Association Between Atopic Dermatitis and Suicidal Behaviors in North Korean Adolescent Defectors From 2011 to 2019.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between atopic dermatitis (AD) and suicidal behaviors in adolescent defectors among residents who escaped from North Korean (adolescent defectors, n=423) and adolescents with South Korean parents (Korean adolescents, n=540,265). METHODS: The study used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted from 2011 to 2019. Differences in general characteristics, health behaviors, suicidal ideation, suicide plans, suicide attempts, and AD between adolescent defectors and Korean adolescents were examined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between AD and suicidal behaviors. RESULTS: The adolescent defectors group had lower AD (16.3% vs. 24.2%), poorer subjective health (10% vs. 6%), smoked more (47% vs. 18%), drank more (60% vs. 43%), lived with family less frequently (56% vs. 96%), and were more than twice as likely to have depression (42% vs. 27%), suicidal ideation (30% vs. 14%), a suicide plan (23% vs. 5%), or have made a prior suicide attempt (19% vs. 3%) compared with the Korean adolescent group (p<0.001). The adjusted odds ratio for the adolescent defectors group compared to the Korean adolescent group was 1.66 for suicidal ideation, 3.59 for suicide plans, and 4.34 for suicide attempts (p<0.001). AD was found to be associated with suicide plans and attempts in adolescent defectors and associated with suicidal ideation in Korean adolescents. CONCLUSION: AD was significantly associated with suicide plans and suicidal attempts among adolescent defectors and suicidal ideation in Korean adolescents, based on a random sample of middle- and high-school students.

Time taken to resume activities of daily living after transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors.

Postoperative management after transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) is important; however, the guidelines for resuming daily activities after TSS are insufficient. This study aimed to examine the time to return to activities of daily living (ADL) after TSS for pituitary tumors. A 4-month prospective data collection was completed for 114 of 117 patients who underwent TSS for pituitary tumors from April to July 2021. The time when the patient returned to ADL after surgery was measured using the self-recording sheet. More than 97% and 92% of the patients returned within 1 month (median: within 7 days) for the elements of basic ADL and within 2 months (median: within 15 days) for the elements of instrumental ADL, excluding a few. Notably, 73.3% of patients returned to work within 4 months. The median time for the activities included 64 days for washing hair head down, 44 days for blowing nose, 59 days for lifting heavy objects, and 102 days for sexual activity. For patients who received extended-TSS or had postoperative problems, the time to return was delayed. Based on these results, it will be possible to provide practical information and guidelines on the time to return to ADL after TSS in pituitary tumor patients.

Capsanthin Inhibits both Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes and Weight Gain in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Adipogenesis in murine preadipocyte 3T3L-1 has been used as a model system to study anti-obese bioactive molecules. During adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, we found that capsanthin inhibited adipogenesis (IC50; 2.5 µM) and also showed lipolytic activity in differentiated adipocytes from the preadipocytes (ED50; 872 nM). We identified that the pharmacological activity of capsanthin on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 was mainly due to its adrenoceptor-ß2-agonistic activity. In high-fat diet animal model study, capsanthin significantly enhanced spontaneous locomotive activities together with progressive weight-loss. The capsanthin-induced activation of kinetic behavior in mice was associated with the excessive production of ATP initiated by both the enhanced lipolytic activity together with accelerated oxidation of fatty acids due to the adrenoceptor ß2-agonistic activity of capsanthin. Capsanthin also dose-dependently increased adiponectin and p-AMPK activity in high fat diet animals, suggesting that capsanthin has both anti-obesity and insulin sensitizing activities.