No abstract available.
Basophils* ; Histamine Release* ; Histamine*

No abstract available.
Asthma ; Hypersensitivity

No abstract available.
Asthma ; Hypersensitivity

No abstract available.
Urticaria*

Despite significant advances in obstetric and pediatric health care, Streptococcus agalactiae(Lancefield group B β-hemolytic Streptococcus, GBS) remains one 91 the most prevalent and devastating pathogens in peripartum women and their newborn infants. It may cause urinary tract infection, chorioamnionitis and endometritis, bacteremia, and cesarean wound infection in the peripartum period. It was Pasteur who first identified microbes in the blood and lorchia of septic women. After that, in 1938 the isolation of S. agalactiae from three mortally ill women was reported, thereby implicating it as another cause of puerperal sepsis. S. agalactiae is now one of the most common causes of neonatal sepsis and meningitis in the United States. However, in Korea there have been only twenty-three cases of neonatal meningitis and/or sepsis due to group B β-hemolytic streptococcus reported. Recent studies have noted other serious infections in adults, including bacteremia, pneumonia, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, meningitis, and endocarditis. In Korean adults no case of pneumonia due to S. agalactiae has been reported till now. As minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin was reported to be higher for S. agalactiae than for S. pyogenes, minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin for S. agalactiae should be tested. Herein we describe the course of a case of S. agalactiae pneumonia and bacteremia in a 74-year-old diabetic man, and we review the literatures.
Adult* ; Aged ; Bacteremia ; Cellulitis ; Chorioamnionitis ; Delivery of Health Care ; Endocarditis ; Endometritis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Meningitis ; Osteomyelitis ; Penicillins ; Peripartum Period ; Pneumonia* ; Pregnancy ; Sepsis ; Streptococcus agalactiae* ; Streptococcus* ; United States ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Wound Infection

No abstract available.
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Interferons* ; Lymphocytes*

BACKGROUNDS: The pathophysiology of chronic airflow obstruction, such as bronchial asthma, is characterized by mucus hypersecretion, goblet cell hyperplasia(GCH), smooth muscle hypertrophy, cells infiltration. In fatal asthma patients, one findings is mucus hypersecretion due to GCH. However, the mechanisms of GCH in these hypersecretory diseases remain still unknown. In this study, a rat model was rapidly induced with GCH by instillation of TiO2 intratracheally. We intend to confirm GCH and association of concomitant inflammatory cells infiltration and to observe the effect of potent antiinflammatory agent, that is dexamethasone, on GCH with inflammatroy cells. METHODS: Twenty-one-8-weeks-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. Endotoxin-free water was instilled intratracheally in group 1(control) ; TiO2 was instilled in the group 2 ; and dexamethasone was injected intraperitoneally to group 3 before TiO2 instillation. After 120 hours, all rats were sacrificed, and trachea, bronchi, and lungs were resected respectively. These tissues were made as paraffin blocks and stained as PAS for goblet cells and Luna stain for eosinophils. We calculated the ratio of goblet cell to respiratory epithelium and number of infiltrated eosinophils from each tissue. RESULTS: (1) Fraction of goblet cells was significantly increased in group 2 than in group 1 in the trachea and in the main bronchus. (10.19±11.33% vs 4.09±8.28%, p<0.01 and 34.09±23.91% vs 3.61±4.84%, p<0.01, respectively). (2) Eosinophils were significantly increased in the airway of group 2 than that of group 1. (5.43±3.84% vs 0.17±0.47 in trachea and 47.71±16.91 vs 2.71±1.96 in main bronchi). (3) There was significant difference in the decrease of goblet cells and eosinophils(r=0.719, p=0.001). (4) There was significant difference in the decrease of goblet cells after dexamethasone infection between group 2 and group 3 (p<0.01). Also, infiltration of eosinophils was suppressed by dexamethasone. CONCLUSION: We made an animal model of TiO2-induced goblet cell hyperplasia. GCH was observed mainly in the main bronchi with concomitant eosinophilic infiltration. Both goblet cell hyperplasia and eosinophilic infiltration were suppressed by dexamethasone. This animal model may serve as a useful tool in understanding of the mechanism of GCH in chronic airway diseases.
Animals ; Asthma ; Bronchi ; Dexamethasone* ; Eosinophils ; Goblet Cells* ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Hypertrophy ; Inflammation* ; Lung ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Mucus ; Muscle, Smooth ; Paraffin ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley* ; Respiratory Mucosa ; Trachea ; Water

BACKGROUND/AIM: Serial measurement of serum carcinoembryonic antigen was assessed to define its significance and to determine the adequacy in detecting recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Six hundred forty-five patients with colorectal cancer underwent curative resection were included. The median follow-up period was 49 months (range, 24~94 months). Serum CEA was analyzed in accordance with location, histologic differentiation, stage of the tumor, recurrence and survival. RESULTS: The incidence of elevated preoperative serum CEA (> 6 ng/ml) was correlated with tumor stage (stage I vs. II, P=0.01; stage II vs. III, P=0.0001). Fifty five patients among 87 patients with recurrence (63.2%) had concomitant elevation of serum CEA, whereas 32 of 558 patients (5.7%) without recurrence showed a false-positive result. Measurement of serum CEA was more sensitive in patients with elevated preoperative serum CEA and liver metastases than in patients without elevated preoperative serum CEA and local recurrence (P=0.0397). The leading time of serum CEA between the first elevated serum CEA and the identification of recurrence was 3.5 months (range, 1~12 month). Tumor stage and preoperative serum CEA level were found to be significant prognostic variables by multivariate analysis. The overall 5-year survival rate in the normal preoperative serum CEA and the elevated group were 76% and 64% respectively (P=0.00019). CONCLUSION: Serum CEA seemed to be closely correlated with survival and to be an useful tool to detect recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. The appropriate measurement of serum CEA might be suggested in stage II and III postoperatively: every three month for two years, every 6 month for succeeding 2 years, and annually thereafter. Monitoring of serum CEA in stage I could be individualized by preoperative serum CEA and clinical course.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Aged* ; Asthma* ; Humans

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis(ADEM) and acute relapsing disseminated encephalomyelitis(ARDEM) are representative demyelination diseases that occur among young children with a fulminant onset similar to encephalitis or meningitis. The diseases often occur after some viral infection of immunization and the etiology of these diseases is considered to be an autoimmune response because of the similarity in pathologic findings to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. Cerebral computed tomography(CT) findings of demyelination in ADEM or ARDEM show normal to low density areas in the white matter. In cerebral MRI findings, a scattered distinct high intensity lesion considered to be demyelination is observed in 72-weighted imaging even in the early stages. ADEM is usually monophasic, but recurrent episodes may occure. When ADEM is reccurent, the distinction from multiple sclerosis becomes difficult. We report here a case of acute relapsing disseminated encephalomyelitis(ARDEM) in a 9 years old male child who experence ADEM, 3 times.
Autoimmunity ; Child ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Encephalitis ; Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated* ; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental ; Humans ; Immunization ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Meningitis ; Multiple Sclerosis