No abstract available.
Humans* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Placenta* ; Receptors, Fc ; RNA, Messenger* ; Trophoblasts

No abstract available.

Leader peptidase is a novel serine protease in Escherichia coli, which catalyzes the cleavage of amino-terminal signal sequences from exported proteins. It is an integral membrane protein containing two transmembrane segments with its carboxy-terminal catalytic domain residing in the periplasmic space. Recently, the x-ray crystal structure of signal peptidase-inhibitor complex showed that Asp 280, a highly conserved consensus sequence of E. coli leader peptidase is the closest charged residue in the vicinity of two catalytic dyad, Ser 90 and Lys 145, and it is likely held in place by a salt bridge to Arg 282. Possible roles of Asp 280 and Arg 282 in the structure-catalytic function relationship were investigated by the site-directed mutagenesis of Asp 280 substituted with alanine, glutamic acid, glycine, or asparagine and of Arg 282 with methionine. All of mutants purified with nickel affinity chromatography were inactive using in vitro assay. It is surprising to find complete lose of activity by an extension of one carbon units in the mutant where Asp 280 is substituted with glutamic acid. These results suggest that Asp 280 and Arg 282 are in a sequence which constitutes catalytic crevice of leader peptidase and are essential for maintaining the conformation of catalytic pocket.
Aspartic Acid/chemistry* ; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Escherichia coli/enzymology* ; Escherichia coli/chemistry ; Micrococcal Nuclease/metabolism ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Oligonucleotides ; Protein Precursors/metabolism ; Serine Endopeptidases/metabolism* ; Serine Endopeptidases/genetics ; Serine Endopeptidases/chemistry* ; Structure-Activity Relationship

The purpose of this study was to assess the iron nutritional status of college women residing in the Kyungin area. The anthropometric parameters, nutrient intake, and biochemical status of iron were measured for 102 college women. The mean height and weight were 160.3 cm and 52.4 kg, respectively. The proportion of subjects whose BMI was less than 20 was 41.3%. The proportion of subjects assessed as overweight(25 or =25%) assessed by the fat percent(FP) was 53.9%. The mean daily intake of iron was 13.90mg(77.1% of RDA), composed of 0.97mg of heme iron and 12.93mg of nonheme iron. the iron intake computed with the chemical analysis of food was 12.44mg(69.0% of RDA). When the sources of iron were grouped as rice(including bread), noodle, soup, side dish, and snack, noodle provided, 3.95mg of iron regarded as the highest amount. Subjects were taking 6.72mg(51.4% of RDA) of iron per day from main dishes(rice, bread and noddle). The fifty percent of the subjects showed iron depletion(serum ferritin<20ng/ml) and 33.4% showed suppressed erythropoiesis with iron deficiency(serum ferritin<10ng/ml). The anemic subjects assessed with transferrin saturation(<155) represented 33.3% of the test population, whereas 11.8% of the subjects possessed less than 12g/dl of hemoglobin. Subjects not satisfed with their body shape were having significantly lower amount of energy intake(p<0.05) than the subjects satisfied with their body shape. College women having mothers who graduated from university had a significantly decreased amount of energy, carbohydrates, fat and vitamin C(p<0.05). The mean RBC and serum iron of the subjects who were on a diet more than one mouth were lower than those of the subjects who were not on a diet(p<0.05).
Bread ; Carbohydrates ; Diet ; Erythropoiesis ; Female* ; Heme ; Humans ; Iron* ; Mothers ; Mouth ; Nutritional Status* ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Snacks ; Transferrin ; Vitamins

The purpose of this study was to determine biochemical parameters related to protein and immunity. Subjects were 125 preschool children(M:69, F:56) residing in low income area of Seoul. Mean serum total protein of the children aged 6 was 7.3g/dl which was significantly higher than 6.6g/dl of the group aged 3. The mean serum albumin was 4.7g/dl for 3, 4, 5 age group, and 4.9g/dl for 6 age group and there was no significant difference. Serum retinol binding protein(RBP) is used as a sensitive indicatior of protein, becase it tends to fall rapidly in response to protein status and respond to quickly dietary treatment. Mean RBP for each group(3, 4, 5 and 6 age group) were 2.5 microgram/dl was 15.9%, 19.2%, 24.3% and 16.7%, respectively. The 24-hour urinary excretion of hydroxyproline was 7.9 mg, 14.6 mg, 11.7 mg and 11.8 mg for each group and the mean excretion of all children was 12.2 mg/day. Children aged 3 were excreting significantly lower amount of hydroxprolinc per day than the children aged 4. The mean hydroxyproline index were 2.18, 2.39, 2.52, 2.80 for each age group and the mean of a group aged 6 was significantly higher than that of the group aged 3. The proportion of children assessed as malnourished and impaired growth(hydroxyproline index<2.0) was 18.8%, 4.9%, 2.5% and 4.3%, respectively. The nutrients which showed significant relationship with protein and immunity parameters were niacin, vitamin C and calcium. Vitamin C showed significant positive relationship(p<0.05-p<0.01) with serum RBP, total protein and globulin. The triceps skinfold thickness was significantly and positively correlated with serum globulin. Serum IgG showed significant positive relationship with height, weight, girth of chest and midarm circumference(p<0.05-p<0.01).
Ascorbic Acid ; Calcium ; Child ; Child, Preschool* ; Complement C3 ; Humans ; Hydroxyproline ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin G ; Niacin ; Nutritional Status* ; Seoul ; Serum Albumin ; Skinfold Thickness ; Thorax ; Vitamin A

The nutritional status of 125 preschool chidren(Female : 56, Male : 69) residing in low income area of Seoul was surveyed. The mean family size was 4.3 and the mean monthly income was 921,000 won which was below the poverty level. Average heights of boys aged 3, 4, 5 and 6 were 98.6 cm, 106.1 cm, 111.9 cm and 116.0 cm and those for girls were 99.4 cm, 106.4 cm, 110.9 cm, and 116.0 cm, respectively. There was no significant difference between the height of boys and girls. The proportion of children showing stunted growth(<90% of Korean standard of height) was 3.2%. The mean weight of boys for each age group(3, 4, 5, 6) were not significantly differient from that of girls. The proposetion of children assessed as moderately underweight (<80-90% of Korean Standard of weight) was 10.4% and 3.2% of children was underweight(<80% of weight standard). The group of children aged 3 were taking adequate energy, whereas the mean energy intake of children aged 4.5 and 6 were wirthin 77.3-78.6% of RDA. The proportion of energy derived from carbohydrate, fat and protein was 60.1%, 24.6% and 15.3%. The high proportion of energy derived from fat seems partly due to high energy intake from fat in the snack. The nutrients which did not meet 75% of the RDA were vitamin A and calcium for children aged 5, and iron for children aged 3 to 5. Carbohydrate intake was positively correlated with the height, weight and girth of chest(P<0.05-P<0.001). There was positive correlation between protein intake and weight, girth of chest and BMI, respectively(P<0.05). Iron intake showed positive relationship with height, weight and BMI(P<0.05).
Anthropometry* ; Calcium ; Child ; Child, Preschool* ; Energy Intake ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Iron ; Male ; Nutritional Status* ; Poverty ; Seoul ; Snacks ; Thinness ; Thorax ; Vitamin A

This study examined the effectiveness of two commonly used dietary assessment methods (the 24-hour recall and the food frequency questionnaire) in the epidemiological investigations of health-related habits and degenerative diseases. This cross sectional project in the Seoul area was conducted for the purpose of establishing cohort subjects and collecting reliable nutrient intake data for a further large-scale cross sectional study. The subjects were 91 volunteers from the Seoul area with a mean age of 53.5 +/- 9.6 for the males and 52.2 +/- 8.9 for the females. The subjects had a rela-tively high educational background, were from high socioeconomic levels, and were greatly concerned about healthrelated life styles. There was a significantly negative correlation between their smoking and their nutrient intake. Their drinking habits, their self-estimated health status and their concern or stress about being healthy did not have any influence on their nutrient intakes. Skipping meals was the most undesirable dietary habit influencing their nutrient intakes, and the next was their irregularity of eating meals. The subjects who liked legumes and fish had higher intakes of iron and niacin and those who liked milk and dairy products had higher intakes of calcium, vitamin B2 and fat. The subjects who considered themselves not to be healthy consumed higher amounts of fish and shell-fish, and those who considered themselves to be healthy consumed higher amounts of vegetables. The smokers consumed less fruits than non-smokers, but there was no correlation between their drinking and consumption of the food groups. There was no correlation between their food consumption frequency and their skipping meals or meal irregularity. There were positive correlations between their food likes and food consumption frequency for foods such as meat, milk and dairy products, seaweeds and fruits. Therefore, their smoking, skipping meals and meal irregularity appeared to greatly influence their nutrient intakes. Significant correlations were found between their health-related habits and their food group preferences and food frequencies. This implies that simple surveying methods using criteria such as smoking, skipping meals and meal irregularity, food group preferences and eating frequencies can be used as useful tools in the assessment of nutritional statuses.
Calcium ; Cohort Studies ; Dairy Products ; Drinking ; Eating ; Fabaceae ; Female ; Food Habits ; Fruit ; Humans ; Iron ; Life Style ; Male ; Meals ; Meat ; Milk ; Niacin ; Nutritional Status ; Riboflavin ; Seoul* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vegetables ; Volunteers

This study examined the reproducibility of nutrient intakes estimated by the 24-hour recall method in a prospective cohort study (Longitudinal study of aging and health monitoring of Korean elderly) of middle-aged volunteer subjects (42 males and 49 females) in the Seoul area. The three-day 24-hour recall was administered twice at an interval of approximately 6 months. The first data were collected and a corrective procedure was performed by interviewing of the subjects and a trained dietitian. The second data were collected by mail from the subjects without the performance of any corrective procedure. The mean age of the subjects was 53.5+/-9.6 for the males and 52.2+/-8.9 for the females. The subjects who had above college education were 95% in the case of the males and 60% in the case of the females. The characteristics of the male subjects in this study were that they were highly educated and held professional jobs and were from the middle or upper class. Comparing the first and second 24-hour recall data, the second data showed relatively lower intakes of all nutrients, except vitamin A, vitamin Bi and cholesterol. There was no difference in the nutrients of the first and the second data with respect to vitamin A, vitamin B1 and cholesterol in the males and calcium, iron, sodium, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and cholesterol in the females. This data may indicate that the 24 hour retail method without a dietitian's help may result in lower reporting of the subject's intakes. The men had a tendency to remember less than the women. Pearson's correlation coefficients with unadjusted nutrient intakes values were ranged from 0.24 to 0.66. When energy intake was adjusted, there was a slight increase (from 0.26 to 0.71). Intra-class correlation coefficients with nutrient-unadjusted values ranged from 0.22 to 0.66, and the energy-adjusted values were ranged from 0.23 to 0.69. The weighted Kappa statistical values ranged from 0.10 to 0.40. On the average,46.3% of the subjects who were found in the lowest quartile of the nutrient intake levels based on the first 24-hour recall, were in the lowest quartile based on the second 24-hour recall. Therefore, there was a low reproducibility between the first and the second 24-hour recall. We should examine the factors influencing low reproducibility. Also, strategies should be developed to maximize the reliability of the assessment, with regard to portion-size training and telephone validation.
Aging ; Calcium ; Cholesterol ; Cohort Studies ; Education ; Energy Intake ; Female ; Humans ; Iron ; Male ; Nutritionists ; Postal Service ; Prospective Studies ; Riboflavin ; Seoul ; Sodium ; Telephone ; Thiamine ; Vitamin A ; Vitamins ; Volunteers

It is reported that a fermented soybean food, Doenjang, has strong antimutagenic and cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. This study investigated the effect of Chungkookjang, another traditional popular Korean soybean fermented food, on growth of cancer cells: HL-60, SNU-638 and MCF-7, and also its in vivo antitumorigenic effect in DMBA-induced mammary tumor rat model. For the in vitro study, Chungkookjang and steamed soybeans were extracted with ethanol and sequentially fractioned with 5 kinds of solvents differing in grades of polarity such as hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, butanol and water. Almost all Chungkookjang extracts significantly inhibited the growth of HL-60 (human leukemic cancer cell), SNU-638 (human gastric cancer cell) and MCF-7 (human breast cancer cell) when compared to steamed soybean extracts. Butanol fraction of Chungkookjang extract especially showed a remarkable inhibitory effect in all the three kinds of cancer cells. To induce a mammary gland tumor, DMBA (50 mg/BW) was administered to 50 day-old female rats and followed by Chungkookjang or steamed soybean supplemented diets. Freezedried Chungkookjang powder (20% of diet in wet weight) was added to AIN-93G based diet for the Chungkookjang group of rats. Likewise, steamed soybean powder containing equal protein content to that of Chungkookjang powder was supplemented to soybean group of rats. At 13 weeks later, the mammary tumor incidence, average tumor number and tumor weight a rat were lower in Chungkookjang group compared to the control or soybean group. In conclusion, Chungkookjang showed a strong inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth in vitro, as well as a more preventive effect against chemically induced mammary tumorigenesis in vivo, while steamed soybeans did not. Therefore, these results suggest that Chungkookjang acquire its anticancer activity through the fermentation process.
9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene ; Animals ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinogenesis ; Diet ; Ethanol ; Female ; Fermentation ; Humans* ; Incidence ; Mammary Glands, Human ; Methylene Chloride ; Models, Animal ; Rats* ; Solvents ; Soybeans* ; Steam ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Tumor Burden ; Water

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein(a)[Lp(a)] is a subspecies of low-density lipoprotein and has been shown to be associated with pathogenesis of thrombosis-related disease. It is already known that patients with diabetic nephropathy are usually complicated by vascular complications such as coronary artery diseases and cerebrovascular accidents. According to the recent data, Lp(a) level tends to be increased as the proteinuria is increased and renal function are decreased. We evaluated the Lp(a) level to know whether its level is correlated to the severity of diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: We investigated Lp(a) levels in eighty-one patients with Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients. They were divided into four groups according to the level of urinary albumin excretion and serum creatinine level: Group 1 (n=30): normal renal function + urine microalbumin or=1.5mg/dL. Blood samples were obtained during the morning in the fasting state and separated serum from the it and reserved at -70degrees C. Lp(a) concentration was checked by one-step sandwich ELISA test. All grouped data were expressed as mean+/-SD. ANOVA and unpaired t-test was used to assess the statistical difference between any two means. RESULTS: Lp(a) levels were 30.2+/-4.6mg/dL in Group 1, 42.7+/-8.2mg/dL in group 2, 73.4+/-19.7mg/dL in group 3, and 80.7+/-14.8mg/dL in group 4. The level of Lp(a) in group4, group 3, and group 2 was significantly higher than that of group 1 respectively (P=0.009, 0.001, 0.038). However, no significant correlation was observed between the level of Lp(a) and that of total cholesterol, triglyceride and total lipid in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: these results indicate that Lp(a) concentrations are increased in the patients with diabetic nephropathy with microalbuminuria or overt proteinuria. So, the presence of albuminuria may be the important determinant for the elevated Lp(a) level in diabetic nephropathy.
Albuminuria ; Cholesterol ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Creatinine ; Diabetic Nephropathies* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fasting ; Humans ; Lipoprotein(a)* ; Lipoproteins* ; Proteinuria ; Stroke ; Triglycerides ; Urinalysis