Background: Insulin is known to act as second effector that provides potassium transfer from extracellular fluid to intracellular fluid, thus causing hypokalemia and arrythmia. We evaluated the effect of magnesium sulfate treatment on hemodynamics and serum potassium concentration, induced by continuous infusion of regular insulin solution in rabbits. Method: Twenty-four rabbits were divided into four groups for the experiment. Group I was given intravenouse injection of 5 ml of normal saline and continuous dripping of 7.5 U of RI. Group II was pretreated with 30 mg/kg of magnesium sulfate, followed by continuous dripping of 7.5 U of RI. Group III was given 5 ml of normal saline and 15 U of RI. And Group IV was administered 15 U of RI after 30 mg/kg of magnesium sulfate pretreatment. Venouse blood sampling was done before pretreatment, and after 5, 30, 60 and 120 minutes respectively. Heart rate and arterial blood pressure were taken at the same intervals. Result: 1) There was no significant change in serum potassium concentration in groups injected with 7.5 units of RI respectively (groups I and II), regardless of magnesium pretreatment. But in groups injected with 15 units of RI, the group that was not pretreated with magnesium (Groups III) showed a decrease in serum potassium concentration from 3.39+/-0.57 Eq/L to 2.29+/-0.71 mEq/L, while the concentration in the pretreated group (Group IV) decreased more significantly from 3.35+/-0.50 mEq/L to 1.81+/-0.41 mEq/L. 2) Pulse rate did not change significantly in groups that received continuous infusion of 7.5 units of RI (groups I and II) regardless of magnesium pretreatment, but increased significantly in groups injected with 15 units of RI (groups III and IV), pretreated or not. The pretreated group (group IV) had a more significant rise in pulse rate compared with the group that was not pretreated (group III). 3) In all of the groups, those pretreated with magnesium (groups II and IV) and those not pretreated (groups I and III), there was no significant change in systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Nor was arrhythmia detected. Conclusion: The above results indicate that while magnesium sulfate pretreatment at 30 mg/kg with insulin infusion affects serum potassium concentration, has an antiarrhythmic effect, and may induce tachycardia, it does not have any significant effect on blood pressure.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure ; Extracellular Fluid ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Hypokalemia ; Insulin ; Intracellular Fluid ; Magnesium Sulfate ; Magnesium* ; Potassium* ; Rabbits* ; Tachycardia

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Embryonic Structures* ; Humans*

BACKGROUND: Influenza is a highly infectious viral illness. The epidemics of influenza occur from the late fall to the early spring nearly every year and are responsible for several hundred thousand death per year all over the world. Influenza vaccine is the primary method for preventing influenza and its more severe complications. The efficacy of influenza vaccination have been well known in developed countries. The influenza vaccination has been recommended as one of the tentative immunization schedule for indicated persons since 1997 in Korea. But there are still no available data about them, even though nearly 5 - 8 million doses of influenza vaccine were used in a winter season. PURPOSE: To assess the clinical efficacy of influenza vaccine against influenza-like illness(ILI) among Korean elderly(age over 65). METHODS: Primary study design - a prospective field trial. Study subjects and method - We prospectively observed the 1,488 vaccinee and 1,425 non-vaccinee in a community(Nonsan city) from November 1 1998 to March 31 1999. The vaccinee were those who randomly selected 100-200 per 13 sub-region(Myon) in Nonsan city, and the non-vaccinee were those who had not vaccinated until January 1999 among the Nonsan city elderly cohort. This cohort was consisted of 5,787 elderly(over 1/3 of total elderly population) who had ever visited the community health center or 13 public health offices in Nonsan city in 1998. We followed up these two groups two times-in January and April 1999 - by telephone survey. The questionnaire included the questions about the health behaviors, medical history, socioeconomic condition, medical security type, physical function status, medical facility utilization in the season, symptom and signs of influenza-like illness, number and type of the flu, hospitalization or not. We did throat swap to isolate the virus of 490 patient who had influenza -like symptoms in the same period. RESULTS: Influenza vaccination was significantly reduced the incidence of influenza -like illness(fever or chilling sensation and cough or sore throat) in the vaccinated. The preventive effect of influenza-like illness among influenza risk group was about 32%(95% CI, 20%-44%). The illness duration of main symptoms of influenza-like illness(fever, cough) was significantly shorter in the vaccinee. The consistency of the survey was noted quite high from the analysis of the result of test-retest(104 person). CONCLUSION: Influenza vaccination significantly reduced the incidence of influenza-like illness(32%) among elderly.
Aged ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cohort Studies ; Community Health Centers ; Cough ; Developed Countries ; Health Behavior ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Immunization Schedule ; Incidence ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human* ; Korea ; Pharynx ; Prospective Studies ; Public Health ; Seasons ; Sensation ; Telephone ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is known to mediate ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced skin inflammation However, there is still ambiguity as to which NOS isotype mediates the process in vivo. Furthermore, contradictory results have been reported on which cell types respond to UVB irradiation in vitro. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the change of inducible NOS (iNOS) expression in vivo as a result of UVB radiation on the skin of a rat. METHOD: To examine the time-course change in iNOS expression in the rat skin, the rats were exposed to 400 ml/cm2 of UVB radiation, and skin samples were taken at various time intervals up to 48 h. iNOS expression on the skin of a rat was evaluated by both Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: From Western blot analysis, UVB irradiation induced inducible NOS (iNOS) expression in the epidermis at 12-48 h postirradiation with a peak expression at 24 h. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that UVB-induced iNOS expression was localized to the epidermis and infiltrating inflammatory cells in the upper dermis of the rat. CONCLUSION: iNOS was induced by UVB irradiation on the skin of a rat, mainly in the epidermis. Therefore, iNOS is supposed to be one of the major mediators with regard to inducing an inflammatory response in UVB-irradiated rat skin in vivo.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Inflammation ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II* ; Rats* ; Skin*

BACKGROUND: Glycolic acid has become an important and popular agent for chemical peel. Even though many clinicians perform superficial chemical peel to treat facial acne with glycolic acid, as yet there has been no well-controlled clinical trinls for the comparison of this new peeling agent and Jessner's solution. OBJECTIVE: To compare these two chemical peelI agents, our study was focused on three aspects : 1) treatment effects (acne improvement), 2) side effects (erythema, exfoliation), 3) patients preferences of the treatments. METHOD: Sixteen patients with facial acne vulgaris were treated with 70% glycolic acid and Jessner's solution on each side of the face simultaneously. Treatments were repeated biweekly with acne grading. Patient's subjective preferences were asked after the treatment.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Humans

A 30-year old female had proximal muscle weakness, periungal telangiectasia and purplish red erythema and edema on the face. Diagnosis of dermatomyositis was estabiiished by clinical manifestations, muscle enzyme study, electromyogram, histologic findings of skin and muscle. She was treated with systemic steroid with some improvemellt. About 1 year after the onset of dermatomyositis, aggravated skin lesion and exophthalmos were noted on right eyelid. Orbit computerized tomography scan showed maxillary carcinoma. She treated with systemic steroid, 5-fluorouracil and cis-platin with partial remission and some improvement of dermatomyositis.
Adult ; Dermatomyositis* ; Diagnosis ; Edema ; Erythema ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Muscle Weakness ; Orbit ; Skin ; Telangiectasis

BACKGROUND: Cord blood transplantation has generated much enthusiasm because of the low incidence of GVHD(graft-versus-host disease), even in HLA(Human Leukocyte Antigen) mismatched situations, owing to intrinsic defects in mature T cell functions, and human cord blood is a constantly and easily obtainable source for hematopoietic stem cell. This study was undertaken to elucidate the possible mechanisms of low GVHD incidence observed when cord blood is used for stem cell transplantation. Based on current knowledge of the phenotypic correlates with functional subtypes of peripheral blood lymphocytes, we evaluated lymphocyte subpopulation in cord blood. METHODS: The 25 cord blood and 20 peripheral blood of adult control were included in this study. Monoclonal antibodies(MAb) conjugated with fluorescein-isothiocynate(FITC), phycoerythrin(PE) were used in this study. Heparinized whole blood was stained with mAbs using the whole blood lysis method. We used FACScan flow cytometer with argon laser tuned at 488 nm. Analysis was done by either Simulset or lysis II research software. RESULT: 1) The means of WBC and lymphocyte content were higher in cord blood than in adult blood(p<0.05). 2) The overall percentages of cord blood T(CD3+) cells, B(CD19+) cells, NK(natural killer)(CD16+/CD56+) cells were not different from adult controls. 3) The CD4+ : CD8+ ratio of cord blood was higher than thar of adult controls(2.7 in cord bloods versus 1.8 in adults). 4) The majority of the cord blood cells, both CD4+ and CD8+, co-expressed the CD45RA+ (naive) molecule. 5) The CD57, an antigen present on a subpopulation of NK cells, is absent in cord blood. CONCLUSION: We determined that cord blood contained mainly naive T lymphocytes to be predominantly suppressor cells. We found reduced alloproliferative, allostimulatory and allocytotoxic capacity of cord blood lymphocytes. Therefore, the GVHD may be less readily induced in cord blood transplantation, even in the face of HLA difference.
Adult ; Argon ; Fetal Blood* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Heparin ; Humans ; Incidence ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Leukocytes ; Lymphocyte Subsets* ; Lymphocytes* ; Phenotype ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; T-Lymphocytes

No abstract available.
Accidents, Traffic*

As the productive activities have vastly increased following industrialization and urbanization in the modem society, the resulting high mobility of people and goods have caused a sharp increase in the accidents in the work places as well as traffic accidents. In particular, deaths caused by injuries are generally concentrated in the economically active young peoples, producing incalculable losses to the society and nation as a whole. Advanced nations with superior medical care systems have succeeded in reducing incidents of such deaths by operating trauma centers. Especially noteworthy is the case of the United States where such specialized trauma centers have greatly contributed to reducing deaths from injuries in the non-urban areas with less access to medical facilities. At present Korea has no medical centers specializing in injuries. In large cities, the injuries are being treated tertiary medical facilities while in the provinces they are referred to small and medium-sized hospitals that constitute secondary medical facilities. Currently in Korea the Trauma patients are treated at general hospitals that consist of 726 secondary medical facilities and 40 tertiary medical centers nationwide. The secondary medical facilities which tend to take most responsibility for the treatment of trauma are generally deficient in medical staff and facilities (including operating and intensive care facilities). Despite such deficiency and limitations, no regulations exist regarding treatment or transportation of trauma patients. This article reports the outcome of a comparative analysis of the results of trauma treatments among different types of medical facilities based on objective data in the hope that such study would facilitate a comparison with the treatment systems of advanced countries and thereby contribute to a precise formulation of problems that must be addressed in this area.
Accidents, Traffic ; Hope ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Korea ; Medical Staff ; Modems ; Social Control, Formal ; Transportation ; Trauma Centers ; United States ; Urbanization ; Workplace ; Industrial Development