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The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has shown excellent clinical effectiveness; however, adverse events of the vaccine remain a concern in Korea. We surveyed adverse events in 2498 healthcare workers vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a university hospital. The survey was conducted using a diary card for 7 days following each injection. The questionnaire response rate was 75.1% (1876/2498) for the first dose and 73.8% (1840/2493) for the second dose. Among local reactions, pain was the most commonly reported (84.9% after the first dose and 90.4% after the second dose). After the second dose, two people visited the emergency room due to severe local pain, but no hospitalization or skin necrosis occurred. Among systemic reactions, fatigue was most frequently reported (52.8% after the first dose and 77.0% after the second dose), followed by myalgia (49.0% and 76.1%), headache (28.7% and 59.2%), chills (16.7% and 54.0%), and arthralgia (11.4% and 39.2%). One or more critical adverse events occurred in 0.2% and 0.7% of the vaccinees. Except for urticaria, more adverse events were reported after the second dose than after the first dose. In the future, adverse events should be investigated in older adults, and a future study with a longer observation period should be conducted.

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We prepared scatteredly cyclic RGDfK-conjugated water-dispersible superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (cRGDfK-WSPIONs) and investigated their cellular uptake to MS-1 cells (mouse endothelial cell lines, express integrin α(v)ß(3)) and MCF-7 cells (human breast cancer cells, express low level of integrin α(v)ß(3)) using in vitro MRI. The cRGDfK-WSPIONs were prepared from oleate-protected SPIONs (SPION-OA) as follows. Some oleates (OAs) on the SPION-OA were substituted by mercaptohexadecanoic acids (MHA) and cRGDfKs were conjugated to MHAs. Finally, the remaining OAs were substituted by mercaptopropionic acids without detaching preexisting cRGDfK-conjugated MHA ligands from the SPION surface. The cRGDfK-WSPIONs showed drastically higher cellular uptake than its corresponding control WSPIONs to MS-1 cells and also, showed higher selectivity to MS-1 cells than to MCF-7 cells, both implicating integrin α(v)ß(3)-mediated cellular uptake of scatteredly cRGDfK-conjugated WSPIONs.

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To develop a long-circulating theragnostics, meaning therapeutics and diagnostics for MR-guided HIFU ablation, we designed and prepared Gd-C(5)F(12)-phospholipid nanobubbles (PLNs) 30-100 nm in diameter. The biochemical and physical characterization of Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLNs were performed. Since Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLN-50 (Φ = 50 nm) and Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLN-100 (Φ = 100 nm) enhanced the hyperthermal effect of HIFU size- and concentration-dependently in a tissue-mimicking phantom, its circulation, distribution, tumor accumulation and tumor ablation were examined in tumor-bearing mice. The plasma-half life of Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLNs was longer than 1.5 hrs. Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLNs mainly accumulated in the liver and the spleen, suggesting that they are slowly secreted through the hepatobiliary pathway. Monitored by the T1 signal intensity of MR, Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLNs accumulated in tumor tissues for 8 hours in mice. HIFU with Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLN-100 showed the increased tumor ablation area as compared with HIFU alone. The results suggest that Gd-C(5)F(12)-PLNs exhibit a potential theragnostics for MR-guided HIFU ablation.

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Hyperglycemia in the diabetic state increases oxidative stress and antioxidant therapy can be strongly correlated with decreased risks for diabetic complications. The purpose of this study is to determine antioxidant effect of garlic and aged black garlic in animal model of type 2 diabetes. The antioxidant activity of garlic and aged black garlic was measured as the activity in scavenging free radicals by the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay. Three week-old db/db mice were fed AIN-93G diet or diet containing 5% freeze-dried garlic or aged black garlic for 7 weeks after 1 week of adaptation. Hepatic levels of lipid peroxides and activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured. TEAC values of garlic and aged black garlic were 13.3 +/- 0.5 and 59.2 +/- 0.8 micromol/g wet weight, respectively. Consumption of aged black garlic significantly decreased hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level compared with the garlic group which showed lower TBARS level than control group (p<0.05). Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of garlic and aged black garlic group were significantly elevated compared to the control group. Catalase (CAT) activity of aged black garlic group was increased compared with the control group. These results show that aged black garlic exerts stronger antioxidant activity than garlic in vitro and in vivo, suggesting garlic and aged black garlic, to a greater extent, could be useful in preventing diabetic complications.