Effects of short-term exposure to air pollution on hospital admissions for autism spectrum disorder in Korean school-aged children: a nationwide time-series study.

Objectives: This study explored the effects of short-term exposure to air pollution on hospital admissions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a proxy for symptom aggravation, among Korean children aged 5-14 years.

Design: Time-series study.

Setting, Participants And Outcome Measures: We used data from the National Health Insurance Service (2011-2015).

Modification of the Association between Visual Impairment and Mortality by Physical Activity: A Cohort Study among the Korean National Health Examinees.

The association between visual impairment and higher mortality remains unclear. In addition, evidence is lacking on the interaction between visual function and physical activity on mortality. We used data of individuals with no disability or with visual impairment among those who participated in the National Health Screening Program in Korea in 2009 or 2010.

Healthcare access challenges facing six African refugee mothers in South Korea: a qualitative multiple-case study.

Purpose: Following legal reform in 2013, the annual number of asylum seekers entering South Korea has increased from 1,143 in 2012 to 5,711 in 2015. We interviewed six African refugee mothers of young children regarding their health needs and barriers to access maternal child health services.

Methods: We recruited mothers who had visited a clinic for immigrants between July 2013 and August 2015.

Association between personality traits and mental health outcomes in older adults with lifetime trauma exposure: a nationwide community sample.

Background: This study evaluated the impacts of earlier traumatic events on the mental health of older adults, in terms of mental disorders and mental well-being, according to sociodemographic variables, trauma-related characteristics, and personality traits in a nationally representative sample of older Koreans.

Methods: A total of 1,621 subjects aged 60 to 74 years from a Korean national epidemiological survey of mental disorders responded face-to-face interviews. The Korean Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to investigate lifetime trauma exposure (LTE) and psychiatric diagnoses.

General Similarities but Consistent Differences Between Early- and Late-Onset Depression Among Korean Adults Aged 40 and Older.

Differences in clinical characteristics, symptomatology, and psychiatric comorbidity between early-onset depression (EOD) and late-onset depression (LOD) were examined in a nationwide representative sample. The Korean Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to investigate psychiatric diagnoses and age of onset. A total of 319 subjects aged 40 years and older with a current major depressive disorder (MDD) were included, and both a continuous and a dichotomous (40 years) age-of-onset indicator were used in the analyses.

Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction and Associations with Psychiatric Disorders Among Women Aged 50 and Older.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence of sexual problems and associated factors, focusing particularly on comorbid psychiatric disorders, among older Korean women.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of women aged 50-74 years (n=3828) responded to in-person interviews using the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview to assess psychiatric disorders and four symptoms of sexual dysfunction: (1) lack of sexual interest/sexual aversion, (2) dyspareunia, (3) loss of pleasure, and (4) other organic dysfunction (e.g.

Ten-year trends in the prevalence and correlates of major depressive disorder in Korean near-elderly adults: a comparison of repeated nationwide cross-sectional studies from 2001 and 2011.

Purpose: Near-elderly adults go through many changes in socioeconomic status, such as retirement, which may affect their mental health differently according to when they live. We aimed to compare the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its changes according to sociodemographic factors using nationally representative surveys of Korean near-elderly adults conducted 10 years apart.

Methods: Nationwide community samples of individuals aged 55-64 years living in 2001 (n = 1256) and 2011 (n = 1066) were compared.

Human serum transthyretin levels correlate inversely with Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease in the elderly population, and the search for therapeutic targets and diagnostic AD biomarkers is an exigent issue. Because amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation constitutes the epicenter of AD pathology, Aβ-binding proteins that regulate Aβ aggregation, such as transthyretin (TTR), have attracted much attention. TTR binds to Aβ, prevents its aggregation, and consequently inhibits Aβ-induced cellular toxicity.

Identification of autoantibody against beta-amyloid peptide in the serum of elderly.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by two major neurological features: amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, accumulation of amyloid-beta peptide (A-beta) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of AD. Several lines of evidence suggest that antibodies against A-beta play a protective role in the neuropathology of AD.

Rac1 changes the substrate specificity of gamma-secretase between amyloid precursor protein and Notch1.

Beta amyloid peptide is generated from amyloid precursor protein (APP) by proteolytic cleavage of beta- and gamma-secretases, and plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Since gamma-secretase cleaves several proteins including APP and Notch in a number of cell types, it is important to understand the conditions determining gamma-secretase substrate specificity. In the present study, inhibition of Rac1 attenuated gamma-secretase activity for APP, resulting in decreased production of the APP intracellular domain but accumulated C-terminal fragments (APP-CTF).

Reduced serum level of antibodies against amyloid beta peptide is associated with aging in Tg2576 mice.

Both active and passive immunization to eliminate amyloid plaques from the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have confirmed that amyloid beta (Abeta) vaccination does not only result in clearance of Abeta plaques but improves behavioral-cognitive deficits in animal models of AD. In the present study, the levels of naturally occurring serum antibodies against Abeta were measured in Tg2576 mice at various ages using ELISA to determine the relationship between aging and the level of anti-Abeta autoantibody. The level of anti-Abeta antibody fell significantly at the age of 9 months, at the age when amyloid plaques started to appear in the brain of Tg2576 mice, and was persistently low thereafter.

Bis-styrylpyridine and bis-styrylbenzene derivatives as inhibitors for Abeta fibril formation.

New bis-styrylpyridine and bis-styrylbenzene derivatives were designed and synthesized. These 34 compounds were evaluated by Abeta fibril formation inhibitory assay using thioflavin T as a dye (named ThT assay). Most of them showed excellent inhibitory activities for Abeta fibril formation at IC50 of 0.

Furin is an endogenous regulator of alpha-secretase associated APP processing.

Constitutive and PKC-regulated alpha-secretase pathways have been reported to produce the secreted form of alpha-secretase-derived APP (sAPPalpha). Here, we examined putative role of furin in the regulation of alpha-secretase activity in vitro and in vivo. Overexpression of the prodomain of furin and infection with a furin-specific inhibitor significantly reduced the levels of sAPPalpha regardless of PKC activity, whereas total APP levels remained unchanged.