Atopic myelitis (AM) is a relatively mild form of myelitis associated with allergic diathesis, and present with predominant sensory manifestations. Lhermitte's sign has been considered as a relatively non-specific clinical sign suggesting demyelinating lesion in cervical cord. Here we report a patient with recurrent AM who presented with isolated Lhermitte's sign, both in first and second attacks. This report suggests that either the diagnosis or recurrence of AM can be frequently underdiagnosed because of its predominant sensory manifestations.
Diagnosis ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Myelitis* ; Recurrence

Biomarkers ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Pneumoconiosis ; etiology

As a stable genetic marker of human, blood group is expressed in a polymorphic system in the population. Blood group and pathogens mainly produce effects through the interaction between antigens and antibodies. On the one hand, they can promote pathogen colonization, invasion or evasion of host clearance mechanism, and on the other hand, they can make some hosts less susceptible to corresponding pathogens. By exploring the molecular mechanism between the blood group system and pathogenic microorganisms, it can provide a scientific basis for the treatment of human related diseases and the development of vaccines.
Blood Group Antigens/genetics* ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans

Despite the availability of numerous options for the treatment of depression, treatment-resistant depression remains common. Several patient-related and treatment-related risk factors have been identified as increasing the likelihood of nonresponsiveness to antidepressant treatment including psychiatric and physical comorbidity, the chronic subtype of depression, and treatment nonadherence. Evidence linking many cases of treatment-resistant depression with a diathesis to bipolar disorder has also emerged. This article reviews the current literature regarding the relevance of bipolarity to treatment-resistant depression, with particular attention to the prevalence of bipolarity in treatment-resistant depression.
Bipolar Disorder ; Comorbidity ; Depression ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; epidemiology ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Risk Factors

Shock wave lithotripsy(SWL) has been considered as a contraindication in a patient with bleeding diathesis. However, appropriate pre-treatment made it possible recently. We present a case of ureteral stone patient with hemophilia A which was resolved successfully using SWL and this would be the first report concerning SWL in a hemophilia A patient in our country.
Disease Susceptibility ; Hemophilia A* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Lithotripsy* ; Shock* ; Ureter

Proteomic tools were used to identify the key proteins that might be associated with bronchial asthma(BA). Firstly, the serum samples from healthy adults and asthmatic patients were collected. Tandem Mass Tag~(TM)(TMT), which removes high-abundance structures and nonspecific proteins, was employed to identify the differentially expressed proteins between asthmatic patients and healthy adults. Gene Ontology(GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were carried out for the differentially expressed proteins. The core proteins in the asthma group were screened out by protein-protein interaction(PPI) analysis. Then the core proteins were verified by Western blot for 3 patients with bronchial asthma and 3 healthy adults. A total of 778 differentially expressed proteins were screened out, among which 32 proteins contained quantitative information, including 18 up-regulated proteins and 14 down-regulated proteins. The differentially expressed proteins were enriched in 28 KEGG signaling pathways. The PPI analysis showed that 10 proteins(GDN, 1433 Z, VWF, HEMO, CERU, A1 AT, TSP1, G3 P, IBP7, and KPYM) might be involved in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. Compared with those in healthy adults, the expression levels of SLC25 A4, SVEP1, and KRT25 in the sera of asthmatic patients were up-regulated(P<0.05). Therefore, it is hypothesized that a variety of immune signaling pathways and differentially expressed proteins play a role in the pathogenesis of BA, which provides potential target information for the treatment of BA.
Adult ; Humans ; Proteomics ; Gene Ontology ; Proteins ; Disease Susceptibility ; Asthma/genetics*

BACKGROUND: The development of dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) has been associated with several risk factors, including the use of Levodopa.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of dyskinesia among Filipino patients with Parkinson's Disease given Levodopa versus Dopamine Agonist. To determine the time to development of dyskinesia among Filipino PD patients given Levodopa versus Dopamine Agonists, and to determine the risk factors for the development of dyskinesia among patients on Levodopa.
METHODS: In this retrospective case-control study, the occurrence of dyskinesia was evaluated in 367 PD patiems given Levodopa or Dopamine Agonists.
RESULTS: The prevalence of dyskinesia was significand higher in patients on Levodopa compared to those on DopamineAgonist (36.11% vs 0.86%, p 0.005). Kaplan Meier survival curve showed that at 9 years of treatment, a greater proportion of patients in the dopamine agonist group remained free of dyskinesia compared to the levodopa group (87 vs 3-5%) Patients in the Dopamine agonist group had a longer time to dyskinesia at 7 years compared to those in the Levodopa group at 6.25 years (CI 2 - 20 years). Among patients on Levodopa younger at onset of PD (53.29 vs. 62.37, p < 0.05), female sex (60.44 vs. 39.56%, p 0.006), and longer duration of treatment (6.25 vs. 3.73, p < 0.05) were significant risk factors for the occurrence of dyskinesia.
CONCLUSION: Among Filipino PD patients, the prevalence of dyskinesia is significantly higher in patients on Levodopa compared to those on Dopamine Agonists (36.11% vs 0.8%). At 9 years of treatment, a greater proportion of patients in the DA group remained free of dyskinesia compared to the L-dopa group (87% vs 37.5%). Patients on DAs also had a longer time to the onset dyskinesia at 7 years of treatment compared to those in the L-dopa group at 6.25 years (range at 2 - 20 years of treatment). Among patients on L-dopa, the significant risk factors that predispose patients to the development of dyskinesia are: younger age, female sex, and longer duration of treatment.

Human ; Female ; Antiparkinson Agents ; Disease Susceptibility ; Dopamine Agonists ; Dyskinesias ; Kaplan-meier Estimate ; Levodopa ; Parkinson Disease ; Prevalence

Severe bronchospasm, hypotension and skin rash were observed in a 23 year-old woman after injection of gallamine iodide. Her past history revealed no asthmatic and allergic diathesis. Initial administration of succinylcholine induced a mild degree of bronchspasm and urticaria-like skin rash, which were intensified in severity after gallamine injection under the anesthetic state. Administration of hydrocortisone 500mg I.V. and antihistaminic(Avil), 100pmg I.M., produced successful relief of bronchospasm with circulatory embarrassment. A review was done as to histamine libration and bronchospasm due to succinylcholine, gallamine, d-tubocurarine, thiopental and atropine. The value of intradermal skin rash test was discussed.
Atropine ; Bronchial Spasm ; Disease Susceptibility ; Exanthema ; Female ; Gallamine Triethiodide ; Histamine ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hypotension ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental ; Tubocurarine

In order to find the disease susceptibility gene in these complex genetic trait, there have been much interests in association study using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Association study can be divided into two approaches candidate gene approach and linkage disequilibrium mapping. Recently, the candidate gene approach also has attracted much attention with the possiblity of whole genome wide scan being widely discussed. In genome wide scan, the amount of information that a locus can provide about the other adjacent loci becomes an important matter. When a locus was found not to be associated with a trait, it is questionable that closely situated adjacent loci can also be excluded as disease susceptible loci. To approach this problem theoretically, this study tried to find a method to calculate power in case-control association study, and aimed to investigate the influence of hypothesized inheritance model to the obtainable power. In addition, this study investigated the implication of negative association results in other adjacent loci. METHOD: The power of associatiation study was calculated applying non-centrality chi-distribution approximated by Poisson distribution. Using this method, the powers in each inheritance model were calculated in candidate gene approach. The power of chi-square test in linkage disequilibrium mapping was also algebraically obtained. This method was applied to simulation data to verify the validity of the method. RESULT: The proportion of phenocopy and the allele frequency of candidate locus exert substantial influence to the power of the study rather than penetrance matrix or inheritance model. The power in linkage disequilibrium mapping exponentially decreased according to the degree of linkage disequilibrium as anticipated, however, the marker allele frequency exert enormous influence to the power. Without any a prior knowledge about which marker allele had linked with disease susceptibility allele, the marker with equal distribution of each allele showed the highest power. CONCLUSION: The implication of negative results obtained in association study can only be determined by power analysis. In linkage disequilibrium mapping, if favorable power had been obtained, exclusion analysis of specific gene segment could be attempted. Taking into account the probable inheritance model and the marker allele frequency in designing association study, more efficient and rigorous study can be possible.
Alleles ; Case-Control Studies ; Disease Susceptibility ; Gene Frequency ; Genome ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Penetrance ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* ; Wills