• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.373-376
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• 2003

Objectives : Peripheral blood-buffy coat fractions (N=14,956) have been stored at $-70^{\circ}C$ in the headquarter of the Korean Multicenter Cancer Cohort (KMCC), since 1993. To study the future molecular etiology of cancers using specimens of the cohort, properly stored specimens are necessary, Therefore, the DNA-viability of the bully coat samples was investigated. Methods : Buffy coat fraction samples were randomly selected from various collection areas and years (N=100). The DNA viability was evaluate from the UV-absorbent ratios at 260/280nm and the PCH for $\beta$-globin was performed with genomic DNA isolated from the buffy coat. Results : PCR products were obtained from 85 and 98% of the C and H area-samples, respectively, using 50 or $100{\mu}l$ of the buffy coat. There were significant differences in the yields of the PCR-amplifications from the C and H areas (p<0.05), which was due to differences in the homogenization of the buffy coat fractions available as aliquots. The PCR-products were obtained from all of the samples (N=7) stored at the C area-local confer, but the other aliquots stored at the headquarter were not PCR-amplified, Therefore, the PCR products in almost all the samples, even including the DNA-degraded samples, were obtained. In addition, an improvement in the DNA isolation, i,e. approx. 1.6 fold, was found after using extra RBC lysis buffer. Conclusions : PCR products for $\beta$-globin were obtained from nearly all of the samples. The regional differences in the PCR amplifications were thought to have originated from the different sample-preparation and homogenization performance. Therefore, the long term-stored buffy coat species at the KMCC can be used for future molecular studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.455-462
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• 2004

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in American men and evidences point to significant life style/diet components as risk factors for its development or prevention. Two large cohort studies have identified the consumption of tomatoes or high Plasma levels of Iycopene as associated with reduced risk. A number of other substances such as quercetin, phytoene, phytofluene, cyclolycopene, salicylates and tomatine in tomato besides lycopene could have anticancer activity and may be acting synergistically with lycopene. Lycopene at almost physiologically feasible concentrations, reduces cell viability by cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and modulates the cyclin pathways as well as increasing intercellular communication. However, it is not clear whether lycopene or its oxidation products are more bioactive. Tomato product supplementation results in plasma accumulation of phytoene, Phytofluene, the lycopene oxidation product, and cyclolycopene at significant concentrations and lycopene supplementation, either as a tomato product or as beadlets, results in maximal mean plasma lycopene concentrations of ∼ 1 $\mu$M which is at the lower limit of its activity in cell culture. Rats and mice are poor accumulators of lycopene and other carotenoids making them poor models for the study of cancer prevention and control. Of the 19 animal studies for various cancer sites, lycopene showed a positive effect in 10 studies but negative in 2 prostate cancer studies. In vivo prevention of leukocyte DNA damage in humans has been mostly studied using tomato product supplementation but lycopene supplementation appeared to reduce oxidative DNA damage as well as tomato product supplementation. Lycopene appears to be bioactive in intefering with carcinogenesis but the actions of phytoene, phytofluene or cyclolycopene cannot be ruled out since these compounds were present in most of the lycopene material used for these studies. Although lycopene remains as a promising agent, especially for cancer control, exploring interactions with other tomato phytochemicals and with current prostate cancer therapies should be encouraged.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.78-88
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• 2017

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, plays an important role in tumor growth and metastasis; therefore, it has become an important target in cancer therapy. Novel anticancer pharmaceutical products that have relatively few side effects or are non-cytotoxic must be developed, and such products may be obtained from traditional herbal medicines. Coptis chinensis Franch. is an herb used in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and diabetes. However, potential antiangiogenic effects of C. chinensis water extract (CCFWE) have not yet been studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the antiangiogenic effect of CCFWE in order to evaluate its potential for an anticancer drug. We found that the treatment with CCFWE inhibited the major steps of the angiogenesis process, such as the endothelial cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and capillary-like tube formation in response to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and also resulted in the growth inhibition of new blood vessels in an ex vivo rat aortic ring assay. We also observed that CCFWE treatment arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, preventing the G0/G1 to S phase cell cycle progression in response to VEGF. In addition, the treatment reduced the VEGF-induced activation of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9. Taken together, these findings indicate that CCFWE should be considered a potential anticancer therapy against pathological conditions where angiogenesis is stimulated during tumor development.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.92-99
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• 2008

Objectives : Effective cancer prevention and control measures can only be done when dependable data on the cancer incidence is available. The Seoul Cancer Registry (SCR) was founded to provide valid, comparable and representative cancer incidence data for Koreans. We aimed to compare the cancer incidence in the first (1993-1997) and second term (1998-2002) of the SCR, and we analyzed the annual incidence trend during that 10 years. Methods : The SCR detects potential cancer cases through the Korean Central Cancer Registry (KCCR) data, the health insurance claims, the individual hospital's discharge records and the death certificates. About 87% of the SCR data is registered through the KCCR. The rest of the data is registered by SCR registrars who visit about $70{\sim}80$ mid-sized hospitals in Seoul to review and abstract the medical records of the potential cancer patients. Results: The total number of new cancer cases was higher in $1998{\sim}2002$ than in $1993{\sim}1997$ by 20.6% for men and 18.4% for women, respectively. The age-standardized rate (ASR) of total cancer per 100,000 increased 1% (from 295.4 to 298.3) for men and 5.1% (from 181.5 to 190.7) for women, between the two periods. The commonest cancer sites during 1998-2002 for men were stomach, liver, bronchus/lung, colorectum, bladder and prostate, and the commonest cancer sites for women were breast, stomach, colorectum, cervix uteri, thyroid and bronchus/lung. Compared with the ASRs in 1993, the ASRs in 2002 increased for colorectum (58.4% for men, 27.1% for women), prostate (81.5%), breast (58.3% for women), thyroid (141% for women), and bronchus/lung (15.4% for women). The ASRs for stomach (-18.7% for men, -20.7% for women) and uterine cervix cancer (-39.7%) had decreased. Conclusions : The cancer incidence is increasing in Seoul, Korea, especially for the colorectum and prostate for men, and for the breast, colorectum, bronchus/lung and thyroid for women.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.235-262
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• 2019

While traditionally threatening human infectious diseases are decreasing, chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, including cardiovascular diseases, are spreading rapidly. Reflecting the characteristics of chronic diseases that are difficult to treat, the management of risk factors and the preparation of health promotion policies corresponding to them have emerged as important concerns around the world. Providing so-called multi-sector approach such as health promotion and disease prevention policy and solution for community response, The value of primary care is once again highlighted in the changed medical environment. As the existing medical delivery system has become difficult to cope with the people's desire for rapid aging, disease paradigm change, and quality of life improvement, European Union countries have made various efforts to improve the quality of their primary medical system, which provides continuous, com- prehensive and coordinated management. This paper examines the current status and problems of the healthcare delivery system in Korea, draws implications from the European Union examples related to the strengthening of primary care, and discusses the plans for establishing a patient-centered future medical delivery system.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.279-288
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• 2003

Objectives : Evidence for an effect of rerroductive factors on colorectal carcinogenesis is not yet consistent. Little research has been conducted to investigate whether reproductive factors were associated with colorectal adenomas that are the precursors of colorecta1 cancer, We evaluated the relationships between reproductive factors and the degree of dysplasia of the colorectal adenoma and cancer as colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Methods : For this study, 241 adenoma cases with histopathologically confirmed incident colorectal adenoma, 76 cancer cases with colorectal cancer and 1677 controls were collected from Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, during 1994-1999. Before colonoscopy, information on demographic characteristics, reproductive factors, life style habits and dietary intake were obtained by interviewed questionnaire. Adjusted OR and 95% CI were estimated by using polytomous logistic regression model, Potential confounders that were selected based on the goodness of fit Statistics and interaction between risk factors were considered in this adjustment. The Wald statistic was calculated to test the heterogeneity of the odds ratios for each case. Results .: Postmenopausal women with natural menopause were found to be positively associated with the risk of mild dysplasia adenoma (multivariate-adjusted OR : 2.59, 95% CI=1.1-0.2). Parity was found to be negatively associated with the risk of colorectal lancer (age-adjusted OR : 0.40, 95% CI=0.2-0.9), but did not significantly decrease the risk of colorectal cancer (multivariate-adjusted OR : 0.95, 95% CI=0.3-2.9). Me associations were seen between a9e at menarche, breast feeding, induced abortion, oral contraceptive use, menopausal types, menopausal age or hormone replacement therapy (HRT and the degree of dysplasia of the colorectal adenoma and cancer. However, none of these associations differed' significantly between the degree of dysplasia of the colorectal adenoma and cancer. Conclusions : These findings suggest that postmenopausal women with natural menopause may experience increased risk of mild dysplasia adenorna among colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1237-1245
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• 2004

Agaricus blazei Murill is a medicinal mushroom native to Brazil. It used to be a source of antitumor and immunoactive compounds and considered a health food in many countries. In the present study, it was examined the effects of water extract of A. blazei (WEAB) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549 in order to investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism by WEAB. Treatment of A549 cells to WEAB resulted in the growth inhibition, morphological change and induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay and flow cytometric analysis. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that WEAB caused G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle, which was associated with a down-regulation of cyclin A in both transcriptional and translational levels. WEAB treatment induced a marked up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21, however, the levels of Cdk2, Cdc2, Wee1, Cdc25C and p53 expression were remained unchanged in WEAB treated cells. In addition, WEAB treatment inhibited the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 mRNA and protein without alteration of COX-l expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that WEAB may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human lung carcinorma cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds that confer the anti-cancer activity of WEAB. Once such compounds are identified, the mechanisms by which they exert their effects can begin to be characterized.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.693-699
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• 2011

Spermidine is a ubiquitous polycation that is synthesized from putrescine, which serves as a precursor of spermine. In recent years, spermidine was found to be a polyamine that plays an important role in longevity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radical, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide have been shown to be involved in various pathogenic processes as well as aging. The direct scavenging effect of spermidine on DPPH radical, $H_2O_2$ and hydroxyl radical, and its protective effect against DNA oxidation related to oxidative stress were evaluated in vitro. It was observed that spermidine exhibits scavenging activities on DPPH radical and H2O2 above 500 ${\mu}M$. Spermidine was especially effective in exerting a scavenging activity on hydroxyl radical. In addition, spermidine at 1000 ${\mu}M$ showed a clear protective effect against DNA oxidation. Furthermore, the expression level of anti-oxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase in humam dermal fibroblasts increased in the presence of spermidine compared with blank group. These results suggest that spermidine can be used as an antioxidant to prevent ROS-related diseases including inflammation, cancer and aging.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.55-59
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• 2010

Objective : This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant activity and inhibitory effect on oxidative DNA damage of Nelumbinis Semen Extracts Methods : Nelumbins semen were extracted with hot-water and ethylacetate (EtOAC). The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and $Fe^{2+}$ chelating assay were performed for antioxidative effect and ${\phi}X$-174 RF I DNA cleavage assay and intracellular DNA damage assay were used for inhibitory effect on intracellular DNA damage. Results : In DPPH, Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and $Fe^{2+}$ chelating activity of EtOAC extracts were 96.22%, 53.53%, 64.72%, while those of hot-water extracts were 20.86%, 10.72%, 29.74% at $200{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, respectively. In ${\phi}X$-174 RF I plasmid DNA cleavage assay, the protective effects of EtOAC and hot-water extracts against oxidative DNA damage were 76% and 6% at $200{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, respectively. Conclusion : These results indicated that the seed extracts of Nelumbo nucifera can be used as a natural antioxidants, which effectively inhibits the oxidative DNA damage.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.489-498
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of walking exercise with blood flow restriction (BFR) on insulin resistance, adipokines and gut hormones in middle aged obese women. Eleven obese women (BMI > 25kg/m2; body fat > 30%) wore pneumatic pressure belts at both femurs and performed walking exercise consisting of walking for 2 min and resting for 1min twice per day, 3 days/wk for 4 weeks. Insulin significantly increased after exercise (p<0.05), while glucose increased slightly, but not significantly. Additionally, HOMA-IR decreased significantly after exercise (p<0.05), while adiponectin and visfatin increased, but not significantly. Finally, ghrelin (p<0.05) and GLP-1 (p<0.05) increased significantly after exercise. These results suggest that walking exercise with blood flow restriction for 4 weeks improves insulin resistance, adipokines, and gut hormones in obese middle-aged women. Therefore, high intensity walking exercise with blood flow restriction for short periods of time has more positive effects on prevention and treatment of obesity-related metabolic diseases.