With the globalization of Korean education and the rise in the average level of education, the number of international students in Korea, especially those from China, is rapidly increasing every year. This study aimed to provide the basic information for healthy dietary education by evaluating the dietary and nutritional status of Chinese students living in Gwangju province of Korea. Data from 468 subjects who met the study participation criteria and who had given their written informed consent were used for analysis. Of the total subjects, 52.4 and 80.1% were non-drinkers and non-smokers, respectively (p<0.01). It was observed that women were more stressed than men when they did not have convenient access to a Chinese food market near their place of residence (p=0.032). The subjects with a high cultural adaptation consumed kimbap (p<0.001) and pizza (p=0.017) more frequently than the subjects with a low cultural adaptation. An analysis of the nutrient quotient revealed that male scores were higher than those of the females with regard to water intake (p=0.035) and exercise level (p=0.021). For Chinese students living in Korea to maintain proper dietary habits, it is necessary to educate them on how to purchase convenience foods and improve their lifestyle, including limiting drinking and smoking. It is also necessary to develop emotional support programs for stress management and cultural adaptation.

Lindera glauca Blume has been used in Korean traditional medicine to treat the symptoms of paralysis, abdominal pain, speech disorders, extravasations, contusions, and pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis. We investigated the effect of L. glauca Blume extracts on the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells in vitro using HCT116 human colorectal cancer cell lines. We also investigated its mechanism of action. For this purpose, we used the MTT assay, western blotting, DNA fragmentation analysis, and flow cytometry. HCT116 cells were cultured in several concentrations of ethanol extracts of L. glauca Blume root (0, 50, 100 μg/mL). In this study, colon cancer cell growth was inhibited by L. glauca Blume root extract in a dose-dependent manner. It was associated with induction of apoptosis as assessed by nuclear fragmentation and cell cycle analysis. Apoptosis was assessed using western blotting for TNF-α, IL-6, NF-κB, Caspase-3, PARP, Bax, Bcl-2, and SIRT1. The extract also dose-dependently upregulated the expression Bax, the pro-apoptotic gene and downregulated the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2. Furthermore, the extract enhanced Caspase-3 activity in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings provide evidence that L. glauca Blume extract may mediate its anti-proliferative effect via the modulation of apoptosis.

This study was conducted to evaluate the overall dietary habits and nutritional status of 294 elementary school students located in Gwangju using the NUTRILITE nutrition quotient (NQ). The NQ score of the subjects was 59.5 out of 100, which corresponds to the level requiring “monitoring”. Compared to the 64.4 score of students in the 5th and 6th grades of six metropolitan cities, the scores of the present subjects were lower. The NQ components were 57.4 for balance factors, 52.4 for moderation factors, 55.0 for diversification factors, 57.6 for practice factors, and 80.1 for environmental factors. Regarding the characteristics according to the NQ level, the score (61.5 in 7 times/wk vs. 55.3 in 1-2 or none times/wk) tended to be higher in subjects who frequently eat with their families (p<0.001). In conclusion, nutrition education should be provided to students to increase the frequency of meals with their families, to develop a habit of exercising regularly, and reduce the consumption of ramen, cookies, and processed drinks that are frequently consumed. These results can be used as basic data to develop nutrition education programs to improve the dietary habits and nutritional status of students in Gwangju.

Recently, there is growing interest in studying the dietary patterns that affect the risk of circulatory system diseases (CSDs). We investigated the relationship between CSDs and dietary patterns through a follow-up study in Korea (2001-2016). The participants of this study were obtained from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). This study was a large community-based cohort study (the Ansan-Ansung areas) conducted to assess the effects of various factors, especially diet, on the onset of chronic diseases among the Korean population aged 40-69 yrs. Baseline data were collected from 2001 to 2002, and follow-up studies were performed every 2 yrs, with over 7 follow-up studies performed (2015-2016). Three dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis: “vegetable and seafood (men)/soup and stew (women)” pattern, “sweet foods and breads-rice cake” pattern, and “multigrain rice and cooked white rice” pattern. None of the dietary patterns were significantly associated with the risk of CSDs in either men or women. Our follow-up study is meaningful as it investigated whether the dietary patterns of individuals according to sex affects the development of CSDs.

There are an increasing number of reports that job related factors are associated with hypertension, sleep deprivation, obesity and diabetes. This study analyzed the relationship of working type, working hours and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The study’s subjects were 2,777 employees (1,446 males and 1,331 females) over 19 years old and their data was from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (2015). The type of work was divided into day work and shift work. The working hours were divided into less than 40 hours, 40 to 49 hours, 50 to 59 hours and 60 hours or more per week. As a result of this study, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 26.4% of the males and 19.1% of the females. Generally there was no relationship between metabolic syndrome and type of work (day work and shift work). As a result of analysis of working hours and metabolic syndrome, the workers who worked 40-49 hr were associated with a decreased prevalence of metabolic syndrome as compared to that of workers who worked less than 40 hr (odds ratio: 0.47, 95% confidence interval: 0.24-0.95, p<0.05). Further, positive relationships were found between the number of work hours and the prevalence metabolic syndrome for specific females who worked over 40 hr/wk. It can be concluded from the results that it is important to help workers avoid metabolic syndrome through setting appropriate work hours.

This study was performed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of osteoarthritis in the elderly using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013~2014 KNHANES VI). A total of 2,148 (936 males, 1212 females) elderly participants aged 65 years or older were selected. Prevalence of osteoarthritis was higher in 460 female (80.7%) and 167 rural (29.1%) groups, than in 110 male (19.3%) and 404 urban (70.9%) groups. While the mean values of LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride level, and waist circumference were significantly higher in the osteoarthritis group than the normal group, other parameters including height, HDL-cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin and hematocrit values were not. Quality of life (EQ-5D) was also significantly lower in the osteoarthritis group. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that smoking, alcohol intake, obesity, hypercholesterolemia and energy intakes were significantly different in regards to the prevalence of osteoarthritis. This study suggests that obesity and energy intakes were associated with osteoarthritis, whereas risk factors of chronic disease, such as hypertension, Hypo-high density lipoprotein, hypertriglyceridemia, anemia, diabetes, vigorous physical activity, moderate physical activity and walking were not. Long-term prospective study is necessary to investigate the effects of these factors on osteoarthritis.

본 동물실험은 STZ로 유도한 C57BL/6에게 5% sodium butyrate 를 급여했을 때 항당뇨 및 항염증 효과를 연구하고자 하였다. 본 연구에서 STZ로 당뇨를 유발한 마우스에게 5% sodium butyrate를 급여했을 때 체중과 식이섭취량에서는 크게 유의 적 차이가 없음을 확인하였다(p<0.05). STZ에 의한 당뇨 쥐는 인슐린의 분비가 감소되면서 당대사의 불균형을 초래하며 간 등이 비대해진다고 알려져 있으나, 본 연구에서는 간의 장 기 무게에서는 크게 실험군 간에 유의적인 차이가 없었다 (p<0.05). 또한 비장과 흉선의 무게는 0.5% sodium butyrate 첨가 식이군에서 유의적으로 낮아짐을 알 수 있었다(p<0.05). 당뇨병은 염증 상태로서 고혈당으로 인하여 monocyte에서는 여러 염증성 사이토카인이 분비가 활성화된다. TNF-α, IL-6 등은 염증성 사이토카인으로서 혈관염증의 중요한 마커로 인식되고 있고, 당뇨병 환자들은 이러한 염증성 사이토카인 이 높은 수준으로 활성화 된다. STZ 처리 시 마우스 혈청에서 의 염증성 사이토카인의 분비 및 발현이 증가되었으나, 5% sodium butyrate를 급여했을 때 염증성 사이토카인의 분비 및 발현이 저해됨을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 연구는 sodium butyrate 보충은 당뇨병이 유발된 동물모델에서 혈청지질 농도 및 혈 당 조절, 염증 상태를 개선에 다소간의 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이에 따라 당뇨병과 같은 만성적인 대사질환 개선 에 sodium butyrate가 효과적인 식이인자가 될 것으로 생각된 다. 그러나 앞으로 더 명확한 효능을 탐색하기 위해서 시료 첨가수준의 다각화 및 여러 가지 보완연구가 필요할 것으로 생각 된다.