Objectives: This study aimed to identify sex differences in the association between depression and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted of data from the fifth to seventh waves (2010−2018) of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The participants were adults aged 30−74 years who had no diagnosis of CVD. The CVD risk was calculated using the Framingham Risk Score algorithm. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the association between depression and CVD risk using a complex sample design. Results: The mean CVD risk was higher in males and females with current depression(14.72% vs. 6.35%, respectively) than in males without current depression (11.67% and 4.42%, respectively). Current depression showed a significant association with CVD risk after controlling for only health-related characteristics, but the significance disappeared in both males and females when demographic characteristics were additionally controlled. Conclusion The presence of depression was not associated with CVD risk regardless of sexafter controlling for confounding factors. Further studies are recommended to investigate the relationship between depression and CVD risk in a larger sample of both males and females with depression.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify sex differences in the association between depression and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted of data from the fifth to seventh waves (2010−2018) of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The participants were adults aged 30−74 years who had no diagnosis of CVD. The CVD risk was calculated using the Framingham Risk Score algorithm. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the association between depression and CVD risk using a complex sample design. Results: The mean CVD risk was higher in males and females with current depression(14.72% vs. 6.35%, respectively) than in males without current depression (11.67% and 4.42%, respectively). Current depression showed a significant association with CVD risk after controlling for only health-related characteristics, but the significance disappeared in both males and females when demographic characteristics were additionally controlled. Conclusion The presence of depression was not associated with CVD risk regardless of sexafter controlling for confounding factors. Further studies are recommended to investigate the relationship between depression and CVD risk in a larger sample of both males and females with depression.

No abstract available.
Bone Density* ; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary*

No abstract available.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone* ; Puberty, Precocious*

No abstract available.
Lipomatosis, Multiple Symmetrical*

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been challenging the healthcare service, i.e., the vitalization of the point of care accompanying self-testing in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs). This study aims to suggest priority criteria to classify self-testing IVDs using the analytic hierarchy process technique. Methods: Two dimensions of the characteristics embedded in the IVDs and the diseases to be diagnosed with self-testing IVDs were parallelly considered and independently investigated. In addition, three expert panels consisting of laboratory medical doctors (n=11), clinicians (n=10), and citizens (n=11) who have an interest in the selection of self-testing IVDs were asked to answer to questionnaires. Priorities were derived and compared among each expert panel. Results: First of all, ease of specimen collection (0.241), urgency of the situation (0.224), and simplicity of device operation (0.214) were found to be the most important criteria in light of the functional characteristics of self-testing IVDs. Medical doctors valued the ease of specimen collection, but the citizen’s panel valued self-management of the disease more. Second, considering the characteristics of the diseases, the priority criteria were shown in the order of prevalence of diseases (0.421), fatality of disease (0.378), and disease with stigma (0.201). Third, medical doctors responded that self-testing IVDs were more than twice as suitable for non-communicable diseases as compared to communicable diseases (0.688 vs. 0.312), but the citizen’s group responded that self-testing IVDs were slightly more suitable for infectious diseases (0.511 vs. 0.489). Conclusion Our findings suggested that self-testing IVDs could be primarily classified as the items for diagnosis of non-communicable diseases for the purpose of self-management with easy specimen collection and simple operation of devices, taking into account the urgency of the situation as well as prevalence and fatality of the disease.

V. vulnificus is an estuarine bacterium which causes septicemia and shock in susceptible patients. The organism produces a hemolytic cytolysin (VvH), which has a membrane damaging effect on erythrocytes. To clarify the mechanisms by which VvH might contribute to virulence, we examined its effect on macrophages. When mouse peritoneal macrophages were harvested and co-cultured with hemolysin-positive V. vulnificus strains (100 bacteria/ cell), about 60% of the macrophages were killed; macrophages were not killed when co-cultured V. vulnificus strain CVD 707, a VvH-negative deletion mutant. Exposure of macrophages to filtered culture supernatants (2.5 HU/ml) and purified VvH (3 HU/ml) resulted in an increase in dead cells (80 and 90%, respectively), as determined by the trypan blue dye exclusion method and LDH release from macrophages was also increased (70 and 65.5%, respectively). The cytotoxic effect of VvH on macrophages was both the dose- and time-dependent. The VvH caused damage to the macrophage membrane and was blocked significantly by preincubation with cholesterol (p<0.01). Fetal bovine serum showed remarkable inhibition of VvH synthesis by V. vulnificus and inhibited VvH activity in culture supernatant. Cell viability was increased by 35% (p<0.01) and LDH release decreased by 28% (P<0.01) when macrophages were incubated with V. vulnificus (100 bacteria/ cell) in DMEM-10% FBS for 2 hr. Bacterial clearance activity of mice against V. vulnificus CVD 707 was decreased by pretreatment with 10 HU of VvH. This result suggests that the VvH can impair the membrane of macrophages and may play a role in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus septicemia.
Animals ; Cell Survival ; Cholesterol ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Macrophages ; Macrophages, Peritoneal* ; Membranes ; Mice* ; Perforin ; Sepsis ; Shock ; Trypan Blue ; Vibrio vulnificus* ; Vibrio* ; Virulence

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies suggest that the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene could be an important candidate gene for schizophrenia. According to linkage studies, this gene is located on chromosome 6q14-q15, which is known to harbor the schizophrenia susceptibility locus (locus 5, SCZ5, OMIM 803175). The pharmacological agent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) seems to elicit the symptoms of schizophrenia. The association between CNR1 polymorphisms and schizophrenia is actively being investigated, and some studies have linked the AAT-trinucleotide repeats in CNR1 to the onset of schizophrenia. In this study, we have investigated the association between the AAT-trinucleotide repeats in CNR1 and schizophrenia by studying schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals from Korea. METHODS: DNA was extracted from the blood samples of 394 control subjects and 337 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria). After polymerase chain reaction amplification, a logistic regression analysis, with age and gender as the covariates, was performed to study the variations in the AAT-repeat polymorphisms between the two groups. RESULTS: In total, 8 types of trinucleotide repeats were identified, each containing 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 repeats, respectively. (AAT)13 allele was most frequently observed, with a frequency of 33.6% and 31.6% in the patient and control groups, respectively. The frequency of the other repeat alleles in the patient group (in the decreasing order) was as follows : (AAT)13 33.6%, (AAT)14 21.6%, (AAT)12 18.5%, and (AAT)7 11.1%. The frequency of the repeat alleles in the control group (in the decreasing order) was as follows : (AAT)13 31.6%, (AAT)14 24.5%, (AAT)12 17.2%, and (AAT)7 11.6%. However, there were no significant differences in the AAT-repeat polymorphisms of the CNR1 gene between the patient group and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Although our study revealed no significant association of the AAT-repeat polymorphism of the CNR1 gene with schizophrenia, it will serve as a good reference for future studies designed to examine the cannabinoid hypothesis of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: Located on chromosome 10q22-q23, the human neuregulin 3 (NRG3) is suggested as a strong positional and functional candidate gene involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Several case-control studies examining the association between polymorphisms on NRG3 gene with schizophrenia and/or its traits (such as delusion) have been reported recently in cohorts of Han Chinese, Ashkenazi Jews, Australians, white Americans of Western European ancestry and Koreans. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association of one SNP in exon 9 (rs2295933) of NRG3 gene with the risk of schizophrenia in a Korean population. METHODS: Using TaqMan assay, rs2295933 in the exon 9 of NRG3 was genotyped in 435 patients with schizophrenia as cases and 393 unrelated healthy individuals as controls. Differences in frequency distributions were analyzed using logistic regression models following various modes of genetic inheritance and controlling for age and sex as covariates. RESULTS: Subsequent analysis revealed that the frequency distribution of rs2295933 of NRG3 was not different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls of Korean ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: This study does not support the role of NRG3 in schizophrenia in a Korean population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Case-Control Studies ; Cohort Studies ; Exons ; Humans ; Jews ; Logistic Models ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Schizophrenia ; Wills