Biomedical subjects

Eun-Hee Ha

Publications and source records attributed to Eun-Hee Ha.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Ischemic stroke associated with decrease in temperature.

BACKGROUND: Some studies suggest low temperatures can affect mortality, especially deaths associated with circulatory and respiratory conditions. METHODS: We investigated the association between ischemic stroke onset and decrease in temperature in 545 patients over a 3-year period (January 1998 to December 2000) in Incheon, Korea. We used a case-crossover study design to assess changes in the risk of ischemic stroke during a brief hazard period after exposure to decrease in temperature. For each subject, the case period was matched to 2 control periods exactly 1 week before and after onset of the ischemic stroke. RESULTS: Decreased ambient temperature was associated with risk of acute ischemic stroke. The strongest effect was seen on day after exposure to cold weather. The odds ratio (OR) for an interquartile range decrease in temperature was 2.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5-5.3). The risk period was 24-48 hours after cold exposure. Risk estimates associated with decreased temperature were greater in the winter than in the summer. Women, persons greater than 65 years of age, nonobese persons, and those with previous hypertension or hypercholesterolemia were more susceptible to cold-induced ischemic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that stroke occurrence rises with decreasing temperature, and that even a moderate decrease in temperature can increase the risk of ischemic stroke. Susceptible people should take steps to protect themselves from cold, especially in the winter.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2003

Effects of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms on the relationship between maternal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and neonatal birth weight.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether genetic polymorphisms in enzymes that metabolize exogenous chemicals modulate the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure on birth weight. A survey was conducted from 2000 to 2001 among 266 pregnant women who were hospitalized for delivery and on their singleton live births. We determined maternal GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction and measured the urinary cotinine of pregnant women at delivery by radioimmunoassay. Birth weight was found to decrease significantly with increasing concentrations of maternal urinary cotinine (P < 0.05). The interactive effect of exposure to ETS and the presence of the GSTT1 polymorphism was found to be significant by multivariate analysis (P < 0.01), whereas the interactive effect of exposure to ETS and the presence of GSTM1 polymorphism did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.21). A combination of the GSTM1-null and the GSTT1 null-genotypes was found to exacerbate the effect of maternal exposure to ETS on birth weight more than the presence of either genotype alone. Our data indicate that maternal exposure to ETS negatively affects neonatal birth weight, and the adverse effect of maternal exposure to ETS on neonatal birth weight could be modified by the maternal metabolic genotypes, GSTM1 and GSTT1.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Infant susceptibility of mortality to air pollution in Seoul, South Korea.

OBJECTIVE: Susceptibility of target populations to air pollution is an important issue, because air pollution policies and standards should be based on the susceptibilities of those at particular risk. To evaluate which age group is more susceptible to the adverse health effects of air pollution, we compared the effects of air pollution on mortality among postneonates, those aged 2 to 64 years, and those over 65 years of age. DESIGN: Daily counts of total and respiratory death along with daily levels of meteorological variables and air pollutants were analyzed using generalized additive Poisson regression. The relative risks (RR) of mortality for interquartile changes of the levels of particulate matter <10 micro m (PM(10)) were calculated on the same day. RESULTS: For postneonates, the RR of total mortality for an interquartile change (42.9 micro g/m(3)) in PM(10) (RR: 1.142; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.096-1.190) was greatest among age groups. Next were the elderly over 65 years of age (RR: 1.023; 95% CI: 1.022-1.024). Regarding respiratory mortality, RR for an interquartile change of PM(10) in postneonates (RR: 2.018; 95% CI: 1.784-2.283) was also greater than those in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results agree with the hypothesis that infants are most susceptible to PM(10) in terms of mortality, particularly respiratory mortality.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Serum cytokine profiles in patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria: a comparison between those who presented with and without hyperpyrexia.

Serum cytokine profiles in patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria who presented with and without hyperpyrexia were compared by a retrospective review of the medical records of the consecutive patients seen at the military hospitals near the demilitarized zone in the Republic of Korea from April 2000 through October 2001. Of 162 male patients studied, 120 (86.4%) presented with hyperpyrexia (i.e., an axillary temperature > or = 40 degrees C). The mean +/- SEM ages of the patients with and without hyperpyrexia were 21.5 +/- 0.14 and 21.9 +/- 0.39 years, respectively (P = 0.33). The mean +/- SEM concentrations of serum interleukin (IL)-6 (379.7 +/- 44.1 pg/mL versus 105.4 +/- 26.8 pg/mL; P = 0.002), IL-10 (583.4 +/- 58.2 pg/mL versus 142.4 +/- 39.7 pg/mL; P = 0.0001), and interferon-gamma (312.6 +/- 33.9 pg/mL versus 112.9 +/- 27.1 pg/mL; P = 0.0001) were significantly higher in patients with hyperpyrexia compared with those without hyperpyrexia. The mean +/- SEM concentrations of serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha were 155.5 +/- 54.5 pg/mL and 109.9 +/- 29.3 pg/mL (P = 0.27) in patients who presented with and without hyperpyrexia, respectively. Further studies are needed to examine whether serum concentrations of these cytokines also parallel their concentrations at the tissue sites of their production and action.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Genetic susceptibility of term pregnant women to oxidative damage.

Genetic polymorphisms involved in the activation and detoxification of exogenous chemicals and in the production and scavenging of reactive oxygen species may modulate the levels of oxidative injury biomarker. We investigated 81 pregnant women in Inchon, Korea. In addition to a questionnaire survey, urinary concentrations of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured as oxidative injury biomarkers. Cytochrome P-450(CYP)1A1, CYP2E1, glutathione S-transferase (GST)M1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) polymorphisms were evaluated to determine the effect of genetic modification on urinary 8-OH-dG and MDA. The concentrations of urinary 8-OH-dG were significantly elevated in the presence of the MnSOD variant genotype (P=0.04) and in the case of GSTM1 null status (P=0.02) by multivariate regression. The concentrations of urinary MDA were not affected significantly by the genetic polymorphisms. This result shows that oxidative stress injury is modified by some heritable polymorphisms, including GSTM1 and MnSOD.

8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine↗

PubMed2002

Association of air pollution with school absenteeism due to illness.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of air pollution and school absenteeism among elementary students. DESIGN: Time-series analysis of air pollution and school absenteeism data with controlling for long-term trends, seasonality, day of the week, and holiday as well as meteorologic variables. SETTING: School absenteeism data for the period from March 2, 1996, to December 22, 1999, were collected from student attendance reports of one elementary school in Seoul, Korea. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of daily illness-related absences was analyzed against the daily levels of air pollution by generalized additive Poisson regression. The relative risks of absenteeism for air pollution exposure of interquartile ranges (the range from the lowest 25% of the value to the lowest 75% of the value) on absenteeism were calculated on the same day. RESULTS: Exposure to air pollutants such as particulate matter of 10 micro m or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)), sulfur dioxide, and ozone, was associated with illness-related absenteeism. The estimated relative risks were 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.09) per 42.1- micro g/m( 3) increase in PM(10), 1.09 (95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.12) per 5.68-part per billion increase in sulfur dioxide, and 1.08 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.11) per 15.94-part per billion increase in ozone. There was no significant relationship between nitrogen dioxide level and illness-related absenteeism. CONCLUSION: Air pollution is associated with illness-related absences among elementary students.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed2002

Effects of air pollutants on acute stroke mortality.

The relationship between stroke and air pollution has not been adequately studied. We conducted a time-series study to examine the evidence of an association between air pollutants and stroke over 4 years (January 1995-December 1998) in Seoul, Korea. We used a generalized additive model to regress daily stroke death counts for each pollutant, controlling for seasonal and long-term trends and meteorologic influences, such as temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. We observed an estimated increase of 1.5% [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3-1.8%] and 2.9% (95% CI, 0.3-5.5%) in stroke mortality for each interquartile range increase in particulate matter < 10 microm aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)) and ozone concentrations in the same day. Stroke mortality also increased 3.1% (95% CI, 1.1-5.1%) for nitrogen dioxide, 2.9% (95% CI, 0.8-5.0%) for sulfur dioxide, and 4.1% (95% CI, 1.1-7.2%) for carbon monoxide in a 2-day lag for each interquartile range increase in single-pollutant models. When we examined the associations among PM(10) levels stratified by the level of gaseous pollutants and vice versa, we found that these pollutants are interactive with respect to their effects on the risk of stroke mortality. We also observed that the effects of PM(10) on stroke mortality differ significantly in subgroups by age and sex. We conclude that PM(10) and gaseous pollutants are significant risk factors for acute stroke death and that the elderly and women are more susceptible to the effect of particulate pollutants.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Benzo[a]pyrene-induced DNA-protein crosslinks in cultured human lymphocytes and the role of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes.

We investigated the influence of glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) polymorphisms upon DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) induced by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) in cultured human lymphocytes. Lymphocyte samples were collected from 30 healthy nonsmoking hospital administrative workers. DPC was detected with KCl-SDS assay and the distributions of GSTM1 and GSTT1 were determined by polymerase chain reaction. B[a]P was found to induce a significant dose-responsive increase in cytotoxicity and DPC regardless of the genotypes (p<0.05). We did not find statistically significant genetic modification effect of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms in the cytotoxicity and DPC formation (p>0.05). In terms of the genes examined, the level of cytotoxicity and DPC formation were found to be highest in the GSTM1-null and GSTT1-null cells. In conclusion, B[a]P induced a significant increase in the cytotoxicity and the level of DPC formation in cultured human lymphocytes. Our findings suggest that DPC could be used as a biomarker of B[a]P exposure.

Adult↗