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Summary: Objectives: Studies have shown that patients with congenital facial anomalies are vulnerable to depression. In addition, concealment of facial anomalies in an effort to mask handicaps is common, and these patients also often have difficulties with interpersonal relationships and in social situations. Despite this, no previous study has investigated the association between concealment of facial anomalies and depression, and a patient''s quality of life. Methods: A group of 65 patients, who had been scheduled for plastic surgery, completed this study. A total of 50 patients who had congenital facial anomalies, some of whom concealed their facial anomalies (N =22), and some whom didn''t (N =28), as well as 15 patient controls were interviewed and subsequently administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) and the WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL). Results: Among patients with congenital facial anomalies, those who concealed their anomalies exhibited a significantly higher level of depression and anxiety; higher rates of self-accusation, dissatisfaction, hypochondria, weight loss and antisocial personality traits; and a lower quality of life than those who did not conceal their anomalies. To the contrary, no significant differences were found with respect to depression, anxiety and quality of life between the congenital facial anomaly group and controls. Further, the concealment of facial anomalies was a significant predictor for lifetime major depressive disorder (odds ratio (OR)=7.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–37.3), after adjusting for age, gender and microtia. Conclusion: Facial concealment is a significant predictor of depression and poor quality of life in patients with congenital facial anomalies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Summary: Backgrounds & aims: Malnutrition is a prominent feature of tuberculosis. Little is known about the role of the appetite-related hormones, ghrelin and leptin, in malnutrition in tuberculosis. This study was undertaken to determine whether ghrelin and leptin contribute to malnutrition in active pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: Nutritional parameters and plasma levels of ghrelin, leptin, and inflammatory cytokines were measured before treatment and after clinical improvement following anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy in 23 tuberculosis subjects and 23 healthy controls prospectively. Patients were divided into well-nourished (n =15) and malnourished (n =8) groups. Results: Ghrelin but not leptin levels were significantly lower in the malnourished tuberculosis group than in the well-nourished tuberculosis group [44.0 (43.0–54.0) vs. 122 (108–158)pg/mL; p <0.05]. Malnutrition score was negatively correlated to ghrelin (ρ =−0.76, p <0.01) but not to leptin levels. TNF-α and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the malnourished tuberculosis group than in the well-nourished tuberculosis group and controls. Plasma levels of ghrelin tended to decrease as inflammatory cytokines increased before treatment. Conclusions: Decreased plasma ghrelin levels, in addition to increased plasma inflammatory cytokine levels, may be associated with malnutrition in active pulmonary tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abstract: Aims: Clozapine has previously been implicated in the dysregulation of energy balance and glucose metabolism in the central nervous system, but its effects in the periphery have yet to be thoroughly elucidated. The objective of this study was to characterize the effects of clozapine on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity in the skeletal muscles. Main methods: Myotube C2C12 cells were incubated under control conditions, or with clozapine. Expression levels of phosphorylation status of AMPK and its direct downstream Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) were analyzed by Western blot. Intracellular calcium concentration was measured with calcium indicator dye, fluo-3AM. 2-deoxyglucose uptake was assessed via the scintillation count. Key findings: We reported that clozapine activated AMPK in mouse C2C12 myotubes and also stimulated glucose uptake. Clozapine also increased intracellular calcium concentrations of C2C12 cells, and pretreatment with either ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), an extracellular calcium chelator, or 1.8-naphthoylene benzimidazole-3-carboxylic acid (STO-609), a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK) inhibitor, blocked clozapine-induced AMPK activation. Significance: These results demonstrate that clozapine increases glucose uptake through CaMKK-AMPK pathway in myotube C2C12 cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Abstract: Gaegurin-6, an antimicrobial peptide that belongs to the alpha-helix family, was isolated from the skin of Rana rugosa. Gaegurin-6 contains a hydrophobic motif at the N-terminus and a helical region at the C-terminus. Although gaegurin-6 has been implicated in cell signaling, the precise role in insulin secretion is currently unknown. We have attempted to determine whether gaegurin-6 affects insulin secretion and tried to elucidate the relationship between the structural motifs and biological activity. In this study, we have shown that gaegurin-6 stimulates insulin secretion and also increases the intracellular calcium concentration in pancreatic β Rin5mf cells. Moreover, a corollary study revealed that both the hydrophobicity of the N-terminus and the disulfide bridge of the C-terminus of gaegurin-6 are critical for its effects on insulin secretion. Membrane pore-forming ability is also observed in gaegurin-6, but not in the linear form or the N-terminus hydrophobic amino acid-deleted form. We further showed that these regions of gaegurin-6 are responsible for calcium influx in pancreatic β Rin5mf cells. Taken together, these results indicate that gaegurin-6 can affect insulin secretion in pancreatic β cells through the modulation of calcium influx. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Background: The self-report version of the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS-SR) has been developed recently and has demonstrated good psychometric properties. However, there is no cross-cultural evaluation of this scale. The purpose of this study was to confirm the reliability and validity of the PDSS-SR in Korean subjects. Methods: We studied 148 patients with principal DSM-IV diagnoses of panic disorder who underwent formal structured diagnostic assessment and the PDSS interview. The participants completed self-report measures including the PDSS-SR, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised, Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Spielberger State–Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Version. Results: The PDSS-SR had a single-factor structure, with all seven items having salient loadings. Cronbach's α for the PDSS-SR was .88 and intraclass correlation coefficient was .71 between PDSS-SR and PDSS. Also, the scale showed excellent 1-day test–retest reliability and demonstrated significant correlation with other anxiety-related measures. In addition, the PDSS-SR was sensitive to change with pharmacological treatment. Conclusions: The findings of this study strongly support the reliability and validity of the PDSS-SR. It is expected that this scale will be helpful in clinical settings and research protocols in Korea. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Emotional Stroop tasks (subliminal/supraliminal exposures), implicit memory tasks (tachistoscopic word identification), and explicit memory tasks (free recall after incidental learning) with 4 word types (physical threat, positive, negative, and neutral words) were administered to patients with major depressive disorder (n = 30), panic disorder (n = 33), somatoform disorder (n = 25), and healthy control participants (n 33). On the Stroop task, panic patients showed subliminal interferences for physical threat and negative words, depressive patients showed supraliminal interferences for negative words, and somatoform patients showed supraliminal interferences for physical threat words. No patient groups demonstrated implicit memory biases. On the explicit memory task, depressive and panic patients showed memory biases for negative words; somatoform patients showed biases for physical threat words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: Genetic polymorphisms of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) have been reported to be associated with human longevity and dementia in the elderly. However, whether such putative longevity genes exert the same effects on different ethnic groups living in different environments is not well known.Methods: We investigated the distributions of the ACE and APOE genotypes and their relations with dementia status in Korean centenarians by cross-sectional study. A total of 103 centenarians (13 men and 90 women, mean age 102.4 +/- 2.6 years) were included in this study. The allele frequencies of the genes were compared with those of two control groups: 7232 apparently healthy adults (4100 men and 3132 women) of mean age 48.5 +/- 9.6 years for the ACE genotyping, and 6435 adults (5008 men and 1427 women) of mean age 50.7 +/- 7.9 years for the APOE genotyping. The dementia status of the centenarians was assessed by clinical psychologist using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score.Results: The frequencies of genotypes and alleles of the ACE and APOE genes of the centenarians were not significantly different from those of the control groups. There was a lack of association between presence of the D allele on the ACE gene and dementia status. However, the frequency of the epsilon4 allele of the APOE gene was significantly higher in centenarians with dementia than in centenarians without definitive dementia (9.1% versus 1.5%, p <.05).Conclusions: These results suggest that neither the ACE nor the APOE gene is significantly associated with longevity in the Korean population, but that the APOE epsilon4 allele is still related with dementia even at age 100 and older. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...