BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D plays an important role in skeletal growth and maintenance and in the prevention of various diseases. We investigated the relationship between vitamin D intake and bone mineral density (BMD) in Korean adults aged ≥ 50 years using the 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study was conducted in 1,808 subjects aged ≥ 50 years with BMD data in Korea. Dietary vitamin D levels were assessed by the 24-hour recall method. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We investigated general characteristics and the association between these characteristics, vitamin D status, and BMD. RESULTS: Vitamin D intake was significantly lower in the osteoporosis group among women (P < 0.05). Among all subjects, the higher the serum 25(OH)D concentration, the higher the whole-body total BMD (WBT-BMD), femoral total hip BMD, and femoral neck BMD (P < 0.01). In the serum vitamin D-deficient group of both the total population and women, serum 25(OH)D concentration was associated with WBT-BMD (P < 0.05). Among women with a calcium intake < 537.74 mg/day, BMD of those with a vitamin D intake > 2.51 µg/day (average intake of women) was higher than that of women with a vitamin D intake ≤ 2.51 µg/day (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Korean adults should increase their BMD by increasing serum 25(OH)D concentration. Furthermore, increasing vitamin D intake could improve BMD, especially in Korean women who consume less calcium than the estimated average requirement.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Adult ; Bone Density ; Calcium ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Hip ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Nutrition Surveys ; Osteoporosis ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins

beta-lapachone is a naturally occurring quinone that selectively induces apoptotic cell death in a variety of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo; however, its mechanism of action needs to be further elaborated. In this study, we investigated the effects of beta-lapachone on the induction of apoptosis in human gastric carcinoma AGS cells. beta-lapachone significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, and some typical apoptotic characteristics such as chromatin condensation and an increase in the population of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed in beta-lapachone-treated AGS cells. Treatment with beta-lapachone caused mitochondrial transmembrane potential dissipation, stimulated the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway, as indicated by caspase-9 activation, cytochrome c release, Bcl-2 downregulation and Bax upregulation, as well as death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway, as indicated by activation of caspase-8 and truncation of Bid. This process was accompanied by activation of caspase-3 and concomitant with cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. The general caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-fmk, significantly abolished beta-lapachone-induced cell death and inhibited growth. Further analysis demonstrated that the induction of apoptosis by beta-lapachone was accompanied by inactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. The PI3K inhibitor LY29004 significantly increased beta-lapachone-induced apoptosis and growth inhibition. Taken together, these findings indicate that the apoptotic activity of beta-lapachone is probably regulated by a caspase-dependent cascade through activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways, and that inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling may contribute to beta-lapachone-mediated AGS cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induction.
Apoptosis* ; Caspase 3 ; Caspase 8 ; Caspase 9 ; Cell Death ; Cell Proliferation ; Chromatin ; Cytochromes c ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Membrane Potentials ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; Up-Regulation

To identify new bio-markers as well as potential targets for new drugs for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we compared the gene expression profiles of cancer tissues from 25 EOCs with human ovarian surface epithelium (HOSE) using in-house cDNA microarray specified to EOC. Based on a comprehensive method and information from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP), the cDNA library was constructed. After excluding the overlapping clones, 768 spots were included in the array. We identified the genes and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) (30 up-regulated and 34 down-regulated) that are differentially expressed in EOC tissues. To confirm the expression data, we performed real time RT-PCR experiments. Using microdissected EOC tissues and cell lines, we investigated the expression status of the NET-1 gene, clusterin gene, and actin-binding LIM protein 1. The information provided here will be useful for identifying genes whose products might serve as molecular signatures for the biomakers of EOCs.
Cell Line ; Clone Cells ; Clusterin ; DNA, Complementary* ; Epithelium ; Expressed Sequence Tags ; Gene Expression* ; Gene Library ; Genome ; Humans ; National Cancer Institute (U.S.) ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis* ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Transcriptome*

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), now known as Pneumocystis jirovecii, is a fungal pathogen that causes opportunistic disease, especially pneumonia, in immunocompromised patients. The patients can have a spectrum of illnesses ranging from asymptomatic to fulminant respiratory failure. Here we report two cases with pneumocystis pneumonia after liver transplantation who presented with different clinical features. One patient developed acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and expired due to PCP and a superimposed bacterial infection. The other patient was asymptomatic and discovered by regular X-ray check-up. He was successfully treated with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. As shown by our cases, PCP presents with broad clinical manifestations and leads to various clinical courses in liver transplant recipients. Thus, Pneumocystis jirovecii has to be considered a potential pathogen of pneumonia in liver transplant recipients regardless of severity, especially one who is not on prophylactic medications. We consider prophylaxis of PCP in liver transplant recipients in our center.
Bacterial Infections ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Pneumocystis ; Pneumocystis jirovecii ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Insufficiency