ObjectiveTo study tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand(TRAIL) 1525 locus polymorphism in patients with nodular thyroid disease and investigate the relation between individual gene polymorphism and thyroid diseases.Methods A total of 125 patients were diagnosed with nodular thyroid disease at the Department of Endocrinology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical College.Among these patients,67 cases were nodular thyroid goiter and 58 cases were nodular thyroid adenoma,54 males,71 females,and average age was 41.05 ± 14.42. Patients with nodular thyroid goiter were grouped into toxic and non-toxic and thyroid adenoma were grouped into high-functioning or non-high-functioning.A total of 100 healthy subjects.47 males,53 females,average age 42.35 ± 16.52 were as control group.According to the principle of informed consent,venous blood was collected,polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method for TRAIL gene 1525 locus polymorphism determination was performed to calculate genotype of the TRAIL gene (homozygous GG,heterozygous GA,mutationhomozygous AA) and the gene frequency (G,A),and relative degree of risk(odd ratio,OR) was compared.ResultsNodular goiter group TRAIL gene 1525 locus genotype frequencies(GG:40.3％,AG:44.8％,AA:14.9％),allele frequencies(G:62.7％,A:37.3％) were compared with that of the control group(GG:17.0％,AG:65.0％,AA:18.0％; G:49.5％,A:50.5％),the differences were statistically significant(x2 =11.376,5.633,P ＜ 0.01 or ＜ 0.05 ).Adenomas group 1525 locus genotype frequencies of the TRAIL gene(GG:44.8％,AG:38.0％,AA:17.2％),allele frequencies(G:63.8％,A:36.2％) were compared with that of the control group,the differences were statistically significant(x2 =15.342,6.054,P ＜ 0.01 or ＜ 0.05).Allele frequencies of thyroid goiter group and denoma group were compared with that of the control group,OR values were 1.714 and 1.797(all P ＜ 0.05) and 95％ confidence intervals were 1.097 - 2.679 and 1.124 - 2.874.The difference of 1525 locus genotype or allele frequency distribution in toxic and non-toxic nodular group,high functioning and non-high-functioning adenomas group were not statistically significant (x2 =3.714,2.792; 1.103,2.020; all P ＞ 0.05).ConclusionTRAIL gene 1525 locus polymorphism is significantly associated with nodular thyroid disease.

No abstract available.
Abscess* ; Injections, Intramuscular* ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa* ; Pseudomonas*

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: Rapid economic growth and industrial development in South Korea have led to a great change in dietary patterns, and the use of convenience foods has continuously increased. This study was performed to evaluate the energy and nutrient contents of convenience foods at convenience stores near the universities as a meal. METHODS: Data was collected by visiting 22 convenience stores near some universities in Chungbuk and Seoul and by checking nutrition labels on convenience foods at the stores. Data of a total of 338 food items were collected, and divided into five groups according to the food categories; rice products (n=156), noodles (n=101), burger/sandwiches (n=62), Tteokbokkis (n=11), and dumplings (n=8). Further, rice products, noodles, and burger/sandwiches were divided into subcategories. RESULTS: The proportion of calories from carbohydrates was high in the rice products and tteokbokki, while the rate of calories from fat was high in burger/sandwiches and dumplings. Among the rice products, the proportion of carbohydrate calories was high in a one-dish food, rice with soup, and triangular kimbap, while the proportion of calories from fat in lunch boxes was high. In the noodles category, ramyeon and spaghetti had a high percentage of fat calories, while udong had a high percentage of carbohydrate calories. The ratio of the calorie content in relation to the KDRIs for adults aged 19-29 years, lunch boxes provided about 1/3 of daily required energy. However, the amount of calories as one meal was not enough for other types of rice products except for lunch boxes. Ramyeon was high in calories, fat, and sodium, but low in protein content. The burger/sandwiches had a high percentage of fat and sodium. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed several nutritional limitations of convenience meals in convenience stores according to the type of food. Therefore, college students should limit excessive intake of convenience meals on a regular basis in order to avoid unhealthy food intake patterns. Our results demonstrate the need for educating college students with regard to checking nutrition labels when choosing convenience meals in order to facilitate the selection of food items that contribute to a balanced diet.
Adult ; Carbohydrates ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Diet ; Eating ; Economic Development ; Fast Foods ; Humans ; Industrial Development ; Korea ; Lunch ; Meals* ; Seoul ; Sodium

Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain can result from degeneration, infection, malignancy, and trauma. Patients with metastatic bone pain who do not respond to conventional treatment may need more aggressive neuroinvasive approaches. Recently, pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) neuromodulation has emerged as a promising treatment alternative for refractory cases of SI joint pain. Nevertheless, there is no report on the treatment of pain arising from SI joint metastases with PRF. We are reporting about a 63-year-old woman suffering from buttock pain due to breast cancer metastases in the SI joint. We treated this patient with PRF neuromodulation of the L4-S3 primary dorsal rami and lateral branches using a rotating curved needle technique. The patient tolerated the procedures well, without any complications. She experienced about 70% reduction in pain, and pain relief was sustained for 10 months. This result suggests that PRF neuromodulation is a safe, effective treatment for pain from SI joint metastases.
Arthralgia ; Breast Neoplasms ; Buttocks ; Female ; Humans ; Joints ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Sacroiliac Joint*

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that inhibits the growth of oral streptococci, including Streptococcus mutans. In this study, we tested xylitol sensitivity among the oral streptococci. We also compared nucleotide homology of putative fructose phosphotransferase system (PTS) and xylitol sensitivity, since xylitol is transported via the fructose PTS. Among the tested Streptococci, S. pneumonia showed the highest resistance to xylitol while S. gordonii and S. sanguinis showed the most sensitive growth inhibition. These streptococci could be grouped according to their xylitol sensitivity. S. mutans and S. salivarius showed similar bacterial growth inhibition by xylitol. S. mitis, S. oralis, S. pneumonia, S. intermedius and S. anginosus showed relatively low sensitivity to xylitol. When the genetic homologies of five fructose PTSs were compared among the tested streptococci, closely related streptococci showed similar sensitivity to xylitol. Taken together, fructose PTSs may mediate the sensitivity to xylitol in oral streptococci.
Fructose ; Pneumonia ; Streptococcus ; Streptococcus mutans ; Xylitol*

Interleukin-1b (IL-1β), a proinflammatory cytokine, regulates the innate immune responses against bacterial infection. Mature IL-1β is produced from pro-IL-1β by activated caspase-1, which in turn is activated by the inflammasome complex formation. In this study, we compared the inflammasome mRNA expression induced by S. sanguinis, S. oralis, F. nucleatum and P. intermedia. Among the tested bacteria, S. sanguinis induced the highest IL-1β secretion. S. oralis, F. nucleatum and P. intermedia induced very weak IL-1β secretion. S. sanguinis mostly induced the NLRP3 mRNA expressions. Although F. nucleatum did not induce high IL-1β secretion, it induced high expression levels of AIM2, NLRP2, and NLRP3. No specific inflammasomes were induced by S. oralis and P.intermedia. Studying the inflammasome complex activation induced by oral bacteria may thus enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of oral diseases.
Bacteria ; Bacterial Infections* ; Immunity, Innate ; Inflammasomes* ; Interleukin-1beta ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger

Aim To investigate the effect of Aesculus hippocastanum seed extract(AH) on concanavalin A (ConA)-induced acute liver injury in mice,and to ex-plore whether the mechanism was related to the inhibi-tory effect of AH on oxidative stress and c-Jun N-termi-nal kinase (JNK). Methods ConA(20 mg·kg-1) was administered via tail vein injecting to induce he-patic damage in mice. The groups of AH were given at 12.5,25,50 mg·kg-1by oral gavage separately for 20 days. The serum levels of AST,ALT,TP,and Alb were determined by automatic biochemical analyzer and the A/G ratio was calculated. TNF-α and IFN-γ levels were assayed by ELISA. The liver tissue was attained by HE and the histopathological changes were calculat-ed. The MDA, SOD, GSH contents of liver tissues were assayed by related kits. The activity of caspase-3 was detected by spectrophotometry. The expressions of cytochrome C and Bax, Bcl-2, p-JNK and p-Akt were detected by Western blot. Results The serum levels of ALT, AST, IFN-γ and TNF-α in AH groups were significantly lower than those in ConA-injured group, while the levels of TP,Alb and A/G were significantly higher. The SOD and GSH levels of liver tissues signif-icantly increased and MDA level decreased; liver his-topathological changes were consistent with those of the serological indicators, and AH treatment significantly reduced the pathological damage induced by ConA. In AH group,the expression of cytochrome C,caspase-3, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and p-JNK markedly decreased, while the expression of p-Akt protein increased compared with ConA model group. Conclusion AH could sig-nificantly protect the ConA-induced acute liver injury in mice via inhibition of ROS and JNK pathway.

Objective To explore the relationship between the volatile components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix from different regions of Gansu Province and its growing environment with metabolomics based on GC-MS. Methods The GC-MS method was used for detecting the volatile components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix from 31 different regions in Gansu province, and principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) methods were used for analyzing and evaluating its relationship with the growing environment. Results The results of PCA showed that the volatile components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix from different regions in Gansu province were related to the altitude and the soil types. The PLS method could divide 31 samples of Angelicae Sinensis Radix from different regions in Gansu Province into three groups according to the difference of altitude. There were significant differences in the volatile components in the samples taken at different altitude regions. After analyzing linear loading plots from PCA and PLS, 11 charateristic components were screened out, including 7 compounds were identified by the retrieval of NIST11 database. Conclusion The volatile components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix from different regions in Gansu Province are closely related to the altitude and the soil type.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effects of a hydrofluoric acid (HA; solution of hydrogen fluoride [HF] in water)-based smart etching (SE) solution at an elevated temperature on yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) ceramics in terms of bond strength and morphological changes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty sintered Y-TZP specimens were prepared for shear bond strength (SBS) testing. The bonding surface of the Y-TZP specimens was treated with 37% phosphoric acid etching at 20°C–25°C, 4% HA etching at 20°C–25°C, or HA-based SE at 70°C–80°C. In all groups, zirconia primers were applied to the bonding surface of Y-TZP. For each group, 2 types of resin cement (with or without methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate [MDP]) were used. SBS testing was performed. Topographic changes of the etched Y-TZP surface were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results were analyzed and compared using 2-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: Regardless of the type of resin cement, the highest bond strength was measured in the SE group, with significant differences compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). In all groups, MDP-containing resin cement yielded significantly higher bond strength values than MDP-free resin cement (p < 0.05). It was also shown that the Y-TZP surface was etched by the SE solution, causing a large change in the surface topography. CONCLUSIONS Bond strength significantly improved when a heated HA-based SE solution was applied to the Y-TZP surface, and the etched Y-TZP surface was more irregular and had higher surface roughness.