Sung-Ha Park

Increased arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease independent from blood pressure. Recent studies have shed new light on the importance of inflammation on the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is associated with the increased activity of angiotensin II, which results in increased NADPH oxidase activity, reduced NO bioavailability and increased production of reactive oxygen species. Angiotensin II signaling activates matrix metalloproteinases

BACKGROUND: Lipid metabolites and cytokines, including chemokines and growth factors, are the key regulators of immune cell function and differentiation, and thus, dysregulation of these regulators is associated with various human diseases. However, previous studies demonstrating a positive correlation of cytokine levels with aging may have been influenced by various environmental factors and underlying diseases. Also, data regarding cytokine profiling in the elderly are limited to a small subse

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score is a clinically validated marker of cardiovascular disease risk. We developed and validated a novel cardiovascular risk stratification system based on deep-learning-predicted CAC from retinal photographs. METHODS: We used 216 152 retinal photographs from five datasets from South Korea, Singapore, and the UK to train and validate the algorithms. First, using one dataset from a South Korean health-screening centre, we trained a deep-learning algorith

Abstract Progressive renal failure causes uremia-related immune dysfunction, which features a chronic inflammatory milieu. Given the central role of end-stage renal disease (ESRD)-related immune dysfunction in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), much attention has been focused on how uremic toxins affect cellular immunity and the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in ESRD patients. Here, we investigated the characteristics of monocytes and CD4 + T cells in ESRD

Increased arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease independent from blood pressure. Recent studies have shed new light on the importance of inflammation on the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is associated with the increased activity of angiotensin II, which results in increased NADPH oxidase activity, reduced NO bioavailability and increased production of reactive oxygen species. Angiotensin II signaling activates matrix metalloproteinases

Epidemiologic studies have consistently demonstrated an increased risk of cardiovascular disease during colder temperatures. Hemodynamic changes associated with cold temperature and an increase in thrombogenicity may both account for the increase in cardiovascular risk and mortality. Studies using both in-office and out-of-office BP measurements have consistently shown an elevation in BP during the colder seasons. The large difference in BP between cold and warm months may increase the incidence

We express the joint entropy of order statistics in terms of an incomplete integral of the hazard function, and provide a simple estimate of the joint entropy of the type II censored data. Then we establish a goodness of fit test statistic based on the Kullback-Leibler information with the type II censored data, and compare its performance with some leading test statistics. A Monte Carlo simulation study shows that the proposed test statistic shows better powers than some leading test statistics

Loss of postural stability can increase the likelihood of slips and falls in workplaces. The present study intended to extend understanding of the effects of frequency and pressure level of sound on postural stability during standing. Eleven male subjects participated. Standing on a force platform, the subjects' center of pressures were measured under different combinations of pressure level and frequency of the sound. Variables such as the position variability of COP and the length of postural

Senescent T cells have been implicated in chronic inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we explored the relationship between senescent T cells and glycemic status in a cohort of 805 participants by investigating the frequency of CD57+ or CD28null senescent T cells in peripheral blood. Participants with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) with follow-up data (N = 149) were included to determine whether hyperglycemia (prediabetes or type 2 diabetes) developed during follow-up (mean 2

BACKGROUND: Pitavastatin is a 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor used to treat hypercholesterolemia. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of pitavastatin versus those of simvastatin in Korean patients with hypercholesterolemia. METHODS: This was an 8-week, multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, Phase III clinical trial. Male and female Korean patients with hypercholesterolemia who were between the ages of 20 and 75

Serum aldosterone is significantly associated with central aortic PWV in hypertensive patients. The results demonstrate a possible role for aldosterone in developing central aortic stiffness and increased PWV in hypertensive patients.