Association between irritable bowel syndrome and restless legs syndrome in the general population.

This study aimed to explore the association between restless legs syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome in an epidemiological cohort. We included 3365 adults, of whom 1602 were female (age 52.5 ± 7.5 years), who had participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (2005-2006). The diagnosis of restless legs syndrome was based on the criteria proposed by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group, and irritable bowel syndrome was defined according to the Rome II criteria. The prevalence of each condition was determined and their association was tested by logistic regression analysis. Age, sex, haemoglobin concentration, renal insufficiency, use of medications and depressive mood were all adjusted for. The prevalence of restless legs syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome was 4.5 and 11.1%, respectively. Irritable bowel syndrome was more prevalent in the group with restless legs syndrome (24.0 versus 10.5%, P < 0.001). Subjects with restless legs syndrome were older (54.2 ± 8.4 versus 52.4 ± 7.4, P = 0.006) and more depressive (26.7 versus 12.5%, P < 0.001), and were predominantly female (57.3 versus 47.2%, P = 0.015), had more frequent insomnia symptoms (44.0 versus 28.2%, P < 0.001), had lower haemoglobin concentration (13.7 ± 1.5 versus 14.1 ± 1.6 g dL(-1) P = 0.004) and higher highly sensitive C-reactive protein (1.8 ± 5.1 versus 1.4 ± 2.9 mg dL(-1), P = 0.08). The adjusted odds ratio of restless legs syndrome in relation to irritable bowel syndrome was 2.59 (1.74-3.85, P < 0.001). Irritable bowel syndrome appeared to be associated with restless legs syndrome independently from other major risk factors for restless legs syndrome. Searching for the mechanisms underlying this association is indicated.

Obesity phenotype and cardiovascular changes.

OBJECTIVE: Healthy obese phenotype with favorable metabolic profiles is proposed. However, whether healthy obesity leads to target organ changes is controversial. We investigated the impact of a healthy obesity on cardiovascular structure and function. METHODS: A total of 2540 participants without known cardiovascular disease were enrolled. According to BMI and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) component, the participants were divided into six groups: healthy (none of five MetS components) normal weight (BMI <23 kg/m²), unhealthy (one or more of five MetS components) normal weight, healthy overweight (BMI 23-24.9 kg/m²), unhealthy overweight, healthy obesity (BMI ≥25 kg/m²), and unhealthy obesity. The cardiovascular changes were assessed by echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), carotid ultrasonography, and pulse wave velocity (PWV). RESULTS: In a multivariate analysis after adjusting for age, sex, heart rate, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and medication for hypertension and diabetes mellitus, the unhealthy overweight and obese groups showed statistically significant changes in the left ventricular mass index, mitral E/A ratio, E/Ea ratio, TDI Ea velocity, common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), and brachial-ankle PWV (P < 0.001), compared with the healthy normal weight individuals. In the healthy overweight and obese groups, CCA-IMT and brachial-ankle PWV values were similar, but left-ventricular mass index and TDI Ea velocity were significantly different (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Healthy obesity was associated with subtle changes in left ventricular structure and function. These data provide evidence that metabolically healthy phenotypes with excess weight may not be a benign condition.

Salt-resistant homodimeric bactenecin, a cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptide.

The cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide bactenecin is a beta-hairpin molecule with a single disulfide bond and broad antimicrobial activity. The proform of bactenecin exists as a dimer, however, and it has been proposed that bactenecin is released as a dimer in vivo, although there has been little study of the dimeric form of bactenecin. To investigate the effect of bactenecin dimerization on its biological activity, we characterized the dimer's effect on phospholipid membranes, the kinetics of its bactericidal activity, and its salt sensitivity. We initially synthesized two bactenecin dimers (antiparallel and parallel) and two monomers (beta-hairpin and linear). Under oxidative folding conditions, reduced linear bactenecin preferentially folded into a dimer forming a ladder-like structure via intermolecular disulfide bonding. As compared to the monomer, the dimer had a greater ability to induce lysis of lipid bilayers and was more rapidly bactericidal. Interestingly, the dimer retained antimicrobial activity at physiological salt concentrations (150 mm NaCl), although the monomer was inactivated. This salt resistance was also seen with bactenecin dimer containing one intermolecular disulfide bond, and the bactenecin dimer appears to undergo multimeric oligomerization at high salt concentrations. Overall, dimeric bactenecin shows potent and rapid antimicrobial activity, and resists salt-induced inactivation under physiological conditions through condensation and oligomerization. These characteristics shed light on the features that a peptide would need to serve as an effective therapeutic agent.

Levodopa-responsive parkinsonism in hereditary spastic paraplegia with thin corpus callosum.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia with thin corpus callosum is a rare degenerative disease, which is characterized by a progressive weakness of the lower limbs with a hypoplastic corpus callosum, and is often associated with other symptoms such as mental impairment, amyotrophy, sensory disturbances, dysuria, nystagmus and cataract. We describe two siblings (brother and sister) who showed a thin corpus callosum on MRI, one of whom showed the pure form of progressive spastic paraplegia, while the other showed predominant levodopa-responsive parkinsonism. The present cases are illustrative of a phenotypic heterogeneity in the same family of spastic paraplegia with a thin corpus callosum, despite the identical neuroimaging findings, and also presented another form of autosomal recessive juvenile levodopa-responsive parkinsonism.

Nerve conduction study on patients with severe liver syndrome and its change after transplantation.

This study is to investigate the character of peripheral neuropathy associated with end stage liver disease and the effect of liver transplantation on peripheral neuropathy. Twenty-five patients admitted for a liver transplantation were involved in this study. All patients underwent neural conduction study before liver transplantation and 6 months after liver transplantation. Based on results of this study, motor amplitude score, motor velocity score (MVS), sensory amplitude score (SAS), and sensory velocity score were calculated. The changes between before and after liver transplantation were evaluated. The SAS and MVS substantially increased after transplantation. Nerve conduction study showed the improvement in sensory and motor nerve after liver transplantation.