Health Management Experience of Residents through Participation in the Community Based Hypertension and Diabetes Registry Program

Purpose@#This study was conducted to explore the healthcare experience of residents participating in the CommunityBased Hypertension and Diabetes Registry Program. @*Methods@#This study used qualitative content analysis. Data were collected from in depth interviews of fifteen participants, who either participated in the program hosted by the Training Center for Hypertension and Diabetes for more than two years or participated in an intensive one-on-one education program. @*Results@#The results showed that the core theme in healthcare of participants was ‘Proactive healthcare with attention and systematic guidance of experts’. The positive reinforcement of staffs and the improvement of self-efficacy through effective close management were found to be positive influencing factors of participation. The theme consisted of the following categories: ‘Participation in the program with positive expectations on healthcare’, ‘Interest in body and health’, ‘Vitality in life’, ‘Confidence in dealing with disease’, ‘Thankfulness for close care and attention’, and ‘Desire for continuous care’. @*Conclusion@#When establishing policies on managing chronic diseases, a strategy that reflects the results of the study is required. It is necessary to build up emotional relationship among stakeholders, and expand opportunities for close healthcare such as one-on-one customized training, and mutual cooperation with various organizations in the local community.

Outdoor air pollution and diminished ovarian reserve among infertile Korean women

BACKGROUND@#Mounting evidence implicates an association between ambient air pollution and impaired reproductive potential of human. Our study aimed to assess the association between air pollution and ovarian reserve in young, infertile women.@*METHODS@#Our study included 2276 Korean women who attended a single fertility center in 2016-2018. Women's exposure to air pollution was assessed using concentrations of particulate matter (PM@*RESULTS@#The mean age was 36.6 ± 4.2 years and AMH level was 3.3 ± 3.1 ng/mL in the study population. Average AMH ratio was 0.8 ± 0.7 and low AMH was observed in 10.3% of women (n=235). The average concentration of six air pollutants was not different between the normal ovarian reserve and low AMH groups for all averaging periods. In multivariable models, an interquartile range (IQR)-increase in 1 month-average PM@*CONCLUSIONS@#In a cohort of infertile Korean women, there was a suggestive evidence of the negative association between ambient PM concentration and ovarian reserve, highlighting the potential adverse impact of air pollution on women's fertility.

Prolonged oral administration of Gastrodia elata extract improves spatial learning and memory of scopolamine-treated rats / 한국실험동물학회지

Gastrodia elata (GE) is traditionally used for treatment of various disorders including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. To investigate the neuroprotective effect of GE, amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta)-treated PC12 cells were cultured with GE aqueous extract. In vitro assay demonstrated that 50 microM of pre-aggregated Abeta was lethal to about a half portion of PC12 cells and that Abeta aggregate-induced cell death was significantly decreased with GE treatment at < or =10 mg/mL in a dose-dependent manner. To further examine in vivo cognitive-improving effects, an artificial amnesic animal model, scopolamine-injected Sprague-Dawley rats, were orally administered the extract for 6 weeks followed by behavioral tests (the passive avoidance test and Morris water maze test). The results showed that an acute treatment with scopolamine (1 mg/kg of body weight) effectively induced memory impairment in normal rats and that the learning and memory capability of scopolamine-treated rats improved after prolonged administration of GE extract (50, 250 and 500 mg/kg of body weight for 6 weeks). These findings suggest that a GE regimen may potentially ameliorate learning and memory deficits and/or cognitive impairments caused by neuronal cell death.

Relationship between Bone Morphological Microstructure and Inflammatory Markers in Growing Mice Fed a High Fat Diet

Obesity not only reduces bone mineral density but also increases inflammatory markers. Therefore, we examined the change in inflammatory markers and morphological microstructure of the bones using a mouse model fed a high-fat diet. C57BL/6J 4-week-old male mice were divided into a control group (n = 6) and a experimental group (n = 6); the control group was provided with 10% Kcal fat diet, and the high-fat diet group was provided with 45% Kcal fat diet for 12 weeks using the free provision method. Blood was analyzed for inflammatory markers, and micro-computed tomography was used to measure the morphological microstructure of the femoral bone. The weight increases in the control group and high-fat diet group were 5.85 +/- 1.84 g and 16.06 +/- 5.64 g, respectively (p < 0.01), glucose was 115.00 +/- 16.88 mg/dL and 188.33 +/- 13.29 mg/dL (p < 0.01), and triglycerides were 65.00 +/- 6.19 mg/dL and 103.33 +/- 8.02 mg/dL (p < 0.05) respectively. Leptin and interleukin (IL)-6 were significantly higher in the high-fat diet group than that in the control group (p < 0.01). As a result of a biochemical index analysis of bone metabolism, osteocalcin tended to be lower in the high-fat diet group, whereas CTx was significantly higher in the high-fat diet group compared to that in the control group (p < 0.01). The thickness of the bony trabecula was significantly narrower in the high-fat diet group than that in the control group (p < 0.05), and the gap in the bony trabecula was significantly wider in the high-fat diet group than that in the control group (p < 0.05). IL-6 and the gap in the bone trabecula, which was a morphological microstructure of the bones, showed a positive correlation (p < 0.05). Taken together, inducing obesity through a high-fat diet in mice during the growth phase caused a change in bone microstructure and was correlated with the inflammation index. Accordingly, restriction of excessive fat intake may be needed to suppress the inflammatory reactions and promote normal bone formation.

Effects of Ficus carica paste on constipation induced by a high-protein feed and movement restriction in beagles / 한국실험동물학회지

Constipation is one of the most common functional digestive complaints worldwide. We investigated the laxative effects of figs (Ficus carica L) in a beagle model of constipation induced by high protein diet and movement restriction. The experiments were consecutively conducted over 9 weeks divided into 3 periods of 3 weeks each. All 15 beagles were subjected to a non-treatment (control) period, a constipation induction period, and a fig paste treatment period. We administered fig paste (12 g/kg daily, by gavage) for 3 weeks following a 3-week period of constipation induction in dogs. Segmental colonic transit time (CTT) was measured by counting radiopaque markers (Kolomark) using a radiograph performed every 6 h after feeding Kolomark capsules, until capsules were no longer observed. Fig paste significantly increased fecal quantity in constipated dogs, and segmental CTT was also reduced following fig paste administration. There were no significant differences in feed intake, water intake, body weight, or blood test results, between the constipation and fig paste administration periods. Our results demonstrate that fig is an effective treatment for constipation in beagles. Specifically, stool weight increased and segmental CTT decreased. Fig pastes may be useful as a complementary medicine in humans suffering from chronic constipation.

Environmental Health Surveillance of Low Birth Weight in Seoul using Air Monitoring and Birth Data / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The principal objective of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal exposure to air pollution and low birth weight and to propose a possible environmental health surveillance system for low birth weight. METHODS: We acquired air monitoring data for Seoul from the Ministry of Environment, the meteorological data from the Korean Meteorological Administration, the exposure assessments from the National Institute of Environmental Research, and the birth data from the Korean National Statistical Office between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2003. The final birth data were limited to singletons within 37~44 weeks of gestational age. We defined the Low Birth Weight (LBW) group as infants with birth weights of less than 2500g and calculated the annual LBW rate by district. The air monitoring data were measured for CO, SO2, NO2, and PM10 concentrations at 27 monitoring stations in Seoul. We utilized two models to evaluate the effects of air pollution on low birth weight: the first was the relationship between the annual concentration of air pollution and low birth weight (LBW) by individual and district, and the second involved a GIS exposure model constructed by Arc View 3.1. RESULTS: LBW risk (by Gu, or district) was significantly increased to 1.113(95% CI=1.111~1.116) for CO, 1.004 (95% CI=1.003~1.005) for NO2, 1.202(95% CI=1.199~ 1.206) for SO2, and 1.077(95% CI=1.075~1.078) for PM10 with each interquartile range change. Personal LBW risk was significantly increased to 1.081(95% CI=1.002~1.166) for CO, 1.145(95% CI=1.036~1.267) for SO2, and 1.053(95% CI=1.002~1.108) for PM10 with each interquartile range change. Personal LBW risk was increased to 1.003(95% CI=0.954~1.055) for NO2, but this was not statistically significant. The air pollution concentrations predicted by GIS positively correlated with the numbers of low birth weights, particularly in highly polluted regions. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental health surveillance is a systemic, ongoing collection effort including the analysis of data correlated with environmentally-associated diseases and exposures. In addition, environmental health surveillance allows for a timely dissemination of information to those who require that information in order to take effective action. GIS modeling is crucially important for this purpose, and thus we attempted to develop a GIS-based environmental surveillance system for low birth weight.

Effect of Fixation Time and Freeze-thaw Cycles on the Molecular Analysis of Viral DNA

This study was done to determine the effect of fixation time and freeze-thaw (FT) cycles on the quantitation and positivity of viral DNA. There were significant decreases in the viral DNA copies in the specimens subjected to formalin fixation more than 24 hours. However, The viral DNAs of specimens with FT cycles were not remarkably decreased as compare with those of fresh samples. These results implicate that there may be need to fix the samples less than 24 hours. Also, results of retrospective studies performed on specimens subjected to long-term fixation may be compromised.

Effect of Multiple Freeze-thaw Cycles of Various Types of Specimens on the Quantitative and Qualitative analysis of Herpesvirus DNA

The recent development of molecular diagnostic assays like as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has provided powerful tools for the diagnosis of viral infection in the clinical fields. To ensure optimal therapeutic and prognostic value, it is important to establish whether viral load measurements are affected by repeated freeze-thaw (FT) cycles since the freezing of clinical samples is a universal method of specimen storage. This study was done to determine the effect of freezing and thawing of various samples on the quantitation and positivity of viral DNA. For this study, three different types of samples being used frequently in clinical fields were selected. Those samples contained ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2), a member of the gamma herpesviruses (genus Rhadinovirus). Two OvHV-2 DNA positive plasma samples, two peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples, and two nasal swab samples were randomly selected. They were carefully aliquated into 8 tubes for each sample. The aliquoted samples were frozen and thawed 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 times for each aliquot and then analyzed for changes on DNA levels and positivity. OvHV-2 DNA positivity and quantitation were tested by using nested PCR and real-time PCR, respectively. Twenty-one cycles of freezing and thawing did not significantly change this herpesviral DNA positivity in any of the samples tested. However, the decreases of viral DNA copies were observed in all samples by the increasing of FT cycles. In conclusion, the integrity of herpesviral DNAs in clinical specimens may be degraded by the increasing FT cycles. These results implicate that there is a need to aliquot specimen when it is first collected in order to reduce FT cycles during its analysis.

Distribution of HIV-1 Subtypes by Transmission Routes in Korea / 감염

BACKGROUND: Previous data have been reported that subtype B is prevalent in South Korea, but neither the extent nor the proportion of subtypes could be evaluated. This study was designed to analyze the distribution of HIV-1 subtypes, temporal instructions and transmission dynamics between epidemiological groups. METHODS: 1,280 Koreans had been diagnosed as HIV seropositive during the period 1985 to 2000. Among them, 134 individuals were selected for this molecular epidemiological study. 134 DNAs were isolated from uncultured or cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells. V3-V5 (0.7 kb) fragment of HIV-1 env gene was amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction and was sequenced. RESULTS: HIV-1 isolates from thirty-seven homosexuals were all subtype B (100%). On the other hand, 66 isolates from 94 heterosexuals were subtype B (70%) and 28 were non B subtypes (30%:13 A, 4 C, 2 D, 8 E, 1 G). Only subtype B strains were isolated from 73 males who were infected with HIV inside Korea while 16 B and 20 non B subtype strains were isolated from 36 males who were HIV infected outside of Korea. However, B and non B strains were isolated half and half from females who were infected inside Korea except one. CONCLUSION: The HIV-1 subtype B strains are prevalent in Korea from the early HIV infection until present in both homo and heterosexuals. Non B strains have been transmitted from men who were infected outside Korea to their spouses and casual partners. So, we need further study to monitor subtype B and non B HIV transmission in epidemiological groups of Korea.

Consistency of the Low Seroprevalence of Human Herpesvirus 8 and the Rarity of Kaposi`s Sarcoma in South Korea

A putative gamma herpesvirus, termed human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), discovered in recent years, has been implicated as a possible etiologic agent for Kaposi`s sarcoma (KS). In South Korea, the incidence of KS in HIV seropositive individuals is very low. The cause of its rarity as compared with other countries is unclear. The objective of this study was performed to determine the prevalence of infection with HHV-8 and to clarify the cause of low incidence of KS in Korean populations including HIV seropositive individuals. The study population was composed of 200 blood donors, 220 voluntary visitors for sexual transmitted infection (STI)-testing in the public health centers, and 214 HIV-seropositive individuals. For the detection of HHV-8 antibodies, all blood samples were tested using Advanced Biotechnologies Inc`s enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits and the reactive samples were retested using Biotrin International SARL`s immunofluorescent assay (IFA). Also, we investigated the seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) in order to get more information of HHV-8 and other human herpesviruses transmission in Korea. The prevalence of specific IgG to HHV-8 among HIV seropositive individuals was 7.0% {95% confidential interval: 4.0-11.3%}. The specific antibody to HHV-8 could be detected only in HIV seropositive men. The prevalences of antibodies to other human herpesviruses unlike HHV-8 were very high even in blood donors. These observations strongly suggest that the rarity of KS in this country may be caused by very low prevalence of HHV-8.

Development of National Institute of Health Korea / 의사학

The National Institute of Health(NIH) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Korean Government was established in 1963 integrating four institutes; National Institute of Health National Chemical Laboratories National Laboratory of Herb Medicine and National Institute of Public Health Training The root however goes down to the Bacteriology Laboratory opened in 1912 with the function for microbiological testing and pox vaccine development which was absorbed into the former National Institute of Health in 1948 when the government of the Republic of Korea was inaugurated. The Institute opened a satellite office the Masan Branch in 1977 and was further expanded adding the Divisions of AIDS and Biotechnology in 1988. In 1996 as a part of restructuring the Government organizations Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA) was founded by expanding the Toxicology Research Institute to which all the functions of testing and certifying foods and drugs were transferred Simultaneously a new department the Department of Biomedical science was organized which currently consists of five divisions; the Divisions of Cancer Research Degenerative Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Metabolic Diseases and Genetic Diseases. In 1999 in order to provide a rapid and effective disease control the Department of Communicable Diseases was newly founded merging the Division of Disease Control and Prevention from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. With these steady and significant changes the NIH together with the training of health manpower has become the national organization for research prevention and control of various diseases of public health importance in Korea.