Sungkyunkwan University · Medicine
Professor Ki-Chul Sung's research lab focuses on cardiovascular and metabolic epidemiology, with a strong emphasis on identifying early biomarkers and modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic disorders in Asian populations. The lab investigates the role of low-grade inflammation, iron metabolism, adiposity markers, and lifestyle factors such as physical activity and alcohol intake in predicting subclinical atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, and long-term CVD outcomes. A key focus is adapting Western-derived risk thresholds—such as C-reactive protein and albuminuria levels—to better reflect the true risk in East Asian populations, where baseline levels often differ. The lab integrates clinical, metabolic, and imaging data to improve risk prediction and early intervention strategies in chronic disease prevention.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Low levels of albuminuria, UACR below 30 mg/g, are associated with increased risk of incident hypertension and CVD mortality at follow-up, but are not associated with increased risk of incident diabetes mellitus.
C-reactive protein concentrations are substantially lower in Koreans than reported for whites populations. Nonetheless, C-reactive protein levels are associated with CVD and all-cause mortality in Korean men. Standard cut points for C-reactive protein may under-represent Asians at risk for CVD.
Increased ferritin concentrations are associated with the presence of a marker of early coronary artery atherosclerosis, independently of traditional cardiovascular risk factors including Framingham risk score, transferrin, preexisting vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome factors, and low-grade inflammation.
In this large population of individuals of Korean ancestry, results indicate that while overall (BMI) and abdominal (waist circumference) overweight/obesity are associated with features of NAFLD, surrogate estimates of insulin resistance, FPI concentration, and TG/HDL-C ratio predict NAFLD independently of age, BMI, and waist circumference.
We found a positive, graded association between physical activity and the prevalence and the progression of CAC, regardless of baseline CAC scores.
Alcohol intake is associated with increasing BMI and several metabolic abnormalities, including higher fasting glucose. Paradoxically, it is also associated with lower insulin concentrations. The clinical significance of these findings needs further investigation.
This study showed that the predictive value of ABSI for mortality risk was strong for a sample of young Asian participants and that its usefulness was better than BMI or WC.
HbA(1c) increased as cardiovascular risk factors increased and HbA(1c) of 5.45% predicted the presence of MS. HbA(1c) might be a predictive measure of IFG and MS, and also cardiovascular risk factors in the Korean population.
These data suggest that high baseline fasting insulin levels are independent determinants for the future development of MS.
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