No abstract available.
Gastric Mucosa* ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter*

Hand rehabilitation is essential to restore the maximal functional capacity of a patient after the injuries of hand or upper extremity, such as a fracture, tendon tear, crushing, or amputation. To achieve the purpose, hand rehabilitation should begin shortly after the completion of surgery. Especially after the replantation, functional recovery can be achieved by a careful inpatient evaluation providing a proper treatment, detecting problems, and updating treatment programs, and arranging discharge and follow-up cares by a hand rehabilitation team. We report our experience of a successful hand rehabilitation of patient with a replantation surgery after the complete right forearm amputation. A comprehensive approach and systematized treatment programs are important for a hand rehabilitation.
Amputation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Forearm* ; Hand* ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Rehabilitation* ; Replantation* ; Tendons ; Upper Extremity

A new glaucoma drainage implant, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene(e-PTFE) membrane implant, and e-PTFE-silicone tube implant were used in 11 eyes of 11 patients with recalcitrant glaucomas including neovascular glaucoma. After an average follow-up of 13 months, intraocular pressures(IOPs) decreased to the level ranging from 10 to 20mmHg in all the eyes. Five patients were not on antiglaucoma medication. Four patients required one beta blocker and/or pilocarpine. The remaining two patients still required the maximum tolerated medical therapy and were considered to have a failed drainage surgery. A temporary obstruction of the drainage tube occurred in 2 eyes with neovascular glaucoma which developed a minimal hyphema and fibrinous aqueous after surgery. Postoperative hypotony and shallow anterior chamber developed in 4 eyes, but their situations were not dangerous. The patients each had a filtration bleb postequatorially after surgery. These blebs disappeared one to seven months later. In spite of the presence of a filtration bleb, 7 eyes developed an increased IOP temporarily. The required conjunctival incision for installation of an e-PTFE drainage implant was less than 90 degrees and the overall surgical procedures seemed to be simple.
Anterior Chamber ; Blister ; Drainage* ; Fibrin ; Filtration ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma Drainage Implants ; Glaucoma* ; Glaucoma, Neovascular ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Membranes* ; Pilocarpine

Recently, various tube-shunt implants have been used in treating refractory glaucomas.They have large volumed reservoir portion made of hard materials.We made a new implant with soft and freely malleable membrane[expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, e-PTFE]as a reservoir portion attached to the conventional silicone tube. Based on the encouraging result from experimental animal study, we performed a clinical trial for the membrane-tube implant.We performed Glaucoma Tube-Shunt Implant surgery using double layers of e-PTFE membrane and silicone tube with its one end fixed between the two layers.The subjects had refractory glaucomas without useful vision who visited our hospital from May 1991 to Sep.1995. There were 40 eyes of 37 patients and their mean follow-up period was 32.6 months.We could control the IOP within 6~21 mms of mercury in 26 eyes[65.0%, Success].In remaining 14 eyes, we could not control the IOP or additional surgery was needed to control the IOP or treat severe complications[35.0%, Failure].The Kaplan-Meier Survival for IOP control was 78.4% at 1 yr, 71.6%at 2 yr, and 60.3%at 3 yr.The complications were similar to those of other commercially available Glaucoma implants. This new implant is made of soft, freely malleable membrane for the reservoir portion with small volume which can be inserted with smaller incision on the conjunctiva with less complication.We have obtained comparable result from this membrane-tube implant to other implants, and it may be considered as an another substitute for the treatment of refractory glaucomas.
Animals ; Conjunctiva ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma* ; Humans ; Membranes* ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Silicones

OBJECTIVES: Because shipyard workers are involved with various manufacturing process, they are exposed to many kinds of hazardous materials. Welders especially, are exposed to bisphenol-A (BPA) during the welding and flame cutting of coated steel. This study was conducted to assess the exposure status of the endocrine disruptor based on the job-exposure matrix. The effects of the genetic polymorphism of xenobiotic enzyme metabolisms involved in the metabolism of BPA on the levels of urinary metabolite were investigated. METHODS: The study population was recruited from a shipyard company in the K province. A total of 84 shipbuilding workers 47 and 37 in the exposed and control groups, respectively, were recruited for this study. The questionnaire variables included, age, sex, use of personal protective equipment, smoking, drinking and work duration. The urinary metabolite was collected in the afternoon and correction made for the urinary creatinine concentration. The of the CYP1A1, CYP2E1 and UGT1A6 genotypes were investigated using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods with the DNA extracted from venous blood. RESULTS: The urinary BPA level in the welders group was significantly higher than in the control group (p< 0.05). The urinary BPA concentration with the wild type UGT1A6 was higher than the other UGT1A6 genotypes, but with no statistical significant. From themultiple regression analysis of the urinary BPA, the regression coefficient for job grade was statistically significant (p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The grade of exposure to BPA affected the urinary BPA concentration was statistically significant. However, the genetic polymorphisms of xenobiotics enzyme metabolism were not statistically significant. Further investigation of the genetic polymorphisms with a larger sample size is needed.
Biomarkers* ; Creatinine ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; DNA ; Drinking ; Genotype ; Hazardous Substances ; Metabolism ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Sample Size ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Steel ; Welding ; Xenobiotics

This study was performed to evaluate whether microRNAs (miRNAs) in circulating exosomes may serve as biomarkers of drug-induced liver, kidney, or muscle-injury. Quantitative PCR analyses were performed to measure the amounts of liver-specific miRNAs (miR-122, miR-192, and miR-155), kidney-specific miR-146a, or muscle-specific miR-206 in plasma and exosomes from mice treated with liver, kidney or muscle toxicants. The levels of liver-specific miRNAs in circulating plasma and exosomes were elevated in acetaminophen-induced liver injury and returned to basal levels by treatment with antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine. Circulating miR-146a and miR-206 were increased in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and bupivacaine-induced myotoxicity, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that circulating plasma and exosomal miRNAs can be used as potential biomarkers specific for drug-induced liver, kidney or muscle injury.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; Exosomes ; Kidney ; Liver ; Mice ; MicroRNAs* ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rodentia*

This study was performed to evaluate whether microRNAs (miRNAs) in circulating exosomes may serve as biomarkers of drug-induced liver, kidney, or muscle-injury. Quantitative PCR analyses were performed to measure the amounts of liver-specific miRNAs (miR-122, miR-192, and miR-155), kidney-specific miR-146a, or muscle-specific miR-206 in plasma and exosomes from mice treated with liver, kidney or muscle toxicants. The levels of liver-specific miRNAs in circulating plasma and exosomes were elevated in acetaminophen-induced liver injury and returned to basal levels by treatment with antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine. Circulating miR-146a and miR-206 were increased in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and bupivacaine-induced myotoxicity, respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that circulating plasma and exosomal miRNAs can be used as potential biomarkers specific for drug-induced liver, kidney or muscle injury.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; Exosomes ; Kidney ; Liver ; Mice ; MicroRNAs* ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rodentia*

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV (EDS IV) is a hereditary disorder of the connective tissue, characterized by easy bruising, thin skin with visible veins, and spontaneous rupture of the large arteries, uterus, or bowel. EDS IV is caused by mutations of the gene for type III procollagen (COL3A1), resulting in insufficient collagen production or a defect in the structure of collagen. EDS IV can have fatal complications such as the rupture of great vessels or organs, which can cause hemorrhaging and sudden unexpected death. Here, we report a case of a 43-year-old female who collapsed after a struggle with a neighbor. In this patient, the bifurcation of the bilateral common iliac artery ruptured, with no evidence of trauma, inflammation, or atherosclerosis. Genetic analysis of COL3A1 showed the presence of a c.2771G>A (p.Gly924Arg) mutation, which may be associated with EDS IV. The forensic pathologist should consider the possibility that the spontaneous visceral or arterial rupture was caused by EDS IV. Genetic analysis is not currently a routine procedure during autopsy. However, in this case, we suggest that the patient possibly had an underlying EDS IV condition, and we recommended family members of the deceased to seek genetic analysis and counseling.
Adult ; Aortic Rupture* ; Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Autopsy ; Collagen ; Collagen Type III ; Connective Tissue ; Counseling ; Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome* ; Female ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Inflammation ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous ; Skin ; Uterus ; Veins

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mucin hypersecretion is one of the main symptoms of inflammatory diseases in the respiratory tract. The authors previously reported that pleiotypic pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin (IL)-1beta, plays significant roles in the respiratory tract inflammation by inducing mucins (MUC2, MUC5AC, MUC8). However, the molecular mechanism for mucin hypersecretion in the respiratory tract is still unclear. MATERIALS AND METHOD: In order to understand the mechanisms of mucin hypersecretion in the airway epithelium, the differentially expressed proteins and genes in the lung mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line (NCI-H292 cells), which were treated for 6 and 24 hours with IL-1beta (10 ng/ml), were identified using 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) proteomics and cDNA microarray analysis (8.6 K). RESULTS: In the 2-D PAGE, 8 differentially expressed proteins and 14 post-translational modification proteins were identified 6 and 24 hrs after the IL-1beta treatment. Microarray analysis identified a total of 413 genes (6.6%) in the 6-hour treatment group and 115 genes (2.0%) in the 24-hour treatment group that were regulated after the IL-1beta treatment. The differentially expressed genes that were regulated by the IL-1beta treatment were mostly found in the metabolic pathway rather than in the regulatory pathway. A comparison of the proteomic and microarray data showed that there was a large discrepancy between the protein expression and the gene expression levels. Among the genes encoding the proteins secreted in the airway, MUC5B was down-regulated but sialomucin CD 164, lysozyme, and the secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) were up-regulated. CONCLUSION: These results clearly show that the transcript levels have little value in predicting the extent of protein expression. Genomics and proteomics have different evaluation fields. Therefore, they may not provide all the information on the gene and protein profiles.
Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid ; Cell Line ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Epithelial Cells* ; Epithelium ; Gene Expression ; Genomics ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-1beta* ; Interleukins ; Lung ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; Microarray Analysis ; Mucins ; Mucus ; Muramidase ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Proteomics ; Respiratory System ; Secretory Leukocyte Peptidase Inhibitor ; Sialomucins

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Endoscopic repair of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak can avoid morbidity of open approaches and has shown a favorable success rate. Free mucosal graft is a good method, and multi-layered repair is more favorable. The inferior turbinate has been commonly utilized for the free mucosal graft, but we newly designed it as a bone-periosteal-mucosal composite graft for multilayered reconstruction. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Four subjects with a skull base defect were treated with this method. The inferior turbinate was partially resected including the conchal bone and was trimmed according to defect size. Both bony parts and periosteum were preserved on the basolateral side of the mucosa as a composite graft. The graft was applied to the defect site using an overlay technique. RESULTS: All cases were successfully repaired without any complications. Three of them had a defect size greater than 10–12 mm, and the graft stably repaired the CSF leakage. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic repair of CSF leakage using inferior turbinate composite graft is a simple and easy method and would be favorable for defect sizes greater than 10 mm.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Methods ; Mucous Membrane ; Periosteum ; Skull Base ; Transplants* ; Turbinates*