BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis, characterized by decreased bone mineral density due to an imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity, poses significant challenges in bone healing, particularly in postmenopausal women. Current treatments, such as bisphosphonates, are effective but associated with adverse effects like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, necessitating safer alternatives. METHODS: This study investigated the use of L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges for bone regeneration in calvarial defects in an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis. Thirty rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing an amino acid mixture, and a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing L-serine. Bone regeneration was assessed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analyses. RESULTS: The L-serine group showed a significant increase in bone volume (BV) and bone area compared to the control and amino acid groups. The bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratio was also significantly higher in the L-serine group.Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that L-serine treatment suppressed the expression of cathepsin K, a marker of osteoclast activity, while increasing serine racemase activity. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges not only enhance bone formation but also inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, providing a promising and safer alternative to current therapies for osteoporosis-related bone defects. Further research is needed to explore its clinical applications in human patients.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis, characterized by decreased bone mineral density due to an imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity, poses significant challenges in bone healing, particularly in postmenopausal women. Current treatments, such as bisphosphonates, are effective but associated with adverse effects like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, necessitating safer alternatives. METHODS: This study investigated the use of L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges for bone regeneration in calvarial defects in an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis. Thirty rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing an amino acid mixture, and a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing L-serine. Bone regeneration was assessed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analyses. RESULTS: The L-serine group showed a significant increase in bone volume (BV) and bone area compared to the control and amino acid groups. The bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratio was also significantly higher in the L-serine group.Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that L-serine treatment suppressed the expression of cathepsin K, a marker of osteoclast activity, while increasing serine racemase activity. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges not only enhance bone formation but also inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, providing a promising and safer alternative to current therapies for osteoporosis-related bone defects. Further research is needed to explore its clinical applications in human patients.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis, characterized by decreased bone mineral density due to an imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity, poses significant challenges in bone healing, particularly in postmenopausal women. Current treatments, such as bisphosphonates, are effective but associated with adverse effects like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, necessitating safer alternatives. METHODS: This study investigated the use of L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges for bone regeneration in calvarial defects in an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis. Thirty rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing an amino acid mixture, and a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing L-serine. Bone regeneration was assessed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analyses. RESULTS: The L-serine group showed a significant increase in bone volume (BV) and bone area compared to the control and amino acid groups. The bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratio was also significantly higher in the L-serine group.Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that L-serine treatment suppressed the expression of cathepsin K, a marker of osteoclast activity, while increasing serine racemase activity. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges not only enhance bone formation but also inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, providing a promising and safer alternative to current therapies for osteoporosis-related bone defects. Further research is needed to explore its clinical applications in human patients.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis, characterized by decreased bone mineral density due to an imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity, poses significant challenges in bone healing, particularly in postmenopausal women. Current treatments, such as bisphosphonates, are effective but associated with adverse effects like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, necessitating safer alternatives. METHODS: This study investigated the use of L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges for bone regeneration in calvarial defects in an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis. Thirty rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing an amino acid mixture, and a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing L-serine. Bone regeneration was assessed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analyses. RESULTS: The L-serine group showed a significant increase in bone volume (BV) and bone area compared to the control and amino acid groups. The bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratio was also significantly higher in the L-serine group.Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that L-serine treatment suppressed the expression of cathepsin K, a marker of osteoclast activity, while increasing serine racemase activity. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges not only enhance bone formation but also inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, providing a promising and safer alternative to current therapies for osteoporosis-related bone defects. Further research is needed to explore its clinical applications in human patients.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis, characterized by decreased bone mineral density due to an imbalance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity, poses significant challenges in bone healing, particularly in postmenopausal women. Current treatments, such as bisphosphonates, are effective but associated with adverse effects like medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, necessitating safer alternatives. METHODS: This study investigated the use of L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges for bone regeneration in calvarial defects in an ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis. Thirty rats were divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing an amino acid mixture, and a group treated with a gelatin sponge containing L-serine. Bone regeneration was assessed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analyses. RESULTS: The L-serine group showed a significant increase in bone volume (BV) and bone area compared to the control and amino acid groups. The bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratio was also significantly higher in the L-serine group.Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that L-serine treatment suppressed the expression of cathepsin K, a marker of osteoclast activity, while increasing serine racemase activity. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that L-serine-incorporated gelatin sponges not only enhance bone formation but also inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, providing a promising and safer alternative to current therapies for osteoporosis-related bone defects. Further research is needed to explore its clinical applications in human patients.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of susceptibility map-weighted imaging (SMwI) taken in different acquisition planes for discriminating patients with neurodegenerative parkinsonism from those without. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, observational, single-institution study enrolled consecutive patients who visited movement disorder clinics and underwent brain MRI and 18F-FP-CIT PET between September 2021 and December 2021. SMwI images were acquired in both the oblique (perpendicular to the midbrain) and the anterior commissure-posterior commissure (AC-PC) planes. Hyperintensity in the substantia nigra was determined by two neuroradiologists. 18F-FP-CIT PET was used as the reference standard. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using Cohen’s kappa coefficient. The diagnostic performance of SMwI in the two planes was analyzed separately for the right and left substantia nigra. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations was applied to compare the diagnostic performance of the two planes. Results: In total, 194 patients were included, of whom 105 and 103 had positive results on 18F-FP-CIT PET in the left and right substantia nigra, respectively. Good inter-rater agreement in the oblique (κ = 0.772/0.658 for left/right) and AC-PC planes (0.730/0.741 for left/right) was confirmed. The pooled sensitivities for two readers were 86.4% (178/206, left) and 83.3% (175/210, right) in the oblique plane and 87.4% (180/206, left) and 87.6% (184/210, right) in the AC-PC plane. The pooled specificities for two readers were 83.5% (152/182, left) and 82.0% (146/178, right) in the oblique plane, and 83.5% (152/182, left) and 86.0% (153/178, right) in the AC-PC plane. There were no significant differences in the diagnostic performance between the two planes (P > 0.05). Conclusion There are no significant difference in the diagnostic performance of SMwI performed in the oblique and AC-PC plane in discriminating patients with parkinsonism from those without. This finding affirms that each institution may choose the imaging plane for SMwI according to their clinical settings.

BACKGROUND: Health screening is a preventive and cost-effective public health strategy for early detection of diseases. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased health screening participation. The aim of this study was to examine regional differences in health screening participation between before and during COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerabilities of health screening participation in the regional context. METHODS: Administrative data from 229 districts consisting of 16 provinces in South Korea and health screening participation rate of each district collected in 2019 and 2020 were included in the study. Data were then analyzed via descriptive statistics and geographically weighted regression (GWR). RESULTS: This study revealed that health screening participation rates decreased in all districts during COVID-19. Regional vulnerabilities contributing to a further reduction in health screening participation rate included COVID-19 concerns, the population of those aged 65+ years and the disabled, lower education level, lower access to healthcare, and the prevalence of chronic disease. GWR analysis showed that different vulnerable factors had different degrees of influence on differences in health screening participation rate. CONCLUSIONS These findings could enhance our understanding of decreased health screening participation due to COVID-19 and suggest that regional vulnerabilities should be considered stringent public health strategies after COVID-19.
Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Pandemics ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology* ; Educational Status ; Disabled Persons

Objective: Cortical iron deposition has recently been shown to occur in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, we aimed to evaluate how cortical gray matter iron, measured using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), differs in the clinical cognitive impairment spectrum. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 73 participants (mean age ± standard deviation, 66.7 ± 7.6 years;52 females and 21 males) with normal cognition (NC), 158 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 48 patients with AD dementia. The participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging using a three-dimensional multi-dynamic multi-echo sequence on a 3-T scanner. We employed a deep neural network (QSMnet+) and used automatic segmentation software based on FreeSurfer v6.0 to extract anatomical labels and volumes of interest in the cortex. We used analysis of covariance to investigate the differences in susceptibility among the clinical diagnostic groups in each brain region.Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to study the association between susceptibility values and cognitive scores including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Among the three groups, the frontal (P < 0.001), temporal (P = 0.004), parietal (P = 0.001), occipital (P < 0.001), and cingulate cortices (P < 0.001) showed a higher mean susceptibility in patients with MCI and AD than in NC subjects. In the combined MCI and AD group, the mean susceptibility in the cingulate cortex (β = -216.21, P = 0.019) and insular cortex (β = -276.65, P = 0.001) were significant independent predictors of MMSE scores after correcting for age, sex, education, regional volume, and APOE4 carrier status. Conclusion Iron deposition in the cortex, as measured by QSMnet+, was higher in patients with AD and MCI than in NC participants. Iron deposition in the cingulate and insular cortices may be an early imaging marker of cognitive impairment related neurodegeneration.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) can affect quality of life (QoL) because it requires arduous lifelong management. This study analyzed QoL differences between DN patients and patients with other chronic kidney diseases (CKDs). Methods: The analysis included subjects (n = 1,766) from the KNOW-CKD (Korean Cohort Study for Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease) cohort who completed the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form questionnaire. After implementing propensity score matching (PSM) using factors that affect the QoL of DN patients, QoL differences between DN and non-DN participants were examined. Results: Among all DN patients (n = 390), higher QoL scores were found for taller subjects, and lower scores were found for those who were unemployed or unmarried, received Medical Aid, had lower economic status, had higher platelet counts or alkaline phosphatase levels, or used clopidogrel or insulin. After PSM, the 239 matched DN subjects reported significantly lower patient satisfaction (59.9 vs. 64.5, p = 0.02) and general health (35.3 vs. 39.1, p = 0.04) than the 239 non-DN subjects. Scores decreased in both groups during the 5-year follow-up, and the scores in the work status, sexual function, and role-physical domains were lower among DN patients than non-DN patients, though those differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Socioeconomic factors of DN were strong risk factors for impaired QoL, as were high platelet, alkaline phosphatase, and clopidogrel and insulin use. Clinicians should keep in mind that the QoL of DN patients might decrease in some domains compared with non-DN CKDs.

When epithelial cells are exposed to potentially threatening external stimuli such as allergens, bacteria, viruses, and helminths, they instantly produce “alarmin” cytokines, namely, IL-33, IL-25, and TSLP. These alarmins alert the immune system about these threats, thereby mobilizing host immune defense mechanisms. Specifically, the alarmins strongly stimulate type-2 immune cells, including eosinophils, mast cells, dendritic cells, type-2 helper T cells, and type-2 innate lymphoid cells. Given that the alarm-raising role of IL-33, IL-25, and TSLP was first detected in allergic and infectious diseases, most studies on alarmins focus on their role in these diseases. However, recent studies suggest that alarmins also have a broad range of effector functions in other pathological conditions, including psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. Therefore, this review provides an update on the epitheliumderived cytokines in both allergic and non-allergic diseases. We also review the progress of clinical trials on biological agents that target the alarmins and discuss the therapeutic potential of these agents in non-allergic diseases.