OBJECTIVES: We estimated the population prevalence of antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including unreported infections, through a Korea Seroprevalence Study of Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Retention and Transmission (K-SEROSMART) in 258 communities throughout Korea. METHODS: In August 2022, a survey was conducted among 10,000 household members aged 5 years and older, in households selected through two stage probability random sampling. During face-to-face household interviews, participants self-reported their health status, COVID-19 diagnosis and vaccination history, and general characteristics. Subsequently, participants visited a community health center or medical clinic for blood sampling. Blood samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to spike proteins (anti-S) and antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins (anti-N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. To estimate the population prevalence, the PROC SURVEYMEANS statistical procedure was employed, with weighting to reflect demographic data from July 2022. RESULTS: In total, 9,945 individuals from 5,041 households were surveyed across 258 communities, representing all basic local governments in Korea. The overall population-adjusted prevalence rates of anti-S and anti-N were 97.6% and 57.1%, respectively. Since the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has reported a cumulative incidence of confirmed cases of 37.8% through July 31, 2022, the proportion of unreported infections among all COVID-19 infection was suggested to be 33.9%. CONCLUSIONS The K-SEROSMART represents the first nationwide, community-based seroepidemiologic survey of COVID-19, confirming that most individuals possess antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and that a significant number of unreported cases existed. Furthermore, this study lays the foundation for a surveillance system to continuously monitor transmission at the community level and the response to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Accumulating evidence has shown the beneficial effects of isoflavone on health. There is limited information on the usual isoflavone intake for Koreans.This study examined the usual intake of total isoflavone and its major food sources in Koreans according to age and gender. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The dietary intake data of 21,271 participants aged 1 yrs and older from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) VII 2016– 2018 were analyzed. The average isoflavone intake was estimated based on the 24-h dietary recall data in KNHANES and the isoflavone database from the Korea Rural Development Administration (RDA) and literatures. The usual isoflavone intake was estimated by applying the ratio of within- and between-participant variance estimated from the 2009 KNHANES data to the 7th KNHANES (2016–2018) data. The variance of the isoflavone intake was calculated using MIXTRAN macro with intake data for two days in the 2009 KNHANES.Complex sample analysis with stratified variables and integrated weights was conducted. RESULTS: The mean total isoflavone intake in the Korean population aged 1 yrs and older (n = 21,271) was 139.27 mg/d, which was higher than the usual intake of 47.44mg/d. Legumes were a major contributing food group (91%), with arrowroot being a major individual contributor to the isoflavone intake (67.2%), followed by 21.3% of soybean, 5.4% of bean sprouts, and 2.1% of tofu. The usual isoflavone intake was highest in the participants aged 50 to 64 yrs old and increased with age until 50 to 64 yrs and then decreased with further increases in age.The usual isoflavone intake of participants aged 65 yrs and older was higher for men than for women, showing gender differences. CONCLUSIONS The usual dietary intake of isoflavone varied according to age and gender in the Korean population. This study showed that the usual isoflavone intake was lower than the average isoflavone intake. The difference between percentiles of the usual isoflavone intake was similarly smaller than the average intake. An estimation of average intake can be hindered by the occasional consumption of foods high in isoflavones, suggesting that the usual intake estimation method can be more appropriate. Further research will be needed to establish isoflavone dietary guidelines regarding the effects of isoflavone intake on health outcomes.

Recently, we found and analyzed vitamin B12 in some Korean traditional plant foods which had not reported, yet. This study was to investigate vitamin B12 intake and its dietary sources and the vitamin B12 status in the very old elderly Koreans. We measured serum vitamin B12 level and estimated the amounts of vitamin B12 intake from different dietary sources in female elderly Koreans aged 85 and over who had consumed a relatively low animal traditional diet for the whole life. The average age of the subjects (n = 127) was 98.0 years (85-108 years). The assessment on energy and nutrient intake involved a one-day 24-hour recall, and serum vitamin B12 concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay. Overall diet pattern was not different between the 85-99 yr-old group and centenarians, except centenarians were taking more dairy product. The average ratio of plant food to animal food consumption was 87.5:12.5 in weight. The average vitamin B12 intake of our subjects was 3.2 microg/day, and 52.7% of subjects consumed under estimated average requirement, 2.0 microg/day. On dietary source, 67.3% of dietary vitamin B12 was from meat, eggs and fishes and 30.6% was from plant foods, such as soybean-fermented foods, seaweeds, and kimchi. The average serum vitamin B12 concentration was 450.5 pg/mL, and low serum vitamin B12 (< 200 pg/mL) was found in 9.6% of subjects. Dietary vitamin B12 intake was significantly lower in subjects with low serum vitamin B12 (0.79 microg/day) than those with normal serum vitamin B12 (3.47 microg/day). There were no significant difference in vitamin B12 intake and its dietary sources and serum vitamin B12 level between the 85-99 yr-old group and centenarians. In conclusion, several plant-origin foods including seaweed, soybean-fermented foods, and kimchi, may contribute significantly to good vitamin B12 status in very old elderly Koreans.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Dairy Products ; Diet ; Eggs ; Female ; Fishes ; Humans ; Meat ; Ovum ; Plants ; Radioimmunoassay ; Seaweed ; Vitamin B 12 ; Vitamins

The aim of this case study was to report the clinical outcome of immediate provisionalization using one-piece narrow diameter (3.0mm) implants in missing maxillary lateral or mandibular incisors. The present study included 36 patients who were treated with 62 one-piece narrow diameter implants. After implant placement, immediate provisional restorations were delivered. All implants showed favorable osseointegration and after progressive loading from 3 months to 9 months (average of 5 months), final restorations were completed without failure in all cases. A survival rate of 100 % (62 of 62) was observed up to 23 months of observation (average of 12.6 months).
Humans ; Incisor ; Osseointegration ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: More than half of all patients who are diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus infection have clinical findings in the head and neck region. The objectives of our study were to find out which clinical features of HIV infected patients have opportunistic diseases in the neck. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Medical records of HIV infected patients (n=103) treated at Kangnam St. Mary's hospital from April 2000 to December 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of 103 patients, 77 had opportunistic diseases. Of these 77 patients, 12 had the diseases in the neck and 65 in the extracervical lesion. Among the opportunistic diseases in neck, tuberculosis was the most prevalent (6 pts), followed by inflammatory lymphadenopathy (2 pts), Kaposi's sarcoma (2 pts) and malignant lymphoma (2 pts). CONCLUSION: HIV infected patients must be made aware of chances of opportunistic disease in the neck so that proper testing and treatment may ensue.
Head ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Medical Records ; Neck ; Retrospective Studies ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; Tuberculosis

This study was conducted to study the changes of cell surface carbohydrates during transdifferentiation of retinal pigment epithelial(RPE)cells. RPE cells were cultured from adult pig eyes. Surface carbohydrates of RPE cells from 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th passages were assayed by lectin histochemistry and enzyme immunoassay. Changes in binding affinities to the lectins employed were demonsrated during trasdifferentiation of RPE cell. Whereas binding affinities of ConA, ECL, PNA, WGA, and UEA-I decreased graudally as the number of culture passage increased, binding properties to LCA, STL and DBA fluctuated depending on the number of passages. The results demonstrate changes of surface carbohydrates of RPE cell during trasdifferentiation. We suggest that changes of surface carbohydrates of RPE cell during trasdifferentiation may be close relations with the functional changes during transdifferentiation.
Adult ; Carbohydrates ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Lectins ; Retinaldehyde*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic idiopathic urticaria refers to recurrent hives of more than six weeks duration and in approximately 80% of cases, the etiology is unknown. Recently, involvement of an autoimmune mechanism in the pathogenesis of chronic idiopathic urticaria has been suggested. Thyroid autoimmunity has been reported in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria and treatment with thyroxine in selected cases induced clinical remission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 99 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria to evaluate the clinical significance of anti-thyroid auto-antibodies including anti-thyroglobulin and antimicrosomal antibodies. Thirty-four normal volunteers were selected as controls. The prevalence of these two auto-antibodies as well as laboratory findings and clinical features between these two groups were compared. RESULTS: Thyroid auto-antibodies were positive in 24% of patients compared to 8.7% of control patients and the duration of the disease was significantly longer in the patients with thyroid auto-antibodies than in those without thyroid auto-antibodies, respectively (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in age, positive rate of ANA and total eosinophil count. Administration of thyroxine to five patients with refractory urticaria resulted in improvement in three patients. CONCLUSION: Thyroid autoimmunity is associated with chronic idiopathic urticaria in some patients. Administration of thyroxine resulted in improvement of symptoms in some of these patients. Therefore, we recommend routine testing of thyroid auto-antibodies in patients with retractable chronic idiopathic urticaria.
Antibodies ; Autoimmunity ; Eosinophils ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroxine ; Urticaria*

BACKGROUND: Since the bioavailability of itraconazole capsule is influenced by patients gastric acidity, it results in treatment failure due to its low dissolution and subsequent low absorption when administered in fasting. Itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet has been lately developed in order to improve its dissolution profile. It is the first clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of itraconazole melt-extrusion tablet 400mg daily for 1 week(pulse therapy) for hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and manus. METHODS: A clinical and mycological investigation was made of 812 outpatients with hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus who had visited at 52 general hospitals under the lead of the Korean Dermatological Association from June to December, 1998. Patients confirmed by clinically and microscopically as hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus were administered 2 tablets twice a day for one week and followed up for 8 weeks from the start of the medication. RESULTS: The results were summarized as follows; 1. Clinical symptoms of hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea mauns were significantly improved at the end of study, week 8(p<0.001). 2. Clinical response rate, defined as more than 50% decrease of the sum of the clinical symptom scores, was 79.3%(512/646). 3. Mycological cure rate, dafined as both culture and KOH negative at week 8, was 78.2%(244 /312). 4. 40(5.5%) patients, of the 727 patients evaluable for drug safety evaluation, were reported to have adverse event. CONCLUSION: Itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet 400mg/day for 1 week (pulse therapy) is effective and safe in the treatment of hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus.
Absorption ; Biological Availability ; Fasting ; Gastric Acid ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Itraconazole* ; Korea ; Outpatients ; Tablets ; Tinea Pedis* ; Tinea* ; Treatment Failure

The muscle glycogen is an important energy source for muscle contraction especially in prolonged exercise. One of the important factors for improvement of physical performance in athletes is the storage of extra-amount of glycogen (supercompensation) in liver and muscles. During 120 minutes treadmill exercise (intensity of exercise was approximatly 80% VO2max), the glycogen concentration was significantly decreased to 36% in liver and 46% in muscles after 60 minutes exercise. At 90 and 120 minutes of exercise, the level of glycogen concentration of liver and muscles statistically were not different from the levels of the 60 minutes exercise. The repletions of glycogen in the liver and muscles in overnight fasted control(C) and 120 minutes treadmill exercise(E) groups during l80minutes after glucose ingestion were investigatect. ln the liver, the concentration of glycogen in C and E groups were markdly increased till 120 minutes after zlucose ingestion, hut the levels of concentration at 180 minutes were decreased comparing to the levels of 120 minutes in both groups. In the muscles, the repletion of glycogen at 60, 120 and 180 minutes of C and E groups were significantly increased comparing to 0 minute of respective groups in the soleus and plantaris muscles. In soleus(SOL), the repletion of glycogen in all of the E groups was significantly higher than that of the respective C groups. However, the repletion of glycogen in all of the E groups of plantaris was revealed higher tendency comparing to respective C groups. Mean repletion rates of glycogen in liver and muscles after glucose ingestion were highest during the first 60 minutes in all groups and the rates of E groups were 2-3 times than those of respective C groups. These results suggest that the glycogen supercompensation in the muscle be provided with decrement of glycogen concentration by exercise, increment of glucose uptake by muscuiar contraction itself and increased insuJin level, and the activation of glycogen synthetase by insulin.
Animals ; Athletes ; Eating* ; Glucose* ; Glycogen Synthase ; Glycogen* ; Humans ; Insulin ; Liver* ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscles ; Rats*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nasal septal deformity (NSD) is one of the most common cause of nasal obstructions. However, many patients with NSD complain various symptoms besides nasal obstruction such as rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal discomfort, etc. This study aims to investigate the frequencies of various types of NSD, and to analyze the relationship between types of NSD with nasal symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We prospectively analyzed the relationship between the patients with different types of NSD and their various nasal symptoms in 693 cases visited Severance Health Center from March to May 1997. We thoroughly evaluated them with careful history taking for their symptoms and meticulous physical examination for classifying the types of NSD using the anterior rhinoscope, nasal endoscope as well as palpation with cotton applicators. RESULTS: 273 cases (39.4%) had a certain type of NSD and 176 cases (25.3%) were suffering from nasal symptoms. According to the Mladina's Classification, the most common type was type I, and the overall prevalence of the nasal symtoms in NSD group was higher than the control group. The most common symptom was nasal obstruction, and its degree and other symptoms were positively correlated with the types of NSD. CONCLUSION: The NSD showed a positive correlation with various nasal symptoms and, therefore, the surgical treatment of NSD will not only improve nasal obstruction but also other various nasal symptoms.
Classification ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Endoscopes ; Humans ; Nasal Obstruction ; Nasal Septum ; Palpation ; Physical Examination ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Sneezing