H NMR Serum Metabolomic Change of Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) Is Associated with Alcoholic Liver Disease Progression.

Without early detection and treatment, chronic and excessive alcohol consumption can lead to the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). With this in mind, we exploit the recent concept of the liver-gut axis and analyze the serum profile of ALD patients for identification of microbiome-derived metabolites that can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for onset of ALD. H-NMR was used to analyze serum metabolites of 38 ALD patients that were grouped according to their Child-Turcotte-Pugh scores (CTP): class A (CTP-A; 19), class B(CTP-B; 10), and class C (CTP-C; 9).

Weekend catch-up sleep is associated with the alleviation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Introduction And Objectives: Recently, interest in the relationship between weekend catch-up sleep (WCUS) and chronic diseases is increasing. We aimed to study the correlation between sleep duration and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an emerging metabolic disease.

Materials And Methods: Data on sleep duration from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was recorded.

Serum cadmium is associated with hepatic steatosis and fibrosis: Korean national health and nutrition examination survey data IV-VII.

Although cadmium (Cd) is correlated with elevated levels of hepatic amino transferases, its influence on the degree of liver steatosis and fibrosis are unknown yet. We aimed to investigate the associations between the serum level of Cd and degree of liver steatosis/fibrosis.Clinical data were obtained from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys IV-VII.

Higher cholesterol levels, not statin use, are associated with a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

We aimed to examine whether statin users have a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after careful consideration of prevalent statin use and cholesterol levels. During a mean prospective follow-up of 8.4 years in 400,318 Koreans, 1686 individuals were diagnosed with HCC.

Durability of Sustained Virologic Response and Improvement of Fibrosis Markers after Daclatasvir and Asunaprevir Treatment in Genotype 1b Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Patients: a Real Life and Multicenter Study.

Background: The long-term data with direct acting antiviral agents were rare. This study investigated the durability of a sustained virologic response (SVR) and the improvement of fibrosis after daclatasvir and asunaprevir (DCV/ASV) treatment in genotype 1b (GT1b) hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients.

Methods: A total of 288 HCV GT1b patients without baseline non-structural 5A (NS5A) resistance-associated substitution (RAS) treated with DCV/ASV were enrolled.

Fatty liver disease and the risk of erosive oesophagitis in the Korean population: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To investigate an association between fatty liver disease (FLD) and erosive oesophagitis.

Design And Setting: This was a cross-sectional study of subjects selected from examinees who underwent health check-up, including oesophagogastroduodenoscopy in one hospital between 2004 and 2011. Erosive oesophagitis was classified according to the Los Angeles classification and FLD was diagnosed with ultrasonography.

Body mass index and the risk of acute pancreatitis by etiology: A prospective analysis of Korean National Screening Cohort.

Background: It is unclear whether obesity increases the incidence of acute pancreatitis (AP) in the general population. Further, no study has prospectively examined the associations of the risk of AP by etiology with measured body mass index (BMI) values.

Methods: A total of 512 928 Korean participants in routine health examinations during 2002-2003 were followed up until 2013 via linkage to national hospital discharge records to assess AP incidence.

Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma by age, sex, and liver disorder status: A prospective cohort study in Korea.

Background: To the authors' knowledge, relatively little is known regarding the interaction of risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with age, sex, and liver disorder status.

Methods: The authors followed 504,646 Korean patients aged 40 to 80 years who underwent routine health checkups between 2002 and 2003 until 2013 via linkage to national hospital discharge records.

Results: HCC occurred in 2744 individuals.

The IL-1B Genetic Polymorphism Is Associated with Aspirin-Induced PepticUlcers in a Korean Ethnic Group.

Background/aims: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with aspirin-induced peptic ulcers. However, SNPs of specific genes vary among races, and data regarding SNPs in the Korean population are scarce. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationships between SNPs of the COX-1, IL-1β, IL-1RN, and TNF genes and aspirin-induced peptic ulcers, as pilot research in a Korean population.

Serum HBV surface antigen positivity is associated with low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adult men.

Background: Metabolic syndrome has clinical implications for chronic liver disease, but the relationship between chronic hepatitis B and metabolic syndrome remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity is associated with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).

Individual prediction model for lamivudine treatment response in hepatitis B virus e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients.

Background And Aims: Although prolonged lamivudine (LAM) therapy is associated with the emergence of LAM-resistant mutations, it is still a commonly used therapy in many Asian countries because of its established long-term safety and low cost. The aim of our study was to assess the predictors of long-term LAM treatment response and to establish an individual prediction model (IPM) for hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

Methods: This was a multicenter analysis of 838 patients treated with LAM between January 1999 and August 2004.

Effect of liver dysfunction on circulating sclerostin.

Sclerostin is a Wnt inhibitor produced specifically by osteocytes. It decreases bone formation by repressing osteoblast differentiation and proliferation. Whether circulating sclerostin level is affected by liver function is not currently clear.

NSAID is inversely associated with asymptomatic gastric ulcer: local health examination data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation.

BACKGROUND. Silent peptic ulcer has been considered to be associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). The recent studies have reported no relationship between them.

[A case of IgG4 associated sclerosing cholangitis without clinical manifestations of autoimmune pancreatitis].

IgG4-related systemic diseases are characterized by a diffuse or mass forming inflammatory reaction rich in lymphocytes and IgG4-positive plasma cells (lymphoplasmacytic infiltration), fibrosclerosis of variable organs and obliterative phlebitis. They usually involve various organs including the pancreas, bile duct, gallbladder, salivary gland, retroperitoneum, kidney, lung, and prostate. However, most of them are accompanied by autoimmune pancreatitis, and good response to steroid treatment is one of the hallmarks of this disease.

Is esophagogastroduodenoscopy necessary in patients with positive fecal occult blood tests and negative colonoscopy?

Background: False positives of fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) regarding colorectal cancer detection are common. The aim was to investigate the upper gastrointestinal (GI) condition confirmed by endoscopy in positive FOBT patients without advanced colorectal neoplasia, hemorrhoid, or colitis.

Methods: The authors reviewed the collective data of 340 positive FOBT patients who underwent both esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy from January 2005 to October 2011.

Which should go first during same-day upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy? A randomized prospective study focusing on colonoscopy performance.

Background: Same-day bidirectional endoscopy is commonly performed in clinical practice. However, the optimal sequence of procedures for same-day bidirectional endoscopy has not been established. The purpose of this study was to compare colonoscopy performance and quality between patients who underwent colonoscopy before or after esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD).

A pilot study of single-use endoscopy in screening acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

Aim: To investigate the feasibility of a single-use endoscopy as an alternative procedure to nasogastric lavage in patients with acute gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.

Methods: Patients who presented with hematemesis, melena or hematochezia were enrolled in this study. EG scan™ and conventional esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) were subsequently performed.

EUS finding of geographic hyperechoic area is an early predictor for severe acute pancreatitis.

Background/objectives: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is an accurate imaging modality for delineating pancreatobiliary structures, however, its clinical application of acute pancreatitis (AP) is limited. Therefore, we sought to characterize the typical EUS features of AP and to determine whether early EUS findings may have prognostic significance.

Methods: Between March 2008 and October 2010, 90 patients with AP and 90 patients without pancreatic disease who underwent EUS were enrolled.

[A case of emphysematous gastritis in a patient with end-stage renal disease].

Emphysematous gastritis is a rare infection of the stomach wall with high mortality rate. It is caused by gas forming organisms and may arise by local spread through the mucosa or hematogenous dissemination from distant focus. Clinical manifestation includes acute abdomen with systemic toxicity, and diagnosis is based on radiologic demonstration of gas within the gastric wall.

Role of the coinhibitory receptor cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 on apoptosis-Prone CD8 T cells in persistent hepatitis B virus infection.

Unlabelled: An excess of coinhibitory signals has been proposed to drive the T-cell exhaustion characteristic of persistent viral infections. In this study we examined the contribution of the coinhibitory receptor cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) to CD8 T cell tolerance in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (CHB). CD8 T cells in patients with CHB have an increased propensity to express the coinhibitory receptor CTLA-4 and this correlates with viral load.

Old age and male sex are associated with increased risk of asymptomatic erosive esophagitis: analysis of data from local health examinations by the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation.

Background And Aims: Silent gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is often detected during routine screening esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). However, the risk factors and clinical implications of silent GERD remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the risk factors for asymptomatic erosive esophagitis by analyzing the local area health examination data.

Lamivudine maintenance beyond one year after HBeAg seroconversion is a major factor for sustained virologic response in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B.

Unlabelled: The reported durability of virologic response after successful lamivudine monotherapy is variable, and the question remains as to whether virologic responses can be maintained over an extended follow-up period. The aim of this study was to investigate posttreatment durability, the optimal duration of additional treatment after HBeAg clearance or seroconversion, and determinants for sustained virologic response (SVR) following lamivudine monotherapy in patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB). From January 1999 to August 2004, 178 Korean patients with HBeAg-positive CHB were treated with lamivudine and achieved complete responses, defined as a loss of serum HBeAg and hepatitis B virus DNA, and alanine aminotransferase normalization.

A case of successful treatment of stomal variceal bleeding with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt and coil embolization.

Variceal bleeding from enterostomy site is an unusual complication of portal hypertension. The bleeding, however, is often recurrent and may be fatal. The hemorrhage can be managed with local measures in most patients, but when these fail, surgical interventions or portosystemic shunt may be required.

[A case of spontaneous dissection of the superior mesenteric artery treated by percutaneous stent placement].

Acute mesenteric ischemia can result from emboli, arterial and venous thrombi or vasoconstriction secondary to low-flow states. Isolated spontaneous dissection of the superior mesenteric artery is a rare cause of acute mesenteric ischemia. The mortality rates of acute mesenteric ischemia averages 71% with a range of 59-93%.