Publications by authors named "Kijeong Park"

Two-dimensional (2D) Dirac materials, e.g., graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), are one-atom-thick monolayers whose electronic behaviors are described by the Dirac equation.

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Objective: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) presents a global health challenge, characterized by significant morbidity and mortality. However, the role of natural killer T (NKT) cells in human ARDS remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study explored the numerical and functional status of NKT cells in patients with ARDS, examining their clinical relevance and interactions with macrophages and fibroblasts during various stages of the syndrome.

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  • - The study aimed to assess how TNF-α blocker therapy affects the ASAS Health Index in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) who didn't respond to standard nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
  • - Data collected included patient demographics and ASAS-HI scores, which were analyzed to compare the effectiveness of TNF-α blockers versus conventional treatments.
  • - Results showed that while the conventional treatment group had no significant changes, the TNF-α blocker group experienced notable improvements in ASAS-HI scores, indicating the therapy's effectiveness for patients with axSpA.
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  • * Twelve patients received LEDT twice a week for four weeks, and results showed significant improvements in their pain and stiffness scores, as well as a noticeable increase in type III collagen levels in tendon cells, suggesting a positive biological response.
  • * Although tendon thickness decreased slightly by week 8, this change wasn't statistically significant, and there were no reported adverse effects, indicating LEDT could be a promising non-drug treatment alternative.
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Alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) is caused by chronic alcohol overconsumption and might be linked to dysregulated immune responses in the gut-liver axis. However, there is a lack of comprehensive research on levels and functions of innate lymphocytes including mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, NKT cells, and NK (NK) cells in ALC patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the levels and function of these cells, evaluate their clinical relevance, and explore their immunologic roles in the pathogenesis of ALC.

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Objectives: Th17 cells are known to play a significant role in AS. C-C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) binds to C-C chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6) on Th17 cells, promoting their migration to inflammation sites. The aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of CCL20 inhibition in treating inflammation in AS.

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Aim: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are known to be resident in oral mucosal tissue, but their roles in periodontitis are unknown. This study aimed to examine the level and function of MAIT cells in periodontitis patients.

Materials And Methods: Frequency, activation, and function of MAIT cells from 28 periodontitis patients and 28 healthy controls (HCs) were measured by flow cytometry.

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Objective: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a subset of innate-like T cells that are engaged in a number of diseases, but their roles in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are not fully examined yet. This study aimed to examine levels and functions of MAIT cells in patients with ARDS.

Methods: Peripheral blood samples from patients with ARDS (n=50) and healthy controls (HCs, n=50) were collected.

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Objective: Using microRNA (miR) as a biomarker has been a new way for diagnosing many diseases Although many studies on miR-biomarker have been published, researches on miR-biomarker in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are limited Therefore, the objective of this study was to valiate a candidate serum miR as a novel disease-specific novel miR for AS.

Methods: Total RNAs were extracted from sera samples of patients with AS (n=57), patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n=37), or healthy controls (HC) (n=19) Through serum miR screening by microarray, differential levels of miR were subsequently validated by real time PCR At the time of serum sampling, clinical values such as sex, age, disease duration, AS-disease activity score, uveitis, peripheral arthritis, enthesitis, human leukocyte antigen-B27 presence, and recent medication were evaluated.

Results: We found that the expression level of serum miR-3620-3p in AS was notably lower than that in RA or HC The receiver-operator characteristics curve for determining the diagnostic accuracy showed an area under the curve of 0919 (p<0001) with a sensitivity of 871% and a specificity of 860% Correlation studies showed that the expression level of miR-3620-3p was only associated with the development of uveitis (p<005).

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Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized antigen-presenting cells known to bridge innate and adaptive immune reactions. However, the relationship between circulating DCs and infection is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the level and function of plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and conventional DCs (cDCs), two subsets of circulating DCs, in scrub typhus patients.

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Helminth infections and their components have been shown to have the potential to modulate and attenuate immune responses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential protective effects of -derived protein (CSp) on ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Cytotoxicity of CSp at different doses was assessed by MTS and flow cytometry before performing experiments.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate-like T cells that can activate either in response to T-cell receptor (TCR) engagement or through activating cytokines and play an important role in autoimmune disorders. The study examined the level and function of MAIT cells in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Circulating MAIT cell levels were significantly reduced in IBD patients.

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Objective: This study was designed to investigate the role of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in gouty arthritis (GA) and their effects on osteoclastogenesis.

Methods: Patients with GA (n = 61), subjects with hyperuricaemia (n = 11) and healthy controls (n = 30) were enrolled in this study. MAIT cells, cytokines, CD69, programmed death-1 (PD-1) and lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3) levels were measured by flow cytometry.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are an antimicrobial MR1-restricted T cell subset and play an important role in immune defense response to bacteria. However, little is known about the role of MAIT cells in cancer. The aims of this study were to examine the level and function of MAIT cells in cancer patients and to evaluate the clinical relevance of MAIT cell levels.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells have been reported to play an important role in mucosal immunity. However, little is known about the roles of MAIT cells in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aims of this study were to examine the levels of circulating MAIT cells and their subsets in COPD patients and to investigate the potential relationship between clinical parameters and MAIT cell levels.

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Objective: To investigate the role played by natural killer T (NKT) cells in osteoclastogenesis and their effects on inflammatory bone destruction.

Methods: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 25) and healthy controls (n = 12) were enrolled in this study. In vitro osteoclastogenesis experiments were performed using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor and RANKL.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells contribute to protection against certain microorganism infections. The aims of this study were to examine the levels of MAIT cells in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease patients, to evaluate the clinical relevance of MAIT cell levels, and to investigate the functions of MAIT cells. Patients with pulmonary TB (n = 35), NTM (n = 29), and healthy controls (n = 75) were enrolled in the study.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells contribute to protection against certain microorganism infections and play an important role in mucosal immunity. However, the role of MAIT cells remains enigmatic in autoimmune diseases. In this study, we examined the level and function of MAIT cells in patients with rheumatic diseases.

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Triggers of indeterminate results from interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) in patients with rheumatic diseases are still elusive. The aim of the present study was to describe predictors of indeterminate results from IGRA in the field of rheumatology. This cross-sectional study was retrospectively performed by using a database of patients with a request for QuantiFERON-TB Gold-In Tube test (QFT-GIT) for screening of latent tuberculosis infection.

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Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells have been reported to play an antimicrobial role in infectious diseases. However, little is known about age- and gender-related changes in circulating MAIT cell level and function in healthy population. The purposes of this study were to examine the level and cytokine production of circulating MAIT cells and their subsets in healthy adults and to investigate potential relationships between clinical parameters and MAIT cell levels or their subset levels.

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