Prenatal depression is an important factor in predicting postpartum depression. Most studies have assessed factors affecting prenatal depression by focusing on pregnant wives. However, the emotional and psychological aspects of both expectant parents need to be considered. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of spouse-related stress in expectant couples on prenatal depression and investigate the mediating effects of marital intimacy on this relationship. A total of 120 expectant couples from two cities in Korea at more than 15 weeks of completed pregnancy participated in the study. Using a structured questionnaire, we assessed the general characteristics of the participants, spouse-related stress, prenatal depression, and marital intimacy. The results revealed that four actor effects and one partner effect were significant. Marital intimacy and prenatal depression among expectant parents were affected by spouse-related stress. Moreover, spouse-related stress in the husbands completely mediated marital intimacy in pregnant wives, demonstrating partner effects on prenatal depression in pregnant wives. Therefore, it was observed that paternal factors affect prenatal depression in pregnant wives. This warrants the inclusion of husbands in marital interventions and strategies to improve marital intimacy in pregnant wives.

Hur MH, et al. Diabetes Metab J. 2020 Jan;44:e16. https://doi.org/10.4093/dmj.2019.0125

Purpose: APOE ε7 gene is a rare mutant form of APOE ε3. The mutation occurs in the lipid-binding domain of APOE. Based on the protein’s structure, APOE ε7 is expected to function in lipid and β-amyloid metabolism, similar to APOE ε4. However, unlike that for APOE ε4, the mechanisms responsible for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) cases associated with APOE ε7 expression have not been elucidated. The present study aims to investigate the association between APOE ε7 expression and cognitive impairment.
Methods: APOE was sequenced in DNA samples collected from 344 memory-complaint patients who visited the memory clinic, and from 345 non-memory-complaint individuals from the health promotion center. The protein structures of ApoE3, ApoE4, and ApoE7 were predicted. Results: Three ε3/ε7 heterozygote individuals who were all classified under the memory-complaint group were identified. Of these, two subjects were clinically diagnosed with AD with small vessel disease, and the remaining individual was diagnosed with subjective cognitive impairment. This study predicted the protein structures of ApoE3, ApoE4, and ApoE7 and determined the three-dimensional structure of the carboxy terminus of ApoE7, which participates in an electrostatic domain interaction similar to that of APOE ε4. APOE K244 or K245 mutations for APOE ε7 were not found in the Korean reference genome database, which contains information (http://152.99.75.168/KRGDB/browser/mainBrowser.jsp) from 622 healthy individuals.
Conclusion: As verified by the results of structural prediction, APOE ε7 could serve as another risk factor for cognitive impairment and is particularly associated with vascular disease. However, additional studies are required to validate the pathogenic nature of APOE ε7.

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to validate the Korean version of Partners In Health scale (PIH-K) which is used to measure the self-management of patients with chronic illnesses in Korea. Methods : Translation of the 12-item PIH-K was conducted according to the World Health Organization guidelines. Data from 306 participants who took medicines over 3 months by doctor's prescription were collected from October to November 2017. Validity such as content validity, construct validity, and concurrent validity were conducted using content validity index (CVI), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). To evaluate concurrent validity, the correlation coefficients between the PIH-K and concurrent scales (Self-As-Carer Inventory) were calculated. The reliability of the PIH-K was examined using the internal consistency and test-retest reliability tests. Results : The CVI of the PIH-K was 0.91. According to the CFA, factor loadings for four factors ranged from .64 to .97, which explained 67.5% of the total variance. The PIH-K was significantly correlated with concurrent variables such as those on the Self-As-Carer Inventory. The Cronbach's ⍺ was .86 and the intraclass correlation coefficient for the two-week test-retest reliability was .88. Conclusion : Findings show that the PIH-K is reliable and valid in measuring self-management of patients with chronic illnesses.