Symptom Bother, Physical and Mental Stress, and Health-related Quality of Life in Women with Overactive Bladder Syndrome.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to identify the relationships among symptom bother, physical and mental stress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women with overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome. METHODS: The participants were 106 women who were diagnosed with OAB (urgency, urge urinary incontinence, frequency, and/or nocturia) at P university hospital. Data were collected from Dec 23, 2011 to Aug 31, 2012. RESULTS: The mean score for symptom bother was 43.1 points, for physical stress, 12.8 which was slightly higher than mental stress (11.8), and for HRQoL, 63.9. For symptom type, there were statistically significant differences in the symptom bother (F=8.67, p<.001) and HRQL (F=3.32, p= .023). The Symptom bother of OAB was positively correlated with physical stress (r=.23, p= .014) and mental stress (r=.33, p<.001) and negatively correlated with the subscales of HRQoL; coping (r=-.66, p<.001), concern (r=-.71, p<.001), sleep (r=-.59, p<.001), and social interaction (r=-.58, p<.001). CONCLUSION: From the results, bother symptom was associated with physical, mental stress and HRQoL. These results suggest that nursing intervention programs for OAB should be developed not only to relieve the symptoms but also to reduce stress and improve the quality of life.

Generation of T-DNA tagging lines with a bidirectional gene trap vector and the establishment of an insertion-site database.

We have developed a binary T-DNA vector, pGA2717, that contains the promoter-less beta-glucuronidase (gus) gene adjacent to the right border and the promoter-less green fluorescence protein (gfp) gene next to the left border of the T-DNA. Therefore, inserting T-DNA into a gene can result in the activation of either gus or gfp. A total of 12 169 T-DNA insertional lines of japonica rice were generated using this binary vector. Out of 3140 lines examined, 0.5% of their mature seeds and 2.0% of the 3-day-old etiolated seedlings were GFP-positive. However, GUS assays of the same materials resulted in the identification of 151 (4.8%) GUS-positive lines. Using DNA gel blot and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analyses, we confirmed that the GFP-positive lines were a true indication of gene trapping. A fusion transcript was also obtained between gfp and the trapped gene. We isolated 990 genomic sequences flanking T-DNA from our analysis of 2099 transgenic plants. Among the insertions, 625 T-DNAs were integrated into genic regions; 361 were located in intergenic regions. These tagging lines will be valuable in trapping and studying various genes for their expression patterns, as well as providing a useful tool for genetic approaches.

Generation and analysis of end sequence database for T-DNA tagging lines in rice.

We analyzed 6749 lines tagged by the gene trap vector pGA2707. This resulted in the isolation of 3793 genomic sequences flanking the T-DNA. Among the insertions, 1846 T-DNAs were integrated into genic regions, and 1864 were located in intergenic regions. Frequencies were also higher at the beginning and end of the coding regions and upstream near the ATG start codon. The overall GC content at the insertion sites was close to that measured from the entire rice (Oryza sativa) genome. Functional classification of these 1846 tagged genes showed a distribution similar to that observed for all the genes in the rice chromosomes. This indicates that T-DNA insertion is not biased toward a particular class of genes. There were 764, 327, and 346 T-DNA insertions in chromosomes 1, 4 and 10, respectively. Insertions were not evenly distributed; frequencies were higher at the ends of the chromosomes and lower near the centromere. At certain sites, the frequency was higher than in the surrounding regions. This sequence database will be valuable in identifying knockout mutants for elucidating gene function in rice. This resource is available to the scientific community at http://www.postech.ac.kr/life/pfg/risd.