Can Pre-Transplant Psychometric Testing Predict Tacrolimus Intrapatient Variability After Living Kidney Transplantation?

Objective: Tacrolimus intrapatient variability (Tac IPV) has been considered a marker for post-graft risk. We investigated pre-transplant psychometric testing to predict Tac IPV after living kidney transplantation.

Methods: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) examined during pre-transplant evaluation by 102 recipients were analyzed.

Increased extra-neurite conductivity of brain in patients with Alzheimer's disease: A pilot study.

The objectives of this study were to investigate how the extra-neurite conductivity (EC) and intra-neurite conductivity (IC) were reflected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients compared with old cognitively normal (CN) people and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to evaluate the association between those conductivity values and cognitive decline. To do this, high-frequency conductivity (HFC) at the Larmor frequency was obtained using MRI-based electrical property tomography (MREPT) and was decomposed into EC and IC using information of multi-shell multi-gradient direction diffusion tensor images. This prospective single-center study included 20 patients with mild or moderate AD, 25 patients with amnestic MCI, and 21 old CN participants.

Microvascular morphology alteration using relaxation rate change with gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques cannot demonstrate microvascular alterations in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, the diagnosis of microvascular pathology commonly relies on postmortem. The purpose of this study was to evaluate alterations of microvascular structures in patients with AD using a 3T clinical MRI system with a commercially available contrast agent.

Application of High-Frequency Conductivity Map Using MRI to Evaluate It in the Brain of Alzheimer's Disease Patients.

Background: The previous studies reported increased concentrations of metallic ions, imbalanced Na+ and K+ ions, and the increased mobility of protons by microstructural disruptions in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Purpose: (1) to apply a high-frequency conductivity (HFC) mapping technique using a clinical 3T MRI system, (2) compare HFC values in the brains of participants with AD, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and cognitively normal (CN) elderly people, (3) evaluate the relationship between HFC values and cognitive decline, and (4) explore usefulness of HFC values as an imaging biomarker to evaluate the differentiation of AD from CN.

Materials And Methods: This prospective study included 74 participants (23 AD patients, 27 amnestic MCI patients, and 24 CN elderly people) to explore the clinical application of HFC mapping in the brain from March 2019 to August 2021.

Myelin-Weighted Imaging Presents Reduced Apparent Myelin Water in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

The purpose of this study was to investigate myelin loss in both AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients with a new myelin water mapping technique within reasonable scan time and evaluate the clinical relevance of the apparent myelin water fraction (MWF) values by assessing the relationship between decreases in myelin water and the degree of memory decline or aging. Twenty-nine individuals were assigned to the cognitively normal (CN) elderly group, 32 participants were assigned to the MCI group, and 31 patients were assigned to the AD group. A 3D visualization of the short transverse relaxation time component (ViSTa)-gradient and spin-echo (GraSE) sequence was developed to map apparent MWF.

Exposure to lead on expression levels of brain immunoglobulins, inflammatory cytokines, and brain-derived neurotropic factor in fetal and postnatal mice with autism-like characteristics.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders, and their incidence is increasing worldwide. Increased exposure to environmental metal lead (Pb) has been proposed as a risk factor associated with ASD. In the present study, BTBR T+ /J (BTBR) mice with ASD-like behavioral characteristics and control FVB mice were exposed gestationally and/or neonatally to Pb, and compared with highly social FVB mice to investigate neuroimmunological abnormalities.

Development and evaluation of a T1 standard brain template for Alzheimer disease.

Background: Patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have high variability in brain tissue loss, making it difficult to use a disease-specific standard brain template. The objective of this study was to develop an AD-specific three-dimensional (3D) T1 brain tissue template and to evaluate the characteristics of the populations used to form the template.

Methods: We obtained 3D T1-weighted images from 294 individuals, including 101 AD, 96 amnestic MCI, and 97 cognitively normal (CN) elderly individuals, and segmented them into different brain tissues to generate AD-specific brain tissue templates.

Dysregulation of murine immune functions on inhalational exposure to ammonia, dimethyl disulfide, 3-methylindole, or propionic acid.

Animal husbandry workers are exposed to various malodorous compounds in the workplace. Although these compounds cause severe nuisance, no systemic investigation of their effects on the immune system has been conducted. To address this issue, we evaluated the effects of inhalational exposure to ammonia, dimethyl disulfide, 3-methylindole (3-MI), and propionic acid (PA), representing four major groups of malodorous compounds, on humoral and cellular immunity in mice.

Added Value of Chemical Exchange-Dependent Saturation Transfer MRI for the Diagnosis of Dementia.

Objective: Chemical exchange-dependent saturation transfer (CEST) MRI is sensitive for detecting solid-like proteins and may detect changes in the levels of mobile proteins and peptides in tissues. The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of chemical exchange proton pools using the CEST MRI technique in patients with dementia.

Materials And Methods: Our institutional review board approved this cross-sectional prospective study and informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Two tiered approaches combining alternative test methods and minimizing the use of reconstructed human cornea-like epithelium tests for the evaluation of eye irritation potency of test chemicals.

In order to overcome the limitations of single in vitro eye irritation tests, Integrated Approaches to Testing Assessment strategies have been suggested for evaluating eye irritation. This study developed two tiered approaches combining alternative test methods. They were designed in consideration of the solubility property of test chemicals and to use the RhCE tests at final steps.

Prediction of the skin sensitization potential of didecyldimethylammonium chloride and 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal and mixtures of these compounds with the excipient ethylene glycol through the human Cell Line Activation Test and the Direct Peptide Reactivity Assay.

In commercial products such as household deodorants or biocides, didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) often serves as an antimicrobial agent, citral serves as a fragrance agent, and the excipient ethylene glycol (EG) is used to dissolve the active ingredients. The skin sensitization (SS) potentials of each of these substances are still being debated. Moreover, mixtures of DDAC or citral with EG have not been evaluated for SS potency.

Cross-sectional study of psychiatric comorbidities in patients with atopic dermatitis and nonatopic eczema, urticaria, and psoriasis.

Recent data suggest depression has been linked to chronic skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), urticaria, and psoriasis. This study compared mental illnesses in patients with AD with those of patients with nonatopic eczema, urticaria, and psoriasis in Korea. A cross-sectional study design was used, analyzing data from the 2015 Korean National Health Insurance Research Database, a survey of 42,641 AD and 139,486 non-AD (nonatopic eczema, urticaria, and psoriasis) patients (103,938 males, 78,189 females) classified by age: infant, aged 0-3 years; early childhood, aged 4-8 years; late childhood, aged 9-12 years; adolescent, aged 13-18 years; adult, aged 19-64 years; elderly, aged above 65 years.

Major environmental characteristics of swine husbandry that affect exposure to dust and airborne endotoxins.

Inhalation of organic dust or endotoxin in the dust is considered a major risk factor for occupational respiratory illnesses. Eighteen environmental characteristics associated with animal husbandry were surveyed at 36 swine farms in seven provinces throughout South Korea. Association of these factors with levels of indoor inhalable or respirable dust or endotoxin in each type of dust was analyzed using backward stepwise multiple linear regression models.

Psychological impact of the 2015 MERS outbreak on hospital workers and quarantined hemodialysis patients.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the immediate stress and psychological impact experienced by quarantined patients undergoing hemodialysis and university hospital workers who treated patients Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) during its outbreak.

Design: The group of subjects consisted of 1800 hospital practitioners and 73 quarantined patients undergoing hemodialysis. The Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) was administered to the practitioners twice, once during the hospital shutdown and again one month after the shutdown.

Molecular Mechanism of Atopic Dermatitis Induction Following Sensitization and Challenge with 2,4-Dinitrochlorobenzene in Mouse Skin Tissue.

Laboratory animal models have been developed to investigate preventive or therapeutic effect of medicinal products, or occurrence or progression mechanism of atopic dermatitis (AD), a pruritic and persistent inflammatory skin disease. The murine model with immunologic phenomena resembling human AD was introduced, which demonstrated skewedness toward predominance of type-2 helper T cell reactivity and pathophysiological changes similar as human AD following 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitization and challenge. Molecular mechanism on the DNCB-mediated AD was further evaluated.

Association between endotoxin levels in dust from indoor swine housing environments and the immune responses of pigs.

Indoor animal husbandry environments are inevitably contaminated with endotoxins. Endotoxin exposure is associated with various inflammatory illnesses in animals. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between the degree of endotoxin exposure and the cellular and humoral immune profiles of fattening pigs.

Altered immune responses in broiler chicken husbandry workers and their association with endotoxin exposure.

Exposure to bioaerosols in indoor animal farms associates with respiratory illnesses, but little is known about the immune modulation to chicken farmers. This study aimed to compare the general immunity of chicken farmers with those of control subjects with non-agricultural jobs. Blood taken from the farmers and controls was subjected to plasma IgE and IgG subclass measurements.

Association of tripartite motif family-like 2 (TRIML2) polymorphisms with late-onset Alzheimer's disease risk in a Korean population.

Apoptosis is a prominent feature in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), regulated in part by the activity of p53. As tripartite motif family-like 2 (TRIML2), a member of the TRIM family of proteins, has been implicated in the regulation of p53-mediated apoptosis, we hypothesized that TRIML2 polymorphisms may result in an increased AD susceptibility. Here, we investigated the association between coding region single nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNPs) in TRIML2 and AD in a Korean population.

Potential involvement of NET polymorphism in serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor response in panic disorder.

Background: This is a pilot study assessing the impact of polymorphisms of serotonin transporter (5-HTT; 5-HTTLPR (S/L)) and norepinephrine transporter (NET; rs2242446 (T/C)) genes on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) response in Korean panic disorder (PD) patients.

Methods: PD patients were treated with SSRI (n = 18) or SNRI (n = 6) for 4 weeks. Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) was rated to evaluate the treatment response.

Assessment between Dopamine Receptor D2 (DRD2) Polymorphisms and Schizophrenia in Korean Population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) are associated with schizophrenia in Korean population.

Methods: Four SNPs (rs4648317, rs7131056, rs4936270, and rs1076562) of DRD2 were selected and genotyped by direct sequencing in 197 schizophrenia patients and 370 control subjects. SNPAnalyzer, SNPStats, and Haploview version 4.

MPTP-induced model of Parkinson's disease in heat shock protein 70.1 knockout mice.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), molecular chaperones that assist in protein folding, have become a research focus in Parkinson's disease (PD) since the pathogenesis of PD is characterized by intracellular protein misfolding and inclusion body formation. This study investigated the effect of the knockout (KO) of the Hsp70.1 (approved gene symbol Hspa1b) gene on the sensitivity of murine nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced toxicity.