Ga-Eun Yie

Background: Severe asthma is characterized by persistent airway inflammation and heterogeneous responses to biologic therapies. Growing evidence implicates the gut–lung axis in asthma pathophysiology; however, few studies have concurrently characterized gut and airway microbiomes in relation to treatment response in severe asthma. Methods: We profiled microbiomes of stool bacteria (STB), stool‐derived extracellular vesicles (STE), and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) from 48 patients with severe asthma receiving dupilumab. Microbial composition, alpha diversity, and predicted functional profiles were compared across sample types and longitudinally according to treatment response. Associations between microbial features and asthma‐related clinical markers were also evaluated. Results: Distinct taxonomic and predicted functional signatures were identified across biological compartments. EBC samples were enriched in Proteobacteria, including Pseudomonas , and exhibited a higher predicted abundance of pathways related to two‐component systems and bacterial secretion systems. EBC microbial diversity was positively associated with baseline sputum eosinophil levels ( p = 0.018), whereas stool microbial richness demonstrated a time‐dependent association with blood eosinophil counts after treatment ( p for interaction = 0.023). Treatment responders exhibited lower abundances of Lachnospira (STB q = 0.046; STE q = 0.042) and Escherichia–Shigella (STE q = 0.038), and a higher relative abundance of the Oscillospiraceae NK4A214 group (STB q = 5.5 × 10 ⁻⁷ , STE q = 1.4 × 10 ⁻⁸ ) in stool‐derived profiles. Conclusion: Gut and airway‐derived microbiomes appear to play complementary roles in severe asthma. Stool‐derived microbial features may reflect systemic inflammatory signals associated with treatment response, whereas airway‐derived microbial profiles reflect local airway inflammation. Integrating multi‐compartment microbiome data may improve the understanding of heterogeneity in biologic treatment response among patients with severe asthma.

Purpose We aimed to investigate how genetic predisposition to drinking and gastric cancer (GC) modifies the association between alcohol consumption and GC risk in the Korean population.Materials and Methods Polygenic risk scores for GC (PRS-GC) and alcohol consumption (PRS-Alcohol) were formulated using genome-wide association results from BioBank Japan. Validation was performed using Korean cohorts (SNUBH-GENIE cohort), incorporating 8,846 controls and 531 patients with GC. Subsequently, these PRSs were applied to an independent Korean cohort of 67,771 participants, including 313 patients with GC during the follow-up for 14 years (KoGES cohort).Results In KoGES cohort, the influence of alcohol consumption on GC risk was significantly altered by the PRS-GC and exhibited a synergistic interaction effect. PRS-Alcohol itself shows a negative correlation with GC risk. However, when actual alcohol consumption significantly exceeded genetically predicted levels, the risk of alcohol-related GC was notably increased (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.72). Heavy drinkers in the high–PRS-GC/low–PRS-Alcohol group had a 2.16 times higher risk of GC than non-to-light drinkers, which was prominent in males.Conclusion Korean drinkers with higher PRS-GC who consume alcohol more than genetically predicted levels are susceptible to GC. PRS-GC and PRS-Alcohol may be beneficial for assessing the impact of alcohol consumption on GC risk in Koreans.

OBJECTIVES: Dietary factors play an important role in modifying cancer risk. This study aimed to assess the proportion of cancer incidence and mortality in Korea attributable to dietary factors from 2015 to 2030.METHODS: We estimated the population-attributable fraction (PAF) of cancer incidence and mortality using dietary intake levels, exposure rates, and relative risks (RRs). Intake and exposure rates were derived from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, assuming a 15-year latency. RRs were obtained from meta-analyses of Korean cohort and case- control studies.RESULTS: In 2020, 6.08% of cancer cases and 5.70% of deaths in Korea were attributable to dietary factors. High salted vegetable intake (2.12% for incidence and 1.78% for deaths) and low intake of non-starchy vegetables and fruits (1.92 and 2.34%, respectively) were major contributors. However, high intakes of red meat and processed meat showed low PAFs, each less than 1%. The projected PAF for cancer attributable to high salted vegetable intake is expected to decrease substantially to 1.17% in 2030. In contrast, the PAF linked to low intake of non-starchy vegetables and fruits is projected to remain relatively stable.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence that dietary factors make a substantial contribution to cancer incidence and mortality in Korea. This study highlights that reducing salted vegetable intake and encouraging a diet rich in non-starchy vegetables and fruits may support cancer prevention efforts. Continuous monitoring of dietary trends remains crucial for reducing the cancer burden.

Yie GE, et al. Nutr Res Pract. 2025 Apr;19(2):273-291. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2025.19.2.273

Cho HJ, et al. Nutr Res Pract. 2023 Aug;17(4):789-802. https://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2023.17.4.789

이가은, et al. Korean J Community Nutr. 2021 Jun;26(3):211-227. https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.3.211