The aim of this study was to examine dietary pattern, nutritional intake, and diet quality of Korean pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Between October 2008 and May 2012, 166 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM completed a questionnaire and dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day food record. Blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentrations were measured and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Two major dietary patterns ("carbohydrate and vegetable" and "western" patterns) were identified through factor analysis. Dietary pattern scores for each dietary pattern were categorized into tertiles. The dietary quality index-international (DQI-I) was used to measure overall diet quality. Subjects with higher carbohydrate and vegetable pattern scores reported less physical activity (p < 0.05) and have higher diastolic blood pressure levels (p = 0.05). After adjusting for age and energy intake, higher carbohydrate and vegetable pattern scores were associated with higher sodium intakes (p = 0.02), but lower intakes of fat (p = 0.002) and other micronutrients. On the other hand, higher western pattern scores were associated with higher fat intake (p = 0.0001), but lower intakes of sodium (p = 0.01) and other micronutrients. Higher scores for both dietary patterns were associated with lower scores in the moderation category of the DQI-I (p < 0.0001). HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose levels were significantly lower among participants with high DQI-I than those with low DQI-I (p < 0.05). The study findings suggest that many Korean women with GDM do not consume nutritionally adequate or balanced diets, regardless of dietary pattern.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to (i) determine the cervical microbial composition in different abortion samples and to (ii) investigate the correlation between spontaneous abortion and cervical microbes in Korean women. Methods. We collected cervical swabs from women who had never undergone abortion (N = 36), had spontaneous abortion (N = 23), and had undergone induced abortion (N = 88) and subjected those samples to 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Further, factor analysis and correlation between cervical microbiota and spontaneous abortion were evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Results. In spontaneous abortion women, 16 S rRNA gene sequences showed significant increases in Atopobium vaginae, Megasphaera spp., Gardnerella vaginalis, Leptotrichia amnionii, and Sneathia sanguinegens compared to women in nonabortion group. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, A. vaginae (OD = 11.27; 95% = 1.57–81), L. amnionii (OD = 11.47; 95% = 1.22–107.94), S. sanguinegens (OD = 6.89; 95% = 1.07–44.33), and factor 1 microbes (OD = 16.4; 95% = 1.88–42.5) were strongly associated with spontaneous abortion. Conclusions. This study showed a high prevalence of L. amnionii, A. vaginae, S. sanguinegens, and factor 1 microbes in spontaneous abortion and association with spontaneous abortion in Korean women.

We assessed the association between metabolic health and markers of inflammation and of endothelial dysfunction using data from the Ewha Birth and Growth Cohort Study. The data of 195 subjects aged 13-15 years were analyzed. To assess metabolic syndrome, continuous metabolic syndrome (cMets) scores were calculated. We measured the levels of highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) as markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. An increase of one SD in the cMets score resulted in a 1.25-fold (95% CI 1.10-1.42) increase in the risk of acute inflammatory status and a 1.26-fold (95% CI 1.11-1.43) increase in the risk of endothelial dysfunction as defined by ICAM-1, while VCAM-1 showed a meaningless trend. Of the metabolic components, body mass index (BMI) was positively associated with elevated hs-CRP levels and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels were negatively associated with elevated ICAM-1 levels. Additionally, a mediation analysis showed that a high BMI was directly related to elevated hs-CRP levels and indirectly related to elevated ICAM-1 levels via HDL-c. Our findings show that poor metabolic health was related to an unfavorable inflammatory status and endothelial dysfunction in adolescents.

Purpose: To report a case of Exophiala endophthalmitis after cataract surgery, which has not been reported previously in Korea.Case summary: A 70-year-old woman visited the hospital 7 days after cataract surgery in her right eye with unilateral vision impairment. At the time of the visit, visual acuity of the right eye was hand motion, and the fundus was not clearly observed due to numerous inflammatory cells with hypopyon in the anterior chamber. With an initial diagnosis of suspected bacterial endophthalmitis, vitrectomy was performed immediately with intravitreal injection of antibiotics and steroid. On day 14 after vitrectomy, inflammation in the anterior chamber and vitreous opacity worsened, and complete vitrectomy, including of the vitreous base, and removal of the intraocular lens and capsule was performed. Exophiala was detected in the biopsy specimen on day 6 after the second surgery, and the patient was discharged with a prescription for voriconazole eye drops. On day 23 after the second surgery, the best-corrected visual acuity in the right eye had improved to 1.0, and there was no evidence of endophthalmitis recurrence and no observed additional abnormal findings of the fundus until 6 months after second surgery.Conclusions: In a case of fungal endophthalmitis that occurred after cataract surgery, good results were obtained by vitrectomy involving complete removal of the peripheral vitreous body, including the intraocular lens and lens capsule, which was the basis for growth of the fungus in the early stage of endophthalmitis.