• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2022

In December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China and spread rapidly around the world, infecting millions of people. Cases of COVID-19 infection were observed to lead to viral pneumonia. Thirty-five patients admitted to the Gyeonggi Medical Center, South Korea, between November 2020 to January 2021, were found to have been infected with the influenza virus A and B, which cause symptoms similar to COVID-19. The records of these patients and those of COVID-19 patients who visited the hospital for medical examination were compared. The study patients included thirty patients with COVID-19 and/or influenza, five of those with influenza alone. A group of 121 patients without infection was used as control. Patients with COVID-19 and influenza had significantly higher lactate dehydrogenase levels than the patients with COVID-19 alone. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was higher in patients with COVID-19 alone than in other groups. Significant clinical outliers were observed in the COVID-19 and influenza infection group compared with the COVID-19 alone group. These results are expected to play an important role in the analysis of the hematological data of infected patients and the comparison of simultaneous and single infection data to determine clinical symptoms and other signs. These results may also assist in the development of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.368-378
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• 2020

Purpose: Vitamin D deficiency may cause bone loss and increased inflammation, which are well-known symptoms of periodontal disease. This study investigated whether serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are associated with periodontal disease status and tooth loss. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 5,405 individuals aged ≥50 years (2,253 males and 3,152 females) were obtained from the 2008-2010 Dong-gu study, a prospective cohort study of risk factors for chronic diseases. Periodontal examinations were conducted to evaluate the number of remaining teeth, the periodontal probing depth (PPD), the clinical attachment level (CAL), and bleeding on probing. The percentages of sites with PPD ≥4 mm and CAL ≥4 mm were recorded for each participant. The severity of periodontitis was classified using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Periodontology case definitions. Serum 25(OH)D levels were classified as reflecting severe deficiency, deficiency, insufficiency, or sufficiency. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess the associations of serum 25(OH)D levels with periodontal parameters and the number of remaining teeth after adjusting for confounders including age, smoking status, alcohol consumption status, month of blood collection, and physical activity. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between serum vitamin D levels and severe periodontitis. An overall statistical analysis and a stratified analysis by sex were performed. Results: Overall, the rates of severe deficiency, deficiency, insufficiency, and sufficiency were 6.5%, 67.9%, 22.4%, and 3.2%, respectively. After adjustment for confounders, vitamin D levels were directly associated with the number of remaining teeth, an association that was significant in males, but not in females. Sufficient serum 25(OH)D was associated with a low frequency of severe periodontitis. Conclusions: This population-based cross-sectional study indicates that low serum 25(OH) D is significantly associated with tooth loss and severe periodontitis in Koreans aged 50 years and older.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.935-942
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• 2022

In doing interventional treatment under the guidance of ultrasonography, the medical team detects the legion site with ultrasonic equipment at first, and insert angio needle. In this situation, if the position of legion and the depth of inserted needle on the ultrasonographic screen are different from real position and depth, the needle is likely to damage a major blood vessel or tissue. Accordingly, we had wondered how much such differences between screen image and reality, and so decided to examine them. Using five ultrasonographic equipments manufactured from different companies in different years, this study tried to compare the lengths of the needle on the screen images and real lengths of it, and find out the factors affecting skewness of them. This study used hog meat chunk to mimic human flesh, and sausages as the target of needle. It compared penetrating depths of the needle as the images on the five equipments using single sample t test in the SPSS 22 statistical program. It was found that all the errors were statistically significant(<.05). So, this study decided that it was wrong to evaluate performances of the equipments by the makers and ages of them. It is necessary to do periodic quality controls of equipments and improve the skillfulness of sonographers to reduce error rates between real treatment areas and the images of them.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2022

Transport is essential in the farming process of farmed fish and is one of the physical stress factors such as sorting. The effect of water temperature and anesthesia during low salinity transport was confirmed. In the experimental group, the water temperature was set to 20℃ (natural water temperature, NWT), 15℃ (cooling water temperature, CWT) respectively, in water with a salinity concentration of 35‰, 15‰ and an anesthetic (anesthesia, Anes., Sigma USA) was diluted and mixed to 50 ppm. A styrofoam box (66×42×20 cm) was used as a transport container, and 8 flounder were accommodated and transported in a plastic bag injected with 3 ℓ of seawater and liquid oxygen. As a result of the study, the concentration of cortisol before transport increased significantly from 2.4±0.1 ng ml^-1 in the experimental groups except for the CWT+35‰ group (16.7±12.8 ng ml-1). The K⁺ concentration slightly increased from 3.1±0.0 mEq l^-1 before transport to 4.5±1.1 mEq l^-1 in the NWT+15‰ group, showing no difference, and significantly increased in all other experimental groups. There was no effect on changes in blood characteristics, and water temperature and anesthetic had a negative effect on osmotic control due to stress. AST and ALT were not affected.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2014

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate the effects water extract of fermented new korean medicinal mixture, combinations of Mori Folium, Adenophorae Radix, Phllostachyos Folium and Citri Pericarpium (F-MAPC), on adipocyte differentiation, adipogenesis and glucose uptake using undiffernentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes and L6 myoblasts. Methods : Each herb and those mixture were respectively fermented and then extracted with water. We carried on MTT assay for check-up on cell toxicity, Oil Red O staining for determination of cell differentiation and intracelluar adipogenesis. Western blot analysis for measurement of pAMPK and pACC, $C/EBP{\alpha}$, $PPAR{\gamma}$ and Glut-4 protein expressions were performed. Results : F-MAPC showed significant inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes without affecting cell toxicity as assessed by measuring fat accumulation, and this effect was 2 fold higher in 0.2 mg/ml F-MAPC than that of the same dose of each fermented herbal extract alone. In addition, these effects were associated with modulation of adipogenic transcription factors, such as $C/EBP{\alpha}$, $PPAR{\gamma}$, as well as stimulated phosphorylations of AMPK and ACC. Translocation of Glut-4 was significantly increased by 10.2% in L6 cells treated with 0.2 mg/ml F-MAPC compared with that of control. Conclusions : These results demonstrate that F-MAPC may be an ideal candidate for therapy of obesity and diabetes by disturbing the differentiation into adipocytes, as well as the inducement of intramuscular glucose uptake from blood.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.77-85
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• 2018

Objective : This study was intended to examine the effects of water extract of Prunellae Spica (PS), which is a herb with 'cold' nature based on hot and cold theory of traditional Korean medicine. Methods : Hyperthyroidism was induced in SD rats by LT4 (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) daily for four weeks. After 2 weeks of LT4 injection, rats were divided randomly into four groups; normal, LT4-induced hyperthyroid control, PS extract (500 mg/kg, p.o.)-treated group, and propylthiouracil (PTU, 10 mg/kg, s.c.)-treated positive group. After 2 weeks of drug treatment, all rats were sacrificed and harvested blood samples and thyroid tissues. The changes of body weight, food and water intake, and body temperature were measured weekly. Serological markers were analyzed in sera using an enzyme-based assay, and thyroid tissues were stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E). Brain and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) tissues were isolated and analyzed the expression of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels by Western blot. Results : PS extract administration attenuated the loss of body weight and the increase of body temperature in LT4-induced hyperthyroidism rats. PS extract increased the level of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and decreased tiiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4). In action mechanism, PS extract regulated the expression of transient receptor potential channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) and transient Receptor Potential channel subfamily M member 8 (TRPM8), the thermoregulators. Conclusion : To conclude, PS extract can improve the symptoms of hyperthyroidism through regulation of the thyroid hormones imbalance and thermoregulation via TRP channels.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.17-24
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• 2020

Objectives : The objective of this study was to evaluate the gastric protective effect of Curcuma Longae Rhizoma (CLR) in 150 mM HCl/60% ethanol induced gastric ulcer (GU) in mice. Methods : Forty ICR mice were divided into five groups (n=8/Group): Nor group; Normal, Veh group; GU control, SC group; GU + sucralfate 10 mg/kg, CL; GU + CLR 30% ethanol extract 100 mg/kg, CH group; GU + CLR 30% ethanol extract 200 mg/kg. Then, mice were orally administered with 150 mM HCl/60% ethanol and caused GU. After 1 hr, mice were sacrificed, and blood and stomach tissue were collected. Results : CLR showed significance scavenging effects in 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activities (DPPH IC₅₀; 78.18 ± 0.60 ㎍/㎖, ABTS IC₅₀; 55.91 ± 1.86 ㎍/㎖). CLR significance reduce inflammatory-related factors such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) via nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) inactivation. In addition, the activation of nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) significantly led to up-regulation of anti-oxidant enzymes including factors heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), super oxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase-1/2 (GPx-1/2). Conclusions : Our discovery provides that CLR possesses anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Hence, CLR may ameliorate the development of gastric ulcer though the inhibition of NF-κB inflammatory pathway and the elevation of Nrf2 anti-oxidant pathway.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2022

Glioblastoma is one of the highly aggressive central nervous system tumors and it is difficult to treat owing its anatomical location. Peptides are novel class of drugs which has the potential to cross the blood brain barrier and exerts its anti-tumor activity. Here, we discovered a novel peptide from abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) next generation sequencing (NGS) data and tested its anticancer effect on glioblastoma cell line SNU-489. The anticancer activity was measured using a cytotoxicity assay in a time and dose-dependent manner. A concentration and time dependent increase in the cytotoxicity was seen in cells treated with the novel peptide. The highest cytotoxicity rate of about 67% was observed in SNU-489 cells treated with 200 µM peptide for 48 hrs. However, the cytotoxic effect was not or less observed in a normal skin cell line HaCaT at similar concentration, thus, evident of peptide's cell specific anticancer activity. In addition, the gene expression level of necroptosis-related genes was analyzed by qRT-PCR to elucidate the anticancer mechanism of the novel peptide. RIPK3 expression was significantly increased by 9.6-fold in 200 µM of novel peptide treatment group, and MLKL expression level was significantly elevated by 2-fold in 100 µM treated group compared to the control group. Therefore, this study confirmed that the novel abalone-derived peptide has anticancer potency, and it causes cancer cell death through the necroptosis mechanism. Collectively, these results suggest that the novel peptide could be candidate anticancer agent for the treatment of glioblastoma in the future.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.10-22
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• 2022

We studied the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 (LSB) supplemented to lactating sows on reproductive traits and farrowing duration and to piglets from day 7 of life on post-weaning performance and IgG concentration. Ninety-six Landrace × Yorkshire sows started the trial 5 days before the expected farrowing date. Sows were distributed into 2 groups according to parity number and backfat thickness: control (CON: regular lactation diet) and LSB (CON + LSB at 2 × 10⁹ colony forming units [CFU]/kg of feed). Seven days after birth, litters were randomly selected from each group and supplemented creep feed with or without LSB at 2 × 10⁹ CFU/kg. At weaning, piglets from CON sows were shifted to a commercial farm and allocated to 14 pens in groups of 25 piglets/pen according to the creep feed supplemented during lactation. Piglets followed a 3-phase feeding program: creep, pre-starter and starter, with or without LSB at 2 × 10⁹ CFU/kg LSB in creep and pre-starter, and 1 × 10⁹ CFU/kg LSB in starter. The piglets were vaccinated against classical swine fever on days 41 and 72 of life. One day before each vaccination and at the end of the trial, blood samples were collected from 15 randomly selected piglets per treatment and assessed for total IgG. Supplemented sows with non-supplemented litters displayed the lowest backfat thickness loss during lactation (p < 0.05). The LSB supplementation shortened farrowing duration (p < 0.05) and increased feed intake (p < 0.05) during the first week of lactation. The LSB-fed piglets were heavier at the end of creep (p < 0.05), pre-starter (p < 0.05), and the trial (p < 0.05); grew faster during creep (p < 0.05), starter (p < 0.05), and overall (p < 0.05); and displayed an improved feed conversion ratio during creep (p < 0.05). Total IgG content was higher at days 40 (p < 0.05) and 71 (p < 0.05) in LSB-fed piglets. We conclude that supplementing sows with Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 from late gestation until weaning shortens farrowing duration, increases feed intake, and minimizes backfat losses during lactation. When supplemented to piglet diet, post-weaning performance is improved. This improvement observed could be linked to a better immune status, as suggested by the higher IgG.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.85-96
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• 2022

The aim of this retrospective study was to compare risk factors between men and women through secondary data of nursing information and medical records according to the severity classification in patients of 340 men and 221 women with coronary artery disease(CAD) who were admitted for the first time at a general hospital and underwent first coronary artery angiography. Consequently, men presented with risk factors such as age(p=.004), total cholesterol(p=.040), triglycerides(p=.049), HbA1c(p<.001), smoking(p<.001), alcohol consumption(p=.002) and comorbidities(p=.036) that showed statistically significant differences. Among women, age(p=.002) and comorbidities (p=.018) were the only factors that showed significant differences. Significant risk factors influencing the classification of CAD severity in men were total cholesterol (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96-1.00, p=.014) in 1VD, alcohol consumption (OR 52.47, 95% CI 2.99-91.95, p=.007)in 2VD, and total cholesterol in the 3VD(OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.95-0.98, p=.026). A significant risk factor affecting the classification of CAD severity in women was comorbidity (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.82, p=.020) in the 3VD. This study identified the importance of nursing care for male CAD patients, such as smoking cessation and quitting drinking, blood sugar control, cholesterol, and accompanying disease management, and provided evidence of individually tailored nursing care.