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The objectives of this study were to construct a risk score for predicting incident hypertension by using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) data and to compare the performance between KoGES and the Framingham model. A total of 4747 participants were analyzed. The entire cohort was randomly assigned to derivation and validation sets at a ratio of 6:4. A hypertension risk score was developed based on the derivation cohort, using the same risk factors that were used for developing the Framingham hypertension risk score. The accuracy of KoGES and Framingham models was evaluated in terms of calibration and discrimination. The area under receiver operating characteristic (AROC) curves were 0.789 for the Framingham model and 0.791 for the KoGES model. The AROC calculated for the point-based risk score was 0.790, which is almost identical to that for the KoGES model. The Framingham model showed poor agreement (v 2 =29.73, P=.0002) and underestimated the risk of hypertension in most deciles of predicted risk. The model based on KoGES yielded results similar to the observed risk of hypertension (v 2 =4.17, P=.8415). This study demonstrates that the Framingham risk score based on data from a non-Korean population can lead to the underestimation of the prediction risk of hypertension. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich).

Background:The aim of this study was to develop a risk score to predict the 4-year risk of diabetes in a middleaged Korean cohort. Methods and Results:Participants without diabetes (6,342 participants, aged 40-69 years) were included and biennial follow ups were conducted. A logistic regression analysis was used to construct the models. The basic model was based on simple information such as age, parental or sibling history of diabetes, smoking status, body mass index, and hypertension, while clinical model 1 was constructed by adding biochemical tests such as fasting plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglycerides to the basic model; clinical model 2 further added glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to clinical model 1. The model accuracy was assessed using area under a receiver operating characteristic (AROC) curve and the Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics. Both net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were calculated to determine the contribution of HbA1c. Two clinical models improved model discrimination (AROC=0.75 and 0.77) when compared with the basic model (AROC=0.65). The addition of HbA1c to clinical model 1 increased AROC by only 0.02 despite its high impact on the prediction of diabetes (odds ratio=2.66). However, the NRI and IDI were significantly improved with the addition of HbA1c. Therefore, a risk score system was developed to estimate the 4-year risk of diabetes based on clinical model 2. Conclusions:A risk score derived from simple biochemical examinations including HbA1c can help identify those at a high risk of diabetes in a middle-aged Korean cohort. (Circ J 2012; 76: 1904 - 1910

T he purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is any association between preeclampsia and eNOS, DDAH, and VEGF gene polymorphisms, and also to search for a possible association between haplotypes in eNOS, DDHA, and VEGF genes and the risk for preeclampsia. DNA was extracted from whole blood of 223 preeclampsia patients and 237 healthy pregnant women. The genotypes were analyzed by a single base primer extension assay using a SNaPShot assay kit. Results were analyzed with the Student's t-test, Chi-square test, and Logistic regression analysis. Haplotype analyses were performed using Haploview 3.2 version. There were no significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies of eNOS, DDAH, and VEGF gene polymorphisms between preeclampsia patients and controls. No increase in the risk of preeclampsia for those genes was observed under any model of inheritance and there were no statistically significant associations between any haplotypes and preeclampsia risk. Polymorphisms in eNOS, DDAH, and VEGF gene do not seem to be risk factors for preeclampsia.

Background and Objectives The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence, awareness and treatment of high low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) level in Korean adults without coronary heart disease. Subjects and Methods National representative cross-sectional surveys, data of 5248 Korean adults (2246 men and 3002 women) aged between 20 and 79 years from the Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES III, 2005) was used. High LDL-C level was defined with the risk prediction algorithm published by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III). Results The prevalence of the Korean adults with high LDL-C level who need therapeutic lifestyle changes was 19.9%, treatment with lipid-lowing medication was 2.1% and awareness of this condition was 7.9%. Meanwhile, the prevalence of the Korean with very high LDL-C level who should be considered for drug therapy was 13.5%, treatment with lipid-lowing medication was 2.7% and awareness of this condition was 8.1%. Overall, 47.9% (60.3% in male and 39.1% in female) of participants had a single lipid disorder (high LDL-C, high triglycerides: ≥200 mg/dL, low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol: <40 mg/dL), whereas 15.5% (23.5% in male and 9.7% in female) had at least two. Only 1.9% (2.8% in male and 1.2% in female) of all participants had all three lipid abnormalities as defined. Conclusion These findings indicate that continuous efforts are needed to increase awareness and treatment of high LDL-C level in our population to prevent cardiovascular disease.