Objective:To probe the effect of Alisol Monoacetate A and Alisol Monoacetate B on the synthesis and metabolism of cholesterol in HepG2 cell line.Methods:Controlled with Lipitor,different concentration of Alisol Monoacetate A and B were added to HepG2 cell line model,then collected and detected the contents of cholesterol in the cell lysate and cultured medium after 24h's cultivation.Results:The cytotoxicity of Alisol Monoacetate A and B appeared at least 10% when its concentration was higher than 10?M,more than 70% when its concentration was 50?M.The contents of cholesterol in HepG2 cell lysate increased from 24.4,26.7,32.3 and 38.3?g/mg protein corresponding with the concentration of 0?M,3?M,10?M and 20?M respectively,which showed the positive dose-effect relationship.However,the contents of cholesterol in the cultured medium manifested no difference.Conclusion:Alisol Monoacetate A and B could enhance the metabolic activity of mitochondria and increase the synthesis of cholesterol in HepG2 cell line.

BACKGROUND: The Fas antigen is a cell surface molecule that mediates apoptosis in many cell types. Matsues group indicated that keratinocytes constitutively express the Fas antigen and apoptosis was induced only on pretreatment with interferon-r (IFN-y) in cultured normal human keratinocytes (NHK). OBJECTIVE: We undertook this study to determine the induction of apoptosis by Fas antibody alone and/or in combination with IFN y, IL-1a in normal human keratinocytes (NHK) and transitional epithelioma cell lines (KB cell) which had lower levels of intracellular IL-1 receptor antago- nists (IL-1ra ). METHODS: We used cultured NHK and KB cells. Each cell was treated with IFN-r, IL-la and Fas antibody for induction of apoptosis. For quantifying the apoptosis, index fluorescent DNA- binding dyes were used. Result: Fas antibody alone could induce apoptosis not only in KB cells but also in NHK cells. The combination of Fas antibody and IFN-r enhanced the induction of apoptosis in NHK and KB cells. The IL-la alone could induce apoptosis only in KB cells which had relatively small amounts of IL-1ra compared to NHK. CONCLUSION: Our result may indicate that Fas antigen in human keratinocytes can regulate normal epidermal cellular differentiation and proliferation.
Antigens, CD95 ; Apoptosis* ; Carcinoma ; Cell Line ; Coloring Agents ; Humans* ; Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein ; Interleukin-1 ; Interleukin-1alpha ; KB Cells* ; Keratinocytes*

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence and correlates of children who had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Seoul. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 2,429 children included in four elementary schools at Seoul. Parents and teachers completed the Korean ADHD Rating Scales (K-ARS) and the Korean version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr). Child psychiatrists interviewed the children who demonstrated clinically significant scores on K-ARS and SDQ-Kr. Further assessments were conducted with other psychological tests if needed. RESULTS: 1) Of 2,429 children, 158 (6.5%) children had ADHD. 2) Compared to controls, ADHD children showed more frequently male preponderance, more single parent family, lower parental education level, more paternal no employment, poorer sibling relationship, fewer number of friends, and lower ability in language and mathematics. 3) In multivariate analysis, ADHD were associated with boys, single parent family, poor sibling relationship, and low language ability. Our stratified analysis by gender, there were association with single parent family and lower language ability in boys, and poor sibling relationship and lower mathematics ability in girls. CONCLUSION: This study found 6.5% prevalence of ADHD and ADHD were associated with gender, family environment, and academic achievements. Understanding of high-risk children would help in developing an ADHD school mental health program.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Employment ; Female ; Friends ; Humans ; Language ; Male ; Mathematics ; Mental Health Services* ; Mental Health* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Parents ; Prevalence* ; Psychiatry ; Psychological Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul* ; Siblings ; Single-Parent Family ; Weights and Measures

This study was conducted to assess the psychosocial adjustment of Korean-American physicians in the aspect of personal satisfaction after returning to Korea. A questionnaire was mailed to 72 Korean-American physicians who were practicing medicine in Korea and forty physicians responded. These physicians, typically in their 50s, lived in America for 21-30 years before coming back to Korea. The most frequent motives for them to come back to Korea were giving back to their native country, longing for their native country, filial duty, and suggestions from their colleagues or professors to move back. Eighty percent of them were extremely satisfied or slightly satisfied with their work in Korea, and only 10% are extremely or slightly dissatisfied with their decision to return. Although most of them are content for the time being in Korea, only 12.5% have definite plans to stay in Korea after retirement. The variables that were most significantly related to personal satisfaction of returning to Korea were how well treated at work and how much satisfied with job rather than other factors such as motives for returning, duration of staying in America and in Korea, and family situation.
Adaptation, Psychological* ; Adult ; Emigration and Immigration ; Human ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea/ethnology ; Middle Age ; Personnel Selection ; Physicians/supply & distribution ; Physicians/psychology* ; Quality of Life ; Retirement* ; Schools, Medical/manpower ; United States/ethnology

Drug desensitization is procedure by which patients can be tolerized to medications that have previously induced hypersensitivity reactions. Initially used in treating hypersensitivity reactions to antibiotics, desensitization is now frequently used in the setting of allergy to chemotherapy drugs and biologics, thus widening the clinical applicability of this procedure which has been proven to be quite safe and effective in improving clinical outcomes, mainly by allowing patients to remain on preferred first-line therapy. This paper reviews the history, application, and safety studies of drug desensitization for chemotherapy and biologics.
Anaphylaxis ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Biological Products ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have focused on characteristics of adolescents who use internet addictively. Due to many ambiguities in the definitions of internet addiction, it is hard to find a tool for diagnosing internet addiction. In this study, we attempt to identify the temperamental characteristics of adolescents who have addictive internet using patterns by administering a newly developed internet addiction scale based on a psychometric technique and temperament and character inventory (TCI) based on Cloninger's psychobiological model. METHODS: Participants were 566 high school students. 478 students were recruited from high schools, and 88 were selected from internet cafes. We applied the internet addiction scale and TCI. All the students were divided into 3 groups (high risk user group, potential risk user group and normal user group) according to the results of the internet addiction scale. TCI scores were compared and analyzed according to the participants' characteristics. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the distribution of internet user group according to gender. Boys had higher percentage of high risk and potential risk users than girls. When each TCI score was compared according to gender, girls showed significantly higher harm avoidance, reward dependence, cooperativeness scale scores and lower persistence, self-transcendence scale scores than boys. TCI scores were compared among the internet addiction risk user groups. Risky internet users showed lower scores in reward dependence, self-directness and cooperativeness dimensions than normal internet users. CONCLUSION: There was a gender difference in internet addiction risk in this study. These results suggest that adolescents who use internet addictively also have higher tendency of problematic social and interpersonal relationship. These tendencies need to be considered as one of the important aspects of internet addiction. This study shows that assessment of temperament and character in adolescents who have problems related to the internet may be needed for understanding their addiction behaviors and underlying psychopathologies.
Adolescent* ; Female ; Humans ; Internet* ; Interpersonal Relations ; Psychometrics ; Reward ; Temperament*

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare psychiatric comorbid disorders and psychological outcomes in children and adolescents with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: Subjects were divided into a child group (aged under 12 years) and an adolescent group (aged 12 years and above). All subjects were diagnosed with ADHD based on the DSM IV diagnostic criteria using the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Korean Version (K-SADS-PL-K). The K-SADS-PL-K was also used to evaluate those psychiatric disorders comorbid with ADHD. And the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) was used to examine the subjects' psychological outcomes. RESULTS: The rate of comorbidity in adolescent group was significantly higher than that in the child group. In particular, the adolescent group had a significantly higher ratio of comorbid conduct disorder and mood disorder than the child group. With respect to the predominantly inattentive type and Not Otherwise Specified, the school subscale scores on the K-CBCL for the children were significantly higher than those for the adolescents. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the psychiatric comorbidity may differ between adolescents and children with ADHD. Therefore when treating adolescents with ADHD, more careful assessment and treatment targeting a range of comorbidities are needed.
Adolescent ; Checklist ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Comorbidity ; Conduct Disorder ; Humans ; Mood Disorders

Though Fragile X syndrome is one of the most common inherited causes of mental retardation, it is not much detected yet in Korean population. One of the reason may be that the syndrome is not well known to the special education teachers as well as to the clinicians in this country. Thus, molecular test was undertaken to screen out fragile X syndrome in 122 children of two Korean schools for emotionally severely handicapped children. The subjects were all boys, previously known as having pervasive developmental disorder with or without mental retardation. Southern blot analysis of peripheral blood showed the abnormally enlarged (CGG)n repeat sequence associated with fragile X syndrome in two children. This finding suggests that the DNA testing for fragile X syndrome is warranted for Korean high risk population and that more concern about this syndrome is needed for the professionals who work for mentally handicapped children. The issues involved in genetic counseling for fragile X syndrome are discussed.
Blotting, Southern ; Child ; Disabled Children* ; Disabled Persons* ; DNA* ; Education, Special ; Fragile X Syndrome* ; Genetic Counseling ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Korea* ; Mentally Disabled Persons

OBJECTIVES: Chronic inflammation is now thought to play a key pathogenetic role in the associations of obesity with insulin resistance and diabetes. Based on our recent findings on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including the lack of an association between obesity and either insulin resistance or diabetes prevalence among subjects with very low concentrations of POPs, we hypothesized that POP concentrations may be associated with inflammation and modify the associations between inflammation and insulin resistance in non-diabetic subjects. METHODS: Cross-sectional associations among serum POPs, C-reactive protein (CRP), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were investigated in 748 non-diabetic participants aged > or =20 years. Nineteen types of POPs in 5 subclasses were selected because the POPs were detectable in > or =60% of the participants. RESULTS: Among the five subclasses of POPs, only organochlorine (OC) pesticides showed positive associations with CRP concentrations, while polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) showed inverse associations with CRP concentrations. There were statistically significant interactions between CRP and OC pesticides and between CRP and PCBs, in estimating HOMA-IR (P for interaction <0.01 and <0.01, respectively). CRP was not associated with HOMA-IR among subjects with low concentrations of OC pesticides or PCBs, while CRP was strongly associated with HOMA-IR among subjects with high concentrations of these POPs. CONCLUSIONS: In the current study, OC pesticides were associated with increased levels of CRP, a marker of inflammation, and both OC pesticides and PCBs may also modify the associations between CRP and insulin resistance.
Adult ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis/*drug effects ; Environmental Pollutants/adverse effects/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/adverse effects/*blood ; Inflammation/*chemically induced ; Insulin Resistance/*physiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys ; Pesticides/adverse effects/blood ; Polychlorinated Biphenyls/adverse effects/*blood