Minimally Invasive Skin Transcriptome Extraction Using a Dermal Biomarker Patch.

Introduction: Advances in the scientific understanding of the skin and characteristic genomic dermal signatures continue to develop rapidly. Nonetheless, skin diagnosis remains predicated on a subjective visual examination, frequently followed by biopsy and histology. These procedures often are not sufficiently sensitive, and in the case of many inflammatory diseases, biopsies are not justified, creating a situation where high-quality samples can be difficult to obtain.

A randomized, open-label, multicenter comparative trial of levetiracetam and topiramate as adjunctive treatment for patients with focal epilepsy in Korea.

Objective: The objective of this trial was to compare the effectiveness of levetiracetam (LEV) and topiramate (TPM) as adjunctive treatment for patients with focal seizures in Korea.

Methods: In this Phase IV, open-label, multicenter trial (NCT01229735), adults were randomized to treatment with LEV (1000-3000 mg/day) or TPM (200-400 mg/day). Only patients achieving LEV ≥1000 mg/day or TPM ≥100 mg/day after a 4-week up-titration entered the 20-week dose-finding and subsequent 28-week maintenance periods.

Treatment gap for convulsive status epilepticus in resource-poor countries.

The magnitude of the treatment gap (TG) for convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) in resource-poor countries is unknown. Hospital-based cohort studies from developing countries revealed that the management of CSE was usually suboptimal due to lack of advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities, significant delay in patient's presentation at hospital, and shortages of essential antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). However, there were no significant differences in the proportion of refractory status epilepticus, short-term mortalities, and morbidities of CSE between the developed and the developing countries.

Epilepsy in Asia: Disease burden, management barriers, and challenges.

This article reviews the burden of epilepsy in Asia, the challenges faced by people with epilepsy, and the management of epilepsy. Comparison is made with other parts of the world. For this narrative review, data were collected using specified search criteria.

Disclosure management behaviors in Korean adults with well-controlled epilepsy: Their relation to perception of stigma.

Purpose: In spite of the fact that epilepsy is a concealable stigmatized identity, there is little evidence pertaining to disclosure management in adults living with epilepsy. We determined the factors contributing to disclosure management strategies in adults living with well-controlled epilepsy.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study.

The effect of recurrent seizures on cognitive, behavioral, and quality-of-life outcomes after 12 months of monotherapy in adults with newly diagnosed or previously untreated partial epilepsy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether seizure recurrence has a negative impact on cognition, psychological function, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over a 12-month period of monotherapy in adults with newly diagnosed or previously untreated partial epilepsy.

Methods: Seizure freedom (SF) was defined as no seizure recurrence during the 40-week maintenance period of medication. Neuropsychological tests, the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), and the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) were administered at baseline and after 48 weeks of carbamazepine or lamotrigine monotherapy.

Association of knowledge about epilepsy with mood and self-efficacy in Korean people with epilepsy.

Purpose: We determined the level of knowledge about epilepsy in Korean people with epilepsy (PWE) and evaluated whether this is associated with self-efficacy, perceived stigma, anxiety, and depressive mood in these patients.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study. A total of 530 PWE participated from 31 secondary or tertiary hospitals in Korea.

Research priorities in epilepsy for the Asia-Oceanian region.

The Asia-Oceanian region is the most populous region in the world. Although there has been substantial economic development and improvement in health services in recent years, epilepsy remains generally an underrecognized and understudied condition. To help promote research in the region, the Commission on Asian and Oceanian Affairs (CAOA) of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) appointed the Research Task Force (RTF) to facilitate the development of research priorities for the region.

Effect of Androsterone after Pilocarpine-induced Status Epilepticus in Mice.

Background And Purpose: Neurosteroids exert their antiepileptic effects via GABAA and NMDA receptors. Another cell death mechanism is excessive Ca(2+) influx into cells. Calbindin-D28k (CB) is a protein that modulates intracellular Ca(2+) in the nervous system.

Phosphorylation of hypothalamic AMPK on serine(485/491) related to sustained weight loss by alpha-lipoic acid in mice treated with olanzapine.

Rationale: Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) was shown to suppress atypical antipsychotic drug (AAPD)-induced weight gain. However, its mode of action has remained unidentified.

Objective: We aimed to identify mechanisms underlying anti-obesity effects of ALA in mice treated with olanzapine.

Changing name of epilepsy in Korea; cerebroelectric disorder (noi-jeon-jeung,뇌전증,): my epilepsy story.

Public misconception of epilepsy may lead to significant stigma to the disease itself, thereby causing impaired quality of life in people with epilepsy. Traditionally, epilepsy has been considered to be the consequence of evanescent spiritual forces, and even demonic possession (in many countries). The names of epilepsy in some East Asian countries originated from China, and include madness in their meaning.

Cognitive and behavioral effects of lamotrigine and carbamazepine monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed or untreated partial epilepsy.

Purpose: In this prospective study, we compared the long-term cognitive and behavioral effects of lamotrigine (LTG) and carbamazepine (CBZ) in patients with newly diagnosed or untreated partial epilepsy.

Methods: This was a multicenter, open-label, randomized study that compared monotherapy with LTG and CBZ in newly diagnosed or untreated patients with partial epilepsy. We employed an 8-week titration period and a 40-week maintenance period.

Clinical feasibility of immediate overnight switching from slow-release carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine in Korean patients with refractory partial epilepsy.

We assessed the clinical variables predicting the feasibility of immediate overnight switching from slow-release carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine in Korean patients with refractory partial epilepsy. Thirty patients aged 15 years or older with refractory partial epilepsy, who had been treated with slow-release carbamazepine as monotherapy or in combination therapy, were switched overnight from slow-release carbamazepine (mean dose at switching, 900 mg/day) to oxcarbazepine. Of these 30 patients, 29 (96.

Balloon cells and dysmorphic neurons in the hippocampus associated with epileptic amnesic syndrome: a case report.

Recently, we encountered a 39-year-old woman with typical epileptic amnesic syndrome. The patient underwent right anterior temporal lobectomy, which removed the right hippocampus. The patient's resected hippocampus showed typical histological features of Ammon's horn sclerosis (AHS) with dysmorphic neurons.

Long-term cognitive and mood effects of zonisamide monotherapy in epilepsy patients.

This study was a prospective, randomized, open-label investigation of the long-term effects of zonisamide (ZNS) monotherapy on cognition and mood of patients with epilepsy. Forty-three patients with epilepsy received ZNS, with final dose groups of 100, 200, 300, and 400mg/day. Cognitive and mood tests were done twice, at baseline and 1 year after starting medication.

Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of QOLIE-10 in Epilepsy.

Background And Purpose: It is necessary in clinical practice to screen patients with epilepsy for quality-of-life factors. The purpose of this study was to develop a Korean version of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE)-10 survey and to determine its reliability and validity.

Methods: Data were collected from 397 adult epilepsy patients.

Factors contributing to the stigma of epilepsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the factors, including personality and coping styles, likely to be influential in enhancing the social stigma of epilepsy.

Methods: Data were collected from 400 adults with epilepsy recruited from 10 epilepsy centers in Korea. Clinical information about seizures was obtained by neurologists, and other information was collected from self-completed questionnaires, including those measuring stigma scales.

A saturation screen for cis-acting regulatory DNA in the Hox genes of Ciona intestinalis.

A screen for the systematic identification of cis-regulatory elements within large (>100 kb) genomic domains containing Hox genes was performed by using the basal chordate Ciona intestinalis. Randomly generated DNA fragments from bacterial artificial chromosomes containing two clusters of Hox genes were inserted into a vector upstream of a minimal promoter and lacZ reporter gene. A total of 222 resultant fusion genes were separately electroporated into fertilized eggs, and their regulatory activities were monitored in larvae.

Significance of chronic epilepsy in glial tumors and correlation with surgical strategies.

Purpose: This study was designed to compare the frequency of postoperative epilepsy in patients with acute and chronic pre-operative epilepsy and with frontal or temporal lobe glial tumors based on the hypothesis that patients with chronic epilepsy do worse.

Methods: We compared the clinical and diagnostic characteristics of the patients (n = 73) who had seizures preoperatively with those of the patients (n = 153) who did not. Among those who have had seizures preoperatively, we compared those (n = 32, chronic seizure group) who had seizures a year or more prior to surgery with those (n = 41, acute seizure group) who had seizures less than a year prior to surgery.

Endoscopic disconnection for hypothalamic hamartoma with intractable seizure. Report of four cases.

Although intractable epilepsy associated with hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) can be controlled by microsurgical resection of the lesion, excision of deep-seated lesions is often associated with morbidity and mortality. Endoscopic disconnection is less invasive and seems to be well suited for this indication. The authors discuss the role of endoscopic-assisted surgery in the management of HH-induced seizures.

The surgical effect of callosotomy in the treatment of intractable seizure.

We evaluated the surgical effects of the callosotomy, particularly with respect to the effect of callosotomy in some seizure types and the extent of surgery. Twenty-one patients with a minimum follow-up of two year were enrolled. The most significant effect of callosotomy was the complete suppression of the generalized seizures associated with drop attack in 12 of 21 patients and seizure reduction of more than 75% in 6 of 21 patients.

Characterization of calcium binding properties of lithostathine.

The pancreas secretes primarily two types of metabolically important proteins: digestive enzymes and hormones. Lithostathine (LIT) is the only protein excreted from the pancreas that has no known digestive or hormonal activity. Human lithostathine is a 144-amino acid glycoprotein synthesized by the exocrine pancreas that has been implicated in various physiological functions, including inhibition of pancreatic stone formation.