• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.193-196
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• 2013

Haemoglobin is an interesting physiologically significant protein composed of specific functional prosthetic haem and globin moieties. In recent decades, there has been substantial interest in attempting to understand the structural basis and functional diversity of avian haemoglobins (Hbs). Towards this end, purification, crystallization, preliminary X-ray diffraction and molecular-replacement studies have been carried out on Amaurornis phoenicurus Hb. Crystals were grown by the hanging drop vapor-diffusion method using PEG 2000 and NaCl as precipitants. The crystals belonged to the primitive monoclinic system $P2_1$, with unit-cell parameters $a=65.33{\AA}$, $b=93.14{\AA}$, $c=98.54{\AA}$, ${\beta}=100.48^{\circ}$; a complete data set was collected to a resolution of $2.6{\AA}$. The Matthews coefficient of $2.30{\AA}^3Da^{-1}$ for the crystal indicated the presence of two ${\alpha}_2{\beta}_2$ tetramers in the asymmetric unit.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8823-8828
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• 2014

Objective: To explore the most appropriate treatment for patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) >10 cm by using the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 HCC patients undergoing surgery were selected. Disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and prognostic factors were respectively assessed. Results: This study showed that the cumulative 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 79.7%, 59.8% and 41.6% in BCLC-A patients, 76.2%, 9.5% and 0% in BCLC-B patients and 44.9%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-C patients, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-year DFS rates were 49%, 24.5% and 9.1% in BCLC-A patients, 7.5%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-B patients, respectively. No BCLC-C patients survived 1 year after surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), vascular invasion, intra-hepatic metastasis, curative resection, tumor rupture and pathologic differentiation were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Surgery is effective and safe for patients with HCC >10 cm with sufficient hepatic reserve.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2009

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is highly prevalent worldwide. The major challenge for current antiviral treatment is the elevated drug resistance that occurs via rapid viral mutagenesis. In this study, we developed AAV vectors to simultaneously deliver two or three shRNAs targeting different HBV-related genes. These vectors showed markedly better antiviral effects than ones that delivered a single shRNA in vitro. A dual shRNA expression vector (AAV-157i/1694i), which simultaneously expressed two shRNAs targeted the S and X genes of HBV, reduced HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA levels by $87{\pm}4$, $80.3{\pm}2.6$ and $86.2{\pm}7%$ respectively, eight days post-transduction. In a mouse model of prophylactic treatment, HBsAg and HBeAg were reduced to undetectable levels and the serum HBV DNA level was reduced by at least 100 fold. These results indicate that AAV-157i/1694i generates potent anti-HBV effects and that the strategy of constructing multi-shRNA expression vectors may lead to enhanced anti-HBV efficacy and overcome the evading mechanism of the virus and thus the development of drug resistance.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.4 s.36
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• pp.465-472
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• 1991

This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection in drug abusers. The subjects were 141 inpatients who had been admitted to a general hospital with the symptoms and signs of methamphetamine intoxication. Seroprevalence of antibody to the hepatitis C virus(anti-HCV) was 60.3%(85/141) and it was higher in the group with increased frequency and duration of drug abuse, but such a relationship was not found in the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg). These findings suggested the possibility of high prevalence of HCV infection in methamphetamine abusers, and the importance of repetitive percutaneous injection in the transmission of HCV infection.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2010

The studies of M. Colombo (1989) and W. Lange (1992) showed that 30~40% of people became chronic after suffering from hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infection, and about 50% of the chronic cases transformed into primary liver cancer. There have been few studies done in Mongolia on hepatitis infection among health professionals, particularly in nurses. In a study done by Chimedsuren (8), the study showed that 19.4% of people with identified surface hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus and 8% of people with the identified nucleotide of RNA for the hepatitis C virus (polymerase chain reaction) had an acute form of hepatitis C. Studies on the hepatitis virus genome damaging effect on liver cells showed that genotype 8 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, TTV) had the most damaging effect on liver cells (Hahn and Faeka, 2007). Several studies have shown a relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and a lack of compliance regarding safety regulations and rules by medical personnel. Results of a study from the Maternal and Child Health Research Center showed that tests done to detect hepatitis B virus antigen and antibodies to C virus did not reveal anything. Both antigen and antibodies in 69% cases did not show, and separately, B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 13% and 9%, respectively. Results of the tests taken from health personnel in Shastin Central Hospital showed that in 76% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies was not identified. In 8% of the cases, the B virus antigen was present on its own. The combination of B the virus antigen and C virus antibodies were present in 8% of nurses and doctors, respectively. 82% of the cases had negative results for the detection of a combination of B virus antigen and C virus antibodies taken from health personnel from the State Central Clinical Hospital whereas the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies by themselves were present in 7% and 14% of the cases, respectively. Combined cases of the B virus antigen and C virus antibodies were identified in 4% of the personnel. Results of the tests taken from the health personnel in the Hospital of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs showed that in 79% of the cases, the B virus antigen with C virus antibodies were not identified. Separately, the B virus and antibodies to hepatitis C virus were identified in 8% and 13% of the cases, respectively.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.106-115
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• 1997

Objective : To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety afforded by the HG-II$^{(R)}$ recombinant hepatitis B vaccine given to healthy neonates and children and to find the influence of preceding BCG vaccination on immunogenicity. Methods : Three doses of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine with a dose of $10{\mu}g$ were given at birth, 1 and 6 months of age. This study was conducted in three hospitals (Gyeongsang National University Hospital(Group A), Kangnam General Hospital(Group B) and Younsei University Hospital(Group C)) from April, 1995 to June, 1996. Group A and Group B received 2nd dose of hepatitis B vaccine at 1 week after and before BCG vaccine, respectively. Antibidy levels, at 1 month after the 3rd dose of hepatitis B vaccine were determined by a radioimmunoassay. Results : 1) One hundred four infants and ten children were enrolled : 55 infants and 43 infants received 2nd dose of hepatitis B vaccine at 1 week after( After BCG Group) and before BCG vaccine(Before BCG Group), respectively. 2) The seropositive rate was 99.1%, and geometric mean anti-HBs titer was 131.2mIU/ml. 3) The geometric mean titers were 105.5mIU/ml and 162.8mIU/ml in After BCG and Before BCG Group, respectively(p<0.025). 4) Among 359 episodes of vaccination, the occurrence of systemic and local side reaction were reported in 7.8% and 1.4%, respectively. Conclusion : Recombinant hepatitis B vaccine(HG-II$^{(R)}$))was highly immunogenic and safe. The significantly lower geometric mean antibody titer in the BCG preceding group was observed. Well-designed controlled study with the large number of sample size will be required to show the influence of preceding BCG vaccination.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.192-199
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• 1996

A rapid and sensitive method has been developed to detect a-fetoprotein (AFP) in human serum by a two-site sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for human AFP within 1 h. To obtain the most sensitive and reliable MAbs. 12 kinds of MAbs (HPJ1 to HPJ12) as a capture antibody and 4 kinds of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated MAbs as a tracer antibody were investigated. Among these, only HPJ 10-HRP conjugated HPJ 1 (HPJ 10-HPJ $1^*$) and HPJ 11-HRP conjugated HPJ 10 (HPJ 11-HPJ $10^*$) were chosen as candidates based on the linearity of the standard curve and the sensitivity of the assay. To further characterize these two pairs. MAbs against human AFP were purified from hybridoma cells. conjugated with HRP. and then characterized to optimize the two-site sandwich ELISA The HPJ 10-HPJ $1^*$ pair showed a sensitivity of 1 ng/ml and a better reproducibility than the HPJ 11-HPJ $10^*$ pair when the human sera were incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. The results obtained for 480 randomly selected human sera showed 0~20 ng/ml of AFP values for the normal human sera. To test the utility of our kit, AFP concentrations were determined for 951 human sera (including 85 normal sera, 480 random blood sera, 213 HBsAg-positives. 50 anti-HCV antibody positives. and 47 malignant diseases) and compared with other commercially available AFP detecting kits. These results show that the present two-site sandwich ELISA method is a rapid, sensitive, and reliable procedure for detecting AFP in human serum.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.253-265
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• 1994

We have studied the effects of serum concentration and initial cell density on hybridoma cell growth and monoclonal antibody (MAb) production at various media supplemented with different types of serum. The types of serum were fetal bovine sera, newborn bovine calf sera, calf sera including supplemented calf sera, horse serum, and goat serum. The concentrations of each serum were 0.5, 1.25, 2.5, and 5% (v/v) and the inoculum densities were $5{\times}10^4, 1{\times}10^5, 2{\times}10^5,$ cells/ml. The hybridoma cell growth and anti-Hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBsAg) MAb production were found to be enhanced by increasing the serum concentration and by increasing inoculum density regardless of serum type. We found that test sera purchased from different companies show different effects on cell growth and MAb production, although they are the same type of serum.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.637-642
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• 2014

The pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) related to habitual betel quid (BQ) chewing is unclear. Risk of HCCis increased with adverse hepatic fibrosis. This study aimed to assess the impact of chronic viral hepatitis on adverse hepatic fibrosis in HCC related to BQ chewing. This hospital-based case-control study enrolled 200 pairs of age- and gender-matched patients with HCC and unrelated healthy controls. Serologic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), ${\alpha}$-fetoprotein (AFP), and surrogate markers for significant hepatic fibrosis were measured. Information on substance-use habits was obtained with a questionnaire. By analysis of surrogate markers for hepatic fibrosis, the prevalence of significant hepatic fibrosis in patients chewing BQ was between 45.8% and 91.7%, whereas that for patients without BQ chewing was between 18.4% and 57.9%. The difference was significant (P <0.05 for each surrogate marker). Multivariate analysis indicated that cirrhosis with Child-Pugh C (odds ratio (OR) = 3.28; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.29-8.37), thrombocytopenia (OR = 3.92, 95% CI, 1.77-8.68), AFP >400 mg/L (OR = 2.21, 95% CI, 1.05-4.66) and male gender (OR = 4.06, 95% CI, 1.29-12.77) were independent factors associated with habitual BQ chewing. In conclusion, adverse hepatic fibrosis and severe liver damage play important roles in the pathogenesis of BQ-related HCC, which could be aggravated by chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. BQ-cessation programs and prevention of chronic HBV/HCV infection are needed to prevent HCC related to BQ chewing.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 1990

Enhancement of hybridoma cell growth and monoclonal antibody(MAb) production by the addition of a small amount of serum into both serum-free medium and enriched medium was studied. The enriched medium was constructed by mixing a basal serum-free medium and a nutrient-fortified RPMI 1640 medium. It was supplemented with human serum albumin, insulin, transferrin, and monoethanolamine. It was found that addition of low concentration of serum with other serum-free supplements was favorable for growth of a mouse hybridoma 2c3.1 cells. The concentration of serum was determined to 0.5%. The maximum cell concentration obtained in this enriched medium supplemented with 0.5% fetal bovine serum (FBS) was $3.06{\times}10^6$ cells/ml and the concentration of secreted anti-Hepatitis surface antigen (antiHBsAg) MAb was $159.7{\mu\textrm{g}}\;/\;ml$ compared to $43{\mu\textrm{g}}\;/\;ml$ in RPMI 1640 medium with 10% FBS and $50{\mu\textrm{g}}\;/\;ml$ in previously-developed serum-free medium. The 2c3.1 cell growth and MAb production could be enhanced considerably by using the enriched medium supplemented with 0.5% FBS and serum-free supplements instead of RPMI 1640 medium or serum-free medium. The enhancement in MAb production in the enriched medium was more noticeable.