• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1062-1071
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• 2018

The misuse of anabolic hormones or illegal drugs is a ubiquitous problem in animal husbandry and in food safety. The ban on growth promotants in food producing animals in the European Union is well controlled. However, application regimens that are difficult to detect persist, including newly designed anabolic drugs and complex hormone cocktails. Therefore identification of molecular endogenous biomarkers which are based on the physiological response after the illicit treatment has become a focus of detection methods. The analysis of the 'transcriptome' has been shown to have promise to discover the misuse of anabolic drugs, by indirect detection of their pharmacological action in organs or selected tissues. Various studies have measured gene expression changes after illegal drug or hormone application. So-called transcriptomic biomarkers were quantified at the mRNA and/or microRNA level by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) technology or by more modern 'omics' and high throughput technologies including RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). With the addition of advanced bioinformatical approaches such as hierarchical clustering analysis or dynamic principal components analysis, a valid 'biomarker signature' can be established to discriminate between treated and untreated individuals. It has been shown in numerous animal and cell culture studies, that identification of treated animals is possible via our transcriptional biomarker approach. The high throughput sequencing approach is also capable of discovering new biomarker candidates and, in combination with quantitative RT-qPCR, validation and confirmation of biomarkers has been possible. These results from animal production and food safety studies demonstrate that analysis of the transcriptome has high potential as a new screening method using transcriptional 'biomarker signatures' based on the physiological response triggered by illegal substances.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2297-2299
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• 2016

Background: Early detection of malignant transformation with expression biomarkers has significant potential to improve the survival rate of patients as such biomarkers enable prediction of progression and assess sensitivity to chemotherapy. The expression of interferon inducible transmembrane protein 1 (IFITM1) has been associated with early invasion events in several carcinomas, including head and neck cancers, and hence has been proposed as a novel candidate biomarker. As the incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is highest in the Indian population, we sought to investigate: 1) the expression pattern of IFITM1 in OSCC tissue samples obtained from Indian patients of Dravidian origin; and 2) the possibility of using IFITM1 expression as a potential biomarker. Materials and Methods: Total RNA extracted from thirty eight OSCC biopsy samples was subjected to semi-quantitative RT-PCR with IFITM1 and GAPDH specific primers. Results: Of the thirty eight OSCC samples that were analyzed, IFITM1 overexpression was identified in fifteen (39%). Seven expressed a low level, while the remainder expressed high level of IFITM1. Conclusions: The overexpression of IFITM1 in OSCC samples indicates that IFITM1 may be explored for the possibility of use as a high confidence diagnostic biomarker in oral cancers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that IFITM1 overexpression is being reported in Indian OSCC samples.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.214-215
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• 2024

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2012

Objectives: Nail has been a substitute DNA source for genotyping. To investigate the integrity and consistency of nail DNA amplification for biomarker study, nail clippings from 12 subjects were collected at monthly intervals. The possibility of longer amplification and existence of GAPDH RNA/protein, were also investigated with three nail samples. Methods: Three primer sets were designed for quantitative amplification of nuclear and mitochondrial genes and analysis of their consistency. The mean threshold cycles in amplification of the target genes were compared to test the consistency of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performance among individual factors including age groups, sex, family, the nail source, and by the size of the amplification segments. Results: The amplification of the target genes from nail DNA showed similar integrity and consistency between the nail sources, and among the serial collections. However, nail DNA from those in their forties showed earlier threshold cycles in amplification than those in their teens or seventies. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) showed better DNA integrity and consistency in amplification of all three targets than did nuclear DNA (nucDNA). Over 9 kb of mtDNA was successfully amplified, and nested quantitative PCR showed reliable copy numbers (%) between the two loci. Reverse transcription PCR for mRNA and immunoblotting for GAPDH protein successfully reflected their corresponding amounts. Regarding the existence of RNA and protein in nails, more effective extraction and detection methods need to be set up to validate the feasibility in biomarker study. Conclusions: Nail DNA might be a feasible intra-individual monitoring biomarker. Considering integrity and consistency in target amplification, mtDNA would be a better target for biomarker research than nucDNA.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2010

The development of clinical biomarkers involves discovery, verification, and validation. Recently, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) coupled with stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) has shown considerable promise for the direct quantification of proteins in clinical samples. In particular, multiple biomarkers have been tracked in a single experiment using MRM-based MS approaches combined with liquid chromatography. We report here a highly reproducible, quantitative, and dynamic MRM system for validating multi-biomarker proteins using Nanoflow HPLC-Microfluidics Chip/Triple-Quadrupole MS. In this system, transitions were acquired only during the retention window of each eluting peptide. Transitions with the highest MRM-MS intensities for the five target peptides from colon cancer biomarker candidates were automatically selected using Optimizer software. Relative to the corresponding non-dynamic system, the dynamic MRM provided significantly improved coefficients of variation in experiments with large numbers of transitions. Linear responses were obtained with concentrations ranging from fmol to pmol for five target peptides.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.71-79
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• 2021

Currently, the naked eyes-based diagnosis of bone metastases on CT images relies on qualitative assessment. For this reason, there is a great need for a state-of-the-art approach that can assess and follow-up the bone metastases with quantitative biomarker. Radiomics can be used as a biomarker for objective lesion assessment by extracting quantitative numerical values from digital medical images. In this study, therefore, we evaluated the clinical applicability of non-invasive and objective bone metastases computer-aided diagnosis using radiomics-based biomarkers in CT. We employed a total of 21 approaches consist of three-classifiers and seven-feature selection methods to predict bone metastases and select biomarkers. We extracted three-dimensional features from the CT that three groups consisted of osteoblastic, osteolytic, and normal-healthy vertebral bodies. For evaluation, we compared the prediction results of the classifiers with the medical staff's diagnosis results. As a result of the three-class-classification performance evaluation, we demonstrated that the combination of the random forest classifier and the sequential backward selection feature selection approach reached AUC of 0.74 on average. Moreover, we confirmed that 90-percentile, kurtosis, and energy were the features that contributed high in the classification of bone metastases in this approach. We expect that selected quantitative features will be helpful as biomarkers in improving the patient's survival and quality of life.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.158-164
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• 2014

Dangguisu-san is a well-known traditional Korean herbal medicine prescription and has been widely used to treat ecchymosis, blood stagnation, and pain resulting from physical shock in Korea. In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometer method was established for the simultaneous determination of the 17 biomarker components in Dangguisu-san. All analytes were separated on an UPLC BEH $C_{18}$ ($100{\times}2.1$ mm, $1.7{\mu}m$) column and maintained at $45^{\circ}C$. The mobile phase consisted of two solvent systems, 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water (A) and acetonitrile (B) by gradient flow. The injection volume was $2.0{\mu}l$ and the flow rate was 0.3 ml/min with detection at mass spectrometer. Calibration curves of the 17 biomarker components were acquired with $r^2$ values ${\geq}0.9951$. The values of limit of detection and quantification of all analytes were 0.02~6.32 ng/ml and 0.05~18.95 ng/ml, respectively. The amounts of the 17 components in Dangguisu-san sample were $3.17{\sim}13,224.50{\mu}g/g$.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2018

This study compared serum concentrations of suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) between healthy and heartworm- infected dogs. Eighteen heartworm-infected dogs and five healthy dogs were included in the study. Dogs were diagnosed and categorized by history, clinical signs, and blood assay, thoracic radiography, echocardiography, and commercial ELISA kit results. Serum samples were sent to the IDEXX reference laboratory for NT-proBNP measurement. ST2 was examined by using a canine interleukin 33 receptor ELISA kit with the quantitative sandwich ELISA method. The severely infected group showed significant elevation of NT-proBNP concentration over those of the control (P=0.03) and mildly infected (P=0.04) group. There were no significant difference in ST2 concentrations among the three groups. The usefulness of NT-proBNP as a cardiac biomarker in dogs with severe heartworm disease was confirmed by the results of this study. Further investigations to assess ST2 as a cardiac biomarker are warranted.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2007

구리는 환경에 광범위하게 존재하며, 생물체에게 필수적인 무기질이지만 고농도로 존재할 경우 독성을 발휘한다. 본 연구는 프로티옴 기술을 응용하여 수서태계에 구리와 같은 중금속의 존재 여부를 신속하게 평가하기 위한 생물지표를 발굴하기 위하여 수행되었다. 즉, 송사리(Oryzias latipes)를 이용하여 여러 농도의 구리용액(0.1, 1, 5 mg/L)에 24시간 노출시킨 다음, 머리부분에서 선택적으로 발현이 증가되는 단백질을 동정하고자 시도하였다. 본 시스템에서 유의적으로 발현이 증가하는 것으로 나타난 단백질은 beta-tubulin, heat shock cognate 70 (hsc70)이었으며, 이 결과의 일부를 semi-quantitative RT-PCR를 이용하여 확인하였다. 이와 같이 구리 처리에 특이적으로 발현이 증가된 송사리 단백질들은 노출평가를 위한 생물지표로서 개발을 위하여 더 연구할 가치가 있는 것으로 평가된다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1667-1670
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• 2014

Background: Calprotectin in feces seems to be a more sensitive marker for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers than fecal occult blood, but its specificity may be too low for screening average risk populations. This study aims at evaluating the diagnostic value of fecal calprotectin as a screening biomarker for GI malignancies. Materials and Methods: In a case-control study, 100 patients with GI malignancies (50 patients with colorectal cancer and 50 patients with gastric cancer) and 50 controls were recruited in Tabriz Imam Reza and Sina hospitals during a 24-month period. One to two weeks after the last endoscopy/colonoscopy, fecal specimens were collected by the patients and examined by ELISA method for quantitative measurement of calprotectin content. The results were compared between the three groups. Results: The mean fecal calprotectin level was $109.1{\pm}105.3$ (2.3-454.3, median:74), $241.1{\pm}205.2$ (3.4-610.0, median:19.3) and $45.9{\pm}55.1{\mu}g/g$ (1.3-257.1, median:19.3) in gastric cancer, colorectal cancer and control group, respectively, the differences being significant (p<0.001) and remaining after adjustment for age. The optimal cut-off point for fecal calprotectin was ${\geq}75.8{\mu}g/g$ for distinguishing colorectal cancer from normal cases (sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 84%, respectively). This value was ${\geq}41.9{\mu}g/g$ for distinguishing gastric cancer from normal cases (sensitivity and specificity of 62%). Conclusions: Our results revealed that fecal calprotectin might be a useful and non-invasive biomarker for distinguishing colorectal cancer from non-malignant GI conditions. However, due to low sensitivity and specificity, this biomarker may not help physicians distinguishing gastric cancer cases from healthy subjects.