Ho Chun Choi
Seoul National University · Medicine
About the Lab
Professor Ho Chun Choi's research lab focuses on the intersection of metabolic health, endocrine function, and chronic disease prevention, with a particular emphasis on metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), thyroid dysfunction, and systemic inflammation. The lab investigates the role of hormonal imbalances—such as low testosterone and thyroid hormone abnormalities—alongside insulin resistance and visceral adiposity in the development of cardiometabolic disorders. Using large-scale population-based cohorts and clinical data, the lab aims to identify early biomarkers and modifiable risk factors for chronic diseases in the Korean population. Their work also explores medication adherence and inflammatory markers like hs-CRP in predicting long-term health outcomes.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Selected Papers
15BACKGROUND: The association between low serum testosterone levels, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and metabolic syndrome is now well known. However, the relationship between hepatic steatosis and serum testosterone levels has not been extensively studied. Our aim was to investigate the association of serum total testosterone levels with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), adjusting for the influence of VAT and insulin resistance. METHODS: This study is a retrospective observational cross-s
This study tried to investigate the effects of number of medications and age on antihypertensive medication adherence in a real-world setting using a nationwide representative cohort.We obtained data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC) of Korea, which is a sample of 2.2% (N = 1,048,061) of total population (N = 46,605,433). Patients aged 20 years or older (N = 150,550) who took antihypertensive medications for at least 1 year were selected. Medication pos
This study was to assess the relation of thyroid dysfunction to metabolic syndrome (MetS) at an earlier stage in Korean population. Metabolic parameters such as body composition, blood pressure (BP), fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine 4 (fT(4)) were measured. During a mean follow-up of 3 yr, 5,998 Koreans ages over 18 yr were assessed. There were 694 cases of MetS at follow-
BACKGROUND: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is an important inflammatory marker, and inflammation is known to be involved in the initiation and progression of cancer. We investigated the association between serum hs-CRP levels and all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and site-specific cancer mortality in apparently cancer-free Koreans. METHODS: A total of 33,567 participants who underwent routine check-ups at a single tertiary hospital health-screening center between May 1995 and
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01344811; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01344811 (Archived by Webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6alT2MmIB).
The stronger association between metabolic syndrome and histologic positivity than serological positivity suggests that the effects of HP infection on the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic outcomes may be reversible. Further prospective studies are needed.
This large population study proposed the cut-off values for VFA and WC for identifying subjects at risk of MetS among Korean adults. For more accurate diagnosis, different age-specific cut-off values for VFA and WC may be considered.
AIM: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing worldwide. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is also increasing. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the effect of T2DM on thyroid cancer. METHODS: A case-control study was performed. A total of 415 healthy controls with thyroid ultrasound screening and physician consultation were selected from the Thyroid Cancer Longitudinal Study (T-CALOS). Among patients with thyroid cancer who were enrolled in T-CALOS, 415 patients were matched to
Our study findings may better emphasize the risk of stroke among more lean but unhealthy individuals, who appear healthy but may be suffering from MetS. These findings also highlight the need for stroke risk factor assessment in non-obese weight individuals.
OBJECTIVES: We tried to clarify, by using representative national data in a real-world setting, whether single-pill combinations (SPCs) of antihypertensives actually improve medication adherence. DESIGN: A nationwide population-based study. SETTING: We used a 2.2% cohort (n=1 048 061) of the total population (n=46 605 433) that was randomly extracted by National Health Insurance of Korea from 2008 to 2013. PARTICIPANTS: We included patients (n=116 677) who were prescribed with the same antihyper
Long-term breast cancer survivors who were non-obese at diagnosis are more likely to gain weight than obese survivors. Younger survivors and survivors who have never used AI are also likely to gain weight.
BACKGROUND: The association between abdominal visceral adipose tissue and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease according to body mass index in the Asian population, remains unclear. We evaluated the impact of abdominal adiposity stratified by body mass index on the risk of incident chronic kidney disease. METHODS: A cohort study included 11,050 adult participants who underwent health check-ups and re-evaluated the follow-up medical examination at a single university-affiliated healthcare
Research Areas
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