• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.215-220
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• 2006

Background : A spirometric reference equation was recently developed for the general population in Korea. The applicability of the new Korean equation to clinical practice was examined by comparing it with the Morris equation, which is one of the most popular reference equations used for interpreting the spirometric patterns and for grading the disease severity in Korea. Methods : Spirometry was performed on 926 men and 694 women, aged 20 years or older, in November 2004 at the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. The subjects' age, gender, height, weight, and spirometric values ($FEV_1$ [forced expiratory volume in one second], FVC [forced vital capacity], and $FEV_1/FVC$) were obtained. The spirometric patterns and disease severity were evaluated using both equations, and the results of the Korean equation were compared with the Morris equation. The spirometric patterns were defined as normal, restrictive, obstructive, and undetermined according to the level of $FEV_1/FVC$ and FVC. The disease severity was defined according to the level of $FEV_1$ level for subjects with an airflow limitation, and according to the FVC level for those subjects without an airflow limitation. Results : Spirometric patterns were differently interpreted in 22.5% (208/926) of the men and 24.8% (172/694) of the women after the application of the Korean equation compared with the Morris equation. Of the subjects with airflow limitation, disease severity was differently graded in 30.2% (114/378) of the men and 39.4% (37/94) of the women after the application of the Korean equation. Of the subjects without airflow limitation, disease severity was differently graded in 27.9% (153/548) of the men and 30.2% (181/600) of the women after the application of the Korean equation. Conclusion : Achange in the reference equation for spirometry could have an effect on the interpretation of spirometric patterns and on the grading of disease severity.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.475-481
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• 2019

Background: The ginsenoside Rg1 has been shown to exert various pharmacological activities with health benefits. Previously, we have reported that Rg1 promoted myogenic differentiation and myotube growth in C2C12 myoblasts. In this study, the in vivo effect of Rg1 on fiber-type composition and oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle was examined. Methods: To examine the effect of Rg1 on skeletal muscle, 3-month-old mice were treated with Rg1 for 5 weeks. To assess muscle strength, grip strength tests were performed, and the lower hind limb muscles were harvested, followed by various detailed analysis, such as histological staining, immunoblotting, immunostaining, and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. In addition, to verify the in vivo data, primary myoblasts isolated from mice were treated with Rg1, and the Rg1 effect on myotube growth was examined by immunoblotting and immunostaining analysis. Results: Rg1 treatment increased the expression of myosin heavy chain isoforms characteristic for both oxidative and glycolytic muscle fibers; increased myofiber sizes were accompanied by enhanced muscle strength. Rg1 treatment also enhanced oxidative muscle metabolism with elevated oxidative phosphorylation proteins. Furthermore, Rg1-treated muscles exhibited increased levels of anabolic S6 kinase signaling. Conclusion: Rg1 improves muscle functionality via enhancing muscle gene expression and oxidative muscle metabolism in mice.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9555-9556
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• 2014

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.209-219
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe pregnant women's lived experiences of hospitalization due to preterm labor in Korea. Methods: This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological approach. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with nine participants, over the age of 20 years, who had been hospitalized for more than 1 week after being diagnosed with preterm labor. All interviews were audio-taped and verbatim transcripts were made for analysis. The data were analyzed following Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Results: The participants' ages ranged from 26 to 36 years, and all were married women. They were hospitalized for 13.1 days on average. Five thematic clusters emerged from the analysis. 'Withstanding hospitalization for the fetus's well-being' describes women's feelings during preterm labor and their endurance during their prolonged hospitalization, rooted in their conviction that the fetus comes first. 'Endless frustration in the hospital' encompasses women's emotions while lying in bed and quietly thinking to themselves. 'Unmet physiological needs' describes participants' awareness of their inability to independently handle human physiological needs given the need for careful and limited movement. 'Gratitude for the support around oneself' reflects the support from family and medical staff. 'Shifting perceptions and accepting one's circumstances' describes accepting hospitalization and making efforts to spend their remaining time in the hospital in a meaningful way. Conclusion: The findings in this study provide a deeper understanding and insights into the experiences of Korean women with preterm labor during hospitalization, underscoring the need to develop interventions for these patients.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.138-144
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• 2010

Purpose: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which mediates neovascularization of uterine endometrium may be involved in the neovascularization in the utero-placental circulation. Low numbers of endothelial progenitor colony-forming unit (CFU) in culture are predictive biomarker of vascular disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the number of CFU in preeclampsia differed from that in normal pregnancy. Materials and Methods: Women with singleton normal (n=26) or preeclamptic (n=20) pregnancies were studied during the third trimester. The number of EPCs was quantified by CFU methodology. Plasma levels of angiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), and placental growth factor (PlGF) were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Results: CFU numbers were significantly decreased in the preeclamptic patients compared with the controls (median, 3; range 1-12 vs. 31; 3-81 CFU/well, P<0.001). A majority of the cells comprising individual colonies were positive for endothelial characteristics (Ulex europaeus lectin staining and acetylated low-density lipoprotein uptake). Plasma levels of the sFlt-1 were highly elevated (P<0.001) in patient with preeclampsia compared to controls, whereas PlGF were highly reduced (P=0.004), but these factors did not associate with CFU numbers. Conclusion: Our results suggest that reduced numbers of CFU obtained from maternal peripheral blood may contribute to the development of preeclampsia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.136-140
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• 2006

In this study, we investigated the synergistic effects of Staphylococcus aureus extracts (membranes and walls) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from Escherichia coli on tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production in the pathogenesis of silica-induced inflammation. The synergistic induction of TNF by silica particles $(<20\;{\mu}m)$ in combination with either S. aureus extracts or LPS was examined in J774A.1 cell cultures. Media from the treated and untreated cell cultures were assayed for TNF, using the mouse WEHI 164 cell cytotoxicity assay and enzyme immunoassay. Cells exposed simultaneously to silica and $0.5\;{\mu}g/ml$ S. aureus extracts (or 0.5 ng/ml of LPS) produced a significantly higher level of TNF than those produced by the inducer alone. Our results indicate that device-associated infections (or pyrogen contamination) could enhance inflammatory responses, because of particles produced by the wear of medical implants or particulate biomaterials used for clinical purposes.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2011

Purpose: Placental corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor type 1 (CRHR1) expression is reduced in pregnancies with abnormal placental function such as preeclampsia (PE), and the levels and/or function of CRHR1 are genetically influenced. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the c.33+8199C>T polymorphism in the CRHR1 gene and PE in a Korean population. Materials and Methods: Using a case-control design, the association between the CRHR1 polymorphism and the risk of PE was investigated in 203 individuals with PE and 211 normotensive controls. Genotypes were determined using a SNapShot kit and an ABI Prism 3100 Genetic analyzer. Results: Genotypes and allele frequencies for the CRHR1 polymorphism did not differ between PE and normotensive pregnancies. The variant T allele was more frequent than the ancestral C allele in both of the groups and was more frequent in the controls than in the cases. In risk analysis for PE, there was not an increased risk of preeclampsia in subjects who were concomitant homozygous rare allele genotypes (CC) (OR, 0.3; P=0.15) or heterozygous rare allele genotypes (TC) (OR, 0.8; P=0.29). There were no differences in the complications of PE such as severity or preterm delivery in patients with the CRHR1 polymorphism. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the CRHR1 polymorphism was not associated with PE in the present Korean study group.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.28-31
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• 1996

The in vitro inactivation of gentamicin and tobramycin by four cephalosporins (cefotetan, cefuroxime, cefodizime, cefotiam) in human serum was investigated. Each cephalosporin was added to human serum samples containing gentamicin sulfate or tobramycin sulfate. Blank samples containing only aminoglycosides were used as controls. Samples were stored at -20, 4 and $25^{\circ}C$ and were analyzed for aminoglycoside concentrations by fluorescence polarization immunoassay ($TDxFLx^{TM}$ system) at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after mixing. The serum containing cefotiam stored at $25^{\circ}C$ showed significant inactivation of gentamicin by $12\%$ at 72 hours. The results indicate that cefotitan, cefuroxime and cefodizime do not inactivate gentamicin and tobramycin while cefotiam inactivates gentamicin.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.141-145
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• 2001

Objective: We inversigated Small Heterodimer Partner (SHP) gene mutation in Korean Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) patients. SHP protein regulates the activity of nuclear receptors which regulate the cellular development and differentiation. Recently, the mutation of SHP gene was found in the obesity and diabetes patients in Japanese group, and suggested that its mutation may involved in pathogenic mechanism of PCOS. Methods: This study was performed in 20 PCOS patients and 20 normal women. The DNAs were extracted from the peripheral bloods, and amplified at each exon (1 and 2) of SHP gene by PCR method. Subsequently, each PCR product was digested with the restriction enzyme indicated below for studying restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). After enzyme digestion, the results of RFLP were compared PCOS patients with control women to find any sequence variation. Results: We examined 9 regions of exon 1 with Msp I, Pvu II, Dde I and 3 regions of exon 2 with Pst I, Dde I. There is no heterozygous or homozygous mutation in patients and control women at these restriction sites. Conclusion: The genetic analysis at our restriction sites in the SHP gene did not show any genetic variation in Korean PCOS patients. Our PCR-RFLP analysis was not covered the entire SHP gene (68 bp/1,006 bp), we need to further analysis of the entire SHP gene.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2008

Objective Sweet bee venom is made by removing allergen from the bee venom through gel filtration chromatography and propionic acid/urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The aim of this study was to verify allergy inhibitory action in Sweet Bee Venom(SBV) and New Sweet Bee Venom(NSBV) removed enzymes and compounds of low molecular weight. Methods 84 healthy adult men and women were selected through a survey whom had never received the bee venom therapy in the past. The concentration of Normal Saline, SBV and NSBV pharmacopuncture was equally at 0.1mg/mL and the experiment was conducted as the double blind test. Results Participants of the study was comprised of 63 men and 21 women with the average age of 28.3 years. According to results of pain sense, SBV group showed significant higher score compared with NS group and NSBV group using VAS in treating time. And SBV and NSBV group showed significant higher score compared with NS group after 30 minutes. Other allergic responses were insignificant between the groups. Conclusions As a result of removed allergen and compounds of low molecular weight, NSBV significantly inhibits pain sense in treating time compared with SBV. This indicates wider and easier application of NSBV for the useful application in clinical treatment. Further comparative studies should be conducted to yield more objective verification.