Growth under conditions of iron-restriction and the production of siderophore was examined in Vibrio mimicus ATCC 33653. This strain grew and multiplied in the presence of the high-affinity iron chelators ethylenediamine-di (o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid). Chrorne azurol S (CAS) agar and solution were used to detect the production of siderophore under these condition. Siderophore could be detected in the iron-rcstricted culture supernatants. The siderophore was extracted from iron-restricted culture supernatants by phenol-chloroform-ether method and purified by Dowex ion-exchange and Sephadex G-25 gel filtracton chromatography. The purified siderophore was confirmed by paper chromatography and HPLC. The Purified siderophore enhanced the growth of V. mimicus when the bacterium was grown in iron limited medium. Injection of both the siderohore and the bacteria to mice resulted in more rapid death than that of the only bacteria. However, the siderophore did not show lethality to mice and any toxicity to cell line like HeLa and U937.
Agar ; Animals ; Bacteria ; Cell Line ; Chelating Agents ; Chromatography ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Paper ; Iron ; Mice ; Vibrio mimicus* ; Vibrio*

Pneumocystis carinii causes serious pulmonary infection in immunosuppressed patients. This study was undertaken to observe the cytoskeletal proteins of P. carinii by immuno-electron microscopy. P. carinii infection was experimentally induced by immunosuppression of Sprague-Dawley rats for seven weeks, and their lungs were used for the observations of this study. The gold particles localized actin, tropomyosin, and tubulin. The actin was irregularly scattered in the cytoplasm of the trophic forms but was much more concentrated in the inner space of the cell wall of the cystic forms called the inner electron-lucent layer. No significant amount of tropomyosin was observed in either trophic forms or cystic forms. The tubulin was distributed along the peripheral cytoplasm and filopodia of both the trophic and cystic forms rather than in the inner side of the cytoplasm. Particularly, in the cystic forms, the amount of tubulin was increased and located mainly in the inner electron-lucent layer of the cell wall where the actin was concentrated as well. The results of this study showed that the cell wall of P. carinii cystic forms is a structure whose inner side is rich in actin and tubulin. The location of the actin and tubulin in P. carinii suggests that the main role of these proteins is an involvement in the protection of cystic forms from the outside environment by maintaining rigidity of the cystic forms.
Actins/analysis ; Animals ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/*analysis ; Fungal Proteins/*analysis ; Histocytochemistry ; Microscopy, Immunoelectron ; Pneumocystis/*chemistry/cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Tropomyosin/analysis ; Tubulin/analysis

No abstract available.
Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Pregnancy*

BACKGROUND: Recently many studies reported that the postoperative pain was prevented or decreased from preoperative regional anesthesia by preventing the establishment of central sensitization(pre-emptive analgesia). Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of preincisional lidocaine infiltration on the postoperative pain. METHODS: We conducted a study to compare preinfiltrating group with 1% lidocaine (30 ml), postinfiltrating group with 1% lidocaine (30 ml) and non-infiltrating group in 45 patients scheduled for elective inguinal herniorrhaphy. During operation, all patients received a general anesthesia with thiopental, isoflurane and nitrous oxide in oxygen. Postoperatively, pain scores on visual analogue scale (VAS) and on verbal rating scale(VRS) at rest, coughing and movement from supine into sitting position were assessed. Also the time to first request for an on-demand postoperative analgesics and the total dose of postoperative analgesics were assessed. And the number of patients who didn't require any analgesics during postoperative period was assessed. RESULTS: The VAS and VRS at rest, coughing, movement were low in preinfiltrating group than in non-infiltrating group and postinfiltrating group postoperatively, but it was statistically significant only in early postoperative period. The time to first request for an on-demand postoperative analgesics occurred later in preinfiltrating group than in non-infiltrating group and in postinfiltrating group and the total dose of supplemental analgesics (ketorolac) was smaller in the preinfiltrating group than in non-infiltrating group and postinfiltrating group, and the patients without analgesic treatment was less in the preinfiltrating group than in non-infiltrating group and postinfiltrating group, but it was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with inguinal herniorrhaphy, we can not support the pre-emptive analgesia clinically with preincisional lidocaine infiltration.
Analgesia ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia, Conduction ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthetics ; Cough ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Isoflurane ; Lidocaine* ; Nitrous Oxide ; Oxygen ; Pain, Postoperative* ; Postoperative Period ; Thiopental

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The eradication rate of the first-line triple therapy (a proton pump inhibitor, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin) for Helicobacter pylori infection has gradually decreased in Korea. We evaluated whether clinical parameters, clarithromycin resistance, and CYP2C19 genotype can affect the eradication failure. METHODS: A total of 203 patients with H. pylori-positive chronic gastritis were consecutively enrolled. They received clarithromycin-based triple therapy for 7 days. A clarithromycin resistance test was performed by detection of A2142G and A2143G point mutations in H. pylori 23S rRNA. The CYP2C19 genotype was examined for polymorphism G681A of exon 5 and G636A of exon 4 by polymerase chain reaction with restriction fragment length polymorphism. Eradication was assessed by a ¹³C-urea breath test 4 weeks after treatment. RESULTS: Of 203 patients, 190 completed the study. The eradication rate was 64.0% according to intention-to-treat analysis and 68.4% by per-protocol analysis. CYP2C19 genotypes were identified as follows: 75 poor metabolizers, 75 intermediate metabolizers, and 40 rapid metabolizers. Nonetheless, this polymorphism was not significantly associated with eradication failure (p = 0.682). Clarithromycin resistance was detected in 33/190 patients (17.4%), and their eradication rate was zero. Clarithromycin resistance (odds ratio [OR], 19.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.35 to 35.09) and female gender (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.15 to 4.25) were significantly associated with eradication failure. The other clinical parameters such as age, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, the body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes were not significantly associated with eradication. CONCLUSIONS Clarithromycin resistance and female gender are factors affecting H. pylori eradication failure in patients with chronic gastritis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between osteoporosis and skin thicknessas shown by CT scanning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty- six women with osteoporosis (mean age, 52) and 51 normalcontrols (mean age, 50) participated in the study. For a quantitative CT examinations, a CT scanner(Somatom Plus,Siemens) was used. Osteoporosis was defined as present when spinal bone mineral density was more than 2.5 standarddeviations below young normal density, as determined by quantitative CT. Patients with endocrinologic, malignantor collagen disease and undergoing antimetabolite or steroid therapy were excluded. The thickness of back skin wasretrospectively measured at the third lumbar vertebra level, as seen on CT films, using a conventional magnifier.For statistical analysis, Students' t test and Spearman's rank correlation were used. RESULTS: On the basis of CTscans, the mean thickness of back skin in the osteoporotic group(0.50+/-0.20 mm) was significantly less than innormal control subjects(0.80+/-0.23 mm) (p<0.001). Significant correlation was observed between skin thickness andbone mineral density(r=0.523, p<0.0001). Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictivevalues were measured as 76, 78, 76, 88, 62% with a cut-off value of 0.6 and 84, 61, 77, 81, 66% with a cut-offvalue of 0.7, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that the thickness of back skin, asmeasured by CT scanning, is predictive of osteoporosis.
Bone Density ; Collagen Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Osteoporosis* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin* ; Spine ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

PURPOSE: This report describes our 1-year experience with an emergency abdominal ultrasound course that we developed for emergency medicine residents and physicians. METHODS: The five-hour course consisted of didactic lectures and hands-on practice. A 1-hour didactic lecture was provided. The lecture consisted of basic ultrasound physics and principles, and anatomy for abdominal ultrasound. In the hands-on session, the instructors demonstrated the abdominal ultrasound techniques and then the students practiced on standard patients. Participants evaluated the programs using a five or ten point Likert scale. After two months to one year, the participants evaluated the usefulness of the course, their knowledge, and their self confidence. RESULTS: A total of 61 trainees participated in eight courses. The evaluation scores for overall quality of content, clinical utility, quality of educational method, quality of instructor, and time allocation were 4.4+/-0.7, 4.5+/-0.6, 4.3+/-0.6, 4.4+/-0.6, 4.1+/-0.7, respectively. Score of self-confidence of each scan before and after the course were as follows: liver scan, 3.2+/-2.1 to 6.9+/-1.2; gallbladder and bile duct scan 3.0+/-2.5 to 6.9+/-1.2; pancreas scan, 2.4+/-2.1 to 6.3+/-1.3; renal scan, 3.6+/-2.6 to 7.6+/-1.3. Evaluation scores were followed up after two months to one year to estimate self confidence of each scan. Results were as follows: liver scan, 6.1+/-1.5; gallbladder and bile duct scan, 6.5+/-1.6; pancreas scan, 5.5+/-1.8; renal scan, 7.2+/-1.5. CONCLUSION: The Emergency Abdominal Ultrasound Course is a fairly successful course. But continuous improvement of educational content, and development of an objective evaluation tool need to be done.
Bile Ducts ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Lectures ; Liver ; Pancreas ; Republic of Korea

Background: Although few studies have reported improved clinical outcomes with the administration of vitamin B1 and C in critically ill patients with septic shock or severe pneumonia, its clinical impact on patients with sepsis-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association with vitamin B and C supplementation and clinical outcomes in patients with ARDS. Methods: Patients with ARDS requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) were included in this study. Clinical outcomes were compared between patients administered with vitamin B1 (200 mg/day) and C (2 g/day) June 2018–May 2019 (the supplementation group) and those who did not receive vitamin B1 and C administration June 2017–May 2018 (the control group). Results: Seventy-nine patients were included. Thirty-three patients received vitamin B1 and C whereas 46 patients did not. Steroid administration was more frequent in patients receiving vitamin B1 and C supplementation than in those without it. There were no significant differences in the mortality between the patients who received vitamin B1 and C and those who did not. There were not significant differences in ventilator and ICU-free days between each of the 21 matched patients. Conclusion Vitamin B1 and C supplementation was not associated with reduced mortality rates, and ventilator and ICU-free days in patients with sepsis-related ARDS requiring invasive mechanical ventilation.

Background/Aims: Our study aims to characterize esophageal motor function; evaluate the relationships among esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), high-resolution manometry (HRM), and 24-hour esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance monitoring combined with pHmetry (MII-pH); and elucidate the determinants of esophageal symptom perception in South Koreans with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: We reviewed prospectively collected HRM (n = 46), EGD (n = 41), and MII-pH (n = 37) data from 46 consecutive patients with SSc (42 females; mean age 50.1 years) who underwent esophageal tests between June 2013 and September 2018. Results: The most common HRM diagnosis was normal (39.1%), followed by ineffective esophageal motility (23.9%) and absent contractility (21.7%). Erosive esophagitis was observed in 12.2% of total SSc patients, with a higher frequency in patients with absent contractility than those with normal motility (44.5% vs 0.0%, P = 0.01). Pathologic acid exposure was observed in 6 patients (20.0%) and positive symptom association in 18 patients (60.0%) in MII-pH tests of symptomatic patients. The proportion of SSc patients with esophageal symptoms not explained by reflux or mucosal or motor esophageal abnormalities was 33.0%. Conclusions Esophageal involvement among South Koreans with SSc was characterized by heterogeneous motility patterns, with a higher prevalence of normal motility and lower prevalence of erosive esophagitis. Reflux hypersensitivity or functional heartburn might be partly attributed to the perception of esophageal symptoms in SSc patients who have neither gastroesophageal reflux disease nor esophageal dysmotility.

The present study investigated characteristics of 24 parasite infection cases detected during colonoscopy in a regional hospital from January 2001 to December 2008. Sixteen patients were confirmed with Trichuris trichiura infection, 6 patients were with Ascaris lumbricoides infection, 1 patient with Enterobius vermicularis infection, and 1 patient with Anisakis infection. Among them, 7 patients (43.8%) were asymptomatic. Colonoscopy findings were normal in 18 patients (75.0%). Among the patients with T. trichiura infection, colonoscopy showed several erosions in 2 patients (8.3%) and non-specific inflammation of the affected segment of the colon in 3 patients (12.5%). In 1 patient with anisakiasis, colonoscopy revealed a markedly swollen colonic wall. Stool examinations were performed before treatment in 7 patients (29.2%) and were all negative for parasite eggs or worms. These results suggest that colonoscopy is a useful diagnostic approach for parasitic infections even for asymptomatic patients and for patients with negative stool examinations.
Adult ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Anisakis/isolation & purification ; Ascaris lumbricoides/isolation & purification ; *Colonoscopy ; Enterobius/isolation & purification ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Helminthiasis/*diagnosis/*epidemiology/pathology ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/*diagnosis/*epidemiology/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea ; Trichuris/isolation & purification ; Young Adult