• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.399-402
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• 1992

The causative virus causing rabbit hepatitis has been further characterized by evaluating viral proteins and viral nucleic acids of purified viruses from the liver of the experimentally infected rabbits. Rabbit hepatitis virus has one major structural protein of 54 kilodaltons and some minor proteins. Vrial RNA was resistant to DNAse I. The size of viral nucleic acid of this virus was calculated to be about 7.5 kilobases. These findings indicate that rabbit hepatitis virus belongs to the family Caliciviridae.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2010

The studies of M. Colombo (1989) and W. Lange (1992) showed that 30~40% of people became chronic after suffering from hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infection, and about 50% of the chronic cases transformed into primary liver cancer. There have been few studies done in Mongolia on hepatitis infection among health professionals, particularly in nurses. In a study done by Chimedsuren (8), the study showed that 19.4% of people with identified surface hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus and 8% of people with the identified nucleotide of RNA for the hepatitis C virus (polymerase chain reaction) had an acute form of hepatitis C. Studies on the hepatitis virus genome damaging effect on liver cells showed that genotype 8 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, TTV) had the most damaging effect on liver cells (Hahn and Faeka, 2007). Several studies have shown a relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and a lack of compliance regarding safety regulations and rules by medical personnel. Results of a study from the Maternal and Child Health Research Center showed that tests done to detect hepatitis B virus antigen and antibodies to C virus did not reveal anything. Both antigen and antibodies in 69% cases did not show, and separately, B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 13% and 9%, respectively. Results of the tests taken from health personnel in Shastin Central Hospital showed that in 76% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies was not identified. In 8% of the cases, the B virus antigen was present on its own. The combination of B the virus antigen and C virus antibodies were present in 8% of nurses and doctors, respectively. 82% of the cases had negative results for the detection of a combination of B virus antigen and C virus antibodies taken from health personnel from the State Central Clinical Hospital whereas the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies by themselves were present in 7% and 14% of the cases, respectively. Combined cases of the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies were identified in 4% of the personnel. Results of the tests taken from the health personnel in the Hospital of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs showed that in 79% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies were not identified. Separately, the B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 8% and 13% of the cases, respectively.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2011

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a causative agent of triggering acute hepatitis which is transmitted by person-to-person contact and or fecal-oral route. In previous studies, most hepatitis A virus (HAV) isolates had been genotype IA in Korea. Recently, a small number of different genotypes were reported with an upsurge of acute hepatitis by HAV. Therefore, the distribution of HAV genotypes was investigated. RNA was extracted from anti-HAV IgM positive sera which were collected from February to August 2009, at a tertiary care hospital in eastern Jeonnam, Korea. Nested reverse transcription PCR and direct sequencing for VP1/P2A region of the HAV were performed. A total of 365 cases with suspected acute hepatitis were tested for anti-HAV IgM and positive results were obtained in 24 sera (9.0%), which were collected 2 to 15 days (median, 7 days) after the onset of symptoms. Of the 24 seropositive samples, 14 (58.3%) samples were positive for HAV RNA, among which 4 isolates (28.6%) were genotype IA and the other 10 (71.4%) were genotype IIIA. Both IA and IIIA genotypes were isolated from 5~6 neighboring administrative districts throughout the year without geographic or seasonal restrictions. HAV genotypes (IA and IIIA) were observed from the eastern Jeonnam for the studied.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.538-544
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• 2003

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major causative agent of chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The development of alternative antiviral therapies is warranted because current treatments for the HCV infection affect only a limited number of patients and lead to significant toxicities. The HCV genome is exclusively present in the RNA form; therefore, ribozyme strategies to target certain HCV sequences have been proposed as anti-HCV treatments. In this study, we determined which regions of the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of HCV are accessible to ribozymes by employing an RNA mapping strategy that is based on a trans-splicing ribozyme library. We then discovered that the loop regions of the domain IIIb of HCV IRES appeared to be particularly accessible. Moreover, to verify if the target sites that were predicted to be accessible are truly the most accessible, we assessed the ribozyme activities by comparing not only the trans-splicing activities in vitro but also the trans-cleavage activities in cells of several ribozymes that targeted different sites. The ribozyme that could target the most accessible site identified by mapping studies was then the most active with high fidelity in cells as well as in vitro. These results demonstrate that the RNA mapping strategy represents an effective method to determine the accessible regions of target RNAs and have important implications for the development of various antiviral therapies which are based on RNA such as ribozyme, antisense, or siRNA.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.470-477
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• 2015

Objectives: Given current vaccinations against the hepatitis B virus and changes in dietary lifestyles, the status of liver disorders, especially in the younger population, is different than it was in the past. This study aimed to discover the prevalence of the HBsAg positive and abnormal hepatic enzyme among college students.Methods: The study analyzed the medical examinations of 2,646 college students that were performed at Semyung University from March to September 2013.Results: A total of 11 out of 2,646 students (0.4%) showed as positive for the hepatitis B antigen, while 23.8% of students had the serum HBs antibody. A total of 212 students (8.0%) showed abnormally elevated serum levels of ALT, with significant differences between men and women. The prevalence of the abnormal serum ALT and its average value significantly increased according to an increase of BMI score, especially in male students.Conclusions: This study showed the importance of obesity as a causative factor in liver disorders, especially in the young generation. This finding will be useful for the development of therapeutics using Korean medicine in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Veterinary Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.121-123
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• 2017

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading causative agent of acute hepatitis in humans. Zoonotic HEV strains have been isolated from several animal species, including pigs. New HEV variants have been recently isolated from camels in the Middle East. In the present study, fecal samples from fallow deer, formosan deer, alpaca, and guanaco were analyzed for the detection of HEV. One HEV strain was detected from guanaco, a species of camelids. The nucleotide sequence of guanaco HEV was identical to those of deer HEV-3 strains, which implied the cross-species transmission of HEV-3 from deer to guanaco.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.285-290
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• 2007

The occurrence of hydropericardium-hepatitis syndrome was confirmed for the first time in Korea from chickens submitted for diagnosis to our laboratory from broiler and baeksemi farms. Clinical signs included depression, inappetence, ruffled feathers and an increase in mortality. At necropsy, severe hydropericardium and hepatic necrosis was characteristically found. The most remarkable microscopic changes were seen in the liver, including basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes, massive hemorrhages and necrosis in the liver parenchyma. Based on polymerase chain reaction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we could identify the fowl adenoviruses as the causative agent of the disease. In the TEM, we observed the presence of a large number of intranuclear virus particles in the hepatocytes. We could also find the PCR amplification of 700 bp DNA from purified hydropericardium-hepatitis syndrome viral DNA.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.260-266
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• 1995

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been considered as a mojor causative agent of post-transfusion related non-A, non-B hepatitis. In this study, the cDNA sequence of NS4 region of HCV (HCV-S) obtained from a Korean patient's plasms was determined. Comparative nucleotide sequence analysis between to type II. 67.2% homology to type III, and 66.4% homology to type IV. The putative amino acid sequence homologies to types I, II, III, and IV were 82.8-84.7%, 92.5-95.1%. 72.5, and 71.1%, respectively. This data strongly suggests that HCV-S should be classified as type II. Significant similarities of hydrophobicity profiles and putative transmembranous domains were found in HCV-S and four major prototypes, indicating that the protein structure is similar in spite of the heterogeneities of intertype homologies at the level of the psrimary nucleotide and amino acid sequences.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 2008

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known as the causative agent of blood transmitted hepatitis. Two viral proteins, E2 and NS5A, are known to exert interferon resistance of HCV via PKR pathway. Here, we report a third protein, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NS5B) of HCV, induced interferon resistance inhibiting p56 pathway. p56 was shown to interact with p48 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3). This interaction inhibited formation of ternary complex in translation initiation. Using dual reporter assay system, we observed that the translation decreased when interferon alpha was added to the culture. But, in the presence of HCV NS5B, the translation partly recovered. NS5B and p48 subunit of eIF3 were shown to interact. This interaction seems to inhibit the interaction between p48 and p56. This is the first report that a virus exerts interferon resistance via p56 pathway.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.825-831
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• 1999

This study was performed to determine the etiological agents in concurrent disorders in gastrointestinal and respiratory tract. Most of dogs had clinical signs including nasal and ocular discharge, coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea. Of the 22 dogs, seropositive rates of each virus were 54.5% (12/22) against canine distemper virus, 90.9% (20/22) against canine adenovirus 1, 36.4% (8/22) against canine adenovirus 2, 18.2% (4/22) against canine parvovirus, 81.8% (18/22) against canine hepatitis virus and 59.1% (13/22) against canine coronavirus. Canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus infection were 54.6% (12/22) in histopathological examination. In addition, mixed infections of canine distemper virus and adenovirus 2 were 9.1% (2/22). While simple infection of canine adenovirus 2 were 9.1% (2/22). E coli and Staphylococcus spp were isolated in facts as a rate of 72.7% (16/22) and 40.9% (9/22), respectively. Conclusionally, it is also estimated that environmental stress might be one of the causative factors.