Background: The World Health Organization has declared the end of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. However, this did not indicate the end of COVID-19. Several months after the infection, numerous patients complain of respiratory or nonspecific symptoms; this condition is called long COVID. Even patients with mild COVID-19 can experience long COVID, thus the burden of long COVID remains considerable. Therefore, we conducted this study to comprehensively analyze the effects of long COVID using multi-faceted assessments. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study involving patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 2020 and September 2021 in six tertiary hospitals in Korea. Patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after discharge. Long COVID was defined as the persistence of three or more COVID-19-related symptoms. The primary outcome of this study was the prevalence of long COVID after the period of COVID-19. Results: During the study period, 290 patients were enrolled. Among them, 54.5 and 34.6% experienced long COVID within 6 months and after more than 18 months, respectively. Several patients showed abnormal results when tested for post-traumatic stress disorder (17.4%) and anxiety (31.9%) after 18 months. In patients who underwent follow-up chest computed tomography 18 months after COVID-19, abnormal findings remained at 51.9%. Males (odds ratio [OR], 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05–0.53; P=0.004) and elderly (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00–1.09; P=0.04) showed a significant association with long COVID after 12–18 months in a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Conclusion Many patients still showed long COVID after 18 months post SARS-CoV-2 infection. When managing these patients, the assessment of multiple aspects is necessary.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Background: The World Health Organization has declared the end of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. However, this did not indicate the end of COVID-19. Several months after the infection, numerous patients complain of respiratory or nonspecific symptoms; this condition is called long COVID. Even patients with mild COVID-19 can experience long COVID, thus the burden of long COVID remains considerable. Therefore, we conducted this study to comprehensively analyze the effects of long COVID using multi-faceted assessments. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study involving patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 2020 and September 2021 in six tertiary hospitals in Korea. Patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after discharge. Long COVID was defined as the persistence of three or more COVID-19-related symptoms. The primary outcome of this study was the prevalence of long COVID after the period of COVID-19. Results: During the study period, 290 patients were enrolled. Among them, 54.5 and 34.6% experienced long COVID within 6 months and after more than 18 months, respectively. Several patients showed abnormal results when tested for post-traumatic stress disorder (17.4%) and anxiety (31.9%) after 18 months. In patients who underwent follow-up chest computed tomography 18 months after COVID-19, abnormal findings remained at 51.9%. Males (odds ratio [OR], 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05–0.53; P=0.004) and elderly (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00–1.09; P=0.04) showed a significant association with long COVID after 12–18 months in a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Conclusion Many patients still showed long COVID after 18 months post SARS-CoV-2 infection. When managing these patients, the assessment of multiple aspects is necessary.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Background: The World Health Organization has declared the end of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. However, this did not indicate the end of COVID-19. Several months after the infection, numerous patients complain of respiratory or nonspecific symptoms; this condition is called long COVID. Even patients with mild COVID-19 can experience long COVID, thus the burden of long COVID remains considerable. Therefore, we conducted this study to comprehensively analyze the effects of long COVID using multi-faceted assessments. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study involving patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 2020 and September 2021 in six tertiary hospitals in Korea. Patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after discharge. Long COVID was defined as the persistence of three or more COVID-19-related symptoms. The primary outcome of this study was the prevalence of long COVID after the period of COVID-19. Results: During the study period, 290 patients were enrolled. Among them, 54.5 and 34.6% experienced long COVID within 6 months and after more than 18 months, respectively. Several patients showed abnormal results when tested for post-traumatic stress disorder (17.4%) and anxiety (31.9%) after 18 months. In patients who underwent follow-up chest computed tomography 18 months after COVID-19, abnormal findings remained at 51.9%. Males (odds ratio [OR], 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05–0.53; P=0.004) and elderly (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00–1.09; P=0.04) showed a significant association with long COVID after 12–18 months in a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Conclusion Many patients still showed long COVID after 18 months post SARS-CoV-2 infection. When managing these patients, the assessment of multiple aspects is necessary.

Background: and Purpose We aimed to determine the proportion of Korean patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are eligible to receive lecanemab based on the United States Appropriate Use Recommendations (US AUR), and also identify the barriers to this treatment. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 6,132 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or mild amnestic dementia at 13 hospitals from June 2023 to May 2024. Among them, 2,058 patients underwent amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and 1,199 (58.3%) of these patients were amyloid-positive on PET. We excluded 732 patients who did not undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging between June 2023 and May 2024. Finally, 467 patients were included in the present study. Results: When applying the criteria of the US AUR, approximately 50% of patients with early AD were eligible to receive lecanemab treatment. Among the 467 included patients, 36.8% did not meet the inclusion criterion of a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≥22. Conclusions Eligibility for lecanemab treatment was not restricted to Korean patients with early AD except for those with an MMSE score of ≥22. The MMSE criteria should therefore be reconsidered in areas with a higher proportion of older people, who tend to have lower levels of education.

Obesity has been known to negatively modulate the life-span and immunosuppressive potential of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC). However, it remains unclear what drives the compromised potency of obese MSC. In this study, we examined the involvement of adiponectin, an adipose tissue-derived hormone, in obesity-induced impaired therapeutic function of MSC. Diet-induced obesity leads to a decrease in serum adiponectin, accompanied by impairment of survival and immunomodulatory effects of adipose-derived MSC (ADSC). Interestingly, priming with globular adiponectin (gAcrp) improved the immunomodulatory potential of obese ADSC. Similar effects were also observed in lean ADSC. In addition, gAcrp potentiated the therapeutic effectiveness of ADSC in a mouse model of DSS-induced colitis. Mechanistically, while obesity inhibited the glycolytic capacity of MSC, gAcrp treatment induced a metabolic shift toward glycolysis through activation of adiponectin receptor type 1/p38 MAPK/hypoxia inducible factor-1α axis. These findings suggest that activation of adiponectin signaling is a promising strategy for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of MSC against immune-mediated disorders.

Aging is a risk factor for development of chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus with commonly shared features of chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. Here, we investigated the effect of pan-Nox-inhibitor, APX-115, on renal function in aging diabetic mice. Methods: Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin at 50 mg/kg/day for 5 days in 52-week-old C57BL/6J mice. APX-115 was administered by oral gavage at a dose of 60 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks in nondiabetic and diabetic aging mice. Results: APX-115 significantly improved insulin resistance in diabetic aging mice. Urinary level of 8-isoprostane was significantly increased in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice, and APX-115 treatment reduced 8-isoprostane level. Urinary albumin and nephrin excretion were significantly higher in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice. Although APX-115 did not significantly decrease albuminuria, APX-115 markedly improved mesangial expansion, macrophage infiltration, and expression of fibrosis molecules such as transforming growth factor beta 1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1. Interestingly, the expression of all Nox isoforms including Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 was significantly increased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 treatment decreased Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 protein expression in the kidney. Furthermore, Klotho expression was significantly decreased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 restored Klotho level. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that pan-Nox inhibition may improve systemic insulin resistance and decrease oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis in aging diabetic status and may have potential protective effects on aging diabetic kidney.

Aging is a risk factor for development of chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus with commonly shared features of chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. Here, we investigated the effect of pan-Nox-inhibitor, APX-115, on renal function in aging diabetic mice. Methods: Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin at 50 mg/kg/day for 5 days in 52-week-old C57BL/6J mice. APX-115 was administered by oral gavage at a dose of 60 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks in nondiabetic and diabetic aging mice. Results: APX-115 significantly improved insulin resistance in diabetic aging mice. Urinary level of 8-isoprostane was significantly increased in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice, and APX-115 treatment reduced 8-isoprostane level. Urinary albumin and nephrin excretion were significantly higher in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice. Although APX-115 did not significantly decrease albuminuria, APX-115 markedly improved mesangial expansion, macrophage infiltration, and expression of fibrosis molecules such as transforming growth factor beta 1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1. Interestingly, the expression of all Nox isoforms including Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 was significantly increased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 treatment decreased Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 protein expression in the kidney. Furthermore, Klotho expression was significantly decreased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 restored Klotho level. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that pan-Nox inhibition may improve systemic insulin resistance and decrease oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis in aging diabetic status and may have potential protective effects on aging diabetic kidney.

Aging is a risk factor for development of chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus with commonly shared features of chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. Here, we investigated the effect of pan-Nox-inhibitor, APX-115, on renal function in aging diabetic mice. Methods: Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin at 50 mg/kg/day for 5 days in 52-week-old C57BL/6J mice. APX-115 was administered by oral gavage at a dose of 60 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks in nondiabetic and diabetic aging mice. Results: APX-115 significantly improved insulin resistance in diabetic aging mice. Urinary level of 8-isoprostane was significantly increased in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice, and APX-115 treatment reduced 8-isoprostane level. Urinary albumin and nephrin excretion were significantly higher in diabetic aging mice than nondiabetic aging mice. Although APX-115 did not significantly decrease albuminuria, APX-115 markedly improved mesangial expansion, macrophage infiltration, and expression of fibrosis molecules such as transforming growth factor beta 1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1. Interestingly, the expression of all Nox isoforms including Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 was significantly increased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 treatment decreased Nox1, Nox2, and Nox4 protein expression in the kidney. Furthermore, Klotho expression was significantly decreased in diabetic aging kidneys, and APX-115 restored Klotho level. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that pan-Nox inhibition may improve systemic insulin resistance and decrease oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis in aging diabetic status and may have potential protective effects on aging diabetic kidney.