Serum Uric Acid Level and the Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-aged Korean Men: A 5-Year Follow-up Study

Objectives:

Elevated serum uric acid (UA) has been known to be associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, no prospective studies have examined whether serum UA levels are actually associated with the development of MetS. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the longitudinal effects of baseline serum UA levels on the development of MetS.

Methods:

A MetS-free cohort of 14 906 healthy Korean men, who participated in a medical check-up program in 2005, was followed until 2010. MetS was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention. Cox proportional hazards models were performed.

Results:

During 52 466.1 person-years of follow-up, 2428 incident cases of MetS developed between 2006 and 2010. After adjusting for multiple covariates, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident MetS for the second, the third, and the fourth quartile to the first quartile of serum UA levels were 1.09 (0.92-1.29), 1.22 (1.04-1.44), and 1.48 (1.26-1.73), respectively (p for trend <0.001). These associations were also significant in the clinically relevant subgroup analyses.

Conclusions:

Elevated serum UA levels were independently associated with future development of MetS in Korean men during the 5-year follow-up period.     

Attenuation of Ethanol Withdrawal by Ceftriaxone-Induced Upregulation of Glutamate Transporter EAAT2

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a potentially fatal outcome of severe alcohol dependence that presents a significant challenge to treatment. Although AWS is thought to be driven by a hyperglutamatergic brain state, benzodiazepines, which target the GABAergic system, comprise the first line of treatment for AWS. Using a rat model of ethanol withdrawal, we tested whether ceftriaxone, a β-lactam antibiotic known to increase the expression and activity of glutamate uptake transporter EAAT2, reduces the occurrence or severity of ethanol withdrawal manifestations. After a 2-week period of habituation to ethanol in two-bottle choice, alcohol-preferring (P) and Wistar rats received ethanol (4.0 g/kg) every 6 h for 3–5 consecutive days via gavage. Rats were then deprived of ethanol for 48 h during which time they received ceftriaxone (50 or 100 mg/kg, IP) or saline twice a day starting 12 h after the last ethanol administration. Withdrawal manifestations were captured by continuous video recording and coded. The evolution of ethanol withdrawal was markedly different for P rats vs Wistar rats, with withdrawal manifestations occurring >12 h later in P rats than in Wistar rats. Ceftriaxone 100 mg/kg per injection twice per day (200 mg/kg/day) reduced or abolished all manifestations of ethanol withdrawal in both rat variants and prevented withdrawal-induced escalation of alcohol intake. Finally, ceftriaxone treatment was associated with lasting upregulation of ethanol withdrawal-induced downregulation of EAAT2 in the striatum. Our data support the role of ceftriaxone in alleviating alcohol withdrawal and open a novel pharmacologic avenue that requires clinical evaluation in patients with AWS.     

Eco-Friendly Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Water-Electrolytes and Chlorophyll

Organic solvents used for electrolytes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are generally not only toxic and explosive but also prone to leakage due to volatility and low surface tension. The representative dyes of DSSCs are ruthenium-complex molecules, which are expensive and require a complicated synthesis process. In this paper, the eco-friendly DSSCs were presented based on water-based electrolytes and a commercially available organic dye. The effect of aging time after the device fabrication and the electrolyte composition on the photovoltaic performance of the eco-friendly DSSCs were investigated. Plasma treatment of TiO₂ was adopted to improve the dye adsorption as well as the wettability of the water-based electrolytes on TiO₂. It turned out that the plasma treatment was an effective way of improving the photovoltaic performance of the eco-friendly DSSCs by increasing the efficiency by 3.4 times. For more eco-friendly DSSCs, the organic-synthetic dye was replaced by chlorophyll extracted from spinach. With the plasma treatment, the efficiency of the eco-friendly DSSCs based on water-electrolytes and chlorophyll was comparable to those of the previously reported chlorophyll-based DSSCs with non-aqueous electrolytes.     

Biochemical and Biophysical Characterization of the dsDNA Packaging Motor from the Lactococcus lactis Bacteriophage Asccphi28

Double-stranded DNA viruses package their genomes into pre-assembled protein procapsids. This process is driven by macromolecular motors that transiently assemble at a unique vertex of the procapsid and utilize homomeric ring ATPases to couple genome encapsidation to ATP hydrolysis. Here, we describe the biochemical and biophysical characterization of the packaging ATPase from Lactococcus lactis phage asccφ28. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and negative stain transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicate that the ~45 kDa protein formed a 443 kDa cylindrical assembly with a maximum dimension of ~155 Å and radius of gyration of ~54 Å. Together with the dimensions of the crystallographic asymmetric unit from preliminary X-ray diffraction experiments, these results indicate that gp11 forms a decameric D5-symmetric complex consisting of two pentameric rings related by 2-fold symmetry. Additional kinetic analysis shows that recombinantly expressed gp11 has ATPase activity comparable to that of functional ATPase rings assembled on procapsids in other genome packaging systems. Hence, gp11 forms rings in solution that likely reflect the fully assembled ATPases in active virus-bound motor complexes. Whereas ATPase functionality in other double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) phage packaging systems requires assembly on viral capsids, the ability to form functional rings in solution imparts gp11 with significant advantages for high-resolution structural studies and rigorous biophysical/biochemical analysis.     

Targeting Antigens for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development

Traditional influenza vaccines generate strain-specific antibodies which cannot provide protection against divergent influenza virus strains. Further, due to frequent antigenic shifts and drift of influenza viruses, annual reformulation and revaccination are required in order to match circulating strains. Thus, the development of a universal influenza vaccine (UIV) is critical for long-term protection against all seasonal influenza virus strains, as well as to provide protection against a potential pandemic virus. One of the most important strategies in the development of UIVs is the selection of optimal targeting antigens to generate broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies or cross-reactive T cell responses against divergent influenza virus strains. However, each type of target antigen for UIVs has advantages and limitations for the generation of sufficient immune responses against divergent influenza viruses. Herein, we review current strategies and perspectives regarding the use of antigens, including hemagglutinin, neuraminidase, matrix proteins, and internal proteins, for universal influenza vaccine development.     

Herpesvirus Regulation of Selective Autophagy

Selective autophagy has emerged as a key mechanism of quality and quantity control responsible for the autophagic degradation of specific subcellular organelles and materials. In addition, a specific type of selective autophagy (xenophagy) is also activated as a line of defense against invading intracellular pathogens, such as viruses. However, viruses have evolved strategies to counteract the host’s antiviral defense and even to activate some proviral types of selective autophagy, such as mitophagy, for their successful infection and replication. This review discusses the current knowledge on the regulation of selective autophagy by human herpesviruses.     

Development of a clinical risk score for incident diabetes: A 10-year prospective cohort study

Aims/IntroductionWe developed a self‐assessable Korean Diabetes Risk score using the data of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study.Materials and MethodsA total of 8,740 participants without diabetes at baseline were followed up biannually over a period of 10 years. We included variables that were significantly different between participants who developed diabetes mellitus and those who did not in the development cohort at baseline. We assigned a maximum score of 100 to the selected variable in each gender group. Next, the 10‐year probability of incident diabetes was calculated and validated in the validation cohort. Finally, we compared the predictive power of Korean Diabetes Risk score with models including fasting plasma glucose or glycated hemoglobin and other cohort models of Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.ResultsDuring a median follow‐up period of 9.7 years, 22.7% of the participants progressed to diabetes. The Korean Diabetes Risk score included age, living location (urban or rural area), waist circumference, hypertension, family history of diabetes and smoking history. The developed risk score yielded acceptable discrimination for incident diabetes (area under the curve 0.657) and the predictive power was improved when the model included fasting plasma glucose (area under the curve 0.690) or glycated hemoglobin (area under the curve 0.746). In addition, our model predicted incident diabetes more accurately than previous Western or Korean models.ConclusionsThis newly developed self‐assessable diabetes risk score is easily applicable to predict the future risk of diabetes even without the necessity for laboratory tests. This score is useful for the Korean diabetes prevention program, because high‐risk individuals can be easily screened.     

Direct comparison of rapid deployment versus sutureless aortic valve replacement: a meta-analysis

BackgroundThis meta-analysis was conducted to compare the procedural and early outcomes of aortic valve replacement (AVR) using rapid deployment valve (RD group) versus sutureless valve (SU group).MethodsA literature search of 5 online databases was conducted. The primary outcomes were mean transvalvular pressure gradient (MPG) after AVR, the incidence of paravalvular leak (PVL) and the need for a permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI). The secondary outcomes included aortic cross-clamp (ACC) and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) times, early mortality and other postoperative complications, such as atrial fibrillation, bleeding reoperation and stroke.ResultsEight articles were included, and all outcomes except MPG after AVR in matched valve sizes were extracted from 7 studies (RD group =842 patients and SU group =1,386 patients). The pooled analysis demonstrated a lower MPG in the RD group than in the SU group, with mean difference (MD) of 2.64 mmHg. The pooled risk ratios of any PVL and grade ≥2 (or moderate) PVL were not significantly different between the groups; however, the incidence of PPI was significantly lower in the RD group than in the SU group, with a risk ratio of 0.69. The pooled analyses showed that the ACC and CPB times were significantly longer in the RD group than in the SU group, with weighted MDs of 8.74 (P<0.001) and 9.94 (P<0.001) minutes, respectively. The risks of early mortality and other postoperative complications were not significantly different between the groups.ConclusionsAVR using RD valve was associated with better valve hemodynamics in terms of the MPG than AVR using SU valve, and better outcomes were observed in the RD group regarding PPI. Procedural times were longer in AVR using RD valve than SU valve. Early clinical outcomes showed no difference between RD and SU valve.