• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3455-3460
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• 2012

Objectives: To report the prevalence of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesions and to determine the possible association of Pap test results with high-risk human papillomavirus and high squamous intraepithelial lesions in women from Duhok, Iraq. Design: A prospective, observational study was conducted between January 2005 and December 2011. Overall, 596 women with a cervicovaginal Pap test showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and 93 atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesion for whom pathologic follow-up was available were studied. Follow-up consisted of repeat cytology, colposcopy and histology. High risk human papillomavirus DNA testing was performed on exfoliated cervical cells from 106 women, using conventional PCR after at least 36 months from the initial Pap smear. Results: Significantly high proportions of both atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (87.9%) and atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesion (62.4%) demonstrated no significant lesion on subsequent follow up. Low squamous intraepithelial lesions were observed in 1.7% of cases of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and in 5.4% of atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesion. High squamous intraepithelial lesion was demonstrated in 0.8% and 16.1% respectively. In the latter there was also one case of invasive carcinoma. High-risk HPV DNA was demonstrated in 40% of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and 57.1% of atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesions. Conclusions: Since both atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and atypical squamous cells-cannot exclude high squamous intraepithelial lesion identify patients who are at an increased risk for the development of high squamous intraepithelial lesions and a considerable percentage harbor high risk-HPV, both should be retained as diagnostic categories and patients warrant a diligent follow up and testing for high risk-HPV DNA. Colposcopic evaluation and biopsy, when indicated, are a must.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2015

Recently, noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) has been adopted as a primary screening tool for fetal chromosomal aneuploidy. The principle of NIPT lies in isolating the fetal fraction of cell-free DNA in maternal plasma and analyzing it with bioinformatic tools to measure the amount of gene from the target chromosome, such as chromosomes 21, 18, and 13. NIPT will contribute to decreasing the need for unnecessary invasive procedures, including amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling, for confirming fetal aneuploidy because of its higher positive predictive value than that of the conventional prenatal screening method. However, its greater cost than that of the current antenatal screening protocol may be an obstacle to the adoption of this innovative technique in clinical practice. Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is a novel approach for detecting and quantifying nucleic acid. dPCR provides real-time diagnostic advantages with higher sensitivity, accuracy, and absolute quantification than conventional quantitative PCR. Since the groundbreaking discovery that fetal cell-free nucleic acid exists in maternal plasma was reported, dPCR has been used for the quantification of fetal DNA and for screening for fetal aneuploidy. It has been suggested that dPCR will decrease the cost by targeting specific sequences in the target chromosome, and dPCR-based noninvasive testing will facilitate progress toward the implementation of a noninvasive approach for screening for trisomy 21, 18, and 13. In this review, we highlight the principle of dPCR and discuss its future implications in clinical practice.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2011

Owing to the risk of fetal loss associated with prenatal diagnostic procedures (amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling), noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) is ultimate goal of prenatal diagnosis. The discovery of circulating cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma in 1997 has opened up new probabilities for NIPD by Dr. Lo et al. The last decade has seen great development in NIPD. Fetal sex and fetal RhD status determination by cffDNA analysis is already in clinical use in certain countries. For routine use, this test is limited by the amount of cell-free maternal DNA in blood sample, the lack of universal fetal markers, and appropriate reference materials. To improve the accuracy of detection of fetal specific sequences in maternal plasma, internal positive controls to confirm to presence of fetal DNA should be analyzed. We have developed strategies for noninvasive determination of fetal gender, and fetal RhD genotyping using cffDNA in maternal plasma, using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) including RASSF1A epigenetic fetal DNA marker (gender-independent) as internal positive controls, which is to be first successful study of this kind in Korea. In our study, accurate detection of fetal gender through gestational age, and fetal RhD genotyping in RhD-negative pregnant women was achieved. In this assay, we show that the assay is sensitive, easy, fast, and reliable. These developments improve the reliability of the applications of circulating fetal DNA when used in clinical practice to manage sex-linked disorders (e.g., hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy), congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), RhD incompatibility, and the other noninvasive pregnant diagnostic tests on the coming soon. The study was the first successful case in Korea using cffDNA in maternal plasma, which has created a new avenue for clinical applications of NIPD.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.349-360
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• 2000

An epidemiological survey was conducted to investigate fowl typhoid outbreaks in Kyungnam province of Korea. The causative agent, salmonella gallinarum was isolated from 68 chicken samples of tentatively diagnosed fowl typhoid cases occurred during the period from January 1996 to September 1999. Comparative studies were also carried out to evaluate the diagnostic methods for detection of S gallinam The results obtained were as follows; 1. Of the 68 cases of tentatively diagnosed fowl typhoid, 56 (82%) cases were determined as fowl typhoid by biochemical test and pathological findings. The other 12 (18%) cases were determined as paratyphoid. 2. Fowl typhoid outbreaks occur continuously all seasons in the year, however the incidence was remarkably increased from May to September. 3. The frequency of incidence of fowl typhoid in terms of regional distribution was relatively high in egg-laying hens facilities, and the mode of transmission is likely to be either egg-to-egg or lateral transfer by wild birds or rats. 4. All of 18 isolates from 56 cases were identified as S gallinarum by biochemical and serological test. 5. Antimicrobial drug susceptibility test against 18 isolates showed that the isolates were highly susceptible to ASH, CZ, CF and GM (above 90%), whereas those strains were 100% resistant to EM, NA and PC. 6. S gallinarum rfbS gene was targeted to be amplified by PCR for comparative detection of S gallinarum in the experimentally infected chickens. The amplified 720bp DNA fragment, which is specific in D serogroup strains of S enterica subspecies was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. 7. A comparison made between fecal culture and PCR-method revealed that later-method was relatively higher in detection rate than that of former method for S gallinarum. 8. Comparison of currently applied methods, rapid serum agglutination test (RST) and microplate agglutination test (MAT), with experimentally infected chickens were made to evaluate sensitivity of detection by neutralizing antibody titration. Both methods detected neutralizing antibodies from the challenged chickens of 5 day post infection. However, positive reactions were determined after 7 and 9 days post infection by MAT and RST, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2015

A fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the primary means of distinguishing benign from malignant in thyroid nodules. However, between 10 and 30% of the FNABs of thyroid nodules are diagnosed as 'indeterminate'. A molecular method is needed to reduce unnecessary surgery in this group. In Korea, most thyroid cancer is classic papillary type and BRAFV600E mutation is highly prevalent. Thus, this study compared the pyrosequencing method with the conventional direct DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis and investigated the evaluation of preoperative BRAFV600E mutation analysis as an adjunct diagnostic method with routine FNABs. Sixty-five (78.3%) of 83 histopathologically diagnosed malignant nodule revealed positive BRAFV600E mutation on pyrosequencing analysis. In detail, 65 (83.8%) of 78 papillary thyroid carcinomas sample showed positive BRAFV600E mutation. None of 29 benign nodules had in pyrodequencing, direct DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP. Out of 31 thyroid nodules classified as 'indeterminate' on cytological examination preoperatively, 28 cases turned out to be malignant: 24 papillary thyroid carcinomas. Among that, 16 (66.7%) classic papillary thyroid carcinomas had BRAFV600E mutation. Among 65 papillary thyroid carcinomas with positive BRAFV600E mutation detected by pyrosequencing analysis, each 3 cases and 5 cases did not show BRAFV600E mutation by direct DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis. Therefore, pyrosequencing was superior to direct DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP in detecting the BRAFV600E mutation of thyroid nodules (p =0.027). Detecting BRAFV600E mutation by pyrosequencing was more sensitivity, faster than direct DNA sequencing or PCR-RFLP.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.675-683
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• 2013

Purpose: Nineteen articles were analyzed to gather opinions and nursing implications about NIPT recently launched. Methods: Nineteen articles were selected from EBSCO (eBook business collection), Google Scholar, and two Korean academic d-bases with key words 'prenatal screening testing', 'prenatal genetic diagnostic testing', NIPT or 'cell free DNA (cfDNA)'. Authors developed a framework for analyzing the 19 articles including opinions and suggestions for future implications. Results: Eleven articles written by the first author affiliated with medicine or genetics, viewed NIPT as promising because of safety, accuracy, early detectability and cost effectiveness. Articles written by journalists or authors affiliated with history and ethics were concerned with the possible risk of ELSI (ethical, legal, social issues), erratic interpretation of test results, and lack of genetic counseling service. Conclusion: With consideration of Korean clinical, and legal circumstances, not only pregnant women and families but also health professionals must prepare for clinical NIPT implications including updating prenatal genetic testing, counseling services, protecting ELSI and amulticultural team approach.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2023

The rapid detection of bacteria in the oral cavity, its species identification, and bacterial count determination are important to diagnose oral diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. The existing clinical microbial diagnosis methods are time-consuming as they involve observing patients' samples under a microscope or culturing and confirming bacteria using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits, making the process complex. Therefore, it is required to analyze the development status of substances and systems that can rapidly detect and analyze pathogenic microorganisms in the oral cavity. With research advancements, a close relationship between oral and systemic diseases has been identified, making it crucial to identify the changes in the oral cavity bacterial composition. Additionally, an early and accurate diagnosis is essential for better prognosis in periodontal disease. However, most periodontal disease-causing pathogens are anaerobic bacteria, which are difficult to identify using conventional bacterial culture methods. Further, the existing PCR method takes a long time to detect and involves complicated stages. Therefore, to address these challenges, the concept of point-of-care (PoC) has emerged, leading to the study and implementation of various chair-side test methods. This study aims to investigate the different PoC diagnostic methods introduced thus far for identifying pathogenic microorganisms in the oral cavity. These are classified into three categories: 1) microbiological tests, 2) microchemical tests, and 3) genetic tests. The microbiological tests are used to determine the presence or absence of representative causative bacteria of periodontal diseases, such as A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, and T. denticola. However, the quantitative analysis remains impossible, and detecting pathogens other than the specific ones is challenging. The microchemical tests determine the activity of inflammation or disease by measuring the levels of biomarkers present in the oral cavity. Although this diagnostic method is based on increase in the specific biomarkers proportional to inflammation or disease progression in the oral cavity, its commercialization is limited due to low sensitivity and specificity. The genetic tests are based on the concept that differences in disease vulnerability and treatment response are caused by the patient's DNA predisposition. Specifically, the IL-1 gene is used in such tests. PoC diagnostic methods developed to date serve as supplementary diagnostic methods and tools for patient education, in addition to existing diagnostic methods, although they have limitations in diagnosing oral diseases alone. Research on various PoC test methods that can analyze and manage the oral cavity bacterial composition is expected to become more active, aligning with the shift from treatment-oriented to prevention-oriented approaches in healthcare.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.146-154
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• 2009

Multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) is a PCR-based method to detect gene dosage. Since its introduction, MLPA has been used to test a large number of genes for major deletions or duplications. Genetic testing, as a diagnostic tool for genetic disease, has been used primarily to identify point mutations, including base substitutions and small insertions/deletions, using PCR and sequence analysis. However, it is difficult to identify large deletions or duplications using routine PCR- gel based assays, especially in heterozygotes. The MLPA is a more feasible method for identification of gene dosage than another routine PCR-based methods, and better able to detect deleterious deletions or duplications. In addition to detection of gene dosage, MLPA can be applied to identify methylation patterns of target genes, aneuploidy during prenatal diagnoses, and large deletions or duplications that may be associated with various cancers. The MLPA method offers numerous advantages, as it requires only a small amount of template DNA, is applicable to a wide variety of applications, and is high-throughput. On the other hand, this method suffers from disadvantages including the possibility of false positive results affected by template DNA quality, difficulties identifying SNPs located in probe sequences, and analytical complications in quantitative aspects.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2014

To evaluate the seroprevalence against circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium vivax in sera of Korean patients, the central repeating domain (CRD) of CSP was cloned and analyzed. From the genomic DNA of patient's blood, 2 kinds of CSPs were identified to belong to a VK210 type, which is the dominant repeating of GDRA(D/A)GQPA, and named as PvCSPA and PvCSPB. Recombinantly expressed his-tagged PvCSPA or PvCSPB in Escherichia coli reacted well against sera of patients in western blot, with the detecting rate of 47.9% (58/121), which included 15 cases positive for PvCSPA, 6 cases positive for PvCSPB, and 37 cases for both. The mixture of PvCSPA and PvCSPB was loaded to a rapid diagnostic test kit (RDT) and applied with the same set of patient sera, which resulted in detection rates of 57.0% (69/121). When the protein sequences of PvCSPA were compared with those of P. vivax in endemic regions of India and Uganda, they were compatibly homologous to PvCSPA with minor mutations. These results suggested that the recombinant PvCSPA and PvCSPB loaded RDT may be a milestone in latent diagnosis which has been a hot issue of domestic malaria and important for radical therapy in overlapped infections with P. falciparum in tropical and subtropical areas. During the biological process of malarial infection, exposure of CSP to antigen-antibody reaction up to 57.0% is the first report in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.673-681
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• 2020

Human enteric Adenovirus 41 (HueAdV-41) is a major waterborne virus that causes human gastroenteritis and is classified as a viral group I double-strand DNA virus, Adenoviridae. HueAdV-41 has been detected with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in various samples such as ground water. However, the PCR-based diagnostic method has problems such as reaction time, sensitivity, and specificity. Thus, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay has emerged as an excellent method for field applications. In this study, we developed a LAMP system that can rapidly detect HueAdV-41 with high specificity and sensitivity. HueAdV-41 specific LAMP primer sets were tested through a specific, non-specific selection and sensitivity test for three prepared LAMP primer sets, of which only one primer set and optimum reaction temperature were selected. The developed LAMP primer set condition was confirmed as 63℃, and the sensitivity was 1 copy. In addition, to confirm the system, a LAMP positive reaction was developed with the restriction enzyme Taq I (T/GCC). The developed method in this study was more specific, rapid (typically within 2 - 3 hours), and highly sensitive than that of the conventional PCR method. To evaluate and verify the developed LAMP assay, an artificial infection test was done with five cDNAs from groundwater samples, and the results were compared to those of the conventional PCR method. We expect the developed LAMP primer set will be used to diagnose HueAdV-41 from various samples.