We studied daily micronutrient intake from vitamin-mineral supplements, health-related life style, clinical case of diseases and food frequency of the Korean middle-aged (40 - 59 yr, n = 404) to compare the characteristics of non-user (n = 270) and user (n = 134) of vitamin-mineral supplements. Rate of supplement use of the middle-aged was 33.2% and there was significant difference in education level (p = 0.0084) and family income (p = 0.0476) of user and nonuser. Smoking habit (p = 0.0844) and drinking frequency (p = 0.0606) tended to be lower in a supplement user than a non-user. The medical history of a case was significantly higher in users (67.9%) than in non-users (44.4%) (p = 0.001), which suggests that medical history is one of the important motivations of supplement use. Supplement users had the medical history of digestive disease (34.1%), anemia (11.0%) and hypertension (9.9%) in order. Vitamin C was the most frequently supplemented nutrient (81.3%) among vitamin-mineral supplement, and the next orders were vitamins E (73.1%), B2 (68.7%) and B6 (60.4%). Mean intakes of vitamin B1, iron, selenium, vitamin E, and vitamin C from supplement was 4,260%, 4,030%, 1,660% and 1,330% of RDA, respectively. The supplement users tended to consume most food items including milk & milk products (p < 0.01), rice (p < 0.01), grains (p < 0.05) and cookies (p < 0.01) less frequently than non-users. Conclusively, nutrient intake of vitamin B1, iron, selenium, vitamin E, and vitamin C from supplement was excessively high compared to RDA. We suggest that the toxic effect of excessive supplementation should be informed to supplement user and nutritional education should be focused on the optimal supplement dose.
Anemia ; Ascorbic Acid ; Edible Grain ; Drinking ; Education ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Iron ; Life Style* ; Micronutrients ; Milk ; Morinda ; Selenium ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thiamine ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins

Elevated plasma homocysteine ( Hcy) is a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer disease, although the mechanism is still unknown. Both folate and betaine, a choline metabolite, play essential roles in the remethylation of Hcy to methionine. Choline deficiency may be associated with low folate status and high plasma Hcy. Alterations in DNA methylation also have established critical roles for methylation in development of the nervous system. This study was un-dertaken to assess the effect of choline and folate deficiency on Hcy metabolism and genomic DNA methylation status of the liver and brain. Groups of adult male Sprague Dawley rats were fed on a control, choline-deficient ( CD) , folate-deficient ( FD) or choline/folate-deficient ( CFD) diets for 8 weeks. FD resulted in a significantly lower hepatic folate ( 23%)(p < 0.001) and brain folate ( 69%)(p < 0.05) compared to the control group. However, plasma and brain folate remained unaltered by CD and hepatic folate reduced to 85% of the control by CD ( p < 0.05) . Plasma Hcy was signi-ficantly increased by FD ( 18.34 +/- 1.62 micrometer) and CFD ( 19.35 +/-3.62 micrometer) compared to the control ( 6.29 +/-0.60 micrometer) ( p < 0.001) , but remained unaltered by CD. FD depressed S-adenosylmethionine ( SAM) by 59% ( p < 0.001) and ele-vated S-adenosylhomocysteine ( SAH) by 47% in liver compared to the control group ( p < 0.001) . In contrast, brain SAM levels remained unaltered in CD, FD and CFD rats. Genomic DNA methylation status was reduced by FD in liver ( p< 0.05) . Genomic DNA hypomethylation was also observed in brain by CD, FD and CFD although it was not signifi-cantly different from the control group. Genomic DNA methylation status was correlated with folate stores in liver ( r = - 0.397, p < 0.05) and brain ( r = - 0.390, p < 0.05) , respectively. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that genomic DNA methylation and SAM level were reduced by folate deficiency in liver, but not in brain, and correlated with folate concentration in the tissue. The fact that folate deficiency had differential effects on SAM, SAH and genomic DNA methylation in liver and brain suggests that the Hcy metabolism and DNA methylation are regulated in tissue-specific ways.
Adult ; Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Betaine ; Brain ; Choline ; Choline Deficiency ; Diet ; DNA Methylation* ; DNA* ; Folic Acid ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Liver ; Male ; Metabolism ; Methionine ; Methylation ; Nervous System ; Plasma* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Risk Factors ; S-Adenosylhomocysteine ; S-Adenosylmethionine

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate clinical and radiographical results of treatment of chronic lateral ankle instability with modified Brostrom procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 22 cases in 22 patients treated with modified Brostrom procedure under the diagnosis of chronic lateral ankle instability from May 2000 to August 2004. Average age was 32.3 years. Average follow-up period was 23 months. Preoperative and postoperative radiographs of ankle anteroposterior view, lateral view and varus stress view were analyzed. The clinical evaluation was performed according to the Americal Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scales. RESULTS: After the modified Brostrom procedure, Americal Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scales score was improved by average 28 points. Among the 22 cases, 13 cases were excellent, 3 cases good, 4 cases fair, and 2 cases poor with satisfaction of 73%. Five cases had intermittent ankle pain of whom 3 cases had difficulty during competitive sports activity. Lateral tilting of talus improved by average 5.4 degrees on varus stress view. CONCLUSIONS: The modified Brostrom procedure is one of the most effective methods for treating of chronic lateral ankle instability.
Ankle* ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sports ; Talus ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: To evaluate between DHS and ITST nail (2nd generation) on the treatment of unstable femur intertrochanteric fracture in patients over 70 years old. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 61 cases of unstable intertrochanteric fracture (grouped 37 patients with DHS and 24 patients with ITST) who were taken the operation from Mar. 2003 to Sep. 2007 were analysed regarding to union time, sliding length of lag screws, operation time, blood loss, postoperative complications and functional recovery score by Skovron. RESULTS: The mean union time was 14.7 weeks in study group (ITST). The mean union time was 16.2 weeks in control group (DHS). The lag screw slidings were 7.2 mm in study group and 8.7 mm in control group. The operation times were 57.9 min in study group and 76.9 min in control group. The amount of blood loss were 67.7 ml in study group and 227.4 ml in control group. The complications were 4 cases in study group and 4 cases in control group. The Skovron recovery scores were 76.5% in study group and 73.7% in control group. CONCLUSION: From a practical point of short operation time, less amount of bleeding and less complication, author think that the ITST nail is useful implant for treatment of unstable femur intertrochanteric fracture in patient of old age.
Femur ; Hemorrhage ; Hip ; Humans ; Nails ; Postoperative Hemorrhage

Alcoholism has been associated with folate deficiency in humans and laboratory animals. Previous study showed that ethanol feeding reduces the dehydrogenase and hydrolase activity of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH) in rat liver. Hepatic ethanol metabolism generates acetaldehyde and acetate. The mechanisms by which ethanol and its metabolites produce toxicity within the liver cells are unknown. We purified FDH from rat liver and investigated the effect of ethanol, acetaldehyde and acetate on the enzyme in vitro. Hepatic FDH activity was not reduced by ethanol or acetate directly. However, acetaldehyde was observed to reduce the dehydrogenase activity of FDH in a dose- and time-dependent manner with an apparent IC50 of 4 mM, while the hydrolase activity of FDH was not affected by acetaldehyde in vitro. These results suggest that the inhibition of hepatic FDH dehydrogenase activity induced by acetadehyde may play a role in ethanol toxicity.
Acetaldehyde ; Alcoholism ; Animals ; Animals, Laboratory ; Ethanol ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Leucovorin ; Liver ; Oxidoreductases ; Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-NH Group Donors ; Rats

Anteromedial force to the knee in an extended position can cause an avulsion fracture of the proximal fibula with combined injuries to the posterolateral ligaments. Avulsion fractures of the proximal fibula are rare and current management of these fractures is based on few descriptions in literature. Various surgical methods of fixation for these fractures have been reported, but there is still no standard treatment modality. Anatomic reduction of these fractures is technically difficult, and failure of reduction may cause posterolateral instability, secondary arthritis and other complications. We present our experience with two such cases of comminuted avulsion fractures of the proximal fibular with posterolateral ligament ruptures surgically fixated with a locking compression hook plate and non absorbable sutures.
Arthritis ; Collateral Ligaments ; Fibula ; Knee ; Ligaments ; Rupture ; Sutures

The flaviviruses are small single-stranded RNA viruses that are typically transmitted by mosquitoes or tick vectors and are etiological agents of acute zoonotic infections. The viruses are found around the world and account for significant cases of human diseases. We investigated population of culicine mosquitoes in central region of Korean Peninsula, Incheon Metropolitan City and Hwaseong-si. Aedes vexans nipponii was the most frequently collected mosquitoes (56.5%), followed by Ochlerotatus dorsalis (23.6%), Anopheles spp. (10.9%), and Culex pipiens complex (5.9%). In rural regions of Hwaseong, Aedes vexans nipponii was the highest population (62.9%), followed by Ochlerotatus dorsalis (23.9%) and Anopheles spp. (12.0%). In another rural region of Incheon (habitat of migratory birds), Culex pipiens complex was the highest population (31.4%), followed by Ochlerotatus dorsalis (30.5%), and Aedes vexans vexans (27.5%). Culex pipiens complex was the predominant species in the urban region (84.7%). Culicine mosquitoes were identified at the species level, pooled up to 30 mosquitoes each, and tested for flaviviral RNA using the SYBR Green-based RT-PCR and confirmed by cDNA sequencing. Three of the assayed 2,683 pools (989 pools without Anopheles spp.) were positive for Culex flaviviruses, an insect-specific virus, from Culex pipiens pallens collected at the habitats for migratory birds in Incheon. The maximum likelihood estimation (the estimated number) for Culex pipiens pallens positive for Culex flavivirus was 25. Although viruses responsible for mosquito-borne diseases were not identified, we encourage intensified monitoring and long-term surveillance of both vector and viruses in the interest of global public health.