Yong Lim Won

Smoking Habits and Neuropeptides : Adiponectin, Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor, and Leptin Levels

This study aimed to identify changes in the level of neuropeptides among current smokers, former smokers, and individuals who had never smoked, and how smoking habits affect obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Neuropeptide levels, anthropometric parameters, and metabolic syndrome diagnostic indices were determined among male workers; 117 of these had never smoked, whereas 58 and 198 were former and current smokers, respectively. The total sample comprised 373 male workers. The results obtained from anthropometric measurements showed that current smokers attained significantly lower body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and abdominal fat thickness values than former smokers and those who had never smoked. Current smokers’ eating habits proved worse than those of non-smokers and individuals who had never smoked. The level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the neuropeptides in the case of former smokers was 23.6 ± 9.2 pg/ml, higher than that of current smokers (20.4 ± 6.1) and individuals who had never smoked (22.4 ± 5.8) (F = 6.520, p = 0.002). The level of adiponectin among former smokers was somewhat lower than that of current smokers, whereas leptin levels were higher among former smokers than current smokers; these results were not statistically significant. A relationship was found between adiponectin and triglyceride among non-smokers (odds ratio = 0.660, β value = −0.416, p < 0.01) and smokers (odds ratio = 0.827, β value = −0.190, p < 0.05). Further, waist circumference among non-smokers (odds ratio = 1.622, β value = 0.483, p < 0.001) and smokers (odds ratio = 1.895, β value = 0.639, p < 0.001) was associated with leptin. It was concluded that cigarette smoking leads to an imbalance of energy expenditure and appetite by changing the concentration of neuropeptides such as adiponectin, BDNF, leptin, and hsCRP, and influences food intake, body weight, the body mass index, blood pressure, and abdominal fat, which are risk factors for MetS and cardiovascular disease.

Comparative Study on the EC 50 Value in Single and Mixtures of Dimethylformamide, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and Toluene

The aim of this research was to improve our understanding of human toxicity due to exposure to DMF, MEK, or TOL individually as compared to exposure to DMF-MEK or DMF-TOL mixtures, by comparing EC50 values as well as the morphological changes in HepG2 cells treated with these substances. We found that there was marked cell necrosis in the groups treated with mixtures than in those treated with the compounds alone, and that the amount of cell death and the EC50 value were more dependent on MEK and TOL than on DMF. Moreover, analysis of the changes in effective concentration curves revealed that MEK had an antagonistic effect on the human toxicity of DMF, whereas TOL had a synergistic effect. Accordingly, these results suggest that in workplaces involved in the manufacture of synthetic leather, mixtures of DMF and TOL should be avoided as much as possible in order to minimize environmental toxicity and protect the health of the workers.

The Effects of Long-Term, Low-Level Exposure to Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Worker's Insulin Resistance

Objectives This study was designed to investigate whether long-term, low-level exposure to monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) induced insulin resistance. Methods The subjects were 110 male workers who were occupationally exposed to styrene, toluene, and xylene. One hundred and ten age-matched male workers who had never been occupationally exposed to organic solvents were selected as a control group. Cytokines, which have played a key role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, and oxidative stress indices were measured. Assessment of exposure to MAHs was performed by measuring their ambient levels and their urinary metabolites in exposed workers, and the resulting parameters between the exposed group and non-exposed control groups were compared. Results There was no significant difference in general characteristics and anthropometric parameters between the two groups; however, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance levels were significantly higher in the exposed group. Phenylglyoxylic acid levels showed significant association with tumor necrosis factor-α, total oxidative status, and oxidative stress index via multiple linear regression analysis. Further, there was a negative correlation between methylhippuric acid levels and total anti-oxidative capacity, and there was a significant relationship between MAHs exposure and fasting glucose levels, as found by multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio = 3.95, 95% confidence interval = 1.074-14.530). Conclusion This study indicated that MAHs increase fasting glucose level and insulin resistance. Furthermore, these results suggested that absorbing the organic solvent itself and active metabolic intermediates can increase oxidative stress and cytokine levels, resulting in the changes in glucose metabolism and the induction of insulin resistance.

The Effects of Hazardous Chemical Exposure on Cardiovascular Disease in Chemical Products Manufacturing Workers

The purpose of this study was to understand the mechanism of cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals. We investigated changes in the symptoms of metabolic syndrome, which is strongly related to CVD, and in levels of other CVD risk factors, with a special emphasis on the roles of catecholamines and oxidative stress. The results revealed that neither body mass index (BMI) nor waist and hip circumferences were associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals. Among metabolic syndrome criteria, only HDL-cholesterol level increased on exposure to hazardous chemicals. Levels of epinephrine (EP) and norepinephrine (NEP) were not influenced by exposure to hazardous chemicals; however, the total antioxidative capacity (TAC) reduced because of increased oxidative stress. Both hazardous chemical exposure level and metabolite excretion were related to EP, NEP, and the oxidative stress index (OSI). Logistic regression analysis with these factors as independent variables and metabolic syndrome criteria as dependent variables revealed that EP was associated with blood pressure, and NEP with metabolic syndrome in the chemicalexposed group. In conclusion, the results suggest that reactive oxygen species generated and oxidative stress due to exposure to hazardous chemicals act as mediators and cause changes in the physiological levels of EP and NEP to increase blood pressure. This ultimately leads to the development of CVD through increase in cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood glucose levels by lipid peroxidation.

Interstitial lung disorders in the indium workers of Korea: An update study for the relationship with biological exposure indices

BACKGROUND Korea is one of the highest indium-consuming countries worldwide. The present study aims to determine the relationship between interstitial lung disorders and indium exposure in Korea. METHODS In 50 indium workers from seven plants, the effect of serum indium on the lungs was determined using laboratory tests, spirometry, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). RESULTS Higher serum indium and Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) levels were associated with HRCT-detected interstitial lung changes. Workers with high serum indium levels (≥3 µg/L) had longer exposure durations and a higher prevalence of HRCT-detected interstitial lung changes. KL-6 and surfactant protein-D (SP-D) levels were significantly higher in the highest serum indium quartile than the lowest quartile. Significant dose-effect relationships existed between serum indium levels and KL-6, SP-D levels and the prevalence of HRCT-detected interstitial lung changes. CONCLUSIONS Workforce medical surveillance should be established to prevent indium-induced interstitial lung disease in Korea.

Overweight of Korean male workers and genetic polymorphism of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) gene

Abstract We have examined the hypothesis that the Gly972Arg variant of the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) gene is associated with the components contributing to overweight (obesity) and metabolic syndrome. We describe IRS1 genotype frequencies in 274 Korean men. The frequencies of Gly972Gly (G/G) and Gly972Arg (G/A variant) of the IRS1 gene were 88.3% and 11.7%, respectively, and the differences in frequencies between the overweight (BMI≥25 kg/m2) group and non‐overweight (BMI<25 kg/m2) group were statistically significant. The subjects with G/A variant of IRS1 gene in non‐overweight had significantly higher level of visceral fat thickness and adiponectin/leptin ratio than those with G/G alleles. In overweight group, the subjects with G/A variant of IRS1 gene also showed significantly higher level of insulin than those with G/G alleles. These results suggest that the IRS1 genetic polymorphism is involved in the occurrence of overweight, as well as metabolic syndrome.

Changes in Physico-chemical Properties of Single or Mixture State of DMF, MEK and Toluene in Synthetic Leather Factories

Objectives: It was known that workers in synthetic leather company are mainly co-exposed to dimethylformamide(DMF) with methyl ethyl ketone(MEK) or toluene(TOL) instead of a single dimethylformamide. This study was examined to the physico-chemical properties in single DMF and binary mixture DMF with MEK or TOL. Materials: Physico-chemical properties were measured by Korean and American Standard Test Methods. Results: Boiling point, specific gravity and flash point in single DMF were significantly higher than binary mixture DMF with MEK or TOL and such difference was dependent on the mixing ratio of MEK and TOL, and low explosion limit in binary mixture DMF with TOL was only significantly lower than single DMF. However, Reid vapor pressure had significantly higher in binary mixture DMF with MEK or TOL compared with single DMF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the binary mixture DMF with MEK or TOL synergistically increases volatilization of DMF. It was concluded that the interaction between DMF and MEK and/or TOL might play a key role in the volatilization process of DMF under environmental conditions of workplace.

Environmentally friendly determination of urinary trans, trans-muconic acid for biological monitoring of benzene exposure by green high-performance liquid chromatography

An environmentally friendly, so-called green, high performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated for the determination of trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA) in human urine as a biomarker of benzene exposure. After urinary t,t-MA was extracted and enriched using solid-phase extraction, a MF-Ph1 SG80 (150 mm×2.0 mm I.D., 5 μm) column with a mobile phase of 10 mM KH₂PO₄ containing 0.1% H₃PO₄ was used for isocratic separation of t,t-MA with UV detection at 259 nm. The calibration curve was constructed in the range of 0.1-5.0 mg/L with good linearity (r²=0.9992). The intra-day and inter-day precision (as RSD) were 0.9-8.5% and 3.1-4.5%, respectively. The average recovery ranged from 97.5% to 101.7%. The green sample preparation and separation with no organic solvents were successfully achieved. The validated method would be suitable for the routine biological monitoring of benzene exposure in the occupational settings.

Combined Toxic Effects of Polar and Nonpolar Chemicals on Human Hepatocytes (HepG2) Cells by Quantitative Property-Activity Relationship Modeling

We determined the toxicity of mixtures of ethyl acetate (EA), isopropyl alcohol (IPA), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), toluene (TOL) and xylene (XYL) with half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) values obtained using human hepatocytes cells. According to these data, quantitative property-activity relationships (QPAR) models were successfully proposed to predict the toxicity of mixtures by multiple linear regressions (MLR). The leave-one-out cross validation method was used to find the best subsets of descriptors in the learning methods. Significant differences in physico-chemical properties such as boiling point (BP), specific gravity (SG), Reid vapor pressure (rVP) and flash point (FP) were observed between the single substances and the mixtures. The EC50 of the mixture of EA and IPA was significantly lower than that of contained TOL and XYL. The mixture toxicity was related to the mixing ratio of MEK, TOL and XYL (MLR equation EC50 = 3.3081 − 2.5018 × TOL − 3.2595 × XYL − 12.6596 × MEK × XYL), as well as to BP, SG, VP and FP (MLR equation EC50 = 1.3424 + 6.2250 × FP − 7.1198 × SG × FP − 0.03013 × rVP × FP). These results suggest that QPAR-based models could accurately predict the toxicity of polar and nonpolar mixtures used in rotogravure printing industries.

Job Stress and Neuropeptide Response Contributing to Food Intake Regulation.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the correlations between food intake behavior and job stress level and neuropeptide hormone concentrations. Job strain and food intake behavior were first identified using a self-reported questionnaire, concentrations of neuropeptide hormones (adiponectin, brain derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF], leptin, and ghrelin) were determined, and the correlations were analyzed. In the results, job strain showed significant correlations with adiponectin (odds ratio [OR], 1.220; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.001~1.498; p < 0.05) and BDNF (OR, 0.793; 95% CI, 0.646~0.974; p < 0.05), and ghrelin exhibited a significant correlation with food intake score (OR, 0.911; 95% CI, 0.842~0.985, p < 0.05). These results suggest that job stress affects food intake regulation by altering the physiological concentrations of neuropeptide hormones as well as emotional status.