Combination of low- or moderate-intensity statin and ezetimibe vs. high-intensity statin monotherapy on primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death: a propensity-matched nationwide cohort study.

Aims: This study aims to compare the preventive effect of low- or moderate-statin with ezetimibe combination therapy and high-intensity statin monotherapy on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause death in a real-world setting.

Methods And Results: Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service datasets, two cohorts comparing high-intensity statin monotherapy with low- or moderate-intensity statin and ezetimibe combination were constructed by 1:1 propensity score matching procedure. Primary outcome was a composite of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and all-cause death.

Association between carotid atherosclerosis and presence of intracranial atherosclerosis using three-dimensional high-resolution vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to investigate whether CAS is associated with the presence of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS).

Methods: A total of 69 asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (36 with CAS and 33 without CAS) who were free of cerebrovascular disease were enrolled in this case-control study.

Delayed diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a with rare hypothyroidism since childhood.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a rare disorder that associates with resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH). A 21-year old man visited outpatient clinic to treat previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and vitamin D deficiency. Despite daily 150 mcg of levothyroxine supplement, thyroid-stimulating hormone level was elevated, but thyroid autoantibodies were not detected.

A rare case of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 initially presenting as an asymptomatic, huge mediastinal mass: case report.

Background: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a rare inherited syndrome that concurrently involves various endocrine glands. We report a rare case of MEN1 in a 43-year-old man whose first manifestation was an asymptomatic mediastinal mass.

Case Presentation: A 13-cm-sized mediastinal mass was diagnosed as an atypical thymic carcinoid by computed tomography and percutaneous needle biopsy.

Compound K attenuates glucose intolerance and hepatic steatosis through AMPK-dependent pathways in type 2 diabetic OLETF rats.

Background/aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with insulin resistance. Compound K (CK) is the final metabolite of panaxadiol ginsenosides that have been shown to exert antidiabetic effects. However, the molecular mechanism of the antidiabetic effects in the liver have not been elucidated; further, whether CK has beneficial effects in hepatosteatosis remains unclear.

The Role of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in Type 2 Diabetes: Understanding How Data Can Inform Clinical Practice in Korea.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) reduce glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c, 0.5% to 1.0%), and are associated with moderate weight loss and a relatively low risk of hypoglycemia.

Serum bisphenol a concentration in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

Objectives: Bishphenol A (BPA) is a representative endocrine disruptor and is also known as a xenoestrogen. The objective of the present study is to investigate how many patients are exposed to BPA and to analyze the relationships between serum BPA concentration, bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical bone markers in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

Methods: Total 51 patients were enrolled for measuring BPA and clinical variables including BMD and bone markers.

Inhibition of NF-κB prevents high glucose-induced proliferation and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Recent epidemiologic studies clearly showed that early intensive glucose control has a legacy effect for preventing diabetic macrovascular complications. However, the cellular and molecular processes by which high glucose leads to macrovascular complications are poorly understood. Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) dysfunction due to high glucose is a characteristic of diabetic vascular complications.

Sonographic appearance of focal fatty infiltration of the pancreas.

We report the sonographic, CT, and MRI findings in a case of focal fatty infiltration of the pancreas. Sonography revealed an echogenic mass in pancreas head. On CT, the mass was hypodense.

A case of post-pregnancy osteoporosis combined with ankylosing spondylitis.

Post-pregnancy osteoporosis is not a common disease and is hard to diagnosis because their specific situation is post-partum and lactation. It commonly occurs on lumbar spine within a few months after the birth of a patient's first child and it could lead to be fracture after minor trauma. Although its etiology is not clear, it would not be of sufficient magnitude to cause fractures unless the woman already had a substantial decrease in bone mass.

Determining the threshold effect of ozone on daily mortality: an analysis of ozone and mortality in Seoul, Korea, 1995-1999.

Many studies have shown a positive association between ambient ozone levels and mortality. Typically, these findings are based on models that assume a linear relationship between log mortality and ozone level. In this study, we adapted generalized additive models in which ozone effects are presumed to occur in three different ways: as a simple linear term, as a cubic natural spline term, and as a combination of two linear terms (a threshold model).