Purpose: The female sex is reported to have a higher risk of adverse events (AEs) from cytotoxic chemotherapy. Few studies examined the sex differences in AEs and their impact on the use of medical services during adjuvant chemotherapy. This sub-study aimed to compare the incidence of any grade and grade ≥ 3 AEs, healthcare utilization, chemotherapy completion rate, and dose intensity according to sex. Materials and Methods: This is a sub-study of a multicenter cohort conducted in Korea that evaluated the impact of healthcare reimbursement on AE evaluation in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy between September 2013 and December 2016 at four hospitals in Korea. Results: A total of 1,170 patients with colorectal, gastric, or non–small cell lung cancer were included in the study. Female patients were younger, had fewer comorbidities, and experienced less postoperative weight loss of > 10%. Females had significantly higher rates of any grade AEs including nausea, abdominal pain, stomatitis, vomiting, and neutropenia, and experienced more grade ≥ 3 neutropenia, nausea, and vomiting. The dose intensity of chemotherapy was significantly lower in females, and they also experienced more frequent dose reduction after the first cycle. Moreover, female patients receiving platinum-containing regimens had significantly higher rates of unscheduled outpatient visits. Conclusion Our study found that females experienced a higher incidence of multiple any-grade AEs and severe neutropenia, nausea, and vomiting, across various cancer types, leading to more frequent dose reductions. Physicians should be aware of sex differences in AEs for chemotherapy decisions.

Background: The management of dental plaque and the appropriate use of oral hygiene tools are crucial for oral health. Withincreasing interest in oral health care, various oral hygiene products are available on the market. As the most basic oral hygiene tool, the large-head toothbrush has gained significant consumer interest. This study evaluates the suitability of large-head toothbrushes as oral hygiene tools by comparing their efficacy with that of regular-sized toothbrushes. Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of large-head and regular-sized toothbrushes. The amount of dental plaque before and afterbrushing was measured using quantitative light-induced fluorescence digital (QLF-D) images and the plaque index (PI) in adult participants with more than 28 teeth (n=15/group). After brushing, the collected toothbrushes were rinsed 10 times in clean water, thoroughly dried, and weighed on an electronic scale. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with SPSS Statistics Version 29.0. Results: QLF-D analysis showed a significant decrease in fluorescence intensity scores after use of a regular-sized toothbrush,whereas the scores after use of a large-head toothbrush were not significantly reduced. PI measurements indicated significant reductions in dental plaque for both head types. However, detailed analysis by tooth surface revealed that the regular-sized toothbrush significantly reduced plaque on the proximal, palatal/lingual, and labial/buccal surfaces. In contrast, the large-head toothbrush only showed significant reductions in place on the proximal and palatal/lingual surfaces, not on the labial/buccal surface. Additionally, compared to the regular-sized toothbrush, the large-head toothbrush retained more toothpaste residue despite similar cleaning efforts after brushing. Conclusion Compared to the regular-sized toothbrush, the large-head toothbrush showed lower overall efficacy in dentalplaque removal. The results of this study provide significant information regarding the use of large-head toothbrushes.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the real-world efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study performed in two tertiary referral hospitals in Korea. Patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®) between March 2016 and March 2020 were enrolled. Results: A total of 102 patients with metastatic breast cancer were included. Patients were heavily pre-treated with a median of four prior lines of chemotherapy (5 lines when including endocrine therapy in hormone-receptor-positive patients), and 66 patients (64.7%) were exposed to taxanes in the metastatic setting. According to St. Gallen molecular subtypes, 36 patients (35.3%) were luminal A, 28 (27.5%) were luminal B, 18 (17.7%) were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive and 20 (19.6%) had triple-negative disease. Fifty patients (49.0%) were treated with a 3-weekly regimen (260 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks), and 52 (51.0%) were treated with a weekly regimen (100 mg/m2 every week). Objective response rate was 22.9%. After a median follow-up of 22.0 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6 to 4.8) and median overall survival was 8.7 months (95% CI, 7.5 to 11.2). Patients treated with weekly regimen had longer PFS compared to 3-weekly regimen (5.5 vs. 2.3 months, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed the treatment regimen as an independent prognostic factor for PFS. There was no grade 3 or 4 hypersensitivity reaction. Conclusion This real-world data shows that nab-paclitaxel is a reasonable treatment option in heavily pre-treated and/or taxane-exposed metastatic breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) plays a crucial role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis induced pleural responses. Interleukin (IL)-33 up-regulates the production of IFN-gamma. We aimed to identify whether an association between pleural IL-33 levels and tuberculous pleurisy exists and determine its diagnostic value. METHODS: Pleural IL-33, ST2 (a receptor of IL-33), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and IFN-gamma, as well as serum IL-33 and ST2 were measured in 220 patients with pleural effusions (PEs). Patients with malignant (MPEs), parapneumonic (PPEs), tuberculous (TPEs), and cardiogenic (CPEs) pleural effusions were included. RESULTS: Pleural and serum IL-33 levels were highest or tended to be higher in patients with TPEs than in those with other types of PEs. The median pleural fluid-to-serum IL-33 ratio was higher in TPE cases (> or = 0.91) than in other PE cases (< or = 0.56). Pleural IL-33 levels correlated with those of pleural ADA and IFN-gamma. However, the diagnostic accuracies of pleural IL-33 (0.74) and pleural fluid-to-serum IL-33 ratio (0.75) were lower than that of ADA (0.95) or IFN-gamma (0.97). Pleural ST2 levels in patients with MPEs were higher than in patients with TPEs. Serum ST2 levels did not differ among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: We identified an association between elevated pleural IL-33 levels and tuberculous pleurisy. However, we recommend conventional pleural markers (ADA or IFN-gamma) as diagnostic markers of TPE.
Adenosine Deaminase/analysis ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Case-Control Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma/analysis ; Interleukins/*analysis/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pleural Cavity/*metabolism ; Pleural Effusion/diagnosis/metabolism ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant/diagnosis/metabolism ; ROC Curve ; Receptors, Cell Surface/analysis/blood ; Tuberculosis, Pleural/*diagnosis/metabolism

BACKGROUND: Automated nucleic acid extraction offers a standardized sample treatment method, low error rate, and avoids sample nucleic acid contamination for use in molecular diagnostics. Here, we evaluated the performance of automated ExiPrep16 system (Bioneer Co.) in comparison with the manual Viral Gene-spin Viral DNA/RNA Extraction kit (VGspin; iNtRON Biotechnology Inc.) for the detection of respiratory viruses from nasopharyngeal flocked swabs. METHODS: To compare the agreement rate and analytical sensitivity between ExiPrep16 and VGspin, previously collected 78 patient samples and 11 pooled samples of each respiratory viruses and their serially diluted samples (until 1/10(8)), were tested by multiplex reverse-transcriptase PCR (Seeplex RV 12 ACE Detection kit; SeeGene Inc.). In addition, we repeatedly analyzed the threshold cycle of the pooled and 1/10(3) dilution of adenovirus (ADV) and influenza virus A (Flu-A) by using real-time PCR to evaluate the precision and crossover of the ExiPrep16 system. RESULTS: The analytical sensitivity of the ExiPrep16 was comparable to that of VGspin, and the highest detectable dilution varied in the range of 1/10 to 1/10(6) depending on the viruses. The total, overall positive and negative percent agreements of ExiPrep16 in comparison with VGspin were 95.7%, 96.2%, and 95.2%, respectively. The mean (CV%) of pooled and 1/10(3) dilution of ADV were, respectively, 19.2 cycle (2.1%) and 31.6 cycle (4.3%) and those for Flu-A were 22.6 cycle (3.1%) and 35.5 cycle (2.6%). No carryover was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the manual VGspin, ExiPrep16 ensured nucleic acid extraction for efficient detection of respiratory viruses.
Adenoviridae ; Biotechnology ; Humans ; Introns ; Nucleic Acids ; Orthomyxoviridae ; Pathology, Molecular ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

We previously reported the successful establishment of embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like multipotent spermatogonial stem cells (mSSCs) from neonatal mouse testis. Here, we examined the ability of mSSCs to differentiate into vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, and compared to that of mouse ESCs. We used real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry to examine gene expression profiles of mSSCs and ESCs during in vitro vascular differentiation. Both mSSCs and ESCs exhibited substantial increase in the expression of mesodermal markers, such as Brachyury, Flk1, Mesp1, Nkx2.5, and Islet1, and a decrease in the expression of pluripotency markers, such as Oct3/4 and Nanog during the early stage of differentiation. The mRNA levels of vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin and CD31 gradually increased in both differentiated mSSCs and ESCs. VE-cadherin- or CD31-positive cells formed sprouting branch-like structures, as observed during embryonic vascular development. At the same time, vascular smooth muscle cell-specific markers, such as myocardin and alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA), were also highly expressed in differentiated mSSCs and ESCs. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that the differentiated cells expressed both alpha-SMA and SM22-alpha proteins, and exhibited the intracellular fibril structure typical of smooth muscle cells. Overall, our findings showed that mSSCs have similar vascular differentiation abilities to those of ESCs, suggesting that mSSCs may be an alternative source of autologous pluripotent stem cells for vascular regeneration.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Biological Markers/metabolism ; Cell Differentiation/physiology ; Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology/physiology ; Endothelial Cells/*cytology/physiology ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mice ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/*cytology/physiology ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle/*cytology/physiology ; Pluripotent Stem Cells/*cytology/physiology ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spermatogonia/*cytology/physiology ; Testis/*cytology/physiology

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In our previous study, we found that the gene transfer of a potent derivative of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein Angiopoietin-1 (COMP-Ang-1) substantially prevented hypertension, microvascular rarefaction, and target organ damage in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the therapeutic effects observed after COMP-Ang-1 gene transfer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To exclude the NO-mediated effects in COMP-Ang-1 gene therapy, the SHRs were treated with an NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, Nw-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) before the electrophoretic gene transfer. RESULTS: The pretreatment with L-NAME induced a severe and sustained increase in systolic blood pressure (BP) in a LacZ plasmid transferred control SHR. However, the electrophoretic transfer of a COMP-Ang-1 plasmid instead of LacZ plasmid in L-NAME-pretreated SHRs substantially blocked the development of hypertension without any significant difference in comparison with L-NAME-untreated COMP-Ang-1 plasmid transferred groups. In addition, the COMP-Ang-1 plasmid transfer substantially attenuated microvascular rarefaction and arteriole remodeling in the heart and kidney, which might account for the mild histological alterations observed in the COMP-Ang-1 plasmid transferred group, in contrast to the severe fibrosis and necrosis seen in the LacZ plasmid controls. CONCLUSION: These therapeutic outcomes of COMP-Ang-1 gene transfer even in NOS inhibited SHRs suggested that the antihypertensive effect of COMP-Ang-1 was not merely secondary to NO-mediated vasorelaxation, but it may be associated with its ability to protect the vascular endothelium probably via an NO-independent mechanism which serves to attenuate microvascular rarefaction and target organ damage, and also to prevent hypertension by reducing peripheral vascular resistance.
Angiopoietin-1 ; Arterioles ; Blood Pressure ; Cartilage ; Endothelium ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Fibrosis ; Genetic Therapy ; Glycoproteins ; Heart ; Hypertension ; Kidney ; Necrosis ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Plasmids ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Vascular Resistance ; Vasodilation

PURPOSE: Recent managements of liver metastasis from colorectal cancer consist of multi-disciplinary treatments. Although hepatic resection is the only curative treatment, for which long-term survival is expected, the recurrence rates is still high. Recently, liver resections, combined with chemotherapy and other additional therapy, have produced promising outcomes. We analyzed the outcomes of hepatic resection for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. METHODS: From 1993 to 2007, we performed 116 hepatic resections for the treatment of liver metastasis from colorectal cancer. All patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. We reviewed their medical records and investigated the clinico-pathologic data retrospectively. RESULTS: One in hospital mortality occurred, and the postoperative morbidity rate was 37.5%, including major complication (11.7%). Five-yr overall survival rate and disease free survival rate were 33.2% and 25.0%, respectively. T stage and postoperative morbidity were independent prognostic factors for survival whereas metachronous metastases and postoperative morbidity were independent prognostic factors for recurrence. During the follow-up periods, 67 recurrences occurred. CONCLUSION: Hepatic resections for liver metastasis from colorectal cancer were safe and effective. The surgical T stage, complications, and metastasis type (metachronous or synchronous) may determine the results in patients with surgically-curable liver metastasis from colorectal cancer.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Balantidium coli is the only largest ciliated protozoon known to infect human and nonhuman primates. Balantidiasis is a zoonotic disease and is acquired by humans via fecal-oral contact between pigs and humans. The clinical manifestation includes mainly gastrointestinal symptoms; diarrhea and abdominal pain, but in rare cases extraintestinal spread to lungs has been reported. A few reports of B. coli were found in vaginal secretion, skin, gastric juice, and omentum, but there have been no previous isolated cases in the respiratory tract in Korea. We reported that the first case of pneumonia caused by B. coli in Korea in an immunocompetent 40-year-old woman who displayed symptoms of chest discomfort and cough, and was cured with metronidazole.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Balantidiasis ; Balantidium ; Cough ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Gastric Juice ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung ; Metronidazole ; Omentum ; Pneumonia ; Primates ; Respiratory System ; Skin ; Swine ; Thorax

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aquatic exercise on pain, fatigue, body composition, physical fitness and psychological variables in women with arthritis. METHOD: With a quasi-experimental design, 37 women who had arthritis were assigned into an experimental group (n=19) or a control group (n=18). Aquatic exercise consisted of one hour of exercise in water, two days per week, for six weeks and a self-help process. Measures included physiologic and psychological variables before and after the exercise. Data was analyzed with the SPSS WIN using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANCOVA. RESULT: The mean age of the subjects was 59 years in the experimental group and 52 years in the control group. Pretest scores in outcome variables were similar in both groups except BMI and body fat(%). After controlling for age, shoulder flexibility scores in the experimental group improved more than the control group (Rt: F=10.58, p=.003; Lt: F=5.91, p= .02; Waist: F=4.95, p= .03). Depression scores in the experimental group decreased (F=12.96, p= .001), and self efficacy and quality of life improved more than the others (F=5.07, p= .03; F=6.91, p= .01). CONCLUSION: Aquatic exercise can improve waist flexibility and shows consistent findings of improved shoulder flexibility and psychological function in women with arthritis.
Arthritis* ; Body Composition* ; Depression ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Humans ; Physical Fitness* ; Pliability ; Quality of Life ; Self Efficacy ; Shoulder