Background: Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the impact of cardiovascular comorbidities on the prognosis of COPD is not well known. Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the effects of cardiovascular comorbidities on the prognosis of COPD. Methods: We enlisted 229 patients with COPD who underwent comprehensive cardiac evaluations including coronary angiography and echocardiography at Ajou University Hospital between January 2000 and December 2012. Survival analyses were performed in this retrospective cohort. Results: Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that COPD patients without left heart failure (mean survival = 12.5 ± 0.7 years) survived longer than COPD patients with left heart failure (mean survival = 6.7 ± 1.4 years; p = 0.003), and the survival period of nonanemic COPD patients (mean survival = 13.8 ± 0.8 years) was longer than that of anemic COPD patients (mean survival = 8.3 ± 0.8 years; p < 0.001). The survival period in COPD with coronary artery disease (CAD; mean survival = 11.37 ± 0.64 years) was not different from that in COPD without CAD (mean survival = 11.98 ± 0.98 years; p = 0.703). According to a multivariate Cox regression model, a lower hemoglobin level, a lower left ventricular ejection fraction, and the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV₁) were independently associated with higher mortality in the total COPD group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Hemoglobin levels and left ventricular ejection fraction along with a lower FEV₁ were identified as independent risk factors for mortality in COPD patients who underwent comprehensive cardiac evaluations, suggesting that multidisciplinary approaches are required in the care of COPD.

Calcium deficiency is a worldwide problem affecting both developed and developing countries. The deficiency in calcium leads to a marked decrease of superoxide dismutase. It is known that vitamin D protects cells against oxidative damages while taurine plays an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant role. In this study, we examined whether vitamin D and taurine supplementation had a protective effect on oxidative stress in rats fed calcium deficient diet. Female SD rats (mean weight 60 ∼ 70 g) were divided into four groups; control, taurine, vitamin D, taurine + vitamin D for 6 weeks (taurine: 2 g/100 g diet, vitamin D: 0.5 mg/100 g diet). We then analyzed the level of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) in serum and level of TC, TG in liver. We investigated antioxidative enzyme activities such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). We observed that weight gain was not significantly different in the experimental groups. Food efficiency ratio (FER) was significantly higher in the normal control group than the taurine and vitamin D groups (p < 0.05). The level of liver TC was significantly lower in taurine, vitamin D, taurine + vitamin D groups than control group (p < 0.05). The concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly lower in the taurine group than the control group. The activity of SOD was higher in taurine group than other experimental groups (p < 0.05), but GSH-Px and CAT were not significantly different. In conclusion, taurine has a positive effect on SOD activity but not on vitamin D. Also taurine and vitamin D have a protective effect as observed in liver TC in rats fed with a diet which lacks calcium.

Interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible chemokines in the CXCR3/ligand axis are involved in cell-mediated immunity and play a significant role in the progression of cancer. We enrolled patients with lung cancer (n = 144) and healthy volunteers as the controls (n = 140). Initial blood samples were collected and concentrations of IFN-γ and IFN-γ-inducible chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of patients with lung cancer, 125 had non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 19 had small cell lung cancer. The area under the curve (AUC) (95% CI) of CXCL9 was 0.83 (0.80–0.89) for differentiating lung cancer patients from controls. The levels of all the markers were significantly higher in NSCLC patients with stage IV than in those with stages I–III. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that NSCLC cancer patients with higher levels of all markers showed poorer survival than those with lower levels. In Cox multivariate analysis of patients with NSCLC, independent prognostic factors for overall survival were CXCL9 and CXCL11. CXCL9 was the only independent prognostic factor for cancer-specific survival. Serum IFN-γ-inducible chemokines may be useful as clinical markers of metastasis and prognosis in NSCLC, and CXCL9 levels showed the most significant results.

The present study investigates the effects of taurine on bone markers and bone mineral density (BMD) in alcohol-fed ovariectomized (OVX) rat model. We divided twenty four rats into Sham and OVX groups. These two groups were thereafter subdivided into two groups: control and experimental diet containing 2 g/kg of taurine. BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) were estimated by PIXImus. As bone markers, we measured serum calcium, phosphorus, ALP activity, osteocalcin and urine calcium, phosphorus and DPD crosslinks value. The results were as follows: weight gain showed no significant difference and serum calcium concentration was in normal range. Urine DPD crosslink value was significantly decreased in taurine-fed group (p < 0.05). Serum ALP activity and osteocalcin levels, and urine phosphorus concentration did not show any differences among groups. Also the mineral density and content of spinal and femural bone did not show any differences among groups. However, the femur BMD was significantly increased in taurine-fed group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, taurine supplemented diets may have positive results on bone metabolism in alcohol-fed OVX rat model.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the bone-conserving effects of Rubus coreanus-Cheonggukjang (RC-CGJ) supplemented with more intensified phytochemicals compared to general Cheonggukjang (CGJ) in growing rats. Eighteen rats were divided into 3 treatment groups (Control, CGJ, and RC-CGJ) and were given experimental diets for 9 weeks. All of the rats in this study were fed a AIN-93G-based diet. Both CGJ groups were fed with 33.1% CGJ and RC-CGJ powder, respectively. The results of this study indicate that weight gain, mean food intake, and food efficiency ratio were not significantly different by the experimental diets among all groups. Spine bone mineral density (BMD) and femur BMD were not significantly different by the experimental diets. Spine bone mineral content (BMC) was significantly higher in the RC-CGJ and CGJ groups than in the control group, regardless of CGJ type. The femur BMC of the CGJ supplemented group was significantly higher compared with the control group and the RC-CGJ group. Compared with the control group, spine BMD and femur BMD per weight were markedly increased in the RC-CGJ and CGJ group regardless of CGJ type. Also, spine BMC per weight was significantly higher in the RC-CGJ group than in the CGJ group. However, femur BMC per weight was significantly higher in the CGJ group than in the RC-CGJ group. It can be concluded that RC-CGJ and CGJ supplemented diets have more beneficial effects on spine and femur peak bone mass in growing rats.