Thymic atrophy is a complication that results from exposure to many environmental stressors, disease treatments, and microbial challenges. Such acute stress-associated thymic loss can have a dramatic impact on the host's ability to replenish the necessary naïve T cell output to reconstitute the peripheral T cell numbers and repertoire to respond to new antigenic challenges. We have previously reported that treatment with the orexigenic hormone ghrelin results in an increase in the number and proliferation of thymocytes after dexamethasone challenge, suggesting a role for ghrelin in restraint stress-induced thymic involution and cell apoptosis and its potential use as a thymostimulatory agent. In an effort to understand how ghrelin suppresses thymic T cell apoptosis, we have examined the various signaling pathways induced by receptor-specific ghrelin stimulation using a restraint stress mouse model. In this model, stress-induced apoptosis in thymocytes was effectively blocked by ghrelin. Western blot analysis demonstrated that ghrelin prevents the cleavage of pro-apoptotic proteins such as Bim, Caspase-3, and PARP. In addition, ghrelin stimulation activates the Akt and Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathways in a time/dose-dependent manner. Moreover, we also revealed the involvement of the FoxO3a pathway in the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2. Together, these findings suggest that ghrelin inhibits apoptosis by modulating the stress-induced apoptotic signal pathway in the restraint-induced thymic apoptosis.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; Atrophy* ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Count ; Dexamethasone ; Ghrelin* ; Mice* ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phosphorylation ; Signal Transduction ; Thymocytes ; Thymus Gland*

Small bowel malignancy accounts for approximately 2% of gastrointestinal malignancies. In particular, malignant lymphoma of the small intestine is so rare that it accounts for less than 1% of gastrointestinal malignancies. Initial symptoms are non-specific and diagnosis may be delayed until the patient presents with complications such as intestinal obstruction, hemorrhage, or perforation. A 79-year-old man visited the emergency room with lower abdominal pain. Segmental resection of the small intestine was done and surgery revealed a 9.5x6 cm sized mass with jejunal perforation at 20 cm inferior to the ligament of Treitz. The mass was diagnosed as diffuse large B cell lymphoma. We experienced a case of diffuse large B cell lymphoma which was diagnosed after emergent surgery for jejunal perforation, and report it with a review of literature.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Emergencies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Intestinal Perforation ; Intestine, Small ; Jejunum ; Ligaments ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell

Twin pregnancies are increasing these days due to recent development of the technology in treating infertility and twin pregnancies tend to cause more congenital anomaly than singleton pregnancies do. Although anencephaly is not uncommon, occurring in about one in every 1,000 births, anencephaly developed in a twin pregnancy is very rare. We experienced a twin pregnancy which consisted of an anencephalic fetus and a normal one. This pregnancy was conceived by IVF and ET. This pregnancy was continued without having special problems and was delivered at 36 weeks of gestation by cesarean section due to SROM (spontaneous rupture of membrane). The anencephalic fetus weighed 1,430 gm and was already dead in the uterus. The other weighed 2,660 gm and showed no external anomaly. Its Apgar score was 8 in 1 minute and 9 in 5 minute. The pregnancy resulted in a cesarean section delivery of one dead anencephalic fetus and one normal healthy fetus. We report with a brief review of literature a case of a twin pregnancy, conceived by IVF and ET, in which anencephaly was associated with a normal fetus.
Anencephaly* ; Apgar Score ; Cesarean Section ; Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Fetus ; Humans ; Infertility ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Twin* ; Rupture ; Twins* ; Uterus

BACKGROUND: We examined the prevalence and clinical characteristics of aspirin resistance in the Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We studied 181 Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were taking aspirin (100 mg/day for > or = 3 months) and no other antiplatelet agents. The VerifyNow System was used to determine aspirin responsiveness. Aspirin resistance was defined as an aspirin reaction unit (ARU) > or = 550. We measured the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and ankle-brachial index (ABI) to evaluate arteriosclerosis. The anthropometric parameters, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, lipid profiles, hemoglobin A1c, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), homocysteine, and microalbuminuria were measured in each patient. RESULTS: The prevalence of aspirin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients was 9.4% (17 of 181). Those who had aspirin resistance were older than those without aspirin resistance (64.6 +/- 10.6 vs. 59.8 +/- 8.1, P = 0.024). Aspirin resistance was not associated with fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c, hsCRP, homocysteine, microalbuminuria, ABI, CAVI, and body mass index. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of aspirin resistance in the Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus was 9.4%. Although aspirin resistance was associated with old age, we could not find any good clinical parameter to predict it. Therefore, aspirin resistance should be evaluated in diabetic patients taking aspirin for prevention of cardiovascular complications.
Ankle Brachial Index ; Arteriosclerosis ; Aspirin ; Blood Pressure ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Electrocardiography ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Hemoglobins ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Plasma ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; Prevalence

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although its incidence is gradually decreasing, about half of the world's population still get infected. H. pylori infection is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of classical triple therapy, wherein amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitors are administered, for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was due to increased antimicrobial resistance induced by the use of antibiotics, especially clarithromycin. The update of clinical practice guideline for treatment of H. pylori was developed based on evidence-based medicine by conducting a meta-analysis. The draft recommendations were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines are designed to provide patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians with clinical evidence to guide primary care and treatment of H. pylori infection. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised further, if necessary, based on research-based evidence.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although its incidence is gradually decreasing, about half of the world's population still get infected. H. pylori infection is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of classical triple therapy, wherein amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitors are administered, for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was due to increased antimicrobial resistance induced by the use of antibiotics, especially clarithromycin. The update of clinical practice guideline for treatment of H. pylori was developed based on evidence-based medicine by conducting a meta-analysis. The draft recommendations were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines are designed to provide patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians with clinical evidence to guide primary care and treatment of H. pylori infection. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised further, if necessary, based on research-based evidence.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although its incidence is gradually decreasing, about half of the world's population still get infected. H. pylori infection is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of classical triple therapy, wherein amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitors are administered, for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was due to increased antimicrobial resistance induced by the use of antibiotics, especially clarithromycin. The update of clinical practice guideline for treatment of H. pylori was developed based on evidence-based medicine by conducting a meta-analysis. The draft recommendations were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines are designed to provide patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians with clinical evidence to guide primary care and treatment of H. pylori infection. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised further, if necessary, based on research-based evidence.

Background/Aims: Standard triple therapy, including a proton pump inhibitor, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin, has been recommended as the first-line for Helicobacter pylori infection. However, the eradication rate of standard triple therapy has declined over the past years because of the increasing resistance to clarithromycin in Korea. We analyzed the eradication rates and the 10-year change in the eradication rates in Korea. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and KoreaMed were searched for studies published between January 2007 and June 2018. The pooled eradication rates and their 95% CIs were estimated using a random-effect logistic regression model. Results: Twenty-six randomized controlled studies on standard triple therapy conducted in Korea were selected. The intention-to-treat (ITT) and per protocol analyses showed pooled eradication rates of standard triple therapy of 71.6% (95% CI, 69.9~73.3%) and 79.6% (95% CI, 76.6~82.2%), respectively. The eradication rate decreased with time. The ITT analysis showed that the 14-day therapy (78.1% [95% CI, 75.2~80.7%]) had significantly higher eradication rates than the 7-day therapy (70.0% [95% CI, 68.5~71.4%]) (P<0.01). Conclusions These results suggest that the eradication rate of standard triple therapy, as the first-line therapy, has shown an unacceptable decrease. The eradication rate increased when the duration of therapy was increased to 14 days, but it was not satisfactory. Therefore, other treatment regimens or therapies based on susceptibility tests should be considered for the first-line therapy.

Background/Aims: The eradication rate of the first-line standard triple therapy (STT) for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has decreased since 2000; therefore, other first-line therapies are required. This study was aimed at investigating the efficacy of bismuth-containing quadruple therapy (PBMT) for first-line H. pylori eradication compared to STT, sequential therapy (SQT), and concomitant therapy (CT). Materials and Methods: The Ovid-MEDLINE, Koreamed, EMBASE, KMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from January 2008 to July 2018. All identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PBMT and non-PBMT for first-line H. pylori eradication therapy were included in the final analysis. Results: A total of 3,653 patients from seven RCTs were enrolled. The pooled eradication rates of PBMT by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses were 82.1% (95% CI, 68.2~90.8%) and 88.8% (95% CI, 77.1~94.9%), respectively. However, no statistically significant difference was observed in eradication rates of the 10- or 14-day PBMT as compared to 14-day STT, 10-day SQT, and 10-day CT in ITT and PP analyses. PBMT was significantly higher in adverse events than in the other eradication regimens (RR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.11~2.44). Considerable heterogeneity in adverse events was observed among studies (χ2=88.7; P<0.001, I2=93%). Conclusions PBMT can be the first-line treatment for H. pylori eradication in Korea when other first-line options, including STT, SQT, or CT, are unavailable due to their high adverse event rates.

Background/Aims: As antibiotic resistance increases and new first-line therapies emerge, salvage therapies for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication failures are becoming more common and complicated. This study aimed to systematically review overall salvage regimens after previous failure of H. pylori eradication. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials evaluating salvage therapies after previous H. pylori eradication failure was performed. A meta-analysis was conducted when an adequate number of studies suitable for grouping was found. Results: Overall, 36 studies with 77 treatment arms were identified, and they were highly heterogeneous regarding previously failed regimens and salvage regimens under comparison. Bismuth quadruple therapy after failure of standard triple therapy showed a pooled intention-to-treat (ITT) eradication rate of 75.5% (95% CI, 71.6~79.1%), and the rates were significantly higher with 14-day therapy than 7-day therapy by 9% (95% CI, 2~15%). Levofloxacin triple therapy after failure of standard triple therapy demonstrated a pooled ITT eradication rate of 73.3% (95% CI, 68.4~77.3%). In direct comparison, the two regimens were not significantly different in eradication rates. No study evaluated salvage regimens after the failure of bismuth or non-bismuth quadruple therapy. Conclusions The current studies regarding salvage regimens are highly heterogeneous. Bismuth quadruple therapy and levofloxacin triple therapy may be a reliable option after failure of standard triple therapy, but the regional profile of antibiotic resistance should be considered. Further studies are needed for salvage regimens after failure of non-bismuth or bismuth quadruple therapy.