https://scholarworks.korea.ac.kr/kumedicine/handle/2020.sw.kumedicine/328 2026-04-09T01:43:00Z https://scholarworks.korea.ac.kr/kumedicine/handle/2021.sw.kumedicine/64115 Title: Association of metabolic dysfunction with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease: A review of metabolomic evidence Authors: Amidfar, Meysam; Askari, Gholamreza; Kim, Yong-Ku Abstract: The discovery of new biomarkers that can distinguish Alzheimer's disease (AD) from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the early stages will help to provide new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and slow the transition from MCI to AD. Patients with AD may present with a concomitant metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia, as a risk factor for AD that may be involved in the onset of both AD pathology and cognitive impairment. Therefore, metabolite profiling, or metabolomics, can be very useful in diagnosing AD, developing new therapeutic targets, and evaluating both the course of treatment and the clinical course of the disease. In addition, studying the relationship between nutritional behavior and AD requires investigation of the role of conditions such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and elevated glucose level. Based on this literature review, nutritional recommendations, including weight loss by reducing calorie and cholesterol intake and omega3 fatty acid supplementation can prevent cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly. The underlying metabolic causes of the pathology and cognitive decline caused by AD and MCI are not well understood. In this review article, metabolomics biomarkers for diagnosis of AD and MCI and metabolic risk factors for cognitive decline in AD were evaluated. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://scholarworks.korea.ac.kr/kumedicine/handle/2021.sw.kumedicine/64361 Title: Functional connectivity and network analysis in adolescents with major depressive disorder showing suicidal behavior Authors: Chi, Suhyuk; Mok, Young Eun; Lee, Jong-ha; Suh, Sang-il; Han, Changsu; Lee, Moon-Soo Abstract: Background: This study aimed to gather a homogeneous sample of adolescent patients to analyze the differences in functional connectivity and brain network pa-rameters between suicidal and non-suicidal major depressive disorder (MDD) patients using a data-driven whole-brain approach.Methods: Patients recruited at the psychiatry department of Korea University Guro Hospital from November 2014 to March 2020 were diagnosed with MDD, were 13-18 years old, had IQ scores >80, had no family history of psychotic or personality disorders, had no smoking or alcohol consumption history, and were drug-naive to psychotropic medication. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Children's Depression Inventory. Structural and functional MRI scans were conducted and analyzed using the CONN toolbox.Results: Of 74 enrolled patients, 62 were analyzed. Regions of interest (ROIs) showing higher betweenness centrality in non-suicidal patients were the left superior temporal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus. ROIs showing higher betweenness centrality in suicidal patients were the right hippocampus, left intracalcarine cortex, right inferior temporal gyrus, and the lateral visual network. Suicidal patients also showed different resting state functional connectivity profiles from non-suicidal patients.Limitations: Small sample size.Conclusion: Suicidal patients may overthink and overvalue future risks while having a more negatively biased autobiographical memory. Social cognition and the ability to overcome egocentricity bias seem to weaken. Such features can disrupt cognitive recovery and resilience, leading to more suicidal behaviors. Therefore, increased suicidality is not acquired, but is an innate trait. 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z https://scholarworks.korea.ac.kr/kumedicine/handle/2021.sw.kumedicine/64398 Title: Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Brief Resilience Scale Authors: Kim, Junhyung; Jeong, Hyun-Ghang; Lee, Moon-Soo; Lee, Seung-Hoon; Jeon, Sang-Won; Han, Changsu Abstract: Objective: To translate the Brief Resilience Scale into Korean and evaluate its reliability and validity.Methods: To investigate the factor structure of the Brief Resilience Scale, we examined a two-factor model comprising positively and negatively worded items. Congruent and divergent validity of the Brief Resilience Scale were investigated using correlation analysis between the Brief Resilience Scale and resilience, depression, and perceived stress. By conducting an analysis of variance among groups classified by suicidality (no suicidality, only suicidal ideation, and suicidal ideation or suicidal plan groups), we evaluated how well the Brief Resilience Scale could detect people with a high risk of suicide.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis results supported the construct validity of the Brief Resilience Scale using a two-factor model. Cronbach's alpha (0.91) and McDonald's omega (0.91) scores indicated high internal consistency. Correlation analysis showed that the Brief Resilience Scale scores were strongly associated with a questionnaire evaluating resilience, depression, and perceived stress. Analysis of variance and post-hoc tests showed that he Brief Resilience Scale scores were highest in the no suicidality group (p < 0.001).Conclusion: The Korean version of the Brief Resilience Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating resilience as the capacity to recover from adversity and endure obstacles or stress. This study also provides important evidence regarding the sensitivity of the Brief Resilience Scale to suicidal risk. 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z https://scholarworks.korea.ac.kr/kumedicine/handle/2021.sw.kumedicine/63717 Title: Correlation between immune-related genes and depression-like features in an animal model and in humans Authors: Gonzales, Edson Luck; Jeon, Se Jin; Han, Kyu-Man; Yang, Seung Jin; Kim, Yujeong; Remonde, Chilly Gay; Ahn, Tae Jin; Ham, Byung-Joo; Shin, Chan Young Abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that immune-related genes play pivotal roles in the pathophysiology of depression. In the present study, we investigated a plausible connection between gene expression, DNA methylation, and brain structural changes in the pathophysiology of depression using a combined approach of murine and human studies. We ranked the immobility behaviors of 30 outbred Crl:CD1 (ICR) mice in the forced swim test (FST) and harvested their prefrontal cortices for RNA sequencing. Of the 24,532 analyzed genes, 141 showed significant correlations with FST immobility time, as determined through linear regression analysis with p & LE; 0.01. The identified genes were mostly involved in immune responses, especially interferon signaling pathways. Moreover, induction of virus-like neuroinflammation in the brains of two separate mouse cohorts (n = 30 each) using intracerebroventricular polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid injection resulted in increased immobility during FST and similar expression of top immobility-correlated genes. In human blood samples, candidate gene (top 5%) expression profiling using DNA methylation analysis found the interferon-related USP18 (cg25484698, p = 7.04 x 10-11, & UDelta;& beta; = 1.57 x 10-2; cg02518889, p = 2.92 x 10-3, & UDelta;& beta; = - 8.20 x 10-3) and IFI44 (cg07107453, p = 3.76 x 10-3, & UDelta;& beta; = - 4.94 x 10-3) genes to be differentially methylated between patients with major depressive disorder (n = 350) and healthy controls (n = 161). Furthermore, cortical thickness analyses using T1-weighted images revealed that the DNA methylation scores for USP18 were negatively correlated with the thicknesses of several cortical regions, including the prefrontal cortex. Our results reveal the important role of the interferon pathway in depression and suggest USP18 as a potential candidate target. The results of the correlation analysis between transcriptomic data and animal behavior carried out in this study provide insights that could enhance our understanding of depression in humans. 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z