• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.38-44
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• 2019

Purpose: The immature granulocyte count has been reported to be a marker of infection and sepsis. The difference in leukocyte subfractions (delta neutrophil index, DNI) in ADVIA 2120 reflects the fraction of circulating immature granulocytes in the blood. This study evaluated the clinical utility of DNI as a severity and prediction marker in critically ill patients with burn sepsis. Methods: One hundred and sixty nine patients admitted to the burn care unit were studied. DNI (the difference in leukocyte subfractions identified by myeloperoxidase and nuclear lobularity channels) was determined using a specific blood cell analyzer. Results: Seventy one patients (42 %) were diagnosed with burn sepsis. DNI was significantly higher in patients with burn sepsis than in patients without (P<0.01). Delta neutrophil index was a better indicator of burn sepsis than C-reactive protein, lactate, white blood cell count, HCO3, base excess, lactate, procalcitonin (odds ratio, 6.31; confidence interval 2.36~16.90; P<0.01). And the receiver operating characteristic curves showed that delta neutrophil index, AUC 0.795 (95% confidence interval, 0.721~0.869; P<0.05) was a better predictor of burn sepsis than lactate, procalcitonin, white blood cell, base excess and abbreviated burn severity index. Conclusion: Delta neutrophil index may be used as a early marker of patients with burn sepsis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.249-254
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• 2016

Molecular detection methods such as RT-PCR for detecting breast cancer-associated gene expression in the peripheral blood have the potential to modify breast cancer (BC) staging and therapy. In this regard, we evaluated the potential of erb-B2 molecular marker in BC detection and analyzed the expression of erb-B2 mRNA in the peripheral blood and fresh tissue samples of 50 pretreated female BC patients and 50 healthy females by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) method. We also assessed the correlation of erb-B2 mRNA marker positivity in peripheral blood and tumor tissue samples with clinical and pathological factors in BC patients in order to evaluate its prognostic value. It was shown that there is a significant difference between healthy females and BC patients with expression of the erb-B2 molecular marker (p<0.01). A significant difference between the expression of erb-B2 in the peripheral blood and tissue samples of BC patients (p<0.01) and the frequency of circulating erb-B2 mRNA expression in peripheral blood and in tissue was detected by RT-PCR. No correlation was found between erb-B2 mRNA expression in blood or tumor tissue samples and lymph node, tumor grade, tumor stage, tumor size, patient's age, ki67, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PGR), P53, and HER-2 status. However, in a small subset of 31 BC patients we found that expression of erb-B2 in peripheral blood or in both peripheral blood and tumor tissue was directly correlated with lympho-vascular invasion and perineural invasion as poor prognostic features. The highest rates of erb-B2 expression in peripheral blood or tumor tissue were in the ER and PR negative and HER-2 positive group. This study suggests that the application of the RT-PCR and immunohistochemical methods for erb-B2 molecular marker detection would provide a higher detection rate, especially in early stage BC.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.100-108
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• 2015

Purpose: Conventional methods for the prenatal detection of fetal RhD status involve invasive procedures such as fetal blood sampling and amniocentesis. The identification of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma creates the possibility of determining fetal RhD status by analyzing maternal plasma DNA. However, some technical problems still exist, especially the lack of a positive control marker for the presence of fetal DNA. Therefore, we assessed the feasibility and accuracy of fetal RHD genotyping incorporating the RASSF1A epigenetic fetal DNA marker from cffDNA in the maternal plasma of RhD-negative pregnant women in Korea. Materials and Methods: We analyzed maternal plasma from 41 pregnant women identified as RhD-negative by serological testing. Multiplex real-time PCR was performed by amplifying RHD exons 5 and 7 and the SRY gene, with RASSF1A being used as a gender-independent fetal epigenetic marker. The results were compared with those obtained by postnatal serological analysis of cord blood and gender identification. Results: Among the 41 fetuses, 37 were RhD-positive and 4 were RhD-negative according to the serological analysis of cord blood. There was 100% concordance between fetal RHD genotyping and serological cord blood results. Detection of the RASSF1A gene verified the presence of cffDNA, and the fetal SRY status was correctly detected in all 41 cases. Conclusion: Noninvasive fetal RHD genotyping with cffDNA incorporating RASSF1A is a feasible, reliable, and accurate method of determining fetal RhD status. It is an alternative to amniocentesis for the management of RhD-negative women and reduces the need for unnecessary RhIG prophylaxis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.474-478
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• 2005

This study was conducted to analyze genetic characteristics and to develop the specific marker for Cheju native horse (Coo) at the level of sequence characterized amplified regions (SCARs). We collected blood samples from Cheju native horse and Thoroughbred horse (Th) and obtained genomic DNA from the blood of 50 individuals randomly selected within the breeds. Seven hundred primers were chosen randomly and were used to examin the polymorphism and 40 kinds of primers showed polymorphic RAPD band patterns between two breeds. Thirty primers of them showed horse specific bands. With the primer MG 30, amplified band of 2.0 kb showed the specificity to Cheju native horse (Cnh). Additionally MG 53 detected the thoroughbred horse (Th) specific markers at size of 2.3 kb. As the next, 2.3 kb band from MG 53 was checked with the all individuals from all the breeds of this study, and it maintained the reproducible breed specificity to thoroughbred horse (Th). With this results, 2.3 kb band was cloned into plasmid vector and sequenced bidirectionally from both ends of the cloned fragment. With the obtained sequences 10 nucleotide extended primers including the original arbitray primer were designed as a SCARs primer. Finally, the primer with extended sequence showed the reproducible breed differentiation pattern and it was possible to identify Cheju native horse (Cnh) from other breeds. The SCARs marker 2.3 kb from MG 53 could be used to identify Cheju native horse (Cnh) for not only registration but also horse breeding programe.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.223-234
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• 2000

Objective - To evaluate the usefulness of chromium in erythrocytes as a biological marker of exposure to hexavalent chromium in chromate producers and chrome platers Methods - Blood and urine samples were ramdomly obtained from chromate producers (n=34) and chrome platers (n=35), and non-exposed workers (n=75), chromium level in erythrocytes and plasma, and urine were measured. Different chromium exposure workers were assessed through measurements of airborne hexavalent chromium concentrations using a personal air sampler. Linear associations between variables were evaluated with correlation analysis. Results - The chromate producers had mean chromium levels in erythrocytes five fold as higher than the chrome platers, and fifteen fold higher than non-exposed group. Among the chromium exposed workers, airborne hexavalent chromium was positively and strongly correlated with in erythrocytes (r=0.689, p<0.01), and erythrocytes chromium was inversely correlated with hematocrit (r=-0.441, p<0.01), hemoglobin (r=-0.465, p<0.01) and the number of red blood cells (r=-0.28, p<0.05). Conclusions - In conclusion, this study suggests that chromium in erythrocytes is a good indicator of the chromium body burden caused by exposure to hexavalent chromium.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 2003

Malignant melanoma is one of the most rapidly increasing cancer types, and patients with metastatic disease have a very poor prognosis. Detection of metastatic melanoma cells in circulation may aid the clinician in assessing tumor progression, metastatic potential, and response to therapy. Tyrosinase is a key enzyme in melanine biosynthesis. The gene is actively expressed in melanocytes and melanoma cells. Melan A is a differentiation antigen that is expressed in melanocytes. The presence of these molecules in blood is considered a marker for circulating melanoma cells. In this study, we analyzed the usefulness of this marker combination I evaluating the response to therapy in the blood of 30 patients with malignant melanoma. Circulating cells were detected by a reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain reaction. The tyrosinase expression was observed in 9 (30%) patients and Melan A in 19 (63.3%) patients before therapy. Following treatment, the tyrosinase mRNA was detected in only one patient, while Melan A transcripts were still present in 14 patients. We suggest that this molecular assay can identify circulating melanoma cells that express melanoma-associated antigens and may provide an early indication of therapy effectiveness.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.277-281
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• 2013

RNA analysis has become a reliable method of body fluid identification for forensic use. Previously, we developed a combination of four multiplex quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) probes to discriminate four different body fluids (blood, semen, saliva, and vaginal secretion). While those makers successfully identified most body fluid samples, there were some cases of false positive and negative identification. To improve the accuracy of the identification further, we tried to use multiple markers per body fluid and adopted the NanoString nCounter system instead of a multiplex qRT-PCR system. After measuring tens of RNA markers, we evaluated the accuracy of each marker for body fluid identification. For body fluids, such as blood and semen, each body fluid-specific marker was accurate enough for perfect identification. However, for saliva and vaginal secretion, no single marker was perfect. Thus, we designed a logistic regression model with multiple markers for saliva and vaginal secretion and achieved almost perfect identification. In conclusion, the NanoString nCounter is an efficient platform for measuring multiple RNA markers per body fluid and will be useful for forensic RNA analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.165-165
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• 2002

Hypertension is considered to be caused by a complicated combination of genetic and environmental factors. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has been to suppress renin activity and inhibit the synthesis and release of aldosterone. Therefore, Abnormalities of this peptide caused by genetic variation may be influence the blood pressure. The aim of present study was to examine the relationship between hypertension and Sca I RFLP of ANP gene in Korean population. The genotype distribution of this RFLP was significantly different between normotensives and hypertensives (P<0.05). However, this genetic marker was not significantly associated with any anthropometric parameters or plasma lipid concentrations in our study group. Therefore, our result suggest that Sca I RFLP of ANP gene may be useful as genetic marker in the ethiology of hypertension in Korean population, independent of any cardiovascular risk. factors studied.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.162.1-162.1
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to determine the possibility of sphingolipid as a diagnostic marker for Myocardiac Infarction(MI), atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease. Sphingolipids are known to playa role in the occurrence of atherosclerosis in human blood vessels. Platelet-poor plasma(PPP) and washed platelets were prepared from healthy volunteers and MI patients, and sphingolipids analyzed. (omitted)

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2005

In the present study, we have measured 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in DNA of stomach cancers, adjacent stomach cancer tissues, normal stomach tissues and peripheral blood leukocytes of the same stomach cancer patients (n = 48) to investigate their etiological association with gastric cancer and possibility whether peripheral blood leukocytes can use surrogate marker for early stomach cancer diagnosis by HPLC/ECD system. In normal stomach tissues, we found that 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels in tissues infected with Helicobacter pylori were 1.4 fold higher than those in tissues without infected with Helicobacter pylori. However, in adjacent stomach cancer tissues, we found that 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels in tissues infected with Helicobacter pylori were 1.5 fold lower than those in tissues without infected with Helicobacter pylori. In stomach cancer tissues, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels in tissues infected with Helicobacter pylori were not significantly different from those in tissues without infected with Helicobacter pylori. In Helicobacter pylori-negative specimens, 8­hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels of adjacent stomach cancer tissues were found to be significantly higher than those of normal stomach and cancer tissues. The 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels of female were 1.7 fold higher than those of male in peripheral blood leukocytes of the same stomach cancer patients. The 8-hydroxy-2'­deoxyguanosine levels in Helicobacter pylori-negative specimens among adjacent stomach cancer tissues were found to be reversely correlated with those in peripheral blood leukocytes, suggesting that 8-hydroxy-2'-deox­yguanosine in peripheral blood leukocytes may not use as surrogate marker for the early diagnosis of human stomach cancer.