Objectives: The standard first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection typically involves proton pump inhibitors, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin (PAC), yet the eradication success rates are not entirely satisfactory. Recognizing bismuth’s antibacterial properties and its potential to enhance antibiotic efficacy, this study compared the eradication success rates of a 7-day course of PAC with bismuth (PACB) versus PAC alone in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital involving 499 patients with confirmed clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infection. These patients were treated either with PACB or PAC for 7 days. Clarithromycin resistance-associated point mutations were evaluated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Successful eradication was confirmed by a negative 13C-urea breath test. Results: Of the patients, 261 received PACB therapy, and 238 received PAC therapy. The intention-to-treat analysis showed eradication success rates of 82.8% (216/261) for PACB and 89.1% (212/238) for PAC (p=0.093). The per-protocol analysis revealed eradication rates of 85.3% (215/252) for PACB and 90.5% (210/232) for PAC (p=0.081). The incidence of adverse effects was similar between the two groups, with 41.3% (104/252) in the PACB group and 34.1% (79/232) in the PAC group (p=0.102). Conclusions Adding bismuth to the standard 7-day PAC regimen did not significantly increase eradication rates in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections compared to PAC alone.

Objectives: The standard first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection typically involves proton pump inhibitors, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin (PAC), yet the eradication success rates are not entirely satisfactory. Recognizing bismuth’s antibacterial properties and its potential to enhance antibiotic efficacy, this study compared the eradication success rates of a 7-day course of PAC with bismuth (PACB) versus PAC alone in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital involving 499 patients with confirmed clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infection. These patients were treated either with PACB or PAC for 7 days. Clarithromycin resistance-associated point mutations were evaluated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Successful eradication was confirmed by a negative 13C-urea breath test. Results: Of the patients, 261 received PACB therapy, and 238 received PAC therapy. The intention-to-treat analysis showed eradication success rates of 82.8% (216/261) for PACB and 89.1% (212/238) for PAC (p=0.093). The per-protocol analysis revealed eradication rates of 85.3% (215/252) for PACB and 90.5% (210/232) for PAC (p=0.081). The incidence of adverse effects was similar between the two groups, with 41.3% (104/252) in the PACB group and 34.1% (79/232) in the PAC group (p=0.102). Conclusions Adding bismuth to the standard 7-day PAC regimen did not significantly increase eradication rates in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections compared to PAC alone.

Objectives: The standard first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection typically involves proton pump inhibitors, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin (PAC), yet the eradication success rates are not entirely satisfactory. Recognizing bismuth’s antibacterial properties and its potential to enhance antibiotic efficacy, this study compared the eradication success rates of a 7-day course of PAC with bismuth (PACB) versus PAC alone in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital involving 499 patients with confirmed clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infection. These patients were treated either with PACB or PAC for 7 days. Clarithromycin resistance-associated point mutations were evaluated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Successful eradication was confirmed by a negative 13C-urea breath test. Results: Of the patients, 261 received PACB therapy, and 238 received PAC therapy. The intention-to-treat analysis showed eradication success rates of 82.8% (216/261) for PACB and 89.1% (212/238) for PAC (p=0.093). The per-protocol analysis revealed eradication rates of 85.3% (215/252) for PACB and 90.5% (210/232) for PAC (p=0.081). The incidence of adverse effects was similar between the two groups, with 41.3% (104/252) in the PACB group and 34.1% (79/232) in the PAC group (p=0.102). Conclusions Adding bismuth to the standard 7-day PAC regimen did not significantly increase eradication rates in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections compared to PAC alone.

Objectives: The standard first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection typically involves proton pump inhibitors, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin (PAC), yet the eradication success rates are not entirely satisfactory. Recognizing bismuth’s antibacterial properties and its potential to enhance antibiotic efficacy, this study compared the eradication success rates of a 7-day course of PAC with bismuth (PACB) versus PAC alone in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital involving 499 patients with confirmed clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infection. These patients were treated either with PACB or PAC for 7 days. Clarithromycin resistance-associated point mutations were evaluated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Successful eradication was confirmed by a negative 13C-urea breath test. Results: Of the patients, 261 received PACB therapy, and 238 received PAC therapy. The intention-to-treat analysis showed eradication success rates of 82.8% (216/261) for PACB and 89.1% (212/238) for PAC (p=0.093). The per-protocol analysis revealed eradication rates of 85.3% (215/252) for PACB and 90.5% (210/232) for PAC (p=0.081). The incidence of adverse effects was similar between the two groups, with 41.3% (104/252) in the PACB group and 34.1% (79/232) in the PAC group (p=0.102). Conclusions Adding bismuth to the standard 7-day PAC regimen did not significantly increase eradication rates in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections compared to PAC alone.

Objectives: The standard first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection typically involves proton pump inhibitors, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin (PAC), yet the eradication success rates are not entirely satisfactory. Recognizing bismuth’s antibacterial properties and its potential to enhance antibiotic efficacy, this study compared the eradication success rates of a 7-day course of PAC with bismuth (PACB) versus PAC alone in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital involving 499 patients with confirmed clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infection. These patients were treated either with PACB or PAC for 7 days. Clarithromycin resistance-associated point mutations were evaluated using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Successful eradication was confirmed by a negative 13C-urea breath test. Results: Of the patients, 261 received PACB therapy, and 238 received PAC therapy. The intention-to-treat analysis showed eradication success rates of 82.8% (216/261) for PACB and 89.1% (212/238) for PAC (p=0.093). The per-protocol analysis revealed eradication rates of 85.3% (215/252) for PACB and 90.5% (210/232) for PAC (p=0.081). The incidence of adverse effects was similar between the two groups, with 41.3% (104/252) in the PACB group and 34.1% (79/232) in the PAC group (p=0.102). Conclusions Adding bismuth to the standard 7-day PAC regimen did not significantly increase eradication rates in patients with clarithromycin-susceptible H. pylori infections compared to PAC alone.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Oxidative stress is caused by reactive oxygen species and free radicals that accelerate inflammatory responses and exacerbate fatigue. Tormentic acid (TA) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, the aim of present study is to determine the fatigue-regulatory effects of TA in H2O2 -stimulated myoblast cell line, C2C12 cells and treadmill stress test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST) animal models.MATERIALS/METHODS: In the in vitro study, C2C12 cells were pretreated with TA before stimulation with H2O2 . Then, malondialdehyde (MDA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) activity, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glycogen, and cell viability were analyzed. In the in vivo study, the ICR male mice were administered TA or distilled water orally daily for 28 days. FST and TST were then performed on the last day. In addition, biochemical analysis of the serum, muscle, and liver was performed. RESULTS: TA dose-dependently alleviated the levels of MDA, LDH, CK activity, TNF-α, and IL-6 in H2O2 -stimulated C2C12 cells without affecting the cytotoxicity. TA increased the SOD and CAT activities and the glycogen levels in H2O2 -stimulated C2C12 cells. In TST and FST animal models, TA decreased the FST immobility time significantly while increasing the TST exhaustion time without weight fluctuations. The in vivo studies showed that the levels of SOD, CAT, citrate synthase, glycogen, and free fatty acid were increased by TA administration, whereas TA significantly reduced the levels of glucose, MDA, LDH, lactate, CK, inflammatory cytokines, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and cortisol compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS TA improves fatigue by modulating oxidative stress and energy metabolism in C2C12 cells and animal models. Therefore, we suggest that TA can be a powerful substance in healthy functional foods and therapeutics to improve fatigue.

Syringocystadenocarcinoma papilliferum (SCACP) is a rare malignant adnexal neoplasm, which is considered as a malignant counterpart of syringocystadenoma papilliferum (SCAP). Clinically, SCACP appears as a nodule, inflammatory plaque, or tumor. The lesion is usually covered with crusts, which are formed by secretion of the apocrine epithelial cells. Histologically, SCACP resembles SCAP, with cystic papillomatous invaginations connected to the skin surface by funnel-shaped structures lined by infundibular epithelium. The stroma of the tumor consists of a dense inflammatory infiltrate of plasma cells and lymphocytes. SCACP differs from SCAP in terms of the architectural and cytological features of the tumor cells, and is characterized by higher nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, nuclear irregularity, coarse chromatin, and increased mitotic activity. However, the immunohistochemical findings of SCACP vary. Since only 49 cases of SCACP have been reported in the English literature, the clinical and histologic characteristics of SCACP have not been fully established. Further studies on the diagnostic criteria for SCACP are warranted. Here, we report a rare case of SCACP and present a review of other relevant literature.
Chromatin ; Cytoplasm ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Lymphocytes ; Plasma Cells ; Skin ; Sweat Gland Neoplasms

OBJECTIVES: Even though vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) using head-mounted display (HMD) has been highlighted recently as a popular virtual reality platform, we should consider that HMD itself do not provide interactive environment for VRT. This study aimed to test the feasibility of interactive components using eye tracking assisted strategy through neurophysiologic evidence. METHODS: HMD implemented with an infrared-based eye tracker was used to generate a virtual environment for VRT. Eighteen healthy subjects participated in our experiment, wherein they performed a saccadic eye exercise (SEE) under two conditions of feedback-on (F-on, visualization of eye position) and feedback-off (F-off, non-visualization of eye position). Eye position was continuously monitored in real time on those two conditions, but this information was not provided to the participants. Electroencephalogram recordings were used to estimate neural dynamics and attention during SEE, in which only valid trials (correct responses) were included in electroencephalogram analysis. RESULTS: SEE accuracy was higher in the F-on than F-off condition (P=0.039). The power spectral density of beta band was higher in the F-on condition on the frontal (P=0.047), central (P=0.042), and occipital areas (P=0.045). Beta–event-related desynchronization was significantly more pronounced in the F-on (–0.19 on frontal and –0.22 on central clusters) than in the F-off condition (0.23 on frontal and 0.05 on central) on preparatory phase (P=0.005 for frontal and P=0.024 for central). In addition, more abundant functional connectivity was revealed under the F-on condition. CONCLUSION: Considering substantial gain may come from goal directed attention and activation of brain-network while performing VRT, our preclinical study from SEE suggests that eye tracking algorithms may work efficiently in vestibular rehabilitation using HMD.
Electroencephalography ; Healthy Volunteers ; Rehabilitation ; Vestibular Diseases

A rare gastric mucosal lesion characterized by Russell body-containing plasma cell infiltration is termed as Russell body gastritis. This lesion is highly suggested to be correlated with Helicobacter pylori-induced chronic gastritis, and often misdiagnosed as mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, signet ring cell carcinoma, plasmacytoma, or xanthoma. However, Russell body gastritis is easily discriminated by its polyclonal immunoreaction to immunoglobulin light chains contrary to monoclonal immunoreaction of neoplastic disease. We report here a case of Russell body gastritis associated with H. pylori infection, which disappeared after H. pylori eradication.
Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell ; Gastritis* ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Immunoglobulin Light Chains ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; Plasma Cells ; Plasmacytoma ; Stomach ; Xanthomatosis