• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.150-158
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• 2001

The activity of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in rheumatoid arthritis is not only due to the inhibition of the production of prostaglandins, which can even have beneficial immunosuppressive effects in chronic inflammatory processes. Since we speculated that these drugs could also act by protecting endogenous proteins against denaturation, we evaluated their effect on heat-induced denaturation human serum albumin (HSA) in comparison with several fatty acids which are known to be potent stabilizers of this protein. By the Mizushimas assay and a recently developed HPLC assays we observed that NSAIDs were slightly less active [$EC_{50}~10^{-5}-10^{-4}$ M] than FA and that the HPLC method was less sensitive but more selective than the turbidimetric assay, i.e. it was capable of distinguishing true antiaggregant agents like FA and NSAIDs from substances capable of inhibiting the precipitation of denatured protein aggregates. In conclusion, this survey could be useful for the development of more effective agents in protein condensation diseases like rheumatic disorders, cataract and Alzheimers disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.149-154
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• 2004

Objective: To assess the association with autoimmune endocrine diseases and detection rate of autoimmune antibodies and its clinical significance in patients with premature ovarian failure. Methods: Twenty eight patients with primary or secondary amenorrhea manifesting hormonal and clinical features of premature ovarian failure (primary POF: 7, secondary POF: 21) were investigated. We tested them TFT, 75 g OGTT, ACTH and S-cortisol for thyroiditis, IDDM, Addison's disease, and antithyoglobulin antibody, antimicrosomal antibody, antinuclear antibody, rheumatic factor, anti-smooth muscle antibody, anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody for non-organ specific autoimmune disorders. Results: Only one patient was diagnosed as IDDM and no patients had abnormal TFT or adrenal function test. More than one kind of autoantibody was detected in 11 patients of all (39.2%): 5 patients (71.4%) of primary POF group and 6 patients (21.4%) of secondary POF group. Eleven patients (39.3%) had antithyroglobulin antibody, 4 (14.3%) had antimicrosomal antibody, 2 (7.1%) had antinuclear antibody, 2 (7.1%) had rheumatic factor, 1 (3.6%) had anti-smooth muscle antibody, 1 (3.6%) had anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody. Conclusions: Premature ovarian failure may occur as a component of an autoimmune polyglandular syndrome, so patients should be measured with free thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, fasting glucose and electrolytes. Measurement of thyroid autoantibodies in POF patients may be important in identifying patients at risk of developing overt hypothyoidism, but other autoantibodies may not be suitable for screening test.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.153-156
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• 2001

A key aspect of genomic research in the “post-genome era”is to associate sequence variations with heritable phenotypes. The most common variations in the human genome are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that occur approximately once in every 500 to 1,000 bases. Although analyzing the phenotypic outcome of these SNPs is crucial to facilitate large-scale association studies of genetic diseases, detection of SNPs from an extended number of human DNA samples is often difficult, labor-intensive and time-consuming. Recent development in SNP detection methods using DNA microarrays and mass spectrophotometry has allowed automated high throughput analyses, but such equipments are not accessible to many scientists. In this study, we demonstrate that a simple PCR-based method using primers with a mismatched base at the 3'-end provides a fast and easy tool to identify known SNPs from human genomic DNA in a regular molecular biology laboratory. Results from this PCR amplification of specific alleles (PASA) analysis efficiently and accurately typed the Q576R polymorphism of human IL4 receptor from the genomic DNAs of 29 Koreans, including 9 samples whose genotype could not be discerned by the conventiona1 PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) method. Given the increasing attention to disease-associated polymorphisms in genomic research, this alternative technique will be very useful to identify SNPs in large-scale population studies.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

Objectives: The Samguchup is a plaster therapy in winter to prevent and treat diseases occurring frequently in the winter. Studies on samguchup published in China were analyzed for our study in order to utilize in Korea. Methods: 15 studies with keywords such as 'Sanjiutie' or 'Dongbingdongzhi' published in CAJ (China Academic Journal) until July 31, 2012 were compared, in terms of clinical effects, herbs, acupoints, attatching time, and accompanying treatment. Results: Treatment rate ranged from 65% to 92.65%, in recurrent respiratory infection, cough, allergic rhinitis, asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sleep apnea, and rheumatic arthritis. The herbs used more than 5 times were Semen Sinapis Albae, Herba Asari, Ginger juice, Radix Kansui, and Rhizoma Corydalis. The acupoints used more than 5 times were BL13, BL23, GV14, CV17, CV22, and EX-B1. The attaching time were usually 4 hours, but shorter for child. The Sambokchup, Korean medicine, moxibustion on ginger, drug(western medicine), injection, and inhalation were used as accompanying treatment. Conclusions Appropriate use of Samguchup is necessary to treat or prevent diseases in winter.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.921-930
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• 2010

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is the most common rheumatic childhood disease; its onset is before 16 years of age and it persists for at least 6 weeks. JRA encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases that is classified according to 3 major presentations: oligoarthritis, polyarthritis, and systemic onset diseases. These presentations may originate from the same or different causes that involve interaction with specific immunogenetic predispositions, and result in heterogeneous clinical manifestations. An arthritic joint exhibits cardinal signs of joint inflammation, such as swelling, pain, heat, and loss of function; any joint can be arthritic, but large joints are more frequently affected. Extra-articular manifestations include high fever, skin rash, serositis, and uveitis. The first 2 types of JRA are regarded as T helper 1 (Th1) cell-mediated inflammatory disorders, mainly based on the abundance of activated Th1 cells in the inflamed synovium and the pathogenetic role of proinflammatory cytokines that are mainly produced by Th1 cell-stimulated monocytes. In contrast, the pathogenesis of systemic onset disease differs from that of other types of JRA in several respects, including the lack of association with human leukocyte antigen type and the absence of autoantibodies or autoreactive T cells. Although the precise mechanism that leads to JRA remains unclear, proinflammatory cytokines are thought to be responsible for at least part of the clinical symptoms in all JRA types. The effectiveness of biologic therapy in blocking the action of these cytokines in JRA patients provides strong evidence that they play a fundamental role in JRA inflammation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1988

The left atrial [LA] dimension and atrial fibrillation [AF] in patients with mitral valvular heart diseases have been thought to be related to hemodynamic burden to the LA depending on severity of stenosis or regurgitation of mitral valve, left ventricular contractility and the heart conditions. If hemodynamic burden persists long, it can affect the LA wall and structural change of the LA wall itself can developed. So the structural change of the LA wall could be thought to be related to the LA dimension and AF. To verify this relation, the LA wall biopsy was performed in 26 patients with rheumatic mitral valvular heart disease at the left atriotomy incision margin which was posterior to the interatrial groove after completion of surgery to the mitral valve such as valve replacement or commissurotomy. Relation of the pathological state of the LA wall to AF and the LA dimension measured by M-mode echocardiography was studied. The conclusions were as follow. 1. There was tendency that degree of fibrosis of myocardium of the LA wall was related to the LA dimension. 2. There was more chance that patients who had severe fibrosis of myocardium of the LA wall had pre and postoperative AF. 3. There was no relation between reduction rate of the LA dimension before and after surgery and degree of fibrosis of myocardium of the LA wall.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.75-78
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• 1985

From April, 1984 to January, 1985, 57 cases of cardiovascular surgeries were performed at Yeung Nam University Hospital consisting 31 cases of open heart surgery and 26 cases of ligating patent ductus arteriosus. Among 31 cases of open heart surgery, all cases are congenital acyanotic heart disease except a case of rheumatic aortic valvular heart diseases taken aortic valve replacement with Bjrk-Shiley 25mm. Only 2 cases of transient hemoglobinuria were complicated. A case of surgical mortality was present died of acute respiratory failure and intractable arrhythmia, which resulting 3.2% of mortality rate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.654-658
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• 2012

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common rheumatic pathology. One of the major objectives of OA research is the development of early diagnostic strategies such as those using proteomic technology. Synovial fluid (SF) in OA patients is a potential source of biomarkers for OA. The efficient and reliable preparation of SF proteomes is a critical step towards biomarker discovery. In this study, we have optimized a pretreatment method for twodimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) separation of the SF proteome, by enriching low-abundance proteins and simultaneously removing hyaluronic acid, albumin, and IgG. SF samples pretreated using this optimized method were then evaluated by 1DE and 2DE separation followed by immunodetection of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), a known OA biomarker, and by the identification of 3 proteins (apolipoprotein, haptoglobin precursor, and fibrinogen D fragment) that are related to joint diseases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.434-441
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• 2008

Objectives: This study was conducted to measure the decline in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) associated with some diseases in South Korean adults. Methods: The EQ-5D health states in the 2005 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES) and the Korean EQ-5D valuation set were used to obtain the EQ-5D indexes of the study subjects. Each disease group was defined when the subjects reported to the NHNES that they were diagnosed with the corresponding disease during the previous 1 year by physicians. Since the distributions of the EQ-5D indexes in each subgroup were negatively skewed, median regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of specific diseases on the HRQoL. Median regression analysis produced estimates that approximated the median of the EQ-5D indexes and there are more robust for analyzing data with many outliers. Results: A total of 16,692 subjects (6,667 patients and 10,025 people without any disease) were included in the analysis. As a result of the median regression analysis, stroke had the strongest impact on the HRQoL for both males and females, followed by osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatic arthritis, and herniation of an intervertebral disc. While asthma had a significant impact on the HRQoL only in men, cataract, temporo-mandibular dysfunction, and peptic ulcer significantly affected the HRQoL only in women. Conclusions: Stroke and musculoskeletal diseases were associated with the largest losses of the HRQoL in Korean adults.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.485-490
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• 1999

The mechanism of action of fish oil (FO), currently used in different chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is not completely understood, although it is thought that it could alter the metabolism of endogenous autacoids. In addition, we hypothesized that the known capability of fatty acids (FA) of stabilizing serum albumin and perhaps other proteins, may be of pharmacological relevance considering that it is shared by other anti-rheumatic agents (e.g. nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs). Thus, we studied the effect of oral administration of FO and corn oil (CO), a vegetable oil with a different composition, on the stability of rat serum proteins, evaluated buy a classical in vitro method based on heat-induced protein denaturation. FO, and, to a lower extent, CO inhibited heat-induced denaturation of rat serum (RS): based on the inhibitory activity (EC50) of the major fatty acids against heat-induced denaturation of RS in vitro, it was possible to speculate the in vivo effects of palmitic acid (C16:0) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5, n-3) may be more relevant than that of linolenic acid (C18:2). To better investigate this phenomenon, we extracted albumin from the serum of animals treated or not with FO with a one-step affinity chromatography technique, obtaining high purity rat serum albumin preparations (RSA-CTRL and RSA-FO), as judged by SDS-PAGE with Coomassie blue staining. When these RSA preparations were heated at $70^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, it was noted that RSA-FO was much more stable than RSA-CTRL, presumably due to higher number of long chain fatty acids (FA) such as palmitic acid or EPA. In conclusion, we provided evidences that oral administration of FO in the rat stabilizes serum albumin, due to an increase in the number of protein bound long chain fatty acids (e.g. palitic acid and EPA). We speculate that the stabilization of serum albumin and perhaps other proteins could prevent changes of antigenicity due to protein denaturation and glycosylation, which may trigger pathological autoimmune responses, suggesting that this action may be involved in the mode of action of FO in RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases.