Objective: Although the safety and efficacy of desvenlafaxine have been demonstrated, long-term evidence in Asians is lacking. We examined the safety and effectiveness of desvenlafaxine for up to 6 months in routine clinical practice in Korea. Methods: This multicenter, open-label, prospective observational study was conducted from February 2014 to February 2020 as a postmarketing surveillance study of desvenlafaxine (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02548949). Adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were observed from the initiation of treatment for 8 weeks (acute treatment phase) and then up to 6 months (continuation treatment phase) in a subsample. Safety was evaluated by incidence of adverse events (AE) and adverse drug reactions. Treatment response was assessed using the Clinical Global ImpressionImprovement (CGI-I) scale. Results: We included 700 and 236 study subjects in the analysis of acute and continuation treatment phase, respectively. In acute treatment phase, AE incidence was 9.86%, with nausea being most common (2.00%). In continuation treatment phase, AE incidence was 2.97%, with tremor occurring most frequently. After acute treatment (n = 464), the treatment response rate according to the CGI-I score at week 8 was 28.9%. In long-term users (n = 213), the response rate at month 6 was 45.5%. During the study period, no clinically relevant changes in BP were found regardless of concomitant use of antihypertensive drugs. Conclusion This study provides evidence on the safety and effectiveness of desvenlafaxine in adults with MDD, with a low incidence of AE, consistent AE profile with previous studies, and improved response after long-term treatment.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported the association of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) with metabolic risk factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between KOA and metabolic syndrome (MetS).METHODS: The study subjects were 966 Korean adults aged ≥50 years who participated in a free-of-charge health examination provided to residents of a non-urban area. We ascertained KOA and MetS on the basis of the clinical diagnostic criteria of the American Rheumatism Association and the modified National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III, respectively. The association between KOA and MetS was evaluated using a multiple logistic regression analysis after adjusting for covariates.RESULTS: The overall prevalence rates of KOA and MetS were 34.9% and 48.7%, respectively, with higher prevalence rates in the women than in the men (P < 0.001). The risk of MetS was significantly higher in the subjects with KOA than in those without KOA (odds ratio [OR], 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.77). Among the components of MetS, only abdominal obesity showed a significant association with KOA (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.12–1.95). When the analyses were repeated to determine sex-specific relationships, the associations of KOA with MetS (P=0.069) and abdominal obesity (P=0.022) were evident in the women, but not in the men.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that women with KOA must be evaluated and managed for MetS, with special attention to abdominal obesity.
Adult ; Cholesterol ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Knee ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; Prevalence ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Grip strength has been found to be closely related to mortality and disease morbidity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between grip strength and mortality in middle aged and elderly Koreans.METHODS: Study subjects were selected from the participants of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing from 2006 to 2016. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the association between grip strength, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality according to age and sex, after adjusting for covariates.RESULTS: The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was decreased in the high grip strength group (male: HR=0.580, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.478–0.704; female: HR=0.601, 95% CI=0.483–0.747) compared to the low grip strength group in both sexes. In male, cardiovascular mortality (middle group: HR=0.453, 95% CI=0.278–0.738; high group: HR=0.538, 95% CI=0.332–0.871) and cancer mortality (middle group: HR=0.697, 95% CI=0.514–0.945; high group: HR=0.589, 95% CI=0.427–0.812) were significantly lower in the middle and high grip strength groups compared to the low grip strength group. The HR for mortality due to stroke in male decreased significantly according to grip strength, but this became nonsignificant after adjusting for covariates. No association between cause-specific mortality and grip strength was found in female.CONCLUSION: In this study, grip strength was inversely associated with all-cause mortality, with similar effects on cause-specific mortality due to heart disease and cancer in male. Grip strength is a useful predictor of health status, and further studies are needed to evaluate its clinical relevance in Koreans.
Aged ; Female ; Hand Strength ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Korea ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Stroke

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are known to play an important role in the repair of damaged blood vessels. We used an endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming assay (EPC-CFA) to determine whether EPC numbers could be increased in healthy individuals through regular exercise training. The number of functional EPCs obtained from human peripheral blood-derived AC133 stem cells was measured after a 28-day regular exercise training program. The number of total endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (EPC-CFU) was significantly increased compared to that in the control group (p=0.02, n=5). In addition, we observed a significant decrease in homocysteine levels followed by an increase in the number of EPC-CFUs (p=0.04, n=5), indicating that the 28-day regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC colonies and decrease homocysteine levels. Moreover, an inverse correlation was observed between small-endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (small-EPC-CFUs) and plasma homocysteine levels in healthy men (r=-0.8125, p=0.047). We found that regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC-CFUs and decrease homocysteine levels, thus decreasing the cardiovascular disease risk in men.
Blood Vessels ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Education ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Male ; Plasma ; Stem Cells*

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia is the primary characteristic of diabetes and is associated with many complications. The role of hyperglycemia in the dysfunction of human cardiac progenitor cells that can regenerate damaged cardiac tissue has been investigated, but the exact mechanism underlying this association is not clear. Thus, we examined whether hyperglycemia could regulate mitochondrial dynamics and lead to cardiac progenitor cell dysfunction, and whether blocking glucose uptake could rescue this dysfunction. High glucose in cardiac progenitor cells results in reduced cell viability and decreased expression of cell cycle-related molecules, including CDK2 and cyclin E. A tube formation assay revealed that hyperglycemia led to a significant decrease in the tube-forming ability of cardiac progenitor cells. Fluorescent labeling of cardiac progenitor cell mitochondria revealed that hyperglycemia alters mitochondrial dynamics and increases expression of fission-related proteins, including Fis1 and Drp1. Moreover, we showed that specific blockage of GLUT1 improved cell viability, tube formation, and regulation of mitochondrial dynamics in cardiac progenitor cells. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that high glucose leads to cardiac progenitor cell dysfunction through an increase in mitochondrial fission, and that a GLUT1 blocker can rescue cardiac progenitor cell dysfunction and downregulation of mitochondrial fission. Combined therapy with cardiac progenitor cells and a GLUT1 blocker may provide a novel strategy for cardiac progenitor cell therapy in cardiovascular disease patients with diabetes.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cause of Death ; Cell Survival ; Cyclin E ; Cyclins ; Diabetic Cardiomyopathies ; Down-Regulation ; Glucose* ; Humans* ; Hyperglycemia ; Mitochondria ; Mitochondrial Dynamics* ; Stem Cells*