• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.344-354
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• 2023

This study emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and response to COVID-19, leading to the development of a rapid diagnostic kit using quantum dots. The research focuses on finely tuning bioconjugation with quantum dots to enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of COVID-19 diagnosis. We have developed a COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kit that exhibits a sensitivity more than 50 times higher than existing COVID-19 diagnostic kits. Quantum dots enable the accurate detection of COVID-19 viral antigens even at low concentrations, providing a rapid response in the early stages of infection. The COVID-19 quantum dot diagnostic kit offers quick analysis time, utilizing the quantum properties of particles to swiftly measure COVID-19 infection for immediate response and isolation measures. Additionally, this diagnostic kit allows for multiple analyses with ease, as multiple quantum dots can detect various antigens and antibodies simultaneously in a single experiment. This efficiency enhances testing, reduces sample requirements, and lowers experimental costs. The application of this diagnostic technology is anticipated in the future for early diagnosis and monitoring of other infectious diseases.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2011

The infection rate of syphilis is still increasing in the world especially in developing countries and the infection is often seen in large amounts of clinical specimens. For the diagnosis of this disease, Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR)/Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) has still been used as one of major primary methods to diagnose syphilis even though the test readings are somewhat subjective with high false positive rates. Recently, the automatic ARCHITECT Syphilis TP, which is based on the detection of the TP-specific antibodies, has been introduced in many laboratories. Therefore, the clinical assessment of the method is needed to provide primary diagnosis of syphilis at the moment. We evaluated 3 different manual rapid kits and ARCHITECT Syphilis TP comparing with RPR/FTA-ABS and analysed their diagnostic properties. From February 2006 to April 2008, 203 positive and 250 negative specimens, obtained from Chungbuk National University Hospital were used for the evaluation. In the evaluation between manual rapid kits, their specificities were as high as 99.2 ~ 99.6% while their sensitivities were observed with little differences; 98.0% (199/203) for Kit A, 96.6% (196/203) for Kit B, and 97.4% (197/203) for Kit S. In the case of ARCHITECT Syphilis TP test, it showed 100% specificity (250/250) and 98.5% sensitivity (249/250). Kappa values comparing with RPR/FTA-ABS were 0.978 for Kit A, 0.964 for Kit B and Kit S, and 0.987 for ARCHITECT Syphilis TP. From our evaluation, we found out that manual rapid tests and ARCHITECT Syphilis TP have very good clinical accuracies and high kappa agreements with RPR/FTA-ABS. Due to its automation and quick simultaneous diagnosis with another serological markers, we suggest that the ARCHITECT Syphilis TP is one of best suitable method for the primary diagnosis of syphilis and that it might be able to replace RPR method in the laboratories.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1683-1690
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• 2018

Accurate and rapid diagnosis of influenza infection is essential to enable early antiviral treatment and reduce the mortality associated with seasonal and epidemic infections. Immunochromatography is one of the most common methods used for the diagnosis of seasonal human influenza; however, it is less effective in diagnosing pandemic influenza virus. Currently, rapid diagnostic kits for pandemic influenza virus rely on the detection of nucleoprotein (NP) or hemagglutinin (HA). NP detection shows higher specificity and is more sensitive than HA detection. In this study, we time-dependently screened expression conditions, and herein report optimal conditions for the expression of recombinant nucleoprotein (rNP), which was 48 h after infection. In addition, we report the use of the expressed rNP in a rapid influenza diagnostic test (SGT i-flex Influenza A&B Test). We constructed expression vectors that synthesized rNP (antigen) of influenza A and B in insect cells (Sf9 cells), employed the purified rNP to the immunoassay test kit, and clearly distinguished NPs of influenza A and influenza B using this rapid influenza diagnostic kit. This approach may improve the development of rapid test kits for influenza using NP.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.262-271
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• 2023

The objective of this study is to compare and assess the effectiveness of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and the selective agar plate method for the detection of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. In RTE foods, the detection performance of the three methods (RT-PCR [SureTect^TM kit and PowerChek^TM kit], LAMP [3M MDS], selective agar) were similar at 0-10, 10-50, 50-100, and 100- CFU/mL of Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes. We found that with RT-PCR, the Ct value of salad was significantly higher (p<0.05) than other RTE foods, indicating that fiber plays a critical role as an obstacle to the rapid detection of Salmonella spp. However, the Ct value displayed a mixed pattern according to the inoculation level of L. monocytogenes. The use of rapid detection kits and machines mostly depends on the user's choice, with accuracy, ease of use, and economy being the primary considerations. As an RT-PCR kit, SureTect^TM and PowerChek^TM showed high accuracy in detecting Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes in RTE foods, showing that they can replace the existing RT-PCR kits available. Additionally, LAMP also showed excellent detection performance, suggesting that it has the potential to be used as a food safety management tool.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.427-430
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• 2014

We developed a novel immunochromatographic assay (ICA) (EZ-Step VanA rapid kit; Dinona, Korea) for the detection of VanA ligase from vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Of eight monoclonal antibodies screened by ELISAs, the VanA ligase ICA constructed with 1H9 plus 3G11 showed the greatest reactivity. The detection limit of the kit was $6.3{\times}10^6$ CFU per test. Of 127 vancomycin-resistant microorganisms, 100 vanA VRE were positive in the VanA ligase ICA, and 27 non-vanA vancomycin-resistant isolates were negative. These results were consistent with those of the PCR analyses. Thus, our ICA is a reliable and easy-to-use immunological assay for detecting VanA-producing VRE in clinical laboratories.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.421-425
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to improve the detection limit of rapid detection kit for Salmonella Typhimurium by image analysis system. The rapid detection kit was comprised of four elements: sample pad, conjugate pad, nitrocellulose pad and absorbent pad. Gold nanoparticle and Salmonella antibody were used as a tag and a receptor. Salmonella antibody and goat rabbit IgG antibody were used as test and control lines on nitrocellulose membrane. The color intensity of test line began to increase from $10^5CFU/mL$ of Salmonella sample. A multiple linear regression analysis was employed to explain the relationship between predicted and measured number of Salmonella cells. The developed model could successfully predict the cell number of Salmonella with validation against extra-experimental result.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2018

Canine coronavirus is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes enteritis in dogs of any age. Coronaviral enteritis is seldom definitively diagnosed, since it is usually much less severe than many other types of enteritis and is self-limiting. Conventional diagnostics for the canine coronaviral enteritis such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), virus isolation, and electron microscopic examination are inappropriate for small animal clinics due to the complicated experimental processes involved. Therefore, a commercially available lateral flow test kit based on chromatographic immunoassay techniques was tested to evaluate its performance as a first-line diagnostic test kit that could be used in clinics. The coronavirus antigen test kit detected canine coronavirus-infected dogs with 93.1% sensitivity and 97.5% specificity. The detection limit of the test kit was between $1.97{\times}10^4/mL$ and $9.85{\times}10^3/mL$ for samples with a 2-fold serial dilution from $1.25{\times}10^6\;TCID_{50}$ ($TCID_{50}$, 50% tissue culture infectious dose). Additionally, the test kit had no cross-reactivity with canine parvovirus, distemper virus, or Escherichia coli. Overall, the commercially available test kit showed good diagnostic performance in a clinical setting, with results similar to those from PCR, confirming their potential for convenient and accurate use in small animal clinics.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2016

Recently paper based diagnostic kits have drawn great interest in the point-of-care testing market (POCT). The paper based detection systems provide inexpensive, rapid and safe analyses for disease markers and/or pathogens. Vitamin C (i.e., ascorbic acid) regulates body's immune system as an antioxidant agent. Humans, however, do not have enough amounts of enzymes involved in the synthesis of vitamin C that it is required to be obtained from their diets (e.g., beverages and/or supplements). Here, we have prepared a paper based kit to detect the concentration of Vitamin C presented in commercially available beverages. The evaluation provides the fast, simple and accurate results for detecting Vitamin C in the prepared paper based kit.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2004

The different social reflections about the benefits and the potential risks of genetically modified (GM) crops have evolved with .different reactions in different countries. Many countries including Korea are working toward setting down new guidelines. Korea requires companies to label all food that contains more than 3% GM ingredients. One of the rapid and convenient detection methods of GM ingredients is amplification of the introduced DNAs by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Many PCR kits for this purpose are commercially available. The objective of this study was to evaluate performance of commercialized GM crop detection kits. The results showed that 6 out of 15 kits tested did not meet the requirements even purposed by the manufacturers themselves in terms of stability, reproducibility, and detection limits, suggesting a potential quality control problem in their design stage or production line. The evaluation also suggests that, although the duplex and triplex detection kits allowed unambiguous detection in a single PCR reaction, the monoplex detection kits were the most sensitive to the detection of GM ingredients. The detection limits also differ between soybean and corn. Results from this study will be useful in the development of sound qualitative tracking systems of GM ingredients for monitoring throughout the cultivation of GM crops, their trans-boundary movement, and food production using GM grains as well as for complying with government guidelines associated with GM crops.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.264-265
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• 2000

Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) is the causative agent of chronic gastritis and the single most important factor in peptic ulcer disease, however, the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying H, pylori infection are not well understood. Futhermore, there is a strong association between H. pylori infection and gastric cancer. Various diagnostic methods for detecting H. pylori infection are available. These can be divided into invasive methods, requiring endoscopy, and non-invasive tests, mainly 13C-urea breath tests and serologic detection of antibodies. Rapid urease test is the most recommendable endoscopic test for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection, presently. CLO test kit is the represent of rapid urease test kits. The principles of CLO test kit is that hydrolysis of urea by urease Is detected by a dye indicators showing a color change. Our device is used same principle but we improved the reaction time is more faster and positive color change is more distinctive from the color of the negative specimen. So, this kit is more reliable because it response faster and accuracy.