• BMB Reports
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• 제45권12호
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• pp.677-685
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• 2012

In the process of tumorigenesis, normal cells are remodeled to cancer cells and protein expression patterns are changed to those of tumor cells. A newly formed tumor microenvironment elicits the immune system and, as a result, a humoral immune response takes place. Although the tumor antigens are undetectable in sera at the early stage of tumorigenesis, the nature of an antibody amplification response to antigens makes tumor-associated autoantibodies as promising early biomarkers in cancer diagnosis. Moreover, the recent development of proteomic techniques that make neo-epitopes of tumor-associated autoantigens discovered concomitantly has opened a new area of 'immuno-proteomics', which presents tumor-associated autoantibody signatures and confers information to redefine the process of tumorigenesis. In this article, the strategies recently used to identify and validate serum autoantibodies are outlined and tumor-associated antigens suggested until now as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers in various tumor types are reviewed. Also, the meaning of autoantibody signatures and their clinical utility in personalized medicine are discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.2361-2368
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• 2015

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating between benign and malignant enlarged lymph nodes using meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Pubmed, Embase, SCI and Cochrane databases were searched for studies (up to September 1, 2014) reporting the diagnostic performance of CEUS in discriminating between benign and malignant lymph nodes. Inclusion criteria were: prospective study; histopathology as the reference standard; and sufficient data to construct $2{\times}2$ contingency tables. Methodological quality was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). Patient clinical characteristics, sensitivity and specificity were extracted. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to examine the accuracy of CEUS. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the clinical utility in identification of benign and malignant lymph nodes. Sensitivity analysis was performed after omitting outliers identified in a bivariate boxplot and publication bias was assessed with Egger testing. Results: The pooled sensitivity, specificity and AUROC were 0.92 (95%CI, 0.85-0.96), 0.91 (95%CI, 0.82-0.95) and 0.97 (95%CI, 0.95-0.98), respectively. After omitting 3 outlier studies, heterogeneity decreased. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated no disproportionate influences of individual studies. Publication bias was not significant. Conclusions: CEUS is a promising diagnostic modality in differentiating between benign and malignant lymph nodes and can potentially reduce unnecessary fine-needle aspiration biopsies of benign nodes.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.77.1-77.10
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• 2021

Background: Serum-based parameters are considered non-invasive biomarkers for cancer detection. In human studies, insulin-like growth factor-I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) are useful as diagnostic or prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets. Objectives: This study examined the diagnostic utility of circulating IGF-I, IGF-II, and IGFBP-3 levels in healthy dogs and dogs with tumors. Methods: The serum concentrations of these biomarkers in 86 dogs with tumors were compared with those in 30 healthy dogs using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The ELISA results showed no difference between healthy dogs and dogs with tumors in the serum IGF-II concentrations. On the other hand, there was a significant difference in the circulating IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels between healthy dogs and dogs with tumors. The concentrations of serum IGF-I (median [interquartile range], 103.4 [59.5-175] ng/mL) in dogs with epithelial tumors were higher than those (58.4 ng/mL [43.5-79.9]) in healthy dogs. Thus, the concentrations of serum IGFBP-3 (43.4 ng/mL [33.2-57.2]) in dogs with malignant mesenchymal tumors were lower than those (60.8 ng/mL [47.6-70.5]) in healthy dogs. Conclusions: The serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels can be used as diagnostic biomarkers in dogs with tumors.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.52-68
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• 2013

Objectives: Hyungsang medicine (HM) is an inspection which emphasizes the relationships between pathological patterns and one's facial or bodily shape, color and movement. The purpose of this study was to review previously published study results of the HM. Methods: The authors reviewed a total of 51 HM-related studies published from 2000 to 2012 found on PubMed and various domestic Oriental medicine journals. Each study was classified into theoretical, diagnostic, or treatment-related category. Results: Theoretical studies were mostly based on the Nei-Ching and Dong-Eui-Bo-Gam texts, and dealt with differences in form between types such as masculine and feminine, the five organ image types, the four-type categorization of body essence, vital energy (Qi), mentality, and Blood, Gallbladder and Bladder, the four-type categorization of fish, bird, horse, and turtle types, and the six meridian types. Research on diagnosis has been performed on diagnostic characteristics of HM, correlation between HM and general coordinative manipulation (GCM), and Hyungsang medicine and ante-disease pattern (未病類型). Studies on treatments could largely be classified as treatments for specific diseases using certain acupuncture or herbal prescriptions based on HM. Treatments were mostly evaluated solely through subjective symptom improvement of patients. Conclusions: Our review results suggest that HM-related studies were focused on the constitutional characteristics and clinical utility of HM. To strengthen the theoretical basis of HM and its clinical utility, clinical trials including randomized, treatment-placebo and blind methods are needed.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.135-140
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• 2015

Background: Identifying early markers of septic complications can aid in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of hospitalized patients. In this study, the utility of procalcitonin (PCT) vs. C-reactive protein (CRP) as early markers of sepsis was compared. Methods: A series of 2,697 consecutive blood samples was collected from hospitalized patients and serum PCT and CRP levels were measured. Patients were categorized by PCT level as follows: < 0.05 ng/ml, 0.05-0.49 ng/ml, 0.5-1.99 ng/ml, 2-9.99 ng/ml, and > 10 ng/ml. Diagnostic utility was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Mean CRP levels varied among the five PCT categories at $0.31{\pm}2.87$, $5.65{\pm}6.26$, $13.78{\pm}8.01$, $12.15{\pm}10.16$, and $17.77{\pm}10.59$, respectively (P < 0.05). PCT and CRP differed between positive and negative blood culture groups (PCT: 15.9 vs. 4.78 mg/dl;CRP: 11.5 ng/ml vs. 9.57 ng/ml;P < 0.05). The areas under the ROC curves (PCT, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.743, range: 0.698-0.789 at a threshold of 0.5 ng/ml; CRP, 95% CI: 0.540, range: 0.478-0.602 at a threshold of 8 mg/l) differed for PCT and CRP (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Therefore, PCT is a reliable marker for sepsis diagnosis and is more relevant than CRP in patients with a positive blood culture. These findings can be useful for the treatment of critically ill sepsis patients.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.227-231
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• 2012

Background : The ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) is a simple, useful method for diagnosing peripheral artery disease (PAD). Although the ABI is an objective diagnostic method, it has limited reliability in certain scenarios. The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy and reliability of the toe brachial index (TBI) as a diagnostic tool for detecting stenosis in PAD, associated with normal or low ABI values. Methods : ABI and TBI values were measured in 15 patients with diabetic gangrene who were suspected of having lower extremity arterial insufficiency. The ABI and TBI values were measured using a device that allowed the simultaneous measurement of systolic blood pressure in the upper and lower extremities. In addition, the ABI and TBI values were compared pre- and post-angiography. Results : Patients with an ABI of 0.9-1.3 showed almost no difference between the 2 measurements. The patients with TBI >0.6 had no arterial insufficiency. The patients with TBI <0.6 required vascular intervention with ballooning. After the angiography, the gangrenous wounds decreased in size more rapidly than they did prior to the intervention. Conclusions : Our findings suggest that TBI is the method of choice for evaluating lower limb perfusion disorders. This result requires further studies of TBI in a larger number of patients. Future long-term studies should therefore evaluate the utility of TBI as a means of screening for PAD and the present findings should be regarded as preliminary outcomes.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.116-120
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was conducted to re-validate the clinical efficacy of the Korean Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Rating Scale (K-AARS), which is a self-report scale for ADHD in adults, and to determine the clinical utility and cut-off scores of K-AARS. Methods: The participants were 135 drug naïve adults with ADHD and 144 healthy controls. To diagnose ADHD based on the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, two board-certified pediatric psychiatrists interviewed the participants and completed the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. K-AARS was applied to all participants. K-AARS comprises six clinical subscales, one impairment subscale, and one driving behavior subscale. The receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to calculate the cut-off scores of K-AARS. Results: All subscale scores, including six clinical subscale, impairment subscale, and driving behavior subscale scores, were found to be significant in distinguishing adults with ADHD from healthy controls. The sensitivity and specificity of the six clinical subscales were 63.0-77.0% and 66.7-79.9%, respectively. The combined total score of the six clinical subscales, had a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 79.9%. Conclusion: The discriminative power of K-AARS for the diagnosis of ADHD in adults was excellent, and K-AARS and the empirical diagnosis of adults can be useful in diagnosing ADHD in adulthood.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.76-84
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• 2022

Purpose: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been a useful tool for novel gene discovery of various disease categories, further increasing the diagnostic yield. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of WES prospectively in undiagnosed genetic diseases. Materials and Methods: WES tests were performed on 110 patients (age range, 0-28 years) with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES tests were performed at a single reference laboratory and the variants reported were reviewed by clinical geneticists, pediatricians, neurologists, and laboratory physicians. Results: The patients' symptoms varied with abnormalities in the head or neck, including facial dysmorphism, being the most common, identified in 85.4% of patients, followed by abnormalities in the nervous system (83.6%). The average number of systems manifesting phenotypic abnormalities per patient was 3.9±1.7. The age at presentation was 2.1±2.7 years old (range, 0-15 years), and the age at WES testing was 6.7±5.3 years (range, 0-28 years). In total, WES test reported 100 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants or variants of uncertain significance for 79 out of 110 probands (71.8%). Of the 79 patients with positive or inconclusive calls, 55 (50.0%) patients were determined to have good genotype-phenotype correlations after careful review. Further clinical reassessment and family member testing determined 45 (40.9%) patients to have been identified with a molecular diagnosis. Conclusion: This study showed a 40.9% diagnostic yield for WES test for a heterogeneous patient cohort with suspected rare genetic diseases. WES could be the feasible genetic test modality to overcome the diversity and complexity of rare disease diagnostics.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that usually occurs in the elderly, leading to dementia in some progressive cases. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of central auditory processing tests as early diagnostic tools for identifying the elderly with MCI. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 elderly patients with MCI and 20 healthy matched peers. The speech perception ability in a quiet environment and in the presence of background noise and also temporal resolution were assessed by using Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Gap in Noise (GIN) tests, respectively. Results: The results indicated that the ability to understand speech in a quiet environment did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, SPIN at the three signal-to-noise ratios and the temporal resolution scores were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with MCI appear to have poorer speech comprehension in noise and a lower temporal resolution than those of the same age, but without cognitive defects. Considering the utility of these tests in identifying cognitive problems, we propose that since the GIN test seems to be less influenced by intervening factors, this test can therefore, be a useful tool for the early screening of elderly people with cognitive problems.

• 대한청각학회지
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that usually occurs in the elderly, leading to dementia in some progressive cases. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of central auditory processing tests as early diagnostic tools for identifying the elderly with MCI. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 elderly patients with MCI and 20 healthy matched peers. The speech perception ability in a quiet environment and in the presence of background noise and also temporal resolution were assessed by using Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Gap in Noise (GIN) tests, respectively. Results: The results indicated that the ability to understand speech in a quiet environment did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, SPIN at the three signal-to-noise ratios and the temporal resolution scores were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with MCI appear to have poorer speech comprehension in noise and a lower temporal resolution than those of the same age, but without cognitive defects. Considering the utility of these tests in identifying cognitive problems, we propose that since the GIN test seems to be less influenced by intervening factors, this test can therefore, be a useful tool for the early screening of elderly people with cognitive problems.