Seoul National University · Medicine
Professor Bo Kyung Koo's research lab focuses on metabolic liver diseases, particularly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its complications, with an emphasis on identifying novel biomarkers and genetic determinants of fibrosis and disease progression. The lab investigates the interplay between metabolic syndrome components—such as insulin resistance, sarcopenia, and diabetes—and liver and muscle health, aiming to improve risk stratification and early intervention strategies. A key focus is on understanding the roles of genetic variants (e.g., PNPLA3, TM6SF2, KCNJ11) and circulating factors (e.g., GDF15) in disease susceptibility and outcomes.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Our findings suggest that GDF15 may serve as a novel biomarker of advanced fibrosis in NAFLD, thereby indicating the need for urgent anti-fibrotic pharmacotherapy.
PNPLA3 and TM6SF2 determine the risk of NASH and significant fibrosis, even after adjustment for insulin resistance, and exert an additive effect on NASH and significant fibrosis.
Polymorphisms in KCNJ11 are associated with Type 2 diabetes and also with hypertension in the Korean population.
Low muscle strength is independently associated with NAFLD. The significant association between LMS and advanced fibrosis in NAFLD may be mediated through insulin resistance.
The prevalence of GDM in Korean women recently reached 5.7-9.5% in recent years. This represents a public health concern that warrants proper screening and medical care for GDM in women during the childbearing years.
Concurrent NAFLD and sarcopenia conferred a two-fold higher risk of mortality. The observation that NAFLD and sarcopenia additively increase mortality suggests that risk stratification would be helpful in predicting mortality among those with metabolic derangement.
Olfactory neuroblastomas are rare, slow-growing malignant tumors, usually diagnosed at advanced stages. Ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome caused by an olfactory neuroblastoma is extremely rare. We reported two Korean women who suffered from ectopic ACTH syndrome (EAS) caused by olfactory neuroblastomas. The first patient was a 66-year-old woman who had been diagnosed as olfactory neuroblastoma and refused the management two years before and the second patient was a 37-year-old
Autoantibodies can facilitate diagnostic and therapeutic means for type 1 diabetes (T1DM). We profiled autoantibodies from serum samples of 16 T1DM patients, 16 type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients, and 27 healthy control subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) by using protein microarrays containing 9,480 proteins. Two novel autoantibodies, anti-EEF1A1 and anti-UBE2L3, were selected from microarrays followed by immunofluorescence staining of pancreas. We then tested the validity of the candidat
Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that can increase the risk of physical disability, chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases, and long-term mortality. Sarcopenia adversely affects not only the elderly population, but also young adults. This review provides updated definitions of sarcopenia and recommendations for the assessment of muscle quantity and quality.
This study focused on the characterization of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from the chorion of human full term placenta from 15 donors. Chorionic MSCs revealed homologous fibroblast-like morphology and expressed CD73, CD29, CD105, and CD90. The hematopoietic stem cell markers including HLA DR, CD11b, CD34, CD79a, and CD45 were not expressed. The growth kinetics of their serial passage was steady at the later passages (passage 10). The multilineage capability of chorionic MSCs was demonstrate
PED can independently predict future cardiovascular events among diabetic patients with albuminuria.
The risks of metabolic deterioration and CACS progression were significant in subjects with MHO class I, but not in those with MHO class II.
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