• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.190-196
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• 1993

The prognosis of chronic hepatitis C is very variable. In some, the disease is progressive and cirrhosis can develop from chronic hepatitis C. Hepatitis C virus(HCV) may act as a trigger towards hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis. Interferon has been used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in abroad, 16 patients with chronic C liver disease were treated with ${\alpha}$-interferon (alfa-2b; "Intron A" Schering Corp. Kenilworth. NJ). All patients were given ${\alpha}$-interferon in subcutaneous doses of 3 million units three times weekly for 1 to 9 months. During therapy, CBC and ALT levels were checked weakly to monthly. After therapy, patients were followed for 1 to 8 months. Among 16 patients treated with ${\alpha}$-interferon, progressive decrease of ALT levels was observed in 14(87.5%). In 11 patients(68.8%), ALT levels fell into the normal range during therapy, and in 9 of 11, within one month after therapy, 6 months after the completion of therapy in 4 of 9 patients(44.4%) whose ALT levels were in the normal range, ${\alpha}$-interferon seems to have effect in controlling disease activity in patients with chronic hepatitis C. But the changes in the usage of ${\alpha}$-interferon, dose and duration, long term follow up and more convenient and simple tests for HCV detection are recommended for the better effect and the exact evaluation on the effect of ${\alpha}$-interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2433-2437
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• 2013

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and thereby involved in the development and progression of solid tumours. Associations between three VEGF gene polymorphisms (-634 G/C, +936 C/T, and +1612 G/A) and breast cancer risk have been extensively studied, but the currently available results are inconclusive. Our aim was to investigate associations between three VEGF gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in Chinese Han patients. We performed a hospital-based case-control study including 680 female incident breast cancer patients and 680 female age-matched healthy control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was performed to detect the three VEGF gene polymorphisms. We observed that women carriers of +936 TT genotypes [odds ratio (OR) =0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28, 0.76; P=0.002] or 936 T-allele (OR=0.81, 95% CI= 0.68, 0.98; P=0.03) had a protective effect concerning the disease. Our study suggested that the +1612G/A polymorphism was unlikely to be associated with breast cancer risk. The -634CC genotype was significantly associated with high tumor aggressiveness [large tumor size (OR=2.63, 95% CI=1.15, 6.02; P=0.02) and high histologic grade (OR=1.47, 95% CI= 1.06, 2.03; P=0.02)]. The genotypes were not related with other tumor characteristics such as regional or distant metastasis, stage at diagnosis, or estrogen or progesterone receptor status. Our study revealed that the VEGF -634 G/C and +936 C/T gene polymorphisms may be associated with breast cancer in Chinese Han patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2577-2582
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• 2013

Objectives: Interleukin (IL) -10 is a potent cytokine with a dual ability to immunosuppress or immunostimulate. We aimed to explore the association of IL10 promoter polymorphisms with risk of gastric cancer (GC) in a Han population in Southwestern China. Methods: We enrolled 308 pairs of GC and control subjects from four hospitals and a community between October 2010 and August 2011 in a 1:1 matched case-control design. Demographic information was collected using a designed questionnaire. IL10-592 A>C and IL10-1082 A>G polymorphisms were determined by Sequenom MassARRAY analysis. Results: Patients with GC reported statistically higher proportions of family history of cancer (29.9% versus 10.7%, P<0.01) and alcohol drinking (54.6% versus 43.2%, P<0.01) than did controls. Similar results were observed in comparison between non-cardia GC patients and controls (P<0.01 and P=0.03). Variant genotypes of IL10-592 A>C and IL10-1082 A>G were not associated with overall GC risk (adjusted OR, 0.94, 95% CI, 0.66-1.33; adjusted OR, 1.00, 95% CI, 0.62-1.60). Sub-analysis showed that the IL10-592 AC/CC variant genotype was associated with decreased non-cardia GC risk (adjusted OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36-0.95). No association was found between any of the IL10 haplotypes established from two polymorphisms and risk of non-cardia GC. Conclusions: In conclusion, our data do not link the two SNPs of IL10-592 and IL10-1082 with overall GC risk. We demonstrate that IL10-592 polymorphism is associated with protective effect against non-cardia GC. Our findings may offer insight into risk associated with the development of GC in this region.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4783-4788
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• 2012

Objective: Previous studies of the association between X-ray cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) gene polymorphisms and the gliomas risk have yielded conflicting results, and thus a meta-analysis was performed to provide a more accurate estimation. Methods: A computerized literature search of 5 electronic databases was conducted to identify the relevant studies. Fixed or random effect models were selected based on the heterogeneity test. Publication bias was estimated using Begg's funnel plots and Egger's regression test. Results: A total of 11 studies (3,810 cases and 6,079 controls), 7 studies (2,928 cases and 5,048 controls), and 4 studies (1,461 cases and 2,593 controls) were finally included in the analyses of the association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp, and Arg280His polymorphisms and glioma risk, respectively. The pooled results showed that GlnGln carriage was associated with moderately increased risk of gliomas in Asians (GlnGln vs. ArgArg, OR=1.490, 95%CI 1.031-2.153; GlnGln/ArgGln vs. ArgArg, OR=1.321, 95%CI 1.037-1.684), whereas a marginal association was revealed in Caucasians. For the Arg194Trp polymorphism, although a significant association was shown in the homozygous genotype comparisons (TrpTrp vs. ArgArg, OR = 2.209, 95%CI 1.398-2.945), no significant link was found on subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity. With regard to the Arg280His polymorphism, no significant association was found in each comparison. No particular study was found to significantly influence the pooled results, and no potential publication bias was detected. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism is moderately associated with increased risk of gliomas in Asians, while Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms demonstrated no significant influence. Due to the limited studies and the potential confounders, further studies are needed to confirm these results.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2015

Cryopreservation of boar semen is continually researched in reproductive technologies and genetic resource banking in breed conservation. For evaluating the boar semen quality, sperm motility (MOT) is an important parameter because the movement of spermatozoa indicates active metabolism, membrane integrity and fertilizing capacity. Various researches have been trying to improve the quality of semen post-thawed in boar. Recently, polymorphism (g.358A>T) of cluster-of-differentiation antigen 9 (CD9) gene reported to be significant association with MOT. Also, CD9 gene was expressed in the male germ line stem cells is crucial for sperm-egg fusion, and was therefore selected as candidate gene for boar semen. This study was conducted to evaluate the pig SNP (g.358A>T) of CD9 gene as a positional controlling for semen parameters of post-thawed boar semen. To results, the g.358A>T SNP of the CD9 gene was significantly associated with the traits such as MOT, curve linear velocity, straight line velocity, average path velocity and amplitude of lateral head displacement. Particularly, the g.358A>T SNP significantly has the highest association with MOT and animals with AA genotype (p<0.001). Therefore, we suggest that the g.358A>T in the intron 6 region of the porcine CD9 may be used as a molecular marker for Duroc boar Post-thawed semen quality, although its functional effect was not defined yet.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.343-349
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• 1993

This study was conducted 1)to determine the factors responsible for the gradually increased rice yield by examining any improvements in yield-related characters and physiological characters among the historically recommended varieties of rice in Korea, and 2)to reveal the way of achieving further yield improvement by breeding in the future. Eight recommended varieties from 1911 to 1988 were selected and grown at the same conditions. The yield-related characters were observed at the harvest time, and the physiological characters such as RGR, NAR, LAR, SLA and L WR were estimated by the classical method of growth analysis. The newer varieties are shorter and those released after 1970's are greater in percent of filled spikelets and harvest index than the older varieties. There are no definite changing trends in the variations of number of panicles per hill, number of spikelets per panicle and 1000 grain weight according to the course of evolution in the recommended varieties. There is little evidence of improvement in the physiological characters such as NAR, LAR, SLA and LWR among the recently developed varieties compared with those of the older varieties. The increase in grain yield due to variety improvement, if any, is largely associated with the greater harvest index and percent of filled spikelets by breeding blight resistant and / or lodging resistant genotypes with short culm. It is suggested that increase in NAR should be carried out simultaneously with increase in harvest index to breed high yielding genotypes. I t appears to be important to breed genotypes with long culm in order to enhance light penetration into the canopy as long as they are lodging resistant. Since NAR is negatively correlated with LAR, it is unlikely to succeed to improve both characters simultaneously. The direct effect of NAR on RGR by path analysis is much larger than that of LAR, and hence it is suggested that breeding genotype with large NAR is more effective on enhancing RGR. It is also suggested that improving LAR through LWR is likely effective on increasing RGR.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.417-424
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to detect significant SNPs for carcass quality traits using DNA chips of high SNP density in Hanwoo populations. Carcass data of two hundred and eighty nine steers sired by 30 Korean proven sires were collected from two regions; the Hanwoo Improvement Center of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in Seosan, Chungnam province and the commercial farms in Gyeongbuk province. The steers in Seosan were born between spring and fall of 2006 and those in Gyeonbuk between falls of 2004 and 2005. The former steers were slaughtered at approximately 24 months, while the latter steers were fed six months longer before slaughter. Among the 55,074 SNPs in the Illumina bovine 50K chip, a total of 32,756 available SNPs were selected for whole genome association study. After adjusting for the effects of sire, region and slaughter age, phenotypes were regressed on each SNP using a simple linear regression model. For the significance threshold, 0.1% point-wise p value from F distribution was used for each SNP test. Among the significant SNPs for a trait, the best set of SNP markers were selected using a stepwise regression procedure, and inclusion and exclusion of each SNP out of the model was determined at the p<0.001 level. A total of 118 SNPs were detected; 15, 20, 22, 28, 20, and 13 SNPs for final weight before slaughter, carcass weight, backfat thickness, weight index, longissimus dorsi muscle area, and marbling score, respectively. Among the significant SNPs, the best set of 44 SNPs was determined by stepwise regression procedures with 7, 9, 6, 9, 7, and 6 SNPs for the respective traits. Each set of SNPs per trait explained 20-40% of phenotypic variance. The number of detected SNPs per trait was not great in whole genome association tests, suggesting additional phenotype and genotype data are required to get more power to detect the trait-related SNPs with high accuracy for estimation of the SNP effect. These SNP markers could be applied to commercial Hanwoo populations via marker-assisted selection to verify the SNP effects and to improve genetic potentials in successive generations of the Hanwoo populations.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.239-246
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• 1994

The genotypic (2n, 3n, 4n) response of watermelon in vitro shoot tip culture was evaluated. Different genotypes had similar response in terms of shoot formation and growth. Shoot formation was better at lower concentration of 0.3 mg/L BA and higher concentration of 5-10.0 mg/L 2iP and kinetin, but growth of newly formed shoot was inhibited. With further subculture, kinetin did not promote shoot formation Better shoot formation was observed at 0.3-0.5 mg/L BA. Combination of 0.3 mg/L BA and 0.3-0.5 mg/L BA was effective in shoot multiplication, growth and induction of more internodes. Varrying levels of light intensity and agar concentration did not affect the performance of tetraploid plants. Higher light intensity and agar concentrations decreased the number of shoot formed in triploid plane. Growth in both genotype, however was inhibited. Higher light intensity was found to promote leaf senescence in all genotypes. All growth inhibitors decreased the number of shoots formed and slowed plant growth there by prolonging duration of cultures. Growth inhibitors were to observed to decrease incidence of hyperhydricity in culture. No difference in shoot formation was observed in each of the concentrations used in Ancymidol, TIBA, CCC and PP333. Shoot formation and growth was more inhibited in ABA treatments. Leaf expansion and growth was poor in all treatments.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.127-134
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• 2010

This study was to investigate the effect of flavonoid treatment on in vitro development of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos, and their pregnancy and delivery rate after embryo transfer into recipient. In experiment 1, to optimize the flavonoid concentration, parthenogenetic day 2 ($\geq$ 2-cell) embryos were cultured in 0 (control), 1, 10 and $20\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid for 6 days. In the results, in vitro development rate was the highest in $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid group (57.1%) among treatment groups (control, 49.5%; $1\;{\mu}M$, 54.2%; $20\;{\mu}M$, 37.5%), and numbers of total and ICM cells were significantly (p<0.05) higher in $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid group than other groups. We found that $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid treatment can significantly (p<0.05) decrease the apoptotic index and derive high expression of anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic, cell growth and development marker genes such as Mn-SOD, Survivin, Bax inhibitor, Glut-5, In-tau, compared to control group. In experiment 2, to produce the cloned Jeju Black Cattle, beef quality index grade 1 bull somatic cells were transferred into enucleated bovine MII oocytes and reconstructed embryos were cultured in $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid added medium. When the in vitro produced day 7 or 8 SCNT blastocysts were transferred into a number of recipients, $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid treatment group presented higher pregnancy rate (10.2%, 6/59) than control group (5.9%, 2/34). Total three cloned Jeju Black calves were born. Also, two cloned calves in $10\;{\mu}M$ flavonoid group were born and both were all healthy at present, while the one cloned calf born in control group was dead one month after birth. In addition, when the result of short tandem repeat marker analysis of each cloned calf was investigated, microsatellite loci of 11 numbers matched genotype between donor cell and cloned calf tissue. These results demonstrated that the flavonoid addition in culture medium may have beneficial effects on in vitro and in vivo developmental capacity of SCNT embryos and pregnancy rate.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2004

As an initial step for future genetic manipulations to improve forage characteristics of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), an efficient tissue culture system was established and the factors affecting plant regeneration were evaluated. MS medium containing 5mg/L 2,4-D was optimal for embryogenic callus induction from mature seed and had a strong effect on successive plant regeneration. The plant regeneration frequency was observed at above 70％ when embryogenic calli induced were transferred to N6 medium supplemented with 1mg/L 2,4-D and 5mg/L BA. Among several basic media tested, MS and N6 medium were optimal for callus induction and plant regeneration, respectively. Genotype was an important factor in plant regenerability. 'Jeanne' showed the highest regeneration frequency of 73％. A short tissue culture period and high-frequency regeneration system established in this study will be useful for molecular breeding of Italian ryegrass through genetic transformation.