• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.383-386
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• 2005

In 2003 typical phytoplasma symptoms of witches' broom and flower malformation were observed on statice (Limonium sinuatum) plants grown at commercial greenhouses in Busan, South Korea. The DNA extracted from the infected leaves was amplified using universal primer pair of Pl/P6 derived from conserved 16S rRNA gene of Mollicutes giving the expected Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product of 1.5 kb. In the nested PCR assays, the expected DNA fragment of 1.1 kb was amplified with the specific primer pair 16Fl/Rl that was designed on the basis of aster yellows (AY) phytoplasma 16S rDNA sequences. The 1.1 kb PCR products were cloned and nucleotide sequences were determined. The sequences were identical to that of Onion yellows OY phytoplasma (GenBank accession no. D12569) isolated from Onion in Japan. Electron microscopy of thin sections of leaf veins showed phytoplasma bodies in the phloem. Statice witches' broom symptom occurred on statice in commercial greenhouses in Korea was confirmed as infection of AY phytoplasma by transmission electron microscopy observation, and by determination of 16S rRNA gene sequences of phytoplasma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6109-6113
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• 2012

Background: Oral cancer has become one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and human Papillomavirus is one of the risk factors for developing oral cancer. For this study HPV18 was chosen as it is one of the high risk HPV types and may lead to carcinogenesis. However, prevalence of HPV18 infection in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Malaysia remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the viral load of HPV18 DNA in OSCC and potentially malignant lesions using saliva samples. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNAs of thirty saliva samples of normal subjects and thirty saliva samples compromised of 16 samples from potentially malignant lesions and 14 of OSCC patients were amplified for HPV18 DNA using a nested polymerase chain reaction analysis. All PCR products were then analyzed using the Bioanalyzer to confirm presence of HPV18 DNA. Result: From thirty patients examined, only one of 30 (3.3%) cases was found to be positive for HPV18 in this study. Conclusion: The finding of this study revealed that there is a low viral detection of HPV18 in Malaysian OSCC by using saliva samples, suggesting that prevalence of HPV18 may not be important in this group of Malaysian OSCC.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2000

The aim of this study was to investigate viral etiology in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or nested reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), and characterize the enteroviral RNA presented in the clinical specimens. Twenty-eight paraffin-embedded heart tissue samples were assayed to detect cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus type 1, type 2, parvovirus, adenovirus, and enterovirus (EV) with each specific primer. Of these 28 patients (mean age: 27, M: 24, F: 4), 26 were histologically diagnosed as DCM and 2 as myocardial infarction (MI). Nested RT-PCR detected enteroviral RNA in 7 (26.9%) of 26 patients with DCM, and none of patients with MI. And none of DNA viruses tested were detected from the samples. Amplified products were also genotyped by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Three subtypes can be differentiated from 7 clinical specimens. Furthermore, direct sequence analysis was performed to determine whether genetic variation of EV is present in the explanted heart tissues from patients with DCM. Although most of the sequences among the wild isolates have the greatest similarity to those of coxsackievirus B3, there are specific regions of variable sequences (no 490 - no 510). The data suggest that enterovirus may be a major viral pathogen for the DCM in Korea and nucleotide sequence data indicate that coxsackievirus B3 may be a leading etiologic agent of DCM.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.129-134
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• 1997

HLA-A2 is one of the most diversified HLA-class I antigen with 17 subtypes so far identified at the molecular level. HLA-A*02 subtyping has significant implications on the tissue typing for organ and bone marrow transplantations. Recently, DNA-based typing methods have been successfully applied to the elucidation of HLA gene polymorphisms. In the present study, HLA-A*O2 genotyping was established by using nested polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) and distribution of A*O2 alleles were determined in Korean individuals. Genomic DNA prepared from four B-lymphoblastoid cell lines and lymphocytes from serologically defined 48 HLA-A2 Korean individuals by phenol/chloroform extractions was typed. The results of the four B-lymphoblastoid cells were consistent with the previous data typed by PCR analysis. Five A*O2 alleles-A*0201, A*0203, A*0206, A*0207 and A*0210-were commonly observed in a total of 17 A*02 alleles. Of these, A*0207 (f=49.0%) was the most frequent allele in Korean population. A*0206 (f=28.3%) and A*0201 (f=17.0%) were also found frequently while A*0203 and A*0210 types were observed in less than 5%. In conclusion, the high level of discrimination for HLA-A*O2 alleles will prove useful and informative in the study of transplant survival, and may identify the importance of allelic differences not readily detectable by serology on host and donor compatibility.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.144-150
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• 2017

Background: The presence of gross deletions in the human immunodeficiency virus nef gene ($g{\Delta}nef$) is associated with long-term nonprogression of infected patients. Here, we investigated how quickly genetic defects in the nef gene are associated with Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) intakein 10 long-term slow progressors. Methods: This study was divided into three phases over a 20-yr period; baseline, KRG intake alone, and KRG plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART). nef gene amplicons were obtained using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nested PCR from 10 long-term slow progressors (n = 1,396), and nested PCR from 36 control patients (n = 198), and 28 ART patients (n = 157), and these were then sequenced. The proportion of $g{\Delta}nef$, premature stop codons, and not in-frame insertion or deletion of a nucleotide was compared between three phases, control, and ART patients. Results: The proportion of defective nef genes was significantly higher in on-KRG patients (15.6%) than in baseline (5.7%), control (5.6%), on-KRG plus ART phase (7.8%), and on-ART patients (6.6%; p < 0.01). Small in-frame deletions or insertions were significantly more frequent among patients treated with KRG alone compared with controls (p < 0.01). Significantly fewer instances of genetic defects were detected in samples taken during the KRG plus ART phase (7.8%; p < 0.01). The earliest defects detected were $g{\Delta}nef$ and small in-frame deletions after 7 mo and 67 mo of KRG intake, respectively. Conclusion: KRG treatment might induce genetic defects in the nef gene. This report provides new insight into the importance of genetic defects in the pathogenesis of AIDS.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 2012

Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) associated with gastritis and gastric cancer is mainly detected dental plaque and saliva in the oral cavity. Most infection is probably acquired in childhood, but the route of transmission is not clear. The oral cavity has been indicated as secondary reservoir of H. pylori, and may therefore be argued in the route of transmission and reinfection of the stomach which follows treatment of H. pylori infection. So this review aimed to discuss about H. pylori in the oral cavity. H. pylori in stomach can appear in the oral cavity by gastroesophageal reflex or vomiting, but infection of stomach and oral cavity is different. Diagnostic methods are serological method, urea breath test, PCR method, urease test, histologic method and so on. Nested PCR recommend for detection of H. pylori in saliva and dental plaque. H. pylori infection in the oral cavity appear variously and is no relation with dental diseases. The antimicrobial mouthrinse recommend in patients with periodontal diseases because of high detection rate fo H. pylori. Thus H. pylori may be considered as the normal oral microflora.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 1996

Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis is still an important cause of neck mass in Korea. Tuberculosis is an important differential diagnosis in patients of cervical lymphadenopathy. Rapid and sensitive test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis is essential for the approapiate treatment. Up to now, conventional diagnostic methods for M. tuberculosis were acid-fast bacilli(AFB) stain and culture of M. tuberculosis. The direct microscopic examination of AFB by Ziehl-Neelsen stain is rapid, but often negative. The culture for M. tuberculosis is time-consuming, taking 4 to 8 weeks. Recently various methods to detect Mycobacterial DNA, including PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) analysis have been reported. Here we represent a simple method for the confirmation of M. tuberculosis and exclusion of the other Mycobacterial species by RFLP analysis and silver staining of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after nested PCR for a repetitive DNA sequence(IS986) specific for M. tuberculosis from fresh or paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens. This result leads us to conclude that this method is simple, rapid and possibly applicable to confirm M. tuberculosis and rule out the other Mycobacteria species from the clinical specimens in the clinical laboratories.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.519-528
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• 1998

Background: Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is not easy when the sputum smear for Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M. Tb) is negative. We evaluated the clinical utility of polymerase chain reaction(PCR) for detecting M. Tb in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) samples. Methods: We recruited 84 patients whose sputum smear for M. Tb were negative or not available due to no production of sputum. We performed bronchoalveolar lavage for acid-fast stain, culture of mycobacteria, and PCR assay of BAL fluid. We analyzed the results of microbiologic examination. Results: The sensitivity of BAL fluid smear, culture, and PCR were 20%, 38%, and 40%, respectively. The specificity of BAL fluid PCR was 95%. The positive predictive value of PCR was 89%. The smear of BAL fluid was positive in 17%. The PCR of BAL fluid was the only diagnostic test in 17%. Therefore, the BAL fluid analysis including smear and PCR was diagnostic in 34 % within 24 hours. The BAL fluid analysis including smear, PCR, and culture was diagnostic in 55% within 2 month. Conclusion: The BAL fluid PCR was valuable method in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients whose sputa were not available or reveal negative smear.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.251-258
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• 1996

The V3 loop, a hypervariable domain of envelope glycoprotein, has an essential role in viral infectivity and has a major epitope for type-specific neutralizing antibody. In order to investigate genetic diversity of V3 region of gp120 of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolated from Korean patients, DNA sequences encoding the C2 to V3 region were amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from uncultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 15 HIV-1 seropositive patients and nucleotide sequences were determined. All nucleotide sequences from fifteen patients were compared with 8 distinctive subtypes (A-H) and another subtype O. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out with PHYLIP ver 3.5 (Dnapars) program. Of the 15 isolates, 14 HIV-1 subjects were clustered with subtype B, while one was clustered with subtype C. Intra-subtype B distance at the nucleotide and deduced amino acid level were maximum 17.7% and 37.0%, respectively. Intra-patient distance at the nucleotide and deduced amino acid level were maximum 7.3% and 17.8%, respectively. Analysis of the nucleotide sequences revealed that Korean types have relatively well conserved sequences. These findings could be useful for assessing the source of infection and developing an AIDS vaccine.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.447-452
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• 2018

Prompt diagnosis of malaria cases with rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) has been widely adopted as an effective malaria diagnostic tool in many malaria endemic countries, primarily due to their easy operation, fast result output, and straightforward interpretation. However, there has been controversy about the diagnostic accuracy of RDTs. This study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic performances of the 2 commercially available malaria RDT kits, RapiGEN Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) and Asan $EasyTest^{TM}$ Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (HRP-2/pLDH) for their abilities to detect Plasmodium species in blood samples collected from Ugandan patients with malaria. To evaluate the diagnostic performances of these 2 RDT kits, 229 blood samples were tested for malaria infection by microscopic examination and a species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction. The detection sensitivities for P. falciparum of Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) and Asan $EasyTest^{TM}$ Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (HRP-2/pLDH) were 87.83% and 89.57%, respectively. The specificities of the 2 RDTs were 100% for P. falciparum and mixed P. falciparum/P. vivax infections. These results suggest that the 2 RDT kits showed reasonable levels of diagnostic performances for detection of the malaria parasites from Ugandan patients. However, neither kit could effectively detect P. falciparum infections with low parasitaemia (<$500parasites/{\mu}l$).