Background: Diet and physical activity are key factors related to depressive mood. Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of diet and physical activity on depression. However, the effect of energy intake-expenditure balance (EIEB) on mental health has not been fully evaluated. This study aimed to analyze the association between EIEB and depression. Methods: A total of 13,460 participants (5,660 men and 7,800 women) aged ≥19 years were obtained from the 2014, 2016, and 2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). EIEB was defined as the difference between the daily energy intake and energy expenditure. Energy intake was calculated and provided by the KNHANES using a 24-hour recall survey. Energy expenditure was estimated as the sum of basal metabolic rate and physical activity. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association between sex-specific quartile groups (Q1–Q4) of EIEB and depression after adjusting for socioeconomic status, body mass index, lifestyle factors, and underlying diseases. Results: Women in Q3 of EIEB (211–669 kcal) had a significantly lower risk of depression (odd ratio [OR], 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67–0.92) than those in Q1 of EIEB (<-167 kcal). The adjusted ORs of depression were 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75–1.02) in Q2 and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.74–1.01) in Q4, with P for trend=0.030. There were no significant associations between the EIEB quartile groups and depression in men after adjusting for potential confounders (P for trend=0.564). Conclusion Our results suggested that the EIEB is negatively associated with depression in Korean women.

Behçet's disease is a systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers and uveitis. The vascular involvement of Behçet's disease affects arteries, veins, and blood vessels of all sizes, and it can include venous or arterial thrombosis and arterial aneurysms. There are only a few reports of an aortic aneurysm invading a vertebral body in a patient with Behçet's disease. Here, we report the case of a 45-year-old man who was initially diagnosed with vertebral invasion of a mycotic aneurysm. He underwent vascular surgery and received empirical antibiotics, but all cultures were negative. However, he had persistent, recurrent deep vein thrombosis and elevated inflammatory markers. After reviewing the pathology, a final diagnosis of Behçet's disease was made. He was successfully treated with corticosteroids. This report presents a rare case of Behçet's disease mimicking vertebral invasion of a mycotic aneurysm.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Infected* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Behcet Syndrome ; Blood Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Osteomyelitis ; Pathology ; Systemic Vasculitis ; Thrombosis ; Ulcer ; Uveitis ; Veins ; Venous Thrombosis

Tuberculosis rarely involves the esophagus, and most esophageal tuberculosis occurs secondary to adjacent tuberculous lymphadenitis. An esophago-mediastinal fistula is a very unusual complication of tuberculous lymphadenitis. Herein, we report a case of an esophago-mediastinal fistula due to tuberculous lymphadenitis. A 28-year-old woman who had dysphagia was assessed by chest computed tomography, endoscopy, esophagogram, and a lymph node biopsy. An esophago-mediastinal fistula was found and an antituberculous agent was considered initially. However, because of her severe dysphagia, she managed with endoscopic clipping as an alternative. However, the fistula remained on follow-up esophagography. A gastrostomy was eventually performed, and she was treated with an antituberculous agent. The fistula had closed after 4 weeks of medication. Antituberculous agents are the mainstay treatment for esophago-mediastinal fistula due to tuberculous lymphadenitis; endoscopic clipping may be a complementary treatment.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Deglutition Disorders ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal Fistula ; Esophagus ; Female ; Fistula* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrostomy ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis* ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Lymph Node

PURPOSE: Cancer stem like cells (CSCs), with unlimited self-renewal potential and other stem cell characteristics, occur in several cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although CSCs can initiate tumors, malignant proliferation, relapse and multi-drug resistance, the ways how to activate them still remain unknown. This study aims to evaluate whether CSC acquire tumorigenic characters under tumor hypoxia, analyzed by microarray analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CSCs were purified from HCC patients and Affymetrix microarray was used to investigate their gene expression profiles. The results were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The results of the microarray indicated that 18 genes were up-regulated and 10 genes were down-regulated in CSCs. Several genes were identified to be significantly involved in the regulation of CSCs such as HCC. Furthermore, the up-regulated genes were related with metabolism, angiogenesis and hypoxia, whereas the down-regulated genes were related with apoptosis and inflammation. CONCLUSION: The results may help to understand the mechanisms of tumor development through CSCs which acquired their distinctive tumorogenic properties by hypoxic stimulation.
Anoxia* ; Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Gene Expression Profiling* ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Metabolism ; Microarray Analysis ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recurrence ; Stem Cells ; Transcriptome

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major cancers with a high incidence and mortality in Korea. A Korean multidisciplinary collaborative committee consisting of hepatologists, radiologists, epidemiologists and family medicine doctors systematically reviewed clinical practice guidelines in the world and literatures. The level of evidence for each recommendation was assessed and discussed to reach a consensus. Meta-analysis was also conducted to evaluate the grade of recommendation for the five key questions. Several randomized controlled studies and cohort studies showed a survival gain associated with surveillance for those at risk of developing HCC. The target populations for HCC surveillance were identified as hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus carriers and cirrhotic patients, since numerous studies revealed that these patients have significantly higher risk of HCC compared with non-infected or non-cirrhotic controls. Individual surveillance strategy according to treatment history or degree of fibrosis in patients with viral hepatitis remains to be settled. Based on several cohort and randomized studies, a surveillance interval of six months was recommend. The starting age of surveillance was determined as 40 years from the epidemiologic data. Although ultrasonography (US) is the mainstay for detection of HCC, its sensitivity is not fully accepted. Measurement of serum alpha-fetoprotein can complement US examination, increasing the sensitivity of HCC detection. The recommendation for HCC surveillance is that those with hepatitis B virus (or hepatitis C virus) infection or cirrhosis should have liver US and serum alpha-fetoprotein measurement every six months from 40 years of age or at the time of diagnosis of cirrhosis.
alpha-Fetoproteins ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Cohort Studies ; Complement System Proteins ; Consensus ; Diagnosis ; Fibrosis ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis C ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Liver ; Mortality ; Ultrasonography

Autocrine stimulation via coexpression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor (Met) has been reported in many human sarcomas, but few in carcinomas. In this report, we found that one gastric cancer cell line, SNU-484, among 11 gastric cell lines tested has an autocrine HGF- Met stimulation. RT-PCR, ELISA and scattering assay using MDCK cells revealed that SNU-484 cells secreted a significant amount of active HGF (about 1.25 +/- 0.41 ng/24 h/106 cells) into conditioned medium. Resultantly, Met in this cell line was constitutively phosphorylated. Neutralizing antibodies against HGF reduced the tyrosine phosphorylation of Met, resulting in the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration (P <0.005). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on autocrine HGF-Met signaling in a gastric cancer cell line. Our observations with SNU-484 cells suggest that HGF is involved in the development and/or progression of some gastric carcinoma through an autocrine mechanism.
Animals ; Antibodies, Neoplasm/immunology ; *Autocrine Communication ; *Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Culture Media, Conditioned/pharmacology ; Dogs ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor/immunology/*pharmacology ; Neutralization Tests ; Phosphorylation ; Proto-Oncogene Protein c-met/genetics/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stomach Neoplasms/*immunology/metabolism/pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Tyrosine/metabolism