BACKGROUND: Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent that is used primarily in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Some evidences also suggest that flecainide can participate in alveolar fluid clearance and inflammatory responses. This experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of flecainide on sepsis induced acute lung injury in a rat model. METHODS: Rats were treated with subcutaneous infusion of saline or flecainide (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/hr) by a mini-osmotic pump. Subcutaneous infusion was started 3 hours before and continued until 8 hours after intraperitoneal injection of saline or endotoxin. Animals were sacrificed for analyses of severity of acute lung injury with wet to dry (W/D) ratio and lung injury score (LIS) in lung and inflammatory responses with level of leukocyte, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and inteleukin-8 (IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavages fluid (BALF). RESULTS: Flecainide markedly improved dose dependently sepsis induced acute lung injury as analysed by W/D ratio (from 2.24 ± 0.11 to 1.76 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) and LIS (from 3 to 1, p < 0.05), and inflammatory response as determined by leukocyte (from 443 ± 127 to 229 ± 95, p < 0.05), PMNs (from 41.43 ± 17.63 to 2.43 ± 2.61, p < 0.05) and IL-8 (from 95.00 ± 15.28 to 40.00 ± 10.21, p < 0.05) in BALF. CONCLUSIONS: Flecanide improve sepsis induced acute lung injury in rats by controlling inflammatory responses.
Acute Lung Injury* ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Flecainide* ; Infusions, Subcutaneous ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Interleukin-8 ; Leukocytes ; Lung ; Lung Injury ; Models, Animal ; Neutrophils ; Rats ; Sepsis*

The heterogeneity of cancer makes it difficult to predict the prognosis of treatment. There is still a lack of preclinical model systems that reflect the clinical characteristics of patients who have heterogenetic tumors. Advances in 3-dimentional (3D) cell culture are leading to discoveries that occur in the development and progression of cancer that has not been known. There are many models including patient-derived xenograft, patient-derived organoid and spheroid, patient-derived explant, scaffold-based model, and system-based model. Each 3D model has its strengths and limitations. One model cannot answer every question, so it seems most reasonable to approach multiple models when studying cancer heterogeneity. Hopefully, 3D tumor modeling will make tremendous progress on this path by fusion of innovative biomaterials and advanced modeling techniques that can partially mimic the heterogeneous environment of real tumors.

Objectives: : We estimated the overall and age-specific percentages of the Korean population with presumed immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as of April 2022 using the national registry. Methods: : We used the national coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccination registry from South Korea, as described to define individuals with a previous history of COVID-19 infection, vaccination, or both, as persons with presumed immunity. Results: : Of a total of 53,304,627 observed persons, 24.4% had vaccination and infection, 58.1% had vaccination and no infection, 7.6% had infection and no vaccination, and 9.9% had no immunity. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged at a time when the presumed population immunity ranged from 80% to 85%; however, nearly half of the children were presumed to have no immunity. Conclusion : We report a gap in population immunity, with lower presumed protection in children than in adults. The approach presented in this work can provide valuable informed tools to assist vaccine policy-making at a national level.

National cohort data collected during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) delta and omicron periods in Korea revealed a lower risk of severe infection in recipients of three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.05–0.08). The risk of death was reduced during the omicron period compared to the delta period (aOR, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.67–0.84).

Ten Y chromosomal STRs (DYS434, DYS435, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS441, DYS442, DYS443, DYS444, DYS445) have been typed in 1159 Korean males for the purpose of application to male identification, population genetics and evolution study. Multiplex PCR method was used in amplifying simultaneously these loci. In each locus, 3-8 allele were observed, and no 'interallele' was observed. The gene diversity varied from 0.3131 at DYS435 to 0.7179 at DYS441. Among 610 father-son pairs, mutation was observed 2 cases in DYS434, 1 case in DYS435, 3 cases in DYS437, 1 case in DYS439, 2 cases in DYS441, 1 case in DYS442 and 4 cases in DYS444. No two or more simultaneous mutations were identified in one father-son family pair. In 1159 Korean males, 641 different haplotypes were observed, and 488 haplotypes were not shared by others. The haplotype diversity was 0.9911, Probability of Identity was 0.0098. When using the ten loci together with DYS19, DYS385, DYS388, DYS389, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393 which were already used in the Department of Forensic Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, the haplotype diversity was 0.9997, Probability of Identity was 0.0012.
Alleles ; Forensic Medicine ; Genetics, Population ; Haplotypes* ; Humans ; Male ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seoul

For evaluation of the five coding region (CR) polymorphism in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA); we had performed PCR and direct sequencing in 599 unrelated Korean who showed the identical DNA type in D-loop mitochondrial DNA analysis for total 2,810 bp fragment. Following the sequence analysis, all the sequences of five regions were compared respectively to Anderson standard sequence to investigate the nucleotide variations. The result showed, a total 4,565 nucleotide variations were observed at 190 positions in five CR as 3,931 (86.11%) substitutions, 32 (0.7%) insertions, and 602 (13.19%) deletions and the allele diversities (h) were higher than 0.9992 when adding each CR or combined CR to D-loop analysis in mtDNA. In conclusion, we could confirm the five CR are useful for forensic testing through the nucleotide variation and hapolotypes polymorphism.
Alleles ; Clinical Coding* ; DNA ; DNA, Mitochondrial* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis

Our previous proteomic study demonstrated that oxidative stress and antioxidant delphinidin regulated the cellular level of p27(kip1) (referred to as p27) as well as some heat shock proteins in human colon cancer HT 29 cells. Current study was conducted to validate and confirm the regulation of these proteins using both in vitro and in vivo systems. The level of p27 was decreased by hydrogen peroxide in a dose-dependent manner in human colon carcinoma HCT 116 (p53-positive) cells while it was increased upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide in HT 29 (p53-negative) cells. However, high concentration of hydrogen peroxide (100 micrometer) downregulated p27 in both cell lines, but delphindin, one of antioxidative anthocyanins, enhanced the level of p27 suppressed by 100 micrometer hydrogen peroxide. ICR mice were injected with varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, delphinidin and both. Western blot analysis for the mouse large intestinal tissue showed that the expression of p27 was upregulated by 25 mg/kg BW hydrogen peroxide. To investigate the association of p27 regulation with hypoxia-inducible factor 1-beta (HIF-1beta), the level of p27 was analyzed in wild-type mouse hepatoma hepa1c1c7 and Aryl Hydrocarbon Nuclear Translocator (arnt, HIF-1beta)-defective mutant BPRc1 cells in the absence and presence of hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin. While the level of p27 was responsive to hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin, it remained unchanged in BPRc1, suggesting that the regulation of p27 requires functional HIF-1beta. We also found that hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin affected PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway which is one of upstream regulators of HIFs. In conclusion, hydrogen peroxide and antioxidant delphinidin seem to regulate intracellular level of p27 through regulating HIF-1 level which is, in turn, governed by its upstream regulators comprising of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. The results should also encourage further study for the potential of p27 as a biomarker for intracellular oxidative or antioxidant status.
Animals ; Anthocyanins ; Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator ; Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cell Line ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Oxidative Stress ; Proteins

BACKGROUND: Methyl alcohol poisoning has been mainly reported in community. Two cases of methyl alcohol poisoning occurred in a small-sized subcontracted factory which manufactured smartphone parts in Korea. CASE PRESENTATION: One young female patient presented with dyspnea and visual disturbance. Another young male patient presented with visual disturbance and myalgia. They treated with sodium bicarbonate infusion and hemodialysis for metabolic acidosis. In addition, he received ethyl alcohol per oral treatment. Her and his urinary methyl alcohol concentration was detected as 7.632 mg/L, 46.8 mg/L, respectively, although they were treated hemodialysis. Results of the working environment measurement showed that the concentration of methyl alcohol (1030.1–2220.5 ppm) in the air exceeded the time weighted average (200 ppm). They were diagnosed with optic neuropathy due to methyl alcohol poisoning and still have visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Workers who hired as dispatched employees in a small-sized subcontracted factory were exposed to high concentrations of methyl alcohol. The workplace had poor ventilation system. In addition, workers did not wear proper personal protect equipment. Working environment measurement and annual chekups for workers were not performed. They were in a blind spot to occupational safety and health. More attention is needed to protect vulnerable workers’ health.
Acidosis ; Aluminum* ; Dyspnea ; Ethanol ; Female ; Humans ; Inhalation* ; Korea ; Male ; Methanol* ; Myalgia ; Occupational Health ; Optic Disk ; Optic Nerve Diseases ; Poisoning ; Renal Dialysis ; Smartphone ; Sodium Bicarbonate ; Ventilation ; Vision Disorders

BACKGROUND: Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent that is used primarily in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Some evidences also suggest that flecainide can participate in alveolar fluid clearance and inflammatory responses. This experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of flecainide on sepsis induced acute lung injury in a rat model. METHODS: Rats were treated with subcutaneous infusion of saline or flecainide (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/hr) by a mini-osmotic pump. Subcutaneous infusion was started 3 hours before and continued until 8 hours after intraperitoneal injection of saline or endotoxin. Animals were sacrificed for analyses of severity of acute lung injury with wet to dry (W/D) ratio and lung injury score (LIS) in lung and inflammatory responses with level of leukocyte, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and inteleukin-8 (IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavages fluid (BALF). RESULTS: Flecainide markedly improved dose dependently sepsis induced acute lung injury as analysed by W/D ratio (from 2.24 ± 0.11 to 1.76 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) and LIS (from 3 to 1, p < 0.05), and inflammatory response as determined by leukocyte (from 443 ± 127 to 229 ± 95, p < 0.05), PMNs (from 41.43 ± 17.63 to 2.43 ± 2.61, p < 0.05) and IL-8 (from 95.00 ± 15.28 to 40.00 ± 10.21, p < 0.05) in BALF. CONCLUSIONS: Flecanide improve sepsis induced acute lung injury in rats by controlling inflammatory responses.
Acute Lung Injury ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Flecainide ; Infusions, Subcutaneous ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Interleukin-8 ; Leukocytes ; Lung ; Lung Injury ; Models, Animal ; Neutrophils ; Rats ; Sepsis