• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.32-37
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological characteristics of the Sasang constitutions by using Braverman nature assessment (BNA). Methods: One hundred seventy-four students participated in this study, and among them, the 142 individuals who had clearly identified Sasang constitutional types were used for the analysis. Sasang constitutions and the Braverman temperaments of the subjects were determined by using a questionnaire for the Sasang constitution classification (QSCC) II and BNA, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was used to compare the inclinations of the Sasang constitutions and Braverman temperament types. Results: Significant differences in Braverman temperament type existed among the Sasang constitutions (P = 0.042), and the relations between Soyangin and the dopamine type and between Taeeumin and the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type were meaningful. Significant differences were also shown in the comparison with the Yin and the Yang constitutions (P = 0.017), and the post-hoc analysis showed a strong and significant relation between the Yang constitution and the dopamine type and between the Yin constitution and the GABA type. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the independent t-test were conducted to examine the BMI and the degree of obesity among the Sasang constitutions and the Braverman temperament types. Concerning the BMI, Taeeumin showed a bigger BMI than the other constitutions (P < 0.001), but no significant differences in the BMI were observed between the Braverman temperament types. Conclusion: Soyangin has a close relationship to the dopamine type and Taeeumin has a close relationship to the GABA type. The correlation between two types were more clear when the Yin and the Yang types were compared to Braverman temperaments. These results may serve as a basis for identifying the psychological traits of Sasang constitutional types, especially in regard to the characteristics related to the four Braverman temperament types.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2012

Most common complex traits, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cancers, are known to be associated with multiple genes, environmental factors, and their epistasis. Recently, the development of advanced genotyping technologies has allowed us to perform genome-wide association studies (GWASs). For detecting the effects of multiple genes on complex traits, many approaches have been proposed for GWASs. Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) is one of the powerful and efficient methods for detecting high-order gene-gene ($G{\times}G$) interactions. However, the biological interpretation of $G{\times}G$ interactions identified by MDR analysis is not easy. In order to aid the interpretation of MDR results, we propose a network graph analysis to elucidate the meaning of identified $G{\times}G$ interactions. The proposed network graph analysis consists of three steps. The first step is for performing $G{\times}G$ interaction analysis using MDR analysis. The second step is to draw the network graph using the MDR result. The third step is to provide biological evidence of the identified $G{\times}G$ interaction using external biological databases. The proposed method was applied to Korean Association Resource (KARE) data, containing 8838 individuals with 327,632 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, in order to perform $G{\times}G$ interaction analysis of body mass index (BMI). Our network graph analysis successfully showed that many identified $G{\times}G$ interactions have known biological evidence related to BMI. We expect that our network graph analysis will be helpful to interpret the biological meaning of $G{\times}G$ interactions.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

Dyslipidemia, mainly characterized by high triglyceride (TG) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, is an important etiological factor in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Considering the relationship between childhood obesity and CVD risk, it would be worthwhile to evaluate whether previously identified lipid-related variants in adult subjects are associated with lipid variations in a childhood obesity study (n = 482). In an association analysis for 16 genome-wide association study (GWAS)-based candidate loci, we confirmed significant associations of a genetic predisposition to lipoprotein concentrations in a childhood obesity study. Having two loci (rs10503669 at LPL and rs16940212 at LIPC) that showed the strongest association with blood levels of TG and HDL-C, we calculated a genetic risk score (GRS), representing the sum of the risk alleles. It has been observed that increasing GRS is significantly associated with decreased HDL-C (effect size, $-1.13{\pm}0.07$) compared to single nucleotide polymorphism combinations without two risk variants. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between allelic dosage score and risk allele (rs10503669 at LPL) on high TG levels (effect size, $10.89{\pm}0.84$). These two loci yielded consistent associations in our previous meta-analysis. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the genetic architecture of circulating lipid levels (TG and HDL-C) overlap to a large extent in childhood as well as in adulthood. Post-GWAS functional characterization of these variants is further required to elucidate their pathophysiological roles and biological mechanisms.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.199-217
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• 2023

People with higher genetic predisposition to obesity are more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and healthy plant-based foods may be associated with reduced risks of obesity and other metabolic markers. We investigated whether healthy plant-foods-rich dietary patterns might have inverse associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in participants at genetically elevated risk of obesity. For this cross-sectional study, 377 obese and overweight women were chosen from health centers in Tehran, Iran. We calculated a healthy plant-based diet index (h-PDI) in which healthy plant foods received positive scores, and unhealthy plant and animal foods received reversed scores. A genetic risk score (GRS) was developed based on 3 polymorphisms. The interaction between GRS and h-PDI on cardiometabolic traits was analyzed using a generalized linear model (GLM). We found significant interactions between GRS and h-PDI on body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.02), body fat mass (p = 0.04), and waist circumference (p = 0.056). There were significant gene-diet interactions for healthful plant-derived diets and BMI-GRS on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (p = 0.03), aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.04), alanine transaminase (p = 0.05), insulin (p = 0.04), and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (p = 0.002). Adherence to h-PDI was more strongly related to decreased levels of the aforementioned markers among participants in the second or top tertile of GRS than those with low GRS. These results highlight that following a plant-based dietary pattern considering genetics appears to be a protective factor against the risks of cardiometabolic abnormalities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.191-200
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• 1986

It is now generally accepted that individuals at increased risk for cardiovascular disease may be identified by certain traits or habbits. The factors such as high blood pressure, elevated blood cholestrol, age, sex and obesity are associated with increseaed frequency of disease. The blood cholesterol level lowering will decrease cardiovascular disease risk. The regression of atherosclerosis can be achieved by lowering the level of circulating cholesterol. Those things are connected with the quantity and quality of protein, fats, carbohydrates, especially soluble and non-soluble fiber, magnesium and calcium. The lipoprotein and lipid metabolism are connected with the lipid transport. The factors on lipid absorption and blood serum lipid pattern of human are exist. The factors have a variety of materials with different chemical and physical properties. The soluble fiber diet make a low blood and liver lipids. Many kind of soluble fiber results in a lowering of blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The cholesterol lowering effects of dietery fiber may be a results of alterations of in intestinal handling of fats, hepatic metabolism of fatty acid or triglyceride acid metabolism of lipoprotein. It is investigated that the high density lipoprotein (HDL) is inversely related to coronary artery disease. It has been postulated that HDL may be an important factor in cholesterol efflux from the tissues, therby reducing the amount of cholesterol deposited there. Alternatively, the HDL may pick up cholestyl ester and phospholipid during normal VLDL lipolysis in the plasma. The HDL levels are relatively insensitive to diet. At present time, the cause-and -diet effect of HDL's inverse relation to CHD remains unclear.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.101-102
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• 2010

During the last decade, large community cohorts have been established by the Korea National Institutes of Health (KNIH), and enormous epidemiological and clinical data have been accumulated. Using these information and samples in the cohorts, KNIH set out to do a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 2007, and the Korea Association REsource (KARE) consortium was launched to analyze the data to identify the underlying genetic risk factors of diseases and diverse health indexes, such as blood pressure, obesity, bone density, and blood biochemical traits. The consortium consisted of 6 research divisions, formed by 25 principal investigators in 19 organizations, including 18 universities, 2 institutes, and 1 company. Each division focused on one of the following subjects: the identification of genetic factors, the statistical analysis of gene-gene interactions, the genetic epidemiology of gene-environment interactions, copy number variation, the bioinformatics related to a GWAS, and a GWAS of nutrigenomics. In this special issue, the study results of the KARE consortium are provided as 9 articles. We hope that this special issue might encourage the genomics community to share data and scientists, including clinicians, to analyze the valuable Korean data of KARE.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.1089-1099
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• 2021

With the development of sequencing technology, numerous, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been discovered and annotated. Increasing evidence has shown that lncRNAs play an essential role in regulating many biological and pathological processes, especially in cancer. However, there have been few studies on the roles of lncRNAs in livestock production. In animal products, meat quality and lean percentage are vital economic traits closely related to adipose tissue deposition. However, adipose tissue accumulation is also a pivotal contributor to obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and many other diseases, as demonstrated by human studies. In livestock production, the mechanism by which lncRNAs regulate adipose tissue deposition is still unclear. In addition, the phenomenon that different animal species have different adipose tissue accumulation abilities is not well understood. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of lncRNAs and their four functional archetypes and review the current knowledge about lncRNA functions in adipose tissue deposition in livestock species. This review could provide theoretical significance to explore the functional mechanisms of lncRNAs in adipose tissue accumulation in animals.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.149-154
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• 2013

Liver enzyme elevations, as an indicator of liver function, are widely associated with metabolic diseases. Genome-wide population-based association studies have identified a genetic susceptibility to liver enzyme elevations and their related traits; however, the genetic architecture in childhood remains largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study to identify new genetic loci for liver enzyme levels in a Korean childhood cohort (n = 484). We observed three novel loci (rs4949718, rs80311637, and rs596406) that were multiply associated with elevated levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase. Although there are some limitations, including genetic power, additional replication and functional characterization will support the clarity on the genetic contribution that the ST6GALNAC3, ADAMTS9, and CELF2 genes have in childhood liver function.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.335-341
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• 2003

Carcass weight and backfat thickness are two of important elements in determining the carcass trait in pigs and are studied on animal genetics, nutrition, and endocrinology. Growth factors stimulate or inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of various cells. In particular, insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), transforming growth factor (TGF)-$\beta$, and epidermal growth factor (EGF) are involved in the growth and maintenance of muscle. Also, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol are known to be related to the obesity and subcutaneous fat depth in pigs. Therefore, this study was performed to relate growth factors (IGFs, TGF-${\beta}1$, and EGF) and hormones (cortisol and DHEA-S) concentrations at antemortem and postmortem periods to carcass traits including carcass weight and backfat thickness. Blood and m. Longissimus were collected in pigs at antemortem (30 days before slaughter) and postmortem periods. After slaughtered, carcass weight and backfat thickness were measured. Growth factors and hormones in serum and m. Longissimus were measured by radioimmunoassay or enzyme-linked imuunosorbent assay. Before antemortem period, serum IGF-I and -II concentrations were positively correlated with the carcass weight and backfat thickness in gilts, and the concentrations of TGF- ${\beta}1$ and cortisol in barrows show the correlation with only carcass weight. Also, the positive correlations of muscular IGFs and TGF-${\beta}1$ at postmortem 45 min with the carcass weight and backfat thickness were detected. Consequently, these results suggest that the serum and muscular endocrine factors are involved in the carcass weight and backfat thickness in pigs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.155-158
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• 2011

Uncoupling protein (UCP) 3 has a number of proposed roles in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism. A number of polymorphisms in the human UCP3 gene have been identified, and the correlation with obesity related phenotypes evaluated. The objective of this study was to identify SNP in porcine UCP3 gene and to investigate the effect of the SNP on economic traits. The sequencing analysis method was used to identify nucleotide polymorphisms at position 1405 bp (Genebank accession No : AY739704) in porcine UCP3 gene. The SNP (G150R), located in the exon 3, changed the amino acid to glycine (GGG) from arginine (AGG). This G150R showed three genotypes - GG, GR and RR - by digestion with the restriction enzyme Sma Ⅰ using the PCR-RFLP method. The G150R showed significant effects only on back fat (P<0.05). Animals with the genotype GG had significantly higher back fat thickness (1.358 cm) than animals with the genotype GR (1.288 cm, P<0.05) and RR (1.286 cm, P<0.05). However, the genotypes had no significant association with ADG and days to 90kg. According to results of this study, a G allele of the G150R was found to have a significant effect on back fat thickness. It will be possible to use SNP markers on selected pigs to improve backfat thickness, an important economic trait.