy by non-tuberculous mycobacterium infection. Rapid growth of the mass on admission and contrast enhanced computed tomography of the neck resulted in a diagnosis of non-tuberculous mycobacterium induced pseudoaneurysm. The patient underwent emergency open repair of the pseudoaneurysm. Pseudoaneurysm of the common carotid artery is regularly reported, but here we report a rare case of non-tuberculous mycobacterium induced pseudoaneurysm of the common carotid artery.

Comparative study of Korean White Ginseng and Korean Red Ginseng on efficacies of OVA-induced asthma model in mice.

BACKGROUND: Korean ginseng is a well-known medicinal herb that has been widely used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases, including asthma. Ginseng can be classified as white ginseng (WG) or red ginseng (RG), according to processing conditions. In this study, the authors compared the efficacies of these two ginseng types in a mouse model of acute asthma. METHODS: To produce the acute asthma model, BALB/c mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) and aluminum hydroxide, and then challenged with OVA. WG and RG extracts were administered to mice orally. The influences of WG and RG on airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), immune cell distributions in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE), IgG1, and IgG2a in serum were investigated. Cytokine production by lymphocytes isolated from peribronchial lymph nodes and histopathological changes was also examined. RESULTS: In OVA-sensitized mice, both WG and RG reduced AHR and suppressed immune cell infiltration in bronchoalveolar regions. BALF OVA-specific IgE levels were significantly lower in RG-treated OVA-sensitized mice than in the OVA-sensitized control group. WG and RG also suppressed inflammatory cytokine production by peribronchial lymphocytes. Histopathological findings showed reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and airway remodeling (e.g., epithelial hyperplasia) in WG- and RG-treated OVA mice compared with OVA controls. CONCLUSION: In this study, WG and RG showed antiasthmatic effects in an OVA-sensitized mouse model, and the efficacies of RG were found to be better than those of WG.

Prognostic significance of serum soluble CD163 level in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of serum sCD163 in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: Preoperative serum samples from 55 patients with epithelial ovarian cancers were analyzed for sCD163 using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to calculate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Median serum sCD163 levels were higher in patients with a high-grade tumor. High serum sCD163 levels (3.43 mg/l) were associated with poor prognostic factors such as advanced stage (p = 0.024) and positive peritoneal cytology (p = 0.015). Univariate survival analysis showed that elevated sCD163 levels were associated with short DFS (8.0 vs. 32.4 months, p = 0.04) and OS (19.7 vs. 40.0 months, p = 0.027). Multivariate survival analysis revealed that high serum sCD163 levels were negatively associated with DFS (HR 3.1, 95% CI 1.2-8.1, p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that elevated serum sCD163 levels were associated with poor prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer. IMPACT: The prognostic significance of serum sCD163 in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer is described.

Factors associated with sexual debut during adolescence in the Republic of Korea.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors associated with sexual debut among Korean adolescents. METHODS: Based on a 2008 cross-sectional nationwide online survey conducted in 75,238 Korean middle and high school students aged 12-18 years (39,278 boys and 35,960 girls), demographic profiles of the reproductive health and factors associated with sexual debut were analysed. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents who had heterosexual intercourse was 5.1%. The cumulative proportion of sexual debut at age 18 was 20%, and the median age was 17 years. Overall, 0.2% of girls reported past pregnancies, while 8.8% of sexually active girls had ever been pregnant. A proportion of girls who underwent an induced abortion was 89.5%. Up to half (46.0% for boys and 48.3% for girls) never resorted to contraception during coitus. After adjusting for covariates, attendance at general and technical high school, low school record, drinking alcohol, smoking, drug use, high economic status and not living with both parents were associated with the increased proportion of sexual debut in both genders. By contrast, internet use was associated with a reduced risk of adolescent sexual debut. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the factors associated with sexual debut among Korean adolescents. This information may be helpful for the prevention of unprotected sexual debut and subsequent teenage pregnancy in adolescents who are susceptible to initiating sexual intercourse.