Alcohol consumption and cancer risk in South Korea and the UK: prospective cohort studies

Background: This study aimed to compare cancer incidence rates between South Korea and the UK, and assess the associated cancer risks due to alcohol consumption. Methods: Data were pooled from the Korean Cancer Prevention Study-II and the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study Biobank for South Korea, and from UK Biobank (UKB) for the UK, with follow-up until 2020. Age-standardized incidence rates were calculated by using the World Health Organization standard population. Hazard ratios (HRs) for cancer incidence were analysed in relation to alcohol consumption levels. Results: The overall cancer incidence rates were similar between South Korea and the UK. However, the incidence of liver, stomach, and thyroid cancers was more than five times higher in the Korean cohort. Compared with never drinkers, consuming ≥50 g of alcohol daily increased the overall cancer risk by 24% in the Korean data and by 11% in the UKB data. In Korea, heavy drinking (≥50 g/day) was associated with higher risks of esophageal cancer (HR = 12.59), liver cancer (HR = 1.65), head and neck cancer (HR = 2.06), alcohol-related cancers (HR = 1.60), and stomach cancer (HR = 1.43). In the UKB cohort, it was linked to increased risks of head and neck cancer (HR = 1.95), breast cancer (HR = 1.12), and alcohol-related cancers (HR = 1.18). Both cohorts showed a lower risk of thyroid cancer with increased alcohol consumption. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of alcohol-related cancers in both South Korean and UK populations

Experimental infection of a newly emerging Korean type I porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus isolate in colostrum-deprived pigs

Abstract Background Recently, new emergence of type I PRRSV has been reported in Korea by several research groups. Although specific subgroups of type I PRRSVs in Korea were observed in the previous phylogenetic analysis, there is a lack of information about the virulence of type I PRRSV recently isolated in Korea. Methods One type I PRRSV isolate (G2446, 3 times passaged in primarily cultured pulmonary macrophages) in Korea was experimentally infected in colostrum-deprived pigs. The pathological and serological evaluations were performed and compared to type II PRRSV strain (CP07-401-9, 5 times passaged in MARC-145 cell lines)-infected pigs, for 21 days post challenge (dpc). Results The pneumonia found in gross examination was more severe in type I PRRSV-infected pigs than type II PRRSV-infected pigs. Both groups showed bronchointerstitial pneumonia, mild multifocal perivascular lymphohistiocytic myocarditis and lymphadenopathy at 14 dpc. However, the unique histopathologic lesions were not found in the pigs experimentally infected with a Korean type I PRRSV isolate, when compared to previous data about classical pathology of PRRSV. The PRRS-specific antibodies were detected in the first week after challenge and viremia continued at least until 21 dpc in both groups. Conclusion The gross and histopathologic lesion in this study indicated that Korean type I PRRSV strain (G2446) caused classical PRRSV-specific lesions. Although this study evaluated one representative strain of Korean type I PRRSV, the results may provide information regarding the pathogenicity of type I PRRSV recently emerged in Korea. </jats:sec

The assessment of efficacy of porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome virus inactivated vaccine based on the viral quantity and inactivation methods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There have been many efforts to develop efficient vaccines for the control of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Although inactivated PRRSV vaccines are preferred for their safety, they are weak at inducing humoral immune responses and controlling field PRRSV infection, especially when heterologous viruses are involved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all groups, the sample to positive (S/P) ratio of IDEXX ELISA and the virus neutralization (VN) titer remained negative until challenge. While viremia did not reduce in the vaccinated groups, the IDEXX-ELISA-specific immunoglobulin G increased more rapidly and to significantly greater levels 7 days after the challenge in all the vaccinated groups compared to the non-vaccinated groups (<it>p </it>< 0.05). VN titer was significantly different in the 10⁶PFU/mL PRRSV vaccine-inoculated and binary ethylenimine (BEI)-inactivated groups 22 days after challenge (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Consequently, the inactivated vaccines tested in this study provided weak memory responses with sequential challenge without any obvious active immune responses in the vaccinated pigs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The inactivated vaccine failed to show the humoral immunity, but it showed different immune response after the challenge compared to mock group. Although the 10⁶PFU/mL-vaccinated and BEI-inactivated groups showed significantly greater VN titers 22 days after challenge, all the groups were already negative for viremia.</p

Yoga Training Improves Metabolic Parameters in Obese Boys

Yoga has been known to have stimulatory or inhibitory effects on the metabolic parameters and to be uncomplicated therapy for obesity. The purpose of the present study was to test the effect of an 8-week of yoga-asana training on body composition, lipid profile, and insulin resistance (IR) in obese adolescent boys. Twenty volunteers with body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile were randomly assigned to yoga (age 14.7±0.5 years, n=10) and control groups (age 14.6±1.0 years, n=10). The yoga group performed exercises three times per week at 40~60% of heart-rate reserve (HRR) for 8 weeks. IR was determined with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). After yoga training, body weight, BMI, fat mass (FM), and body fat % (BF %) were significantly decreased, and fat-free mass and basal metabolic rate were significantly increased than baseline values. FM and BF % were significantly improved in the yoga group compared with the control group (p\u3c0.05). Total cholesterol (TC) was significantly decreased in the yoga group (p\u3c0.01). HDL-cholesterol was decreased in both groups (p\u3c0.05). No significant changes were observed between or within groups for triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR. Our findings show that an 8-week of yoga training improves body composition and TC levels in obese adolescent boys, suggesting that yoga training may be effective in controlling some metabolic syndrome factors in obese adolescent boys

Evaluation of a competitive ELISA for antibody detection against avian influenza virus

Active serologic surveillance is necessary to control the spread of the avian influenza virus (AIV). In this study, we evaluated a commercially-available cELISA in terms of its ability to detect AIV antibodies in the sera of 3,358 animals from twelve species. cELISA detected antibodies against reference H1- through H15-subtype AIV strains without cross reactivity. Furthermore, the cELISA was able to detect antibodies produced following a challenge of the AIV H9N2 subtype in chickens, or following vaccination of the AIV H9 or H5 subtypes in chickens, ducks and geese. Next, we tested the sensitivity and specificity of the cELISA with sera from twelve different animal species, and compared these results with those obtained by the hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test, the "gold standard" in AIV sera surveillance, a second commercially-available cELISA (IZS ELISA), or the agar gel precipitation (AGP) test. Compared with the HI test, the sensitivities and specificities of cELISA were 95% and 96% in chicken, 86% and 88% in duck, 97% and 100% in turkey, 100% and 87% in goose, and 91% and 97% in swine, respectively. The sensitivities and specificities of the cELISA in this study were higher than those of IZS ELISA for the duck, turkey, goose, and grey partridge sera samples. The results of AGP test against duck and turkey sera also showed significant correlation with the results of cELISA (R-value >0.9). In terms of flock sensitivity, the cELISA correlated better with the HI test than with commercially-available indirect ELISAs, with 100% flock sensitivity

Genetic analysis of ORF5 of recent Korean porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSVs) in viremic sera collected from MLV-vaccinating or non-vaccinating farms

The 23 open reading frame (ORF) 5 sequences of Korean type II porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) were collected from viremic sera from the (modified live vaccine) MLV-vaccinating and non-vaccinating farms from 2007 to 2008. The samples were phylogenetically analyzed with previous ORF5 sequences, including type I Korean PRRSV, and previously reported or collected sequences from 1997 to 2008. A MN184-like subgroup of type II Korean PRRSV was newly identified in the viremic sera collected from 2007 to 2008. And of the type I PRRSVs, one subgroup had 87.2~88.9% similarity with the Lelystad virus, showing a close relationship with the 27~2003 strain of Spain. The maximum parsimony tree of type II PRRSV from 1997 to 2008 showed that they had evolved to four lineages, subgroups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Most of the recently collected type II PRRSVs belonged to subgroup 4 (48%). The region of three B-cell epitopes and two T-cell epitopes of ORF5 amino acids sequences was considerably different from the MLV in subgroups 3 and 4. In conclusion, the existence of type I PRRSV, which was genetically different from Lelystad virus (Prototype of type I PRRSV), and heterologous type II PRRSVs of viremic pigs detected even in the MLV-vaccinating farms indicated the need for new vaccine approaches for the control of PRRSV in Korea

Systemic cytokine profiles of mice vaccinated with naked DNAs encoding six open reading frame antigens of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)

The objective of this study was to characterize the murine immune response to vaccination with DNAs encoding each of six porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) open reading frames (ORFs). After intramuscular vaccination with the naked DNAs, blood was taken on days post-infection (DPI) 7 and 35 and subjected to Bio-Plex cytokine assays. ORF3 elicited high levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α (P < 0.001) and decreased IL-12 levels (P < 0.001) on DPI 7, and was lethal for nine of the 15 vaccinated mice, which died on DPIs 4, 6, 9, and 10. The remaining six mice showed general prostration but then recovered. The clinical signs correlated with the systemic TNF-α and IL-12 levels. ORF1 vaccination elevated T-helper (Th)1 (IFN-γ; P < 0.001) and Th2 (IL-13; P < 0.05) cytokine levels on DPI 35, while ORF2 markedly elevated the expression of the humoral immunity- and Th-2-related cytokine IL-10 (P < 0.001) on DPI 35. These observations provide insights into the immune responses generated by each PCV2 ORF.We are grateful to Ms. Joo-Hee Park for technical assistance. This work was supported in part by the Technology Development Program for Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Republic of Korea

Molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic analysis of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) field isolates in Korea

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has caused devastating enteric disease in Korean pig farms since its first identification in 1992 in Korea. In the present study, the molecular epidemiology, genetic diversity, and phylogenetic relationship of Korean PEDV field isolates to other reference strains were analyzed using the complete E gene. Genetic analysis showed that each PEDV group had several unique characteristics, which indicated that a specific group PEDVs may be differentiated from another group PEDVs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that recent prevalent Korean PEDV field isolates are closely related to the Chinese field strains and differ genetically from the European strains and the vaccine strains used in Korea, which raises questions of whether a new-type PEDV vaccine may be necessary for preventing PEDV infection more effectively in Korea. Notably, a large deletion identified only in the attenuated DR13 can be utilized as a genetic marker, and the methods developed in this study will help to rapidly detect and differentiate PEDVs.open