BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stress has a role in the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia (FD) and influences food intake in humans and animals. Prokinetic drugs have been used in FD, and some of these drugs reverse the feeding inhibition (FI) induced by acute restraint stress in rats. We aimed to evaluate the effect of DA-9701 on FI induced by acute restraint in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups: Control (no stress), Stress+vehicle, and Stress+DA-9701 at doses of 1, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg (n=6~7). DA-9701 or vehicle was administered through gastric gavage 45 minutes before stress. After 60 minutes of stress, pre-weighed chow was given and the weight of remaining food was measured 30 and 60 minutes later. The effect of DA-9701 on FI was compared after pretreatment with WAY100635, a 5HT1A antagonist. RESULTS: The restraint stress group had significantly less food intake than the control group. After feeding, rats given 1 and 3 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed increased food intake at 60 minutes, but this was not statistically significant. Rats given 10 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed significantly increased food intake at 30 minutes and 60 minutes (P < 0.05). Interestingly, rats given 30 mg/kg of DA-9701 showed a significant decrease in food intake, similar to that of the vehicle group. The beneficial effect of 10 mg/kg of DA-9701 on FI was abolished by the pretreatment with WAY100635. CONCLUSIONS: Acute restraint stress reduced food intake in rats and pretreatment with DA-9701 improved stress-induced FI.
Animals ; Dyspepsia ; Eating ; Humans ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Physiological

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We reported recently a positive correlation between obesity and thyroid cancer in women. Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is regarded as a marker of exposure to environmental pollutants, cancer-causing xenobiotic. This study was conducted to evaluate the mechanism behind the association of obesity with thyroid cancer. We hypothesized serum GGT may be a surrogate for persistent organic pollutants to explain the connection between obesity and thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained data from 15,131 subjects who underwent a routine health checkup including thyroid ultrasonography from 2007 to 2008 at the Health Screening and Promotion Center of Asan Medical Center. Suspicious nodules were examined by ultrasonography-guided aspiration. Those with a history of hepatobiliary disease and abnormal result of liver function test were excluded. Serum GGT cut-off points were the 25th, 50th, and 75th sex-specific percentiles. RESULTS: A total of 15,131 subjects (7662 men and 7469 women) were screened by thyroid ultrasonography. Thyroid cancers were diagnosed in 260 patients. After adjustment of age, smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index, compared with the lowest serum GGT quartile, odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of risk of thyroid cancer were 0.54 (0.28-0.99) for 2nd quartile, 0.92 (0.56-1.50) for 3rd quartile, and 0.61 (0.34-1.09) for 4th quartile in men. In women, the adjusted odds ratios were 1.06 (0.66-1.72), 1.18 (0.77-1.85), and 0.63 (0.38-1.06) for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartile, respectively. CONCLUSION: Elevated GGT is not associated with a higher prevalence of thyroid cancer in either gender when evaluated in a routine health checkup setting.
Body Mass Index ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Environmental Pollutants ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Function Tests ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Transferases* ; Ultrasonography

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES) is a rare disorder defined by persistent blood eosinophilia, evidence of eosinophil-associated organ dysfunction and absence of secondary causes. Eosinophilic infiltration and its mediator release can cause damage to multiple organs. Although IHES can involve every organ system, bladder involvement is rarely evidenced. We recently reported a case of IHES with both bladder and gastrointestinal tract involvement. A 43-year-old woman visited Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital complaining of urinary frequency, abdominal pain, and diarrhea for several months. Abdominal pelvic computed tomographic scan showed diffuse wall thickenings in her bladder and colon with small pelvic ascites. Laboratory investigation showed a marked peripheral eosinophilia and tissue biopsies confirmed eosinophilic infiltration in the bladder wall, esophagus, and duodenum. The patient was treated with prednisolone and her eosinophilia and symptoms have gradually improved.
Abdominal Pain* ; Adult ; Ascites ; Biopsy ; Colon ; Cystitis ; Diarrhea* ; Duodenum ; Enteritis ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophilic Esophagitis ; Eosinophils ; Esophagus ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Heart ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome* ; Prednisolone ; Urinary Bladder

OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of T2*-corrected fat-signal fraction (FF) map by using the three-echo volume interpolated breath-hold gradient echo (VIBE) Dixon sequence to differentiate between malignant marrow-replacing lesions and benign red marrow deposition of vertebrae. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 32 lesions from 32 patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging after being referred for assessment of a known or possible vertebral marrow abnormality. The lesions were divided into 21 malignant marrow-replacing lesions and 11 benign red marrow depositions. Three sequences for the parameter measurements were obtained by using a 1.5-T MR imaging scanner as follows: three-echo VIBE Dixon sequence for FF; conventional T1-weighted imaging for the lesion-disc ratio (LDR); pre- and post-gadolinium enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images for the contrast-enhancement ratio (CER). A region of interest was drawn for each lesion for parameter measurements. The areas under the curve (AUC) of the parameters and their sensitivities and specificities at the most ideal cutoff values from receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were obtained. AUC, sensitivity, and specificity were respectively compared between FF and CER. RESULTS: The AUCs of FF, LDR, and CER were 0.96, 0.80, and 0.72, respectively. In the comparison of diagnostic performance between the FF and CER, the FF showed a significantly larger AUC as compared to the CER (p = 0.030), although the difference of sensitivity (p = 0.157) and specificity (p = 0.157) were not significant. CONCLUSION: Fat-signal fraction measurement using T2*-corrected three-echo VIBE Dixon sequence is feasible and has a more accurate diagnostic performance, than the CER, in distinguishing benign red marrow deposition from malignant bone marrow-replacing lesions.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Bone Marrow Cells/cytology ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; Spinal Diseases/diagnosis/*radiography

OBJECTIVE: To optimize the dose of contrast agent and the level of energy for dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) arthrography of the shoulder joint and to evaluate the benefits of the optimized imaging protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dual-energy scans with monochromatic spectral imaging mode and conventional single energy scans were performed on a shoulder phantom with 10 concentrations from 0 to 210 mg/mL of iodinated contrast medium at intervals of 15 or 30 mg/mL. Image noise, tissue contrast, and beam hardening artifacts were assessed to determine the optimum dose of contrast agent and the level of monochromatic energy for DECT shoulder arthrography in terms of the lowest image noise and the least beam hardening artifacts while good tissue contrast was maintained. Material decomposition (MD) imaging for bone-iodine differentiation was qualitatively assessed. The optimized protocol was applied and evaluated in 23 patients. RESULTS: The optimal contrast dose and energy level were determined by the phantom study at 60 mg/mL and 72 keV, respectively. This optimized protocol for human study reduced the image noise and the beam-hardening artifacts by 35.9% and 44.5%, respectively. Bone-iodine differentiation by MD imaging was not affected by the iodine concentration or level of energy. CONCLUSION: Dual-energy scan with monochromatic spectral imaging mode results in reduced image noise and beam hardening artifacts.
Analysis of Variance ; Artifacts ; Contrast Media/*diagnostic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Shoulder Joint/pathology/*radiography ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There have been no reports on the effect of chronic psychological stress on colonic immune cells or the regional differences. We aimed to investigate the effect of chronic psychological stress on the number of mast cells and protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2-positive cells in the rat colonic mucosa. METHODS: Six-week-old and 14-week-old Ws/Ws rats, which lack mast cells after 10 weeks, were used as control and mast cell-deficient groups, respectively. The rats were divided into stress and sham-treated groups. Rats in the stressed group were exposed to water avoidance stress (WAS, 1 hour/day) for 13 days. Fecal pellet output and the number of mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells in colonic mucosa were compared between the WAS and sham groups. RESULTS: In 6-week-old rats, the WAS group showed a significantly higher number of mast cells compared to the sham group. In 14-week-old rats, mast cells were nearly absent in the colonic mucosa. WAS significantly increased PAR-2-positive cells in 14-week-old rats, but not in 6-week-old rats. Indirect estimation of PAR-2-positive mast cells in 6-week-old rats suggested that the majority of increased mast cells following WAS did not express PAR-2. WAS increased mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells mainly in the proximal colon. Fecal pellet output was continuously higher in the WAS group than in the sham group, and the difference was significant for both 6-week-old and 14-week-old rats. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic psychological stress increased the number of mast cells and PAR-2-positive cells in rat colonic mucosa, and these increases were more prominent in the proximal colon.
Animals ; Cell Count* ; Colon* ; Mast Cells* ; Mucous Membrane ; Rats* ; Receptor, PAR-2 ; Stress, Psychological

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Carnitine and vitamin complex (Godex(R)) is widely used in patients with chronic liver disease who show elevated liver enzyme in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to identify the efficacy and safety of carnitine from entecavir combination therapy in Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevated Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) patients. METHODS: 130 treatment-naive patients with CHB were enrolled from 13 sites. The patients were randomly selected to the entecavir and the complex of entecavir and carnitine. The primary endpoint of the study is ALT normalization level after 12 months. RESULTS: Among the 130 patients, 119 patients completed the study treatment. The ALT normalization at 3 months was 58.9% for the monotherapy and 95.2% for the combination therapy (P<0.0001). ALT normalization rate at 12 months was 85.7% for the monotherapy and 100% for the combination group (P=0.0019). The rate of less than HBV DNA 300 copies/mL at 12 months was not statistically significant (P=0.5318) 75.9% for the monotherapy, 70.7% for the combination and it was. Quantification of HBsAg level was not different from the monotherapy to combination at 12 months. Changes of ELISPOT value to evaluate the INF-gamma secretion by HBsAg showed the increasing trend of combination therapy compare to mono-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: ALT normalization rate was higher in carnitine complex combination group than entecavir group in CHB. Combination group was faster than entecavir mono-treatment group on ALT normalization rate. HBV DNA normalization rate and the serum HBV-DNA level were not changed by carnitine complex treatment.
Adult ; Alanine Transaminase/blood ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; Carnitine/*therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay ; Female ; Guanine/*analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma/metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitochondria/physiology ; Treatment Outcome ; Vitamin B Complex/*therapeutic use

No abstract available.
Dermoscopy* ; Male ; Penis* ; Ticks*

No abstract available.
Dermoscopy* ; Male ; Penis* ; Ticks*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: A dietary regimen consisting of a clear liquid diet (CLD) for at least 24 hours is recommended for colonoscopy preparation. However, this requirement results in problems in patient compliance with bowel preparation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a CLD compared with a regular diet (RD) for colonoscopy preparation using a polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution. METHODS: This was a multicenter, randomized, investigator-blind prospective study. A total of 801 healthy outpatients undergoing afternoon colonoscopy were randomized to either a CLD or RD in addition to a 4 L PEG regimen. RESULTS: The quality of bowel cleansing was not different between the CLD and RD groups in terms of the proportion with excellent or good preparation. In addition, no significant differences were observed between the two groups for polyp and adenoma detection rates and overall adverse events. Good compliance with bowel preparation was higher in the RD group than in the CLD group. CONCLUSIONS: A CLD for a full day prior to colonoscopy should not be mandatory for PEG-based bowel preparation. Dietary education concerning the avoidance of high-fiber foods for 3 days before colonoscopy is sufficient, at least for healthy outpatients.
Adenoma/*diagnosis ; Adult ; Aged ; Ambulatory Care ; Cathartics/administration & dosage ; Colonic Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Colonic Polyps/diagnosis ; Colonoscopy/*methods ; *Diet/adverse effects ; Dietary Fiber/administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Operative Time ; Patient Compliance ; Patient Education as Topic ; Polyethylene Glycols/administration & dosage ; Single-Blind Method ; Time Factors