Choline is important for normal membrane function, acetylcholine synthesis and methyl group metabolism. In this study, 185 food items customarily eaten by Koreans were selected from the data of the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey and analyzed on the total choline content of the foods using enzymatic method of choline oxidase. Foods with high choline concentration (mg/100 g) were listed in sequence of quail egg (476.04 mg), dried squid (452.42 mg), beef liver (427.16 mg), pork liver (424.92 mg), tuna canned in oil (414.44 mg), boiled and dried anchovy (381.30 mg), dried Alaskan pollack (378.88 mg), chicken egg (309.88 mg), chicken liver (259.38 mg), soybean (238.62 mg), French bread with garlic (193.18 mg) and barley (183.73 mg). From this result, it is shown that dried fishes, prepared fishes, livers, eggs, pulses and cereals might be categorized as high choline food. Citron tea and green tea showed low choline content below 1 mg. Vegetables and fruits were also categorized into low choline food. No choline was detected in red pepper powder, beer, soju, soybean oil and corn oil out of foods analyzed in this study. Further study is required for analytic procedure of the foods of which results are inconsistent with USDA's data such as rice and wheat flour.
Acetylcholine ; Alcohol Oxidoreductases ; Beer ; Bread ; Capsicum ; Edible Grain ; Chickens ; Choline ; Corn Oil ; Decapodiformes ; Eggs ; Fishes ; Fruit ; Garlic ; Hordeum ; Liver ; Membranes ; Nutrition Surveys ; Ovum ; Oxidoreductases ; Quail ; Soybean Oil ; Soybeans ; Tea ; Triticum ; Tuna ; Vegetables

Permutation testing is a robust and popular approach for significance testing in genomic research that has the advantage of reducing inflated type 1 error rates; however, its compu-tational cost is notorious in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here, we developed a supercomputing-aided approach to accelerate the permutation testing for GWAS, based on the message-passing interface (MPI) on parallel computing architecture. Our application, called MPI-GWAS, conducts MPI-based permutation testing using a parallel computing approach with our supercomputing system, Nurion (8,305 compute nodes, and 563,740 central processing units [CPUs]). For 107 permutations of one locus in MPI-GWAS, it was calculated in 600 s using 2,720 CPU cores. For 107 permutations of ~30,000–50,000 loci in over 7,000 subjects, the total elapsed time was ~4 days in the Nurion supercomputer. Thus, MPI-GWAS enables us to feasibly compute the permutation-based GWAS within a reason-able time by harnessing the power of parallel computing resources.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a medically fatal condition in poorly controlled hyperglycemia or newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. Severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is an uncommon complication of DKA and can be associated with acute pancreatitis (AP). We present the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and management of AP associated with HTG in a 14-year-old girl with DKA. The patient, with a 7-year history of type 2 diabetes presented with epigastric pain, 1 month after stopping insulin injection. DKA, severe HTG, and AP were diagnosed based on the laboratory and imaging tests. She recovered from DKA after conventional treatment for DKA, and her triglyceride (TG) level was reduced from 10,867 mg/dL to the normal range after 7 days of admission without antilipid medication. Given that her C-peptide level was not too low and considering her negative diabetes-related antibodies and high TG level, targeted gene panel sequencing was performed on the genes associated with diabetes and HTG. We identified a heterozygous mutation, c.4607C>T (p. Ala1537Val), in ABCC8 related to maturityonset diabetes of the young (MODY) 12. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of HTG-induced AP with DKA in a patient with MODY. In addition, we reviewed the literature for pediatric cases of HTG with DKA. In patients with DKA, timely awareness of severe HTG related to insulin deficiency is crucial for improving the consequences of AP. We recommend considering AP in all DKA patients presenting with severe HTG to ensure early and proper management.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the value of random urinary vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) as a surrogate marker for monitoring tumor response and predicting outcome in patients with neuroblastoma (NB). METHODS: Medical records of 91 patients newly diagnosed with NB at the Samsung Medical Center between June 2014 and August 2017 were reviewed. Clinical associations and other prognostic factors, including age at diagnosis, stage, pathologic subtype, MYCN amplification, and other cytogenetic aberrations, were analyzed. Furthermore, the significance of random urinary VMA level in predicting outcome and tumor response was also evaluated. RESULTS: The median random urinary VMA level at diagnosis was 27.9 (range: 1.7–600) mg/g creatinine. Abdominal primary site, male sex, advanced stage, less differentiated pathology (poorly differentiated, undifferentiated), 11q deletion, and high-risk tumor were associated with a higher VMA level at diagnosis. The VMA level decreased during chemotherapy (28.4%, 16.9%, and 9.6% of the VMA level at diagnosis after 3, 6, and 9 cycles of chemotherapy, respectively). A higher VMA level at diagnosis tends to be associated with a better overall survival in high-risk patients with borderline significance (58.3±18.6% vs. 76.5±13.4%, P=0.050). However, in the multivariate analysis, the VMA level was not a significant predictor of survival. A slower reduction in VMA level during chemotherapy was not associated with a worse overall survival. However, event free survival was significantly better in the rapid responder group. CONCLUSION: A higher VMA level was associated with high-risk features at diagnosis of NB. Random urinary VMA is a valuable marker for monitoring NB response during chemotherapy.
Biomarkers ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Creatinine ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neuroblastoma* ; Pathology ; Prognosis ; Vanilmandelic Acid*

Purpose: The immunomodulatory effects of thalidomide (TM) and dexamethasone (DX) on immune cells and their co-stimulatory, co-inhibitory molecules in vitro and in vivo have been previously reported. The current study investigated the effects of TM and the combinatorial treatment with DX on immune cells using a murine cardiac allograft transplantation model. Materials and Methods: Intraabdominal transplant of cardiac allografts from BALB/c (H-2d ) donors to C57BL/6 (H-2b ) recipients was performed. After transplantation, mice were injected daily with TM or DX or a combination of both TM and DX (TM/DX) by intraperitoneal route until the time of graft loss. CD4+ T cell subsets and CD11c+ cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and spleen were examined and quantified with flow cytometry. Serum IL-6 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on day 7. Results: The mean graft survivals were 6.86 days in the untreated group, and 10.0 days in the TM/DX group (p<0.001). The TM/DX treatment affected the CD4+ T cell subsets without suppressing the total CD4+ T cell population. The CD4 + FOXP3+ /CD4+ CD44hi T cell ratio increased. Increase in cell counts and median fluorescence intensity on CD11c+ CD85k+ with TM/DX were observed. The inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 was also observed. Conclusion These outcomes suggest the immunomodulating effect of the TM/DX combinatorial treatment. In conclusion, TM/ DX combination may be a promising immunomodulatory approach for preventing allograft rejection and improving graft survival by inducing tolerance in transplantation.

Congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (CLAH) is one of the most fatal conditions caused by an abnormality of adrenal and gonadal steroidogenesis. CLAH results from loss-of-function mutations of the steroidogenic acute regulatory (STAR) gene; the disease manifests with electrolyte imbalances and hyperpigmentation in neonates or young infants due to adrenocortical hormone deficiencies, and 46, XY genetic male CLAH patients can be phenotypically female. Meanwhile, some patients with STAR mutations develop hyperpigmentation and mild signs of adrenal insufficiency, such as hypoglycemia, after infancy. These patients are classified as having nonclassic CLAH (NCCLAH) caused by STAR mutations that retain partial activity of STAR. We present the case of a Korean boy with normal genitalia who was diagnosed with NCCLAH. He presented with whole-body hyperpigmentation and electrolyte abnormalities, which were noted at the age of 17 months after an episode of sepsis with peritonitis. The compound heterozygous mutations p.Gly221Ser and c.653C>T in STAR were identified by targeted gene-panel sequencing. Skin hyperpigmentation should be considered an important clue for diagnosing NCCLAH.

PURPOSE: We investigated the relationship between BRCA mutations, pathological findings, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features in patients with breast cancer at risk for the mutation. METHODS: Genetic testing for BRCA mutations was performed in 275 breast cancer patients with at least one risk factor for the mutation. Using the breast imaging reporting and data system MR lexicon, morphological and kinetic features were reviewed on MRI scans of 230 tumors in 209 patients. The relationship between BRCA mutations, pathologic findings, and MRI data was examined, and disease recurrence was estimated. RESULTS: BRCA mutations were detected in 48 patients (23.0%), of which 21 (10.0%) were in BRCA1, and 25 (12.0%) in BRCA2. Additionally, two patients (1.0%) had mutations in both genes. Cancers in patients with BRCA1 mutations more frequently showed a higher nuclear grade (p=0.0041), and triple-negative (TN) phenotype (p<0.0001). On MRI scans, the cancers were seen as mass-type in 182 out of 230 lesions (79.1%), and nonmass type in 48 cases (20.9%). Among the features indentified by MRI, rim enhancement was significantly associated with molecular subtypes based on immunohistochemistry (p<0.0001), and nuclear grade (p=0.0387) in multiple logistic regression analysis. Rim enhancement on MRI, along with advanced pathologic N stage, was associated with increased disease recurrence (p=0.0023) based on multivariate analysis. However, the proportion of mass and nonmass tumors, and the distribution of morphological shape, margin, internal enhancement, and kinetic features assessed by MRI were not different according to BRCA mutation status. CONCLUSION: BRCA1 mutations were associated with aggressive pathological characteristics, and the TN phenotype. Rim enhancement was frequently seen on MRI scans of high-grade cancers and in the TN phenotype. And it was a significant predictor of disease recurrence. However, a direct association with BRCA mutations was not observed.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Genes, BRCA1 ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Information Systems ; Logistic Models ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Multivariate Analysis ; Phenotype ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the dual route model is applicable to Korean word reading in acquired dyslexia after stroke. METHOD: Sixty-two year old patient with dyslexia after left inferior temporal and occipital lobe infarct was evaluated according to the lexical processing. After evaluation of general cognitive and language function, visual perception, semantic, and lexical stages were assessed. RESULTS: Visual perception was appropriate, and semantic categorization and picture-word matching tasks were 80.6% and 78.6% correct, respectively. Lexical decision task showed no significant differences within word classes, except shorter reaction time in reading words of Korean origin than those of chinese origin (p <0.05). The patient was able to read only 39.8% of tested words, and he could not read all the non-words. Reading of high frequency word was superior (65.4%) to that of low frequency words (10.9%) and semantic errors were not remarkable (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The patient showed characteristics of recovery from deep to phonologic dyslexia with impairment of grapheme to phoneme conversion (GPC) route. These findings support that dual route model is applicable to Korean word reading.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Dyslexia ; Dyslexia, Acquired ; Humans ; Language Disorders ; Occipital Lobe ; Reaction Time ; Semantics ; Stroke* ; Visual Perception