• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1458-1466
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• 2020

Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs), classified as condensed tannins, have significant antioxidation, anti-inflammation and anti-cancer effects. This study was performed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of OPCs and the mechanism underlying these effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T). Real-time PCR and ELISA assays indicated that OPC treatment at 1, 3 and 5 ㎍/ml significantly reduced the mRNA and protein, respectively, of oxidant indicators cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) (p < 0.05) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (p < 0.01) as well as inflammation cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 (p < 0.01), IL-1β (p < 0.01) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p < 0.05) in LPS-induced MAC-T cells. Moreover, OPCs downregulated LPS-induced phosphorylation of p65 and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) (IκB) in the NF-κB signaling pathway (p < 0.01), and they inhibited p65 translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus as revealed by immunofluorescence test and western blot. Additionally, OPCs decreased phosphorylation of p38, extracellular signal regulated kinase and c-jun NH₂-terminal kinase in the MAPK signaling pathway (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of OPCs involve NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways, thus inhibiting expression of pro-inflammatory factors and oxidation indicators. These findings provide novel experimental evidence for the further practical application of OPCs in prevention and treatment of bovine mastitis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.137-142
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• 2004

Purpose: There have been some controversies over the therapeutic principles of advanced gastric cancer, and the results of treatment have been variable, especially for stage III disease. This study was conducted to define the prognostic factors of stage III gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was based on the medical records of 179 patients with stage III disease who received a gastrectomy from January 1990 to December 1994. The 5-year survival rate was analyzed according to the age, sex, tumor location, tumor size, Borrmann's type, depth of invasion, lymph-node metastasis, ratio of metastatic lymph nodes, type of surgical resection, extent of lymphnode dissection, curability of resection, postoperative chemotherapy, and pathological stage. The statistical analysis was done by using the Kaplan-Meier method, the log-rank test, and the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: The overall 5-year survival rate was $61.6\%$ the 5-year survival rates according to subgroup were $69.7\%$ for stage IIIa ($100\%$ for $T_{2}N_{2}$, $70.0\%$ for $T_{3}N_{1}$, $68.6\%$ for $T_{4}N_{0}$), and $54.1\%$ for stage IIIb ($T_{3}N_{2}$) (P<0.05). Among various clinicopathologic factors of stage III gastric cancer, the age of the patient, the tumor location, the gross type of tumor, the type of gastric resection, the extent of lymph-node dissection, the curability of resection, and the subgroups of stage III were statistically significant in the univariate survival analysis. The multivariate analysis defined the curability of resection, the extent of lymph-node dissection, the type of operation, the stage of disease, and the age of the patient as independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: A curative surgical resection and an extended lymph-node dissection are thought to be most important for improving the survival rate in stage III gastric cancer patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.80-96
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• 2002

Objective : The Purpose of this Study is to Evaluate Clinical Effect of Oriental Medical Treatment Clinically for the HNP by Comparing the Improvement of VAS and Meridian MAX Score Gap between Common Acupuncture with Sa-am Acupuncture Treatment Group and Common Acupuncture Treatment Group. Methods : The 29 patients who had a Diagnosis of HNP by Lumbar CT and MRI, and were Observed from the first June 2000 to the tenth May 2001, were divided into two classes ; the "A"group was 14 cases practised with Acupuncture treatment used Sa-am Acupuncture with Common Acupuncture, the "B" group 15 cases only Common Acupuncture. Then the time of Discharge, The authors compared VAS(Visual Analogue Scale) and Meridian Max score Gap out of these two groups. Results : On the result of the VAS(Visual Analog Scale), Group "A" is $4.14{\pm}2.62$ and Group "B" us $2.27{\pm}1.94$. So Group "A" is thought to be significance.(Independent T-test, P=0.0399). On the result of the Meridian Max Score Gap, Group "A" is $2.13{\pm}7.29$ and Group "B" is $1.43{\pm}8.42$. So Group "A" proceed more excellent result than the Group "B" Conclusions : The Group with Sa-am Acupuncture and Common Acupuncture treatment is more effective than the Group With Common Acupuncture treatment. And the Group of Done Cox is more effective than the Group of None.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.200-208
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• 2005

Purpose: Palliative procedures or surgical interventions not only manage various symptoms of malignant gastrointestinal obstruction, but also improve the quality of life. We investigated the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 48 terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction at Sam Anyang hospital from May in 2002 to May in 2005. We excluded patients with palliative tumor resection. We analyzed prognostic factors in symtom-free survival and overall survival using Kaplan-Meier method, univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: There were 25 males (52%) and 23 females (48%), and median age of 48 patients was 65 years. The most common cause of malignant gastrointestinal obstruction was colorectal (26 patients, 55%), followed by stomach (10, 21%). Twenty patients (42%) received previous treatment (chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy) and 28 (58%) never received any. Eighteen of 20 had received chemotherapy. The most common symptom was pain (15 patients, 31%). Twenty three patients (48%) had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group(ECOG) performance status of 1 or 2 score and 25 patients (52%) 3 or 4 score. The most common palliative procedure was colostomy and there was no mortality concerning the palliative procedures. By univariate and multivariate analysis, performance status was the only independent prognostic factor in overall survival and symptom-free survival. Overall survival was 150 days and symptom-free survival was 90 days. Conclusion:. We confirmed that perftatdormance status is significant independent prognostic factor in terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1759-1767
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• 2016

Background: Uterine sarcoma is a group of rare gynecologic tumors with various natures, and different lines of treatment. Most have a poor treatment outcome. This study targeted clinical characteristics, treatment, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and prognostic factors in uterine sarcoma patients in one tertiary center for cancer care. Materials and Methods: Uterine sarcoma patients who were treated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital between January 1994 and December 2014 were identified. Clinico-pathological data were analyzed. Prognostic outcomes were examined by Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis. Results: We identified 46 uterine sarcoma patients: 25 carcinosarcoma (CS) (54.3%), 15 leiomyosarcoma (LMS) (32.6%), and 6 undifferentiated uterine sarcoma (UUS) (13.1%) cases. Mean age was $54.0{\pm}11.9years$ (range 25-82 years). Abnormal uterine bleeding was the most common presenting symptom (63.0%). Among 33 patients (71.7%) who had pre-operative tissue collected, diagnosis of malignancy was correct in 29 (87.9%). All patients received primary surgery and retroperitoneal lymph nodes were resected in 34 (73.9%). After surgery, 5 (10.9%) had gross residual tumors. Stage I disease was most commonly found (56.5%). Adjuvant treatment was given to 27 (58.7%), most commonly chemotherapy. After a median follow-up of 16.0 months (range 0.8-187.4 months), recurrence was encountered in 22 patients (47.8%). Median time to recurrence was 5.8 months (range1.0-105.5 months). Distant metastasis was more common than local or locoregional failure. The 2-year PFS was 45.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 30.6%-59.7%) and the 2-year OS was 48.3% (95% CI, 33.3%-60.7%). Multivariable analyses found residual disease after surgery as a significant factor only for PFS. Conclusions: Uterine sarcoma is a rare tumor entity. Even with multimodalities of treatment, the prognosis is still poor. Successful cytoreductive surgery is a key factor for a good survival outcome.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.939-948
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• 2022

Objective: Evidence supports the efficacy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-based risk scores in cardiovascular risk stratification of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to compare two CCTA-based risk score algorithms, Leiden and Confirm scores, in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and suspected CAD. Materials and Methods: This single-center prospective cohort study consecutively included 1241 DM patients (54.1% male, 60.2 ± 10.4 years) referred for CCTA for suspected CAD in 2015-2017. Leiden and Confirm scores were calculated and stratified as < 5 (reference), 5-20, and > 20 for Leiden and < 14.3 (reference), 14.3-19.5, and > 19.5 for Confirm. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were defined as the composite outcomes of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and unstable angina requiring hospitalization. The Cox model and Kaplan-Meier method were used to evaluate the effect size of the risk scores on MACE. The area under the curve (AUC) at the median follow-up time was also compared between score algorithms. Results: During a median follow-up of 31 months (interquartile range, 27.6-37.3 months), 131 of MACE were recorded, including 17 cardiovascular deaths, 28 nonfatal MIs, 64 unstable anginas requiring hospitalization, and 22 strokes. An incremental incidence of MACE was observed in both Leiden and Confirm scores, with an increase in the scores (log-rank p < 0.001). In the multivariable analysis, compared with Leiden score < 5, the hazard ratios for Leiden scores of 5-20 and > 20 were 2.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.53-3.69; p < 0.001) and 4.39 (95% CI: 2.40-8.01; p < 0.001), respectively, while the Confirm score did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with the risk of MACE. The Leiden score showed a greater AUC of 0.840 compared to 0.777 for the Confirm score (p < 0.001). Conclusion: CCTA-based risk score algorithms could be used as reliable cardiovascular risk predictors in patients with DM and suspected CAD, among which the Leiden score outperformed the Confirm score in predicting MACE.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.211-227
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• 2024

Introduction: Seaweed is a sustainable and underexplored source of bioactive compounds with potent anti-inflammatory activities. However, studies on the interaction between seaweed and genes on inflammation are limited. Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the relationships between seaweed consumption and the polygenic risk scores (PRS) and their interactions with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. Methods: Information on seaweed consumption was collected using a food frequency questionnaire, which included laver, kelp, and sea mustard among the items consumed. A total of 31 hs-CRP-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected using genome-wide association studies and clumping analysis, and the individual PRS were calculated by weighting the effect size of each allele in the selected SNPs of 39,369 middle-aged (≥40 years) Koreans using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES)-Health Examinees (HEXA) cohort data. To investigate the interaction between seaweed intake and the PRS on hs-CRP levels >1 mg/L, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: During a mean follow-up period of 4.8 years, we recorded 436 patients with elevated hs-CRP levels. Women in the highest tertile of the PRS with the lowest quartile of seaweed intake had an increased incidence of elevated hs-CRP levels compared with women in the lowest tertile of the PRS with the lowest seaweed intake quartile (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.23-4.45). No significant association was observed among the men. Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified a new interaction between the PRS, seaweed intake, and inflammation in Korean women, and this study suggests that the interaction between the identification of genetic predisposition and dietary seaweed intake may have an impact on determining the risk of developing hyperinflammation in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4681-4688
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• 2016

Objective: Our aim was to estimate whether diabetes mellitus (DM) may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality in Japan. Methods: The Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study is a nationwide prospective study, initiated in 1988, which involves 110,585 subjects (age range: from 40 to 79 years; 46,395 males and 64,190 females). Our present analysis population comprised 96,081 (40,510 men and 55,571 women) who provided details on DM history. The questionnaire also included age, sex, weight, height, family history of CRC, smoking, drinking and exercise habits, and education. Cox proportional-hazard regression was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR). We used SPSS 21 software to analyze all data. Results: Among the participants with DM, we followed up for 71,174 person-years and 640. deaths from CRC were confirmed; and, among the non-diabetic participants, 785 CRC deaths were identified during 1,499,324 person-years. After adjusting for multivariate confounding factors, such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI), family history of colorectal cancer, smoking habit, drinking habit, physical activity (sports and walking) and education, DM was associated with an increased risk of CRC death (HR 1.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-2.0). Diabetic women, but not diabetic men, experienced increased mortality from CRC (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.0). Conclusion: The risk of CRC mortality is significantly increased in both sexes and women with diabetes, but no significant increase was seen for diabetic men among Japanese.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.529-536
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• 2009

Genome sequencing of the pig is being accelerated because of its importance as an evolutionary and biomedical model animal as well as a major livestock animal. However, information on expressed porcine genes is insufficient to allow annotation and use of the genomic information. A series of expressed sequence tags of 5' ends of five full-length enriched cDNA libraries (SUSFLECKs) were functionally characterized. SUSFLECKs were constructed from porcine abdominal fat, induced fat cells, loin muscle, liver, and pituitary gland, and were composed of non-normalized and normalized libraries. A total of 55,658 ESTs that were sequenced once from the 5′ ends of clones were produced and assembled into 17,684 unique sequences with 7,736 contigs and 9,948 singletons. In Gene Ontology analysis, two significant biological process leaf nodes were found: gluconeogenesis and translation elongation. In functional domain analysis based on the Pfam database, the beta transducin repeat domain of WD40 protein was the most frequently occurring domain. Twelve genes, including SLC25A6, EEF1G, EEF1A1, COX1, ACTA1, SLA, and ANXA2, were significantly more abundant in fat tissues than in loin muscle, liver, and pituitary gland in the SUSFLECKs. These characteristics of SUSFLECKs determined by EST analysis can provide important insight to discover the functional pathways in gene networks and to expand our understanding of energy metabolism in the pig.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10967-10970
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• 2015

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and survival associated factors of gefitinib combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 57 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who received platinum-based chemotherapy regimens for more than 1 cycle, were treated with gefitinib combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine until disease progression. Efficacy, survival time and adverse reactions were observed. The Kaplan-Meier method was adopted for analysis of survival and Cox regression for associated influencing factors. Results: The patients were followed up until October 31, 2013, and the median follow-up time was 19 months. Of 57 patients, there were 4 (7.0%) with complete remission (CR), 8 (14.0%) with partial remission, 31 (54.4%) with stable disease, and 14 (24.6%) with disease progression. The remission rate was 21.1% and the disease control rate was 75.4%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) time and the median overall survival time were 10 months and 15.2 months. The one-year, two-year and three-year survival rates were 47.4%, 23.3% and 10.0%. Gender and pathological types were the independent risk factors influencing PFS time (P=0.028, P=0.009). Tumor pathological type and early efficacy were independent factors for the prognosis (P=0.018, P=0.000). Adverse reactions were mostly rashes of I~II degree and diarrhea and slightly increasing level of aminopherase. The skin adverse event incidence of III degree or above was 1.8% (1/57) and brain metastasis was foudn in 31.6% (18/57). Conclusions: Gefitinib combined with cisplatin andgemcitabine, is effective for patients with IIIb~IV NSCLC who received multiple cycles of chemotherapy.