• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2017

Purpose: The association of hypoalbuminemia with 30-day in-hospital mortality in patients with organophosphate insecticide poisoning (OPI) was studied. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted between January 2006 and November 2013 in the emergency department (ED) after OPI poisoning. A Kaplan-Meier 30-day survival curve and the log-rank test were used to analyze patients stratified according to serum albumin levels on ED admission (hypoalbuminemia or normo-albuminemia). Independent risk factors including hypoalbuminemia for 30-day mortality were determined by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results: A total of 135 patients were included. Eighty-eight (65%) patients were male and the mean age was $57.3{\pm}17.0$ years. Serum albumin, mean arterial pressure, and Glasgow coma scale score were significantly higher in the survival group than the non-survival group. APACHE II score was significantly lower in the non-survival group than the survival group. The mortality of the hypoalbuminemia group (serum albumin <3.5 g/dl) was 68.8%, while that of the normo-albuminemia group (serum albumin ${\geq}3.5g/dl$) was 15.1%. The area under the ROC curve of the serum albumin level was 0.786 (95% CI, 0.690-0.881) and the APACHE II score was 0.840 (95% CI, 0.770-0.910). Conclusion: Hypoalbuminemia is associated with 30-day mortality in patients with OPI poisoning.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.344-351
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• 2015

Purpose: During the recent decades, the age at menarche continued to decline in Korea and worldwide. Prior studies have suggested that early menarche may increase the risk of various social, psychological, and physical health problems in young adolescent girls, but little is known about the determinants associated with early menarche. The purpose of this study is to evaluate independent determinants of early menarche among 5th~6th female graders in South Korea. Methods: Our analysis was conducted in 95 menarcheal girls and 95 age-matched pre-menarcheal girls residing in Daegu, South Korea. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected using survey questionnaires for children and parents. Dietary information was assessed by 2 day~24 hour food records and survey questionnaires, which were completed by both children and their parents. Anthropometric data were obtained from the student health check-ups at the school. Results: A multiple logistic regression analysis using a conditional likelihood method was performed for simultaneous evaluation of several risk factors. There were significant differences in that higher proportion of obesity (OR, odds ratio = 5.60, 95% CI, confidence interval = 1.34~23.42), shorter sleep duration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23~0.87), and younger mother's age at menarche (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.44~0.93) were observed in the menarcheal group compared to the pre-menarcheal group. Conclusion: These findings indicate a possible association of sleep duration, mother's menarcheal age, and obesity with age at menarche. A well-planned, prospective cohort study is warranted to examine causal relationship.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.455-462
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• 2004

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in American men and evidences point to significant life style/diet components as risk factors for its development or prevention. Two large cohort studies have identified the consumption of tomatoes or high Plasma levels of Iycopene as associated with reduced risk. A number of other substances such as quercetin, phytoene, phytofluene, cyclolycopene, salicylates and tomatine in tomato besides lycopene could have anticancer activity and may be acting synergistically with lycopene. Lycopene at almost physiologically feasible concentrations, reduces cell viability by cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and modulates the cyclin pathways as well as increasing intercellular communication. However, it is not clear whether lycopene or its oxidation products are more bioactive. Tomato product supplementation results in plasma accumulation of phytoene, Phytofluene, the lycopene oxidation product, and cyclolycopene at significant concentrations and lycopene supplementation, either as a tomato product or as beadlets, results in maximal mean plasma lycopene concentrations of ∼ 1 $\mu$M which is at the lower limit of its activity in cell culture. Rats and mice are poor accumulators of lycopene and other carotenoids making them poor models for the study of cancer prevention and control. Of the 19 animal studies for various cancer sites, lycopene showed a positive effect in 10 studies but negative in 2 prostate cancer studies. In vivo prevention of leukocyte DNA damage in humans has been mostly studied using tomato product supplementation but lycopene supplementation appeared to reduce oxidative DNA damage as well as tomato product supplementation. Lycopene appears to be bioactive in intefering with carcinogenesis but the actions of phytoene, phytofluene or cyclolycopene cannot be ruled out since these compounds were present in most of the lycopene material used for these studies. Although lycopene remains as a promising agent, especially for cancer control, exploring interactions with other tomato phytochemicals and with current prostate cancer therapies should be encouraged.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.579-588
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of generalized aggressive periodontitis with IL-6 promoter gene single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNP). Material and Methods: The study population consisted of 52 generalized aggressive periodontitis patients(GAP) and 30 periodontally healthy control subjects, who were systemically healthy non-smokers. Genomic DNA was obtained from buccal swab. The IL-6 promotor SNP at the positions of -597, -572, and -174 were genotyped by amplifying the polymorphic region using polymerase chain reaction(PCR), restriction enzyme digestion and gel electrophoresis. Result: The genotype distributions for G/G, G/A and A/A genotypes of IL-6 -597 were 30.8%, 40.4%, and 28.8% in the GAP group and 53.3%, 40%, and 6.7% in the control group and were statistically different between 2 groups(p<0.05). Allele 2 frequency of IL-6 -597 were significantly higher in the GAP group than the control group(p<0.01). At the position of IL-6 -572, the distribution for C/C, C/G and G/G genotypes were 23.1%, 55.8% and 21.2% in the GAP group and 20%, 33.3%, and 46.7% in the control group. In female subjects, the genotype distribution were significantly different between 2 groups(p<0.01). In male subjects, allele 2 frequency of IL-6-572 was significantly lower in the GAP group than the control group(p<0.05). The genotype distribution of IL-6 -174 in the GAP group were 96.2%, 3.8% for G/G, G/C genotypes whereas only the G/G genotype was detected in the control group. Conclusion: In conclusion, significant associations were found in IL-6 gene promoter(-597, -572) polymorphisms and generalized aggressive periodontitis. Further cohort study will be necessary in larger population.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2020

Background: Use of appropriate antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia is integral in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Although it is recommended that empirical treatment regimens should be based on the local distribution of pathogens in patients with suspected hospital-acquired pneumonia, few studies observe patients admitted to ICUs with nursing home-acquired pneumonia (NHAP). We found factors associated with the use of inappropriate antibiotics in patients with pneumonia admitted to the ICU via the emergency room (ER). Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 83 pneumonia patients with confirmed causative bacteria admitted to ICUs via ER March 2015-May 2017. We compared clinical parameters, between patients who received appropriate or inappropriate antibiotics using the Mann-Whitney U, Pearson's chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests. We investigated independent factors associated with inappropriate antibiotic use in patients using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 83 patients, 30 patients (36.1%) received inappropriate antibiotics. NHAP patients were more frequently treated with inappropriate antibiotics than with appropriate antibiotics (47.2% vs. 96.7%, p<0.001). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was more frequently isolated from individuals in the inappropriate antibiotics-treated group than in the appropriate antibiotics-treated group (7.5% vs. 70.0%, p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, NHAP was independently associated with the use of inappropriate antibiotics in patients with pneumonia admitted to the ICU via ER. Conclusion: NHAP is a risk factor associated with the use of inappropriate antibiotics in patients with pneumonia admitted to the ICU via the ER.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2012

In this study, we have examined the effects of the storage time and temperature on DNA quality and have also studied the effects of the hydration buffer in which DNA is dissolved. This study was performed using 160 human blood samples collected with informed consent from 2007 to 2008 in the hospital where this cohort study was performed. The DNA extracted was dissolved using distilled water (DW) or Tris-EDTA (TE) buffer, and stored in the deep freezer or refrigerator for up to 10 weeks at $-70^{\circ}C$, $-20^{\circ}C$, $4^{\circ}C$, and $25^{\circ}C$, respectively. DNA integrity was determined by the degree of smearing of DNA on the gel. After four weeks, all of the 20 DNA samples dissolved in DW and stored at $25^{\circ}C$ were entirely degraded. After 10 weeks, 6 of the 20 DNA samples dissolved in TE buffer and stored at $25^{\circ}C$ were fairly degraded, and 4 of the 20 DNA samples dissolved in DW and stored at $4^{\circ}C$ were fairly degraded. The 20 DNA samples dissolved in TE buffer and stored at $4^{\circ}C$ were stable for 10 weeks. DNA samples stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ and $-70^{\circ}C$ did not appear to degrade in either DW or TE buffer, even at the 10-week point. We suggest that TE buffer should use for DNA elution, in order to protect against degradation and to preserve DNA for a long period of time, and the samples should be stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ or $-70^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.504-508
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• 2004

Surgical process of oral and maxillofacial area as well as dental treatment are stressful situations to the patients. It is well known that serum level of stress hormones including adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) and cortisol increase when the body is exposed to stress. However, there have been few studies on demographic and clinical factors related with stress. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to supply data to cope with stress more comprehensively and efficiently by analyzing the effect of factors related with stress in addition to surgical procedure. Prospective cohort study method was selected. Serum levels of ACTH and cortisol were measured by sampling bloods pre-operatively and post-operatively from 45 patients who had been operated at the Bundang Jesaeng Hospital department of oral and maxillofacial surgery. To evaluate factors associated with stress, patients were classified according to gender, age, method of payment(insurance or self), experiences of operation, kind of operations(expected operations or unexpected operations). Relative risk was calculated to assess relationships between changes of serum level of ACTH and cortisol and factors related with stress, whereas Chi-square analysis was executed to evaluate statistical significance. With regard to serum level of ACTH, relative risk was 1.3 in the group of the patients who were less than 40 years old. With regard to serum level of cortisol, relative risk was 1.8 for women compared with men, 1.4 in the group of the patients who were less than 40 years old and 1.6 in the group of the patients who had not experienced any other operations. In addition to surgical procedure, factors related with stress included gender, age, method of payments, experiences of operation and kind of operations. Therefore, we should provide comprehensive schemes to reduce stress of the patients going through oral and maxillofacial surgery.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.497-504
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• 2008

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to report prevalence and to identify risk factors of subclinical mastitis of dairy cattle in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Among 325 dairy farms of the district 12 farms(3.7%) were selected conveniently for this study. All the dairy cows of the 12 farms were selected for sample collection. Fresh milk samples from each of the selected dairy cows were collected aseptically in separate sterilized test tube as RF, RH, LF and LH quarter of the udder. Rapid modified White Side Test(WST) was used to detect subclinical mastitis(SCM). Results of WST and data derived from filled in questionnaire were entered in Microsoft Excel 2003 and transferred to $STATA^{(R)}$, version 8.0/Intercooled(Stata Corporation, Texas, USA, 2003). The overall prevalence of SCM and its distribution in different categories of variables in cow and their exact binomial 95% confidence intervals were calculated in $STATA^{(R)}$. Simple bivariable associations among independent variables were investigated by $x^2$ test in $STATA^{(R)}$. Multiple logistic regression analysis with backward elimination method was used to identify risk factors of SCM. To identify significant variation in quarter SCM, linear regression analysis was performed after arcsine transformation of the data. The overall prevalence of SCM found in this study is 54%. Dairy cows with teat lesions had significantly increased SCM(OR=12342, P value=0.000, 95% CI=762, 199798) than others without teat lesions. The Holstein Friesian X Jersey X Sahiwal breed has significantly decreased(OR=0.18, p=0.03, 95% CI 0.04, 0.85) SCM than other breeds. The prevalence of SCM found in this study is in agreement with others. The injury in the teat increases the probability of getting infected with microbes and thereby mastitis. If the prevalence of teat lesion can be decreased the probability of subclinical mastitis will also be decreased. The negatively associated Holstein Friesian X Jersey X Sahiwall breed may help in planning mastitis control program if this finding can be validated by a more powerful case-control or cohort study design.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.450-457
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• 2018

Objective : Very large (20-25 mm) and giant (${\geq}25mm$) intracranial aneurysms have an extremely poor natural course, and treatment of these aneurysms remains a challenge for endovascular and surgical strategies. This study was undertaken to describe our experiences of endosaccular treatment of very large and giant intracranial aneurysms with parent artery preservation. Methods : From January 2005 to October 2016, twenty-four very large or giant aneurysms in 24 patients were treated by endosaccular coil embolization with parent artery preservation. Nine (37.5%) aneurysms were ruptured and 15 were unruptured, and of these 15, 11 were symptomatic cases and 4 were incidentally discovered. The cohort comprised 17 women and 7 men of mean age 58.5 years (range, 26-82). Mean aneurysm size was 26.0 mm (range, 20-39) and 13 of the 24 aneurysms were giant. Results : Immediate angiographic results were complete occlusion in nine (37.5%) cases, remnant neck in six (25.0%), and remnant sac in nine (37.5%). Overall procedural related morbidity and mortality rates were 12.5% and 4.2%, respectively. Angiographic follow-up was available in 16 patients (66.7%). Mean and median follow-up periods were 27.2 (range, 2-77) and 10.5 months, respectively. In 12 cases (12/16, 75%) stable occlusion was achieved, four cases (4/16, 25%) had recanalized, and two of these were retreated with additional coiling. At clinical follow-up of the nine ruptured cases, three patients (33.3%) achieved a good clinical outcome (Glasgow outcome scale [GOS] score of 4 or 5), two (22.2%) a poor outcome (GOS score of 2 or 3), and four patients (44.4%) expired (GOS 1). On the other hand, of the 15 unruptured cases, 13 patients (86.7%) achieved a good clinical outcome (GOS 4 or 5), one patient a poor outcome (GOS score of 2 or 3), and one patient expired (GOS 1). Conclusion : The present study shows endosaccular treatment of very large or giant intracranial aneurysms with parent artery preservation is both feasible and effective with acceptable morbidity and mortality.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.214-222
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Glutathione S-transferase (GST) forms a multigene family of phase II detoxification enzymes which are involved in the detoxification of xenobiotics by conjugating substances with glutathione. The aim of this study is to assess the antioxidative status and the degree of DNA damage in the subclinical hypertensive patients in Korea using glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We examined whether DNA damage and antioxidative status show a difference between GSTM1 or GSTT1 genotype in 227 newly diagnosed, untreated (systolic blood pressure $(BP){\geq}130mmHg$ or diastolic $BP{\geq}85mmHg$) subclinical hypertensive patients and 130 normotensive subjects (systolic BP < 120 mmHg and diastolic BP < 80 mmHg). From the blood of the subjects, the degree of the DNA damage in lymphocyte, the activities of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, the catalase, and the glutathione peroxidase, the level of glutathione, plasma total radical-trapping antioxidant potential (TRAP), anti-oxidative vitamins, as well as plasma lipid profiles and conjugated diene (CD) were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 227 subjects studied, 68.3% were GSTM1 null genotype and 66.5% were GSTT1 null genotype. GSTM1 null genotype had an increased risk of hypertension (OR: 2.104, CI: 1.38-3.35), but no significant association in GSTT1 null genotype (OR 0.982, CI: 0.62-1.55). No difference in erythrocyte activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, or glutathione peroxidase, and plasma TRAP, CD, lipid profiles, and GSH levels were observed between GSTM1 or GSTT1 genotype. Plasma levels of ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ increased significantly in GSTT1 wild genotype (P < 0.05); however, plasma level of ${\beta}-carotene$ increased significantly in GSTT1 null genotype (P < 0.01). DNA damage assessed by the Comet assay was significantly higher in GSTM1 null genotype than wild genotype (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the association between GSTM1 null genotype and risk of hypertension as they suggest that GSTM1 null genotype leads to an increased oxidative stress compared with wild genotype.