• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.88-94
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• 2016

Determining the infection history of living organisms is essential for understanding the evolution of infection agents with their host, particularly for key aspects such as immunity. Viruses, which can spread between individuals and often cause disease, have been widely examined. The increasing availability of fish genome sequences has provided specific insights into the diversity and host distribution of retroviruses in fish. The shortspine spurdog (Squalus mitsukurii) is an important elasmobranch species; this medium-sized dogfish typically lives at depths of 100~500 m. However, the retroviral envelope polyprotein in dogfish has not been examined. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify and analyze the retroviral envelope polyprotein in various tissues of dogfish. The 1334-base pair full-length novel cDNA of dogfish envelope polyprotein (dEnv) was obtained by 3' and 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA end analysis from S. mitsukurii. The open reading frame showed a complete coding sequence of 815 base pairs with a deduced peptide sequence of 183 amino acids that exhibited 34~50% identity with other fish and bird species. It was also expressed according to reverse transcription and real-time polymerase chain reaction in the kidney, liver, intestine, and lung, but not in the gill. This distribution can be assessed by identifying and analyzing endogenous retroviruses in fish, which consists of three main genes: gag, pol and env. Dogfish envelope polyprotein sequence is likely important in evolution and induces rearrangements, altering the regulatory and coding sequences. This is the first report of the identification and molecular characterization of retroviral envelope polyprotein in various tissues of S. mitsukurii.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1371-1377
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• 2014

Superoxide dismutase is a family of important antioxidant metalloenzymes and catalyzes the dismutation of toxic superoxide anions into dioxygen and hydrogen peroxide. A recent study identified the partial superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The same study reported that it strongly induced benzo[a]pyrene and that it was an indicator of aquatic oxidative stress responses. However, its transcriptional response against viral infection has not been investigated. In the present study, the spatial and temporal expression profiles were analyzed to investigate the function of Of-SOD in the antiviral response. The Of-SOD transcripts were ubiquitously detected at various levels in diverse tissues in a real-time PCR. The expression of Of-SOD was significantly higher in the muscles, liver, and brain but extremely low in the stomach and spleen. Following a VHSV challenge, the expression of Of-SOD increased within 3 h in the kidneys and decreased to the original level 2 days postchallenge. In muscle, liver, and brain, Of-SOD mRNA was similarly up-regulated at 3-6 h postchallenge and then decreased to the basal level. Although the expression pattern and induction time differed slightly depending on the tissue, the transcript of Of-SOD consistently increased in the acute infection response, but the expression was low in the chronic response. The expression of Of-SOD was induced after the VHSV infection, and Of-SOD was probably involved in the immune response against the viral challenge. These results suggest that SOD may play important roles in the immune defense system of P. olivaceus and perhaps contribute to the protective effects against oxidative stress in olive flounder.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.155-167
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• 1997

The identification of serum HBV DNA is very important for the assessment of the disease activity in persistent infection, for the evaluation of the infectivity of an individuals blood. The dot blot, however, has limited sensitivity and sometimes inconsistent with other serological markers and clinical settings. Using the most important recent advance in molecular biology, the polymerase chain reaction(PCR), specific DNA sequences can be amplified more than a million-fold in a few hours and with this technique the detection of the extreme low level of DNA is possible. This study was to determine sensitivity of the PCR for the detection of serum HBV DNA in comparison with dot blot analysis and to investigate the serum HBV DNA status and clinical significance of PCR in patients with chronic HBsAg positive liver disease. The subjects of this study were 17 patients with asymptomatic HBsAg carriers(9 HBeAg positive patients, 8 anti-HBe positive patients), 91 chronic hepatitis B(50 HBeAg positive patients, 41 anti-HBe positive patients), 57 liver cirrhosis(21 HBeAg positive patients, 36 anti-HBe positive patients), 27 hepatocellular carcinoma(10 HBeAg positive patients, 17 anti-HBe positive patients). The results were summerized as following; The detection rates of HBV DNA by dot blot, PCR were 58.9%, 72.2% in HBeAg positive patients, 34.3%, 53.9% in anti-HBe positive patients. The detection rates of HBV DNA by PCR in HBeAg negative patients were 25.0% in asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, 61.0% in chronic hepatitis B, 52.8% in liver cirrhosis, 52.9% in hepatocellular carcinoma. The positive rate for HBV DNA is a significant difference between HBeAg positive and negative asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, but not significantly difference in other groups. In conclusions, this study confirmed that the PCR is much more sensitive than the dot blot analysis in detecting the HBV DNA in the sera of patients with chronic liver disease. The presence of HBV DNA in the serum was detected by PCR with higher sensitivity and it suggested that active viral replication is still going on in most patients with chronic HBsAg positive liver disease irrespective of HBeAg/anti-HBe status, and PCR may be used as a prognostic factor in asymptomatic HBsAg carriers.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 1996

A Recent discovery of surface antigens in cells has led to the success of quantitative measurement of T-cell subpopulations, and this has especially opened the way for an epoch-making development in the understanding and classification of cellular immune mechanisms. It is known that phenotypes of T-cell subpopulations exist in many forms according to the variation of species or animal experimental models. In Korea, Clonorchis sinensis still gives rise to public concern as it infects more than eighty million people and threatens the public by causing cirrhosis of the liver, or liver cancer when liver infection becomes prolonged and chronic. Up until now there has been much progress in research and improvement in the classification system of Clonorchis sinensis in the area of humoral immunity, but as for research in the area of cellular immune mechanisms, there is almost none. Knowing all these circumstances, the authors delved for the characterization of Iymphocyte subpopulations with mice as Clonorchis sinensis in the area of cellular immunity, and obtained the following results. That is, we injected Clonorchis sinensis antigens mixed in Freund's ajuvant solution intraperitoneally in mice and measured the T-cell subpopulation characterization of spleen lymphocytes with flow cytometry. The results of these measurements showed that CD2, CD5 and CD8 decreased early following injections but then in-creased again seven weeks after the injections. CD4, however, showed a slight increase shortly after the injection but then a fair increase seven weeks after the injection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1111-1114
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• 2016

Opisthorchiasis is a major problem in Thailand particularly in northeast region which also has a high incidence of cholangiocarcinomas. Since health modification is needed, this quasi-experimental study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a health education program based on self-efficacy and social support in Tha Tum district, Surin province, Thailand. A total of 70 participants were purposive selected with a history of opisthorchiasis. Participants were divided into experimental and control groups, each with 35 subjects. The experimental group received a health education program composed of: (1) knowledge improvement, lectured with multimedia, demonstration, brochure, and handbook; (2) group discussion about their health beliefs, sharing their ideas and experience; and (3) social support from village health volunteers (VHV), heads of villages (HV), friends, and members of families, and public health officer (PHO). Follow-up was by PHO/VHV/HV, with provision of certificates and flasg for household that did not eat raw fish. Data were collected by predesigned questionnaires after implementation of the program for 3 months. Comparative data was analyzed by paired simple t-test and independent t-test. The results revealed that the experimental group had mean score of knowledge higher more than before the experiment (mean difference=3.1, t=3.915, 95%CI-3.3, -1.8 p-value=0.001), and the control group (mean difference=2.5, t=4.196, 95%CI=1.4, 3.6, p-value=0.001) with statistical significance. The mean scores of practice were higher than before the experiment (mean difference=4.6, t=4.331, 95%CI-5.3, -3.1, p-value=0.001), and control group (mean difference=4.4, t=6.142, 95%CI=4.2, 7.9, p-value=0.001). The mean scores of perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of opisthorchiasis, al well as perceived benefits and perceived barriers to prevention of opisthorchiasis, were also higher than before the experiment and in the control group (p-value <0.001). In conclusion, this was a successful health education program for liver fluke avoidance. Therefore, it may useful for further behavior modification in the other epidemic areas.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.66-73
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• 2014

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play an important role in impairing the function of T cells. We characterized MDSCs in two chronic hepatitis C (CHC) cohorts: a cross-sectional group that included 61 treatment-naive patients with CHC, 14 rapid virologic response (RVR) cases and 22 early virologic response (EVR) cases; and a longitudinal group of 13 cases of RVR and 10 cases of EVR after pegylated-interferon-${\alpha}$/ribavirin treatment for genotype 1b HCV infection. Liver samples from 32 CHC patients and six healthy controls were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis. MDSCs frequency in treatment-naive CHC was significantly higher than in RVR, EVR, or healthy subjects and was positively correlated with HCV RNA. Patients infected with HCV genotype 2a had a significantly higher frequency of MDSCs than those infected with genotype 1b. Decreased T cell receptor (TCR) ${\zeta}$ expression on $CD8^+$ T cells was significantly associated with an increased frequency of MDSCs in treatment-naive CHC patients and was restored by L-arginine treatment in vitro. Increased numbers of liver arginase-$1^+$ cells were closely associated with the histological activity index in CHC. The TCR ${\zeta}$ chain was significantly downregulated on hepatic $CD8^+$ T cells in CHC. During antiviral follow up, MDSCs frequency in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was directly correlated with the HCV RNA load in the plasma and inversely correlated with TCR ${\zeta}$ chain expression in $CD8^+$ T cells in both RVR and EVR cases. Notably, the RVR group had a higher frequency of MDSCs at baseline than the EVR group. Collectively, this study provides evidence that MDSCs might be associated with HCV persistence and downregulation of CD8 ${\zeta}$ chain expression.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.303-308
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• 2010

Excessive oral and maxillofacial bleeding causes upper airway obstruction, bronchotracheal and gastric aspiration and hypovolemic shock. Therefore, the rapid and correct bleeding control is very important for saving lives in the emergency room. Despite the conventional bleeding control methods of wiring (jaw fracture, wound suture and direct pressure), continuous bleeding can occur due to the presence of various bleeding disorders. There are five main causes for excessive bleeding disorders in the clinical phase; (1) vascular wall alteration (infection, scurvy etc.), (2) disorders of platelet function (3) thrombocytopenic purpura (4) inherited disorders of coagulation, and (5) acquired disorders of coagulation (liver disease, anticoagulant drug etc.). In particular, infections can alter the structure and function of the vascular wall to a point at which the patient may have a clinical bleeding problem due to vessel engorgement and erosion. Wound infection is a frequent cause of postoperative active bleeding. To prevent postoperative bleeding, early infection control using a wound suture with proper drainage establishment is very important, particularly in the active bleeding sites in a contaminated emergency room. This is a case report of a rational bleeding control method by rapid wiring, wound suture with drainage of a rubber strip & iodoform gauze and wet gauze packing, in a 26-year-old male cerebral palsy patient with active oral and maxillofacial bleeding injuries caused by a traffic accident.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2016

Lectins belong to the pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) class and play important roles in the recognition and elimination of pathogens via the innate immune system. Recently, it was reported that lily-type lectin-1 is involved when a pathogen attacks in the early immune response of fish. However, this study is limited to information that the lectin is involved in the innate immune response against viral infection. In the present study, the lily-type lectin-2 and -3 of Oplegnathus fasciatus (OfLTL-2 and 3) have been presented to be included B-lectin domain and two D-mannose binding sites in the amino acid sequence that an important feature for the fundamental structure. To investigate the functional properties of OfLTLs, the tissue distribution in the healthy rock bream and temporal expression during early developmental stage analysis are performed using quantitative real-time PCR. OfLTL-2 and 3 are predominantly expressed in the liver and skin, but rarely expressed in other organ. Also, the transcripts of OfLTLs are not expressed during the early developmental stage but its transcripts are increased after immune-related organs which are fully formed. In the challenge experiment with RBIV (rock bream iridovirus), the expression of OfLTLs was increased much more strongly in the late response than the early, unlike previously known. These results suggest that OfLTLs are specifically expressed in the immune-related tissues when those organs are fully formed and it can be inferred that the more intensively involved in the second half to the virus infection.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.163-169
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• 2013

Both of avian influenza (AI) and Newcastle disease (ND) can cause mild to severe diease in poultry. In this study, clinical signs, macro, and micro lesions were studied. Eighteen six-week-old SPF chicks were divided into 4 groups (E1, E2, E3 and C1) and housed in different rooms of the isolation facility at CAVAC (Daejeon, Korea). The control group (C1) of 3 chicks was housed separately as uninoculated. Experimental groups (E1, E2 and E3) challenged with H9N2 and/or NDV. E1 group was challenged with 0.1 mL A/Kr/Ck/01310/01 (H9N2) $10^{5.6}$ $EID_{50}$ by intranasal, E2 group was challenged with 0.5 mL Kyojeongwon (KJW) $10^{5.0}{\sim}10^{6.0}$ $ELD_{50}$ by intramuscular, and E3 group was challenged with 0.1 mL A/Kr/Ck/01310/01 $10^{5.6}$ $EID_{50}$ by intranasal and 0.5 mL KJW $10^{5.0}{\sim}10^{6.0}$ $ELD_{50}$ by intramuscular 7 days after H9N2 challenge. In clinical signs and gross findings, E1 group showed 0% mortality, anorexia, and hemorrhage of proventriculus and thymus, E2 group showed 100% mortality within 3~5 days after challenge, anorexia, green diarrhea, hemorrhage of proventriculus, proximal esophagus and thymus, enlargement of kidney, and bronze liver, and E3 group showed 100% mortality within 24~36 hours after NDV challenge, depression, anorexia, green diarrhea, hemorrhage of proventriculus, spleen, and lung, enlargement of kidney, and reduction of thymus size and number. In histopathological examination, E1 group showed depletion and necrosis in bursa of Fabricius, thymus, and spleen, and E2 and E3 group showed severe lymphocyte depletion and necrosis with destruction of lymphoid organ structures. In conclusion, co-infection of H9N2 with ND virus causes acute disease with high mortality than single infection and the pathologic lesions were more severe.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.720-727
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• 2009

Lyophilized powder (BP2FS) of soybeans fermented with Bacillus polyfermenticus KJS-2 (B. polyfermenticus KJS-2) exhibited in vitro antibacterial activities against eight pathogenic bacteria. BP2FS was used as a fodder additive for Oplegnathus fasciatus (0. fasciatus) culture. One group (UFD) of O. fasciatus was fed a commercial fodder, while another group (FD) was fed the same fodder, but including BP2FS ($6{\times}10^{4}$ cfu $g^{-1}$ fodder), two times daily for 120 days. The mean body weight of the FD group (67.29${\pm}$12.62 g) was higher than that of the UFD group (56.56${\pm}$8.21 g) after 120 days. The survival rate of FD was 80% compared to 40% for the UFD group. Cumulative mortalities in the FD and UFD groups were 18.95% and 60.98% respectively. B. polyfermenticus KJS-2 was isolated from the intestines of the FD group and the number of viable colonies was estimated to be $1.04{\times}10^{4}$ cfu $g^{-1}$. Iridovirus and Vibrio vulnificus was detected in the organs of the UFD group but not in the FD group. All of the infected fish showed typical clinical symptoms of hemorrhage in their tail fins. Dissection of the infected internal organs revealed liver congestion and spleen enlargement - typical symptoms caused by iridovirus infection. These results clearly show that BP2FS is highly beneficial in preventing O. fasciatus from iridovirus infection.