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Mun Hyuk Seong,
Ho Kil,
Jong Yeop Kim,
Sang Soo Lee,
Eun Sun Jang,
Jin-Wook Kim,
Sook-Hyang Jeong,
Young Seok Kim,
Si Hyun Bae,
Youn Jae Lee,
Han Chu Lee, Haesun Yun,
Byung Hak Kang,
Kisang Kim
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ABSTRACT: The distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes varies geographically. In Korea, genotypes 1 and 2 comprise more than 90% of HCV infections, while genotype 6 is very rare. This study compared the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with genotype 6 HCV infection with those infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 2.
This was a prospective, multicenter HCV cohort study that enrolled 1,173 adult patients, of which 930 underwent HCV genotype analysis, and only 9 (1.0%) were found to be infected with genotype 6 HCV. The clinical and epidemiological parameters of the genotypes were compared.
The patients with genotype 6 HCV had a mean age of 41.5 years, 77.8% were male, and they had no distinct laboratory features. A sustained virologic response (SVR) was observed in four (67%) of six patients who received antiviral therapy. Risk factors such as the presence of a tattoo (n=6, 66.7%), more than three sexual partners (n=3, 33.3%), and injection drug use (n=3, 33.3%) were more common among genotype 6 patients than among genotypes 1 or 2.
The epidemiology and treatment response of patients infected with genotype 6 HCV differed significantly from those with genotypes 1 or 2, warranting continuous monitoring.
Clinical and molecular hepatology. 03/2013; 19(1):45-50.
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Haesun Yun,
Hyeok Jin Lee,
Je-Hyuck Jang,
Jeong Sim Kim,
Sang Hyub Lee,
Jin-Wook Kim,
Sang Jong Park,
Young Min Park,
Seong Gyu Hwang,
Kyu Sung Rim,
Sook-Kyoung Kang,
Hyun Seok Lee,
Sook-Hyang Jeong
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ABSTRACT: Korea has recently experienced a nationwide outbreak of hepatitis A. This study aimed to investigate hepatitis A virus (HAV) genotypes and to compare clinical features between patients infected with HAV genotype IA and those with genotype IIIA. From September 2006 to August 2008, 595 patients with symptomatic hepatitis A were enrolled prospectively in four hospitals in Korea. Among them, 556 patients participated in this study by providing serum or stool samples for genotypic analysis. HAV RNA was detected in 499 patients (89.7%). Major genotypes included IA (n = 244, 48.9%) and IIIA (n = 244, 48.9%), and the remaining genotype was IB (n = 11, 2.2%). From September 2006 to August 2007, the distribution of genotypes IA and IIIA were 64.6% and 35.6%, respectively, which changed to 42.3% and 54.6%, respectively, from September 2007 to August 2008, indicating change of circulating HAV genotypes in the study period from IA to IIIA. Major patterns of amino acid substitution in the VP3/VP1 junction region were observed at position 512 (P → L) in genotype IA and at 520 (R → K) in genotype IIIA. Patients with genotype IIIA infection showed significantly higher aminotransferase levels, prothrombin time, and leukocyte count, with more severe symptoms than those with genotype IA at the time of admission. These results suggest the occurrence of a change of circulating HAV genotypes in recent community-wide outbreaks of hepatitis A in Korea, and genotype IIIA infection, compared with genotype IA infection, might show more severe clinical manifestations.
Journal of Medical Virology 12/2011; 83(12):2073-81. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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Haesun Yun,
Hyeok Jin Lee,
Je-Hyuck Jang,
Jeong Sim Kim,
Sang Hyub Lee,
Jin-Wook Kim,
Sang Jong Park,
Young Min Park,
Seong Gyu Hwang,
Kyu Sung Rim,
Sook-Kyoung Kang,
Hyun Seok Lee,
Sook-Hyang Jeong
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ABSTRACT: Korea has recently experienced a nationwide outbreak of hepatitis A. This study aimed to investigate hepatitis A virus (HAV) genotypes and to compare clinical features between patients infected with HAV genotype IA and those with genotype IIIA. From September 2006 to August 2008, 595 patients with symptomatic hepatitis A were enrolled prospectively in four hospitals in Korea. Among them, 556 patients participated in this study by providing serum or stool samples for genotypic analysis. HAV RNA was detected in 499 patients (89.7%). Major genotypes included IA (n = 244, 48.9%) and IIIA (n = 244, 48.9%), and the remaining genotype was IB (n = 11, 2.2%). From September 2006 to August 2007, the distribution of genotypes IA and IIIA were 64.6% and 35.6%, respectively, which changed to 42.3% and 54.6%, respectively, from September 2007 to August 2008, indicating change of circulating HAV genotypes in the study period from IA to IIIA. Major patterns of amino acid substitution in the VP3/VP1 junction region were observed at position 512 (P → L) in genotype IA and at 520 (R → K) in genotype IIIA. Patients with genotype IIIA infection showed significantly higher aminotransferase levels, prothrombin time, and leukocyte count, with more severe symptoms than those with genotype IA at the time of admission. These results suggest the occurrence of a change of circulating HAV genotypes in recent community-wide outbreaks of hepatitis A in Korea, and genotype IIIA infection, compared with genotype IA infection, might show more severe clinical manifestations. J. Med. Virol. 83:2073–2081, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Journal of Medical Virology 10/2011; 83(12):2073 - 2081. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Several cases of serologically diagnosed hepatitis E have been reported in South Korea; however, there have been no documented cases of zoonotic transmission with virologic characterization of hepatitis E virus (HEV). We report on a sporadic case of autochthonous acute hepatitis E after ingestion of raw bile juice obtained from a wild boar living on a domestic mountain in a southern part of Korea. It is the first case of hepatitis E acquired through presumably zoonotic transmission, which was verified as genotype 4 HEV.
Journal of clinical virology: the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology 03/2011; 50(3):253-6. · 3.12 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was originally identified as the etiological agent of non-HAV enterically transmitted hepatitis. One HEV strain (FJ763142) was identified from an acute viral hepatitis E patient with IgM anti-HEV in Korea. The complete genome sequence consisted of 7,238 nucleotides (nt) plus a 22-nt poly(A) tail. The strain belongs to genotype IV, with 91% homology compared with AB197674, which was found in a Japanese patient who had traveled to China. This finding suggests that HEV genotype IV already circulates in Korea, and this HEV might be the first example of an indigenous strain.
Archives of Virology 04/2010; 155(6):1003-8. · 2.11 Impact Factor
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Miyuki Taniguchi,
Soo Ryang Kim,
Shunji Mishiro,
Kazuaki Takahashi,
Myung Hee Shin, Haesun Yun,
Man Suk Park,
Zhong Min Li,
Mi Kyung Kim,
Jinnv Fang,
Yoshitake Hayashi
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ABSTRACT: The seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Northeastern Asia is unknown. This study was conducted to gain insight into the epidemiology of HEV that has been obscure in Northeastern China, South Korea and Japan.
A total of 1500 samples of serum were collected (300 each) from 5 groups of inhabitants over 40 years of age (Korean Chinese, indigenous Chinese, South Koreans, Koreans living in Japan, and indigenous Japanese) and screened for antibodies to HEV by the antigen-antibody-antigen sandwich Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay system.
The positivity for HEV antibodies was 50.7% (95%CI: 45.0-56.3) in Korean Chinese, 47.7% (95%CI: 42.1-53.3) in indigenous Chinese, 34% (95%CI: 28.9-39.5) in South Koreans, 14.3% (95%CI: 10.8-18.8) in Koreans living in Japan, and 6.0% (95%CI: 3.8-9.3) in indigenous Japanese.
This result emphasizes that HEV is endemic in Northeastern Asia and tends to accumulate in developing countries. Further studies are needed to elucidate the genotype of HEV circulating in these areas and its transmission route-water-borne outbreaks, smaller outbreaks or sporadic forms attributed to zoonosis-with reference to past epidemics, food culture, and sanitary conditions.
The Journal of infection 03/2009; 58(3):232-7. · 4.13 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Although intravenous drug users are a well-known route of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission, there is no data on the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection among intravenous drug users in Korea. In order to describe the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection, and to determine HCV genotypes in the population, serum samples were collected from 107 intravenous drug users during 2005-2006. Fifty-seven percent (n = 61) were HCV RNA positive and 51% (n = 55) were HBV DNA positive. Co-infection of HBV and HCV were found in 23% (n = 25). HCV genotypes 1b, 2a/2c, 2, 2b, and 3a were found in 38% (n = 23), 44% (n = 27), 8% (n = 5), 2% (n = 1), and 3% (n = 2), respectively. Moreover, mixed infections of genotypes 1b and 2a/2c were found in 5% (n = 3). When the number of patients with HCV genotype 1b compared with that of patients with genotype 2a/2c, HBV DNA titer was not significantly different by independent t-test (t = -0.881, P = 0.392 > 0.05) between the two patient groups. These results suggest that the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection among intravenous drug users is high showing over 50% in Korea and a strategic prevention program should be performed in this group to prevent further infection into local community.
Journal of Medical Virology 09/2008; 80(9):1570-5. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a causative agent of acute viral hepatitis, which represents a significant public health problem. HAV is usually transmitted by oral-fecal route and prevalent not only in developing countries but also in developed countries worldwide. To characterize the HAV wild type strains circulating in Korea, the VP3/VP1 and VP1/P2A junction regions were detected by RT-PCR from HAV IgM positives during 2005 and 2006. Among 160 HAV IgM positive sera, 30% (n = 48) were positive for HAV RNA. Additionally, the VP3/VP1 junction regions were detected all six stools, which collected from outbreak in Gyeonggi province. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained from 54 distinct HAV isolates revealed that most of the strains (n = 45) belonged to genotype IA and the others including nine strains belonged to genotype IIIA. Interestingly, a Q --> S amino acid change was dominantly observed at position 810 of the VP1/P2A junction region in 14 isolates. The molecular epidemiology of HAV infection in Korea has changed with the co-circulation of at least two genotypes and 810Q --> S amino acid substitutions were found to be prevalent. These results strongly suggest that various HAV strains, including genotype IIIA, might be imported from high-endemic countries into Korea.
Journal of Medical Virology 06/2008; 80(5):777-84. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In order to investigate the prevalence of sexually transmitted viruses such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) in Korean commercial sex workers (CSWs), we selected 188 CSWs (age range 20-44 years, median age 24 years) who regularly visited one public health center in Seoul, Korea. HPV genotypes were analyzed by using a HPV DNA chip, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect type-specific IgG against HSV2 antibody identifying seropositivity for HSV2 infection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with specific primers to detect HPV and HSV1/2 in cervical swabs from the CSWs. The prevalence of HPV infection was 83.5% in 188 cervical swab specimens and the main high-risk HPV genotypes were HPV16, 18, 56, and 58. The principal low-risk HPV genotypes were HPV6 and 11. The prevalence of HSV1/2 DNA was 13.8% and HSV2 seroprevalence was 86.2%. These results suggest that high frequencies of HPV and HSV2 infection might contribute to the rapid spread of STD viruses in CSWs in Korea. Additionally, an understanding of why high-risk HPV genotypes are so prevalent could provide guidelines for prophylactic vaccine development in Korea.
Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 03/2008; 18(2):350-4. · 1.38 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The distribution of HPV16 sequence variations differs geographically and specific HPV16 E6 and E7 variants might carry a high risk for development of invasive cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in a given population. To investigate the genetic variation of HPV 16 E6 and E7 genes, genomic DNAs from 56 HPV16-infected commercial sex workers were extracted from their cervical swabs by using DNA isolation kit. The E6 and E7 coding region (34-880) with HPV16 E6/E7 specific PCR were amplified and analyzed by using the DNAstar software. At the nucleotide level, 26 variants of the HPV16 E6 and E7 genes were identified including 12 silent mutations. At the amino acid level, the isolates showed 14 variants including E6 Q14H, E6 D25E, E6 I27R, E6 H78Y, E6 L83V, and E7 N29S. The dominant HPV16 E6 and E7 variants were HPV16 E6 D25E (68%) and HPV16 E7 N29S (73%), respectively, which belong to Asian lineage. Although this study has some limitations such as a small sample size and not enough clinical data, these finding suggests that the distinctive distribution of HPV 16 As-variant E6 D25E and E7 N29S might be associated with geographical dependence rather than disease progression. Further study is needed to determine the clinical and biological effects of these variants.
Journal of Medical Virology 05/2007; 79(4):426-30. · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae KNU5377 strain, which was isolated from spoilage in nature, has the ability to convert biomass to alcohol at high temperatures and it can resist against various stresses. In order to understand the defense mechanisms of the KNU5377 strain under menadione (MD) as oxidative stress, we used several techniques for study: peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) followed by two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis, liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS), and surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization-time of flight (SELDI-TOF) technology. Among the 35 proteins identified by MALDI-TOF MS, 19 proteins including Sod1p, Sod2p, Tsa1p, and Ahp1p were induced under stress condition, while 16 proteins were augmented under normal condition. In particular, five proteins, Sod1p, Sod2p, Ahp1p, Rib3p, Yaf9p, and Mnt1p, were induced in only stressed cells. By LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis, 37 proteins were identified in normal cells and 49 proteins were confirmed in the stressed cells. Among the identified proteins, 32 proteins were found in both cells. Five proteins including Ye1047cp and Met6p were only upregulated in the normal cells, whereas 17 proteins including Abp1p and Sam1p were elevated in the stressed cells. It was interesting that highly hypothetical proteins such as Ynl281wp, Ygr279cp, Ypl273wp, Ykl133cp, and Ykr074wp were only expressed in the stressed cells. SELDI-TOF analysis using the SAX2 and WCX2 chips showed that highly multiple-specific protein patterns were reproducibly detected in ranges from 2.9 to 27.0 kDa both under normal and stress conditions. Therefore, induction of antioxidant proteins, hypothetical proteins, and low molecular weight proteins were revealed by different proteomic techniques. These results suggest that comparative analyses using proteomics might contribute to elucidate the defense mechanisms of KNU5377 under MD stress.
Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 03/2007; 17(2):207-17. · 1.38 Impact Factor
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Wonil Jeong,
Donghyung Noh,
Oh-Deog Kwon,
Bruce H Williams,
Seung-Chun Park,
Manhee Lee,
Sunhee Do,
Jaeyong Chung,
Gippeum Lee, Haesun Yun,
Kyu-Shik Jeong
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ABSTRACT: A 10-month old male Shi-tzu was presented with a week history of scurfy skin and whitish masses located in the ventral portion of tongue. Grossly, two whitish prominences with diameters of 3 to 4 mm were found on the underside of the tongue. Microscopically, in ulcerative epidermis, deposition of dense, amorphous granular basophilic calcium salts was separated by thin fibrous connective tissue containing mild inflammation. Many fascicles were characterized by replacement of degenerating myofibers with calcification. The precise cause of calcification could not be determined; however, it is interesting that two different lesions shown in calcinosis circumscripta and slight nutritional myopathy were also observed simultaneously only in the tongue.
Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 05/2004; 66(4):433-5. · 0.85 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Menadione (MD), a simplest synthetic quinone used with reactive oxygen species (ROSs) generating agents, causes damages to Saccharomyces cerevisiae KNU5377. To understand antioxidant defense mechanisms under adaptive stress response, we have performed biochemical analyses and the genome-wide gene expression analysis after exposure to 120 μM of MD with and without adaptation. KNU5377 could survive at higher concentration of MD, 680 μM for 1 h, comparing with S. cerevisiae W303, ATCC24858 as reference strains. Glutathione peroxidase (GPX2), thioredoxin peroxidase 2 (TSA2), and thioredoxin reductase (TRR1) were up-regulated over 10-fold after treatment of 120 μM. Superoxide dismutase (SOD1), catalase (CTA1), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (ZWF1), glutathione peroxidase (GPX2, HYR1), glutathione reductase (GLR1), thioredoxin peroxidase (AHP1), and thioredoxin 2 (TRX2) were also strongly induced after adaptation. Additionally, transcriptional analysis of those genes was well corresponded with up-regulated protein expression and enzyme activity. Antioxidant defense mechanisms containing SOD1, ZWF and TRX2 maybe orchestrate by the different levels at the same time and function to produce effective defense systems. These results suggest that specific mechanisms including the three proteins were well organized for acquiring adaptive response to MD in this strain.
Process Biochemistry.
