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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), including PPAR-α, PPAR-β/δ, and PPAR-γ, are involved in various cellular responses, including metabolism and cell proliferation. Increasing evidence suggests that PPARs are closely associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, the exact role of PPARs in energy metabolism and cancer stem cell (CSC) proliferation remains unclear. This study investigated the role of PPARs in energy metabolism and tumorigenesis in ovarian CSCs. The expression of PPARs and fatty acid consumption as an energy source increased in spheroids derived from A2780 ovarian cancer cells (A2780-SP) compared with their parental cells. GW6471, a PPARα inhibitor, induced apoptosis in A2780-SP. PPARα silencing mediated by small hairpin RNA reduced A2780-SP cell proliferation. Treatment with GW6471 significantly inhibited the respiratory oxygen consumption of A2780-SP cells, with reduced dependency on fatty acids, glucose, and glutamine. In a xenograft tumor transplantation mouse model, intraperitoneal injection of GW6471 inhibited in vivo tumor growth of A2780-SP cells. These results suggest that PPARα plays a vital role in regulating the proliferation and energy metabolism of CSCs by altering mitochondrial activity and that it offers a promising therapeutic target to eradicate CSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: A family history of Parkinson's disease (PD) is an important risk factor for developing PD. Because only a few studies have investigated the clinical characteristics of PD patients based on family history, this study compared the clinical characteristics of PD patients with and without a family history of PD. Methods: The study involved 356 patients with de novo PD. The data on the patients' PD family histories were obtained from the patients and their caregivers. Motor and non-motor PD symptoms were assessed using the appropriate scales. Results: Out of the 356 PD patients, 26 (7.3%) had a family history of PD. Compared with patients without a family history of PD, those with a family history of PD tended to be younger at diagnosis (67.9 years vs. 62.2 years, respectively; p = 0.009) and exhibited significantly more severe rigidity (p = 0.036). Motor subtype was not different between the PD patients with and without a family history. PD patients with a family history experienced significantly fewer falls/cardiovascular symptoms within the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale domains (p = 0.001) compared to their counterparts, although this was not statistically significant upon adjusting for age (p = 0.119). Conclusions: In de novo PD patients, having a family history of PD is associated with a younger age at diagnosis and more severe rigidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prediction of the dementia progression is important for patient management. We aimed to investigate the cognitive trajectories of Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) according to the initial structural change measured by comprehensive visual rating scales (CVRS). Methods: We retrospectively included the patients who initially visited the Dementia Clinic of Chonnam National University Hospital between 2010 and 2012. All patients underwent dementia workup including neuropsychological battery (Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery, SNSB). We recruited the participant who underwent SNSB annually for 3 years successively. A total of 136 patients of ADD and 63 patients of DLB were included for analysis. We analyzed the decline pattern of the cognitive profile according to the initial brain structural changes. Results: The general cognitive trajectories between ADD and DLB patients were not different. However, DLB patients showed more rapid decline of cognitive function in language and related function, visual memory function, and frontal executive function. The scores were lower in participants with DLB with the lesser atrophy group in attention, visuospatial function, and frontal executive function. In analysis of the cognitive trajectories, the visual memory domain declined rapidly in the DLB with lesser atrophy group compared with the ADD with lesser atrophy group. Conclusion: We founded that the differences in the visual cognitive profile in ADD and DLB patients in serial follow-up of neuropsychological tests. It is prominent in the mild structural change group of ADD and DLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing levodopa (L‐dopa)/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (DDCI) daily dose or adding a catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor to levodopa/DDCI therapy are strategies used to manage wearing‐off symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Objectives: To evaluate the COMT inhibitor opicapone versus an additional dose of levodopa to treat early wearing‐off in PD patients. Methods: ADOPTION was a randomized, parallel‐group, open‐label, Phase 4 study conducted in Korea. At baseline, eligible patients were randomized (1:1) to opicapone 50 mg (n = 87) or L‐dopa 100 mg (n = 81) (added to current L‐dopa/DDCI therapy) for 4 weeks. The main efficacy endpoint was change from baseline to end of study in absolute off time. Other endpoints included changes in on time, in Movement Disorder Society‐Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and 8‐item PD Questionnaire scores, and the Clinical and Patient Global Impression of Improvement/Change. Results: The adjusted mean in absolute off time was significantly greater for opicapone 50 mg than for L‐dopa 100 mg (−62.1 vs. −16.7 minutes; P = 0.0015). Opicapone‐treated patients also reported a greater reduction in the percentage of off time (P = 0.0015), a greater increase in absolute on time (P = 0.0338) and a greater increase in the percentage of on time (P = 0.0015). There were no significant differences in other secondary endpoints. The L‐dopa equivalent daily dose was significantly higher in the opicapone group (750.9 vs. 690.0 mg; P = 0.0247), when a 0.5 conversion factor is applied. Conclusions: Opicapone 50 mg was more effective than an additional 100 mg L‐dopa dose at decreasing off time in patients with PD and early wearing‐off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously demonstrated the validity of a regression model that included ethnicity as a novel predictor for predicting normative brain volumes in old age. The model was optimized using brain volumes measured with a standard tool FreeSurfer. Objective: Here we further verified the prediction model using newly estimated brain volumes from Neuro I, a quantitative brain analysis system developed for Korean populations. Methods: Lobar and subcortical volumes were estimated from MRI images of 1,629 normal Korean and 786 Caucasian subjects (age range 59–89) and were predicted in linear regression from ethnicity, age, sex, intracranial volume, magnetic field strength, and scanner manufacturers. Results: In the regression model predicting the new volumes, ethnicity was again a substantial predictor in most regions. Additionally, the model-based z-scores of regions were calculated for 428 AD patients and the matched controls, and then employed for diagnostic classification. When the AD classifier adopted the z-scores adjusted for ethnicity, the diagnostic accuracy has noticeably improved (AUC = 0.85, ΔAUC = + 0.04, D = 4.10, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prediction model remains robust across different measurement tool, and ethnicity significantly contributes to the establishment of norms for brain volumes and the development of a diagnostic system for neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aside from primary pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) with an unknown etiology (i.e., idiopathic intracranial hypertension), which typically occurs in association with obesity, several conditions including cerebral venous abnormalities, drug use, and hormonal imbalance may be a secondary cause of PTCS. However, a focal space-occupying lesion outside of the brain as a cause of PTCS has rarely been reported. Case Presentation: A previously healthy 34-year-old man presented with blurred vision for three weeks. The patient had a three-month preceding history of worsening headache. On admission, he was hypertensive (160/90 mmHg) and underweight with a body mass index of 18.4 kg/m2. Fundus examination documented papilledema in both eyes. Neurological examination was unremarkable except for mild nuchal rigidity, and results of routine serologic testing were normal. Gadolinium-enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed bilateral posterior scleral flattening, suggesting intracranial hypertension. There was no other abnormal brain parenchymal lesion or meningeal enhancement. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assay showed a markedly increased opening pressure (30.0 cmH2O) with normal CSF composition. A tentative diagnosis of PTCS was made based on ophthalmological, neuroradiological, and laboratory findings. During differential diagnosis, abdomen computed tomography demonstrated a huge benign cystic lesion (14.7 × 10.6 × 16.4 cm) in the right retroperitoneal space, which originated from the mesentery and resulted in hydronephrosis and renovascular hypertension due to external compression of the right kidney. Other evaluations were unremarkable. After successful surgical removal of the cyst, clinical symptoms such as headache, blurred vision, and papilledema on fundus examination were markedly improved, and blood pressure was normalized during the three-month follow-up period. Conclusions: A large retroperitoneal cyst that can increase intra-abdominal pressure could be a rare cause of PTCS. Therefore, meticulous evaluation is warranted for patients with PTCS, especially those without known risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) needs to be improved. We investigated if hippocampal subfield volume measured by structural imaging, could supply information, so that the diagnosis of AD could be improved. In this study, subjects were classified based on clinical, neuropsychological, and amyloid positivity or negativity using PET scans. Data from 478 elderly Korean subjects grouped as cognitively unimpaired β-amyloid-negative (NC), cognitively unimpaired β-amyloid-positive (aAD), mild cognitively impaired β-amyloid-positive (pAD), mild cognitively impaired—specific variations not due to dementia β-amyloid-negative (CIND), severe cognitive impairment β-amyloid-positive (ADD+) and severe cognitive impairment β-amyloid-negative (ADD-) were used. NC and aAD groups did not show significant volume differences in any subfields. The CIND did not show significant volume differences when compared with either the NC or the aAD (except L-HATA). However, pAD showed significant volume differences in Sub, PrS, ML, Tail, GCMLDG, CA1, CA4, HATA, and CA3 when compared with the NC and aAD. The pAD group also showed significant differences in the hippocampal tail, CA1, CA4, molecular layer, granule cells/molecular layer/dentate gyrus, and CA3 when compared with the CIND group. The ADD- group had significantly larger volumes than the ADD+ group in the bilateral tail, SUB, PrS, and left ML. The results suggest that early amyloid depositions in cognitive normal stages are not accompanied by significant bilateral subfield volume atrophy. There might be intense and accelerated subfield volume atrophy in the later stages associated with the cognitive impairment in the pAD stage, which subsequently could drive the progression to AD dementia. Early subfield volume atrophy associated with the β-amyloid burden may be characterized by more symmetrical atrophy in CA regions than in other subfields. We conclude that the hippocampal subfield volumetric differences from structural imaging show promise for improving the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) is a worldwide disease these days. The number of infected people is 1038(08/03/2015) in Saudi Arabia and 186(08/03/2015) in South Korea. MERS is all over the world including Europe and the fatality rate is 38.8%, East Asia and the Middle East. The MERS is also known as a cousin of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) because both diseases show similar symptoms such as high fever and difficulty in breathing. This is why we compared MERS with SARS. We used data of the spike glycoprotein from NCBI. As a way of analyzing the protein, apriori algorithm, decision tree, SVM were used, and particularly SVM was iterated by normal, polynomial, and sigmoid. The result came out that the MERS and the SARS are alike but also different in some way.

Byline: Kyung. Kang, Seong-Min. Choi, Min-Ho. Shin, Sun. Kweon, Hyung-Cheol. Park, O. Dong-Chan, Mi-Ja. Choi, Myeong-Hee. Lee, Dong-Eun. Kim, Kang-Ho. Choi, Soo-Ji. Baek, Byeong. Kim Objectives: There has been controversy [...]

Brain aging is becoming an increasingly important topic, and the norms of brain structures are essential for diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases. However, previous studies of the aging brain have mostly focused on Caucasians, not East Asians. The aim of this paper was to examine ethnic differences in the aging process of brain structures or to determine to what extent ethnicity affects the normative values of lobar and subcortical volumes in clinically normal elderly and the diagnosis in multi-racial patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lobar and subcortical volumes were measured using FreeSurfer from MRI data of 1,686 normal Koreans (age range 59–89) and 851 Caucasian, non-Hispanic subjects in the ADNI and OASIS datasets. The regression models were designed to predict brain volumes, including ethnicity, age, sex, intracranial volume (ICV), magnetic field strength (MFS), and MRI scanner manufacturers as independent variables. Ethnicity had a significant effect for all lobar (|β| > 0.20, p < 0.001) and subcortical regions (|β| > 0.08, p < 0.001) except left pallidus and bilateral ventricles. To demonstrate the validity of the z-score for AD diagnosis, 420 patients and 420 normal controls were selected evenly from the Korean and Caucasian datasets. The four validation groups divided by race and diagnosis were matched on age and sex using a propensity score matching. We analyzed whether and to what extent the ethnicity adjustment improved the diagnostic power of the logistic regression model that was built using the only z-scores of six regions: bilateral temporal cortices, hippocampi, and amygdalae. The performance of the classifier after ethnicity adjustment was significantly improved compared with the classifier before ethnicity adjustment (ΔAUC = 0.10, D = 7.80, p < 0.001; AUC comparison test using bootstrap). Korean AD dementia patients may not be classified by Caucasian norms of brain volumes because the brain regions vulnerable to AD dementia are bigger in normal Korean elderly peoples. Therefore, ethnicity is an essential factor in establishing normative data for regional volumes in brain aging and applying it to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study examined the relationship between learning and auditory processing (AP) ability in a clinical sample of children with and without learning difficulties (LD). Design: A non-randomised, cross-sectional, single measure research design was used. Study sample: The participants consisted of 50 children (7.7–10.8 years) who had been referred for a clinical AP assessment based on having been referred from a school-based AP screening. These children had previously been identified as having (n = 14) or not having (n = 36) LD. Results: Children with LD performed significantly worse than children without LD on frequency patterns with linguistic reports (FPlinR and FPlinL), dichotic digits (DD) and Auditory Word Memory – Forward (ANMF) tests, with significant correlations being observed between these variables and the learning score. The multiple linear regression showed that FPlinR, DDR and ANMF scores explained 50% of the variance in the learning score. Conclusion: The present study's results are most consistent with risk factor models linking AP to learning abilities in children where reduced AP abilities could put children at greater risk for LD. Further investigations into the potential relationships between AP, cognition, speech and language development, and learning ability in children are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging of the brain is a well-investigated topic, but existing analyses have mainly focused on Caucasian samples. To investigate brain aging in East Asians, we measured cortical and subcortical volumes from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 1,008 cognitively normal elderly Koreans from the Gwangju Alzheimer's and Related Dementia cohort and 342 Caucasians from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. To determine whether the aging effect varies with ethnicity and sex, beta coefficients of age and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated in each ethnicity–sex group using a bootstrap method and a regression analysis using the relative volume to intracranial volume as predicted. The betas or aging slopes largely were not significantly different between ethnicity and sex groups in most types of brain structures. However, ethnic differences between the two female groups were found in the brain, most cortical regions, and a few subcortical regions. Ethnic differences in brain aging are likely due in large part to genetic factors; thus, we compared carriers and non-carriers of a gene relevant to longevity and neurodegenerative diseases, such as apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4. The regions with ethnic differences in women also showed significant differences between Korean APOE ε4 non-carriers and Caucasian APOE ε4 carriers. Furthermore, Caucasian women showed significant APOE ε4 effects in the largest number of regions. These results illustrate that much of the ethnic differences in females may be explained by synergistic effects of ethnic background and APOE ε4 carrier status. Our results suggest that sex-dependent differences of aging between ethnic backgrounds may be due to ethnicity-dependent effects of genetic risk factors, such as APOE ε4. We also presented the normative information on volume estimates of the brain structures of the elderly Korean people in the subdivided age groups. This normative information of the aging brain stratified by ethnicity provides the age-related reference ranges quantified to replace visual judgment and facilitate precise clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-β1-42 (Aβ1-42), total tau protein (t-Tau), and phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) are ATN biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and reflect pathogenic changes in the brain. CSF biomarkers of AD are considered for inclusion in the diagnostic criteria for research and clinical purposes to reduce the uncertainty of clinical diagnosis and to distinguish among AD stages.Objective: This study aims to compare two commercially available analytical platforms with respect to accuracy and the potential for early diagnosis of AD.Methods: A total of 211 CSF samples from healthy control (HC) and AD subjects were analyzed using two analytical platforms, INNOTEST ELISA and INNOBIA AlzBio3 xMAP kits. The accuracy of diagnosis and AUC values distinguishing study groups were compared between the two analytical platforms.Results: The absolute values for Aβ1-42, t-Tau, and p-Tau181 levels differed between the two platforms. The Aβ1-42 levels decreased, while t-Tau and p-Tau levels increased according to the AD stages. The AUC of Aβ1-42 and t-Tau, which distinguish the early stages of AD (preclinical and prodromal AD), were similar between the two platforms, whereas there were significant differences in p-Tau AUC values. CSF p-Tau using the INNOBIA was highly accurate for distinguishing both preclinical AD (AUC = 0.826, cut-off score≥38.89) and prodromal AD (AUC = 0.862, cut-off score≥41.88) from HC.Conclusion: The accuracy of CSF p-Tau levels in the preclinical and prodromal AD is higher for the INNOBIA than the INNOTEST, and the early stage AD can be accurately distinguished from HC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are liable to experience impairment in their activities of daily living (ADL), which include ambulating, eating, dressing, bathing, and personal hygiene. The aim of this study is to assess which clinical characteristics contribute significantly to instrumental ADL (IADL) in PD patients without dementia. We included 106 PD patients in our study, and each patient's motor and non-motor status and basic and instrumental ADL were assessed using the appropriate scales. Of the 106 PD patients, 31 (29.2%) had abnormal Korean IADL (K-IADL) scores. These patients were older and had higher scores in terms of the modified Hoehn and Yahr (mHY) staging scale, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) parts II and III, UPDRS part IV motor fluctuation, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and total Non-Motor Symptoms assessment scale for PD (NMSS), as well as lower scores in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Pearson's correlation analysis showed significant associations between the scores of K-IADL and each of the following characteristics of the patients: age, mHY stage, UPDRS parts II and III, UPDRS part IV motor fluctuation, BDI, total NMSS, and MMSE. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the significant clinical characteristics associated with the K-IADL scores were determined to be the UPDRS part II, MMSE, and BDI scores. The results of our study revealed that the cognitive, depression, and motor symptoms were the significant predictors of IADL in PD patients without dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pain and osteoporosis are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), and lower bone mineral density (BMD) or osteoporosis may be associated with an increased risk of reporting to have pain in the general population. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between the pain subtypes and the BMD in patients with PD. Methods: We included 162 PD patients. Pain was assessed using the patients' descriptions, a structured interview, a detailed neurologic examination, and the Visual Analogue Scale. BMD was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. Results: Of the 162 PD patients, 120 had chronic pain, while 42 reported no pain. The most prevalent type of pain was musculoskeletal, followed by radicular/ neuropathic, dystonic, and central. PD patients with musculoskeletal pain had a lower BMD than PD patients without pain. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the low BMD of the lumbar spine, hip, and femoral neck were related to old age, female gender, low MBI, and the presence of musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: PD patients with musculoskeletal pain have low BMD and are at risk for developing osteoporosis. If a PD patient has musculoskeletal pain and other risk factors related to low BMD, clinicians should consider screening for osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]