• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.12-19
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• 2008

We evaluated the relationship between birth weight and mercury exposure levels in Seoul, Korea, by following a cohort of pregnant women and the outcomes of their pregnancies between 2001-2005. Eighty-five pregnant women were recruited into this study after obtaining informed consent. Samples were collected at delivery from normal pregnant women who were living in the city of Seoul, Korea. Mercury concentrations in 85 sets of maternal and cord blood samples were measured using a gold-amalgam collection method. We used multiple regression analysis to analyze the effect of mercury exposure on birth weight. The mean levels of total mercury concentrations were 5.41(ppb) in maternal blood of pregnant women and 3.58(ppb) in umbilical cord blood. The mean concentration of umbilical cord blood mercury exposures was higher than the level recommended by WHO. There was a significant correlation between maternal and cord blood mercury concentrations. Mercury concentrations of umbilical cord blood was associated with birth weight. In addition, after adjusting for potential confounding factors, we found that mercury exposure may reduce the birth weight. This study suggests that exposure to mercury concentration during pregnancy contributes to the risk of low birth weight. Therefore, prenatal and environmental education for various and possible sources of mercury exposure might be necessary for the good health of babies. The finding of this study supports the construction of national policy for environmental health management.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• 제32권5호
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• pp.724-729
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• 2008

Umbilical cord blood has been recently considered an attractive potential alternative as a source of stem cell transplantation to curing diseases such as leukemia, cancers, immune disorders. Normally the stored system of the umbilical cord blood specimen is equipped with a computer-controlled robotic arm that enables the samples to locate the identification places in liquid nitrogen tank at regulated temperature as about $-196^{\circ}C$. As the half of robotic arm is in the air and the rest part is submerged in liquid nitrogen, the temperature of robotic arm varies from ambient to liquid nitrogen temperature. In this study the temperature variation of upper part of arm above tank lid was thermally analysed by using the commercial code of Ansys. The result of analysis was that the upper part of robotic arm was seriously frozen due to heat transfer from liquid nitrogen as low as -$120^{\circ}C$. In order to solve the frost problem of robotic arm, small PTFE tube block as resistance material was introduced into the lower part of tank lid instead of the whole stainless steel(SUS) robotic arm. The results showed that the temperature of robotic arm above the lid was higher enough, and this method would be one of the very effective measure to solve the problem.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제1권3호
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• pp.230-235
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• 2001

Background: Finding of the regulation of various gene expression by cytokine including $IFN-{\gamma}$ in hematopoietic stem cell will light up the understanding of pathogenesis of aplastic anemia in various aspects. To study on aplastic anemia, however, we have to circumvent the difficulty of directly obtaining bone marrow stem cells from the patient. Therefore, we tried to find out a cell can replace the bone marrow stem cells for study on cell signaling pathway and regulation of gene expression by $IFN-{\gamma}$. Materials and Methods: HL-60 cells, of 20 ng/mL of $IFN-{\gamma}$. Total RNA was isolated from the cells and RT-PCR of the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), $IFN-{\gamma}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, $MIP-1{\alpha}$, and $TGF-{\beta}2$ was carried out for the estimation of the gene expression. Results: $IFN-{\gamma}$ induced IDO gene expression of mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood showed similar pattern as compared to that of bone marrow. Whether $INF-{\gamma}$ was treated or not, $TNF-{\alpha}$ was expressed in both mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. However, HL-60 cells showed different expression patterns. HL-60 cells would express neither IDO nor $TNF-{\alpha}$ even under the culture with 20ng/mL of $IFN-{\gamma}$. Conclusion: Our results showed bone marrow can be replaced with mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood in the study on the relation between aplastic anemia and $IFN-{\gamma}$ including $IFN-{\gamma}$ cell signaling pathway.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.63-66
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• 1977

Motor vehicles are the major source of environmental air pollution through the combustion of lead-containing gasolines. People who live in the areas with heavy traffic usually have the higher blood lead levels. This study was to investigate the lead level between the maternal blood and their infants cord blood. Immediatly after Placental delivary, the sampls of cord blood and maternal venous blood were obtained randomly from 14 infants whose mothers had spent their entire pregnancy in Seoul. Lead concentration was determined by the dithizone method. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Hemoglobin, Hct and RBC were significantly higher in cord blood than in the maternal blood, by 36%, 54.9%, 36.9% respectively. 2. MCV in cord blood was higher than that in maternal blood by 13.8%. But MCH and MCHC were lower than those in maternal blood, by 9.7%, 3.3% respectively. The differences were statistically significant. 3. Lead concentration of cord blood $(23.93\;{\mu}g%)$ was higher than that in maternal blood $(21.93\;{\mu}%)$ by 9.1%.

• 한국발생생물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국발생생물학회 2003년도 제3회 국제심포지움 및 학술대회
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• pp.71-71
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• 2003

Human umbilical cord blood cells(HUCBC) are rich in mesenchymal progenitor cells, endothelial cell precursors and hematopoietic cells. HUCBC have been used as a source of transplantable stem and progenitor cells. However, little is known about survival and development of HUCBC transplantation in the CNS. Estrogen has a neuroprotective potential against oxidative stress-induced cell death so has an effect on reducing infarct size of ischemic brain. We investigated the potential use of HUCBC as donor cells and tested whether estrogen mediates intravenously infused HUCBC enter and survive in ischemic brain. PKH26 labeled mononuclear fraction of HUCBC were injected into the tail vein of ischemic OVX rat brain with or without $17\beta$-estradiol valerate(EV). Under fluorescence microscopy, labeled cells were observed in the brain section. Significantly more cells were found in the ischemic brain than in the non-ischemic brain. HUCBC transplanted into ischemic brain could migrate and survive. Some of cells have shown neuronal like cells in hippocampus, striatum and cortex tissues. These result suggest that estrogen reduces ischemic damage and increases the migration of human umbilical cord blood cells. This Study was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation(KOSEF) though the Biohealth Products Research Center(BPRC), Inje University, Korea.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제50권9호
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• pp.882-890
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• 2007

목 적 : 제대혈액 내 줄기세포 자가 이식이 극소저출생 미숙아의 신경학적 손상을 방지할 수 있는지 알아보고자 하였다. 방 법 : 출생체중 1,500 g 미만, 제태연령 32주 이하인 미숙아 26명을 대상으로 하였다. 환자의 제대혈에서 단핵구만 분리한 후 생후 24-48시간 사이에 단핵구로서 평균 $5.87{\times}10^7/kg$개를 정맥주사 하였다. 평가 변수들로서는 저산소성-허혈성 뇌증의 예측 지표로 사용되는 유핵 적혈구수, 소변내의 uric acid/creatinine 비와 NSE, IL-6, $IL-1{\beta}$ 등과 신경세포 보호 작용이 있는 것으로 알려진 GDNF의 농도를 혈청 및 뇌척수액에서 측정하였다. 임상적으로는 생후 1개월의 두위 증가 정도와 함께 뇌 병변, 기관지폐이형성증, 미숙아 망막증, 괴사성 장염 등의 발생 정도를 평가하였다. 결 과 : 1) 소변내 uric acid/ceartinine 비는 줄기세포 자가 이식군과 대조군 사이에 차이가 없었으나 유핵 적혈구수의 감소는 줄기세포 이식군에서 빠르게 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 2) 제대혈 자가 줄기 이식 전후에 시행한 혈청 NSE와 IL-6는 생후 제 7일에 의미 있게 감소하였으나 뇌척수액에서는 통계학적인 의미를 보이지 않았다. 혈청 $IL-1{\beta}$는 생후 제 7일에 감소하고, 혈청 GDNF 농도는 줄기세포 이식 후 증가하는 경향을 보였으나 모두 통계학적인 의미는 없었고 뇌척수액에서도 차이를 보이지 않았다. 3) 생후 1개월에서의 두위 성장(2 cm 이상)은 줄기세포 이식군에서 11명(46%), 대조군은 3명(27%)이었다. 4) 생후 1개월에서의 뇌병변은 줄기세포 이식군 24명 중 3명에서 뇌실주위 연화증이 발생하였고 그 중 1명은 뇌실확장증을 동반하였으며 대조군에서는 11명 중 2명에서 뇌실주위 백질연화증과 뇌실확장증이 발생하였다. 5) 줄기세포 이식군에서 기관지폐이형성증 및 괴사성 장염이 각각 1명씩 발생하였고 대조군에서는 미숙아 망막증이 2명에서 발생하였다. 6) 줄기세포 이식군에서 신생아호흡곤란 증후군과 연관된 패혈증으로 2명이 사망하였으며 제대혈 줄기세포 자가 이식과는 연관관계가 없었다. 결 론 : 극소 저출생체중 미숙아에서 제대혈 자가이식술은 윤리적인 문제없이 쉽게 시행할 수 있는 안전하고 실용적인 신경손상 예방 및 치료법으로 기대된다. 향후 장기적인 신경학적 추적 검사 및 비침습적이며 정교한 평가 변수 확립이 필요하다.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.25-27
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• 1999

Purpose: To present our experiences in pseudomosaicism or maternal cell contamination in genetic mid-trimester amniocentesis confirmed through percutaneous umbilical blood sampling. Methods: From 1992 to 1997, repeated cytogenetic evaluation with fetal cord blood was carried out in 14 cases showing mosaic patterns. Results: We confirmed pseudomosaicism in 12 cases (85.7%) by repeated cytogenetic evaluation, and also maternal cell contamination in 2 cases. Conclusion: Repeated cytogenetic evaluation via percutaneous umbilical blood sampling was a rapid and useful method for the confirmation of mosaicism resulted from genetic mid-trimester amniocentesis.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.39-45
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• 2005

Stem cell therapy using mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) transplantation have been paid attention because of their powerful proliferation and pluripotent differentiating ability. Although umbilical cord blood (UCB) is well known to be a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells with practical and ethical advantages, the presence of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in UCB has been controversial and it remains to be validated. In this study, we examine the presence of MSCs in UCB harvests and the prevalence of them is compared to that of endothelial progenitor cells. For this, CD34+ and CD34- cells were isolated and cultured under the endothelial cell growth medium and mesenchymal stem cell growth medium respectively. The present study showed that ESC-like cells could be isolated and expanded from preterm UCBs but were not acquired efficiently from full-terms. They expressed CD14-, CD34-, CD45-, CD29+, CD44+, CD105+ cell surface marker and could differentiate into adipogenic and osteogenic lineages. Our results suggest that MSCs are fewer in full-term UCB compared to endothelial progenitor cells.

• 한국발생생물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국발생생물학회 2005년도 제5회 발생공학 국제심포지엄 및 학술대회
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• pp.136-137
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• 2005

• 한국수정란이식학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국수정란이식학회 2005년도 제5회 발생공학 국제심포지엄 및 학술대회
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• pp.136-137
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• 2005