• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.146-155
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• 2020

This study was to evaluate the usefulness of gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) as a surrogate marker predicting metabolic syndrome. 7,155 non obese men over the age of 20 were studied as subjects. The criteria for diagnosing MetS were the National Cholesterol Education Program - Third Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP III). The risk of developing MetS according to GGT was conducted logistic regression analysis, and the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve was obtained to confirm GGT ability to predict the risk of MetS. Regardless of age and body mass index, MetS had a 7.09 times higher risk of onset in the fourth quartile than in the first quartile of GGT (p<0.001). The AUC (area under the curve) of GGT for the diagnosis of MetS was 0.715, and the cutoff value of GGT was 40.0 U/L, the sensitivity was 65.0%, and the specificity was 70.2%. Therefore, GGT is considered to be a useful diagnostic index for diagnosing MetS.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2013

The jujube is an important fruit tree species in Korea. Traditionally, classifications of jujube cultivars have been based on morphological characters; however, morphological identification can be problematic because morphological traits are affected by environmental conditions. Therefore, DNA markers are now being used for the rapid and accurate identification of plant species. Inter-simple sequence repeat (I-SSR) is one of the best DNA-based molecular marker techniques, which is useful for studying genetic relations and for the identification of closely related cultivars. In this study, 5 Korean jujube trees and 1 jujube tree imported from China were analyzed for 16 I-SSR primers. Amplification of the genomic DNA of jujube cultivars by using I-SSR analysis generated 100 bands, with an average of 6.25 bands per primer, of which 45 bands (45%) were polymorphic. The number of amplified fragments with I-SSR primers ranged from 2 to 13. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 10% to 100%. I-SSR finger printing profiles showed that 'Boeun jujube' and 'Daeri jujube' had characteristic DNA patterns, indicating unequivocal cultivar identification at molecular level. According to the results of clustering analysis, the genetic similarity coefficient ranged from 0.68 to 0.92. 'Boeun jujube' and 'Daeri jujube' were divided into independent groups, and 'Bokjo jujube', 'Geumseong jujube', 'Wolchul jujube', and 'Mudeung jujube' were placed in the same group. Therefore, I-SSR markers are suitable for the discrimination of 'Boeun jujube' and 'Daeri jujube' cultivars.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.331-344
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• 2008

Recently, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) of the United States and many advanced countries remark biomarkers and surrogate endpoints as a critical path tool on model based drug development. Economic, technical and social profit on model based drug development like a reduction of the length of research and development have been achieved. Therefore we summarize previous studies about biomarkers and surrogate endpoints and suggest a development direction of therapeutic agents. In diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoporosis, there are remarkable increases in number of patients and most of patients take medicine during their whole lifetime. For this reason, many patients with DM and osteoporosis have a tolerance on their medicine. We expect that research and development on biomarkers and surrogate endpoints will contribute to new drug development on DM and osteoporosis. Biomarkers for DM are blood levels of glucose, insulin, ${HbA}_{1c}$, CRP, alpha-glucosidase, adiponectin and DPP-4. Among these, validated surrogate endpoints for DM are blood levels of glucose, insulin and ${HbA}_{1c}$ Biomarkers for osteoporosis are BMD, BMC, trabecular volume, ICTP, DPD, osteocalcin, the activity of osteoclast and production of osteoblast. The validated surrogate endpoints for osteoporosis are BMD only. This review summarizes all suggested biomarkers and surrogate endpoints in DM and osteoporosis. The biomarkers are classified by drugs, and the method of validation for surrogate endpoints is suggested. This information would contribute to suggest a direction of DM and osteoporosis therapeutic agent development.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.75-90
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• 2010

Biomarkers are likely to be important in the study of various pulmonary diseases for many reasons. Research efforts in developing biomarkers and surrogate endpoints of lung diseases have resulted in the identification of new risk factors and novel drug targets, as well as the establishment of treatment guidelines. Government agencies, academic research institutions, diagnostic industries, and pharmaceutical companies all recognize the importance of biomarkers in new drug development and advancing therapies to improve public health. In drug development, biomarkers are used to evaluate early signals of efficacy and safety, to select dose, and to identify the target population. Identification of suitable end points not only would help investigators design appropriate clinical trials but would assist clinicians in caring for this patient population. Though the area of pulmonology has received much attention in the past decades, it still lags behind with regard to the development of biomarkers, particularly those of health effects and susceptibility. This review critically summarized several biomarker researches such as Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate End-points (ECLIPSE) study with objectives of identifying the parameters that predict disease progression of COPD, as well as biomarkers that may serve as surrogate end-points.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.497-509
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• 2002

Background : The mechanisms through which cellular activation results in intracellular mycobacterial killing is only partially understood. However, in vitro studies of human immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been largely modeled on the work reported by Crowle, which is complicated by several factors. The whole blood culture is simple and allows the simultaneous analysis of the relationship between bacterial killing and the effect of effector cells and humoral factors. In this study, we attempted to determine the extent to which M. tuberculosis is killed in a human whole blood culture and to explore the role of the host and microbial factor in this process. Methods : The PPD positive subject were compared to the umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. The culture is performed using heparinized whole blood diluted with a culture medium and infected with a low number of M. avium or M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ for 4 days by rotating the culture in a $37^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ incubator. In some experiments, methlprednisolone- or pentoxifyline were used to inhibit the immune response. To assess the role of the T-cell subsets, CD4+, CD8+ T-cells or both were removed from the blood using magnetic beads. The ${\Delta}$ log killing ratio was defined using a CFU assay as the difference in the log number of viable organisms in the completed culture compared to the inoculum. Results : 1. A trend was noted toward the improved killing of mycobacteria in PPD+ subjects comparing to the umbilical cord blood but there was no specific difference in the patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. 2. Methylprednisolone and pentoxifyline adversely affected the killing in the PPD+ subjects umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis. 3. The deletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T-lymphocytes adversely affected the killing of M. avium and M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ by PPD+ subjects. Deletion of both cell types had an additive effect, particularly in M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$. 4. A significantly improved mycobacterial killing was noted after chemotherapy in patients with tuberculosis and the ${\Delta}$ logKR continuously decreased in a 3 and 4 days of whole blood culture. Conclusion : The in vitro bactericidal assay by human whole blood culture model was settled using a CFU assay. However, the host immunity to M. tuberculosis was not apparent in the human whole blood culture bactericidal assay, and patients with tuberculosis showed markedly improved bacterial killing after anti-tuberculous chemotherapy compared to before. The simplicity of a whole blood culture facilitates its inclusion in a clinical trial and it may have a potential role as a surrogate marker in a TB vaccine trial.