Background: In recent year, Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) genotype 1 has been detected among isolates from mosquitoes and pig\u2019s blood samples in northern Viet Nam, but there has been no information on the presence of this genotype in the Central, Southern and Highland regions. Objectives: This study aims to detect the Japanese encephalitis genotype 1 in various different geographic regions of Viet Nam. Material and method: Sequence analysis\u2019s of whole E gene of 18 strains isolated from human, mosquitoes and pig\u2019s blood during 2001-2007. Results: 7 strains isolated from pig\u2019s blood and mosquito samples in the Northern, Central, Southern and Highland fell into genotype 1, but 11 others isolated from humans in the Northern and Central regions belonged to genotype 3. Conclusion: This is the first time that JEV genotype 1 was detected in the central, northern, highland Viet Nam and further studies on genotype 1 causing human diseases needs to be carried out.\r\n', u'\r\n', u'
Virus ; Japanese Encephalitis ; genotype 1 ; E gene.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to test potential modifying effects of education on the association between apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (Apo E4) and cognitive decline. METHODS: A community cohort(N=683) aged 65 or over completed the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE-K) at baseline and two years later(1999-2001). Apo E polymorphisms were genotyped, and classified into that with or without Apo E4. Educational levels were categorized into people with or without education. Covariates included demographic(age, gender), life style(smoking, alcohol drinking), clinical (depression, sleep disorder, vascular risk factors) characteristics. RESULTS: The association between Apo E4 and cognitive decline was significant only in the old persons with no education. The interaction term between education and Apo E4 on cognitive decline was significant (p=0.040). CONCLUSION: Elders with no education might be more vulnerable to the impact of Apo E4 on cognitive decline, which suggests gene-environment interaction.
Aged ; Apolipoprotein E4 ; Apolipoproteins ; Apolipoproteins E ; Gene-Environment Interaction ; Humans

BACKGROUND: It is not yet clear whether the abnormal cytokine production in relation to serum IgE levels in atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with the amount of mRNA of cytokine gene. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to delineate the effect of reciprocal correlation in the level of mRNA between interleukin-4 (I") and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in severe AD. METHODS: We examined 15 cases including 5 AD patients with high serum IgE (>2,000 kU/liter), 5 AD patients with low serum IgE (<100 kU/liter), and 5 healthy controls. Using semi quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, IL-4 and IFN-γ gene expressions in peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC) were examined. RESULTS: 1) IL-4 gene expression in spontaneous PBMC was higher in AD patient groups than in control group, significantly higher only in AD patient group with high serum IgE level (p < 0.05). 2) IFN-γ gene expression in spontaneous PBMC showed increased tendency in AD patient groups than in control group without statistical significance. 3) IL-4 and IFN-γ gene expressions in stimulated PBMC were not different among all three groups. CONCLUSION: In light of our results, high and low IgE subgroups in AD can exist and AD may not be R characterized by the shift in the reciprocal relationship between IL-4 and IFN-γ when T cells are stimulated under antigen presenting cell-independent conditions.
Dermatitis, Atopic ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Interferon-gamma* ; Interleukin-4* ; RNA, Messenger ; T-Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: It is known that HLA molecule can restrict specific IgE responses, but few studies have documented the association between HLA and sensitization to house dust mite(HDM). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a specific HLA type can be a risk or protective factor for the development of HDM sensitivity. METHOD: Total 146 subjects were genotyped for HLA-DRB1 using PCR-SSP technique and HDM sensitivity, determined by skin prick test using two mite allergens, D. pteronyssinus (Dp) and D. farinae (Df). Subjects were grouped according to Dp or Df sensitivity and linkage analysis between HDM sensitivity and HLA-DRB1 genotype was performed. RESULTS: The data revealed higher allele frequencies of DRB1*07 in Dp or Df sensitive groups compared to insensitive groups (11.6% vs. 2.6% in Dp, 11.5% vs. 3.3% in Df group, p<0.05), but the other allele frequencies showed no difference. CONCLUSION: There was a significant association between HLA-DRB1*07 genotype and HDM sensitization. These results indicate that antigen presentation by HLA class II molecule restricts the development of specific IgE response to HDM.
Allergens ; Antigen Presentation ; Dust* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype* ; HLA-DRB1 Chains* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Mites ; Pyroglyphidae* ; Skin

The allele frequencies of markers as well as linkage disequilibrium (LD) can be changed in cases due to the LD between markers and the disease allele, exhibiting spurious associations of markers. To identify the true association, classical statistical tests for dealing with confounders have been applied to draw a conclusion as to whether the association of variants comes from LD with the known disease allele. However, a more direct test considering LD using estimated haplotype frequencies may be more efficient. The null hypothesis is that the different allele frequencies of a variant between cases and controls come solely from the increased disease allele frequency and the LD relationship with the disease allele. The haplotype frequencies of controls are estimated using the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm from the genotype data. The estimated frequencies are applied to calculate the expected haplotype frequencies in cases corresponding to the increase or decrease of the causative or protective alleles. The suggested method was applied to previously published data, and several APOE variants showed association with Alzheimer's disease independent from the APOE epsilon4 variant, rs429358, regardless of LD showing significant simulated p-values. The test results support the possibility that there may be more than one common disease variant in a locus.
Alleles ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Apolipoproteins E* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Linkage Disequilibrium*

PURPOSE: The gene-encoding cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4(CTLA-4) is one of the candidate genes for conferring susceptibility to atopic dermatitis(AD). The aim of the study was to investigate the association between Korean children with AD and the polymorphisms of CTLA-4 gene promoter(-318) and exon 1(+49). METHODS: The CTLA-4 promoter(-318 T/C) and exon 1(+49 A/G) polymorphisms were genotyped via restriction fragment length polymorphism methods in 145 children with atopic eczema, 69 children with non-atopic eczema, and 96 healthy controls. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in genotype and allele frequencies of the CTLA-4 promoter -318 T/C and exon 1 +49 A/G polymorphisms when the atopic eczema, non-atopic eczema, and control groups were compared. Additionally the CTLA-4 promoter -318 T/C and exon 1 +49 A/G polymorphisms were not shown to be associated with severity, IgE level, or eosinophil counts. CONCLUSION: Our data show that the polymorphisms within the CTLA-4 promoter(-318 T/C) and exon 1(+49 A/G) genes are not associated with susceptibility to AD in Korean children.
Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Eczema ; Eosinophils ; Exons* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 31 (IL-31) is a T helper type 2 effector cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic and allergic diseases. IL-31 may be involved in promoting allergic inflammation and in inducing airway epithelial responses such as allergic asthma. METHODS: Single-base extension analysis was used to detect the genotypes of IL-31 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and we compared the genotype and allele frequencies of the IL-31 SNPs between patients with asthma and healthy controls. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of the IL-31 SNPs between patients with asthma and healthy controls. Furthermore we compared the genotype and allele frequencies of IL-31 SNPs between patients with atopic asthma, those with non-atopic asthma and healthy controls. This showed that the SNPs were not associated with the susceptibility to atopic asthma. There were no significant differences in the haplotype frequencies of IL-31 SNPs between patients with asthma and healthy controls. In patients with asthma, the IL-31 SNPs were significantly correlated with total serum levels of IgE (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that, the IL-31 SNPs may be associated with IgE production in patients with asthma.
Asthma ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Interleukins ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

BACKGROUND: The CD14 receptor is an important mediator for the activation of monocyte by lipo-polysaccharides. Recently described data indicate that the CD14/-159 C->T polymorphism is associated with elevated CD14 expression, decreased IgE and increased myocardial infarction risk. In the present study, we investigated the CD14/-159 C->T polymorphism to determine its association with lipid profile in healthy adults. METHODS: The CD14 promoter genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in 156 healthy adults. Results of the CD14 promotor genotype were compared with total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, apo A1, apo B100, and triglyceride using one way ANOVA and independent T tests. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies were CC 13.5%, TT 35.9%, CT 50.6% and the T allele frequency was 61.2%; there was no association between CD14 promotor genotype and lipoprotein concentrations (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that CD14/-159 C->T polymorphism is not associated with serum lipoprotein concentrations.
Adult ; Apolipoprotein A-I ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Lipoproteins* ; Monocytes ; Myocardial Infarction ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Triglycerides

An association between the apolipoprotein E 4(APOE 4) allele and pathological changes in Alzheimer's disease(AD) is now well established. We analyzed the APOE genotype in patients with another amyloid forming disease, Down's syndrome(DS). It is well-known that patients with DS develop the neuropathological features of AD if they reach middle adult life. The amyloid precursor protein gene is located m chromosome 21 and increased expression of this gene over a patient's lifetime is thought to underlie the development of this pathology. We examined the APOE genotypes of 19 cytogenetically confirmed DS patients. The allele frequencies in this group did not differ from the general population. Our data suggest that the APOE 4 is not essential pathomechanism of AD pathology in patients with DS. Prospective analysis of the occurrence of AD in DS population and APOE genotype is warranted.
Adult ; Alleles ; Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 21 ; Down Syndrome* ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Pathology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) is important in plasma lipid metabolism and is a component of several plasma lipoprotein-lipid particles. Three major Apo E isoforms are encoded by three common allelic forms, epsilon2, epsilon3, and epsilon4 at the APO E locus. The goal of this study was to examine the association between polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and fatty liver disease. METHODS: We examined the distribution of APOE alleles from 116 fatty liver patients and 50 controls in Korea. RESULTS: The frequencies of APOE alleles in fatty liver patients were 6.5% in epsilon2, 85.7% in epsilon3 and 7.8% in epsilon4. The corresponding frequencies in control subjects were 4.0% in epsilon2, 91.0% in epsilon3 and 5.0% in epsilon4. There were no significant differences in the distribution of APOE genotypes between fatty liver patients and controls. APOE epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies in fatty liver patients were more than those in controls. However, there was no significant differences in APOE epsilon2 and epsilon4 allele frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that APOE alleles seem not to be directly associated with the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease.
Adult ; Aged ; Apolipoproteins E/*genetics ; English Abstract ; Fatty Liver/*genetics ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Human ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Polymorphism (Genetics)