• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.222-229
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• 2020

The process of drug discovery and drug development consumes billions of dollars to bring a new drug to the market. Drug development is time consuming and sometimes, the failure rates are high. Thus, the pharmaceutical industry is looking for a better option for new drug discovery. Drug repositioning is a good alternative technology that has demonstrated many advantages over de novo drug development, the most important one being shorter drug development timelines. In the last two decades, drug repositioning has made tremendous impact on drug development technologies. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in drug repositioning technologies and discuss the repositioned drugs used for inflammatory diseases such as sepsis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.104-109
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• 2020

Background: It is challenging to diagnose asthma in preschool children. The asthma predictive index (API) has been used to predict asthma and decide whether to initiate treatment in preschool children. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association between questionnaire-based current asthma with API, pulmonary function, airway hyperreactivity (AHR), fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO), and atopic sensitization in preschool children. Methods: We performed a population-based cross-sectional study in 916 preschool children aged 4-6 years. We defined current asthma as the presence of both physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one wheezing episode within the previous 12 months using a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared between groups according to the presence of current asthma. Results: The prevalence of current asthma was 3.9% in the study population. Children with current asthma showed a higher rate of positive bronchodilator response and loose and stringent API scores than children without current asthma. The stringent API was associated with current asthma with 72.2% sensitivity and 82.0% specificity. The diagnostic accuracy of the stringent API for current asthma was 0.771. However, no intergroup differences in spirometry results, methacholine provocation test results, FeNO level, or atopic sensitization rate were observed. Conclusion: The questionnaire-based diagnosis of current asthma is associated with API, but not with spirometry, AHR, FeNO, or atopic sensitization in preschool children.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.504-512
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effects of atopic dermatitis on suicidal ideation, plans and attempts in young adult. Methods: Data are from the Sixth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI, 2013, 2015) in a sample of 2,983 respondents aged 19 to 39 years. Data were analyzed using Frequency, Percentage, $x^2$ test, Complex sample multivariate binary logistic regression analysis with SPSS version 18.0 software. Results: Firstly, factors affecting suicidal ideation are gender, education level, smoking, self-reported health status, asthma, depression and stress perception. Factors affecting suicidal plan are education level, self-reported health status, asthma and depression. Lastly, factors affecting suicidal attempt are gender, education level, smoking, self-reported health status, depression and stress perception. Compared to non-atopic group, the prevalence of suicidal ideation and plan of atopic group increased from odds ratio 2.14 to 2.48 and 1.90 to 2.50, respectively. Odds ratio for suicidal attempt was odds ratio 2.69 (10% error level). Conclusion: The results show that atopic dermatitis in young adult affects suicidal ideation, plans and attempts. Therefore, it is necessary to identify atopic patients who have suicidal thoughts and plans and develop an intervention program to prevent and manage suicide in young adult.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2014

Asthma is an allergic inflammation and house dust mite (HDM) is a major allergen to induce asthma pathogenesis. Regulation of eosinophil apoptosis is an essential immune process and its dysregulation is implicated in asthma. In the present study, we examined the effects of HDM on spontaneous apoptosis of asthmatic eosinophils and on cytokine secretion in eosinophils of normal subjects including non-atopic and atopic normal. Extract of Dermatophagoides pteronissinus (DP) inhibited eosinophil apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. DP increased the secretion of G-CSF, GM-SCF, and IL-4, which is involved in suppression of eosinophil apoptosis, but IL-5 expression was not altered after DP stimulation. DP also elevated the release of IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and CCL2, which are anti-apoptotic or survival factors. The secretion of G-CSF, GM-CSF, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-${\alpha}$ due to DP is higher in atopic normal than that in non-atopic normal. In conclusion, DP increases the survival of eosinophils and its mechanism may be associated with cytokine release. These findings may enable elucidation of asthma pathogenesis induced by HDM.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.589-592
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• 2006

Atopic dermatitis is estimated to affect 15-20% of the childhood population and there id considerable evidence that the prevalence is increasing. But it is frequently under diagnosed and inappropriately treated yet. Atopic dermatitis can have a large social;. emotional and financial effect on the child and their family. Atopic dermatitis also commonly predated the development of asthma and allergic rhinitis. Therefore early diagnosis and proper treatment are the key for control the atopic dermatitis itself and modify the future repiratory allergies. This review will cover the new diagnostic criteria and treatment briefly.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.60 no.10
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• pp.504-511
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• 2017

Background and Objectives In this study, we evaluated differences in the prevalence of allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and specific immunoglobuline E (IgE) value for some respiratory antigens in Korean adults. Subjects and Method The study was conducted using data from the 5th National Health and Nutrition Survey (2010-2012). All subjects who were aged 19 years or older completed questionnaires on asthma, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis. The subjects were first divided into male and female, and then into age groups of 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, ${\geq}70$ each. The lifetime and current prevalence rates for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis were calculated for each age group. The total and specific IgE level for Dermatophagoides farinae (DF), cockroach, and dog dander were also calculated. Results Final participants of 17542 were analyzed for the prevalence rate among the total of 25534 participants. The mean IgE level was calculated from 2028 subjects from the final participants. In asthma, the lifetime prevalence and current prevalence increased with age, but decreased with atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis. Total IgE level increased with age, but IgE level of DF reached its peak at 20-29 years, and then decreased rapidly thereafter. There was no clear trend for cockroach and dog dander. Conclusion The prevalence of allergic diseases in adults varies widely by age group. Asthma has a low prevalence after age 20 and gradually increases after age 50. Atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis are the most prevalent in their 20s and gradually decrease thereafter.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2008

Pre schools with state of the art facilities that would provide not just academic excellence but also ensure the safety and provide efficient healthcare to their pupils relative to Atopic Dermatitis with Asthma is the main objective of this research One of the most promising applications of sensor networks is for human healthcare monitoring. Due to recent technological advances in sensor, low power microelectronics and miniaturization, and wireless networking enable the design and proliferation of this wireless sensor networks capable of autonomously monitoring and controlling environments. Thus, this research presents the utilization of such microelectronic sensor and plots the hardware and software architecture of a wireless sensor network system with real-time pupil monitoring that integrates vital sign sensors, location sensor and allergen sensor. This proposed architecture for wearable sensors can be used as active tags which can track pupil's location within the school's premises, identify possible atopic dermatitis with asthma allergens, it would monitor and generate a health status report of the pupil.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1995

Background: It has been well known that bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder. The "activation" of lymphocytes has a significant role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. Among these lymphocytes, TH2-like rather than TH1-like lymphoytes are activated in the bronchial tissues from patients with atopic bronchial asthma. However, the difference of cytokines expression is not well documented between the atopic normal subjects and atopic asthmatics. Methods: Bronchial tissues were obtained from the tweleve atopic and non-atpoic asthmatics and tweleve atopic and non-atopic healthy subjects for in stiu hybridizatin of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and INF-$\gamma$. The probe of cytokines were tagged with digoxigenin by random priming method. Results: The infiltration of many inflammatory cells on submucosa and denuded epithelium were observed in the bronchial tissue from patients with bronchial asthma. The RNase-treated bronchial tissues did not have the brown signal on the tissue, but, RNasc-untreated bronchial tissues had the positive brown signal on the inflammatory cells under the basement membrane. The IL-2 positive signals were detected in 2 cases, IFN-$\gamma$ in 1 casc, IL-4 in 2 cases, IL-5 in 2 cases among 6 non-atopic healthy subjects. The atopic healthy subjects showed 1 case of positive signal of IL-2 and IFN-$\gamma$, but did not show any signals of IL-4 and IL-5. The positive signals of IL-2 were detected in 4 cases among 6 atopic and 6 non-atopic asthmatics, 2 cases and 1 case of IFN-$\gamma$ respectively, 4 cases and 3 cases of IL-4 respectively, 4 cases and 3 cases of IL-5 respectively. Conclusion: The lymphocytes were activated in the bronchus of asthmatics. Among lymphocytes, TH2-like lymphocytes may be involved in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. However, futher study with immunohistochemical stain may be necessary for defining the source of cytokines, because of TH2-like lymphocytes were also activated in some atopic healthy subjects.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2008

Asthma and allergic diseases are one of the most common disorders in children. Due to its increased prevalence, as well as the increased morbidity and mortality from these diseases, asthma and allergic diseases have come to be recognized as a major worldwide public health issue. In addition, socioeconomic burden of asthma and allergic diseases has increased in Korea also. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) investigated the worldwide prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases using simple standardized methods because of the comparison of asthma and allergic diseases between the countries. In Korea, several epidemiologic studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence of asthma in children. Although these studies showed increased prevalence of asthma among Korean children (from 3.4% in 1964 to 10.1% in 1989), these findings were based on data from small numbers of subjects. The first Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children, which utilized the Korean version of ISAAC written and video questionnaire, was conducted in 1995 and the second Nationwide Study of Asthma and Allergies in Korean Children was conducted in 2000, directed by the Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Diseases. We report here the prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases in Korean children and adolescents, and show the changes that occurred over this 5 year period. We also describe the risk factors for development of these diseases in Korean children. We developed Korean versions of the ISAAC written (WQ) and video (AVQ) questionnaires for allergic diseases. In 1995, the enrolled population consisted of 25,117 children selected from 34 elementary school and 14,946 children selected from 34 middle school across the nation, the response rate was 94.8%. In 2000, 27,831 children selected from 34 elementary school and 15,214 children selected from 34 middle school, and the response rate was 96.4%. From these studies, we can confirm that increase of the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in Korea, except the prevalence of food allergy. Especially, the video questionnaire showed increases in the lifetime and 12 month prevalence rates of wheeze at rest, exercise-induced wheeze, nocturnal wheeze, nocturnal cough, and severe wheeze over this period of time in middle school children. In addition, the increase of prevalences of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of atopic dermatitis was noted significantly. Risk factor analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), passive smoking and living with a dog or cat were associated with higher risk of wheeze. Also the occurrence of fever during infancy and the frequent use of antibiotics were associated with the risk of wheeze. In conclusion, during the 5 year period from 1995 to 2000, the prevalences of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis has increased in Korean children. BMI, passive smoking, living with a dog or cat, the fever episodes in infancy, and the frequent use of antibiotics in infancy are important risk factors to development of asthma and atopic dermatitis. In the near future, the birth cohort study will be needed to investigate the causes of this increase and the natural course of allergic diseases, then we develop the methods to control asthma and allergic diseases.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.438-446
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was performed in order to determine airborne fungi levels in homes and find related factors that may affect airborne fungi concentration. Methods: Fifty homes were study subjects for measuring airborne fungi. For sampling airborne fungi, the impaction method on agar plates was used and samples were counted as colony forming units per cubic meter of air ($CFU/m^3$). In addition, information regarding housing characteristics and atopic disease in each home were collected via questionnaire. Results: The geometric means (GM) of airborne fungi concentrations in fifty living rooms and bedrooms were 68.03 and 62.93 $CFU/m^3$, respectively. The GM of airborne fungi concentration in atopy homes was 78.42 $CFU/m^3$. This was higher than non-atopy homes' 54.34 $CFU/m^3$ (p-value=0.051). In the results of the multiple regression analysis, outdoor airborne fungal concentration proved a strong effective factor on indoor airborne fungal concentration. Also, construction year, floor area of house, indoor smoking and frequency of ventilation were factors that showed a significant association with indoor airborne fungi concentration. Conclusions: The results of this study show that some housing and living characteristics may affect the development and increase of airborne fungi. In addition, exposure to airborne fungi may be a risk factor for the prevalence of childhood atopic diseases.