• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 2006

Retinol-binding protein(RBP) plays an important role in the specific transport of retinol to target cells through the blood stream in higher vertebrates. In order to clarify the effects of 4-nonylphenol(4-NP) on RBP mRNA expression in the rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli which is common in coastal waters of Korea and commercially important species, the cDNA library was constructed from the liver, and a partial fragment of the RBP gene was cloned. The deduced amino acid sequence from the RBP mRNA showed a high homology to the amino acid sequence from Sparus aurata(80%), Oncorhynchus mykiss(72%) or Anguilla anguilla(78%). Effects of 4-NP on RBP and vitellogenin(VTG) mRNA expression level in rockfish were examined by the northern blot analysis. In female and male rockfish injected with 4-NP(10 mg/kg BW, lower dose), there was no changes in the levels of VTG mRNA expression in the liver. The RBP mRNA levels, however, decreased at 48 hours after the injection in male. In the rockfish injected with 4-NP(25 mg/kg BW, higher dose), the level of VTG mRNA expression increased after 24 hours, regardless of sex. The level of RBP mRNA expression decreased at 48 hours after the injection in both sexes. These data indicate that estrogenic mimics such as 4-NP exhibit a contrasting effect on RBP and VTG gene expression in rockfish.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 2011

To investigate the influences of candidate genes on the birth weight and the early stages of life, genotyping of the prolactin receptor 3 (PRLR3) and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) genes was performed in 156 and 141 Berkshire pigs, respectively. The frequency of both PRLR3 alleles A and a was 0.50. The frequencies of the RBP4 alleles B and b were 0.42 and 0.58, respectively. Neither locus was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant associations of the PRLR3 alleles with birth or weaning weights and of the RBP4 alleles with birth weight were observed. The proportions of the phenotype variances due to the genotypes of PRLR3 in the feeder weights was 4.0% and those of RBP4 in the weaning and feeder weights were 11.9 and 3.3%, respectively (P < 0.05). The dominance effect of PRLR3 and RBP4 on feeder weights was 2.40 and -1.86 kg, respectively (P < 0.01). The additive and dominance effects of RBP4 on weaning weights were 0.332 and -0.682 kg, respectively (P < 0.01). Even if no significant epistasis of PRLR3 and RBP4 was detected, a considerable trend of consistent positive epistasis estimates of AA/BB and Aa/Bb was observed for all traits. The results of this study may have a considerable impact on early-stage growth by both loci, and a selection strategy should be designed separately for each marker in Berkshire pigs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6507-6512
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• 2015

Background: Vaspin and Retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4) are new adipokines mainly produced by adipose tissue. Considering that medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a malignant neuroendocrine tumor, and to date the relationship between serum levels of vaspin and RBP4 with MTC has not been studied, in this matched case-control study we evaluated their possible significance to this tumor type. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 patients with MTC (21 males and 24 females) and 45 healthy persons as a control group (24 males and 21 females) were selected. The two groups were matched for age, sex and body mass index. Serum Vaspin and RBP4 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods in both groups. Also, weight and height were measured and body mass index was calculated too. Results: In total, patients with MTC had significantly higher serum vaspin levels compared to the controls (0.52ng/ml vs. 0.45ng/ml, P=0.0241). However, no significant difference was found in serum RBP4 concentrations between the patients with MTC and the controls ($15.2{\pm}2.55{\mu}g/ml$ versus $15.1{\pm}3.34{\mu}g/ml$, p>0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that serum RBP4 levels in MTC patients are not significantly different from those found in healthy individuals and did not correlate with MTC. On the other hand, higher levels of serum vaspin are associated with an increased risk of MTC. Thus Vaspin may be a novel and promising biomarker for diagnosis or confirmation of MTC in conjunction other specific tumor markers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.744-750
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• 2012

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of 12 weeks-moderate aerobic exercise training on body composition, adiponectin, retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP-4), and vascular inflammation factors in obese children. The subjects were classified into two groups, one of which was an exercise group (n=15) practicing moderate aerobic exercise training for 12 weeks, and the other group, the control group (n=13), was not in that program. The exercise group participants performed on the treadmill running at heart rate reserve (HRR) 50% of exercise intensity for 300 kcal of the consumed time. The results of all the studies and inspections are as follows: Weight, body mass index, body fat, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly lower, while $VO_2$ max was higher in the exercise group than in the control group (p<0.05, respectively). Fasting glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR levels in the exercise group were significantly decreased (p<0.05), whereas adiponectin levels in the exercise group were significantly increased after 12 weeks' exercise training (p<0.05). In addition, our results showed that RBP4, C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations in the exercise group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p<0.05). This investigation has shown that a 12 weeks-regular aerobic exercise program offers useful effects such as an amelioration of inflammation and body indices in obese children.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2018

Purpose: Feeding children is a problem in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) and it is difficult to know the correct amount. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if prealbumin or retinol binding proteins (RBP) are effective relative to daily enteral nutrition, without being affected by severity of diseases or infections and can be used to follow up nutritional amount. Methods: This is a prospective observational study that includes 81 patients admitted to PICU in Akdeniz University with estimated duration >72 hours, age between 1 month and 8 years. Daily calorie and protein intake were calculated and prealbumin, RBP and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured on the first, third, fifth and seventh mornings. Results: We find moderate correlation between daily calorie intake and prealbumin levels (r=0.432, p<0.001), RBP levels and daily protein intake (r=0.330, p<0.001). When we investigated the relationship between changes of prealbumin, RBP, CRP, calorie and protein intake during intensive care stay, we found that increase of Prealbumin and RBP levels are explained by decrease of CRP levels (r=-0.546 and -0.645, p<0.001) and not with increase of nourishment. Conclusion: Even adjusted for PRISM3, age and CRP, prealbumin and RBP are correlated with last 24 hours' diet. However, it is not convenient to use as a follow up biomarker because increase of their levels is related with decrease of CRP levels.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.183-188
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• 2012

To investigate the influence of the prolactin receptor 3 (PRLR3) gene and the retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) gene on the production traits of swine, genotyping was performed on 156 and 141 Berkshire pigs, respectively, that were carefully selected for economic traits. The frequencies of allele A in the PRLR3 locus and allele B in the RBP4 locus were 0.50 and 0.42, respectively. Neither locus was in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. After a genotype was assigned to the individuals whose parents had the homozygous genotype, a statistical analysis was conducted for 291 pigs. The animals with the PRLR3 and RBP4 genotypes included 182 and 227 head, respectively. Even though the genotypic effects of PRLR3 (p<0.05) and RBP4 (p<0.01) had a significant influence on the pigs' back fat thickness, the interaction of both genes was not highly significant in terms of the back fat thickness (p = 0.1235). While the estimated epistasis effects of aaBB and aaBb decreased the back fat thickness and reduced the growth rate, the effects of AAbb and aabb increased the growth rate. Despite the insignificant difference in the PRLR genotypes in terms of the days to 90 kg and the average daily gain, the back fat thickness showed a significant difference (p<0.05), and the additive effect of allele A and the dominant effect of the hetero-genotype were -0.377 and 1.206 mm, respectively. The RBP4 genotypes had a very significant effect (p<0.01) on the back fat thickness, the days to 90 kg, and the average daily gain. The additive effects of allele B of the RBP4 locus on the back fat thickness, the days to 90 kg, and the average daily gain were 0.70 mm, -1.3 days and 6.2 g, respectively. Moreover, the dominant effects of the heterozygote for those traits were 0.63 mm, 9.9 days and -45.0 g, respectively. Allele A of the PRLR3 locus favorably influenced the back fat thickness, the days to 90 kg of the body weight, and the average daily gain and its dominant effect unfavorably influenced those traits. Allele B of RBP4 showed an incremental growth rate and back fat thickness, which could lower the lean meat percentage in the carcass. The RBP4 hetero-genotype negatively affected the pork production. These results strongly imply that the selection of allele A of PRLR3 and allele B of RBP4 would produce highly productive pigs in the Berkshire breed. Careful selection of allele B of RBP4 is required because of the increase in the back fat thickness.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.825-830
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• 2010

Two diallelic markers at candidate gene loci, the prolactin receptor 3 (PRLR3) gene and the retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) gene were evaluated for their association with growth and litter size traits in Berkshire. Genetic evaluation was conducted for 5,919 pigs with pedigree information, which included 3,480 growth performance records and 775 litter size records of 224 sows. From the same herd, genotyping was carried out on 144 and 156 animals for PRLR3 and RBP4, respectively. After assigning a genotype to subjects in which both parents had a homozygous genotype, numbers of genotyped animals increased to 474 and 338, for the PRLR3 gene and RBP4 gene, respectively. The genotype effects of two markers were estimated with breeding values of the genotyped animals. The additive effects of total number of piglets born and number of piglets born alive in the PRLR3 locus were -0.28 and -0.13, respectively. The dominance effect of the RBP4 locus on average daily gain was -10.58 g. However, the polymorphism of the RBP4 locus in total number of piglets born and number of piglets born alive has shown -0.34 and -0.33 of the additive genetic effects. In view of the results, MAS (marker-assisted selection) favoring B alleles of RBP4 and PRLR3 loci could potentially accelerate the rate of the genetic improvement in the litter size traits.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.817-826
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• 2005

Recently it has been reported that vitamin A and retinol binding proteins (RBPs) in blood and urine were changed in the condition of diabetes mellitus or hyperlipidemia. Fruits and vegetables are recommended to consume for the people suffered from these chronic degenerative diseases. The main components of fruits and vegetables are dietary fibers, for example cellulose and pectin, of which function to affect the absorption and excretion of dietary fat and fat-soluble substances. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary fibers on RBPs mRNA expression in liver, small intestine and serum of rat fed high fat diet during 4 weeks. Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 121g on average, were divided into four groups; (Control; $17\%$ fat & cellulose supplement diet, HF0: $25\%$ fat & fiber free diet, B:.Uc: $25\%$ fat & cellulose supplement diet and HF0: $25\%$ fat & pectin supplement diet) . The rats fed high fat diet groups (HF0, HFC, HFP) tended to consume the food less than the control group, but FER of HF0 groups was significantly higher than the control (p < 0.05) . The weight of adrenal gland in high fat diet groups (HF0, HFC, HFP) was significantly less than the control. Total lipid in feces daily excreted and in liver did not show any significant differences among the groups. Total cholesterol in HFP group was significantly different from that of HFC group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride in other group tended to lower than other groups and HDL cholesterol higher. Consequently, AI (atherogenic index) was the lowest in HFP group. Vit A contents in feces daily excreted tended to lower in high fat diet groups (HF0, HFP) compared to the control group. That content in adrenal gland was the lowest in HF0 group, but not in liver. In HFP group were down-regulated cRBPI mRNA in liver and cRBPII mRNA in small intestine and up-regulated RBP and transthyretin expression in serum compared to the other groups. In conclusion, dietary fibers, especially pectin, in high fat diet might down-regulate the expression of CRBP I, CRBP II mRNA in liver and small intestine, but increase the secretion of RBP into serum and therefore inhance the bioavailability of Vit A through the body. (Korean J Nutrition 38(10): 817$\sim$826,2005)

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 2022

A lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) method using carbon nanodot@silica as a signaling material was developed for analyzing the concentration of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), one of the lung cancer biomarkers. Instead of antibodies mainly used as bioreceptors in nitrocellulose membranes in LFIA for protein detection, aptamers that are more economical, easy to store for a long time, and have strong affinities toward specific target proteins were used. A 5' terminal of biotin-modified aptamer specific to RBP4 was first reacted with neutravidin followed by spraying the mixture on the membrane in order to immobilize the aptamer in a porous membrane by the strong binding affinity between biotin and neutravidin. Carbon nanodot@silica nanoparticles with blue fluorescent signal covalently conjugated to the RBP4 antibody, and RBP4 were injected in a lateral flow manner on to the surface bound aptamer to form a sandwich complex. Surfactant concentrations, ionic strength, and additional blocking reagents were added to the running buffer solution to optimize the fluorescent signal off from the sandwich complex which was correlated to the concentration of RBP4. A 10 mM Tris (pH 7.4) running buffer containing 150 mM NaCl and 0.05% Tween-20 with 0.6 M ethanolamine as a blocking agent showed the optimum assay condition for carbon nanodot@silica-based LFIA. The results indicate that an aptamer, more economical and easier to store for a long time can be used as an alternative immobilizing probe for antibody in a LFIA device which can be used as a point-of-care diagnosis kit for lung cancer diseases.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.132-138
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to determine biochemical parameters related to protein and immunity. Subjects were 125 preschool children(M:69, F:56) residing in low income area of Seoul. Mean serum total protein of the children aged 6 was 7.3g/dl which was significantly higher than 6.6g/dl of the group aged 3. The mean serum albumin was 4.7g/dl for 3, 4, 5 age group, and 4.9g/dl for 6 age group and there was no significant difference. Serum retinol binding protein(RBP) is used as a sensitive indicatior of protein, because it tends to fall rapidly in response to protein status and respond to quickly dietary treatment. Mean RBP for each group(3, 4, 5 and 6 age group) were $2.5\mu{g}$/dl, $2.9\mu{g}$/dl, $2.7\mu{g}$/dl, $3.0\mu{g}$/dl. The Proportion of children whose RBP was than $2.6\mu{g}$/dl was 15.9%, 19.2%, 24.3% and 16.7%, respectively. The 24-hour urinary excretion of hydroxyproline was 7.9mg, 14.6mg, 11.7mg and 11.8mg for each group and the mean excretion of all children was 12.2mg/day. Children aged 3 were excreting significantly lower amount of hydroxprolinc per day than the children aged 4. The mean hydroxyproline index were 2.18, 2.39, 2.52, 2.80 for each age group and the mean of a group aged 6 was significantly higher than that of the group aged 3. The proportion of children assessed as malnourished and impaired growth(hydroxyproline index <2.0) was 18.8%, 4.9%, 2.5% and 4.3%, respectively. The nutrients which showed significant relationship with protein and immunity parameters were niacin, vitamin C and calcium. Vitamin C showed significant positive relationship(p<0.05-p<0.01) with serum RBP, total protein and globulin. The triceps skinfold thickness was significantly and positively correlated with serum globulin. Serum IgG showed significant positive relationship with height, weight, girth of chest and midarm circumference(p<0.05-p<0.01).