Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between IVD degeneration and the vertebral body FSF in dogs and compared these factors between chondrodystrophic (CD) and nonchondrodystrophic (NCD) dogs. Methods: IVD degeneration in dogs was classified morphologically using the Pfirrmann grade, and the vertebral body FSF was evaluated quantitatively. Results: The vertebral body FSF showed a statistically significant difference among the age groups. The vertebral body FSF was significantly higher in Pfirrmann grades 3–5 than in grades 1 and 2. The mean Pfirrmann grade of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the four-to-six-year-old group. The mean vertebral body FSF of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the group of seven years and above. Conclusions and Relevance: In dogs, the vertebral body FSF increased significantly with age and Pfirrmann grade. The CD dogs showed a higher degree of IVD degeneration at a younger age than the NCD dogs. CD dogs appeared to experience more severe fat deposition of the vertebral body in old age than NCD dogs. MRI examinations are helpful for evaluating IVD degeneration and vertebral body fat deposition.

Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between IVD degeneration and the vertebral body FSF in dogs and compared these factors between chondrodystrophic (CD) and nonchondrodystrophic (NCD) dogs. Methods: IVD degeneration in dogs was classified morphologically using the Pfirrmann grade, and the vertebral body FSF was evaluated quantitatively. Results: The vertebral body FSF showed a statistically significant difference among the age groups. The vertebral body FSF was significantly higher in Pfirrmann grades 3–5 than in grades 1 and 2. The mean Pfirrmann grade of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the four-to-six-year-old group. The mean vertebral body FSF of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the group of seven years and above. Conclusions and Relevance: In dogs, the vertebral body FSF increased significantly with age and Pfirrmann grade. The CD dogs showed a higher degree of IVD degeneration at a younger age than the NCD dogs. CD dogs appeared to experience more severe fat deposition of the vertebral body in old age than NCD dogs. MRI examinations are helpful for evaluating IVD degeneration and vertebral body fat deposition.

Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between IVD degeneration and the vertebral body FSF in dogs and compared these factors between chondrodystrophic (CD) and nonchondrodystrophic (NCD) dogs. Methods: IVD degeneration in dogs was classified morphologically using the Pfirrmann grade, and the vertebral body FSF was evaluated quantitatively. Results: The vertebral body FSF showed a statistically significant difference among the age groups. The vertebral body FSF was significantly higher in Pfirrmann grades 3–5 than in grades 1 and 2. The mean Pfirrmann grade of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the four-to-six-year-old group. The mean vertebral body FSF of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the group of seven years and above. Conclusions and Relevance: In dogs, the vertebral body FSF increased significantly with age and Pfirrmann grade. The CD dogs showed a higher degree of IVD degeneration at a younger age than the NCD dogs. CD dogs appeared to experience more severe fat deposition of the vertebral body in old age than NCD dogs. MRI examinations are helpful for evaluating IVD degeneration and vertebral body fat deposition.

Objective: This study evaluated the relationship between IVD degeneration and the vertebral body FSF in dogs and compared these factors between chondrodystrophic (CD) and nonchondrodystrophic (NCD) dogs. Methods: IVD degeneration in dogs was classified morphologically using the Pfirrmann grade, and the vertebral body FSF was evaluated quantitatively. Results: The vertebral body FSF showed a statistically significant difference among the age groups. The vertebral body FSF was significantly higher in Pfirrmann grades 3–5 than in grades 1 and 2. The mean Pfirrmann grade of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the four-to-six-year-old group. The mean vertebral body FSF of CD dogs was higher than that of NCD dogs in the group of seven years and above. Conclusions and Relevance: In dogs, the vertebral body FSF increased significantly with age and Pfirrmann grade. The CD dogs showed a higher degree of IVD degeneration at a younger age than the NCD dogs. CD dogs appeared to experience more severe fat deposition of the vertebral body in old age than NCD dogs. MRI examinations are helpful for evaluating IVD degeneration and vertebral body fat deposition.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignancy worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In addition, lymph node metastasis in CRC is considered an important prognostic factor for predicting disease recurrence and patient survival. Recent studies demonstrated that the microbiome makes substantial contributions to tumor progression, however, there is still unknown about the microbiome associated with lymph node metastasis of CRC. Here, we first reported the microbial and tumor-infiltrating immune cell differences in CRC according to the lymph node metastasis status. Materials and Methods: Using Next Generation Sequencing data acquired from 368 individuals diagnosed with CRC (N0, 266; N1, 102), we applied the LEfSe to elucidate microbial differences. Subsequent utilization of the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis enabled the identification of particular genera exerting significant influence on patient survival outcomes. Results We found 18 genera in the N1 group and 3 genera in the N0 group according to CRC lymph node metastasis stages. In addition, we found that the genera Crenobacter (P=0.046), Maricaulis (P=0.093), and Arsenicicoccus (P=0.035) in the N0 group and Cecembia (P=0.08) and Asanoa (P=0.088) in the N1 group were significantly associated with patient survival according to CRC lymph node metastasis stages. Further, Cecembia is highly correlated to tumor-infiltrating immune cells in lymph node metastasized CRC.Concolusion: Our study highlights that tumor-infiltrating immune cells and intratumoral microbe diversity are associated with CRC. Also, this potential microbiome-based oncology diagnostic tool warrants further exploration.

Objectives: This paper aimed to use machine learning to identify a new group of factors predicting frailty in the elderly population by utilizing the existing frailty criteria as a basis, as well as to validate the obtained results. Methods: This study was conducted using data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS). The KFACS participants were classified as robust or frail based on Fried’s frailty phenotype and excluded if they did not properly answer the questions, resulting in 1,066 robust and 165 frail participants. We then selected influential features through feature selection and trained the model using support vector machine, random forest, and gradient boosting algorithms with the prepared dataset. Due to the imbalanced distribution in the dataset with a low sample size, holdout was applied with stratified 10-fold and cross-validation for estimating the model performance. The reliability of the constructed model was validated using an unseen test set. The model was then trained with hyperparameter optimization. Results: During the feature selection process, 27 features were identified as meaningful factors for frailty. The model was trained based on the selected features, and the weighted average F1-score reached 95.30% with the random forest algorithm. Conclusions The results of the study demonstrated the possibility of adopting machine learning to strengthen existing frailty criteria. As the method analyzes questionnaire responses in a short time, it can support higher volumes of data on participants’ health conditions and alert them regarding potential risks in advance.

27-Hydroxycholesterol (27OHChol) exhibits agonistic activity for liver X receptors (LXRs). To determine roles of the LXR agonistic activity in macrophage gene expression, we investigated the effects of LXR inhibition on the 27OHChol-induced genes. Treatment of human THP-1 cells with GSK 2033, a potent cell-active LXR antagonist, results in complete inhibition in the transcription of LXR target genes (such as LXRα and ABCA1) induced by 27OHChol or a synthetic LXR ligand TO 901317. Whereas expression of CCL2 and CCL4 remains unaffected by GSK 2033, TNF-α expression is further induced and 27OHChol-induced CCL3 and CXCL8 genes are suppressed at both the transcriptional and protein translation levels in the presence of GSK 2033. This LXR antagonist downregulates transcript levels and surface expression of CD163 and CD206 and suppresses the transcription of CD14, CD80, and CD86 genes without downregulating their surface levels. GSK 2033 alone had no effect on the basal expression levels of the aforementioned genes. Collectively, these results indicate that LXR inhibition leads to differential regulation of 27-hydroxycholesterolinduced genes in macrophages. We propose that 27OHChol induces gene expression and modulates macrophage functions via LXR-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

27-Hydroxycholesterol (27OHChol) exhibits agonistic activity for liver X receptors (LXRs). To determine roles of the LXR agonistic activity in macrophage gene expression, we investigated the effects of LXR inhibition on the 27OHChol-induced genes. Treatment of human THP-1 cells with GSK 2033, a potent cell-active LXR antagonist, results in complete inhibition in the transcription of LXR target genes (such as LXRα and ABCA1) induced by 27OHChol or a synthetic LXR ligand TO 901317. Whereas expression of CCL2 and CCL4 remains unaffected by GSK 2033, TNF-α expression is further induced and 27OHChol-induced CCL3 and CXCL8 genes are suppressed at both the transcriptional and protein translation levels in the presence of GSK 2033. This LXR antagonist downregulates transcript levels and surface expression of CD163 and CD206 and suppresses the transcription of CD14, CD80, and CD86 genes without downregulating their surface levels. GSK 2033 alone had no effect on the basal expression levels of the aforementioned genes. Collectively, these results indicate that LXR inhibition leads to differential regulation of 27-hydroxycholesterolinduced genes in macrophages. We propose that 27OHChol induces gene expression and modulates macrophage functions via LXR-dependent and -independent mechanisms.