• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제53권3호
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• pp.257-265
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• 2021

코로나바이러스감염증-19는 사람의 호흡기관에 다수로 분포하는 안지오텐신전환효소2, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)를 매개하여 감염을 일으키는 β-genus 바이러스이고 완치환자 및 백신 접종자의 항체생성에 대한 효율적인 사후관리가 필요한 질병을 유발하는 바이러스다. 이 논문에서는 임상 시료의 중화항체와 특이적으로 반응하는 재조합 단백질을 개발하고 이를 이용하여 COVID-19 바이러스에 대한 중화항체를 빠르고 편리하게 진단하는 신속 진단 키트를 개발하고 그것의 성능 평가를 통하여 제품화 가능성을 확인하는 것을 목표로 하였다. COVID-19 S1 RBD 재조합 단백질을 사용한 신속 진단 키트의 양성 퍼센트 일치(PPA) 및 음성 퍼센트 일치(NPA)가 미국 FDA EUA에서 승인한 ELISA 키트와 비교했을 때 각각 100% 및 98.3%인 점에서 신속 진단 키트에 적용할 수 있을 것으로 확인하였다. 향후 신속 진단 키트의 성능을 개선하고 정량 분석 장비를 통해 중화항체를 정량적으로 분석이 가능하면 제품화 통해 검체내의 중화항체 유무와 양을 확인함으로써 COVID-19 바이러스에 대한 면역성을 예측하고 추가 예방접종 여부를 판단하는 중요한 자료로 활용될 수 있을 것으로 생각한다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.339-342
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• 2012

Inter-individual pharmacokinetic variation of H2-receptor antagonist is related to genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19. We investigated the frequency of CYP2C19 genetic polymorphism and the treatment duration of cimetidine by CYP2C19 genotypes in functional dyspeptic patients without definite causes who were treated with cimetidine in Korea. One hundred subjects with functional dyspepsia participated in this study from March 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. They were tested by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and treated for their dyspepsia with cimetidine. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CYP2C19 were genotyped using the Seeplex CYP2C19 ACE Genotyping system. There were no significant differences in the demographic, clinical, or laboratory findings among the CYP2C19 subgroups which are wild type homozygote (W/W), heterozygote (W/V), and variant homozygote (V/V). The frequencies of CYP2C19 subgroups were 33 (33%) in W/W, 49 (49%) in W/V, and 18 (18%) in V/V, respectively. The mean duration of cimetidine treatment (in weeks) was the shortest in the V/V among the CYP2C19 genotypes (W/W: $5.1{\pm}1.5$, W/V: $4.0{\pm}1.7$, V/V: $2.1{\pm}0.7$; p<0.001). This study can also act as a basis for further investigation to identify the underlying genetic, epigenetic, or environmental factors in CYP2C19 enzyme activity.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) appears to be widely expressed in cells in the testes, predominantly in spermatogonia, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells, and its co-expression with transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) is essential for the entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). For this reason, the male reproductive system could be considered a potential target for SARS-CoV-2, as well as a possible reservoir of infection. However, to date, there is very little evidence about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen and testicular samples. The aim of this paper was to review the current evidence regarding the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male fertility and sexual health, with a particular focus on reproductive hormones, the presence of the virus in seminal fluid and testis, and its impact on fertility parameters. We found very limited evidence reporting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen and testicular samples, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on reproductive hormones and fertility parameters is unclear. The quality of the examined studies was poor due to the small sample size and several selection biases, precluding definitive conclusions. Hence, future well-designed prospective studies are needed to assess the real impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male reproductive function.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권11호
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• pp.953-963
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an infectious disease with multiple severe symptoms, such as fever over 37.5℃, cough, dyspnea, and pneumonia. In our research, microRNAs (miRNAs) binding to the genome sequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and SARS-CoV-2 were identified by bioinformatic tools. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15a-5p, hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p, and hsa-miR-196a-1-3p) were found to commonly bind to SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. We also identified miRNAs that bind to receptor proteins, such as ACE2, ADAM17, and TMPRSS2, which are important for understanding the infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2. The expression patterns of those miRNAs were examined in hamster lung samples infected by SARS-CoV-2. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-221-3p, hsa-miR-140-3p, and hsa-miR-422a) showed differential expression patterns in lung tissues before and after infection. Especially, hsa-miR-15b-5p and hsa-miR-195-5p showed a large difference in expression, indicating that they may potentially be diagnostic biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.94-99
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• 2010

Obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG)는 단백뇨를 보이는 비만아에서 신장 조직학적 소견상 사구체 비대, 국소 분절성 사구체 경화 소견이 관찰되고 기저막 비후, 국소 간질조직 증식, 중등도의 발 돌기 소실 등을 보이는 질환으로 정의된다. 특발성 국소분절 사구체경화증과 비교하여 신증후군이 적으며 콜레스테롤 상승이 적고, 병의 진행이 느리다는 점에서 차이가 있다고 알려져 있으며, 체중감소를 통해 신장 기능이 회복될 수 있다고 알려져 있다. 본 증례의 9세된 비만아는 임상증상과 신장 조직검사에서 ORG로 진단되어 치료하였으나, 지속적인 체중 증가와 단백뇨로 말기 신부전으로 진행하여 소아 ORG 환아에서는 드문 경과를 취하여 이를 보고하는 바이다.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.38.1-38.8
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• 2021

Recently, a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (B.1.1.529) Omicron variant originated from South Africa in the middle of November 2021. SARS-CoV-2 is also called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Several studies already suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant would be the fastest transmissible variant compared to the previous 10 SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, interest, and alert. Few clinical studies reported the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant but there is insufficient time to perform actual experiments to prove it, since the spread is so fast. We analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which revealed a very high rate of mutation at amino acid residues that interact with angiostatin-converting enzyme 2. The mutation rate of COVID-19 is faster than what we prepared vaccine program, antibody therapy, lockdown, and quarantine against COVID-19 so far. Thus, it is necessary to find better strategies to overcome the current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.22.1-22.25
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• 2022

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread over the world causing a pandemic which is still ongoing since its emergence in late 2019. A great amount of effort has been devoted to understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19 with the hope of developing better therapeutic strategies. Transcriptome analysis using technologies such as RNA sequencing became a commonly used approach in study of host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. Although substantial amount of information can be gathered from transcriptome analysis, different analysis tools used in these studies may lead to conclusions that differ dramatically from each other. Here, we re-analyzed four RNA-sequencing datasets of COVID-19 samples including human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, nasopharyngeal swabs, lung biopsy and hACE2 transgenic mice using the same standardized method. The results showed that common features of COVID-19 include upregulation of chemokines including CCL2, CXCL1, and CXCL10, inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and alarmin S100A8/S100A9, which are associated with dysregulated innate immunity marked by abundant neutrophil and mast cell accumulation. Downregulation of chemokine receptor genes that are associated with impaired adaptive immunity such as lymphopenia is another common feather of COVID-19 observed. In addition, a few interferon-stimulated genes but no type I IFN genes were identified to be enriched in COVID-19 samples compared to their respective control in these datasets. These features are in line with results from single-cell RNA sequencing studies in the field. Therefore, our re-analysis of the RNA-seq datasets revealed common features of dysregulated immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and shed light to the pathogenesis of COVID-19.