• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.837-845
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• 2014

Background: Overweight and obesity are recognized as major drivers of cancers including breast cancer. Several cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10 and lipocalin 2 (LCN2), as well as dysregulated cell cycle proteins are implicated in breast carcinogenesis. The nuclear, casein kinase and cyclin-dependent kinase substrate-1 (NUCKS-1), is a nuclear DNA-binding protein that has been implicated in several human cancers, including breast cancer. Objectives: The present study was conducted to evaluate NUCKS-1 mRNA expression in breast tissue from obese patients with and without breast cancer and lean controls. NUCKS-1 expression was correlated to cytokine profiles as prognostic and monitoring tools for breast cancer, providing a molecular basis for a causal link between obesity and risk. Materials and Methods: This study included 39 females with breast cancer (G III) that was furtherly subdivided into two subgroups according to cancer grading (G IIIa and G IIIb) and 10 control obese females (G II) in addition to 10 age-matched healthy lean controls (G I). NUCKS-1 expression was studied in breast tissue biopsies by means of real-time PCR (RT-PCR). Serum cytokine profiles were determined by immunoassay. Lipid profiles and glycemic status as well as anthropometric measures were also recorded for all participants. Results: IL-6, IL-12 and LCN2 were significantly higher in control obese and breast cancer group than their relevant lean controls (p<0.05), while NUCKS-1 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the breast cancer group compared to the other groups (p<0.05). Significant higher levels of IL-6, IL-12, and LCN2 as well as NUCKS-1 mRNA levels were reported in G IIIb than G IIIa, and positively correlated with obesity markers in all obese patients. Conclusions: Evaluation of cytokine levels as well as related gene expression may provide a new tool for understanding interactions for three axes of carcinogenesis, innate immunity, inflammation and cell cycling, and hope for new strategies of management.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.49-59
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• 2017

Objectives : This study evaluated the efficacy of electroacupuncture therapy using an insulated needle in adults with abdominal obesity. Methods : This study was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-designed pilot trial. Sixteen participants eligible according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly divided into an insulated needle group and a control group. Insulated or common needles were inserted at acupoints located on the abdomen (CV12, CV6, ST25, ST27, SP15) and were electrically stimulated for 30 minutes (16 Hz, within tolerable strength). A total of 10 sessions of treatment were performed twice per week for 5 weeks. All participants were requested to maintain their usual diet and lifestyle. The outcome measures were waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and abdominal computed tomography (CT) of the total fat area (TFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and visceral fat area (VFA). Results : A total of 12 participants divided into the insulated needle group (n = 5) and the control group (n = 7; common needle) were treated for 10 sessions and analyzed per-protocol (PP). WC decreased significantly after 10 sessions in both groups. The WC, TFA, SFA, and VFA of abdominal CT in the insulated needle group decreased more than in the control group; however, there were no significant differences in any parameter between the insulated needle group and the control group. Patients in the insulated needle group were more strongly stimulated with electrical stimulation than patients in the control group. Conclusion : Electroacupuncture using insulated needles in adults with abdominal obesity might be a more effective treatment than common needles. Additional studies are required to compensate for the limitations of this pilot study and to verify the results and efficacy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3353-3358
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• 2014

Breast cancer is the most common in women worldwide, with some 5-10% of all cases due to inherited mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Obesity, hormone therapy and use of alcohol are possible causes and over-expression of leptin in adipose tissue may also play a role. Normally surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy allow a good prognosis where screening measures are in place. New hope in treatment measures include adjuvant therapy, neoadjuvant therapy, and introduction of mono-clonal antibodies and enzyme inhibitors.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2015

Objectives : In children and adolescents, the prevalence of overweight has increased in the last 20 years. little research is available on the prevalence of obesity in children with autism spectrum disorders(ASD). The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of overweight among a clinical population of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders(ASD). Methods : Retrospective chart review of children ages 3-18 years seen between 2012 and 2015 at a Konyang University hospital psychiatric clinic. Diagnostic, medical, and demographic information was extracted from the charts. Body mass index(BMI) was calculated from measures of height and weight recorded in the child's chart. The Center for Disease Control's BMI growth reference was used to determine an age and gender-specific BMI z-score for the children. Results : In our study, children with ASD compared to non ASD group had significantly higher BMI percentiles (p=0.032). The prevalence of overweight($BMI{\geq}85th$ to 95th percentiles) and obesity($BMI{\geq}95th$ percentiles) was 35% and 19% respectively in children with ASD and without ASD. Conclusions : Despite noted limitations, our data suggest that overweight and obesity in children with ASD are more prevalent than without ASD. Longitudinal and further study is needed to examine the factors associated with obesity in this population.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.275-283
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• 2010

There are few studies reporting optimal waist circumference that can be utilized to prevent the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the association of waist circumference and waist and hip circumference ratio (WHR) with incident cases of CVD developed over 6 years in a population-based prospective study including Korean adults. Analyses for receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve were performed with data for 1,733 men and 1,579 women who were aged 40 to 69 years and were free of a physician-diagnosis of CVD at baseline. Information on the diagnosis of CVD was periodically reported using interviewer-administered questionnaires and anthropometric measures were obtained by biennial health examinations. We newly identified 77 cases of CVD during a follow-up period between 2003 and 2008. On the basis of measures of diagnostic accuracy including minimum distance to ROC curve and Youden index, waist circumference of 85 cm for men, in particular for male nonsmokers, and of 80 cm for women and WHR of 0.88 to 0.90 for men and of 0.83 for women were found to be optimal cutoff points to identify individuals at CVD risks. The study also found that the use of the suggested optimal values for waist circumference show higher sensitivity and lower specificity compared with 90 cm for men and 85 cm for women, which are waist cutoff points given by the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity to define abdominal obesity for Korean adults. Although lower cutoff points of waist circumference (83 cm) and WHR (0.87) were observed to be optimal for male smokers compared with male nonsmokers, whether suggesting waist cutoff points specific to smokers is needed warrants further studies. After taking into account other cardiovascular risk factors including smoking, men with waist circumference of 85 cm or greater and women with 80 cm or greater were at an increased risk of CVD. Thus, these cutoff points of waist circumference may be able to capture more individuals at CVD risks contributing to the prevention of future development of CVD.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.150-158
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• 2010

Genome-wise association studies (GWASs) have become popular approaches to identify genetic variants associated with human biological traits. In this study, we applied Structural Equation Models (SEMs) in order to model complex relationships between genetic networks and traits as risk factors. SEMs allow us to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms through identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways that are associated with a set of traits and the relationship among them. For efficient SEM analysis for GWASs, we developed a procedure, comprised of four stages. In the first stage, we conducted single-SNP analysis using regression models, where age, sex, and recruited area were included as adjusting covariates. In the second stage, Fisher's combination test was conducted for each gene to detect significant genes using p-values obtained from the single-SNP analysis. In the third stage, Fisher's exact test was adopted to determine which biological pathways were enriched with significant SNPs. Finally, based on a pathway that was associated with the four traits in common, a SEM was fit to model a causal relationship among the genetic factors and traits. We applied our SEM model to GWAS data with four central obesity related traits: suprailiac and subscapular measures for upper body fat, BMI, and hypertension. Study subjects were collected from two Korean cohort regions. After quality control, 327,872 SNPs for 8842 individuals were included in the analysis. After comparing two SEMs, we concluded that suprailiac and subscapular measures may indirectly affect hypertension susceptibility by influencing BMI. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrates that SEMs provide a better understanding of biological mechanisms by identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2002

Recently interests on raw-food diets are rapidly increasing in relation to chronic diseases prevention in Korea, but studies on raw-food diets have been hardly performed by nutritionists. This study was performed to investigate the effects of low-calorie diets using a raw-food formula in the form of freeze-dried powder on obesity and its complications in the obese women (body mass index (BMI) $\geq$ 25kg/㎡) for eight weeks. Forty premenopausal women (mean BMI 28.04kg/㎡, mean age 28.33years old) participated in this diet intervention, and were controlled by eating 1 regular meal, 1-2 snacks and 2 raw-food formula (140kcal/pack) meals a day within the 1500-1300kcal ranges. Anthropo-mentric measurements, body compositions, physical exercise, and obesity-related risk factors were assessed before (the initial), during (the 4th week) and after (the 8th week) the study. All the data was analyzed by paired t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, and nonparametric rank test at p<0.05 level. Obesity was significantly increased during this study, and it was decreased in weight (-4.59%, p<0.000), BMI (-4.56%, p<0.000), body fat percent (-6.18%, p<0.000), fat mass (-10.19%, p<0.000), waist and hip circumferences(-5.69%, p<0.000 and -2.55%, p<0.000) and WHR (-3.24%, p<0.000). Energy expenditure of physical exercise was increased as much as 70kca1/day during the study (p=0.000), but it did not have any correlations with weight loss and changes of body compositions. Biochemical measurements including blood triglyceride(p <0.006) and leptin(p<0.000) levels were significantly decreased, LDL cholesterol level was increased(p<0.05), but all the blood lipid levels were in the normal ranges. Fatty liver echogenicity and menstrual irregularity were improved after the diet intervention(p<0.000 and p<0.034). In conclusion, this B-week low-calorie diet intervention using raw-food formula was effective for obese premenopausal women in reducing obesity and its risk factors so as not to proceed towards comorbidities. However, the variation of blood lipid levels should be observed for a longer Period.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.62-72
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• 1995

We studied the effects of behavior modification and aerobic exercise on body weight, degree of obesity, % body fat, triceps skinfold thickness, blood pressure and eating behavior among overweight middle school girls. 15 girls participated in the behavior modification program by joining 60-90 minute group session weekly. The aerobic exercise program was given to 13 girls 3 times per week with 60 minutes each time. The data were obtained before treatment, after 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. In analyzing the data, repeated measures ANOVA were adopted. The results were as follows ; 1. For the changes of body weight between 2 groups, body weight of behavior modification groups decreased significantly than these of aerobic exercise group at 4 and 8 weeks after treatment, 2. For the changes of degree of obesity between 2 groups, there were no significant differences over time, 3. The analysis of change of % body fat did not reveal significant differences between 2 groups over time, 4. The changes of triceps skinfold thickness were significant differences between 2 groups over time, 5. For the changes of systolic blood pressure between 2 groups, there were significant differences over time. At 4 weeks after treatment, systolic blood pressure of behavior modification group decreased significantly than these of aerobic exercise group. 6. The changes of diastolic blood pressure were significant differences between 2 groups over time.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.335-340
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• 2007

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of total antioxidant status (TAS) to metabolic risk factors in Korean adults. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum lipids and fasting glucose were determined in 406 men and women. TAS was measured by using commercially available Randox kit. Serum TAS was significantly positively correlated with body weight (p=0.004), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.033), waist circumference (p=0.017), total cholesterol (p=0.038) and triglyceride (TG) (p<0.001). The mean TAS of hypertriglyceridemic subjects (TG ${\geq}$150 mg/dl) was significantly higher than that of subjects whose TG was lower than 150 mg/dl (p=0.001). When central obesity, TG, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose and blood pressure were considered as metabolic risk factors, TAS was shown to be elevated with increased number of metabolic risk factors (p=0.004). The positive association between TAS and a number of metabolic risk factors suggests that increased TAS may not always indicate one's healthier condition. In order to help understand TAS as a marker of total antioxidant capacity in humans with various metabolic conditions, it is needed to clarify the factors affecting TAS in relation to changes in metabolic risk factors.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.305-312
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• 2015

The present study showed WHtR to be significantly better than BMI and WC for prediction of metabolic-related diseases in the middle-aged and older people in Korea, based on Bayesian ordered probit model analysis. The variations of WC, BMI and WHtR were compared according to the number of metabolic-related diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and diabetes. It was found that the three measures showed the similar variation except a very few extreme cases for age less than 40. For subjects over the age of 40, WC was not significant and WHtR gave more influence in greater variability than BMI on the number of metabolic diseases. Also, the rate of change for WHtR was higher than for BMI as the number of metabolic-related diseases increased. Specifically, the difference of the marginal effect of WHtR between no disease and only one disease was 1.81 times higher than that of BMI. Moreover, it was pointed out that the threshold value of WHtR for obesity should be considered differently by age.