• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.362-367
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the effect of lifestyle intervention on NAFLD. Methods: The clinical data of 86 children diagnosed with NAFLD were reviewed retrospectively. Forty-six patients belonged to the elevated ALT group and 40 to the normal ALT group. The clinical parameters of patients with NAFLD were also compared based on the status of ALT levels after lifestyle intervention. Results: Patients with elevated ALT had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) scores than those with normal ALT (P<0.05). Of all the patients with elevated ALT, 89% exhibited moderate or severe degree of fatty change in the liver on ultrasonographic examination, whereas most patients with normal ALT exhibited mild or moderate degree changes. Liver biopsy was performed in 15 children with elevated ALT and all showed mild histological changes. Of all patients with elevated ALT, 49% achieved normal ALT levels after lifestyle intervention. Those with more severe histological changes tended to have continuously increasing ALT levels. There was no correlation between the normalization of posttreatment ALT level and BMI, as well as ultrasonographic findings at diagnosis. Conclusion: ALT elevation in NAFLD is highly associated with higher BMI scores and more severe degree of fatty changes on ultrasonographic examination. Lifestyle intervention can significantly improve ALT in children with NAFLD. The degree of histologic changes appears to be a predictor of the treatment response to NAFLD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 2016

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder with several clinical presentations. This study was undertaken in the Azeri Turkish population in Iran, to investigate gender differences in the age at onset and diagnosis, age of death, and duration of illness of CF. Methods: The data of 331 CF patients from 2001 to 2015 was surveyed. Parameters including age, sex, ${\Delta}F508$ mutation, age at onset, age at diagnosis, age of death and clinical presentations were evaluated for both sexes, using descriptive analysis. The association of gender with these variables was studied using logistic regression, chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test by SPSS version 18. Odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95% and $p{\leq}0.05$ was considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 191 males (57.7%) and 140 females (42.3%), all showing statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Age duration differed between genders. Male and female patients were further under 9 and 4 years, respectively. The occurrence of ${\Delta}F508$ mutation was 0.51 times more in females than in males. Age, diagnosis and sex were closely associated: males were diagnosed at a significantly later age than females (p=0.05). While this compression performed based on clinical presentations, males with respiratory disease had a later median age at diagnosis than females at lifespan (p=0.001). The risk of infertility in males was approximately two times greater than in females (p=0.02). Conclusion: These findings indicate gender differences in CF patients. Future studies are needed to establish other differences and evaluate the causes for the gender variations.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 1981

HBsAg. was identified in the urine of the patients positive for serum HBsAg. by Tripatzis in 1970. In 1977, Hourani et al reported the incidence of HBsAg. in urine was about 52% in the patients positive for serum HBsAg. with hemodialysis treatment due to chronic renal failure. A series of studies on the HBsAg. in urine has revealed the urine of the patients positive for serum HBsAg. to be important source of infection. But there's much room to debate on the relationship of HBsAg. in urine with infectivity and the exact mechanism of urinary emergence of HBsAg. The authors detected HBsAg. in serum and urine by employing sandwitch solid-phase rad ioimmunoassay, and performed urinalysis, liver function test and renal function evaluation. Percutanous liver and/or kidney biopsis were done. Among 38 renal disease patients, 9 cases (23.4%) were shown to be positive for serum HBsAg. and 5 cases (55.5%) among above 9 patients positive for urine HBsAg.. 56 cases (67.4%) of 83 liver disease patients revealed positive for serum HBsAg. but only 11 cases (13.2%) among the 56 cases positive fo urine HBsAg. All 10 renal and liver disease patients revealed positive serum HBsAg., and among the 9 cases (90%) positive for urine HBsAg.. In the 25 patients positive for urine HBsAg. all of 5 renal patients and 9 renal and liver patients had hematuria or/and proteinuria above 2 positive for albumin. But in the 11 liver patients 6 cases (55.1%) were normal findings. And there's no significant difference in cpm of urine HBsAg. between the patient positive for serum HBsAg. and negative, and in cpm of serum HBsAg. between liver and renal disease patients. But there's statistical significance in cm of urine HBsAg. between renal and liver diseases.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.268-275
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• 2015

Purpose: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare condition that can be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to evaluate PSC and its association with IBD in children. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 13 pediatric patients (<18 years) with PSC treated at Asan Medical Center between June 1989 and December 2013. Clinical findings and long-term outcomes were investigated. During the same period, the incidence of PSC among IBD patients was evaluated among 600 Crohn disease (CD) and 210 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. Results: All 13 study patients diagnosed with PSC also presented with IBD. Eleven boys and two girls with a median age of 15.0 years old (9.0-17.8 years) were included. The cumulative incidence of PSC for UC was 5.7% (12 of 210) and 0.2% for CD (1 of 600), respectively. PSC occurred during follow-up for IBD for five patients (38.5%) whereas, IBD developed during follow-up for PSC for two patients (15.4%), and was diagnosed during the initial work-up for PSC for 6 patients (46.2%). For the 77.3 month median follow-up period, 9/13 patients (69.2%), neither the clinical symptoms nor blood test results worsened. Two cases (15.4%) developed liver cirrhosis and underwent liver transplantation. Among 13 PSC patients with IBD, two (15.4%) developed colorectal cancer, and no one developed cholangiocarcinoma. Conclusion: All patients with PSC in this study had associated IBD. The incidence of PSC was not rare compared to reports in adults. PSC should be considered during the management of IBD and vice versa in children.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.399-411
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• 2002

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the application of complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) in patients with chronic liver disease. and to analyze the Influence of health locus of control (HLOC) on CAT. Method: Questionnaires on CAT and a multidimensional health locus of control (MHLOC) scale developed by Wallston and Wallston were completed by 141 patients. Result: Analysis showed that 44.7% of the patients had experience with CAT and 49.2% of the patients reported being willing to use CAT. Reliability scores for the scale were HLOC-I 0.7376, HLOC-P 0.6383, HLOC-C 0.7351. The mean scores for the HLOC were HLOC-I 24.86, HLOC-P 22.86, HLOC-C 16.00. There were no significant differences in mean scores for HLOC between the patients who had used CAT and those who had not. Eight response Patterns for HLOC were identified. Among them, 'yea sayer' was the largest group (27.0%). A significant difference was found in the 'yea sayer' pattern between the group who had used CAT and the group who had not. Conclusion: CAT relates to various cognitive factors such as HLOC. Further study is needed to examine the influence of HLOC on CAT and its response patterns.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.316-324
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• 2021

Background: Korea Red Ginseng (KRG) has been used as remedies with hepato-protective effects in liver-related condition. Microbiota related gut-liver axis plays key roles in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease. We evaluated the effect of KRG on gut-liver axis in patients with nonalcoholic statohepatitis by the modulation of gut-microbiota. Methods: A total of 94 patients (KRG: 45 and placebo: 49) were prospectively randomized to receive KRG (2,000 mg/day, ginsenoside Rg1+Rb1+Rg3 4.5mg/g) or placebo during 30 days. Liver function test, cytokeraton 18, and fatigue score were measured. Gut microbiota was analyzed by MiSeq systems based on 16S rRNA genes. Results: In KRG group, the mean levels (before vs. after) of aspartate aminotransferase (53 ± 19 vs. 45 ± 23 IU/L), alanine aminotransferase (75 ± 40 vs. 64 ± 39 IU/L) and fatigue score (33 ± 13 vs. 26 ± 13) were improved (p < 0.05). In placebo group, only fatigue score (34 ± 13 vs. 31 ± 15) was ameliorated (p < 0.05). The changes of phyla were not statistically significant on both groups. In KRG group, increased abundance of Lactobacillus was related with improved alanine aminotransferase level and increased abundance of Clostridium and Intestinibacter was associated with no improvement after KRG supplementation. In placebo group, increased abundance of Lachnospiraceae could be related with aggravation of liver enzyme (p < 0.05). Conclusion: KRG effectively improved liver enzymes and fatigue score by modulating gut-microbiota in patients with fatty liver disease. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanism of improvement of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. ClnicalTrials.gov: NCT03945123 (www.ClinicalTrials.gov).

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.180-193
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• 2022

Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) is a multisystem disorder characterized by intestinal and extraintestinal manifestations and complications. Cerebrovascular events (CVE) are rare extraintestinal complications in patients with PIBD. Statistics show that 3.3% patients with PIBD and 1.3-6.4% adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) experience CVE during the course of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to review the records of children with IBD who developed CVE during the course of the disease. We retrospectively reviewed 62 cases of PIBD complicated by CVE. The mean patient age at the time of thrombotic events was 12.48±4.13 years. The incidence of ulcerative colitis was significantly higher than that of Crohn's disease (43 [70.5%] vs. 13 [21.3%] patients). Most patients (87.93%) were in the active phase of IBD at the time of CVE. The mean time interval between the onset of IBD and CVE was 20.84 weeks. Overall, 11 (26.83%) patients showed neurological symptoms of CVE at disease onset. The most frequent symptom on admission was persistent and severe headaches (67.85%). The most common site of cerebral venous thrombosis was the transverse sinuses (n=23, 53.48%). The right middle cerebral artery (n=3, 33.34%) was the predominant site of cerebral arterial infarction. Overall, 41 (69.49%) patients who were mostly administered unfractionated heparin or low-molecular-weight heparin (56.09%) recovered completely. Patients with IBD are at a risk of thromboembolism. CVE may be the most common type of thromboembolism. Based on these findings, the most common risk factor for CVE is IBD flares. In patients with CVE, anticoagulant therapy with heparin, followed by warfarin, is necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.735-742
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• 2023

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease, and the clinical importance of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has recently been increasing. In this study, we aim to extract feature values by applying GLCM, a texture analysis method, to ultrasound images of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. By applying an artificial neural network model using extracted feature values, we would like to classify the degree of fat deposition in non-alcoholic fatty liver into normal liver, mild fatty liver, moderate fatty liver, and severe fatty liver. As a result of applying the GLCM algorithm, the parameters Autocorrelation, Sum of squares, Sum average, and sum variance showed a tendency for the average value of the feature values to increase as it progressed from mild fatty liver to moderate fatty liver to severe fatty liver. The four parameters of Autocorrelation, Sum of squares, Sum average, and sum variance extracted by applying the GLCM algorithm to ultrasound images of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease were applied as inputs to the artificial neural network model. The classification accuracy was evaluated by applying the GLCM algorithm to the ultrasound images of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and applying the extracted images to an artificial neural network, showing a high accuracy of 92.5%. Through these results, we would like to present the results of this study as basic data when conducting a texture analysis GLCM study on ultrasound images of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.472-478
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• 2021

Background: Early identification of patients who are highly likely to develop severe illness among confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) can be expected to lead to effective treatment. This study therefore aimed to determine whether the presence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has an impact on the exacerbation of COVID-19 symptoms. Methods: The study used the Korean National Health Insurance claim data for treatment of COVID-19 patients in 2020. NAFLD includes nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The outcome variables used were hospitalization and the use of medical devices. Hospitalization was defined by a length of stay exceeding one day and the use of medical devices was defined as one or more uses of a ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if there was a difference in the hospitalization and use of medical devices of COVID-19 patients depending on the presence of NAFLD. Results: The odds ratio of hospitalization was 1.059, indicating slightly higher odds of hospitalization for patients with NAFL or NASH compared to those without the conditions, but it was not statistically significant (0.969-1.156). On the other hand, the odds ratio of use of medical devices was high at 1.667 and was statistically significant (1.111-2.501). Conclusion: The study results found NAFLD to be a risk factor that can exacerbate symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify NAFLD patients through preemptive screening and provide them with appropriate treatments.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.45.1-45.11
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• 2023

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common type of chronic liver disease, with severity levels ranging from nonalcoholic fatty liver to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The extent of liver fibrosis indicates the severity of NASH and the risk of liver cancer. However, the mechanism underlying NASH development, which is important for early screening and intervention, remains unclear. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) is a useful method for identifying hub genes and screening specific targets for diseases. In this study, we utilized an mRNA dataset of the liver tissues of patients with NASH and conducted WGCNA for various stages of liver fibrosis. Subsequently, we employed two additional mRNA datasets for validation purposes. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to analyze gene function enrichment. Through WGCNA and subsequent analyses, complemented by validation using two additional datasets, we identified five genes (BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2) as hub genes. GSEA analysis indicated that gene sets associated with liver metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis were uniformly downregulated. BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2 were identified as hub genes of NASH, and were all related to liver metabolism, NAFLD, NASH, and related diseases. These hub genes might serve as potential targets for the early screening and treatment of NASH.