Intestinal alkaline phosphatase ameliorates experimental colitis via toll-like receptor 4-dependent pathway.

Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) is an intestinal brush border enzyme which plays an important role in gut homeostasis and mucosal inflammation. However, the mechanism of the protective effect of IAP is not fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the protective effect of IAP on colitis is mediated via the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway.

A Novel Prognostic Nomogram for Predicting Risks of Distant Failure in Patients with Invasive Breast Cancer Following Postoperative Adjuvant Radiotherapy.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify predictors for distant metastatic behavior and build a related prognostic nomogram in breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1,181 patients with non-metastatic breast cancer between 2003 and 2011 were analyzed. To predict the probability of distant metastasis, a nomogram was constructed based on prognostic factors identified using a Cox proportional hazards model.

Divergent prefrontal dopaminergic mechanisms mediate drug- and fear-associated cue extinction during adolescence versus adulthood.

Cue-associated learning is vital to guiding behaviour for survival. Adolescence represents a key developmental stage for perturbations in cue-related learning, including a characteristic deficit in cue extinction learning. The present review summarizes evidence from animal and human literature that cue extinction is critically mediated by prefrontal dopamine, a system that undergoes dramatic reorganization during adolescence.

Juvenile female rats, but not male rats, show renewal, reinstatement, and spontaneous recovery following extinction of conditioned fear.

Anxiety disorders emerge early, and girls are significantly more likely to develop anxiety compared to boys. However, sex differences in fear during development are poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated juvenile male and female rats in the relapse behaviors following extinction of conditioned fear.

Developmental perspectives on methamphetamine abuse: Exploring adolescent vulnerabilities on brain and behavior.

Most people that experience illicit drugs do so for the first time during adolescence, and methamphetamine (meth) is no exception. Therefore, research into the effects of meth should highlight the adolescent period. Despite this, the vast majority of current literature has mainly focused on meth exposure during adulthood.

Phase II, multicentre, randomised trial of eribulin plus gemcitabine versus paclitaxel plus gemcitabine as first-line chemotherapy in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (PG) combination chemotherapy is a preferred chemotherapeutic regimen for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Eribulin mesylate is a halichondrin non-taxane inhibitor of microtubule dynamics. A recent pooled analysis with eribulin showed improved overall survival (OS) in various MBC patient subgroups pretreated with anthracycline and taxane.

[Effect of Immunomodulators and Biologic Agents on Malignancy in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease].

Immunosuppressive agents and biological agents are widely used for therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, these therapies may be associated with an increased risk of malignancy. There is evidence that exposure of the therapeutic agents such as thiopurine and anti-tumor necrosis factor for IBD is associated with an increased risk of lymphoproliferative disorders, skin cancers, or uterine cervical cancers.

Paclitaxel as third-line chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer failing both etoposide- and camptothecin-based chemotherapy.

Paclitaxel has been shown to have clinical activity in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, its role as third-line chemotherapy for SCLC after both etoposide- and camptothecin-based regimens has not been clarified.All patients with refractory SCLC who were treated with paclitaxel-based regimen as third-line chemotherapy between 2005 and 2011 in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were reviewed retrospectively.

EGFR or HER2 inhibition modulates the tumor microenvironment by suppression of PD-L1 and cytokines release.

Background: Characteristics of tumor microenvironment have been suggested as predictive markers of anti-EGFR or anti-HER2 treatment response. However, the effect of EGFR/HER2 signal blockade on the tumor immune microenvironment is unclear.

Methods: EGFR/HER2 pathway signaling and PD-L1 expression in gastric cancer cell lines were screened by western blot analysis.

Phase 1 Studies of Poziotinib, an Irreversible Pan-HER Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.

Purpose: Poziotinib, a pan-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown potent activity againstwild type of epidermal growth factorreceptor(EGFR) family kinases including EGFR, HER2, and HER4 and EGFR-mutant cells in vitro. Two phase I studies were conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), pharmacokinetics, safety, and antitumor activity against advanced solid tumors.

Materials And Methods: Standard 3+3 dose escalation scheme using two different dosing schedules were studied: once daily, 14-day on, and 7-day off (intermittent schedule); and once daily continuous dosing with food effect.

Investigating the role of dopamine receptor- and parvalbumin-expressing cells in extinction of conditioned fear.

The present study examined the pattern of activation of neurons that express dopamine receptors 1 and 2 (D1R and D2R), and parvalbumin (PV) in mice that underwent extinction of a fear memory. Adult male transgenic mice expressing D1R or D2R tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) were conditioned with 6 tone-shock pairings. The following day they were randomly divided into one of four experimental groups: extinction, retrieval, context or handled.

PALOMA-3: Phase III Trial of Fulvestrant With or Without Palbociclib in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women With Hormone Receptor-Positive, Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer That Progressed on Prior Endocrine Therapy-Safety and Efficacy in Asian Patients.

Purpose: To assess efficacy and safety of palbociclib plus fulvestrant in Asians with endocrine therapy-resistant metastatic breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: The Palbociclib Ongoing Trials in the Management of Breast Cancer 3 (PALOMA-3) trial, a double-blind phase III study, included 521 patients with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer with disease progression on endocrine therapy. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were assessed on study treatment and at the end of treatment.

Sodium butyrate inhibits the NF-kappa B signaling pathway and histone deacetylation, and attenuates experimental colitis in an IL-10 independent manner.

Butyrate is a bacterial metabolite of dietary fiber in the colon that has been used to treat inflammatory disease. However, the effect of oral supplementation with butyrate on colitis has not been fully explored. We evaluated the effects of and mechanisms underlying oral supplementation with butyrate on experimental murine colitis.

Prevalence of Self-Perceived Snoring and Apnea and Their Association with Daytime Sleepiness in Korean High School Students.

Background And Purpose: There has been no nationwide population-based study of the prevalence of self-perceived snoring/apnea in Korean adolescents. The purpose of this study was to estimate prevalence of self-perceived snoring/apnea in Korean high-school students and to evaluate their association with daytime sleepiness.

Methods: An online survey was used to investigate 12,672 students at 75 high schools across the 15 nationwide districts of South Korea.

Experiences and Opinions Related to End-of-Life Discussion: From Oncologists' and Resident Physicians' Perspectives.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to explore how oncologists and resident physicians practice end-of-life (EOL) discussions and to solicit their opinions on EOL discussions as a means to improve the quality of EOL care.

Materials And Methods: A survey questionnaire was developed to explore the experiences and opinions about EOL discussions among oncologists and residents. Descriptive statistics, the t test, and the chisquare test were performed for the analyses.

Prognostic value of p21-activated kinase 4 in resected pancreatic cancer.

Resectable pancreatic cancer has a high recurrence rate after curative surgery. Biomarkers are needed for distinguishing patients who may benefit from curative resection. In this study, we sought to analyze the prognostic value of p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1), p21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4), human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1), and thymidylate synthase (TS) in surgically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.

Aripiprazole Facilitates Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Adolescent Rats.

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental disorder during adolescence, which is at least partly due to the resistance to extinction exhibited at this age. The dopaminergic system is known to be dysregulated during adolescence; therefore, we aimed to facilitate extinction in adolescent rats using the dopamine receptor 2 partial agonist aripiprazole (Abilify™), and examine the behavioral and neural outcomes. Adolescent rats were conditioned to fear a tone.

Epidemiology and management of primary immune thrombocytopenia: A nationwide population-based study in Korea.

Introduction: The epidemiology of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is not well characterized in an Asian population.

Materials And Methods: From July 2010 to June 2014, ITP patients were identified using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database.

Results: The overall incidence rate of ITP was 5.

A dissociation between renewal and contextual fear conditioning in juvenile rats.

We investigated whether juvenile rats do not express renewal following extinction of conditioned fear due to their inability to form a long-term contextual fear memory. In experiment 1, postnatal day (P) 18 and 25 rats received 3 white-noise and footshock pairings, followed by 60 white-noise alone presentations the next day. When tested in a different context to extinction, P25 rats displayed renewal whereas P18 rats did not.

Epidemiology of Intracranial Metastases in Korea: A National Cohort Investigation.

Purpose: To investigate the epidemiologic features of intracranial metastases (ICMET) in Korea, we performed a cohort study using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database, which comprised healthcare usage information of approximately 1 million Korean individuals over 12 years.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 998,602 subjects, after excluding 18,218 subjects diagnosed with any cancer during the washout period (2002-2004). The observation period was 9 years (2005-2013; 8,725,438 person-years).

Early versus late bedside endoscopy for gastrointestinal bleeding in critically ill patients.

Background/aims: Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a life-threatening complication in critically ill patients. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of bedside endoscopy in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting, and to compare the outcomes of early endoscopy (within 24 hours of detecting GI bleeding) with late endoscopy (after 24 hours).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent bedside endoscopy for nonvariceal upper GI bleeding and lower GI bleeding that occurred after ICU admission at Seoul National University Hospital from January 2010 to May 2015.

Prefrontal Dopaminergic Mechanisms of Extinction in Adolescence Compared to Adulthood in Rats.

Adolescents with anxiety disorders attain poorer outcomes following extinction-based treatment compared to adults. Extinction deficit during adolescence has been identified to involve immaturity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Findings from adult rodents suggest extinction involves dopamine signaling in the mPFC.

Bilateral Salpingo-oophorectomy Compared to Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonists in Premenopausal Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Aromatase Inhibitors.

Purpose: Although combining aromatase inhibitors (AI) with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) is becoming more common, it is still not clear if GnRHa is as effective as bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of 66 premenopausal patients with hormone receptor- positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative recurrent and metastatic breast cancer who had been treated with AIs in combination with GnRHa or BSO between 2002 and 2015.

Results: The median patient age was 44 years.

Influence of age at diagnosis on the clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease in Korea: Results from the CONNECT study.

Background And Aim: The present study evaluated the clinical characteristics of Korean patients with Crohn's disease (CD) according to their age at diagnosis in a nationwide multicenter cohort study.

Methods: A total of 1224 patients diagnosed with CD between 1982 and 2008 in 32 hospitals were included, and age at diagnosis was categorized as ≤ 16 (G1), 17-40 (G2), 41-59 (G3) and ≥ 60 (G4) years old. The baseline characteristics, medication, and intestinal resection were compared according to the age at diagnosis.