Malnutrition is a common problem in patients with end-stage liver disease requiring liver transplantation. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional status by using nutritional screening tools [Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002, Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA)] in patients before and after liver transplantation. We analyzed medical record, blood test, nutrient intake and malnutrition rate just before transplantation and at discharge, and at 3, 6, 12 months after transplantation respectively. Initially 33 patients enrolled as study subjects and finally 28 patients completed the study. Nutrients intake such as energy, fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and folate were insufficient at 12 months after transplantation. The rates of malnutrition before transplantation were very high, reported at 81.8% for the NRS 2002, 87.9% for the MUST, and 84.8% for the SGA. By 12 months after operation, malnutrition rates reported at NRS, MUST and SGA had decreased to 6.1%, 10.7%, and 10.7%, respectively. Sensitivity was 87.1% for the NRS 2002, 82.0% for the MUST, and 92.0% for the SGA. Of these screening tools the SGA was the highest sensitive tool that predict the risk of mortality in malnutrition patients who received transplantation. Further studies on nutritional status of patients and proper tools for nutrition intervention are needed to provide adequate nutritional care for patients.
Ascorbic Acid ; Calcium ; Folic Acid ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Malnutrition* ; Mass Screening* ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Nutritional Status ; Potassium ; Sensitivity and Specificity

This study aimed to explore the correlation between usual vitamin K intake and response to anticoagulant therapy among patients under warfarin therapy. We conducted a retrospective survey of patients (n = 50) on continuous warfarin therapy. Clinical information and laboratory parameters were sourced from medical records. Anticoagulant effect was evaluated by using the percent time in therapeutic range (TTR) and the coefficient of variation (CV) of International normalized ratio (INR). Dietary vitamin K intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire that has been developed for the purpose of assessing dietary intake of vitamin K. A total of 50 patients aged between 21 and 87 years were included in the study. The mean vitamin K intake was 262.8 +/- 165.2 microg/day. Study subjects were divided into tertiles according to their usual vitamin K intake. The proportion of men was significantly higher in second and third tertile than first tertile (p = 0.028). The mean percent TTR was 38.4 +/- 28.4% and CV of INR was 31.8 +/- 11.8%. Long-term warfarin therapy group (> or = 3 years) had a higher percentage of TTR as compared to the control group (< 3 years) (p = 0.046). No statistically significant correlation was found between usual vitamin K intake and percent TTR (p > 0.05). In conclusion, no significant association was observed between usual vitamin K intake and anticoagulant effects. Further studies are required to consider inter-individual variability of vitamin K intake. Development of assessment tools to measure inter-individual variability of vitamin K intake might be helpful.
Humans ; International Normalized Ratio ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Vitamin K* ; Vitamins* ; Warfarin*

Recent studies suggest that inclusion of soy product in the diet may have favorable effects on relief of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and risk factors. These effects might be associated with the presence of specific polymorphism in gene. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of consumption of soy flour fortified bread on cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese women according to APOE genotype. In a randomized cross-over clinical trial 30 overweight and obese women received a mild weight loss diet and assigned to a regular diet and a soy bread diet, each for 6 weeks and a washout period for 20 days. Subjects in the soy bread diet were asked to replace 120 grams of their daily usual bread intake with equal amount of soy bread. No significant effects of soy bread on serum lipid, systolic blood pressure and anthropometric indices were observed compared to the regular diet (p > 0.05). For diastolic blood pressure (DBP), comparison of mean differences between two groups showed a marginally significant effect of soy bread (p = 0.06). Compared to regular diet, soy bread had a significant effect on DBP in E2 genotype group (epsilon2/epsilon2) (p = 0.03). Having epsilon2 allele may influences responses of CVD risk factor to soy bread consumption. However more nutrigenetic studies are required.
Adult* ; Alleles ; Apolipoproteins E* ; Blood Pressure ; Bread* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Diet ; Diet, Reducing ; Female ; Flour* ; Genotype* ; Humans ; Obesity ; Overweight* ; Risk Factors*

The aim of this study was to examine dietary pattern, nutritional intake, and diet quality of Korean pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Between October 2008 and May 2012, 166 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM completed a questionnaire and dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record. Blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentrations were measured and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Two major dietary patterns ("carbohydrate and vegetable" and "western" patterns) were identified through factor analysis. Dietary pattern scores for each dietary pattern were categorized into tertiles. The dietary quality index-international (DQI-I) was used to measure overall diet quality. Subjects with higher carbohydrate and vegetable pattern scores reported less physical activity (p < 0.05) and have higher diastolic blood pressure levels (p = 0.05). After adjusting for age and energy intake, higher carbohydrate and vegetable pattern scores were associated with higher sodium intakes (p = 0.02), but lower intakes of fat (p = 0.002) and other micronutrients. On the other hand, higher western pattern scores were associated with higher fat intake (p = 0.0001), but lower intakes of sodium (p = 0.01) and other micronutrients. Higher scores for both dietary patterns were associated with lower scores in the moderation category of the DQI-I (p < 0.0001). HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose levels were significantly lower among participants with high DQI-I than those with low DQI-I (p < 0.05). The study findings suggest that many Korean women with GDM do not consume nutritionally adequate or balanced diets, regardless of dietary pattern.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Diabetes, Gestational* ; Diet* ; Energy Intake ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Hand ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Micronutrients ; Motor Activity ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Sodium ; Vegetables

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food", as said by the father of medicine, Hippocrates in 431 B.C. Nature has provided us with a variety of treatment modalities in the form of food. For the first 5,000 years of civilization, humans relied on herbs and foods for medicine. Only in the past 60 years have we forgotten our medicinal "roots" in favor of patented medicines. While pharmaceutical ingredients have their value, we should not overlook the well-documented, non-toxic and inexpensive healing properties of food. As an individual we consume food several times a day without a complete understanding of its innate qualities. As part of a daily diet, food plays a significant role in helping our bodies function at their best. There are hundreds of extremely nutritious foods, but the items in this article do more than providing healthy nutrients. Many of them consist of ingredients with hidden pharmaceutical qualities ranging from anti-inflammatory to anti-carcinogenic agent. They not only boost our innate immunity but also act as an adjunct to medicines for specific treatment. Prevention and management of symptoms can often be improved significantly through the foods we consume regularly. This paper overviews these beneficial traits of food ingredients, consumed on a daily basis, in various oral diseases.
Diet ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Oral Health* ; Plants, Medicinal ; Spices*

A ketogenic diet (KD) is a dietary approach to treat intractable epilepsy. The KD begins with hospitalization and the child and their parents can adapt to the KD for 1-2 weeks. Recently, various type of dietary intervention such as the modified Atkins diet (MAD) and the low glycemic index treatment (LGIT) have been performed. Since 2010, we carried out the KD, MAD, and LGIT for total of 802 patients; 489 patients (61%) for the KD, 147 patients (18.3%) with the MAD, and 166 patients (20.7%) for the LGIT. In this report, application of these dietary practices in Severance Hospital is shared.
Child* ; Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted ; Epilepsy* ; Glycemic Index ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Ketogenic Diet* ; Meals* ; Parents

The effect of human saliva on the flow properties of pudding-like thickened water prepared with commercial food thickeners was investigated, and their viscosity differences were also compared as a function of salivary reaction time (0-60 min after the addition of saliva). Food thickeners used in this study were starch-based (SB), gum-containing starch-based (GSB), and gumbased (GB) commercial thickeners marketed in Korea. GB showed no significant reduction in viscosity upon contact with human saliva during the salivary reaction. In contrast, SB almost completely lost its viscosity shortly after the addition of saliva, and GSB significantly reduced its viscosity after 20 min of reaction time but retained its viscosity. The results of this study indicate that GB can enhance the swallowing safety of dysphagic patients by retaining a stable viscosity level without the reduction of viscosity during consumption of thickened fluids, whereas SB may increase the possibility of aspiration owing to a rapid decrease of viscosity upon contact with human saliva.
Deglutition ; Humans ; Korea ; Reaction Time* ; Saliva ; Viscosity ; Water

Overnight fasting before elective surgery has been the routine to reduce the risk of pulmonary aspiration. Recently, several international guidelines for preoperative fasting recommend to intake carbohydrate-containing fluids up to 2 to 3 hours before the induction of anesthesia to improve postoperative recovery. Based on the recommendations, we developed a "preoperative carbohydrate diet" provided for the preoperative patients. The purpose of this case report is to share our experience of applying preoperative carbohydrate loading prior to surgery.
Anesthesia ; Fasting ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy*

This study aimed to investigate the association of Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) with the risk of diabetes in Koreans. Korean men (n = 790, 40-79 years) who had been never diagnosed for diabetes before participating were enrolled. Subjects were categorized into normal fasting glucose (NFG, n = 519), impaired fasting glucose (IFG, n = 188) and newly-onset diabetes (n = 83) according to fasting glucose levels. Age was not significantly different among the subgroups. Mean values of BMI, waist circumference, Blood pressure(BP), triglyceride, non-HDL cholesterol were significantly higher in IFG or newly-onset diabetic subjects compared to NFG subjects. The levels of glucose, insulin, free fatty acid, insulin resistance and ApoB were highest in diabetic patients and lowest in NFG subjects. According to ApoB level, subjects were divided into two groups (high-ApoB group: ≥ 87.0 mg/dL vs. low-ApoB group: < 87.0 mg/dL). The risk of diabetes was higher in the high-ApoB group than the low-ApoB group [OR₀: 2.392, (95% CI: 1.470-3.893), P₀< 0.001]. This association was maintained after adjusted for age and BMI [OR₁: 2.228, (95% CI: 1.362-3.646), P₁ = 0.001] and further adjustment for blood pressure, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, ApoA1 and adiponectin [OR₂: 1.984, (95% CI: 1.001-4.064), P₂ = 0.049]. The association was much greater in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS) [OR₁: 2.805 (95% CI: 1.137-5.737), P₁ = 0.005] than in those without [OR₁: 1.917 (95% CI: 0.989-3.718), P₁ = 0.054]. After 3-month, further investigation was randomly performed in subjects with NFG or IFG who agreed to reinvestigation. Multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that net change of ApoB levels was a main contributor to the net change of glucose levels (standardized b-coefficient: 0.315, p = 0.002). In conclusion, ApoB levels are closely associated with the increased risk of diabetes in Korean men.
Adiponectin ; Apolipoproteins B ; Apolipoproteins* ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference

We hypothesized that lower proportion of serum phospholipid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is inversely associated with increased cardiovascular risk and vascular function in metabolically healthy men. To elucidate it, we first compared serum phospholipid free fatty acid (FA) compositions and cardiovascular risk parameters between healthy men (n = 499) and male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD, n = 111) (30-69 years) without metabolic syndrome, and then further-analyzed the association of serum phospholipid DHA composition with arterial stiffness expressed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) in metabolically healthy men. Basic parameters, lipid profiles, fasting glycemic status, adiponectin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and LDL particle size, and serum phospholipid FA compositions were significantly different between the two subject groups. Serum phospholipid DHA was highly correlated with most of long-chain FAs. Metabolically healthy men were subdivided into tertile groups according to serum phospholipid DHA proportion: lower (< 2.061%), middle (2.061%-3.235%) and higher (> 3.235%). Fasting glucose, insulin resistance, hs-CRP and ba-PWVs were significantly higher and adiponectin and LDL particle size were significantly lower in the lower-DHA group than the higher-DHA group after adjusted for confounding factors. In metabolically healthy men, multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that serum phospholipid DHA mainly contributed to arterial stiffness (β'-coefficients = -0.127, p = 0.006) together with age, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride (r = 0.548, p = 0.023). Lower proportion of serum phospholipid DHA was associated with increased cardiovascular risk and arterial stiffness in metabolically healthy men. It suggests that maintaining higher proportion of serum phospholipid DHA may be beneficial for reducing cardiovascular risk including arterial stiffness in metabolically healthy men.
Adiponectin ; Blood Pressure ; C-Reactive Protein ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Particle Size ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Triglycerides ; Vascular Stiffness*