Procedure time of endoscopic submucosal dissection according to the size and location of early gastric cancers: analysis of 916 dissections performed by 4 experts.

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is curative treatment for patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). Because of the technical difficulties, however, these procedures may take a long time, which can increase the rate of procedure-related complications.

Objective: To investigate the procedure time of ESD performed by 4 experts according to the location and size of the EGC.

An increase in serum uric acid concentrations is associated with an increase in the Framingham risk score in Korean adults.

Background: Uric acid is a novel cardiovascular disease (CVD) factor, but its use as an independent risk factor for CVD remains controversial. Here, we examined the correlation between Framingham risk score (FRS) and serum uric acid concentrations in asymptomatic Korean adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 8035 Korean adults.

Natural history of asymptomatic small gastric subepithelial tumors.

Goal: To assess the natural history of gastric subepithelial tumors (SETs) of ≤30 mm in size and to determine their optimal management.

Background: Definitive guidelines have not been formulated for the management of small gastric SETs, owing to a lack of knowledge of their natural history and insufficient long-term follow-up.

Study: We retrospectively reviewed the upper endoscopy and/or endoscopic ultrasound results of 989 tumors diagnosed as gastric SETs of ≤30 mm in size between July 1997 and October 2008 with a minimal follow-up of 3 months.

Benign bronchoesophageal fistula in adults: endoscopic closure as primary treatment.

Background/aims: Benign bronchoesophageal fistula (BEF) is a rare condition that is usually treated surgically; however, less invasive endoscopy procedures have been attempted to overcome the disadvantages of surgery. The aim of this study was thus to determine the results of endoscopic management as a primary treatment in patients with BEF.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 368 patients with BEF who were treated at a tertiary care, academic medical center between January 2000 and August 2009.

Near-infrared fluorescence imaging using a protease-specific probe for the detection of colon tumors.

Background/aims: Early tumor detection is crucial for the prevention of colon cancer. Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging using a target-activatable probe may permit earlier disease detection. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) participate in tumorigenesis and tumor growth.

The role of abdominal CT scan as follow-up after complete remission with successful Helicobacter pylori eradication in patients with H. pylori-positive stage I(E1) gastric MALT lymphoma.

Background: Eradication of Helicobacter pylori with antibiotics is the established initial treatment of patients with localized gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. However, there are few reports on follow-up modalities to identify sustained remission in patients who achieve complete remission (CR). We therefore investigated the role of abdominal computed tomography (CT) as follow-up after CR with H.

Comparison of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 immunoreactivity in the hippocampal Ca1 region induced by transient cerebral ischemia between adult and aged gerbils.

In this study, the authors examined the difference of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (pERK1/2) in the hippocampal CA1 region (CA1) between adult and aged gerbils after 5 min of transient cerebral ischemia. Delayed neuronal death in the CA1 of the aged group was much slower than that in the adult group after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). pERK1/2 immunoreaction was observed in the CA1 region of the sham-operated adult gerbil.

[Evaluation of the usefulness of selective chromogenic agar medium (chromID VRE) and multiplex PCR method for the detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci].

Background: Accurate and early detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) is critical for controlling nosocomial infection. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of a selective chromogenic agar medium and of multiplex PCR for detection of VRE, and both these techniques were compared with the conventional culture method for VRE detection.

Methods: We performed the following 3 methods for detecting VRE infection in stool specimens: the routine culture method, culturing in selective chromogenic agar medium (chromID VRE, bioMérieux, France), and multiplex PCR using the Seeplex® VRE ACE Detection kit (Seegene Inc.

A novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor DA-1229 ameliorates streptozotocin-induced diabetes by increasing β-cell replication and neogenesis.

We studied the effect of a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) inhibitor, DA-1229, on blood glucose profile and pancreatic β-cell mass in established diabetes after streptozotocin (STZ) treatment. Mice that developed diabetes after administration of STZ 100mg/kg were treated with DA-1229 for 13 weeks. DA-1229 significantly reduced plasma DPP IV activity, and enhanced glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) levels.

Three-year outcomes of a Canadian multicenter study of accelerated partial breast irradiation using conformal radiation therapy.

Purpose: To report 3-year toxicity, cosmesis, and efficacy of a multicenter study of external beam, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for early-stage breast cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between March 2005 and August 2006, 127 women aged ≥40 years with ductal carcinoma in situ or node-negative invasive breast cancer ≤3 cm in diameter, treated with breast-conserving surgery achieving negative margins, were accrued to a prospective study involving five Canadian cancer centers. Women meeting predefined dose constraints were treated with APBI using 3 to 5 photon beams, delivering 35 to 38.

Efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole: a 26-week switching study from oral antipsychotics.

Objective: To determine if the maintenance effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole demonstrated in a 12-week study were maintained in an extension phase (up to 26 weeks).

Methods: This study was the extension of our switching study from other antipsychotics to aripiprazole in symptomatically stable patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. All the patients were randomly assigned to the aripiprazole group or the non-aripiprazole group.

Heart rate variability and length of survival in hospice cancer patients.

We examined the association between heart rate variability (HRV) and survival duration to evaluate the usefulness of HRV as a prognostic factor for hospice cancer patients. In terminally ill cancer patients who visited the Hospice clinic, we checked demographic data, Karnofsky performance scale (KPS), HRV, dyspnea, anorexia, as well as fasting blood glucose and total cholesterol. After following up their duration of survival, we examined meaningful prognostic factors for predicting life expectancy through the survival analysis.

Basal and residual lower esophageal pressures increase in old age in classic achalasia, but not vigorous achalasia.

Background And Aim: The relationship between age and esophageal motility parameters (i.e. basal and residual pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter [LES]) remains to be established in achalasia patients, possibly because most previous studies did not distinguish between classic and vigorous achalasia patients.

New diagnostic criteria for nutcracker esophagus using conventional water-perfused manometry: a comparison between nutcracker esophagus with and without gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Background And Aim: Controversy continues as to whether nutcracker esophagus (NE) is a 'real' manometric disease due to its poor correlation with clinical symptoms such as chest pain or dysphagia. While new NE criteria were proposed in a recent study, that study included NE patients both with and without gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We aimed to analyze both general NE (with or without GERD) and pure NE (without GERD) patients in terms of distal esophageal amplitude (DEA) and its correlation with symptoms.

Antipsychotic effects of quetiapine in naturalistic long term follow up study.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of quetiapine and the effects of dosage relates to its effectiveness on schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in a naturalistic setting in Korean people.

Methods: This study was a 24-week, open-label, non-comparative, naturalistic study of quetiapine in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder according to DSM-IV. We stratified the patients into mild [(clinical global impression severity (CGI-S) <4 at baseline)] and severe groups (CGI-S >/=4 at baseline).

Abdominal wound metastasis after laparoscopic surgery of gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Surgical resection is the mainstay treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Laparoscopic surgery can be considered for treating these tumors since their biologic behavior lends them to curative resection without requiring large margins or extensive lymphadenectomy. Despite complete resection, GISTs frequently recur specifically in the liver and peritoneum.

Cyclin D1 immunoreactivity changes in CA1 pyramidal neurons and dentate granule cells in the gerbil hippocampus after transient forebrain ischemia.

Objectives: Cyclin D1, a member of the G1 cyclin family, plays a critical role in the progression of the cell cycle. In the present study, we investigated chronological alterations in cyclin D1 immunoreactivity and its protein levels in the gerbil hippocampus after ischemia/reperfusion.

Methods: Chronological alterations in cyclin D1 immunoreactivity and its levels were examined in the gerbil hippocampus after ischemia/reperfusion using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis.

Validity of the telephone interview for cognitive status (TICS) and modified TICS (TICSm) for mild cognitive imparment (MCI) and dementia screening.

This study aimed to validate the TICS and modified TICS (TICSm) in Korean elderly population and to compare MCI and dementia screening ability between TICS and TICSm. TICS and TICSm were administered to 70 cognitively normal (CN), 75 MCI, and 85 dementia subjects, with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and other cognitive and functional measures. TICS and TICSm scores were highly correlated with other global cognitive and functional scores.

Morphological effect of lipid carriers on permeation of lidocaine hydrochloride through lipid membranes.

We have studied how the transdermal delivery of lidocaine hydrochloride (LHC) is affected by the morphology of lipid carriers, liposomes and micelles, having the same lipid composition of 1-stearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (LPC) and cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHEMS). In vitro drug permeation study, carried out on guinea pig skin, has revealed that the liposomes made of LPC and CHEMS significantly enhance the permeation rate of entrapped LHC; by contrast, the mixed micelles with the same composition decrease the degree of delivering co-existing LHC. Basically, we have also investigated the release kinetics of LHC through the cellulose membrane and found that both liposomes and micelles have a similar releasing profile.

A new moisturizer containing physiologic lipid granules alleviates atopic dermatitis.

Background: Patients with atopic dermatitis show a defective barrier function. In atopic skin, ceramide is significantly decreased and the secretion of lamellar bodies is also impaired. To mimic lamellar bodies, we prepared lipid granules composed of ceramide, fatty acids and cholesterol.

Fabrication and characterization of pseudo-ceramide-based liposomal membranes.

We present a facile and straightforward method to fabricate liposomal membranes with a significantly stable lamellar structure consisting of pseudo-ceramide, fatty acid, and cholesterol. Characterizing their membrane properties, in which we have used differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and FT-IR spectra, enables us to demonstrate that pseudo-ceramide with appropriate amounts of stearic acid and cholesterol can assemble to form a stable lamellar alpha-phase. Moreover, we show that cholesterol is indeed important and plays a role in controlling the melting entropy of lipid membranes, which is attributed to a disordered molecular packing, thus creating more flexible liposomal membranes.

Regulation of adiponectin receptor 2 expression via PPAR-alpha in NIT-1 cells.

Adiponectin receptors mediate the antidiabetic effects of adiponectin. Although suggested to be mainly expressed in muscle, liver, and adipocyte cells, the expression of adiponectin receptors in beta cells is unclear. Given the primary involvement of this cell type in diabetes mellitus, we presently examined the expression level of adiponectin receptor 2 (AdiR2) in beta cells.

Usefulness of double balloon endoscopy in patients with surgically distorted intestinal anatomy.

Background: Double balloon endoscopy (DBE) is a new endoscopic method with the capability for complete observation of whole small bowel. This study evaluated the feasibility and usefulness of DBE for the diagnosis and therapy of small bowel diseases in patients with distorted intestinal anatomy by previous surgeries.

Patients And Methods: From January 2005 to August 2007, 15 patients with Roux-en-Y anastomosis underwent DBE in Asan Medical Center.

Triterpenoic acids of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina and their cytotoxic activities in vitro.

The column chromatographic separation of the MeOH extract from the aerial parts of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina Nakai led to the isolation of fifteen triterpenoic acids (2-6, 9-13, 16-20), four flavonoids (14, 21-23), four phenolics (7, 8, 15, 24), and a diterpene (1). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods to be trans-phytol (1), oleanic acid (2) ursolic acid (3), 2alpha,3alpha,19alpha-trihydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid (4), 2alpha,3alpha-dihydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid (5), maslinic acid (6), caffeic acid (7), phydroxy cinnamic acid (8), 2alpha,3alpha,19alpha,23-tetrahydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid (9), 2alpha,3alpha,23-trihydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid (10), 2alpha,3beta-dihydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid (11), 2alpha,3beta,24-trihydroxyolea-12en-28oic acid (12), (12R, 13S)-2alpha,3alpha,24,trihydroxy-12,13-cyclo-taraxer-14-en-28oic acid (13), quercertin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (14), rosmarinic acid (15), 2alpha,3alpha,24-trihydroxyurs-12,20(30)-dien-28oic acid (16), 2alpha,3alpha,24-trihydroxyolea-12en-28oic acid (17), 2alpha,3beta,19alpha,24-tetrahydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid 28-O-Dglucopyranoside (18), 2alpha,3alpha,19alpha,24-tetrahydroxyurs-12en-28oic acid 28-O-D-glucopyranoside (19), prunvuloside A (20), kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopranoside (21), kaempferol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (22), quercertin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (23), and 2-hydroxy-3-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenly)propanoic acid (24).