• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a form of allergic skin inflammatory characterized by late eczematous skin lesions. The incidence of AD is increasing, and it causes problems with administrative costs. Therefore, development of an AD treatment with no side effects is needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate tuna heart ethanol extract (THEE), a functional extract from by-product of tuna. AD was induced by spreading 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) on the backside of BALB/c mice. The effect of THEE was tested by measuring skin clinical severity score, secretion of cytokines and IgE, and proliferation. Secretion of $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IgE significantly decreased in a THEE-independent manner. In contrast, levels of IL-10 and $IFN-{\gamma}$ significantly increased in mice sera and splenocytes. In addition, THEE alleviated AD symptoms compared to the DNCB only group. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that THEE has an inhibitory effect on AD and may be a useful substance for the development of cosmeceuticals.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the recent age distribution of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in patients with respiratory infections and the differences in diagnostic usefulness according to the methods used in these patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients aged ≤18 years with respiratory infectious diseases who underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or a specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) test between July 2016 and February 2019. The diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection was confirmed by a positive result in the PCR or IgM test. Results: Of the 2,721 patients tested for M. pneumoniae, 2,197 underwent IgM, and 1,144 underwent PCR, with positivity rates of 17% and 20%, respectively. Among the 620 patients tested for both IgM and PCR tests simultaneously, 35% had M. pneumoniae infection, with 14% under 1 year old and 13% under 1-2 years old. The positive rate increased with age in both tests. Higher positive rates were observed in the IgM test before 3 years of age and in the PCR test after 3 years of age. The agreement rate between the two tests was 77.9% (Cohen's kappa 0.402). Conclusions: As age increased, the rates of M. pneumoniae infection also increased. In patients under 2 years of age, 4¬-14% of infections were confirmed depending on the method used. The moderate agreement between the PCR and IgM tests suggests that the simultaneous use of PCR and the IgM test for the early diagnosis should be approached with caution.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.1 s.49
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• pp.27-42
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• 1995

The in vivo and in vitro humoral and cell-mediated immune responses of lymphocytes of BALB/c mouse exposed to mercury chloride$(HgCl_2)$ were investigated. In vitro exposure of the splenocytes to mercury chloride produced overt cytotoxicity in 3 hours period. The $IC_{50}$(the concentration required to inhibit a splenocyte viability by 50%) for mercury chloride was >0.1mM for cytotoxicity. In vivo mercury chloride exposed mice were significantly depressed delayed type hypersensitivity(DTH) response to sheep red blood cells(SRBC) in a dose-dependent manner compared with control group. Mercury chloride inhibited the proliferative responses of splenocytes to lipopolysaccharide, pokeweed mitogen, concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin in a dose-dependent manner. Hemagglutinin response to SRBC in mercury chloride exposed mice was significantly depressed in a dose-dependent manner compared with control group. After 7 weeks of mercury chloride exposure in vivo, mercury chloride induced an increase of nonspecific serum $IgG_1$ and IgE levels in BALB/c mice.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.634-639
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• 2005

Purpose : An understanding of the immunological process is required if primary prevention of atopic diseases is to be developed in early childhood. But, it is too hard to distinguish atopy from nonatopy under the age of two clinically, because the expression of phenotype and cytokines is vague in early childhood. We evaluated DNA methylation changes at Th2 interleukin-4 gene in peripheral blood from atopic children. Methods : We selected 15 allergic children(mild : eight, moderate to severe : seven) and seven normal controls by using family allergy scores and clinical histories. We measured Total IgE and Der f II specific IgE levels and cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells with Der f II stimulation and extracted DNA from Der f II specific T cells. We examined the change of CpG methylation in DNA from atopic and nonatopic children. Results : In T cells from normal children, IL-4 DNA were predominantly methylated; otherwise, CpG demethylation occurred in Der f II specific T cells from allergic children. Conclusion : IL-4 DNA methylation changes occurred in T genes from allergic children and DNA methylation assay in early childhood.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.559-573
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• 1997

Background : Asthma causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and cough. These symptoms are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow limitation that is partly reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. The inflammation also causes an associated increase in airway responsiveness to a variety of stimuli. Method : Of the 403 adult bronchial asthma patients enrolled from March 1992 to March 1994 in Allergy Clinics of Severance Hospital in Yonsei University, this study reviewed the 97 cases to evaluate the treatment effects and to analyse prognostic factors. The patients were classified to five groups according to treatment responses ; group 1 (non control group) : patients who were not controlled during following up, group 2 (high step treatment group) : patients who were controlled longer than 3 months by step 3 or 4 treatment of "Global initiative for asthma, Global strategy for asthma management and prevention" (NHLBI/WHO) with PFR(%) larger than 80%, group 3 (short term control group) : patients who were controlled less than 1 year by step 1 or 2 treatment of NHLBI/WHO, group 4 (intermediate term control group) : patients who were controlled for more than 1 year but less than 2 years by step 1 or 2 treatment of NHLBI/WHO, group 5 (long term control group) : patients who were controlled for more than 2 years by step 1 or 2 treatment of NHLBI/WHO. Especially the patients who were controlled more than 1 year with negatively converted methacholine test and no eosinophil in sputum were classified to methacholine negative conversion group. We reviewed patients' history, atopy score, total IgE, specific IgE, methacholine PC20 and peripheral blood eosinophil count, pulmonary function test, steroid doses and aggrevation numbers after treatment. Results : On analysis of 98 patients, 20 cases(20.6%) were classified to group 1, 26 cases(26.8%) to group 2, 23 cases(23.7%) to group 3, 15 cases(15.5%) to group 4, and 13 cases(13.4%) to groups 5. There were no differences of sex, asthma type, family history, smoking history, allergic rhinitis and aspirin allergy among the groups. In long term control group, asthma onset age was younger, symptom duration was shorter, and initial pulmonary function was better. The long term control group required lower amounts of oral steroid. had less aggrevation during first 3months after starting treatment and shorter duration from enrollment to control Atopy, allergic skin test, sputum and blood eosinophil, total IgE, nonspecific bronchial responsiveness was not significantly different among the groups. Seven out of 28 patients who were controlled more than 1 years showed negatively converted methachloine test and no eosinophils in the sputum. The mean control duration was $20.3{\pm}9.7$ months and relapse did not occur. Conclusion : Patients who had asthma of onset age younger, shorter symptom duration, better PFT, lower treatment initial steps, lower amounts of steroid needs and less aggravation numbers after starting treatment were classified in the long term control groups compared to the others.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2015

The study was carried out to investigate the effects of by-products of herbal medicines on performance, enteric microflora and blood biochemical profiles and immunological parameters in broiler chicks. A total of ninety-six, 3-d-old birds were assigned to a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with 0.15 % (HM1), 0.3% (HM2) or 0.5% (HM3) by-products of herbal medicines. There was a significantly (p<0.05) improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) in birds fed diet supplemented with 0.15% by-products of herbal medicines (HM1) compared with the control birds during starter period (3~21 days). However, no difference in body weight, feed intake, total gain and FCR among treatment groups was observed during the entire feeding period (3~35 days). The colony forming units (CFU) of E. coli and Lactobacilli in the digesta of ileo-cecum was not also affected by dietary treatment. Serum AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and glucose decreased (p<0.05) in birds fed diets supplemented with herbal medicines compared with those fed the basal diet. In particular, the birds fed diets supplemented with herbal medicines showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in blood mean corpuscular volume (MCV) level compared with the control birds. However, the most of blood biochemical and hematological parameters and immunoglobulins (IgG and IgA) were not affected by the dietary treatment. In conclusion, the low level of dietary herbal medicines showed beneficial effects on FCR during starter period and liver functions, suggesting that by-products of herbal medicines may be applicable as functional feed additives in birds.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.126-132
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• 1997

Measles outbreak in the world was decreased since measles vaccine had been introduced. Although vaccination rate is high, measles was not eradicated and measles reappeared among vaccinated children. We measured measles-specific antibody from the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups who had experienced apparent measles in the Seongnam city in 1993. The results were as follows. 1) The data included total 126 children (M:F=1 : 1). Age distribution of measles outbreak revealed 6 children in 5yr, 11 in 6yr, 20 in 7yr, 39 in 8yr, 22 in 9yr, 11 in 10yr, 11 in 11yr, and 6 in 12yr. 2) MMR vaccination rate was 78.6%(99/126) in the children who had experienced measles. Positive rate of measles-specific IgM Ab was 80.8% (80/99) among the vaccinated group and among 9E.6.% (25/27) the unvaccinated. 3) Positive rate of measles-specific IgG Ab was 90.9% (90/99) among MMR-vaccinated group, and 85.2% (23/27) in unvaccinated group. In conclusion, measles-specific IgM antibody have been detected more than 1 month in most patients. The relatively high proportion of measles-specific IgM positivity may mean primary vaccine failure. To booster the antibody titers and to prevent measles epidemic in school-aged children, revaccination of measles should be considered.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on the performance, immune response and small intestinal microflora in laying hens. A total of 960 Hy-Line $Brown^{(R)}$ laying hens of 27 wks old, housed in 2 bird cages, were assigned in a completely randomized block design into one of the following 6 dietary treatments: control, antibiotic (6 ppm avilamycine), 0.025% MOS, 0.05% MOS, 0.25% FOS, and 0.5% FOS. Each treatment had 4 replicates of 40 birds and was fed ad libitum for 6 wks under 16 h lighting regimen. There were significant differences among treatments in hen-day and hen-housed egg production. Hen-day egg production in 0.025% MOS was significantly higher than that of control. Hen-housed egg production in antibiotic-treated group was significantly higher compared with control. Egg weight, feed intake and feed conversion were not significantly different among treatments. Egg shell thickness was highest in 0.25% FOS, but was not significantly different among the rest of treatments. There were no significant differences among treatments in egg shell strength, egg shell color, egg yolk color and Haugh unit. IgG concentrations in serum were not significantly different among treatments. On the other hand, IgA concentrations of the treated birds tended to be increased compared with control. Dietary treatments tended to decrease Cl. perfringens and E. coli, and to increase Lactobacillus spp. The result of this experiment showed that dietary supplementation of MOS and FOS in laying hens tended to improve egg production comparable to the supplementation of antibiotics. The level of serum IgA and small intestinal microflora were also significantly affected by the treatments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.471-479
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of various levels of chitosan oligomer (CO) molecular weight on the disorders of lipid metabolism and immune-related factors induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), that is a endocrine disrupter, using adult male rats (SD) for 3 weeks. These 40 animals were divided into five groups. Three kinds of CO were used by molecular weight (MW) (less than 1000, 1000~3000, and 5000~10000) and added 4% to basal diets respectively. TCDD (40 ${\mu}g$/kg B.W) was intraperitoneally injected into rats at the beginning of the experiment. The relative weights of the livers were increased in all rats treated with TCDD, and the brain and testis weights were increased in all CO diet groups, compared to the control and TCDD groups. The levels of white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin, hematocrits (HCT), and platelets were significantly lowered by treating TCDD. By the way, RBC and HCT tended to recover by CO diets. The elevation of serum total and HDL cholesterol levels induced by TCDD treatment was significantly reduced by CO (5000~10000 MW) diets. The apparent increasing of the total lipid, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels of rat livers induced by TCDD was tended to be suppressed in those fed CO diets. Especially, diets with less than 1000 MW significantly diminished liver triglycerides. The levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG1 and IgM were significantly high in rats fed CO (5000~10000 MW) diets. The decreasing levels of IgE by treatment with TCDD tended to recover all the CO diet groups to the level of control group. In histochemical observation, the fat droplets and apoptosis of liver due to TCDD treatment were markedly alleviated in all CO diet groups. These results indicated that CO, though not regular according to molecular weight, can exert improving effects on lipid accumulation, hepatocytic disorders, abnormal blood cells, and some immunoglobulins induced by TCDD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.235-241
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• 2007

Background: Airway mucus hypersecretion plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma, and is associated with the induction of MUC5AC expression in airway secretion. The MUC5AC gene is highly polymorphic; however, there are few studies about the association between the polymorphisms of the MUC5AC gene and asthma susceptibility or asthma phenotypes. We have investigated the association of MUC5AC promoter polymorphisms with the risk of asthma and asthma phenotypes. Methods: We determined the genotypes of the MUC5AC promoter (-1274G>A) in 78 asthma patients and in 78 age, sex-matched control individuals in the Korean population. Genomic DNAs from blood were analyzed by PCR and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) determination. We examined $FEV_1$, total eosinophil count, serum IgE level, $PC_{20}$ and the presence of atopy (by a skin test) in asthma patients. Results: The mean age of the patients was $47.7{\pm}16.1$ years and 38.5% were men, and the mean $FEV_1$ was $84.4{\pm}22.3%$ of predicted in the asthma patients. The -1274G>A polymorphism of the MUC5AC promoter in asthma patients was not significantly different as compared with normal individuals (GG 57.7%, AG 34.6% and AA 7.7% in asthma patients vs. GG 56.4%, AG 38.5% and AA 5.1% in control subject, p = 0.752, Cod). Several clinical parameters in asthma patients such as $FEV_1$, total eosinophil count, serum IgE level, $PC_{20}$ and the presence of atopy, were not associated with the -1274G>A polymorphism of the MUC5AC promoter. Conclusion: The -1274G>A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequency of the MUC5AC promoter was not associated with asthma in a Korean population.