• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.2-10
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• 2017

Early detection and proper management of kidney rejection are crucial for the long-term health of a transplant recipient. Recipients are normally monitored by serum creatinine measurement and sometimes with graft biopsies. Donor-derived cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (cfDNA) in the recipient's plasma and/or urine may be a better indicator of acute rejection. We evaluated digital PCR (dPCR) as a system for monitoring graft status using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based detection of donor DNA in plasma or urine. We compared the detection abilities of the QX200, RainDrop, and QuantStudio 3D dPCR systems. The QX200 was the most accurate and sensitive. Plasma and/or urine samples were isolated from 34 kidney recipients at multiple time points after transplantation, and analyzed by dPCR using the QX200. We found that donor DNA was almost undetectable in plasma DNA samples, whereas a high percentage of donor DNA was measured in urine DNA samples, indicating that urine is a good source of cfDNA for patient monitoring. We found that at least 24% of the highly polymorphic SNPs used to identify individuals could also identify donor cfDNA in transplant patient samples. Our results further showed that autosomal, sex-specific, and mitochondrial SNPs were suitable markers for identifying donor cfDNA. Finally, we found that donor-derived cfDNA measurement by dPCR was not sufficient to predict a patient's clinical condition. Our results indicate that donor-derived cfDNA is not an accurate predictor of kidney status in kidney transplant patients.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.356-365
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• 2018

Background: Woman kidney donors face obstetric complication risks after kidney donation, such as gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. Studies on childbirth-related complications among Asian women donors are scarce. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included woman donors aged 45 years or younger at the time of kidney donation in a single tertiary hospital between 1985 and 2014. Pregnancy associated complications were investigated using medical records and telephone questionnaires for 426 pregnancies among 225 donors. Matched non-donor controls were selected by propensity score and the maternal and fetal outcomes were compared with those of donors. Primary outcomes were differences in maternal complications, and secondary outcomes were fetal outcomes in pregnancies of the donor and control groups. Results: A total of 56 cases had post-donation pregnancies. The post-donation pregnancies group was younger at the time of donation and older at the time of delivery than the pre-donation pregnancies group, and there were no differences in primary outcomes between the groups except the proportion receiving cesarean section. Comparison of the complication risk between post-donation pregnancies and non-donor matched controls showed no significant differences in gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or composite outcomes after propensity score matching including age at delivery, era at pregnancy, systolic blood pressure, body weight, and estimated glomerular filtration ratio (odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-2.14; P = 0.724). Conclusion: This study revealed that maternal and fetal outcomes between woman kidney donors and non-donor matched controls were comparable. Studies with general population pregnancy controls are warranted to compare pregnancy outcomes for donors.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.389-393
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• 1991

To obtain monozygotic multiplets from 8-cell mouse embryos, we artificially constructed chimeric embryos by introducing one blastomere (donor) of 8-cell embryos of Fl hybrid (C57BL/6 X CBA) mice into 4-cell ICR mouse embryos (carrier) of which one blastomere had been previously removed with a micromanipulator. After 42 h of culture, the developmental frequency of chimeric embryos to normal morula and blastocyst was 95% (310/328). When chimeric embryos at morula or blastocvst stage were transferred to pseudopregnant mice,39%, (70/180) of them were born. Most of the offspring (56/70) were the carrier type in coat color, whereas only three of them were the donor type, of which ho were assumed to be derived from single 8-cell donor embryo. Because the two donor type mice Ivere the same sex and produced only the donor type offspring from a testcross, they are probably monozvgotic multiplets of 8-cell mouse embryos. However, since their internal chimerism was not able to be examined, it remains to be determined if their genetic constitutions are identical.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.206-212
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• 1997

Heliobacillus mobilis is a strictly anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium which contains a primitive Photosystem I-type reaction center. The membrane-bound cytochrome $C_{553}$ from the heliobacterium suggested to be the immediate electron donor to the photooxidized pigment (P798+) has been isolated and characterized. The heme protein was visualized as a major component with an apparent molecular size of 17kDa in TMBZ-staining analysis of the membrane preparation and showed characteristic $\alpha$ (552.5 nm), $\beta$ (522nm), and Soret absorption (416 nm) peaks of a typical reduced c-type cytochrome in the partially purified sample. The internal 43 amino acid sequence of the electron donor was obtained by chemical agent and protease treatments followed by N-terminal sequencing of the resulting fragments. The internal sequence carries lots of lysine residues and a Cys-X-X-Cys-His sequence motif which are the characteristics of typical c-type cytochromes. The analysis of the sequence by FAST or FASTA program, however, did not show any significant similarity to other known heme proteins.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2013

Embryos formed in vivo were collected from 171 donors housed in Chung Cheong Buk-Do Institute of Livestock and Veterinary Research of the Chungbuk community during the years 2009~2012. We evaluated annual embryo collection, effect of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), controlled internal drug release (CIDR) and prostaglandin (PG) administration to the donor for superovulation and controlling the estrus cycle, seasonal effects of embryo collection and compared the number of embryos recovered as per the collection days and pregnancy rate. In all, 1,243 embryos were collected from 118 donors with an average of $7.31{\pm}5.35$ embryos per donor, out of which 69.4% were transferable. Dosages of FSH required for inducing superovulation in various donors were compared. Average number of embryos collected from donors administered with 30 AU of FSH ($7.13{\pm}5.74$ per donor) was not significantly different from that of donors who were given an injection of 24 AU of FSH ($7.53{\pm}4.91$ per donor). However, the percentage of transferable embryos in the 30AU FSH-administered group (63.2 %, 449 of 711) was higher than that in the 24AU FSH-administered group (77.8%, 414 of 532). In the group of donors under a natural estrus cycle, the FSH dose administered did not influence the number of transferable embryos produced ($7.49{\pm}6.25$ per donor for 30 AU of FSH vs $7.49{\pm}4.92$ per donor for 24 AU of FSH). However, in donors administered with CIDR and PG for controlling the estrus cycle, the FSH dose affected the average number of transferable embryos collected ($4.25{\pm}2.87$ per donor for 30 AU of FSH vs $8.50{\pm}6.36$ per donor for 24 AU of FSH). We collected embryos from donors 6, 7 or 8 days after artificial insemination (AI). Results showed that the percentage of transferable embryos among those collected 8 days after AI was significantly higher than that among embryos collected 6 or 7 days after AI. Seasonal variations did not affect number of recovered embryos and pregnancy rates in natural estrus cycle and CIDR treatment groups (48.28% and 42.55%) but higher than pregnancy rate of frozen embryos (19.63%). These results indicated that administration of FSH beyond a threshold dose (at least 24 AU) has no beneficial effect on the production embryos and that collection of embryos 7~8 days after AI is optimal for embryo recovery. CIDR treatment induced superovulation in short term and had no influence on the natural estrus cycle. Finally, although good-quality embryos were transferred, freezing significantly reduced the pregnancy rates after transfer.

• Korean Journal of Transplantation
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.154-159
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• 2014

Background: Lung transplantation (LTx) is a life-saving treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease; however, the shortage of donor lungs has been a major limiting factor to increasing the number of LTx. Growing experience following LTx using donor lungs after cardiac death (DCD) has been promising, although concerns remain. The purpose of this study was to develop a DCD lung harvest model using an ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) system and to assess the function of presumably damaged lungs harvested from the DCD donor in pigs. Methods: The 40 kg pigs were randomly divided into the control group with no ischemic lung injury (n=5) and the study group (n=5), which had 1 hour of warm ischemic lung injury after cardiac arrest. Harvested lungs were placed in the EVLP circuit and oxygen capacities (OC), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and peak airway pressure (PAP) were evaluated every hour for 4 hours. At the end of EVLP, specimens were excised for pathologic review and wet/dry ratio. Results: No statistically significant difference in OC (P=0.353), PVR (P=0.951), and PAP (P=0.651) was observed in both groups. Lung injury severity score (control group vs. study group: 0.700±0.303 vs. 0.870±0.130; P=0.230) and wet/dry ratio (control group vs. study group: 5.89±0.97 vs. 6.20±0.57; P=0.560) also showed no statistically significant difference between the groups. Conclusions: The function of DCD lungs assessed using EVLP showed no difference from that of control lungs without ischemic injury; therefore, utilization of DCD lungs can be a new option to decrease the number of deaths on the waiting list.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2016

This study was performed to collect the basic data of DEA 1.1 in four small breed (Maltese, Shih-tzu, Poodle, Yorkshire terrier) and in three large breed (German shepherd, Labrador retriever and Jindo) dogs in the Daejeon area. 105 dogs from 7 breeds (Maltese=20, Shih-tzu=19, Poodle=15, Yorkshire terrier=11, German shepherd=10, Labrador retriever=10, Jindo=20) were selected and tested using the dog blood typing Kit$^{(R)}$ (Korea Animal Blood Bank Inc., South Korea). The prevalence of DEA 1.1 was 83%, that of DEA 1.2 was 17%, and there was no DEA (-) blood type identified in this study. Prevalence according to breeds was Maltese (DEA 1.1, 85%; DEA 1.2, 15%), Shih-tzu (DEA 1.1, 95%; DEA 1.2 5%), Yorkshire terrier (DEA 1.1, 91%; DEA 1.2, 9%), Labrador retriever (DEA 1.1, 90%; DEA 1.2, 10%). One hundred percent of DEA blood type 1.1 was discovered in all of the Poodles and German shepherds, and a higher prevalence of DEA 1.2 was found (DEA 1.1, 40%; DEA 1.2 60%) in Jindo dogs. The prevalence of DEA 1.2 in the Jindo dogs was significantly higher than in other breeds (P<0.01). German shepherds and Labrador retrievers may be more suitable as donor dogs than Jindo dogs in the Daejeon area. Larger scale studies are necessary from more dogs and other areas in South Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.194-199
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• 2007

Effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) on plasma hormonal concentration, embryo quality, and pregnancy rate were examined during the superovulation and synchronization treatment in donor and recipient cows. Hanwoos (Korean native beef cattle) were treated with controlled internal drug release (CIDR) combined with bST (CIDR+bST) or without bST (CIDR) as donor cows. The embryos recovered from donors were transferred into Holstein recipient heifers treated with bST (CIDR+bST) or without bST (CIDR) for synchronization. The correlation between IGF-I and P4 showed a positive pattern in the CIDR+bST group (r=0.44, p<0.01), but a negative pattern was shown in the CIDR group (r = -0.59, p<0.02) at day 7 of estrous cycles. Although the number of recovered, transferable, and degenerated embryos was not different, quantities of grade 1 (excellent) embryos in CIDR+bST group were significantly higher than those of the CIDR group (p<0.01). The pregnancy rate was higher in the CIDR+bST recipient group compared to CIDR group (p<0.05), when the embryos were recovered from the donors treated with CIDR. However, the pregnancy was maintained highly in both recipient groups, when the embryos were produced by CIDR+bST treated donors. It can be concluded that bST administration combined with CIDR is an effective method for superovulation and synchronization treatment to stabilize plasma hormonal levels, to obtain excellent quality of embryos, and to get higher pregnancy rate.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.125-134
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• 2015

Acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) is characterized by selective damage to the liver, the skin, and the gastrointestinal tract. Following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, donor bone marrow (BM) cells repopulate the immune system of the recipient. We previously demonstrated that the acute intestinal GVHD (iGVHD) mortality rate was higher in MyD88-deficient BM recipients than that in the control BM recipients. In the present study, the role of MyD88 (expressed by donor BM) in the pathophysiology of hepatic GVHD (hGVHD) was examined. Unlike iGVHD, transplantation with MyD88-deficient T-cell depleted (TCD) BM attenuated hGVHD severity and was associated with low infiltration of T cells into the liver of the recipients. Moreover, GVHD hosts, transplanted with MyD88-deficient TCD BM, exhibited markedly reduced expansion of $CD11b^+Gr-1^+$ myeloidderived suppressor cells (MDSC) in the liver. Adoptive injection of the MDSC from wild type mice, but not MyD88-deficient mice, enhanced hepatic T cell infiltration in the MyD88-deficient TCD BM recipients. Pre-treatment of BM donors with LPS increased MDSC levels in the liver of allogeneic wild type BM recipients. In conclusion, hGVHD and iGVHD may occur through various mechanisms based on the presence of MyD88 in the non-T cell compartment of the allograft.

• Annals of Surgical Treatment and Research
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• v.95 no.5
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• pp.267-277
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze survival outcomes in 1,000 consecutive liver transplantations (LTs) performed at a single institution from 1993 to April 2017. Methods: The study population was divided into 2 groups based on donor type: deceased donor LT (DDLT; n = 181, 18.1%) and living donor LT (LDLT; n = 819; 81.9%), and into 3 periods based on the number of cases (first 300 cases, middle 300 cases, last 400 cases). Results: Infection was the most common cause of death, accounting for 34.8% (95 of 273). Mortality due to hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence occurred most frequently between 1 and 5 years after transplantation. Mortality rate by graft rejection was highest between 5 and 10 years after transplantation. And mortality by de novo malignancy occurred most frequently after 10 years after transplantation. The patient survival rates for the entire population at 5 and 10 years were 74.7%, and 68.6%, respectively. There was no difference in survival rate between the LDLT and DDLT groups (P = 0.188). Cause of disease, disease severity, case period, and retransplantation had a significant association with patient survival (P = 0.002, P = 0.031, P = 0.003, and P = 0.024, respectively). Conclusion: Surgical techniques and perioperative management for transplant patients have improved and undergone standardization. Controlling perioperative infection and managing patients with HCC as LT candidates will result in better outcomes.