OBJECTIVES: A different sequence change, in the mitochondrial tRNA gene, has been proposed as a candidate mutation in the sensorineurnal hearing loss. The purpose of current study is to identify the association between the noise-induced sensorineurnal hearing loss and the A to G mutation at nucleotide 3243 of mitochondrial DNA. METHODS: Subjects were established by history and chart review, and audiological and clinical data were obtained. Blood was sampled from 101 controls, 50 noise-induced hearing loss, and 12 sensorineural deafness. The DNA of these individuals was extracted, and mitochondrial genome was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Subsequently, the coding sequence of mitochondrial genome was sequenced, and compared to the normal sequence, and all sequence variations were analyzed by restriction endonuclease ApaI. RESULTS: Mitochondrial DNA mutation (3243A->G) was not detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in any patients with noise-induced hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, and normal control without hearing loss in Koreans. The DNA sequencing of PCR products did not revealed an A to G substitution at nucleotide 3243 of mitochondrial DNA. CONCLUSIONS: The noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss was not associated with mitochondrial DNA mutation (3243A->G)
Clinical Coding ; Deafness ; DNA ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; DNA, Mitochondrial* ; Genome, Mitochondrial ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Transfer ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between postoperative increase in intervertebral disc space height (IVH) and posterior axial neck in cases of degenerative cervical disease treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). METHODS: A total of 155 patients who underwent ACDF with more than 1 year follow up were included. Radiologically, IVH and interfacet distance (IFD) of the operated segment were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. We clinically evaluated neck and arm pains according to visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and assessed neck disability index (NDI) scores preoperatively, postoperatively, at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. The relationship between radiological parameters, and clinical scores were analyzed using a regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean increase in IVH was 2.62 mm, and the mean increase in IFD was 0.67 mm. The VAS scores for neck pain preoperatively, postoperatively, and at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year postoperatively were 4.46, 2.11, 2.07, 1.95, and 1.29; those for arm pain were 5.89, 3.24, 3.20, 3.03, and 2.18. The NDI scores were improved from 18.52 to 7.47. No significant relationship was observed between the radiological evaluation results regarding the increase in intervertebral height or interfacet distance and clinical changes in VAS or NDI scores. CONCLUSION: The increase in intervertebral space or interfacet distance by the insertion of a large graft material while performing ACDF for the treatment of degenerative cervical disease was not related with the change in VAS scores for neck and arm pains and NDI scores postoperatively and during the follow-up period.
Arm ; Diskectomy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Neck ; Neck Pain* ; Transplants

Patellofemoral complications are the most frequent problems in total knee arthroplasty. In the literature, the subject of patella resurfacing and nonresurfacing is controversial. Twenty-seven osteoarthritic patients who received bilateral total knee prostheses were studied to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of patella resurfacing prospectively. Only patients with mild patellofemoral disease were included in the study. The Ortholoc modular implant was used in all cases. Cementless femoral and tibial component were used. But, if we resurfaced the patella, cement was used. In all patients, patella resurfacing had been done in the left knee but not in the right knee. For the clinical analysis, We used Knee Rating Score of the Hospital for Special Surgery(HSS), For the roentgenographic analysis, We used Laurin's lateral patellofemoral angle & Merchant's congruence angle. In the follow up, blind test for patellar pain was performed to compare between right and left knee joint clinically. The average age was 61 years(range 28-72 years) and the average follow up was 21 months(range 12-27 months). Preoperative ROM was 104.4 degrees in right side and 106.7 degrees in left side. Postoperative ROM was 112.7 degrees in right side and 109.6 degrees in left side. Preoperative HSS Knee Rating Score was 53.1 point in right side and 54.8 point in left side. Postoperative HSS Knee Rating Score was 81.5 point in right side and 81.2 point in left side. In the plain knee AP view, preoperative tibiofemoral angle was varus 7.0 degrees in right side and varus 5.6 degrees in left side. Postoperative tibiofemoral angle was valgus 5.1 degrees in right side and valgus 4.9 degrees in left side. Preoperative Merchant's congruence angle was 14.9 degrees in right side and 15.3 degrees in left side. Postoperative Merchant's congruence angle was
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Knee Prosthesis ; Patella ; Prospective Studies ; Range of Motion, Articular

Recently, research on rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has increased during the last few decades. Rectal NETs measuring <10 mm without atypical features and confined to the submucosal layer have only 1% risk of metastasis, and the long-term survival probability of patients without metastasis at the time of diagnosis is approximately 100%. Therefore, the current guidelines suggest endoscopic resection of rectal NETs of <10 mm is regarded as a safe therapeutic option. However, there are currently no clear recommendations for technique selection for endoscopic resection. The choice of treatment modality for rectal NETs should be based on the lesion size, endoscopic characteristics, grade of differentiation, depth of vertical involvement, lymphovascular invasion, and risk of metastasis. Moreover, the complete resection rate, complications, and experience at the center should be considered. Modified endoscopic mucosal resection is the most suitable resection method for rectal NETs of <10 mm, because it is an effective and safe technique that is relatively simple and less time-consuming compared with endoscopic submucosal dissection. Endoscopic submucosal dissection should be considered when the tumor size is >10 mm, suctioning is not possible due to fibrosis in the lesion, or when the snaring for modified endoscopic mucosal resection does not work well.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate antimicrobial activity in isolated Streptococcus salivarius against Gram-positive bacteria related oral diseases. Methods: S. salivarius was used in G2, G7, K12, and ATCC 7073 strains and tryptic soy broth supplemented with glucose was cultivated. Actinomyces israelii, Actinomyces viscosus, and Enterococcus faecalis were cultivated with brain heart infusion broth. Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus were maintained using tryptic soy broth. The antimicrobial activity of S. salivarius was performed by minimum inhibitory concentration using the spent culture medium. Results: All S. salivarius have antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria in oral cavity. When comparing antimicrobial activity, S. salivarius G2 and G7 as isolated strain showed stronger antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive microbe than type K12 strain. Conclusions S. salivarius G2 and G7 have strong antimicrobial activity and may be prevent oral disease by Gram-positive bacteria in oral cavity.

OBJECTIVES: Manganese is cytotoxic to the central nervous system including basal ganglia. Its toxic mechanism is related to oxidative stress, mediated by toxic free radicals but is specultives. In the present study, we have investigated to manifest apoptosis in manganese-induced cytotoxicity in primary neuronal cell culture of rat basal ganglia. METHOD: To detect apoptotic neuronal cells were stained by the terminal deoxynu-cleotide(TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end-labelling(TUNEL) method and apoptotic changes in nuclei of neurons were observed by electron microscopy. RESULTS: We showed that TUNEL immunostain showed brownish signal in the nuclei of apoptotic cells and the proportions of apoptotic cells in Manganese treatment groups were more higher than controls. On transmission electron microscopy, there were chromatine condensation with margination toward nuclear membrane and condensation of cytoplasm in the treated with luM MnC1, for 48 hours in a basal ganglia neurons. Apoptotic bodies were found and consisted of semilunar-like condensed nuclei with relatively intact cytoplasmic organelles. CONCLUSIONS: Apoptosis appears to be one mechanism in the manganese-induced neuronal cell death. Manganese intoxication is a convenient model for apoptosis study.
Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Basal Ganglia* ; Cell Culture Techniques* ; Cell Death ; Central Nervous System ; Chromatin ; Cytoplasm ; Free Radicals ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Manganese* ; Microscopy, Electron ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Neurons* ; Nuclear Envelope ; Organelles ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats

O1igodendrocytes are known to be responsible for the synthesis and maintenance of myelin sheath in the central nervous system, and their functional disturbance leads to defect in myelination. But, the fine mechanism of myelination by oligodendrocytes is not yet known, and iron metabolism in central nervous system is suspected to be related with myelination process by oligodendrocytes. Carbonic anhydrase-II[CA-II], transfe-rrin, and ferritin are known to be present at oligodendrocytes and suspected to play a role in iron metabolism of central nervous system. In this study, demyelination and remyelination of ICR mouse brains were induced using cuprizone, the copper-chelating agent, and immunohistochemical changes of CA-II-, transferrin-, and ferritin-immunoreactive oligodendrocytes at corpus callosum were observed. During demyelination by cuprizone feeding, the numbers of CA-II- and transferrin-immunoreactive oligodendrocytes were decreased. Especially, the decrease ratio of CA-II-positive cells was great. In contrast, the number of ferritin-positive oligodendrocytes was increased during demyelination by cuprizone feeding. Cessation of cuprizone feeding leaded remyelination and the numbers of CA-II-, transferrin-, and ferritin-immunoreactive oligodendrocytes were returned to normal level. In conclusion, the derangement of iron metabolism in oligodendrocytes may be related to demyelination mechanism of central nervous system, and the CA-II is suspected to have an important role in iron metabolism of oligodenrocytes in relation to demyelination and remyelination induced with cuprizone.
Animals ; Brain ; Carbon* ; Central Nervous System ; Corpus Callosum ; Cuprizone* ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Ferritins ; Iron ; Iron-Binding Proteins* ; Metabolism ; Mice* ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Myelin Sheath ; Oligodendroglia ; Transferrin

OBJECTIVE: During early pregnancy, CD71 and glycophorin A positive cells in peripheral blood of pregnant women were studied, to assess the relationship between increased numbers of nucleated RBC (NRBC) in maternal blood and pregnant outcomes. METHODS: Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained from 47 primigravidas of 14~16 weeks gestation. Triple screening tests were routinely performed. Blood samples were incubated with monoclonal anti-CD71 and monoclonal anti-glycophorin antibodies, and analyzed by flow cytometry using FACSort (Becton Dickinson, USA) for checking the NRBC count. RESULTS: A total of 47 pregnant women were enrolled at 14-16 weeks gestation; one pregnancy had anemia and was excluded from the test, the outcome was unknown for 2 other pregnancies, and twelve pregnancies had 1-4% of NRBC in the maternal blood. In the remaining 32 pregnant women, grouped according to their percentage of NRBC, the group with more than 4% of NRBC was termed the study group, and less than 1% of NRBC was termed the control group.The results were as follows: 1) The study group showed lower fetal birth weight than the control group, which was statistically negatively significant (y=-62.219x + 3,401.6, R2=0.2146, p<0.05).2) There was no significant correlation between the percentage of NRBC of maternal blood and maternal serum AFP level in the study and the control groups (y=-0.0206x + 1.2763, R2 =0.0096, p>0.05).3) There were two complications in the study group: one was a preterm delivery at 35 weeks of gestational age with birth weight of 2,300 gm and the other was a case of pregnancy-induced hypertension. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that increased NRBC count in maternal blood during the early second trimester has a significant correlation with fetal birth weight but can't predict high risk pregnancies such as preeclampsia, preterm labor or intrauterine fetal growth restriction.In order to obtain a higher predictive value, further studies with more participants and with high risk pregnancies of known risk factors are needed.
Anemia ; Antibodies ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Fetal Development ; Flow Cytometry ; Gestational Age ; Glycophorin ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Mass Screening ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, High-Risk ; Pregnant Women ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Chest pain is a problem that primary care physicians commonly face and often unnecessary work-up is done because of its clinical importance of cardiac origin. There are various studies on the causative disorders of chest pain, but studies on young adult males are relatively few. Therefore, we conducted this study on the cause of chest pain among young policemen. METHODS: Diagnosis and classification of chest pain were made among 106 policemen who visited the outpatient department of family medicine at the National Police Hospital from March 1, 2002 to June 30, 2002. RESULTS: The causes of chest pain were musculoskeletal (55%), psychogenic (17%), others (15%), gastrointestinal (7%) and respiratory (6%), but none of them were cardiovascular origin. The nature of chest pain were stabbing (41%), sharp (22%), pressing (18%), squeezing (16%) and substernal discomfort (3%). The duration of chest pain were below 10 minutes (37%), 10 minutes to 1 hour (15%), several hours (20%) and several days (28%). The location of chest pain were left chest (61%), right chest (18%), precordial (7%), epigastric (6%), substernal (4%) and others (4%). The frequencies of chest pain were more than once a day (23%), once a week (26%), once a month (11%), once more than 1 month interval (17%) and first attack (23%). The aggravating factors of chest pain were physical strain (25%), coughing (22%), psychologic stress (16%), smoking (10%), weather change (8%), drinking (7%), resting (5%), and overeating (6%). CONCLUSION: Our study showed that unnecessary tests should be avoided and adequate treatment matched to their causes through exact and detailed history taking should be done, because the causes of chest pain among young policemen are mostly non-cardiovascular origin.
Chest Pain* ; Classification ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Drinking ; Humans ; Hyperphagia ; Male ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; Outpatients ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Police ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stress, Psychological ; Thorax* ; Weather ; Young Adult

There are estimated to be about 700 species of bacteria in the oral cavity. Based on epidemiological investigations, some of these strains have been proposed as the pathogens responsible for oral diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis and periodontitis. Since electrolyzed hydrogen-rich water has been shown to have beneficial effects on human immunity, its use has increased. In our study, the antibacterial activity of hydrogen-rich water for oralagainst bacteria associated with oral disease was evaluated. The bacterial strains Streptococcus mutans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia were cultured in specific growth medium. S. mutans, F. nucleatum and P. gingivalis were soaked to thein both hydrogen water and tap water for 30 sec and then inoculated onto mitis-salivarius agar and brain heart infusion agar including supplemented withvitamin K and hemin, respectively. The numbers of bacterial colonies were then measured after cultivation for 48 hours. In the case of T. forsythia, which does not grow well on agar plates, inoculations into modified new oral spirochete (NOS) broth were performed and growth curve analysis was undertaken every day with a spectrophotometer. Hydrogen water showed antibacterial activity against all four bacterial strains in comparison with tap-water. We conclude from this that hydrogen water may have a positive impact on oral hygiene by helping to remove cariogenic bacteria and periodontopathogens.
Agar ; Bacteria ; Brain ; Dental Caries ; Forsythia ; Fusobacterium nucleatum ; Gingivitis ; Heart ; Hemin ; Humans ; Hydrogen ; Mouth ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontitis ; Porphyromonas gingivalis ; Spirochaetales ; Streptococcus mutans ; Water