Validating the Health Benefits of Coffee Berry Pulp Extracts in Mice with High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity and Diabetes.

The effects of coffee ( L.) berry pulp extracts (CBP extracts) on the improvement of diabetes, obesity, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were evaluated using various in vitro antioxidant activity assays and through a high-fat diet-induced mild diabetic obese mouse model. After an 84-day oral administration of CBP extracts (400-100 mg/kg), bioactivities were evaluated.

Effectiveness of Molnupiravir Treatment in Patients with COVID-19 in Korea: A Propensity Score Matched Study.

Background: The MOVe-OUT (efficacy and safety of molnupiravir [MK-4482] in non-hospitalized adult participants with COVID-19 [MK-4482-002]) trial reported that the administration of molnupiravir in unvaccinated patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) before the Omicron epidemic showed a preventive effect of 31% against hospitalization and death. However, studies on the preventive effect of molnupiravir against progression to severe disease and death in patients with COVID-19 during the Omicron epidemic are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive effect of molnupiravir against severe/critical illness or death and death in Korean patients with COVID-19 who were vaccinated mostly during the Omicron epidemic.

Synergistic Protective Effect of Fermented Schizandrae Fructus Pomace and Hoveniae Semen cum Fructus Extracts Mixture in the Ethanol-Induced Hepatotoxicity.

Schizandrae Fructus (SF), fruits of (Turcz.) Baill. and Hoveniae Semen cum Fructus (HSCF), the dried peduncle of Thunb.

A Mixture of Fermented Schizandrae Fructus Pomace and Hoveniae Semen cum Fructus Extracts Synergistically Protects against Oxidative Stress-Mediated Liver Injury.

Schizandrae Fructus (SF) and Hoveniae Semen cum Fructus (HSCF) have long been used as medicinal herbs for treating various diseases in Asian traditional medicine. In the current study, we investigated the protective effect of fermented SF pomace and HSCF extract 1:1 (:) combination mixture (MSH) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced acute liver injury mice. After MSH (50-200 mg/kg) oral administration for 7 consecutive days, animals were injected intraperitoneally with CCl (0.

Mutation as Potential Poor Prognostic Marker in Asian Female Breast Cancer Patients Who Received Adjuvant Chemotherapy.

Background: The prognostic relevance of the PIK3CA mutation together with PD-L1, c-Met, and mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) have not been fully investigated in Asian women with breast cancer (BC) who have undergone postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: We analyzed PIK3CA mutations via peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-mediated real-time PCR assay, PD-L1/c-Met expression via immunohistochemistry (IHC), and microsatellite instability (MSI) status using PCR and IHC, in 191 resected BCs from 2008 to 2011. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset for the involvement of the PIK3CA mutation with PD-L1/c-Met/MMR was explored.

Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis Following Statin Use: From the View of a National Cohort Study in Korea.

Safety issues regarding the potential risk of statins and incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been raised, but the existing data are largely based on Caucasian populations, and continue to have biases and require further validation in Asian populations. Here, we aimed to verify the risk of RA depending on the duration of previous statin use and statin types using a large-scale, nationwide database. This study enrolled 3149 patients with RA and 12,596 matched non-RA participants from the national health insurance database (2002−2015), and investigated their statin prescription histories for two years before the index date.

Lemon Balm and Corn Silk Mixture Alleviates Metabolic Disorders Caused by a High-Fat Diet.

We recently reported that varying combination ratios of lemon balm ( L.) and corn silk extracts (Stigma of L. fruit) could reduce the obesity caused by a high-fat diet (HFD).

Longitudinal follow-up study of the association between statin use and chronic periodontitis using national health screening cohort of Korean population.

Since a potential link between statins and the risk of adverse chronic periodontitis (CP) has been raised, we aimed to validate the association between statin use and the incidence of CP using nationwide cohort data. This longitudinal follow-up study included 169,381 patients prescribed statins who were matched with an equal number of controls using propensity scores from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort database (2002-2015). A Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the occurrence of CP following statin use after adjusting for multiple covariates.

Comparative Impact of Pharmacological Therapies on Cluster Headache Management: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

It is important to find effective and safe pharmacological options for managing cluster headache (CH) because there is limited evidence from studies supporting the general efficacy and safety of pharmacological therapies. This systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) analyzed published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacological treatments in patients with CH. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched to identify RCTs that evaluated the efficacy and safety of pharmacological treatments for CH.

Lemon Balm and Corn Silk Extracts Mitigate High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice.

Lemon balm and corn silk are valuable medicinal herbs, which exhibit variety of beneficial effects for human health. The present study explored the anti-obesity effects of a mixture of lemon balm and corn silk extracts (M-LB/CS) by comparison with the effects of single herbal extracts in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice. HFD supplementation for 84 days increased the body weight, the fat mass density, the mean diameter of adipocytes, and the thickness of fat pads.

A nonsense variant leads to disruption of connexin-linked function and autosomal dominant auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

Genes that are primarily expressed in cochlear glia-like supporting cells (GLSs) have not been clearly associated with progressive deafness. Herein, we present a deafness locus mapped to chromosome 3p25.1 and an auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) gene, , mainly expressed in GLSs.

Differential histopathological and immunohistochemical findings between palmar psoriasis and chronic hand eczema.

Background: The differential diagnosis between palmar psoriasis (PP), chronic hand dermatitis (CHE), and hyperkeratotic hand dermatitis (HHD) is challenging.

Objectives: We sought to distinguish the histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics between PP, CHD, and HHD.

Materials & Methods: Hands, clinically diagnosed with PP, CHD, or HHD, were further evaluated using skin biopsy sections based on haematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical analysis for β-defensin 2 and interleukin-36γ.

Significance of druggable targets (PD-L1, KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, MSI, and HPV) on curatively resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) still remains intractable disease with few therapeutic options. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), which is essential for immune evasion, is involved in the pathogenesis of ESCC and thus is a potential therapeutic target. PIK3CA, KRAS, and BRAF mutations, microsatellite instability (MSI) caused by deficient mismatch repair (dMMR), and human papillomavirus (HPV) can potentially upregulate PD-L1 expression, which might contribute to the clinical outcome of patients with ESCC.

Otological aspects of NLRP3-related autoinflammatory disorder focusing on the responsiveness to anakinra.

Objectives: Gradually progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a prevalent sensory defect. It is generally untreatable, making rehabilitation by hearing aid or cochlear implantation the only option. However, SNHL as one of the symptoms of the hereditary autoinflammatory systemic disease cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome, or as the only symptom of the cochlea-specific form (DFNA34), was suggested to respond to IL-1 antagonist (anakinra) therapy, which ameliorates NLRP3 variants-induced over-secretion of IL-1β.

Curcumin Attenuates Acrolein-induced COX-2 Expression and Prostaglandin Production in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.

Objective: Inflammation is crucial to limiting vascular disease. Previously we reported that acrolein, a known toxin in tobacco smoke, might play an important role in the progression of atherosclerosis via an inflammatory response involving cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin production in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Curcumin has been known to improve vascular function and have anti-inflammatory properties.

A comparison study of audiological outcome and compliance of bone conduction implantable hearing implants.

Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the outcome of different bone conduction hearing implants (BCHIs) in subjects with mixed hearing loss (MHL) and single-sided deafness (SSD) in terms of audiometric results and compliance.

Methods: Twenty-one subjects with MHL and 18 subjects with SSD undergoing implantation of Baha connect, Baha attract, or Bonebridge were enrolled. Functional gain, effective gain, and usage rate of BCHIs were retrospectively reviewed.

Effect of red ginseng NaturalGEL on skin aging.

Background: In aged skin, degradation of collagen fibers, which occupy the majority of the extracellular matrix in the dermis, and changes of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and skin constituents, such as hyaluronic acid and ceramide, cause wrinkles and decrease skin moisturization to contribute to dryness and lower elasticity skin. Red ginseng (RG) is used as a cosmetic and food material and is known to protect from UVB-induced cell death, increase skin hydration, prevent wrinkles, and have an antioxidative effect. But, in general, RG used as a material is the soluble liquid portion in the solvent, and the part that is not soluble in the solvent is discarded.

Severe or Profound Sensorineural Hearing Loss Caused by Novel USH2A Variants in Korea: Potential Genotype-Phenotype Correlation.

Objectives: We, herein, report two novel USH2A variants from two unrelated Korean families and their clinical phenotypes, with attention to severe or more than severe sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

Methods: Two postlingually deafened subjects (SB237-461, M/46 and SB354-692, F/34) with more than severe SNHL and also with suspicion of Usher syndrome type II (USH2) were enrolled. A comprehensive audiological and ophthalmological assessments were evaluated.

Differential disruption of autoinhibition and defect in assembly of cytoskeleton during cell division decide the fate of human -related cytoskeletopathy.

Background: Diaphanous-related formin 1 (DIA1), which assembles the unbranched actin microfilament and microtubule cytoskeleton, is encoded by . Constitutive activation by the disruption of autoinhibitory interactions between the N-terminal diaphanous inhibitory domain (DID) and C-terminal diaphanous autoregulatory domain (DAD) dysregulates DIA1, resulting in both hearing loss and blood cell abnormalities.

Methods And Results: Here, we report the first constitutively active mutant in the DID (p.

The first case of vaginal angiomatoid Spitz nevus causing vaginal bleeding.

Angiomatoid Spitz nevus is a variant of melanocytic nevus with prominent vasculature. Due to its pathologic features, angiomatoid Spitz nevus in the vaginal wall is extremely rare. A 42-year-old woman presented to the hospital with abnormal vaginal bleeding.

Identification of a Novel Frameshift Variant of and Genetic Counseling of Korean Incomplete Partition Type III Subjects Based on Detailed Genotypes.

The aim of this study was to report a novel POU Class 3 Homeobox 4 ( variant and to provide further guidance on genetic counseling for incomplete partition (IP) type III families in the Korean population by showing two new contrasting cases in terms of genotypes and inheritance. Two consecutively recruited hearing-impaired probands with seemingly nonsyndromic features and their biological mothers were included in this study. Sanger sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were performed for .