• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.467-475
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• 2006

The necessity of adequate pregnancy weight gain for optimal pregnancy outcome has been recognized. However, the specific components of pregnancy weight gain that might be critical for fetal growth and development have not been elucidated clearly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of pregnancy weight gain and birth weight with serum leptin levels in women delivered newborns. The subjects were recruited from K university hospital. The subject's characteristic data (age $32.1\;{\pm}\;4.3\;y$, gestational age $39.5\;{\pm}\;1.1wk$, pre-pregnancy weight $58.0\;{\pm}\;8.6\;kg$, pregnancy weight gain $12.7\;{\pm}\;5.5\;kg$, newborn's birth weight $3.5\;{\pm}\;0.5\;kg$) were gathered. Maternal dietary assessment was carried out at the end of pregnancy. After delivery, blood samples were collected from 20 mother-newborn pairs. Serum levels of various lipids and leptin were analyzed. Maternal daily consumption of iron, zinc, folate were lower than the RDA of each nutrient and index of nutritional quality was less than 1 showing that the quality of maternal diet was low. The levels of serum leptin of mothers and infants were $10.2\;{\pm}\;6.7\;ng/ml$ and $1.7\;{\pm}\;0.6\;ng/ml$, respectively. The serum leptin concentrations of male infants $(1.9\;{\pm}\;0.7\;ng\;ml)$ were not different from that of females $(1.7{\pm}0.5\;ng/ml)$. A negative correlation was found between the maternal pre-pregnant BMI and weight gain during pregnancy (r = -0.54, p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the pregnancy weight gain and the newborn's birth weight (r=0.59, p < 0.01 There were also positive correlation between newborn's birth weight and newborn's serum leptin levels (r = 0.57, p < 0.01). No correlations were found between maternal serum leptin levels and that of newborn's. Efforts should be made to attain adequate diet and weight gain during the pregnancy to reduce the likelihood of low or over birth weight of newborns.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.242-253
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• 2008

It is a common clinical practice to recommend taking iron supplements for pregnant women during gestation. Although it is required to ensure adequate iron stores during pregnancy, there has been some debate over the interference effects of excessive iron load, because it is possible to compete in the transport in the intestine and placenta and in binding to serum proteins of other trace minerals. In this study, maternal and neonatal serum concentrations of Fe, Zn, Cu, Se, Cr, Mn, and Co were assessed along with maternal Fe intakes. A total of 124 pregnant women and their term neonates participated voluntarily in this research. The women were divided into one of the three groups {high Fe intake (HFI), median Fe intake (MFI), and low Fe intake (LFI)} by their total Fe intakes and one of the two groups (Anemic and Normal) by their Fe nutritional status. All the data were compared among the three groups and between the two groups also. Total Fe intakes of HFI, MFI, and LFI groups were 140.8 ${\pm}$ 76.1, 68.0 ${\pm}$ 11.2, and 30.2 ${\pm}$ 8.6 mg/day, respectively. Those of Anemic and Normal groups were 90.1 ${\pm}$ 74.8 and 86.6 ${\pm}$ 46.8 mg/day, respectively. Maternal Hb concentration and Hct were not significantly different among HFI, MFI, and LFI groups but those were significantly different between Anemic and Normal groups. However, neonatal Hb concentration was not significantly different among HFI, MFI, and LFI groups and between Anemic and Normal groups either. Maternal serum Fe concentrations of the three groups, HFI, MFI, and LFI, were similar but that of Anemic group was significantly lower compared to Normal group. However, there was no significant difference in neonatal serum Fe concentrations among the three groups and between the two groups either. Serum concentrations of the other trace minerals in both mothers and neonates were not significantly different among HFI, MFI, and LFI groups and between Anemic and Normal groups. In addition, in the maternal serum, Fe concentration was positively correlated to Zn and Se concentration, respectively. As for the neonatal serum, Fe concentration showed a positive correlation to Zn, Cu, Mn, Se, and Co concentration, respectively. No trace mineral concentration was found to correlate negatively to Fe concentration in both maternal and neonatal serum, The results in this study indicate that Fe intakes of pregnant women, even if it is considerably above the level of estimated average requirement (EAR), may not affect serum Fe concentration in both mothers and neonates. In addition it might not influence adversely on the availability of other trace minerals including Zn and Cu in both mothers and neonates.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.407-416
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to examine the comparison of growth development, bone mineral density and nutrient intakes between double income families' preschool children(DIFPC) and full-time housewives' preschool children(FHPC). Subjects were 111 preschool children. Anthropometric characteristics and bone mineral density in right forearm were measured. The questionnaire was composed of health status, life style, dietary behaviors, and dietary intakes and was completed by the children's mothers. The average age of the DIFPC(n=60) was 53.02 months and that of the FHPC(n=51) was 54.80 months. The birth height and weight of the subjects were 50.47㎝ and 3.27㎏ for DIFPC and 50.85㎝ and 3.36㎏ for FHPC, respectively. The average height, weight, % body fat, and obesity index were 108.50㎝, 18.35㎏, 15.35%, 96.71% in DIFPC and 111.46㎝, 19.64㎏, 16.80%, 97.31% in FHPC, respectively. The bone mineral density in forearm of two groups were 0.24g/㎠ in all. The infant feeding method was significantly different between DIFPC and FHPC; 58.9% of DIFPC was fed formula, while 44.4% of FHPC was fed breast milk(p<0.05). Proportions of children for their regular meal were 59.4%, 89.6%, and 61.0% for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, respectively. The major reasons for irregular meal were lack of time and poor appetite for breakfast and snacks for lunch and dinner. Most of the children answered they have snack over once a day, and 60.0% have unbalanced diet. The intakes of energy, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B1, niacin, and vitamin C did not meet the Korean RDAs. The intakes of K and vitamin A for DIFPC were significantly higher than those of FHPC(p<0.05, p<0.05). In conclusion, double income families' preschool children more have a low frequency of breast feeding and low intakes of micro nutrients, such as K and vitamin A than full-time housewives' ones.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.10a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2010

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential component for collagen biosynthesis and also for the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system in humans. Unlike most of the animals, humans lack the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid on their own due to a mutation in the gene encoding the last enzyme of ascorbate biosynthesis. As a result, vitamin C must be obtained from dietary sources like plants. In this study, we have developed two different kinds of transgenic potato plants (Solanumtuberosum L. cv. Taedong Valley) overexpressing strawberry GalUR and mouse GLoase gene under the control of CaMV 35S promoter with increased ascorbic acid levels. Integration of the these genes in the plant genome was confirmed by PCR and Southern blotting. Ascorbic acid(AsA) levels in transgenic tubers were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). The over-expression of these genes resulted in 2-4 folds increase in AsA intransgenic potato and the levels of AsA were positively correlated with increased geneactivity. The transgenic lines with enhanced vitamin C content showed enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses induced by methyl viologen(MV), NaCl or mannitol as compared to untransformed control plants. The leaf disc senescence assay showed better tolerance in transgenic lines by retaining higher chlorophyll as compared to the untransformed control plants. Present study demonstrated that the over-expression of these gene enhanced the level of AsA in potato tubers and these transgenics performed better under different abiotic stresses as compared to untransformed control. We have also investigated the mechanism of the abiotic stress tolerance upon enhancing the level of the ascorbate in transgenic potato. The transgenic potato plants overexpressing GalUR gene with enhanced accumulation of ascorbate were investigated to analyze the antioxidants activity of enzymes involved in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle and their tolerance mechanism against different abiotic stresses under invitro conditions. Transformed potato tubers subjected to various abiotic stresses induced by methyl viologen, sodium chloride and zinc chloride showed significant increase in the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), catalase, enzymes of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase(APX, EC 1.11.1.11), dehydroascorbate reductase(DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1), and glutathione reductase(GR, EC 1.8.1.7) as well as the levels of ascorbate, GSH and proline when compared to the untransformed tubers. The increased enzyme activities correlated with their mRNA transcript accumulation in the stressed transgenic tubers. Pronounced differences in redox status were also observed in stressed transgenic potato tubers that showed more tolerance to abiotic stresses when compared to untransformed tubers. From the present study, it is evident that improved to lerance against abiotic stresses in transgenic tubers is due to the increased activity of enzymes involved in the antioxidant system together with enhanced ascorbate accumulated in transformed tubers when compared to untransformed tubers. At moment we also investigating the role of enhanced reduced glutathione level for the maintenance of the methylglyoxal level as it is evident that methylglyoxal is a potent cytotoxic compound produced under the abiotic stress and the maintenance of the methylglyoxal level is important to survive the plant under stress conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.309-319
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to compare the nutritional menu value of self-selected diet in Korean adults residing in different regions. Subjects were recruited and divided into three groups according to the districts where they lived, which included rural district(n=137), coastal district(n=100), and urban district(n=117). Subjects were interviewed using a general questionnaire and 24-hour recall method for dietary intake. The average age of the subjects were 57.5 years for rural district, 57.0 years for coastal district, and 47.9 years for urban district. The contents of energy, calcium, zinc, vitamin $B_2$, and vitamin E in self-selected diet were 76.1%, 60.1%, 73.1%, 68.6%, and 80.4% of RDAs, respectively. Index of nutritional quality(INQ) for calcium and vitamin $B_2$ was below in 1 in region groups. The contents of calcium and vitamin E in self-selected diet of rural and coastal districts were significantly lower than those of urban district. The numbers of food items in diet of rural, coastal, and urban district were 14.6, 15.3, 15.1 for breakfast, 16.5, 11.8, 17.0 for lunch, 14.9, 12.1, 15.1 for dinner, respectively. However, there was no significance in total food intake by regions. The food intakes from cereals, mushrooms, vegetables of rural district, that from fishes of coastal district, and those from sugars, milks, oils of urban district were the highest among three districts. The numbers of dish items in diet of rural, coastal, and urban district were 4.1, 4.4, 4.1 for breakfast, 4.5, 3.7, 4.4 for lunch, 4.0, 3.8, 4.2 for dinner, respectively. Especially, the number of food and dish items in lunch menu of coastal district was the lowest among region groups. According to these results, it could be suggested to add milk and its products in lunch menu of rural and coastal districts and to supplement fish and shellfish like anchovy in diet of rural and urban districts. And it is recommended to increase food and dish items in diets of three region groups.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1811-1821
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• 2021

Objective: A trial was conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental levels of Mn provided by organic and inorganic trace mineral supplements on growth, tissue mineralization, mineral balance, and antioxidant status of growing broiler chicks. Methods: A total of 500 male chicks (8-d-old) were used in 10-day feeding trial, with 10 treatments and 10 replicates of 5 chicks per treatment. A 2×5 factorial design was used where supplemental Mn levels (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg Mn/kg diet) were provided as MnSO₄·H₂O or MnPro. When Mn was supplied as MnPro, supplements of zinc, copper, iron, and selenium were supplied as organic minerals, whereas in MnSO₄·H₂O supplemented diets, inorganic salts were used as sources of other trace minerals. Performance data were fitted to a linearbroken line regression model to estimate the optimal supplemental Mn levels. Results: Manganese supplementation improved body weight, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with chicks fed diets not supplemented with Mn. Manganese in liver, breast muscle, and tibia were greatest at 50, 75, and 100 mg supplemental Mn/kg diet, respectively. Higher activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (total-SOD) were found in both liver and breast muscle of chicks fed diets supplemented with inorganic minerals. In chicks fed MnSO₄·H₂O, ADG, FCR, Mn balance, and concentration in liver were optimized at 59.8, 74.3, 20.6, and 43.1 mg supplemental Mn/kg diet, respectively. In MnPro fed chicks, ADG, FCR, Mn balance, and concentration in liver and breast were optimized at 20.6, 38.0, 16.6, 33.5, and 62.3 mg supplemental Mn/kg, respectively. Conclusion: Lower levels of organic Mn were required by growing chicks for performance optimization compared to inorganic Mn. Based on the FCR, the ideal supplemental levels of organic and inorganic Mn in chick feeds were 38.0 and 74.3 mg Mn/kg diet, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2024

Heavy metals emitted from urban development do not decompose in the soil and remain for long periods, continually impacting the environment. Since the mid-1990s, there has been increasing societal concern in South Korea regarding soil contamination, prompting various legislative revisions to reduce pollution. This study utilizes the Environmental Impact Assessment Support System (EIASS) to investigate projects in the metropolitan area that have exceeded the Ministry of Environment's soil contamination concern levels from 1989 to 2022 and to examine improvements in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The results reveal that the average concentrations of nine contaminants-cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and fluoride (F)-have all increased over the years. Among these, Zn had the highest relative proportion, with 37.5% of the 40 sites exceeding environmental concern levels. Investigation of 19 specific projects at these exceedance sites showed that only 7 had documented analyses of contamination causes and remediation plans, and just one had contracted additional remediation services, though results from these efforts were found to be lacking. Furthermore, since 2019, a significant proportion of these sites were involved in residential developments, likely due to government initiatives in new city development and extensive housing supply plans. This research emphasizes the importance of public disclosure of the processes and outcomes of remediation efforts on historically contaminated soils prior to project development. It discusses improvements to the EIA by reviewing current legislation and international examples. The findings of this study are expected to heighten public awareness about heavy metal contamination and enhance transparency in soil remediation efforts, contributing to sustainable environmental management and development.

• Oncology Letters
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.453-460
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• 2019

The present study aimed to identify novel methylation markers of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) using microarray methylation analysis and evaluate their prognostic relevance in patient samples. To identify cancer-specific methylated biomarkers, microarray profiling of ccRCC samples from our institute (n=12) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (n=160) were utilized, and the prognostic relevance of candidate genes were investigated in another TCGA dataset (n=153). For validation, pyrosequencing analyses with ccRCC samples from our institute (n=164) and another (n=117) were performed and the potential clinical application of selected biomarkers was examined. We identified 22 CpG island loci that were commonly hypermethylated in ccRCC. Kaplan-Meier analysis of TCGA data indicated that only 4/22 loci were significantly associated with disease progression. In the internal validation set, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that hypermethylation of two loci, zinc finger protein 492 (ZNF492) and G protein-coupled receptor 149 (GPR149), was significantly associated with shorter time-to-progression. Multivariate Cox regression models revealed that hypermethylation of ZNF492 [hazard ratio (HR), 5.44; P=0.001] and GPR149 (HR, 7.07; P<0.001) may be independent predictors of tumor progression. Similarly, the methylation status of these two genes was significantly associated with poor outcomes in the independent external validation cohort. Collectively, the present study proposed that the novel methylation markers ZNF492 and GPR149 could be independent prognostic indicators in patients with ccRCC.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.998-1008
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• 2008

This study aimed to assess the nutritional status and the nutritional risks based on the food intake frequency and health-related behaviors of middle-aged and elderly people living in Andong area. Interviews were conducted with 1,384 subjects (532 males, 852 females) aged 50 years and over. Nutrient intakes, food intake frequency, and health-related behaviors including smoking, drinking, and exercise were investigated. The average energy intakes were 1410.5 kcal for males and 1279.2 kcal for females, and the percentages of the subjects consuming below the estimated energy requirement (EER) were 92.5% and 88.4%, respectively. The least consumed nutrients compared to the estimated average requirement (EAR) were riboflavin (92.5% for males, 89.6% for females), folic acid (89.7%, 88.5%), and calcium (78.9%, 85.8%), in order. According to the food intake frequency survey, the intakes of meat, fish and vegetable (except kimchi) were very poor, and this low intakes of meat and fish showed as poor status of protein, niacin, vitamin $B_6$, and zinc intakes. Health-related behaviors data showed that the ratio of cigarette smokers, especially male, was higher, while the ratio of the person exercising regularly was lower than that of the nationwide statistics, respectively. Cigarette smoking and drinking were not significantly related to the poor nutrition intake, while regular exercise positively influenced nutrient intakes in female subjects. These results showed that the nutritional status of the subjects was likely to be severely deficient and the low intakes of meat and fish to be highly related to the increase of nutritional risk. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of the secondary disease related to the food intake and health-related behaviors of the subjects, the proper educational program on balanced dietary intake and the correction of health-related behaviors should be developed and applied to this area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 1995.11b
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• pp.11-34
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• 1995

Growth hormone (GH) plays a key role in regulating postnatal growth and can stimulate growth of animals by acting directly on specific receptors on the plasma membrane of tissues or indirectly through stimulating insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I synthesis and secretion by the liver and other tissues. IGF-I and IGF-Ⅱ are polypeptides with structural similarity with proinsulin that stimulate cell proliferation by endocrine, paracrine and autocrine mechanisms. The initial event in the metabolic action of IGFs on target cells appears to be their binding to specific receptors on the plasma membrane. Current evidence indicates that the mitogenic actions of both IGFs are mediated primarily by binding to the type I IGF receptors, and that IGF action is also mediated by interactions with IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). Six distinct IGFBPs have been identified that are characterized by cell-specific interaction, transcriptional and post-translational regulation by many different effectors, and the ability to either potentiate or inhibit IGF actions. Nutritional deficiencies can have their devastating consequence during growth. Although IGF-I is the major mediator of GH's action on somatic growth, nutritional status of an organism is a critical regulator of IGF-I and IGFBPs. Various nutrient deficiencies result in decreased serum IGF-I levels and altered IGFBP levels, but the blood levels of GH are generally unchanged or elevated in malnutrition. Effects of protein, energy, vitamin C and D, and zinc on serum IGF and IGFBP levels and tissue mRNA levels were reviewed in the text. Multiple factors are involved in the regulation of intestinal epithelial cell growth and differentiation. Among these factors the nutritional status of individuals is the most important. The intestinal epithelium is an important site for mitogenic action of the IGFs in vivo, with exogenous IGF-I stimulating mucosal hyperplasia. Therefore, the IGF system appears to provide and important mechanism linking nutrition and the proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells. In order to study the detailed mechanisms by which intestinal mucosa is regulated, we have utilized IEC-6 cells, an intestinal epithelial cell line and Caco-2 cells, a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line. Like intestinal crypt cells analyzed in vivo or freshly isolated intestinal epithelial cells, IEC-6 cells and Caco-2 cells possess abundant quatities of both type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ IGF receptors. Exogenous IGFs stimulate, whereas addition of IGFBP-2 inhibits IEC-6 cell proliferation. To investigate whether endogenously secreted IGFBP-2 inhibit proliferation, IEC-6 cells were transfected with a full-length rat IGFBP-2 cDNA anti-sense expression construct. IEC-6 cells transfected with anti-sense IGFBP-2 protein in medium. These cells grew at a rate faster than the control cells indicating that endogenous IGFBP-2 inhibits proliferation of IEC-6 cells, probably by sequestering IGFs. IEC-6 cells express many characteristics of enterocyte, but do not undergo differentiation. On the other hand, Caco-2 cells undergo a spontaneous enterocyte differentiation. On the other hand, Caco-2 cells undergo a spontaneous enterocyte differentiation after reaching confluency. We have demonstrated that Caco-2 cells produce IGF-Ⅱ, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, and an as yet unidentified 31,000 Mr IGFBP, and that both mRNA and peptide secretion of IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 increased, but IGFBP-4 mRNA and protein secretion decreased after the cells reached confluency. These changes occurred in parallel to and were coincident with differentiation of the cells, as measured by expression of sucrase-isomaltase. In addition, Caco-2 cell clones forced to overexpress IGFBP-4 by transfection with a rat IGFBP-4 cDNA construct exhibited a significantly slower growth rate under serum-free conditions and had increased expression of sucrase-isomaltase compared with vector control cells. These results indicate that IGFBP-4 inhibits proliferation and stimulates differentiation of Caco-2 cells, probably by inhibiting the mitogenic actions of IGFs.