• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 2009

To figure out the epidemiological status and relevance with other diseases in toxoplasmosis, we checked serum IgG antibody titers of 1,265 patients and medical records of seropositive patients. Seropositive rates were 6.6% by latex agglutination test (LAT) and 6.7% by ELISA. No significant differences were detected between sexes and age groups. The peak seroprevalence was detected in the 40-49-year-old age group. According to clinical department, Toxoplasma-positive rates were high in patients in psychiatry, ophthalmology, health management, emergency medicine, and thoracic surgery. Major coincidental diseases in seropositive cases were malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, chronic hepatitis B, chronic renal diseases, schizophrenia, and acute lymphadenitis, in the order of frequency. In particular, some patients with chronic hepatitis B and malignant neoplasms had high antibody titers. These results revealed that the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in a general hospital-based study was similar to that in a community-based study, and T. gondii seropositivity may be associated with neoplasms, diabetes, and other chronic infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1336-1344
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• 2017

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. With recent identification of HBV receptor, inhibition of virus entry has become a promising concept in the development of new antiviral drugs. To date, 10 HBV genotypes (A-J) have been defined. We previously generated two murine anti-preS1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), KR359 and KR127, that recognize amino acids (aa) 19-26 and 37-45, respectively, in the receptor binding site (aa 13-58, genotype C). Each mAb exhibited virus neutralizing activity in vitro, and a humanized version of KR127 effectively neutralized HBV infection in chimpanzees. In the present study, we constructed a humanized version (HzKR359-1) of KR359 whose antigen binding activity is 4.4-fold higher than that of KR359, as assessed by competitive ELISA, and produced recombinant preS1 antigens (aa 1-60) of different genotypes to investigate the binding capacities of HzKR359-1 and a humanized version (HzKR127-3.2) of KR127 to the 10 HBV genotypes. The results indicate that HzKR359-1 can bind to five genotypes (A, B, C, H, and J), and HzKR127-3.2 can also bind to five genotypes (A, C, D, G, and I). The combination of these two antibodies can bind to eight genotypes (A-D, G-J), and to genotype C additively. Considering that genotypes A-D are common, whereas genotypes E and F are occasionally represented in small patient population, the combination of these two antibodies might block the entry of most virus genotypes and thus broadly neutralize HBV infection.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 1982

Medical personnek are one of several groups that have been reported to have a high incidence of hepatiris B. It is also thought that the occurrence rate of hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg), aserologic marker for hepatitis B virus(HBV), is expected to be high in the dental personnel who are frequently exposed to the blood and saliva of the patients. Although many studies have been done to determine the HBsAg status of virus groups, limited investigations have been performed on dental personnel, especially in this country. The main purpose of this study was to identify HBsAg positivity among dental students, interns, and residents who would be expected to be a high risk group of hepatitis B infection. Screening test for HBsAg of a dental school population was performed by indirect hemagglutination(IHA)in 1982. The results were as follows : 1. Thirty four out of a total 362 persons(9.4%)tested in the study had positive response for HBsAg in their serum samples. 2. Twenty seven out of 320 dental students(8.4%)had positive for HBsAg, and in Senior class 12 out of 82 dental students (14.6%)had positive response that was the highest incidence among dental students group. 3. Seven out of 42 interns and residents(16.7%)had positive for HBsAg, and it was the highest incidence in this dental school population.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2018

The helicase genes and hypervariable regions (HVRs) of three avian hepatitis E viruses (HEVs) detected at three different farms were sequenced and characterized. Two isolates (DW-L and GI-B2) were classified as genotype 2 and one isolate (GR-B) was classified as genotype 1. A phylogenetic tree, based on the helicase gene and HVR nucleotide sequences, revealed the newly detected viruses and other avian HEVs were classified similarly. Unlike previously reported avian HEVs, the DW-L isolate detected in broiler breeders with characteristic lesions of avian HEV had no proline-rich motif in its HVR, suggesting that the proline-rich motif is non-essential for viral replication and infection.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.4 s.36
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• pp.465-472
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• 1991

This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection in drug abusers. The subjects were 141 inpatients who had been admitted to a general hospital with the symptoms and signs of methamphetamine intoxication. Seroprevalence of antibody to the hepatitis C virus(anti-HCV) was 60.3%(85/141) and it was higher in the group with increased frequency and duration of drug abuse, but such a relationship was not found in the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg). These findings suggested the possibility of high prevalence of HCV infection in methamphetamine abusers, and the importance of repetitive percutaneous injection in the transmission of HCV infection.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.2 s.50
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• pp.526-541
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• 1995

This study was conducted to estimate the validity of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) compared to enzyme immunoassay(EIA) for the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. EIA for antibody to HCV(anti-HCV) and RT-PCR for HCV was executed on the subjects from Pusan and Kyungnam area with questionnaire survey to collect some relating factors of HCV infection. As the result from 617 cases, the prevalence of HCV infection was 1.5% by EIA and 3.7% by RT-PCR(p<0.05), and the age standardized rate was 1.7% and 3.4% by EIA and RT-PCR, respectively. The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg) was 6.8% by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and the age standardized rate was 7.7%. It was the higher in male group comparing to female group(p<0.01). Both of the prevalence of HCV and HBsAg were higher in elevated asparate aminotransferase(AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) group than in normal AST and ALT group(p<0.01). There was no specific risk factor of HCV infection. Though the degree of agreement of EIA and RT-PCR by gamma statistics was 97.2%, it showed a significant difference between the two methods(p<0.01). For the detection of HCV infection, positive predictive value of EIA was 66.7% and negative predictive value of EIA was 97.2%. This study suggests that negative result to anti-HCV by EIA didn't mean the free state of HCV infection, therefore it would be helpful that further monitoring for HCV infection by RT-PCR in the case of elevated AST and ALT and/or clinically suspected.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2007

Hepatitis B is a serious public health problem leading to chronic infection and liver cancer. Quantitation of circulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) is important for monitoring disease progression and for assessing the response to antiviral therapy. In this study, by using Real-Time PCR and novel Micro-PCR assay method, we measured HBV concentration in the clinical sample. A total of 120 serum samples from patients with HBV infection collected was in Dankook university hospital to compare the detection limit, sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the two assay methods. These findings of this study suggest that Micro-PCR and Real-Time PCR assay methods are comparable to each other in there detection limit, sensitivity, and reproducibility for HBV DNA quantitation. However, Micro-PCR assay is more efficient than Real-Time PCR method, because Real-Time PCR is not so time - consuming, technically easy and need to reagent of a small quantity. It will be useful for rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of HBV in many countries.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2006

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic inflammatory disease that is characterized by invasive synovial hyperplasia, leading to progressive joint destruction. Recent studies have described that RA is caused by virus, bacteria or outside material. Approximately 2 to 20% of RA cases arc reported to be associated with infected hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, the mechanisms underlying virus-induced RA are still unknown. Moreover, few molecular studies have addressed the inflammatory aspects of HCV-associated autoimmune RA. In this study, we aimed to determine whe ther or not another HCV core protein transactivates the IL-8 gene expression, prototypic chemokine, in synovial cell. Methods: To establish the HCV core expressing stable synovial cell line, pCI-neo-core, a plasmid encoding HCV core protein, were transfected to HIG-82 cell line that is an established cell line from rabbit periaricular soft tissue. We examined the morphological changes and cell cycle distribution of HIG-82 cells with expression of HCV core protein by inverted microscopy and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Also, we determined the mRNA levels of Interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 related to the inflammation by RT-PCR and then analyzed regulation of IL-8 expression by the NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway. Results: Our study showed no significant differences in morphology and cell cycle between HIG-82 control cell line and HIG-82 expressing HCV core protein. However, expression of HCV core protein induces the IL-8 mRNA expression in HIG-82 core cells via activated NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway. Conclusion: These results suggest that HCV core protein can lead to enhanced IL-8 expression. Such a proinflammatory role may contribute to the etiologic pathogenesis in RA patients with HCV infection.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.220-229
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• 2016

Background: The treatment goal for patients with chronic hepatitis B infection is to prevent progression of the disease to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current therapies include standard and pegylated interferon-alfa and nucleoside/nucleotide analogues: lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir, telbivudine, clevudine, and tenofovir. This study aims to analyze changes in the prescribing patterns of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) medications in South Korea between 2013 and 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using National Patients Sample data compiled by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from 2013 and 2014. Patients with CHB were identified with Korean Standard Classification of Diseases code-6 (B18.0 and B18.1) and those who were maintaining active prescriptions with CHB medications covering the index date (December $1^{st}$, each year) were included. The utilization of antiviral therapy was investigated during 2013 and 2014. Results: A total of 4,204 and 4,552 patients in 2013 and 2014 respectively, were included in the analysis. The proportion of male patients was two of third and the patients 41-60 years old accounted for 60% of all analyzed patients. The most utilized drug was entecavir (55.1% in 2013 and 44.8% in 2014) and the second most utilized drug was tenofovir in both years (18.8% in 2013 and 29.0% in 2014). The percentage of combination therapy was 13.6% and 13.1% in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The proportion of tenofovir prescriptions was increased in 2014 compared with 2013. Conclusion: With the development of new drugs and the changes in clinical practice guidelines, the prescription pattern of the antiviral agents for patients with CHB has changed. The rate of utilization of tenofovir has increased.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.106-110
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• 2010

Reactivation of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a well-recognized complication in patients with chronic HBV infection who receive cytotoxic or other immunosuppressive therapy. In cases of patients treated by radiotherapy however, only a few of such reports exist and most of these include the patients previously treated by chemotherapy or transarterial chemoembolization. The results of this study point to a case of a patient with reactivation of HBV after radiotherapy alone. This study shows the possibility of HBV reactivation by partial hepatic irradiation alone hence, special attention should be paid to patients with HBV disease.