• Journal of Oriental Medical Thermology
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.23-31
• /
• 2008

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify relationship between the PWV and the temperature difference. Methods: When it comes to senile patients who suffer from cold limbs, there is need to see whether or not the patient's low temperature of the limbs is do to arteriosclerosis. The Pulse Wave Velocity(PWV) is a non-invasive method measuring the artery's rigidness. And the Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging(D.I.T.I) is a non-invasive method to see the body's thermal change. Research on the interrelationship of the artery's rigidness and body's thermal distribution was done by using these two tests. The subjects of this research were patients between the age 40~65 who have done both the D.I.T.I and PWV in March 2005~ September 2005. They had to have no history of diabetes, coronary illnesses or cerebrovascular diseases which are diseases that can effect the outcome of the PVW, nor history of spondylopathy or dermatosis which can effect the outcome of the D.I.T.I. Results: The results were as follows. 1. There was a significant interrelationship between the right wrist-ankle PWV and the temperature difference of the right wrist-palm. 2. There was a significant interrelationship between the left wrist-ankle PWV and the temperature difference of the left wrist-palm. 3. There was no significant interrelationship between the right wrist-ankle PWV and the temperature difference of the right thigh-dorsum of foot. 4. There was no significant interrelationship between the left wrist-ankle PWV and the temperature difference of the left thigh-dorsum of foot. 5. The right ABI showed no significant interrelationship between the temperature difference of the right wrist-palm and the right thigh-dorsum of foot. 6. The left ABI showed no significant interrelationship between the temperature difference of the left wrist-palm and the left thigh-dorsum of foot. Conclusion: The study shows that there was a significant interrelationship between wrist-ankle PWV and the temperature difference of wrist-palm.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.675-684
• /
• 2017

Provider-oriented weather information has been rapidly changing to become more customer-oriented and personalized. Given the increasing interest in wellness and health topics, the demand for health weather information, and biometeorology, also increased. However, research on changes in the human body according to weather conditions is still insufficient due to various constraints, and interdisciplinary research is also lacking. As part of an effort to change that, this study surveyed medical practitioners at an actual treatment site, using questionnaires, to investigate what kind of weather information they could utilize. Although there was a limit to the empirical awareness that medical staff had about weather information, most respondents noted that there is a correlation between disease and weather, with cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery disease (98.5%) and hypertension (95.9% ), skin diseases (atopic dermatitis (100%), sunburn (93.8%)) being the most common weather-sensitive ailments. Although there are subject-specific differences, most weather-sensitive diseases tend to be affected by temperature and humidity in general. Respiratory and skin diseases are affected by wind and solar radiation, respectively.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.71 no.4
• /
• pp.254-258
• /
• 2011

Background: Although the aging process and features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have several similarities, the relationship between aging and COPD pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. The klotho gene was found to be related to premature aging and emphysematous changes in an animal model. We investigated whether klotho gene polymorphisms are related to COPD susceptibility and emphysema severity. Methods: A total of 219 COPD subjects from the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease Cohort and 305 control subjects were genotyped for two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the klotho gene associated with coronary artery disease. Logistic regression was performed to determine the association of these SNPs with COPD susceptibility and linear regression was performed to investigate their association with emphysema severity in COPD subjects. Results: The mean age of the COPD subjects was 66 years and their mean FEV1 was 1.46 L. There were no associations between either SNP or COPD susceptibility (p=0.6 and 0.2, respectively) and there were no associations with emphysema severity. Conclusion: Genetic polymorphisms of the klotho gene were not associated with COPD in a Korean population.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.159-166
• /
• 2015

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the risk factors for the development of coronary artery lesions (CALs) and to determine whether hyponatremia is associated with CALs in children with Kawasaki disease (KD). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 105 children with KD who were admitted to Ilsan Hospital between January 2000 and July 2011. Results: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P = 0.013), total bilirubin levels (P = 0.017) were higher and serum sodium levels (P = 0.027) were lower in KD children with CALs than those without. White blood cell (WBC) counts (P = 0.006), neutrophil counts (P = 0.003) were higher and albumin levels (P = 0.009) were lower in KD children with hyponatremia than those without. On multiple logistic regression analysis, hyponatremia (P = 0.024) and intravenous immunoglobulin-resistance (P = 0.024) were independent risk factors for CALs in KD. Furthermore, serum sodium levels were correlated negatively with WBC counts (P = 0.004), neutrophil counts (P < 0.001), total bilirubin levels (P = 0.005) and positively with albumin levels (P = 0.009). Conclusion: Our study indicates that hyponatremia may reflect severe inflammation in children with KD.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2008

Abdominal obesity, especially, visceral obesity is thought to be a risk factor of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease. Based on previous studies visceral fat accumulation is highly related to these diseases compared to subcutaneous fat accumulation. The purpose of this study was to see the relation between abdominal obesity and lipid profiles in adult women. The included subjects were 25 adult women(BMI > $23\;kg/m^2$), who visited the obesity clinic in a general hospital from April 2006 to September 2007. Blood pressure, fasting glucose and lipid profiles were measured. The abdominal fat distribution had been assessed by CT scan at the level of L4-L5. From bivariate analyses, the visceral fat accumulation showed negative correlations with TC and TC/HDL. The BMI, total abdominal fat and Visceral fat/Subcutaneous fat ratio showed significant correlations with visceral fat accumulation. From linear regression analyses of all the study subjects, TC, TG and HDL were found to be determinants of the visceral fat accumulation($R^2\;=\;0.474$).

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.243-248
• /
• 1995

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), a hydrophobic glycoprotein promoting transfer of cholesteryl esters (CE) from high-density lipoproteins (HDL) to lower-density lipoproteins in the plasma, has been recognized a potent atherogenic factor during the development of coronary artery diseases. This study demonstrated a possible utilization of antisense RNA to inhibit expression of the CETP gene using vaccinia virus as an expression system. The CETP cDNA was inserted into a transfer vector (pSC11) in sense and antisense orientations and used to generate recombinant viruses. Recombinants containing sense or antisense orientations of the CETP cDNA were isolated by $TK^-$ selection and X-gal test. The inserted CETP cDNAs in the recombinants were identified by Southern blot analysis and allowed to transcribe in host cells (CV-1). Expressions of the exogenous CETP mRNA, extracted from the CV-1 cells coinfected with viruses containing sense and antisense DNAs, were monitored by Northern blot analysis using the CETP cDNA probe, by Western blot analysis using monoclonal antibody against the C-terminal active region of the CETP and by the CETP assay. Decreased expressions of the exogenous CETP cDNA were clearly evident in the Northern and Western blot analyses as the dose of antisense expression increased. In the CETP assay, the CETP activities decreased compared to the activity obtained from the cell extracts infected with sense construct only.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.371-382
• /
• 1985

Over the past 4 decades after World War II a great deal of data and clinical experiences have been accumulated relating to the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Clinical data on cardiovascular surgical cases performed in all 22 hospitals for open heart surgery in Korea was collected from it`s starting up to December 1984. The first recorded open heart surgery for a young adult atrial septal defect was performed by Young Kyoon Lee, M.D. on August 7, 1959, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. And, some scattered reports on cardiovascular surgical cases in it`s early period have changed recently the number of hospitals for open heart surgery and clinical cases enormously in total amount of 13, 100 cardiovascular operations performed on 12, 990 cases up to December 1984. Of the total 13, 100 cardiovascular operations, congenital cardiovascular anomaly occupied 70%. Of the congenital cases, 6, 580 operations for acyanotic group [operative mortality 4.5%], and 2, 489 operations for cyanotic group [operative mortality 20%]. The incidence of congenital cardiovascular anomaly in order of frequency was ventricular septal defect [29%], patent ductus arteriosus [26%], Tetralogy of Fallot [22%], atrial septal defect [8, 6%], pulmonary valve stenosis [3.0%], and endocardial cushion defect [1.1%]. Of the 3, 412 valvular heart disease cases, which occupied 85% of total 4, 031 acquired cardiovascular disease, individual incidence was in mitral 2, 565 [63.5%], double valve 451 [11.1%], and simple aortic valve 351 [8.7%]. Total number of valve replaced, mechanical and tissue, was 2, 795, and 1, 884 for mitral, 808 for aortic, and 103 for tricuspid in position. Operative mortality for prosthetic valve replacement in total was 9.8%. Remained acquired cardiovascular cases chronic constrictive pericarditis [7.9%], cardiac tumor [1.9%], coronary artery bypass [1.8%], cardiac trauma [1.2%] and less than 1% of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Overall operative mortality for open and non-open cardiovascular surgical operation was 7.7% [congenital acyanotic group 3.2%, congenital cyanotic group 19.4%, and acquired group 7.8%]. In conclusion, present status of cardiovascular surgery in Korea is stabilized with accumulation of clinical cases and experiences, and the future in the field of cardiovascular surgery is promising, especially in the infant cardiac surgery and aortocoronary bypass surgery, with abrupt increase of specialized cardiac centers, trained specialists, and expanding social health insurance.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2017

Objective: This study investigated the effect of purified Carthamus tinctorius (C. tinctorius) extracted with a hot water and ethanol method on adipogenic differentiation of mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells (mBMSCs). Methods: The C. tinctorius was extracted using hot water and ethanol. The samples were concentrated by a rotary evaporator and were then dried using a freeze-dryer. The mBMSCs were cultured and maintained in a minimum essential medium eagle alpha (${\alpha}-MEM$) supplemented with 10% FBS and 1% antibiotic antimycotic solution. To induce adipogenic differentiation, the cells were treated with Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium-low glucose (DMEM-LG) containing 1 mg/mL insulin, 1 mM dexamethasone, and 0.5 mM 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine. To evaluate the adipogenic differentiation ability, oil-red O staining was performed after adipogenic differentiation for 21 days. The mRNA expression and protein level of adipogenic-related genes were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting, respectively. Results: In the results of the MTT assay, no concentrations of C. tinctorius extracts showed toxicity on mBMSCs, so we fixed the treatment concentration of the extract at 100 ng/mL. In oil-red O staining, the water-C. tinctorius extract treatment significantly decreased adipogenic differentiation compared with the control and ethanol extract groups. The water-C. tinctorius extract group in particular showed reduced mRNA and protein expression of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($Ppar{\gamma}$) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha ($C/ebp{\alpha}$), which are adipogenic-related transcription factors. Conclusion: These data suggest that extract of C. tinctorius decreased the adipogenic differentiation of mBMSCs, while only water-C. tinctorius extract had an effect on different adipogenesis in mBMSCs. The C. tinctorius will be a useful therapeutic reagent for the prevention of obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and osteoporosis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.49 no.sup1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2016

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes of the utilization of operational and surgical medical care inside and outside a metropolitan area over 10 years, analyzing the residential areas of patients and the locations of medical facilities for major cardiovascular surgery. Methods: Data analysis was conducted by classifying the addresses of patients and the locations of medical care facilities of metropolitan cities and provinces, using data from the National Health Insurance Corporation from January 2003 to December 2013. Results: There is serious concentration of major heart surgery to medical facilities in Seoul; this problem has not improved over time. There were differences in percentages of surgical procedures performed in the metropolitan areas according to major diseases. In the case of Busan and Daegu provinces, at least 50% of the patients underwent surgery in medical facilities in the city, but there are other regions where the percentage is less than 50%. In the case of provinces, the percentage of surgical procedures performed in medical facilities in Seoul or nearby metropolitan cities is very high. Conclusion: Policies to strengthen the regional capabilities of heart surgery and to secure human resources are required to mitigate the concentration of patients in the capital area. Many regional multi-centers must be designated to minimize unnecessary competition among regional university hospitals and activate a win-win partnership model for medical services.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.2583-2589
• /
• 2014

Background: Soybean oil may protect against cancer of the breast and prostate. It may also exert beneficial influence in combination with other oils. Here, blends (20%, v/v) of sea buckthorn oil (SEBO), camellia oil (CAO), rice bran oil (RBO), sesame oil (SEO) and peanut oil (PEO) with soybean oil (SBO) were formulated. Materials and Methods: Oxidative stability (OS) and radical scavenging activity (RSA) of SBO and blends stored under oxidative conditions ($60^{\circ}C$) for 24 days were studied. By blending with different kinds oils, levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) decreased, while monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content increased. Progression of oxidation was followed by measuring peroxide value (PV), p-anisidine (PAV), conjugated dienes (CD) and conjugated trienes (CT). Results: Inverse relationships were noted between PV and OS at termination of storage. Levels of CD and CT in SBO, and blends, increased with increase in time. The impact of SEO as additives on SBO oxidation was the strongest followed by RBO, CAO, SEBO and PNO. Conclusions: Oxidative stability of oil blends was better than SBO, most likely as a consequence of changes in fatty acids and tocopherols' profile, and minor bioactive lipids found in selected oils. The results suggest that these oil blends could contribute as sources of important antioxidant related to the prevention of chronic diseases associated to oxidative stress, such as in cancer and coronary artery disease.