What are the Characteristics of Obese Adults without Metabolic Complications?

BACKGROUND: It is known that various subtypes of obesity exist and there has been a growing interest in the various subtypes of obesity, especially in the unique "metabolically healthy but obese" subtype. The purpose of this study was to analyze the features of obese adults without metabolic complications and to provide data which can be used in strategy formation for the effective treatment of obesity. METHODS: A total of 4,561 obese adults with a BMI greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2, were recruited from a health promotion center of a university hospital. Sociodemographic and life style information were gathered by self-questionnaire. We classified them into 2 groups-one having no features (metabolically healthy obese; MHO) and the other having 1~5 features (metabolically unhealthy obese; MUHO)-using the ATP III definition for metabolic syndrome, and used the multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the association between various factors and MHO. RESULTS: Age and BMI were related with MHO independently. Adjusted odds ratio for the MHO men was 2.17 compared with women (P<0.001). Adjusted odds ratio for the MHO regular exercise group was 1.66 compared with the no exercise group (P<0.007). Additionally, those who exercised more had a greater probability of being in the MHO group. Adjusted odds ratio for the MHO in the large income group was 1.88 (P=0.007) compared with those in the small income group. As was seen with exercise, there was a direct relationship between higher income and the probability of being in the MHO group. CONCLUSION: Men compared with women, large income compared with small income, and regular exercise compared with no exercise were features of obese adults which increased their probability of being categorized as "metabolically healthy but obese".

Normal Values of IgG and IgG Subclass Concentrations According to Age in Children / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

PURPOSE: Currently the most widely used method of measuring IgG concentration is the method employing ELISA. This method has an advantage to detect smaller quantities than other standard methods, but in certain cases, consistent results cannot be obtained, thus impairing reliable data analysis. In this study, we attempt to determine the advantages in data analysis offered by the new method developed by Binding Site Ltd. (England) that employs a nephelometry. METHODS: 20 healthy subjects were studied from each of the following age groups : neonates, 1-4 months old, 5-10 months old, 11-24 months old, and 2-5 years old children. Serum IgG and IgG subclass concentrations were measured by nephelometry (Gehring Nephelometer Analyzer II, Germany) using Human IgG subclass, Liquid reagents BNII kit (Binding Site Ltd., England). RESULTS: 1) The r values for the standard curves of IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4 concentrations were 0.991, 0.997, 0.980, 0.973, 0.997, respectively. 2) IgG, IgG3, and IgG4 concentrations were lowest at the age of 5-10 months and increased to normal adult levels at 2-5 years of age. 3) IgG1 and IgG2 were lowest at the age of 1-4 months and increased to normal adult levels at 2-5 years of age. CONCLUSION: The method employing nephelometry for measuring serum IgG & IgG subclasses concentration is not as sensitive as ELISA in detecting the lower concentrations. However, our studies indicate that it presents the advantage of better quality control in measuring values in the average range.

c-erbB-2 Oncoprotein Assay in Ovarian Carcinoma and Its Clinical Correlation with Prognostic Factors / 대한부인종양콜포스코피학회잡지

c-erbB-2 oncogene is a gene that encodes a growth factor receptor-like molecule with tyrosine kinase activity and has a structure similar to that of the epidermal growth factor receptor. Overexpression of the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein is detected in human adenocarcinoma of the breast, cervix, and salivary gland, in all of which the association between overexpression of the c-erbB-2 and poor prognosis of the disease has been reported. The role of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in the tumorigenesis of the human ovary has been poorly understood and remains controversial. In order to explore the relationship between c-erbB-2 oncoprotein status and ovarian carcinoma, tissue from 32 patients, each of whom had invasive ovarian carcinoma prior to treatment, 10 patients with benign cyst and 10 control case who underwent hysterectomy due to gynecological disease at Yonsei University Colloge of Medicine were analyzed. We measured c-erbB-2 oncoprotein with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) which was a sandwich type. Patients with invasive ovarian cancer were found to have significantly higher median c-erbB-2 oncoprotein expression than patients with either benign ovarian cyst(P<0.05) or control group(P<0.05), respectively. However there was no significant difference in c-erbB-2 oncoprotein status between benign cyst and control group. verexpression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was found in 7 of 32(21.9%) epithelial ovarian cancer. In invasive epithelial cancer, no significant difference in c-erbB-2 oncoprotein levels was noted when stratified according to age, menopausal status, histological cell type, tumor size or surgical stage. Our results were consistent with the concept that c-erbB-2 oncoprotein may play an important role in malignant and tumorigenesis in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Direct Measurement of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Evaluated / 대한임상병리학회지

BACKGROUND: Serum high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol level is used as an assessment of the risk of coronary heart disease. In this study, we evaluated direct measurement of HDL- cholesterol in serum with polyethylene-modified enzymes and sulfated alpha-cyclodextrin. METHODS: We evaluated the precision, the lower limit of detection, the recovery rate, the linearity, the interference for hemoglobin and the comparision with the result of HDL-cholesterol measured by selective precipitation method. We also studied the specificity of this direct method for very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). RESULTS: The total imprecision was 3.8% (low), 3.5% (middle), 3.2% (high). The lower limit of detection was 0 mg/L. The recovery rate was satisfactory. The linearity was also (r2=0.99). This method showed a good correlation (r2=0.97) with the selective precipitation method in HDL- cholesterol measurement. VLDL-cholesterol (up to 300 mg/L) increased HDL-cholesterol only less than 3% but increased VLDL-cholesterol to 400 mg/L, more than 750 mg/L caused 5% and 15% of overestimation of HDL-cholesterol, respectively. LDL-cholesterol (142-1,073 mg/L) increased or decreased HDL-cholesterol by some degree (about 15%). Hemoglobin (up to 3,000 mg/L) did not influence this assay. CONCLUSIONS: The direct measurement of HDL-cholesterol is satisfactory method in HDL- cholesterol measurement in good analytical performance and may be anticipated to reduce workload of laboratory because the sample pretreatment is not necessary.

Evaluation of the Technicon Immuno I Immunoassay System / 대한임상병리학회지

BACKGROUND: The Technicon Immuno I utilizes various enzymatic kinetic analysis with colorimetric detection and magnetic particles. We evaluated this fully automated random-access immunoassay system which can perform latex agglutination and magnetic-separation sandwich/ competitive immunoassay. METHODS: We evaluated the assay precision, lower limits of detection, linearity, recovery, sample to sample carry-over, analytical interferences and comparison with other various methods for the following analytes: thyroxine (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), prostate specific antigen (PSA), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), CA 19-9, and digoxin. RESULTS: Satisfactory results were obtained for within-run and between-day precision in most analytes. Lower limits of detection were slightly higher than claimed by the manufacturer. The linearity was acceptable, but there were proportional errors for CEA and FT4. The recovery rates were also good except for PSA. Sample to sample carry-over was not detected. No significant analytical interference was caused by hemoglobin (up to 2,000 mg/L), lipid (up to 85 mmol/L) and bilirubin (up to 325 mol/L) except for digoxin, FT4 and PSA. The Technicon Immuno I assay correlated well with the comparison methods in most analytes, but the proportional biases were found for PSA and LH. CONCLUSIONS: The Technicon Immuno I is a satisfactory system for clinical use in most cases but more study would be requried for FT4. Especially, this system can replace the radioimmunoassay for FSH and LH.

Delayed activation-induced T lymphocytes death in aplastic anemia: related with abnormal Fas system

OBJECTIVES: To quantitate apoptosis and Fas antigen expression of T lymphocytes by activation in aplastic anemia (AA) and compare with that of normal controls and completely-recovered AA, and to investigate the apoptotic sensitivity to anti-fas antibody of activated T lymphocytes in AA. METHODS: We studied the expression of Fas antigen on fresh T lymphocytes of twenty patients with AA [13 newly diagnosed, 7 recorvered AA after immunosuppressive therapy (IST)], and investigated the activation-induced cell death (AICD) and Fas expression by activation [interleukin-2 (200 U/ml) and phytohemagglutinin (50 micrograms/ml)] in 5 newly-diagnosed AA, 5 normal controls and 5 AA in complete response (CR). Apoptotic sensitivity to anti-Fas antibody was assessed by the time-course kinetics of induction of cell death by anti-Fas antibody (500 ng/ml). RESULTS: There was no significant difference of Fas antigen expression on freshly-isolated T lymphocytes among newly-diagnosed severe AA, normal control s and patients with AA in CR after IST. In normal controls, T lymphocytes death was greatly increased at 3 days of activation, and Fas antigen expression on T lymphocytes was increased above baseline at day 1 of activation. In contrast, in newly-diagnosed AA, T lymphocytes showed delayed cell death, which correlated with a slowed increase of Fas antigen expression by activation. Also, anti-Fa s antibody sensitivity of activated T lymphocytes was decreased in newly-diagnosed AA. In completely recovered AA, these abnormal AICD and Fas antigen expressions by activation were recovered to normal range. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal AICD plays a role in the immune pathophysiology of AA, and defective Fas system is involved in this process.

Kinetic Analysis of Intracellular ionized Calcium Level from Human Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Using Flow Cytometry / 대한임상병리학회지

BACKGROUND: Intracellular ionized calcium plays a central role in the transduction of external stimuli as a critical second messenger. The spectral properties of fluo-3 allows the analysis of intracellular ionized calcium level by flow cytometers. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of flow cytometer for measuring intracellular ionized calcium level using fluo-3 and to define the reference interval of intracellular ionized calcium level of lymphocytes from healthy people, and to find out the clinical implications according to various disorders. METHODS: For the analytical performance of flow cytometer on determining the concentration of intracellular ionized calcium, precision study, lowest limit of detection, analytical range, and the loading stability of fluo-3 were per foamed. Fifty-four cases of healthy people, 52 cases of renal transplant patients, and 20 cases of diabetes mellitus patients were included in this study. RESULTS: Loading effect of fluo-3 at room temperature was stable upto 5 hours. Lowest limit of detection of ionized calcium concentration was 4.34 nM at in-situ calibration procedure. Within-run and among-day intraindividual CVs of in-situ calibration procedure were 6.67% and 13.99% respectively, and of optical calibration procedure were 13.86% and 16.12% respectively. The reference interval of cytosolic free calcium level for healthy people ranged 73.54 - 155.09 nM without sexual differences. The level of intracellular ionized calcium was lowered by 36.9% on renal transplant group in comparison with healthy control group. But, level of cytosolic free calcium was Increased upto 276.0% on acute rejection group and 159.1% on diabetes mellitus group compared to control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results reveal that in-situ calibration method for intra cellular ionized calcium using flow cytometry with flue-3 can be regarded as an accurate and standardized method. Quantitation of intracellular ionized calcium level might be used as the monitoring test for early detection of acute rejection after renal transplantation.

Platelet Activation and Storage lesions in Apheresis Platelet Concentrates / 대한수혈학회지

BACKGROUND: Three cell separators are being used and they collect platelets with different centrifuge speed and duration. Because centrifugation may cause platelet activation, the differences of centrifuge speed and duration are important in controlling the quality of apheresis platelet products. We compared many parameters of activation of platelets collected by Spectra (Cobe BCT, Lakewood, CO, USA), CS3000plus (Baxter Healthcare, Fenwal Division, Round Lake, IL, USA) and Mobile Collection SystemTM (MCS, Haemonetics co., Braintree, MA, USA). METHODS: Platelets were collected from ninety-five normal donors with Spectra (n=39), CS3000plus (n=19) and MCS (n=37). We underwent the procedure according to the automatic program set. We measured platelet yield and assayed pH, hypotonic shock respose (HSR), CD62 (p-selectin, GMP140) expression and beta-thromboglobulin in each stored unit on day 0 and day 3 for evaluation of the storage lesions. RESULTS: Platelet yield per product was 3.7 +/- 1.2 x 1011, mean final product volume was 316 +/- 69 mL and mean procession time was 100 +/- 19 minutes. Mean collection efficiency was 42.5 +/- 8.3%. The cell separator volume of product collected by CS3000plus was the smallest while platelet concentration and total yield were the highest in the product collected by Spectra. The pH of the products were 7.1 +/- 0.1 on day 0 and 6.7 +/- 0.4 on day 3. Hypotonic shock response was 69 +/- 13 % on day 0 and 28 +/- 17 % on day 3. P-selectin expression was 19 +/- 9 % (4.2 +/- 1.9 relative fluorescence intensity, RFI) on day 0 and 60 +/- 22 % (17.9 +/- 14.2) on day 3. beta-thromboglobulin was 28.5 +/- 7.0 IU/107 platelets on day 0 and 31.3 +/- 7.2 IU/107 platelts on day 3. The comparison of the three cell separators showed that on day 0 platelet product of MCS has lower pH and higher beta-thromboglobulin release than others (p<0.05). And on day 3 platelet product of MDS has better hypotonic shock response than others (p<0.05). Other parameters revealed no differences among three cell separators. The expression of p-selectin was shown to correlate highly with pH reduction (r=0.72), but not with the release of beta-TG (r=0.24). CONCLUSIONS: Most parameters showed no differences among three cell separators, but apheresis platelet concentrates processed by MCS showed lower pH on day 0 and higher beta-thromboglobulin concentration on day 0 and day 3 than apheresis platelet concentrates processed by Spectra or CS3000plus and hypotonic shock response on day 3 was the lowest in CS3000plus. So platelet activation produced during apheresis processing was lowest in apheresis platelet concentrates with Spectra.

CD20dim T Cell Expression in Rheumatoid Arthritis / 대한류마티스학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate CD20dim expression on T cells between healthy control subjects and rheumatoid arthritis patients and to investigate the association between CD20dim T cells and clinical manifestations in rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: Peripheral bloods from twenty seven healthy controls and twenty six rheumatoid patients were evaluated by dual color immunophenotyping. We used IgGla and IgG2a for negative control, then, divided T cells and B cells on CD3/CD19 combination. And we evaluated two subpopulation CD5+CD20dim T cell (CD20dim T cell) and CD5+CD20bright cell(CD5 B cell) on CD5/20 combination for comparison. In order to correlate the CD20dim T cell datas with patient's clinical status, patients charateristcs such as age, disease duration, morning stiffness, rheumatoid factor(RF), and antinuclear antibody(ANA) were reviewed. RESULTS: The mean percent positivity of T cells(CD3) and B cells(CD19) in 27 healthy control donors was 63.2+/-7.7%, and 11.4+/-2.6 %. The mean percentages of CD20dim T cell and CD5 B cell(Leul) were 2.3+/-1.0% and 1.4+/-0.9% and upper limit of reference values of CD20dim T cells and CD5 B cells(Leul) that calculated from normal healthy controls were 4.3%0 and 3. 2 %. Compared with healthy controls, CD20dim T cells were significantly elevated in total patient groups(4.4+/-2.7%, p(0.01). and significantly increased more than upper limit of reference values in eleven of 26 patients. Compared with CD20dim T cells according to disease duration, disease duration of most patients(10/11) with elevated CD20dim T cell were less than 2 years. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that CD20dim T cells were expressed at low levels in healthy controls but elevated levels of CD20dim T cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients were observed and close relationship to CD20dim T cells expression and disease duration was noted.

Anti-tetanus antibody titers in Korean

No abstract available.

The clinical usefulness of ICG-Rmax: the proposed reference values for resection of primary hepatic malignant lesions / 대한임상병리학회지

No abstract available.

Observation on the correlation between the PIVKAL test for PIVKA-II assay and prothrombin time in patients with coumarin therapy / 대한혈액학회지

No abstract available.

Steroid receptor profiles in human breast cancer and comparison of methodology for cytosolic procurement / 대한임상병리학회지

No abstract available.