• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2008

Medical verification of cancer diagnosis in insurance claims is a very important procedure in insurance administrations. Claims staffs are in need of medical experts' opinions about claim administration. This procedure is called medical claim review (MCR) and is composed of verification and advice. MCR verification evaluates the insured’s physical condition by medical records and compares it with product coverage. It is divided into assessment of living assurance benefit, verification of cancer, and assessment of the cause of death. Actually cancer verification of MCR is applicable to coding because the risk ratio in product development is usually coded data. There are some confusing neoplastic diseases in assessing the verification of cancer. This article reviews gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue tumors (MALToma) of the stomach. The second most common group of stromal or mesenchymal neoplasms affecting the gastrointestinal tract is GIST. Nowadays there are many articles about the pathophysiology of GIST. However there are few confirmative theories except molecular cell biology of KIT mutation and some tyrosine kinase. Therefore, coding the GIST, which has previously been classified as an intermediate risk group according to NIH2001 criteria, for cancer verification of MCR is suitable for D37.1; neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behavior of digestive organs and the stomach. The gastrointestinal tract is the predominant site of extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. B-cell lymphomas of the MALT type, now called extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT type in the REAL/WHO classification, are the most common primary gastric lymphomas worldwide. Its characteristics are as follows. First, it is different from traditional stomach cancers such as gastric adenocarcinoma. Second, the primary therapy of MALToma is the eradication of H. pylori by antibiotics and the remission rate is over 80%. Third, it has a different clinical course compared to traditional malignant lymphoma. Someone insisted that cancer verification is not possible for the above reasons. However, there have been findings on pathologic mechanism, and according to WHO classification, MALToma is classified into malignant B-cell lymphoma and it must be verified as malignancy in MCR.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.582-595
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• 2021

Researchers have endeavored to identify the etiology of inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Though the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases remains unknown, dysregulation of the immune system in the host gastrointestinal tract is believed to be the major causative factor. Omics is a powerful methodological tool that can reveal biochemical information stored in clinical samples. Lipidomics is a subset of omics that explores the lipid classes associated with inflammation. One objective of the present systematic review was to facilitate the identification of biochemical targets for use in future lipidomic studies on inflammatory bowel diseases. The use of high-resolution mass spectrometry to observe alterations in global lipidomics might help elucidate the immunoregulatory mechanisms involved in inflammatory bowel diseases and discover novel biomarkers for them. Assessment of the characteristics of previous clinical trials on inflammatory bowel diseases could help researchers design and establish patient selection and analytical method criteria for future studies on these conditions. In this study, we curated literature exclusively from four databases and extracted lipidomics-related data from literature, considering criteria. This paper suggests that the lipidomics approach toward research in inflammatory bowel diseases can clarify their pathogenesis and identify clinically valuable biomarkers to predict and monitor their progression.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.353-364
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• 2021

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a series of hollow organs that is responsible for the digestion and absorption of ingested foods and the excretion of waste. Any changes in the GI tract can lead to GI disorders. GI disorders are highly prevalent in the population and account for substantial morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization. GI disorders can be functional, or organic with structural changes. Functional GI disorders include functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Organic GI disorders include inflammation of the GI tract due to chronic infection, drugs, trauma, and other causes. Recent studies have highlighted a new explanatory mechanism for GI disorders. It has been suggested that autophagy, an intracellular homeostatic mechanism, also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of GI disorders. Autophagy has three primary forms: macroautophagy, microautophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy. It may affect intestinal homeostasis, host defense against intestinal pathogens, regulation of the gut microbiota, and innate and adaptive immunity. Drugs targeting autophagy could, therefore, have therapeutic potential for treating GI disorders. In this review, we provide an overview of current understanding regarding the evidence for autophagy in GI diseases and updates on potential treatments, including drugs and complementary and alternative medicines.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2017

Neuromedin U receptor 1 is a GPCR protein which binds with the neuropeptide, neuromedin. It is involved in the regulation of feeding and energy homeostasis and related with immune mediated inflammatory diseases like asthma. It plays an important role in maintaining the biological clock and in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction in the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. Analysing the structural features of the receptor is crucial in studying the pathophysiology of the diseases related to the receptor important. As the three dimensional structure of the protein is not available, in this study, we have performed the homology modelling of the receptor using 5 different templates. The models were subjected to model validation and two models were selected as optimal. These models could be helpful in analysing the structural features of neuromedin U receptor 1 and their role in disorders related to them.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.265-274
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• 2014

Gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that resides in the intestine and serves many important functions in human health. Using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing analysis, a wide variety of bacteria in human gastrointestinal tract has been identified along with intriguing findings that there is a different bacterial composition among individuals. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a procedure of stool transplantation from healthy donors to patients suffering from various diseases. Specifically, FMT is able to alter the composition of gut microbiota of recipients and therefore could be an effective treatment for the patients with gastrointestinal diseases including recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. Here we review a list of human diseases related to gut microbiota disturbance and the case studies of FMT. We also summarize medicines and diagnostic tools that are under development. Therefore, gut microbiota can be a next generation's biotherapy for promotion of health and treatment of chronic diseases.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.476-479
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• 2011

The Streptococcus milleri group, which also includes S. anginosus, S. intermedius and S. constellatus, is found in the oropharynx, upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and urogenital tract mucosa. Bacteria in the Streptococcus milleri group are associated with bacteremia and abscess formation. Most of the reports of of Streptococcus milleri group (SMG) infection occur in patients with underlying medical conditions. Predisposing factors that have been associated with S. milleri group empyema include mucosal disturbances (sinusitis, periodontal disease, enteric disease), preceding to pneumonia, thoracic surgery, malignancy, neurological disease, alcohol abuse, and also diabetes mellitus. We report on a 42-year-old man with mental retardation. He who suffered from dyspnea and a fever that he had developed for over 14 days. S. constellatus and anaerobic bacterias (Prevotella buccae and Micromonas micros) were cultured. The patient was treated with the drainage of pleural effusion and clindamycin and levofloxacin.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.327-335
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• 2020

As the interest in oral health is increasing with quality of life. The most representative oral diseases include dental caries, periodontal disease, and malocclusion, as well as dry mouth and oral mucosa. Cinnamaldehyde have an antioxidant effect that has been studied not only to treat rheumatism and hypertension, but also to protect liver, and gastrointestinal tract, but there are few studies related to the control of oral diseases. The purpose of this study was the effect of enhanced orofacial pain when oral administration of cinnamaldehyde in the oral diseases. Cinnamaldehyde (5, 12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg) orally administered at a dose of 1 mL, and the change in biological response was confirmed after a week. In addition, 5% formalin (30, 50 μL) was injected into TMJ and subcutaneous areas of the whiskers of rats to observe the change in the threshold of the improved orofacial pain model. As a result of the experiment, in the xerostomia model, drinking water was decreased in the cinnamaldehyde-administered group, feed intake and weight increased, and saliva was also increased compared to the naïve group. In particular, the most significant increase trend was observed at the concentrations of 25 and 50 mg/kg. In addition, it was confirmed that the pain behavioral response of the orofacial area improved by oral diseases decreased depending on the concentration of cinnamaldehyde. Based on these results, cinnamaldehyde effectively reduced symptoms related to xerostomia and showed improved pain relief in the orofacial areas.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.518-526
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• 2019

Purpose: Limited means exist to assess gastrointestinal activity in pediatric patients postoperatively. Recently, myoelectric gastrointestinal activity recorded by cutaneous patches has been shown in adult patients to be predictive of clinical return of gastrointestinal function postoperatively. The aim of this case series is to demonstrate the feasibility of this system in pediatric patients and to correlate myoelectric signals with return of bowel function clinically. Methods: Pediatric patients undergoing abdominal surgery were recruited to have wireless patches placed on the abdomen within two hours postoperatively. Myoelectric data were transmitted wirelessly to a mobile device with a user-interface and forwarded to a cloud server where processing algorithms identified episodes of motor activity, quantified their parameters and nominally assigned them to specific gastrointestinal organs based on their frequencies. Results: Three patients (ages 5 months, 4 year, 16 year) were recruited for this study. Multiple patches were placed on the older subjects, while the youngest had a single patch due to space limitations. Rhythmic signals of the stomach, small intestine, and colon could be identified in all three subjects. Patients showed gradual increase in myoelectric intestinal and colonic activity leading up to the first recorded bowel movement. Conclusion: Measuring myoelectric intestinal activity continuously using a wireless patch system is feasible in a wide age range of pediatric patients. The increase in activity over time correlated well with the patients' return of bowel function. More studies are planned to determine if this technology can predict return of bowel function or differentiate between physiologic ileus and pathologic conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1983

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were measured in the serum of 35 normal control subjects and 179 cases of various benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases. Malignant gastrointestinal tumors include 69 cases of stomach cancer, 24 cases of hepatoma and 33 cases of colorectal cancer. Benign gastrointestinal diseases include 29 cases of peptic ulcer and 24 cases of liver cirrhosis. The results were as followings: 1) Mean serum CEA level in normal control subjects was $6.9{\pm}3.3ng/ml$ and there was; no difference in mean serum CEA level between age and sex difference. 2) In malignant gastrointestinal tumors, mean serum CEA level in colorectal cancer, hepatoma and stomach cancer, were $54.3{\pm}88.9ng/ml,\;62.1{\pm}99.7ng/ml$ respectively. Serum CEA level showed positive rate of 67% in colorectal cancer, 63% in hepatoma and 62% in stomach cancer. There was no difference in mean levels and positivity of serum CEA between these 3 malignant tumor groups. 3) Positivity of serum CEA was 61% in malignant gastrointestinal tumor group in spite of 37% in benign gastrointestinal disease group. In both mean level and positivity of serum CEA, stomach cancer was much higher than peptic ulcer. But there was no difference in mean level and positivity of serum CEA level between hepatoma and liver cirrhosis. 4) In hepatoma serum CEA level showed positive rate of 62.5% and alpha-feto protein showed a rate of 58.3%. 5) Mean serum CEA levels in patients with cancer in rectal, cecal, sigmoid colon, ascending: colon and descending colon were $73.7{\pm}106.7ng/ml,\;69{\pm}84.8ng/ml$, $15.7{\pm}9.1ng/ml,\;7.5{\pm}10.6ng/ml$ and 4.0ng/ml respectively. Positive rate of serum CEA showed 86% in sigmoid. colon cancer, 68% in rectal cancer and 66% in cecal cancer. 6) In considering of histological background, there was no correlation between the degree of differentiation of tumor cell and the serum CEA level in colorectal cancer. According to Duke's classification, the mean serum levels of CEA were $8.8{\pm}11.4ng/ml$ in group A, $15.3{\pm}16.0ng/ml$ in group B and $68.5{\pm}101.5ng/ml$ in group C respectively. Positivity-of serum CEA in group A, Band C were 40%, 50% & 69% respectively. So there was significant correlation between the degree of elevation of serum CEA and tumor extension.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 1996

This study was desiged to carry out an observation study on the cognitive level of health benefitis of fermented milk and subsequntly, on prevention of gastrointestinal diseases for the consumers in Korea. Data used in this study were collected from two different source ; 1) 987 university students living in Seoul, were selected randomly and interviwed induvidual from May 25 to September 30 1994, to investigate the awareness status as a consomer of fermented milk, and 2) health benefits of fermented milk with respect to prevention gastric intestinal diseases such as typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and bacillary dysentery in Korea with the raw data from the Yearbook of Health and Social Statistics by Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (1976${\sim}$1995) and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (1976${\sim}$1995), Republic of Korea. The results of this study were as follows : The effects of femented milk on health appeared to be attributed to taking care of an environment of the gastrointestinal tract regarding diarrhea, constipation and digestion, with showing 75.1% of male and 71.1% of female of university students in Seoul answered positively, The correlation coefficients of statistics between amounts of consumption per capita of fermented milk and incidence rates of gastrointestinal diseases during the period from 1975 to 1994 in the whole country was r = -0.308 (p<0.05). those of Seoul a major comsuming area of fermented milk in the country and Kangwon province, a minor consuming area were r = -0.704 (p<0.01) and r = +0.262 (n.s.), respectively. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study suggest that fermented milk exert its effect on gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, the results warrant a futher study in the field of preventive medicine and health science with respect to efficacy of fermented milk consumption.