• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 2015

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women worldwide. Cervical cancer is significantly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The prevalence of HPV infection is influenced by geography, immune status, sexual history and genetic factors. For example, geographically, HPV prevalence varies from 1.5% to 39%. However, little is known about the relationship between HPV prevalence and age. An analysis of HPV prevalence by age will help determine when high-risk groups are exposed to HPV. Such an analysis could also demonstrate a correlation between specific HPV genotypes and age. In addition, the analysis might clarify the optimum age for using vaccines. In this study, HPV prevalence and genotype distribution among Korean and Chinese women are analyzed by age. The REBA HPV-ID$^{(R)}$ assay (YD diagnostics, Yong-in, Republic of Korea) was used for detecting HPV genotypes in uterine cervical liquid-based cytology samples from 533 women from Korea and 324 from East China (Western Shandong province. Women with severe dysplasia such as SCC (Squamous cell carcinoma) and HSIL (High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) groups were primarily in their 40s and 50s, whereas women with mild and moderate dysplasia (ASCUS and LSIL groups) were primarily in their 30s and 40s. Women with HPV genotype 16 and 18 infections were primarily in their 40s. The results suggest that HPV infection is associated with certain age groups in the Korean population.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.61-64
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• 2005

We compared the serum protein electrophoresis patterns in sera of diabetes patients (n=166) which showed more than 150 mg/dL of glucose. The concentrations of total protein, albumin, ${\alpha}1$-globulin, ${\alpha}2$-globulin, ${\beta}$-globulin and ${\gamma}$-globulin in sera of patients were $6.3{\pm}1.2g/dL$, $40.3{\pm}6.4%$, $4.9{\pm}2.3%$, $13.5{\pm}3.8%$, $15.5{\pm}3.9%$, and $25.9{\pm}5.8%$, respectively. The frequency of patients showed lower levels of total protein, albumin, ${\alpha}1$-globulin were 48.5%, 96.4%, and 33.7%. The frequency of patients showed higher levels of ${\alpha}2$-globulin, ${\beta}$-globulin, and ${\gamma}$-globulin were 56.6%, 47.0%, and 90.4%, respectively. This data suggests that the high concentration of glucose in blood may damage the kidney and liver. Also, the decrease of albumin and ${\alpha}1$-globulin and increase of ${\alpha}2$-globulin, ${\beta}$-globulin and ${\gamma}$-globulin shows that the concentration of glucose in blood will have an effect on the variation of serum protein electrophoretic patterns.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an epidemiologically important virus with a worldwide distribution. It causes acute hepatitis in humans. HAV infection is often subclinical or asymptomatic in children; however, symptomatic acute infections become more common with age. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of anti-HAV among hospital workers in Jeonbuk province. 447 (127 males, 320 females) persons were included in the study from January to June, 2011. Anti-HAV (total and IgM) in the sample serum was measured by VIDAS Hepatitis A (bioMerieux, France), and IgM positive samples were tested in terms of their serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels by a HITACHI 7600-010 automatic analyzer (HITACHI, Japan). The overall prevalence of total anti-HAV was 45.9% (205/447), and rate for males (60.6%) was higher than that for females (40%). According to the age group, the prevalence rates of total anti-HAV were 20% (1/5) in those under 20 years old, 11.3% (18/160) in those 20-29 years, 49.7% (71/143) in those 30-39 years, 86.5% (83/96) in those 40-49 years, 92.9% (26/28) in those 50-59 years, and 40% (6/15) in those over 60 years old. The total prevalence of anti-HAV IgM was 0.8% (4/447), and rate for males (1.6%) was higher than that for females (0.6%). Through this study, we determined the prevalence of anti-HAV among hospital workers in Jeonbuk province. The prevalence of the HAV antibody overall was low in hospital workers under 40 years old and in those over 60 years old. Therefore, an improvement in sanitary conditions and hygiene and vaccinations against HAV in this population are recommended.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2006

Anaerobic black-pigmented bacteria have been implicated in the endodontic infections. This group of microorganisms includes Porphyromonas endodontalis, P. gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, and Prevotella nigrescens. The organisms display a wide variety of virulence factors that may be pertinent to acute endodontic infections. The aim of this study was to identify P. endodontalis, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, and P. nigrescens by using the special potency disk test, filter paper spot test, 16S rRNA gene-directed PCR, and API 32A system. Microbial samples were collected from root canals of 33 intact teeth with necrotic pulp and apical periodontitis. Conventional laboratory methods were used to identify the strains of anaerobic black pigmented bacteria. Eighteen out of 33 samples were positive for the growth of black-pigmented bacrteria. Five colonies were cultured from each pure cultured colony from Brucella agar plates. Seventy seven colonies were positive for the growth of black-pigmented bacteria. Thirty three out of 77(42.8%) were identifed as P. nigrescens, 10 out of 77(13%)were P. gingivalis, 6 out of 77(7.8%) were P. endodontalis, 10 out of 77(13%) were P. intermedia. On the contrary the reference strains of P. nigrescens, experimental strains of P. nigrescens were susceptible to kanamycin in the special potency disk test. We concluded that after rapid presumptive identification methods, such as the special potency disk test and filter paper spot test were done, 16S rRNA gene PCR and API 32A test would be accurate detection methods for black-pigemented bacteria.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2018

Cytogenetic analysis plays an important role in examinations of a variety of human disorders. Over the years, cytogenetic analysis has evolved to a great extent and become a part of routine laboratory testing; the analysis provides significant diagnostic and prognostic results for human diseases. Microarray in conjunction with molecular cytogenetics and conventional chromosome analysis has transformed the outcomes of clinical cytogenetics. The advantages of microarray technologies have become obvious to the medical and laboratory community involved in genetic diagnosis, resulting in greatly improved visualization and validation capabilities. This article reviews how the field is moving away from conventional cytogenetics towards molecular approaches for the identification of pathogenic genomic imbalances and discusses practical considerations for the routine implementation of these technologies in genetic diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 2012

Adiponectin is secreted specifically by adipose tissue and regulates lipid and glucose metabolism. In addition, adiponectin has been found to inhibit inflammatory process and possibly atherogenesis. This study was done to compare hematological parameters, serum lipids with serum adiponectin level according to body mass index (BMI) and gender in eighty eight Korean adults aged 40 to 68. In this study, the association between serum adiponectin and other variables including RBC counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit and albumin were investigated. RBC, hemoglobin status, was inversely associated with serum adiponectin levels in normal adult women. Adiponectin levels were significantly lower in men than women (p<0.01). In men, serum adiponectin levels were negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) (p<0.05). However, no correlations were found in women. These results might imply that the regulation of key adipokines such as adiponectin might be a strategy for the prevention or treatment of obesity-associated diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.954-958
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• 2014

Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) catalyzes the oxidation of succinic semialdehyde (SSA) into succinic acid in the final step of ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid degradation. Here, we characterized Bacillus subtilis SSADH (BsSSADH) regarding its cofactor discrimination and substrate inhibition. BsSSADH showed similar values of the catalytic efficiency ($k_{ca}t/K_m$) in both $NAD^+$ and $NADP^+$ as cofactors, and exhibited complete uncompetitive substrate inhibition at higher SSA concentrations. Further analyses of the sequence alignment and homology modeling indicated that the residues of catalytic and cofactor-binding sites in other SSADHs were highly conserved in BsSSADH.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.67-75
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• 2009

In order to provide basic data for the prevention of adverse effects of lead on health, we examined lead levels in the blood of 30 handicapped workers employed in manufacturing electronic components in Seoul from 2002 to 2008. The average lead level in the blood of all the subjects was $4.79{\pm}4.32{\mu}g/dL$ in females, $2.64{\pm}2.31{\mu}g/dL$ in males, and $3.88{\pm}3.75{\mu}g/dL$ in total. Lead levels examined in this study were significantly lower than other investigators study have reported. The average lead level from personal exposure of the subjects was $1.44{\pm}0.91mg/m^3$ in the workplace. The relation between blood lead levels and personal exposure was a simple linear regression; it's equation was "Lead level in blood = 6.04 - 1.92 lead level by personal exposure".

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.85-90
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and differences of risk factors of Metabolic syndrome according to menopausal status. From the database of the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V) conducted in 2012, data of 3,537 women who responded to health interview and health examination questionnaires. The presence of Metabolic syndrome was assessed using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. The prevalence of Metabolic syndrome was 17.3% in premenopause and 54.3% in postmenopause. BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and Ferritin were higher in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women. However, postmenopausal women had lower HDL cholesterol and TIBC when compared to premenopausal women. Hypertension was the most prominent characteristic of postmenopausal women. Low HDL cholesterol showed up as a meaningful factor in premenopausal women. According to multiple regression analysis, waist circumference, fasting glucose, and HDL cholesterol were independent predictors of menopause. Therefore, obesity control and blood lipids management is recommended for postmenopausal women.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.75-78
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• 2014

Green tea and tea polyphenols have been studied extensively as cancer chemopreventive agents in recent years. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is widely recognized as a powerful antioxidant and a free radical scavenger. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of green tea catechins (GTC) on the Bleomycin- and Cyclophosphamide-induced cytotoxicity. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. In the protective effect of GTC, the cell viability was significantly increased by the treatment of GTC. Furthermore, GTC showed the higher protective effect than EGCG and vitamin E. These results suggest that GTC has the protective effect which is related to the prevention of cancer. Our studies show that the continuous presence of EGCG can reduce radical-induced DNA damage in Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cells (CHL cells).