• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 1997

Cardiovascular disease has been the leading cause of death among patients with chronic renal failure. Many reports have been described that homocysteine is one of the independent risk factor to the occulsive vascular disease. In this study, HPLC/FLD (high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector) technique was used to measure homocysteine level in patients with chronic renal failure and normal control group. The detection limit and recovery of total plasma homocysteine using HPLC/FLD were 98.6$\pm$5.8% and 0.2 nmol/ml, respectively. The linearity of this method was established in concentration range of 2~50 nmol/ml (correlation coefficient=0.9997). The concentrations of total plasma homocysteine were 6.81$\pm$1.54 nmol/ml and 27.28$\pm$14.94 nmol/ml in normal control (n=20) and patient group (n=90), respectively (p<0.05). In this study, the HPLC/FLD method showed high sensitivity and reproducibility for a routine clinical laboratory testing. Moreover determination of homocysteine level in plasma might be useful for a biochemical marker for predicting the cardiovascular diseases and for monitoring of therapeutic effect of lowering homocysteine in patients with chronic renal failure.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.583-593
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• 1997

Indirect fluorescent antibody test(IFAT) and enzyme-linked imuunosorbent assay (IgG-ELISA) as serological diagnostic tools were conducted to evaluate the usefulness for diagnosis of canine babesiosis infected with Babesia gibsoni in domestic various dog breeds, american pit bullterrier, military shepherd, and mongrel dogs. The results obtained from this study were abstracted as follows. The nonionic detergent Triton X-100 and absorbent bio-bead $SM_2$ were useful reagents for the preparation of pure merozoite antigen of B gibsoni to be used in ELISA. The optimum reaction in ELISA was shown when the protein concentration of ELISA antigen was measured as 625ng/ml and the conjugate concentration was diluted into 1/6000 fold. The average OD value of ELISA in sera determined with negative responses in IFAT was measured as $0.255{\pm}0.051$(490nm) and the cut - off value of OD was determined as 0.399(490nm). The serum antibodies in both of IFAT and ELISA were detected on one week after artificially infected with B gibsoni and these high antibody titers, 512X in IFAT and 1024X in ELISA, were long lasted until 15 weeks after infection. The reproducibility of reaction and stability of the antigen absorbed microtitration polystyrene plate preserved in $4^{\circ}C$ refrigerator and $-20^{\circ}C$ freezer, respectively could be lasted until 135 days after storage. The positive rates in IFAT by dog breeds were shown 8.1%(60/744 heads) in mongrel dogs, 81.3%(78/96 heads) in american pit bullterrier and 15.6%(15/96 heads) in military shepherd, while the positive rate in ELISA shown 17.6%(131/744 heads) in mongrel dogs, 83.3%(80/96 heads) in american pit bullterrier and 36.5%(35/96 heads) in military shepherd, respiectively. In the total of 936 heads surveyed with IFAT and ELISA the positive rates in IFAT and ELISA were 16.4%(153/936 heads) and 26.3%(246/936 heads), respectivily. Agreement of reactions between IFAT and ELISA was shown 82.4% in 936 dog sera. The specificity and sensitivity of ELISA reaction were 83.5% and 76.5%, respectively. From the conclusion obtained in this study it was evaluated that IFAT and ELISA were useful as highly specific, sensitive and stable serelogical tools for the diagnosis of canine babesiosis in Korea.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of FDG-PET/CT as follow up imaging tool in patients with endometrial cancer after therapy. Material and Methods: One hundred one patients with endometrial cancer who underwent FDG PET/CT after the treatment of this disease were included in this study population (25-79 yr old, Mean age 50.6 yr old) and all these patients also performed various laboratory and imaging studies such as serum tumor marker, CT or MRI. The lesions having increased focal FDG uptake were classified into benign, equivocal, and malignant one according to their pattern and activity. Tumor recurrence was confirmed by histopathological results and other clinical and imaging data. Results: Among the 19 patients with 30 malignant or equivocal hot uptakes, 11 of 14 patients supposed to be malignant finding in PET/CT were proved to be tumor recurrence, while one of 5 patients with equivocal lesions were recurred malignancy, Two false negative cases were turned out to be peritoneal carcinomatosis, Estimated sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of PET/CT for diagnosis of recurrence in endometrial carcinoma after treatment were 86 %, 92 % and 91 %, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values in the same issue were 63% and 98%, respectively. Conclusion: FDG-PET/CT is useful for regular work up of endometrial carcinoma after the treatment because of its high negative predictive value as well as high sensitivity and specificity.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.271-277
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• 2005

Urea in blood has been measured as an effective marker for diagnosis of renal function. Urea which is e end-product of nitrogen containing metabolites such as proteins is filtered through glomeruli of kidneys and then excreted as urine. If the renal function is deteriorated, the urea concentration in blood will be increased, from which the healthiness of renal function is judged. In order to improve the confidence of diagnosis results, the results must keep traceability chain to certified reference materials, which was certified by primary reference method. In this study, we proposed isotope dilution-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (ID-LC/MS) as a candidate primary method, in which $15^N_2$-urea is used as an internal reference material. The developed method is highly accurate in principle and is convenient as it does not require cumbersome derivatization. 0.1 mmol/L ammonium chloride was selected as a mobile phase for HPLC because it provided low interference in MS analysis of relatively low molecular weighted urea. HPLC and MS were connected with an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface of positive mode, which provided high sensitivity and reproducibility. The developed method was validated with internationally recognized reference materials, and we have obtained satisfactory results in an international ring trial. The expanded uncertainty calculated according to ISO guide was 1.8% at 95% confidence interval. The developed method is being used as a primary reference measurement method such as for certification of serum certified reference materials (CRMs).

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2019

This study compared the utility of the serum uric acid/creatinine ratio with that of uric acid as a risk predictor of metabolic syndrome. From November 2016 to October 2018, 14,190 adult men under the age of 20 years, who underwent a comprehensive health checkup at a general hospital in their metropolitan area, were included. Metabolic syndrome was assessed according to the American Heart Association/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) criteria. Abdominal obesity was based on the WHO criteria in the Western Pacific region. The serum uric acid/creatinine ratio was found to be higher in the fourth quartile than in the first quartile, with a high incidence of metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome components. On the other hand, ROC analysis revealed the serum uric acid/creatinine ratio to be a similar indicator of the metabolic syndrome risk to serum uric acid (AUC, 0.554 vs 0.566). The serum uric acid/creatinine ratio showed lower sensitivity and higher specificity than uric acid. In conclusion, the utility of the serum uric acid/creatinine ratio as an independent indicator to predict the risk of metabolic syndrome is limited, and should be used only as an auxiliary marker.

• Journal of the Korean Fracture Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.186-191
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the radiological and epidemiological characteristics, as well as the clinical course of pelvic insufficiency fractures in the elderly population. Materials and Methods: At a Haeundae Paik Hospital, we retrospectively reviewed patients with pelvic insufficiency fractures between March 2010 and May 2017. The demographic data of patients were analyzed, and bone mineral density and bone turnover markers were evaluated to estimate the metabolic status of the bone. The radiological characteristics were evaluated by comparing the simple x-ray images with the computed tomography images, and the types of fractures were classified via computed tomography images. For clinical course evaluation, we investigated comorbid complications, and compared the walking ability scale before and 6 months after the fracture. Results: A total of 42 patients were included, with an average age of 76.5 years. All were female except one case. In 5 cases where the initial medical examination was from another institution, the fracture was not found in 3 cases. All cases received conservative treatment. After the diagnosis of pelvic bone fracture using a simple x-ray imaging, additional fractures were found in 81.0% of the study population using a computed tomography. Initiation of gait occurred at an average of 2.8 weeks, and every case except 1 (97.6%) fully recovered their gait ability. Conclusion: We concluded that there was a limitation with diagnosing pelvic insufficiency fracture using only a simple x-ray imaging technique. In general, cases in this study showed conservative treatment yielded favorable clinical outcome with relatively less critical complications.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

Function of salivary gland and saliva composition can be an indicator of individual's health status. Recently, saliva has been thought to have a high potential for usage in the biomedical field to diagnose, evaluate, and prevent systemic health due to the technological advances in analyzing and detecting small elements such as immunological and metabolic products, viruses, microorganisms, hormones in saliva. As a diagnostic specimen, saliva has some useful advantages compared to serum. Because of simple non-invasive method, saliva sampling is quite comfort for the patient, and it doesn't require specialists to collect samples. The possibility of infection during the collection process is also low. For this reason, proteins, genetic materials, and various biomarkers in saliva are actively being utilized on studying stress, microbiomics, genetics, and epigenetics. For the research on collecting big data related to systemic health, the needs on biobank has been focused. Regeneration of salivary gland based on tissue engineering has been also on advancement. However, there are still many issues to be solved, such as the standardization of sample collection, storage, and usage. This review focuses on the recent trends in the field of saliva research and highlight the future perspectives in biomedical and other applications.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.240-246
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• 2024

Epithelioid angiosarcoma is a rare variant of angiosarcoma characterized by an epithelioid morphology that mimics carcinoma. Therefore, multicentric epithelioid angiosarcoma is easily misdiagnosed as bone metastasis from carcinoma and has an aggressive clinical course. Here, we present a rare case of a 61-year-old male with multicentric epithelioid angiosarcoma of the bone. Plain radiography, CT, and MRI revealed multiple osteolytic lesions in both femurs; some lesions showed soft tissue extension with cortical bone destruction. Interestingly, PET-CT revealed that the lesions were only distributed along the bones of the lower extremities, including the pelvic bones, femurs, and tibiae. Despite histological analysis initially suggesting metastatic carcinoma, after additional immunohistological staining, including that for vascular markers (CD31 and ERG), the final diagnosis was epithelioid angiosarcoma. A better understanding of the clinicoradiological features of this disease may help eliminate diagnostic confusion and provide better management.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.393-402
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• 2000

Purpose: Tc-99m-MIBI (MIBI) and Tc-99m-Tetrofosmin (TF) are commonly used for scintimammog (SMM). We compared the diagnostic ability of SMM using Tc-99m-MIBI and Tc-99m-TF for the diagnosis of breast mass. Materials and Methods: The study subjects were comprised of 123 breast lesior 86 normal breasts of 114 patients who underwent SMM. Bilateral prone images and anterior supine images obtained at 5 minutes and 1 or 3 hours after intravenous injection of 740 MBq of either MIBI or TF. of tumors were not significantly different between the MIBI and TF groups. First, two observers read the SMM without clinical information (1st interpretation), then read again with information about location (2nd interpretation). Sensitivity and specificity of each radiopharmaceutical for the diagnosis of cancer were evaluated in terms of image acquisition time, tumor size, and location. Results: The SMM a good agreement between two observers for 1st and 2nd interpretation, except for TF SMM at 3 hr. first interpretation, the sensitivities at 5 min, 1 hr, and 3 hr were not significantly different between MIBI TF SMM (81.6%, 80.0%, 60.9% in MIBI vs. 88.9%, 80.6%, 42.9% in TF), although the sensitivities of images were significantly lower than 5 min images in both MIBI and TF SMM. The specificity of TF at was superior to that of MIBI (81.5%, 90.0%, 82.9% in MIBI vs. 96.7%, 100%, 90.0% in TF, p<0.01 MIBI TF at 5 min). For the second interpretation with information of mass location, the sensitivities at 3 hr were significantly lower than 5 min images (86.8%, 86.7%, 78.3% in MIBI vs. 88.9%, 93.5%, 57.1% between MIBI and TF SMM. However, there was no significant difference in the specificity (60.0%, 75.0% for MIBI vs. 86.7%, 100%, 100% for TF). MIBI and TF SMM showed lower sensitivities for the with less than 1 cm than tumors with more than 1 cm. However, the location of tumors did not sensitivity and specificity between MIBI and TF SMM. Conclusion: The ability for the differential of breast tumor is similar between MIBI and TF SMM, and delayed image is not necessary. TF may be than MIBI considering the specificity of SMM without clinical information and labeling convenience.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2007

Background: The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the lung has been increasing worldwide, and it has been generally been accepted to be relatively unrelated to smoking with a female preponderance. The aim of this study was to examine the gender-related pathological and survival differences in patients with an adenocarcinoma of the lung. Material and Method: A retrospective review of the clinical information of patients diagnosed with an adenocarcinoma of the lung at Kosin Medical Center from January 1999 to September 2005 was performed. The patient's demographics (age, gender), smoking history, stage, serum tumor marker, pathology classification, EGFR mutation, K-ras mutation, treatment methods, and survival time were analyzed. Result: Of the 438 patients, 179 (40.9%) were female. The median age at the diagnosis was 58 years for females and 59 years for males. However, 25.8% of women and only 17.7% of men were under 50 years of age (p=0.02). The distribution of the disease stage was similar in both men and women. The bronchioloalveolar carcinoma component was diagnosed more often in women (11.2%) than in men (5.0%). The overall survival rate was higher in women than in men (p=0.01), and women had a superior therapeutic response to a combined treatment of surgery and chemotherapy. Conclusion: This study showed significant genders differences in terms of the smoking history, bronchioloalveolar carcinoma component, overall survival, and survival after combined treatment of surgery and chemotherapy. Therefore, gender differences should be considered when diagnosing and treating adenocarcinomas of the lung.