• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1795-1803
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• 2011

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease accompanies the rise in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and the tendency toward high-fat dietary habits. Specifically, the higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in men and postmenopausal women seems to be caused by the protective effects of estrogen against liver fibrosis, or lack thereof. There are no effective preventive therapies for liver diseases because the mechanisms underlying the progression of fatty liver diseases to chronic liver diseases and the protective effects of estrogen against fibrogenesis remain unclear. Recently, it has been reported that the hedgehog signaling pathway plays an important role in the progression of chronic liver diseases. Hedgehog, a morphogen regulating embryonic liver development, is expressed in injured livers but not in adult healthy livers. The level of hedgehog expression parallels the stages of liver diseases. Hedgehog induces myofibroblast activation and hepatic progenitor cell proliferation and leads to excessive liver fibrosis, whereas estrogen inhibits the activation of hepatic stellate cells to myofibroblasts and prevents liver fibrosis. Although the mechanism underlying the opposing actions of hedgehog and estrogen on liver fibrosis remain unclear, the suppressive effects of estrogen on the expression of osteopontin, a profibrogenic extracellular matrix protein and cytokine, and the inductive effects of hedgehog on osteopontin transcription suggest that estrogen and hedgehog are associated with liver fibrosis regulation. Therefore, further research on the estrogen-mediated regulatory mechanisms underlying the hedgehog-signaling pathway can identify the mechanism underlying liver fibrogenesis and contribute to developing therapies for preventing the progression of fibrosis to chronic liver diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.729-735
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• 2010

In our previous study, it was reported that an herbal mixture, SH21B, inhibits fat accumulation and adipogenesis both in vitro and in vivo models of obesity. SH21B is a mixture composed of seven herbs: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Prunus armeniaca Maxim, Ephedra sinica Stapf, Acorus gramineus Soland, Typha orientalis Presl, Polygala tenuifolia Willd, and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner (Ratio 3:3:3:3:3:2:2). The aim of this study was to investigate the detailed molecular mechanisms of the effects of SH21B on various regulators of the adipogenesis pathway. During the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells, SH21B significantly decreased the expression levels of central transcription factors of adipogenesis, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)$\gamma$ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)$\alpha$. To elucidate the detailed molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effects of SH21B, we examined the expression levels of the various pro-adipogenic or anti-adipogenic regulators of adipogenesis upstream of $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$. The mRNA levels of Krox20 and Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 15, which are pro-adipogenic regulators, were significantly down-regulated by SH21B treatment, whereas the mRNA levels of C/$EBP{\gamma}$ and KLF5 were not changed. KLF2 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), which are anti-adipogenic regulators, were significantly up-regulated by SH21B treatment. These results suggest that the molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effect of SH21B involves both the down-regulations of pro-adipogenic regulators, such as Krox20 and KLF15, and the up-regulations of anti-adipogenic regulators, such as KLF2 and CHOP, which results in the suppression of central transcription factors of adipogenesis including $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.403-410
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• 2018

This study is to look at the risk of chronic diseases in adults and oral health behaviors affecting periodontitis by gender. This study selected 3,071 males aged 35 to 65, 4,273 females, and 7,344 people as the final subjects of the study using the sixth original data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey. In this study, subjective oral health classified under 'bad' presented 1.69 times(p<0.001) the risk of Periodontitis for males and 1.50 times(p<0.001) for females. There was a 2.01 times(p<0.001) of a risk of periodontitis for male and 1.40 times(p=0.001) of a risk for females. Smokers have a 1.68 times(p<0.001) of a risk for males and 2.07 times(p<0.001) of a risk for females, thus a higher risk for periodontitis for females. The risk of periodontitis was 1.44 times(p<0.001) of a risk for males and 1.30 times(p<0.05) for females when compared in normal hypertension. Obesity was at a rate of 1.199 times(p<0.05) as much for males in the non-military group, 1.202 times(p<0.05) that of females for periodontitis and putting females slightly more at risk. For diabetes, males were at risk of 1.28(p<0.05) whereas it being 1.53 times(p<0.05) for females, compared the average health female. In total, Males were found to be at the greatest risk of periodontitis, while women were at the highest risk for smoking. All parameters except smoking and diabetes show a higher risk of periodontitis for females. As males are more likely to have a higher risk of periodontitis than females, they are considered to be more interested in oral health care and need systematic oral health education and policies to prevent oral diseases.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2022

The recommended meal composition allows the general people to organize meals using the number of intakes of foods from each of six food groups (grains, meat·fish·eggs·beans, vegetables, fruits, milk·dairy products and oils·sugars) to meet Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) without calculating complex nutritional values. Through an integrated analysis of data from the 6th to 7th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2013-2018), representative foods for each food group were selected, and the amounts of representative foods per person were derived based on energy. Based on the EER by age and gender from the KDRIs, a total of 12 kinds of diets were suggested by differentiating meal compositions by age (aged 1-2, 3-5, 6-11, 12-18, 19-64, 65-74 and ≥ 75 years) and gender. The 2020 Food Balance Wheel included the 6th food group of oils and sugars to raise public awareness and avoid confusion in the practical utilization of the model by industries or individuals in reducing the consistent increasing intakes of oils and sugars. To promote the everyday use of the Food Balance Wheel and recommended meal compositions among the general public, the poster of the Food Balance Wheel was created in five languages (Korean, English, Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese) along with card news. A survey was conducted to provide a basis for categorizing nutritional problems by life cycles and developing customized web-based messages to the public. Based on survey results two types of card news were produced for the general public and youth. Additionally, the educational program was developed through a series of processes, such as prioritization of educational topics, setting educational goals for each stage, creation of a detailed educational system chart and teaching-learning plans for the development of educational materials and media.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2023

Objectives: This study examined the association between the experience of disease management education and the use of nutrition labels according to the sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors of people diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes living in the community. Methods: Among the participants from the Community Health Survey (2018), 74,283 individuals diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes were included in the study population. According to gender, this study evaluated nutrition label use by the experience of disease management education, individual sociodemographic characteristics, and health behavior. Finally, using multiple logistic regression analysis, the association between disease management education and nutrition labels was calculated using the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Males (24.5%) experienced more disease management education than females (22.6%). In addition, younger age, higher education level, and higher equalized personal income experienced more disease management education (P < 0.001). The educational experience rate was higher in the male subjects who did not smoke or were involved in high-risk alcohol consumption (P < 0.001). In addition, the rate of disease management education experience was significantly higher for both men and women who exercised by walking (P < 0.001). The use of nutrition labels was higher in females (9.9%) than males (5.8%), and both males and females were significantly higher in young age, high education, high income, and professional and office positions (P < 0.001). The utilization rate of nutrition labels was high in non-smoking male subjects and high-risk-drinking female subjects. In addition, the utilization rate of nutrition labels was significantly higher in males and females who exercised by walking and those who experienced disease management education (P < 0.001). After adjusting for individual sociodemographic characteristics, health behavior, and disease management education, the use of nutrition labels was high among females (OR 3.19, 95% CI 2.85-3.58), high income (Q4; OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.41-1.87, Q5; OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.37-1.84) and highly educated (high school; OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.62-3.14, above college; OR 5.60, 95% CI 5.02-6.23) while it was low in the elderly (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.40-0.47), and economically inactive (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.76-0.96). The use of nutrition labels was high in non-smokers (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.13-1.48), nonhigh-risk drinkers (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.38), and subjects who exercised walking (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.34-1.54). There was no difference in the utilization rate of nutrition labels according to obesity, and the utilization rate of nutrition labels was significantly higher in subjects who had experienced disease education (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.24-1.44). Conclusions: Education on the use of nutrition labels, which contributes to food selection for healthy eating, might be a tool for dietary management. Moreover, the utilization rate can be a good indicator for predicting the proportion of the population practicing the guide for disease management. Improving the utilization rate of nutrition labels through disease management education can be a useful intervention for people with chronic diseases who need healthy eating habits for disease management and preventing complications, particularly those diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.536-546
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• 2009

This study was done to investigate the effect of stress on appetite and eating habits, and other health-related behaviors. The subjects of this study consisted of 188 males and 224 females in Ulsan area. The results were as follows: When stressed, 56% (n = 231) of the subjects experienced a change in appetite and of these, 32% (n = 132) experienced an increased appetite. Stress-induced eating may be one factor contributing to the development of obesity. There was a gender-specific response to stress in which women are more likely to use food to deal with stress, whereas men are more likely to use alcohol consumption or smoking. It was found that types of stressors were individual (52.9%), social (50.7%), family relations (34.5%), work demands (34.2%) and physical environment (32.3%). Stress-induced symptoms of the subjects were anxiety (38.3%), headache (36.7%) and neck or shoulder aches (36.2%), and females experienced those symptoms more than males. Those older than 50 years had a higher eating habit score and lower stress score compared with younger subjects. There were significant differences between sex, age, occupation, family type, BMI, exercise, sleeping hours and eating habits or stress level. This study may be helpful in advancing findings in this area to better provide health professionals with appropriate counseling tools to improve the health of all individuals.