• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.369-374
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• 1999

One hundred forty cows that have claw disorder have been used to study the association between lameness and reproductive disorders. Weak estrus owing to ovarian hypoplasia (41.4%) followed by follicular cyst (39.3%) was more frequent than any other disorders. Two hundred ninety-four cows have been used to study the association between lameness and calving to first service and calving to conception intervals depending on lactations, claw disease and floor conditions. And a comparison of number of services per conception between cows with lameness and cows free from lameness was carried out. The calving to first service intervals were significantly increased from average 78 to 102.5 days and calving to conception intervals were significantly increased from 109.6 to 150.6 days in cows with lameness. The calving to first service and calving to conception intervals were not significant different between lactations in cows with lameness. In comparison of calving to first service and calving to conception intervals in cows with lameness depending on claw disease and floor conditions, there was no significant difference. The average number of services per conception was increased from 1.73 to 2.57 in cows with lameness. Service numbers were more frequent during second lactation (3.0 services) but there was no significant difference between lactations in cows with lameness. Therefore, it is likely that the management of lameness is important factor on proper health control of cows and the cows with lameness show decreased fertility.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.285-290
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• 2002

Urticaria is classified as Eunjin in Oriental Medicine. The intrinsic causes include digestive system disorder, food poison, parasite, female reproductive health problem, nervous breakdown, and disorder of endocrine hormone. The extrinsic sources include all kinds of insect bites or stings, medications, pollen, dirt, and toxic smells. Some unknown sources also produce urticaria. The urticaria that lasts for more than six weeks, is categorized as chronic urticaria which is not very different from acute urticaria that occurs rapid but for a short period. The chronic urticaria may come every day, and its symptoms can even get worse at irregular or regular intervals. The cycle is hard to predict. It could be weeks or years. In clinical treatments, the syndromes of patient's chronic urticaria with cerebral hemorrhage have been analyzed and identified as follows: The diagnosis by asking the patient's case history showed that the root cause was retention of food resulting from dysfunction of the spleen and stomach. First, Pyeongwisan was dosed. From the syndrome differentiation with four diagnostic methods, we diagnosed the symptoms as Poong yoel (wind-heat). Then, Hyeongbangpaedocksangamibang was prescribed to get very effective results.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.46-59
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• 2019

Purpose: To determine associations of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with sexual autonomy and identify factors influencing sexual autonomy among female university students of North Korean defectors. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed with a total of 103 female students who completed a structured online self-report survey from January 7 to March 31, 2018. This study was conducted using questionnaires on interpersonal trauma scale, the Traumatic Scale for North Korean Refugees (TSNKR), and sexual autonomy measurement for college students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression with SPSS WIN 23.0 program. Results: Traumatic events, PTSD, and sexual autonomy scores were $3.96{\pm}3.07$, $31.47{\pm}10.75$, and $52.66{\pm}6.89$, respectively. PTSD was positively correlated with traumatic events (r=.22, p=.030). Sexual autonomy was inversely correlated with PTSD (r=-.25, p=.010). Contraceptive use, PTSD, and voluntary sexual debut explained 26% of sexual autonomy of participants. Conclusion: To improve sexual autonomy of young women from North Korea, reproductive intervention programs including contraception, sexual assertiveness training, and psychoeducation to reduce PTSD need to be developed and implemented.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2009

Ovarian cancer is a significant cause of cancer-related death in women, but the main biological causes remain open questions. Hormonal factors have been considered to be an important determinant causing ovarian cancer. Recent studies have shown that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-I and its analogs have clinically therapeutic value in the treatment of ovarian cancer. In addition, numerous studies have shown that the potential of GnRH-II in normal reproductive system or reproductive disorder. GnRH-I receptors have been detected in approximately 80% of ovarian cancer biopsy specimens as well as normal ovarian epithelial cells and immortalized ovarian surface epithelium cells. GnRH-II receptors have also been found to be more widely expressed than GnRH-I receptors in mammals, suggesting that GnRH receptors may have additional functions in reproductive system including ovarian cancer. The signal transduction pathway following the binding of GnRH to GnRH receptor has been extensively studied. The activation of protein kinase A/C (PKA/PKC) pathway is involved in the GnRH-I induced anti-proliferative effect in ovarian cancer cells. In addition, GnRH-I induced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation plays a role in anti-proliferative effect and apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells and the activation of transcriptional factors related to cellular responses. However, the role of GnRH-I and II receptors, there are discrepancies between previous reports. In this review, the role of GnRH in ovarian cancer and the mechanisms to induce anti-proliferation were evaluated.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.245-254
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• 2021

Objective: In humans, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an androgen-dependent ovarian disorder. Aberrant gene expression in folliculogenesis can arrest the transition of preantral to antral follicles, leading to PCOS. We explored the possible role of altered gene expression in preantral follicles of estradiol valerate (EV) induced polycystic ovaries (PCO) in a mouse model. Methods: Twenty female balb/c mice (8 weeks, 20.0±1.5 g) were grouped into control and PCO groups. PCO was induced by intramuscular EV injection. After 8 weeks, the animals were killed by cervical dislocation. Blood serum (for hormonal assessments using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique) was aspirated, and ovaries (the right ovary for histological examinations and the left for quantitative real-time polymerase) were dissected. Results: Compared to the control group, the PCO group showed significantly lower values for the mean body weight, number of preantral and antral follicles, serum levels of estradiol, luteinizing hormone, testosterone, and follicle-stimulating hormone, and gene expression of TGFB1, GDF9 and BMPR2 (p<0.05). Serum progesterone levels were significantly higher in the PCO animals than in the control group (p<0.05). No significant between-group differences (p>0.05) were found in BMP6 or BMP15 expression. Conclusion: In animals with EV-induced PCO, the preantral follicles did not develop into antral follicles. In this mouse model, the gene expression of TGFB1, GDF9, and BMPR2 was lower in preantral follicles, which is probably related to the pathologic conditions of PCO. Hypoandrogenism was also detected in this EV-induced murine PCO model.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.261-269
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• 2021

Because sows are industrially vital for swine production, monitoring for their health or disorder status is important to ensure high reproductive performance. Especially, ambient temperature changes in different season, especially during summer, are directly influenced to the reproductive performance of sows. Although the serum biochemical parameters are widely applied in the veterinary medicine with wide ranges for the physiological process, the values are also influenced by several factors such as age, breed, gender, and stress. In addition, domestic sows in Korea-specific reference interval (RI) for serum biochemistry has not been established yet. Therefore, the present study was aimed to evaluate seasonal variation of RIs in the serum biochemistry in domestic sows in Korea at different seasons and to establish normal RIs using a RI finding program (Reference Value Advisor). Significant difference (p < 0.05) on the different seasons were identified in several serum biochemical parameters including BUN, CRE, GGT, GLU, ALB, TP, LDH and Na in sows. Therefore, we further established RIs, specific in domestic sows in Korea regardless of season. The established RIs based on the serum biochemical values provide a baseline for interpreting biochemical results in the domestic sows in Korea, regardless of seasonal effect. It may contribute to develop a strategy for better reproductive performance by improving breeding management practice and evaluating health of pig herds, which facilitate to avert the economic loss in summer infertility in sows.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.96-105
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• 2022

The ovary undergoes substantial physiological changes along with estrus phase to mediate negative/positive feedback to the upstream reproductive tissues and to play a role in producing a fertilizable oocyte in the developing follicles. However, the disorder of estrus cycle in female can lead to diseases, such as cystic ovary which is directly associated with decline of overall reproductive performance. In gene expression studies of ovaries, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay has been widely applied. During this assay, although normalization of target genes against reference genes (RGs) has been indispensably conducted, the expression of RGs is also variable in each experimental condition which can result in false conclusion. Because the understanding for stable RG in porcine ovaries was still limited, we attempted to assess the stability of RGs from the pool of ten commonly used RGs (18S, B2M, PPIA, RPL4, SDHA, ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT1, YWHAZ, and TBP) in the porcine ovaries under different estrus phase (follicular and luteal phase) and cystic condition, using stable RG-finding programs (geNorm, Normfinder, and BestKeeper). The significant (p < 0.01) differences in Ct values of RGs in the porcine ovaries under different conditions were identified. In assessing the stability of RGs, three programs comprehensively agreed that TBP and YWHAZ were suitable RGs to study porcine ovaries under different conditions but ACTB and GAPDH were inappropriate RGs in this experimental condition. We hope that these results contribute to plan the experiment design in the field of reproductive physiology in pigs as reference data.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.203-206
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• 2003

Objectives: Controversial arguments exists on both the case for and against on the accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion in association to tissue and age. The debate continues as to whether this mutation is a major contributor to the phenotypic expression of aging and common degenerative diseases or simply a clinical insignificant epiphenomenon. The objective of this study was to determine whether the accumulation of mtDNA deletion is correlated with age-related and tissue-specific variation. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty-seven tissues from blood, ovary, uterine muscle, and abdominal muscle were obtained from patients ranging in age from 31$\sim$60 years. After reviewing the clinical reports, patients with mitochondrial disorder were excluded from this study. The tissues were obtained at gynecological surgeries with the consent of the patient. Total DNA isolated from blood, ovary, uterine muscle, and abdominal muscle was amplified by two rounds of PCR using two pairs of primers corresponding to positions 8225-8247 (sense), 13551-13574 (antisense) for the area around deleted mtDNA and 8421-8440 (sense), 13520-13501 (antisense) for nested PCR product. A statistical analysis was performed by $x^2$-test. Results: About 0% of blood, 94.8% of ovary, 71.4% of uterine muscle, and 86.1% abdominal muscle harbored mtDNA deletion. When we examined the proportion of deleted mtDNA according to age deletion rate was 90% of ovary, 63.6% of uterine muscle, 77.7% of abdominal muscle in thirties and 100% of all tissue in fifties. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the mtDNA deletion is varied in tissue-specific pattern and increases with aging.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2009

Objective: PCOS is one of the most common endocrine disorder affecting reproductive age women. It shows wide range of reproductive and metabolic manifestations. This study was to determine the differences of clinical and laboratory characteristics between adolescent and adult Korean Daegu Kyungpook PCOS patients. We also compared clinical and laboratory values of Korean PCOS patients to Turkish and American PCOS patients. Methods: 88 cases were diagnosed and enrolled as PCOS patients, based on 2003 Rotterdam criteria, who visited KNUH Reproductive Endocrinology division between Jan. 2000 and Apr. 2008. We retrospectively reviewed clinical characteristics, serum hormone levels, ultrasono-graphic findings. And we divided into 2 groups, adolescent and adult. We analyzed them with Chi-square test and Student's t-test statistically. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between adult and adolescent Korean PCOS patients. The prevalence of hyperandrogenism such as facial acne or hirsutism, obesity, and insulin resistance of Korean PCOS women was significantly lower than Turkish and American PCOS women. Conclusion: From the results of this study, we can suggest that it is sure that there are differences of clinical and laboratory characteristics of PCOS patients between races. Genetic background, dietary habits and life style affect the expression of clinical symptoms of PCOS. But we could not find out the difference between adolescent and adult PCOS patients of same race. It might be due to the limitation of small patient number and narrow range of age distribution. So, there must be large scale and multi-center and multi-regional study.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.290-294
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• 2010

Premenstrual syndrome is a common chronic disorder in most women of reproductive age. The main symptoms are depression, anxiety, tension, feeling out of control, and mastalgia. In premenstrual syndrome, the effects of aromatic edible Elsholtzia splendens and Cirsium japonicum were investigated for over 3 months in 30 women participants in their twenties. In the Elsholtzia splendens capsule treated group, scores of depression and anxiety were significantly lower than those in the Cirsium japonicum capsule treated group. Moreover, instability of the premenstrual assessment form was significantly decreased in the Elsholtzia splendens capsule treated group. Our results suggest that Elsholtzia splendens could be an effective plant material in relieving symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.