In utero exposure to ritodrine during pregnancy and risk of autism in their offspring until 8 years of age.

Beta-2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) agonists, used as asthma treatments and tocolytics during pregnancy, have recently been reported to be associated with autism in their offspring. However, the particular link between autism and ritodrine, a common type of B2AR agonist used solely as tocolytics, has never been substantiated with any nationwide database. Thus, we aimed to examine the association between in utero exposure of ritodrine and the risk of autism in their offspring using a national database. This population-based cohort study was conducted by merging the Korea National Health Insurance claims database and National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children database. These databases included all women who had delivered singleton between January 2007 and December 2008 in Korea. Out of the total 770,016 mothers, 30,959 (4.02%) were exposed to ritodrine during pregnancy, and 5583 (0.73%) of their children were identified as having autism, defined until 8 years of age. According to our analysis, the overall cumulative incidence of autism up to 8 years was 1.37% in ritodrine exposure group and 0.70% in ritodrine non-exposure group (p < 0.05, log-rank test). By Cox proportional hazard analysis, use of ritodrine in preterm birth was associated with significantly higher hazard of autism [adjusted hazard ratio: 1.23, 95% CI 1.04-1.47], after adjusting for confounding variables including maternal age, parity, cesarean section, preterm labor, steroid use, birth weight, gender, and preeclampsia. Thus, in utero exposure to ritodrine was associated with an increased risk of autism in their offspring.

Risk factors and factors affecting the severity of overactive bladder symptoms in Korean women who use public health centers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence, risk factors of overactive bladder (OAB) and the factors affecting the severity of OAB symptoms. METHODS: A total 822 interviews with women aged 18-80 years who visited public health centers were conducted between April 2014 and April 2015. The questionnaire was composed of 16 questions about urinary symptoms, 14 questions about self-treatment and the use of complementary and alternative medicine, and 21 questions about socio-demographic characteristics. The diagnostic criterion for OAB is a total OAB symptom score of 3 and more, with an urgency score of 2 or more. To know the risk factors and factors affecting the severity of OAB, the multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-seven participants (19.3%) were diagnosed with OAB, of whom 10.7%, 8.1%, and 0.7% had mild, moderate, and severe OAB symptoms, respectively. In addition, the prevalence of OAB increased with age. Among all the participants, 39.1% had stress incontinence, among them 32.7% had OAB as well. The significant risk factors of OAB were identified as age, current smoking, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular and renal disease, whereas, the factors affecting the severity of OAB were age, current smoking, and hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSION: Those who have risk factors and factors affecting severity of OAB should be educated to increase OAB awareness and act of urinary health promotion.

Clinical Significance of Four Molecular Subtypes of Gastric Cancer Identified by The Cancer Genome Atlas Project.

Purpose: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project recently uncovered four molecular subtypes of gastric cancer: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), microsatellite instability (MSI), genomically stable (GS), and chromosomal instability (CIN). However, their clinical significances are currently unknown. We aimed to investigate the relationship between subtypes and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.Experimental Design: Gene expression data from a TCGA cohort (n = 262) were used to develop a subtype prediction model, and the association of each subtype with survival and benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy was tested in 2 other cohorts (n = 267 and 432). An integrated risk assessment model (TCGA risk score) was also developed.Results: EBV subtype was associated with the best prognosis, and GS subtype was associated with the worst prognosis. Patients with MSI and CIN subtypes had poorer overall survival than those with EBV subtype but better overall survival than those with GS subtype (P = 0.004 and 0.03 in two cohorts, respectively). In multivariate Cox regression analyses, TCGA risk score was an independent prognostic factor [HR, 1.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2-1.9; P = 0.001]. Patients with the CIN subtype experienced the greatest benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (HR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.16-0.94; P = 0.03) and those with the GS subtype had the least benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.36-1.89; P = 0.65).Conclusions: Our prediction model successfully stratified patients by survival and adjuvant chemotherapy outcomes. Further development of the prediction model is warranted. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4441-9. ©2017 AACR.