Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics of infectious keratitis in Gwang-ju, Jeonnam Province, Korea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 260 eyes of 260 patients diagnosed with infectious keratitis at the Chosun University Hospital from January 2015 to February 2020. Results: The mean age of disease onset was 58.9 years; 132 (50.8%) of all patients were male and 128 (49.2%) female. The culture positivity rate was 24.6%. Gram-negative bacteria were cultured from 38 eyes (59%), Gram-positive bacteria from 21 (33%), and fungi from five (8%). The most commonly isolated microorganism was Stenotrophomonas (xanthomonas) maltophilia (a Gram-negative rod; 17 cases [26.6%]). Prior use of topical antibiotics was significantly more prevalent in the culture-negative than -positive group. In the latter group, the initial visual acuity was poor (p = 0.015) and the frequency of epithelial defects ≥5 mm2 in area was higher than in the culture-negative group (p = 0.001). Trauma caused by vegetable matter (44 eyes, 16.9%) was the most common predisposing factor. The risk factors for a poor visual outcome were such trauma (p = 0.013), previous ocular surgery (p = 0.006), an epithelial defect area greater than 5 mm2 (p < 0.001), and a follow-up period <10 months (p = 0.005). Conclusions The Gwangju Jeollanam-do community is more rural than urban, contains a large older population, and features few hospitals. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are considered to be the most frequent causes of infectious keratitis in Korea. However, in our study Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was the organism most frequently cultured.

Objectives: Community Water Fluoridation (CWF) was suspended in Ansan city in 2018. The purpose of this study was to inspect the status of caries in the permanent teeth of adolescents and suggest the index as the baseline for cohort study in the CWF suspended area. Methods: Oral examinations and questionnaire surveys were conducted on adolescents aged 12 years. Of 1,479 individuals, 890 (60.2%) consented to the examinations. Frequency and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the status of permanent dental caries by demographic, sociological, and health behavioral characteristics. The study was conducted with approval from IRB Kyung Hee University. Results: The findings reveal gaps in the prevalence of caries among the study sample according to demographic, sociological and health behavioral factors. Rates of untreated caries were higher among adolescents who stayed in the area for a lesser duration, had foreign parents, or had cariogenic drinks more often (p<0.05). Conclusions A gap in untreated caries was observed based on demographic, sociological, and health behavioral factors. The findings of the study suggest the need to monitor oral health following cessation of CWF, along with developing alternative programs in the near future.

Objectives: Community Water Fluoridation (CWF) was suspended in Ansan city in 2018. The purpose of this study was to inspect the status of caries in the permanent teeth of adolescents and suggest the index as the baseline for cohort study in the CWF suspended area. Methods: Oral examinations and questionnaire surveys were conducted on adolescents aged 12 years. Of 1,479 individuals, 890 (60.2%) consented to the examinations. Frequency and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the status of permanent dental caries by demographic, sociological, and health behavioral characteristics. The study was conducted with approval from IRB Kyung Hee University. Results: The findings reveal gaps in the prevalence of caries among the study sample according to demographic, sociological and health behavioral factors. Rates of untreated caries were higher among adolescents who stayed in the area for a lesser duration, had foreign parents, or had cariogenic drinks more often (p<0.05). Conclusions A gap in untreated caries was observed based on demographic, sociological, and health behavioral factors. The findings of the study suggest the need to monitor oral health following cessation of CWF, along with developing alternative programs in the near future.

PURPOSE: We sought factors affecting amblyopia recurrence after successful treatment.METHODS: We included 117 patients with amblyopia. Patients were divided into recurrence and non-recurrence groups. We analyzed sex, age, amblyopia type, treatment duration, visual acuity, and binocular status.RESULTS: Of the 117 patients, 25 (21.4%) experienced recurrences. In that group, 60.0% of patients (compared to 14.1% of the no-recurrence group) exhibited high-frequency strabismus (p < 0.001). The recurrence group were younger than the no-recurrence group at both the beginning and end of treatment (p < 0.05). None of visual acuity at treatment commencement or end, stereoacuity, or suppression affected amblyopia recurrence.CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent amblyopia is frequent after initial successful treatment if the patient exhibits strabismus or is young.
Amblyopia ; Humans ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Strabismus ; Telescopes ; Visual Acuity

Background and Objectives: Vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and migration play a critical role in neointimal formation. Focal adhesion is involved in cell proliferation and migration, and talin is known to be a key regulator of these processes. We synthesized a new talin modulator that binds to the talin protein, and investigated its effects on SMCs and neointimal formation after vascular injury. Methods: Human aortic SMCs (HAoSMCs) were treated with a newly synthesized talin modulator. Apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE KO) mice were subjected to left femoral arterial injury and orally administered with the talin modulator daily. Laser Doppler imager was used to compare the blood flow, and injured femoral arteries and blood serum were analyzed after 28 days. Results: The talin modulator significantly inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner and suppressed the migration of HAoSMCs. Treatment with a talin modulator resulted in a significant reduction in the phosphorylation of focal adhesion molecules and downstream signaling molecules related to cell proliferation and migration. The effects of the talin modulator in HAoSMCs were found to be reversible, as evidenced by the reactivation of signaling pathways upon its removal. After 28 days of administration of the talin modulator, an improvement in the blood flow and reduction in neointimal formation in the injured femoral arteries were observed. Conclusions We demonstrated the inhibitory effects of a talin modulator on SMC proliferation and migration, and that were associated with downregulation of signaling pathways, resulting in the attenuation of neointimal formation in ApoE KO mice.

PURPOSE: To report a case of endogenous endophthalmitis with an elbow abscess spread from a liver abscess in a patient with hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) invasive syndrome.CASE SUMMARY: A 33-year-old healthy male presented with painless visual loss in his right eye. He experienced pain, a febrile sensation, and swelling in his right elbow for 1 week prior. He had no trauma history. Many inflammatory cells, hypopyons, and cyclitic membranes were present in the anterior chamber of the eye but no ocular injection was performed. With a provisional diagnosis of panuveitis, topical antibiotics, steroid, and cycloplegics were administered and subtenon triamcinolone was injected. After orthopedic consultation, an elbow abscess was suspected and surgery was performed. Two days after the surgery, the patient experienced ocular pain and an injection was performed. Fever, chill, and acute deterioration of his general condition were noted which suggested infective endophthalmitis. Emergency vitrectomy was performed but because subretinal and choroidal abscesses were observed during surgery, the surgery was changed to enucleation. A liver abscess was observed using abdominal computed tomography after transfer to the infection medical department and hvKP was positive in the blood, liver, elbow, and eye cultures. CONCLUSIONS A primary liver abscess caused by hvKP occurred in a healthy young man and metastatic infection occurred with endogenous endophthalmitis and a rare elbow abscess. Because hvKP endogenous endophthalmitis has a poor prognosis, rapid diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment is required.

PURPOSE: To analyze the effects of topical 10% N-acetylcysteine on patients with refractory filamentary keratitis. METHODS: The present study included 29 eyes from 20 patients diagnosed with filamentary keratitis. We analyzed the cause of filamentary keratitis, types of treatments, symptom scores, number of filaments, fluorescein staining, degrees of remission, and recurrence of the disease. RESULTS: A total of 19 eyes treated with filament removal, therapeutic contact lenses, topical antibiotics, topical steroids, topical 0.05% cyclosporine, artificial tears, and punctal plugs showed improvements. Topical 10% N-acetylcysteine was added to 10 patients who did not respond to the usual treatment for more than 1 month. Seven eyes showed a complete remission of disease at an average of 56.22 ± 24.52 days. Two eyes showed a partial remission with less than 1–2 fillaments. One eye stopped 10% N-acetylcysteine treatment because of an irritable sensation. CONCLUSIONS Topical 10% N-acetylcysteine was an effective treatment for refractory filamentary keratitis.

Fasiglifam (TAK-875) a G-protein coupled receptor 40 (GPR40) agonist, significantly improves hyperglycemia without hypoglycemia and weight gain, the major side effects of conventional anti-diabetics. Unfortunately, during multi-center Phase 3 clinical trials, unexpected liver toxicity resulted in premature termination of its development. Here, we investigated whether TAK-875 directly inflicts toxicity on hepatocytes and explored its underlying mechanism of toxicity. TAK-875 decreased viability of 2D and 3D cultures of HepG2, a human hepatocarcinoma cell line, in concentration- (>50 μM) and time-dependent manners, both of which corresponded with ROS generation. An antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine, attenuated TAK-875-mediated hepatotoxicity, which confirmed the role of ROS generation. Of note, knockdown of GPR40 using siRNA abolished the hepatotoxicity of TAK-875 and attenuated ROS generation. In contrast, TAK-875 induced no cytotoxicity in fibroblasts up to 500 μM. Supporting the hepatotoxic potential of TAK-875, exposure to TAK-875 resulted in increased mortality of zebrafish larvae at 25 μM. Histopathological examination of zebrafish exposed to TAK-875 revealed severe hepatotoxicity as manifested by degenerated hypertrophic hepatocytes with cytoplasmic vacuolation and acentric nuclei, confirming that TAK-875 may induce direct hepatotoxicity and that ROS generation may be involved in a GPR40-dependent manner.
Acetylcysteine ; Cell Line ; Cytoplasm ; Fibroblasts ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Hepatocytes ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypoglycemia ; Larva ; Liver ; Mortality ; Reactive Oxygen Species* ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Weight Gain ; Zebrafish

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify a reliable preoperative predictive factor for the development of thyroid cancer in patients with atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) identified by fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: This was a retrospective cohort study. Two hundred and ninety-nine patients diagnosed with AUS by preoperative FNAB who underwent curative thyroid surgery at our institution between September 2005 and February 2014 were analyzed. Clinical, radiological and molecular features were investigated as preoperative predictors for postoperative permanent malignant pathology. RESULTS: The final pathologic results revealed 36 benign tumors including nodular hyperplasia, follicular adenoma, adenomatous goiter, nontoxic goiter, and lymphocytic thyroiditis, as well as 263 malignant tumors including 1 follicular carcinoma and 1 invasive follicular carcinoma; the rest were papillary thyroid carcinomas. The malignancy rate was 87.9%. The following were identified as risk factors for malignancy by univariate analysis: BRAFV600E gene mutation, specific ultrasonographic findings including smaller nodule size, low echogenicity of the nodule, and irregular or spiculated margin (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that only BRAFV600E mutation was a statistically significant risk factor for malignancy (p < 0.05). When BRAFV600E mutation was positive, 98.5% of enrolled patients developed malignant tumors. In addition, the diagnostic rate of malignancy in these cases was approximately 16-fold higher than BRAF-negative cases. CONCLUSION: Patients with AUS thyroid nodules should undergo BRAFV600E gene mutation analysis to improve diagnostic accuracy and if the mutation is confirmed, surgery is recommended due to the high risk of malignancy.
Adenoma ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Cohort Studies ; Goiter ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroid Nodule* ; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune

Indoor animal husbandry environments are inevitably contaminated with endotoxins. Endotoxin exposure is associated with various inflammatory illnesses in animals. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between the degree of endotoxin exposure and the cellular and humoral immune profiles of fattening pigs. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of 47 pigs from ten pig farms in Korea. Whole blood cell counts and plasma immunoglobulin (Ig) classes were determined. Peripheral-blood mononuclear cells were stimulated in vitro with concanavalin A for 48 h, and cytokines released into culture supernatants were measured. The barns in which the pigs lived were assessed for endotoxin levels in the total and respirable dust by using the limulus amebocyte lysate kinetic QCL method. Low and high endotoxin exposures were defined as ≤ 30 and > 30 EU/m³, respectively. Compared to pigs with low endotoxin exposure (n = 19), highly exposed pigs (n = 28) had higher circulating neutrophil and lymphocyte (particularly B cells) counts, IgG and IgE levels, interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin (IL)-4 productions, and lower IgA levels and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) production. The IL-4, IFNγ, and TNFα levels significantly correlated with endotoxin level and/or pig age. Constant exposure of pigs to high levels of airborne endotoxins can lead to aberrant immune profiles.
Agriculture ; Animal Husbandry ; Animals ; Blood Cell Count ; Concanavalin A ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Cytokines ; Dust ; Endotoxins ; Horseshoe Crabs ; Housing ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulins ; In Vitro Techniques ; Interferon-gamma ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukins ; Jugular Veins ; Korea ; Lymphocytes ; Methods ; Neutrophils ; Plasma ; Swine ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha