• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.49 no.11
• /
• pp.1174-1179
• /
• 2006

Purpose : Obesity and iron deficiency are common nutritional problems. Obese children are known to have iron deficiencies, but one presented opposite opinion in Korea. This study investigated the prevalence of obesity and iron deficiency in Incheon and the relationship between iron deficiency and obesity. Methods : Physical measurement and hematologic examinations were done a 764 healthy female students aged 14 to 15 years in May, 2005. Overweight was defined as a body mass index ${\geq}85th$ percentile. Iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin <10 ng/mL. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was defined as serum Hb <12 g/dL and serum ferritin <10 ng/mL and/or transferrin saturation <16%. Results : 1) The prevalence of overweight was 24.4 percent (n=186), and that of obesity 16.5 percent (n=126). Ferritin and transferrin saturation was the lowest in the normal weight group. 2) The prevalence of iron deficiency and IDA was 18.7 percent (n=102) and 5.3 percent (n=41), respectively. 3) Iron deficiency was more common in the normal weight group compared with the overweight and underweight groups. Also, the non-obese had more iron deficiency and IDA than the obese. Conclusion : The prevalence of obesity in middle school girls could be higher in Incheon than in other regions, but there might be no difference in iron deficiency. However, iron deficiency was more prevalent in the normal weight group than in overweight group. The overweight group ate more food and gained more iron, so seemed to be less prevalent in iron deficiency than the normal weight group.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.11
• /
• pp.1607-1611
• /
• 2011

To analyze the role of Bombyx mori transferrin (BmTf) in response to microbes or oxidative stress, we investigated the level of BmTf transcripts in B. mori treated with various microbes and oxidative stress inducers. BmTf mRNA was mainly expressed in the epidermis and fat in the bodies of B. mori injected with Escherichia coli, and up regulated in response to microbes such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses, but was hardly altered in response to oxidative stress inducers such as $H_2O_2$, Cu, or $FeCl_3$. We also confirmed that BmTf mRNA expression was increased in Bm5 cells treated with ERK, PLC, PKA, PI3K, MAPK, or JNK inhibitors, respectively. To identify the major inducer of BmTf expression, we analyzed the amount of serum iron in the hemolymph of B. mori after injection or feeding with E. coli or $FeCl_3$. The results showed that the amount of serum iron was not changed by injection and feeding with E. coli, although BmTf mRNA was increased by injection with E. coli. On the contrary, injection and feeding with $FeCl_3$ significantly increased the amount of serum iron, although they did not alter the BmTf mRNA level. On the basis of these results, we assume that up-regulation of BmTf in B. mori is closely related to the defense of microorganism, and BmTf may be expressed at the basal constitutive level when it plays a role in iron metabolism by maintaining iron homeostasis and in the insect defense mechanism against oxidative stress.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.72-77
• /
• 2017

Inorganic iron is essential for various metabolic processes, including RNA synthesis, electron transport, and oxygen detoxification in microorganisms. Many bacterial pathogens compete for iron acquisition in diverse environmental condition such as host. Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344 also requires inorganic iron as a cofactor for growth. When a M9 minimal liquid medium was supplemented with ethylenediamine di-o-hydroxyphenylactic acid (EDDA) which acts as an iron-chelating agent, growth of Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344 in the supplemented medium was completely arrested by deficient of useful iron under iron-depleted condition. However, a number of siderophores, which are small, high-affinity iron chelating compounds secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, were produced for utilization of restricted iron under iron-depleted condition. A M9 minimal liquid medium complemented with human transferrin (hTf)-iron complex turned completely off production of siderophores, but growth of Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344 maintained level similar to compare one complemented with iron (III) chloride (FeCl3). This means that human transferrin (hTf)-bound iron can utilize via directly interaction with Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344 without productions of siderophores. Through construction and analysis of negative mutant for utilization of human transferrin (hTf)-bound iron, we confirm that the bacterium can directly use human transferrin (hTf)-bound iron without extracellularly intermediated carriers such as siderophores.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.129-135
• /
• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and iron-deficiency anemia in pubescent children, susceptible to iron deficiency due to the high iron requirements for growth. Methods: Hemoglobin, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, serum ferritin, and serum IgG antibodies to H. pylori were measured in 937 children (475 boys and 462 girls). Their ages ranged from 10 to 18 years. The prevalences of H. pylori infection were compared between groups, based on the presence or absence of anemia, hypoferritinemia, iron deficiency, and iron-deficiency anemia. The levels of hemoglobin, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation, and serum ferritin were obtained according to the presence or absence of H. pylori infection. Results: The prevalences of anemia, iron deficiency, iron-deficiency anemia, and H. pylori infection were 8.1%, 9.1%, 3.1%, and 20.8%, respectively. The H. pylori-positive rates in anemia, hypoferritinemia, and iron-deficiency group were 34.2%, 29.5%, and 35.3%, respectively, compared to 19.6% in the non-anemia group, 19.2% in the non-hypoferritinemia group, and 19.4% in the non-iron deficiency group. The H. pylori-positive rate in the iron-deficiency anemia group was 44.8% in comparison with 20.0% in the non-iron-deficiency anemia group. Hemoglobin and iron levels did not show any significant differences between the H. pylori-positive and -negative groups, whereas the serum ferritin level decreased significantly in the H. pylori-infected group. Conclusion: H. pylori infection is thought to be associated with iron deficiency in pubescent children.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.37-42
• /
• 2007

Lactoferrin, an ion-binding 80-kDa glycoprotein, has been suggested to have many biologic activities, such as facilitating ion absorption and having antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. Several of these activities are likely to only be facilitated by human lactoferrin because they depend on the binding of human lactoferrin to specific receptor. To produce recombinant human lactoferrin to animal foods using transgenic silkworm, Bombyx mori L, we have cloned and sequenced the cDNA encoding for a human lactoferrin (HLf) from the mRNA in mammary tumor line (GI-101). As a result, the 2.5-kb fragment of HLf gene was cloned with pGEM-T vector and then this fragment was sequenced. In the nucleotide sequence analysis, single open reading frame of the 2,136-bp encoding for a polypeptide of 712 amino acid residues was detected. On the other hand, we constructed a recombinant plasmid(pPT-HLf), containing human lactoferrin gene for germ line transformation of the silkworm using a piggyBac transposon-derived vector. A nonautonomous helper plasmid encodes the piggyBac transposase. Approximately 6.7% of individuals in the G0 silkworms expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP). PCR analyses of GFP-positive silkworms (G0 and G1) revealed that independent insertions occurred frequently. Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that the recombinant HLf expressed in hemolymph has the same molecular weight (80 kDa) as a native protein. On the basis of these experiments, expression of HLf in next generation of transgenic silkworm is now in process.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.169-178
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of early low-dose iron supplementation in term breast-fed infants. Methods: Eighty-seven healthy term infants were divided into 3 groups: A, formula-fed; B, breast-fed only; S, breast-fed with iron supplementation (5 mg/day from 2 months of age). We measured ferritin, iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation rate (TFSAT), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and red cell distribution width (RDW) at birth, 6 months of age, and 12 months of age. Results: 1) At 6 months of age, ferritin, iron, TFSAT, and Hb in Group B were the lowest among the 3 groups, whereas TIBC and RDW were the highest. The incidences of iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in Group B were 33% and 30%, respectively, significantly higher than those seen in Groups A (5% and 8%, respectively) and S (7% and 5%, respectively). 2) At 12 months of age, ferritin, TFSAT, Hb, MCV, and MCH in Group B were the lowest among the 3 groups, whereas TIBC and RDW were the highest. Iron and Hct did not differ among the 3 groups. The incidences of ID and IDA in Group B were 64% and 50%, respectively, again significantly higher than those seen in Groups A (4% and 3%, respectively) and S (9% and 7%, respectively). Conclusion: The prevalences of ID and IDA were higher in breast-fed infants than in formula-fed infants, even at 6 months of age. Early and low-dose iron supplementation in breast-fed infants improved iron status and lowered the incidence of iron deficiency anemia in early infancy.