• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.1310-1314
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• 2008

Purpose : This study aimed to assess the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in children from low-income families in Gunpo and to evaluate whether economic status affects the prevalence of obesity. Methods : Between October 2007 and March 2008, 341 children (167 girls and 174 boys; age, 6 to 13 years) were enrolled in this study. All these children came from families who earned minimum wages and who were supported by government. We measured height, weight, and blood pressure and performed laboratory examinations, including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using weight and height. We compared the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in children from low-income families with the prevalence of these maladies found in other studies. Results : Prevalence of obesity ($BMI{\geq}95^{th}$) was 7.1%. Prevalence of hypertension and hyperlipidemia was 8.2% and 16.7%, respectively. In the obese group, prevalence of hypertension and hyperlipidemia was 25.0% and 45.8%, respectively. Obesity and hyperlipidemia were slightly more frequent in our study than those found in other reports, and the prevalence of hypertension in the obese group was very high compared with statistics from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (25% vs. 19.5%) and those from other reports. Conclusion : Low-income status was associated with an increased incidence of obesity, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. Hypertension showed an especially strong association with economic status, which seemed to correlate with genetic, environmental, and dietary effects.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2006

The analytical measurement range (AMR) is the range of analyte values that a method can directly measure on a specimen without any dilution, concentration, or other pretreatment not part of the usual assay process. The linearity of the AMR is its ability to obtain test results which are directly proportional to the concentration of analyte in the sample from the upper and lower limit of the AMR. The AMR validation is the process of confirming that the assay system will correctly recover the concentration or activity of the analyte over the AMR. The test specimen must have analyte values which, at a minimum, are near the low, midpoint, and high values of the AMR. The AMR must be revalidated at least every six months, at changes in major system components, and when a complete change in reagents for a procesure is introduced; unless the laboratory can demonstrate that changing the reagent lot number does not affect the range used to report patient test results. The AMR linearity was total protein (0-16.6), albumin (0-8.1), total bilirubin (0-18.1), alkaline phosphatase (0-1244.3), aspartate aminotransferase (0-1527.9), alanine aminotransferase (0-1107.9), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (0-1527.7), creatine kinase (0-1666.6), lactate dehydrogenase (0-1342), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.3-154.3), sodium (35.4-309), creatinine (0-19.2), blood urea nitrogen (0.5-206.2), uric acid (0-23.9), total cholesterol (-0.3-510), triglycerides (0.7-539.6), glucose (0-672.7), amylase (0-1595.3), calcium (0-23.9), inorganic phosphorus (0.03-17.0), potassium (0.1-116.5), chloride (3.3-278.7). We are sure that materials for the AMR affect the evaluation of the upper limit of the AMR in the process system.

• Annals of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.196-203
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• 2018

Purpose: The hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) represents the degree of nonenzymatic glycation and has been positively associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) and cardiovascular disease in adults. This study aimed to investigate the association between HGI, components of metabolic syndrome (MS), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a pediatric nondiabetic population. Methods: Data from 3,885 subjects aged 10-18 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2016) were included. HGI was defined as subtraction of predicted glycated hemoglobin ($HbA1_c$) from measured $HbA1_c$. Participants were divided into 3 groups according to HGI tertile. Components of MS (abdominal obesity, fasting glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure), and proportion of MS, CMRF clustering (${\geq}2$ of MS components), and elevated ALT were compared among the groups. Results: Body mass index (BMI) z-score, obesity, total cholesterol, ALT, abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, and CMRF clustering showed increasing HGI trends from lower-to-higher tertiles. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed the upper HGI tertile was associated with elevated triglycerides (odds ratio, 1.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-2.30). Multiple linear regression analysis showed HGI level was significantly associated with BMI z-score, $HbA1_c$, triglycerides, and ALT. When stratified by sex, age group, and BMI category, overweight/obese subjects showed linear HGI trends for presence of CMRF clustering and ALT elevation. Conclusion: HGI was associated with CMRFs in a Korean pediatric population. High HGI might be an independent risk factor for CMRF clustering and ALT elevation in overweight/obese youth. Further studies are required to establish the clinical relevance of HGI for cardiometabolic health in youth.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.289-298
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• 2009

Effects of Nattokinase fibrinol (NKF), defined as a fibrinolytic product, on fibrinolytic and atherogenetic markers were studied for healthy adults (20-31 years old), who is smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day. Subjects were divided into 29 for NKF group and 10 for placebo group in a short term study. They were given 2 tablets of NKF (4,000 unit) or placebo tablet and thereafter blood samples were collected at 0, 2, 4 hr prerid. For a 4-week long term study, 15 subjects for NFK group and 10 subjects for placebo group were supplemented one tablet of each NKF (2,000 unit) and placebo per day, respectively. Blood samples were collected at 0, 1, 2, 4 weeks later. The short-term experimental trial showed that NKF remarkably increased fibrinolytic activity at 2hr after consumption, which was maintained up to 4 hr, relative to that of placebo, while NKF reduced the euglobulin clot lysis time (ECLT) and retarded the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), as compared to placebo group. NKF supplementation for 4 weeks elevated fibrinolytic activity, shortened ECLT and retarded aPTT. Furthermore, NKF supplementation increased anti-atherogenic index by decreasing triglyceride (TG) and elevating high-density lipiprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. These results indicate that NKF supplementation for short term or long term might have beneficial effects on preventing and treating cardiovascular disease by increasing fibrinolytic activity and improving atherogenic markers such as hyperlipidemia.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.163-173
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• 2013

Objectives: There has been an increase in the use of mind-body therapies to control cardiovascular risk factors recently. This trial was designed to determine whether the 'jeol'(Korean Buddhists' prostration) meditation program, as a new mind-body intervention, was effective in managing stress, depression and controlling cardiovascular risk factors in women working at a geriatric hospital. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether the 'jeol' meditation program could improve stress, anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular risk factors in women. We randomly assigned 57 participants to the intervention(29 participants) or control(28 participants) group. The subjects in the intervention group participated in a group Jeol meditation program once weekly, and practiced at home. The following variables were assessed: stress(Psychosocial Wellbeing Index), depression(Beck's Depression Inventory), body mass index(BMI), waist circumference, hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c), homeostasis model assessment(HOMA), low-density lipoprotein(LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride were assessed. Results: After the 8-week program, 2 participants from the intervention group and 1 from the control group dropped out. The subjects in the intervention group exhibited decreased scores for stress(t=5.102, p<0.01), depression(t=5.259, p<0.01), BMI(t=2.942, p=0.007), and waist circumference(t=2.582, p=0.016); however these scores did not demonstrate a significant decrease in participants of the control group. The other variables showed no significant difference between the groups. Conclusion: The 'jeol' meditation program evidently reduced stress, anxiety, depression, body weight, and waist circumference in women, which suggests that this program could be employed as a mind-body therapies.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.531-537
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• 2007

Small amounts of trans fatty acids exist naturally in beef and dairy foods. Also, they can be produced in the process of partial hydrogenation to manufacture shortning or margarine. They can provide a better palatability and shelf life. According to the recently studies, trans fatty acids can raise health risk such as heart diseases and coronary artery diseases. They can also increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and decrease high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the blood plasma, therefore increasing the risk of atherosclerosis and diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine total lipids and trans fatty acids (TFAs) content in processed foods and meat products. The analysis of trans fatty acids was performed in 28 samples of donuts, 18 samples of bakeries, 4 samples of frozen doughs, 2 samples of popcorns, and 4 samples of meat products (ham, sausage, nuget, and bacon). Total lipids in processed foods and meat products were extracted by chloroform-Methanol method and acid digestion, respectively. They were analyzed by gas chromatography using a SP-2560 column and flame ionization detector. The amounts of TFAs per 100 g of foods were 0-3.3% (0.74% on average) in donuts, 0.2-5.8% (1.18% on average) in bakeries, 0.2-6.3% (1.93% on average) in frozen doughs, and 0-5.8% in popcorns. Meat products such as ham, sausage, and nuget analyzed 0.1% of TFAs, respectively and trans fatty acids in bacon were not detected. As a result, the distribution of TFAs in processed foods was widely ranged from O% to 6.3% according to manufacturers and types of products, whereas the content of TFAs in meat products ranged from 0% to 0.1%.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 1995

A comparison was made regarding the extent of anger between 50 hypertensives and 50 normotensives, using anger scale. In addition, correlation was investigated between the extent of anger and biological variables such as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein(HDL) and triglyceride in each of both the groups. The two groups were matched to each other regarding age, sex, the level of education and body mass index(BMI). The hypertensives scored significantly higher than normotensives in anger suppression, whereas normotensives scored significantly higher than hypertensives in anger expression. In hypertensives, scores of anger suppression and anger expression did not significantly correlate with blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, HDL and triglyceride, respectively. In normotensives, however, scores of anger suppression correlated positively with systolic blood pressure. Male hypertensives scored significantly higher than female hypertensives regarding anger expression, whereas male normotensives scored significantly higher than female normotensives regarding anger expression and anger total subscale, respectively. These results suggest that hypertensives suppressed more anger than normotensives, and that anger suppression in normotensives was more likely to increase blood pressure, supporting the previous reports that suppressed anger may be related to hypertension.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.224-232
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to identify the dietary patterns associated with the risk of hypertensions among Korean adults using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2008-2010). This study analyzes data from 11,883 subjects who participated in the health and nutrition survey, aging from 20 to 64 years. We performed factor analysis based on the weekly mean intake frequencies of 36 food groups to identify major dietary patterns. We identified three major dietary patterns in both sexes, namely "traditional", "western" and "dairy and carbohydrate" patterns. Participants in the highest quartile of western pattern scores had significantly higher blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels than those in the lowest quartile. Although not statistically significant, a trend (P for trend = 0.0732) toward a positive association between the western dietary pattern and hypertension risk was observed after adjustments for age, sex, education, income, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, and energy intake. The dairy and carbohydrate pattern was inversely related with BMI and blood pressures and positively associated with serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. After adjusting the age, sex, education, income, BMI, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern showed inverse associations with hypertension prevalence (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.55-0.75; P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber, sodium, and antioxidant vitamins were significantly higher in the top quartile for the traditional pattern than in the lowest quartile for the traditional pattern (P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber (P for trend < 0.0001), calcium (P for trend < 0.0001), retinol (P for trend = 0.0164), vitamin $B_1$ (P for trend = 0.001), vitamin $B_2$ (P for trend < 0.0001), niacin (P for trend = 0.0025), and vitamin C (P for trend < 0.0001) were significantly increased across quartiles for the dairy and carbohydrate pattern whereas sodium (P for trend < 0.0001) intake was decreased for this pattern. In conclusion, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern may be associated with a reduced risk of hypertension whereas the western pattern may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension among Korean adults.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.309-316
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the prevalence and related factors of metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents. Method: Based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2015, 404 adolescents aged 12-18 years were enrolled. We used the adolescent Ford method as the diagnostic criteria for adolescent metabolic syndrome. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, $x^2$-test, and logistic regression with SPSS WINDOW 23.0 program. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents was 6.5% (6.5% for boys and 6.4% for girls). Among metabolic syndrome components, the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (28.8%) was the highest, followed by elevated triglycerides (21.3%), increased waist circumference (14.1%), decreased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (11.5%), and elevated fasting blood sugar (7.8%). The only factor associated with metabolic syndrome in both boys and girls was the Body Mass Index (BMI), and the likelihood of a metabolic syndrome increased by 1.6 to 2.3 times (Adjusted OR=1.552 to 2.313, p=0.001) as the BMI increased. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, an intervention program should be developed and provided to maintain the BMI in the normal range for the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2013

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate the effect of a herbal preparation HJ01 consisting of Salicornia herbacea, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Crataegi Fructus and Glycyrrhizae Radix on adipocyte differentiation in OP9 cells and on poloxamer 407(P-407)-induced hyperlipidemia in mice. Methods : 1. MTT assay was used to evaluate the potential cytotoxicity of Salicornia herbacea, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Crataegi Fructus, Glycyrrhizae Radix and HJ01, respectively. 2. Bone-marrow derived OP9 cells were treated with HJ01, and the alterations in fat storage in the cells were determined by the Oil red O assay. 3. The protein level of CAAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha($C/EBP{\alpha}$), as a adipocyte differentiation marker, was examined using western blot analysis in differentiated OP6 cells. 4. Adult male C57BL6 mice received intraperitoneal injections of P407 to induce hyperlipidemia, simultaneously, were treated with HJ01 for 4 weeks. Then the cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) levels in sera and liver tissues were measured. Results : 1. The MTT assay exhibited that Salicornia herbacea, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Crataegi Fructus, Glycyrrhizae Radix and HJ01 showed no significant cytotoxicity in tested dosages. 2. Ten days' treatment with HJ01 markedly inhibited the increases in fat storage in differentiated OP6 cells. 3. Four weeks' treatment with HJ01 down-regulated the protein level of CAAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha($C/EBP{\alpha}$) but up-regulated the levels of adiponectin in differentiated OP9 cells. 5. HJ01 inhibited the accumulation of TC and TG in liver tissues and increased serum levels of TC in hyperlipidemic mice. Conclusions : These results suggest that HJ01 can in vitro inhibit adipocyte differentiation and fat storage in OP6 cells, in vivo improve the hyperlipidemia induced by P-407 in mice, which may be mediated by promoting glucose uptake and improving a lipid metabolite profile.