In this study, we found a new food additive as an natural herbal extracts against lipid digestion enzymes for the regulation of fatty acid absorption and weight control. The Water extracts of Platycodon grandiflorum and Solanum melongena. inhibited lipase activity and decresed serum total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in mouse fed lipid emulsion. Twenty three volunteers were subjected to the intake of the herbal extracts plus the egg yolk IgY that inhibit carbohydrate digestion enzymes in gut for 50 days. In average, the treated subjects appeared to lose 1.96 kg of body weight and 3.4 kg of body fat mass during the treated period. Furthermore, Panniculus adiposus and breech size were significantly decreased during the experimental period. Above results suggested that the administration of the dietary additives composed of natural herbal extract and egg yolk IgY improve the obesity by the decrement of body weight and body fat mass.
Absorption* ; Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Dietary Supplements* ; Digestion ; Egg Yolk ; Food Additives ; Lipase ; Mice ; Obesity ; Platycodon ; Solanum melongena ; Triglycerides ; Volunteers ; Water

Purpose: The prevalence of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization in pregnant Korean women is increasing; however, nationwide studies are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to analyze regional colonization rates and antimicrobial susceptibility for GBS in pregnant Korean women through a nationwide survey. Materials and Methods: From January 2018 to December 2020, data from the Seoul Clinical Laboratories on vaginal swab cultures were retrospectively analyzed to detect maternal GBS carriers. Each swab specimen was inoculated onto a 5% blood agar plate and incubated at 35°C–37°C in a 5% CO 2 incubator for 24 h. GBS isolates were identified using a Microflex MALDI Biotyper. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using the Vitek 2 automated system. Results: The overall nationwide GBS colonization rate in pregnant Korean women was found to be 10.6% (3578/33721). The maternal GBS colonization rates ranged from 10.5%–10.8% over the 3-year study period. The GBS colonization rates by province, in descending order, were as follows: Jeolla-do, 13.2%; Gangwon-do, 12.0%; Chungcheong-do, 11.8%; Gyeonggi-do, 11.3%; Seoul, 10.2%; and Gyeongsang-do, 9.6%. During the study period, the resistance rates against chloramphenicol, levofloxacin, clindamycin, erythromycin, and tetracycline were 2.6%–2.7%, 18.2%–19.6%, 33.4%–35.7%, 35.6%–36.8%, and 50.5%–53.3%, respectively. Conclusion In pregnant Korean women, GBS colonization rates were in the range of 9.6%–13.2%, with Gyeongsang-do being the lowest and Jeolla-do the highest. The resistance rate against clindamycin was high (33.4%–35.7%). GBS colonization rates during pregnancy should be studied nationwide according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended guidelines with periodic antimicrobial resistance monitoring.

OBJECTIVES: Recurrence of mood episodes associated with a specific season has been described in various mood disorders. Seasonal change in mood and behavior as a lifetime trait is also observed in healthy individuals. This study aimed at comparing the lifetime trait of seasonal variations of mood and behavior between bipolar disorder patients and controls as well as investigating associated factors of seasonality. METHODS: Subjects were ninety-four clinically stable patients with bipolar disorder and 188 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Seasonality of mood and behavior was assessed retrospectively on lifetime basis using Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire(SPAQ). RESULTS: The patient group showed a higher median global seasonality score(GSS) of SPAQ and a higher rate of seasonal affective disorder(SAD) compared to the control group(p < 0.0001). For subjects showing prominent seasonality, the seasonal symptom profile and seasonal pattern was similar in both patient and control groups. In addition to the diagnosis, female gender was shown to be a predictor of seasonality in the multiple linear regression analysis(p = 0.045). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that lifetime trait of seasonality may be related to the susceptibility of bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder ; Female ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Mood Disorders ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons

Background: The Korea National Antimicrobial Use Analysis System (KONAS), a benchmarking system for antimicrobial use in hospitals, provides Korean Standardized Antimicrobial Administration Ratio (K-SAAR) for benchmarking. This article describes K-SAAR predictive models to enhance the understanding of K-SAAR, an important benchmarking strategy for antimicrobial usage in KONAS. Methods: We obtained medical insurance claims data for all hospitalized patients aged ≥ 28 days in all secondary and tertiary care hospitals in South Korea (n = 347) from January 2019 to December 2019 from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. Modeling was performed to derive a prediction value for antimicrobial use in each institution, which corresponded to the denominator value for calculating K-SAAR. The prediction values of antimicrobial use were modeled separately for each category, for all inpatients and adult patients (aged ≥ 15 years), using stepwise negative binomial regression. Results: The final models for each antimicrobial category were adjusted for different significant risk factors. In the K-SAAR models of all aged patients as well as adult patients, most antimicrobial categories included the number of hospital beds and the number of operations as significant factors, while some antimicrobial categories included mean age for inpatients, hospital type, and the number of patients transferred from other hospitals as significant factors. Conclusion We developed a model to predict antimicrobial use rates in Korean hospitals, and the model was used as the denominator of the K-SAAR.