• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2022

The reported risk factors for gallstone disease (GD) are old age, female sex, obesity, metabolic syndrome and migrants. Many younger adults tend to live in Jeju City, where transportations are convenient and commercial activities are active. Whereas, older people tend to live in Seogwipo City, because they engaged in fisheries and agriculture. Rates of migrants and old age could affect the prevalence of GD among residents in two regions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the GD prevalence and analyze risk factors affecting GD including residencies. A total of 13,050 subjects who visited a single health medical check-up center on Jeju Island between 2012 and 2019 were included. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis to identify risk factors for GD. The prevalence of GD among residents were 5.7% in Jeju City and 5.8% in Seogwipo City, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (P=0.008), body mass index (P=0.044), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.006) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (P=0.013) were independent factors affecting GD. The old age, mean higher body mass index, gamma-glutamyl transferase and mean lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were independent risk factors affecting GD. However, residencies did not affect the prevalence of GD.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.50-60
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• 2011

Objectives : This study was aimed to clarify the relationship between the dampness-phlegm diagnosis and internal carotid artery stenosis by measuring carotid artery sonography in cerebral infarction patients. Methods : One hundred eighty subjects were recruited from the patients admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine at Kyunghee university oriental medical center from September 2008 to July 2010. We assessed one hundred eighty patients' carotid artery sonography data and diagnosed dampness-phlegm by oriental medical diagnosis. then, analyzed their characteristics, risk factor, lifestyle, metabolic syndrome, body mass index, Waist/Hip ratio(W/H ratio) and dampness-phlegm diagnosis. Results : On the demographic variables of the patients, age, smoking, W/H ratio and dampness-phlegm group were significantly higher in severe internal carotid artery(ICA) stenosis group than in the control group. According to the significant difference in dampness-phlegm group, we analyzed dampness-phlegm related index for pattern identifications by ICA stenosis. As a result, sputum, bowel sound, chest discomfort, slippery pulse were significantly higher in the severe ICA stenosis group than in the control group. In multivariate analysis, dampness-phlegm group showed close relationship with severe ICA stenosis group. Conclusion : According to the analysis, significance between dampness-phlegm diagnosed patients group and severe ICA stenosis were clarified. These results can be utilized in the future as a basis material.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.552-558
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• 2023

Levulinic acid (LA) is a valuable chemical used in fuel additives, fragrances, and polymers. In this study, we proposed possible biosynthetic pathways for LA production from lignin and poly(ethylene terephthalate). We also created a genetically encoded biosensor responsive to LA, which can be used for screening and evolving the LA biosynthesis pathway genes, by employing an LvaR transcriptional regulator of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 to express a fluorescent reporter gene. The LvaR regulator senses LA as a cognate ligand. The LA biosensor was first examined in an Escherichia coli strain and was found to be non-functional. When the host of the LA biosensor was switched from E. coli to P. putida KT2440, the LA biosensor showed a linear correlation between fluorescence intensity and LA concentration in the range of 0.156-10 mM LA. In addition, we determined that 0.156 mM LA was the limit of LA detection in P. putida KT2440 harboring an LA-responsive biosensor. The maximal fluorescence increase was 12.3-fold in the presence of 10 mM LA compared to that in the absence of LA. The individual cell responses to LA concentrations reflected the population-averaged responses, which enabled high-throughput screening of enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in LA biosynthesis and sustainable production of LA in engineered microbes.

• Exercise Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.111-120
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• 2012

The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of different cardiorespiratory fitness response to exercise training on cardiovascular disease and adipocytokine release and gene expression in abdominal obesity women. forty eight middle-age women were divided to a exercise-responder (n=34) group (ERG) and a exercise-nonresponder (n=14) group (ENRG) based on cardiorespiratory fitness after exercise training (12weeks, 1200 kcal/week, moderate-vigorous intensity, walking and jogging). Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using maximal oxygen uptake with metabolic gas analysis and body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance. We measured lipid and glucose profiles, blood adipocytokines and adipocytokine genes expression in adipose tissue. Waist girth (p=0.040), and %body fat (p=0.031) were significantly decreased in ERG than ENRG. Triglyceride (p=0.023) and systolic blood pressure (0.046) were significantly decreased in ERG than ENRG. Blood leptin (p=0.022) was significantly decrease in ERG than ENRG but leptin gene expression was decreased both groups (p<0.001). These results show that exercise-responder group improved cardiovascular disease risk factors and adipocytokine more than exercise-nonresponder group after exercise training. Moreover, exercise-nonresponders group show that obese indices and blood leptin and leptin gene expression in adipose tissue were decreased despite the failure to improve fitness. Therefore, regular exercise training seems to give health benefits although the failure to improve fitness.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.522-535
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• 2024

Objective: Transition period is considered from 3 weeks prepartum to 3 weeks postpartum, characterized with dramatic events (endocrine, metabolic, and physiological) leading to occurrence of production diseases (negative energy balance/ketosis, milk fever etc). The objectives of our study were to analyze the periodic concentration of serum beta-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA), glucose and oxidative markers along with identification, and validation of the putative markers of negative energy balance in buffaloes using in-silico and quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. Methods: Out of 20 potential markers of ketosis identified by in-silico analysis, two were selected and analyzed by qRT-PCR technique (upregulated; acetyl serotonin o-methyl transferase like and down regulated; guanylate cyclase activator 1B). Additional two sets of genes (carnitine palmotyl transferase A; upregulated and Insulin growth factor; downregulated) that have a role of hepatic fatty acid oxidation to maintain energy demands via gluconeogenesis were also validated. Extracted cDNA (complementary deoxyribonucleic acid) from the blood of the buffaloes were used for validation of selected genes via qRTPCR. Concentrations of BHBA, glucose and oxidative stress markers were identified with their respective optimized protocols. Results: The analysis of qRT-PCR gave similar trends as shown by in-silico analysis throughout the transition period. Significant changes (p<0.05) in the levels of BHBA, glucose and oxidative stress markers throughout this period were observed. This study provides validation from in-silico and qRT-PCR assays for potential markers to be used for earliest diagnosis of negative energy balance in buffaloes. Conclusion: Apart from conventional diagnostic methods, this study improves the understanding of putative biomarkers at the molecular level which helps to unfold their role in normal immune function, fat synthesis/metabolism and oxidative stress pathways. Therefore, provides an opportunity to discover more accurate and sensitive diagnostic aids.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.199-217
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• 2023

People with higher genetic predisposition to obesity are more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and healthy plant-based foods may be associated with reduced risks of obesity and other metabolic markers. We investigated whether healthy plant-foods-rich dietary patterns might have inverse associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in participants at genetically elevated risk of obesity. For this cross-sectional study, 377 obese and overweight women were chosen from health centers in Tehran, Iran. We calculated a healthy plant-based diet index (h-PDI) in which healthy plant foods received positive scores, and unhealthy plant and animal foods received reversed scores. A genetic risk score (GRS) was developed based on 3 polymorphisms. The interaction between GRS and h-PDI on cardiometabolic traits was analyzed using a generalized linear model (GLM). We found significant interactions between GRS and h-PDI on body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.02), body fat mass (p = 0.04), and waist circumference (p = 0.056). There were significant gene-diet interactions for healthful plant-derived diets and BMI-GRS on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (p = 0.03), aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.04), alanine transaminase (p = 0.05), insulin (p = 0.04), and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (p = 0.002). Adherence to h-PDI was more strongly related to decreased levels of the aforementioned markers among participants in the second or top tertile of GRS than those with low GRS. These results highlight that following a plant-based dietary pattern considering genetics appears to be a protective factor against the risks of cardiometabolic abnormalities.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.30-43
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• 2024

Background and Purpose: The SoUth Korea study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN health through lifestyle intervention (SUPERBRAIN) proved the feasibility of multidomain intervention for elderly people. One-quarter of the Korean population over 65 years of age has mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Digital health interventions may be cost-effective and have fewer spatial constraints. We aim to examine the efficacy of a multidomain intervention through both face-to-face interactions and video communication platforms using a tablet personal computer (PC) application in MCI. Methods: Three hundred participants aged 60-85 years, with MCI and at least one modifiable dementia risk factor, will be recruited from 17 centers and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the multidomain intervention and the waiting-list control groups. Participants will receive the 24-week intervention through the tablet PC SUPERBRAIN application, which encompasses the following five elements: managing metabolic and vascular risk factors, cognitive training, physical exercise, nutritional guidance, and boosting motivation. Participants will attend the interventions at a facility every 1-2 weeks. They will also engage in one or two self-administered cognitive training sessions utilizing the tablet PC application at home each week. They will participate in twice or thrice weekly online exercise sessions at home via the ZOOM platform. The primary outcome will be the change in the total scale index score of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status from baseline to study end. Conclusions: This study will inform the effectiveness of a comprehensive multidomain intervention utilizing digital technologies in MCI.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.243-253
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• 2018

This study aimed to investigate the effects of DCI on glucose control, quality of life(SF-36 Version 2.0, Korean) and SDSCA(Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed on 46 patients with HbA1c 7.0% taking triple anti-diabetic drug regimen who visited the department of Endocrinology and Metabolism in Chungnam National University Hospital between March 2015 and May 2016. As a result, DCI treatment in the intervention group resulted in significantly reduced HbA1c levels $8.75{\pm}0.79%$(baseline), $8.36{\pm}1.03%$(after 12weeks), and $8.65{\pm}0.81%$(after 24weeks). However, patients in the control group did not show any significant change. Interestingly, both DCI treatment group and the control group significantly showed improvements in SDSCA. Participants in the intervention group showed a small yet significant improvement in their only fasting blood glucose test in SDSCA and revealed significant increase in the quantitative levels of quality of life, from $73.05{\pm}16.85$ to $82.74{\pm}10.68$. By using pathway analysis, improvement of SDSCA scores(${\beta}=-0.505$, t=-2.743) was the most influential factor to the fasting blood glucose. The quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus was affected by changes of SDSCA scores(${\beta}=0.411$, t=2.024) and fasting c-peptide(${\beta}=-0.445$, t=-2.668) in DCI treatment group. In conclusion, treatment of DCI effectively improved glucose control in patients with type 2 DM(HbA1c level>7.0%) after 12 weeks of treatment, although it had no impact on glucose control after 24 weeks of treatment. Improved glucose control may encourage diabetic patients to conduct self-care activities and improve the quality of life. Based on the present study, we suggest that diabetes self-management, as well as consideration of comprehensive laboratory findings, may be important factor in regulating the quality of life in type 2 DM patients.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 1995.11b
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• pp.11-34
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• 1995

Growth hormone (GH) plays a key role in regulating postnatal growth and can stimulate growth of animals by acting directly on specific receptors on the plasma membrane of tissues or indirectly through stimulating insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I synthesis and secretion by the liver and other tissues. IGF-I and IGF-Ⅱ are polypeptides with structural similarity with proinsulin that stimulate cell proliferation by endocrine, paracrine and autocrine mechanisms. The initial event in the metabolic action of IGFs on target cells appears to be their binding to specific receptors on the plasma membrane. Current evidence indicates that the mitogenic actions of both IGFs are mediated primarily by binding to the type I IGF receptors, and that IGF action is also mediated by interactions with IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). Six distinct IGFBPs have been identified that are characterized by cell-specific interaction, transcriptional and post-translational regulation by many different effectors, and the ability to either potentiate or inhibit IGF actions. Nutritional deficiencies can have their devastating consequence during growth. Although IGF-I is the major mediator of GH's action on somatic growth, nutritional status of an organism is a critical regulator of IGF-I and IGFBPs. Various nutrient deficiencies result in decreased serum IGF-I levels and altered IGFBP levels, but the blood levels of GH are generally unchanged or elevated in malnutrition. Effects of protein, energy, vitamin C and D, and zinc on serum IGF and IGFBP levels and tissue mRNA levels were reviewed in the text. Multiple factors are involved in the regulation of intestinal epithelial cell growth and differentiation. Among these factors the nutritional status of individuals is the most important. The intestinal epithelium is an important site for mitogenic action of the IGFs in vivo, with exogenous IGF-I stimulating mucosal hyperplasia. Therefore, the IGF system appears to provide and important mechanism linking nutrition and the proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells. In order to study the detailed mechanisms by which intestinal mucosa is regulated, we have utilized IEC-6 cells, an intestinal epithelial cell line and Caco-2 cells, a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line. Like intestinal crypt cells analyzed in vivo or freshly isolated intestinal epithelial cells, IEC-6 cells and Caco-2 cells possess abundant quatities of both type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ IGF receptors. Exogenous IGFs stimulate, whereas addition of IGFBP-2 inhibits IEC-6 cell proliferation. To investigate whether endogenously secreted IGFBP-2 inhibit proliferation, IEC-6 cells were transfected with a full-length rat IGFBP-2 cDNA anti-sense expression construct. IEC-6 cells transfected with anti-sense IGFBP-2 protein in medium. These cells grew at a rate faster than the control cells indicating that endogenous IGFBP-2 inhibits proliferation of IEC-6 cells, probably by sequestering IGFs. IEC-6 cells express many characteristics of enterocyte, but do not undergo differentiation. On the other hand, Caco-2 cells undergo a spontaneous enterocyte differentiation. On the other hand, Caco-2 cells undergo a spontaneous enterocyte differentiation after reaching confluency. We have demonstrated that Caco-2 cells produce IGF-Ⅱ, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, and an as yet unidentified 31,000 Mr IGFBP, and that both mRNA and peptide secretion of IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 increased, but IGFBP-4 mRNA and protein secretion decreased after the cells reached confluency. These changes occurred in parallel to and were coincident with differentiation of the cells, as measured by expression of sucrase-isomaltase. In addition, Caco-2 cell clones forced to overexpress IGFBP-4 by transfection with a rat IGFBP-4 cDNA construct exhibited a significantly slower growth rate under serum-free conditions and had increased expression of sucrase-isomaltase compared with vector control cells. These results indicate that IGFBP-4 inhibits proliferation and stimulates differentiation of Caco-2 cells, probably by inhibiting the mitogenic actions of IGFs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.947-956
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• 2009

Residual petroleum hydrocarbons after an oil spill may accumulate in the marine benthic ecosystem due to their high hydrophobicity. A lot of monitoring data are required for the estimation of ecosystem exposure to residual petrochemicals in an ecological risk assessment in the affected region. To save time and cost, the environmental exposure to them in the affected ecosystem can also be assessed using a simple food-web bioaccumulation model. In this study, we evaluated residual concentrations of four selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene) in a hypothetic benthic ecosystem composed of six species under two exposure scenarios. Body-residue concentration ranged 5~250 mg/kg body depending on trophic positions in an extreme scenario in which the aqueous concentrations of PAHs were assumed to be one-tenth of their aqueous solubility. In addition, bioconcentration factors (BCFs) and bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) were evaluated for model species. The logarithm of bioconcentration factor (log BCF) linearly increased with increasing the logarithm of 1-octanol-water partition coefficient (log $K_{OW}$) until log $K_{OW}$ of 7.0, followed by a gradual decrease with further increase in log $K_{OW}$ without metabolic degradation. Biomagnification became significant when log $K_{OW}$ of a pollutant exceeded 5.0 in the model ecosystem, indicating that investigation of food-web structure should be critical to predict biomagnifications in the affected ecosystem because log $K_{OW}$ values of many petrochemicals are higher than 5.0. Although further research is required for better site-specific evaluation of exposure, the model simulation can be used to estimate the level of the ecosystem exposure to residual oil contaminants at the screening level.