aDepartment of Medical Technology, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima

bDepartment of Community Medicine and Medical Science, Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Science

cDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Tokushima University Hospital

dDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Rheumatology, Graduate school of Biomedical Science, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan

Correspondence to Motoki Sugasaki, Department of Medical Technology, Tokushima University Hospital, 2-50-1 Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan. Tel: +81 88 633 9304; fax: +81 88 633 7241; e-mail: [email protected]

Received 13 November, 2023

Accepted 4 February, 2024