The effects of guava leaves extracted using solvents of water, ethanol, methanol, and different concentrations of hydroethanolic solvents on phenolic compounds and flavonoids, and antioxidant properties have been investigated. The antioxidant capability was assessed based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical and 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical-scavenging abilities, reducing power, and nitric oxide-and nitrate-scavenging activities. The results demonstrated that the antioxidant ability of guava leaf extracts has a strong relationship with phenolic compound content rather than flavonoid content. Phenolic compound content of water extracted guava leaves was higher compared to pure ethanol and methanol extracts. However, phenolic compound content extracted using hydroethanolic solvent was higher than water, whereas 50% hydroethanolic was observed to be the most effective solvent showing high antioxidant ability.

The prevalence of urticaria has increased annually in Korea. Cholinergic urticaria showed unique distribution in its age and gender, and angioedema showed remarkable increases in annual prevalence, although the prevalence estimation is still exploratory and diagnosis of urticaria based on ICD-10 codes need to be validated.

Aims Several studies have been reported using right ventricular (RV) strain as a method for evaluating RV function in patients with various cardiovascular diseases; however, the clinical relevance of RV strain in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients with sinus rhythm is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between RV strain and adverse events in DCM patients with sinus rhythm. Methods and results We enrolled 143 DCM patients with sinus rhythm who had been first diagnosed, evaluated, and followed at Sanggye Paik Hospital between March 2013 and August 2017. We performed echocardiography and measured RV strain values using the apical four-chamber view. The mean age was 64.6 years. During the median follow-up period of 40.0 months, adverse cardiovascular events developed in 21 patients (14.7%). By Cox proportional hazards multivariate analysis, only RV free wall longitudinal strain (RV-FWLS) independently predicted the primary outcome. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the optimal RV-FWLS cut-off value to identify patients with an event was −16.5% (area under the curve = 0.703, P = 0.003). When we divided the subjects into two groups based on the RV-FWLS of −16.5%, patients with RV-FWLS <−16.5% showed more favourable clinical outcomes than that in those with RV-FWLS ≥−16.5% (log-rank test, P < 0.001). Conclusion RV-FWLS was associated with a significant prognostic impact in DCM patients with sinus rhythm.

The signaling pathways mediating cytokine production and apoptosis in pancreatic acinar cells have not been fully understood. We investigated the signal transduction of cerulein-induced cytokine IL-6 expression and apoptosis in pancreatic acinar AR42J cells. The wild-type cells and the cells transfected with mutant genes for signaling molecules (such as transcription factor NF-kappaB and AP-1) and ras, the upstream signal for mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), were used. IL-6 level was determined in the medium by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Apoptosis was determined by viable cell counts and DNA fragmentation. Wild-type cells and transfected cells with control vector (pcDNA), IkappaB mutant gene (IkappaB mt), H-ras mutant gene (Ras N17), or c-jun dominant negative gene (TAM-67) were treated with cerulein for 24 hours. As a result, cerulein induced IL-6 expression time-dependently at 10(-8) M, and apoptosis dose-dependently at 24 h in the wild-type cells. Cerulein-induced IL-6 expression (at 10(-8) M) and apoptosis (at 10(-7) M) were inhibited in the transfected cells with mutant gene (IkappaB mt, Ras N17, TAM-67) as compared to pcDNA cells and the wild-type cells. In conclusion, cerulein induces cytokine expression and apoptotic cell death, which may be regulated by NF-kappaB, AP-1, and possibly MAPK in pancreatic acinar cells.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays an important role in the initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the meaning of higher heart rate variability (HRV) in predicting AF remains unclear. Among 2100 patients in the Holter registry, a total of 782 hypertensive patients were included in this study. Baseline HRV was measured by time domain and frequency domain methods using 24-h Holter monitoring. The primary outcome was the development of AF. During an average follow-up of 1.1 years, 44 patients developed AF. Higher HRV parameters including high-frequency (P < 0.001), the square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (P < 0.001), and the percentage of NN intervals that are more than 50 ms different from the previous interval (P < 0.001) were associated with the occurrence of AF in univariate analysis. Premature atrial contractions burden, lower baseline heart rate, age, hemodialysis, coronary artery disease, and chronic heart failure were also associated with AF. In Cox regression analysis, higher HRV (representing excessive autonomic fluctuation) was an independent risk factor for AF. Excessive autonomic fluctuation represented by higher HRV in patients with hypertension was associated with an increased risk of AF.