Recently xenotransplantation has been thought as a final solution for the controi of donor organ shortage in allograft. In order to be a ciinicai entity, xenotransplantation has many obstacles such as hyperacute rejection and delayed xenogratt rejection as a potent immunologic reaction, zoonosis and ethical problems. We already reported the eariy immunoiogic events occuring soon after xenograft in animal model, in which natural antibody and complement have a crucial roie in rejection response. As a further step for the prolongation of graft survival, we used anticomplement agent (cobra venom factor, CVF) in the same model. Graft survival in discordant (guinea pig-to-rat) xenogratt was extended from 30.6 minutes to 2 days following singie injection of CVF, which showed similar pattern of rejection with the concordant xenogratt in terms of time of rejection response after grafting. In this setting antibody response in the blood did not show any difference between that of pre CVF and post CVF, even though IgM response was more pronounced than IgG. The complement activity in the blood showed marked suppression following CVF injection. Intragraft complement gene (C3 mRNA) expression in CVF injected discordant showed delayed response in a similar pattern like that of concordant xenograft. Interestingly enough intragraft anticomplement gene expression showed the simiiar pattern of response with the complement. From these results we can conclude that anticomplement agent (CVF) extended the graft survival in discordant xenograft upto the level of concordant xenograft by shifting the complement activation response from that of discordant to concordant xenograft.
Rats ; Animals

Several approaches have been introduced to detect allo-antibodies in the presence of warm auto-antibodies, and these methods include warm autoadsorption, cysteine-activated papain and dithiothreitol (ZZAP), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dilution of the patient's serum. Among them, the dilution technique is a simple and rapid method. During pretransfusion testing of a 33 year-old systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patient with warm auto-antibodies, antibody identification was done by the dilution technique with using serum diluted 1-in-8. The patient demonstrated an anti-Fy(b) pattern of reactivity in his sera. Contrary to our expectations, the phenotype of the erythrocytes was Fy(a+/b+) and the genotype, as assessed by performing PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), was FY*A/FY*B. These results suggest that the antibody is an autoantibody showing anti-Fy(b) specificities. An antibody identification test using undiluted serum showed the same result when 40 days had passed. We report here on a case with auto-anti-Fy(b) proven by the dilution method in the presence of warm autoantibodies.
Autoantibodies ; Dithiothreitol ; Erythrocytes ; Genotype ; Humans ; Indicator Dilution Techniques ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Papain ; Phenotype ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Sensitivity and Specificity*

Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease(PTLD) represents a diverse lymphoproliferative disorder ranging from non-specific reactive hyperplasia to malignant immunoblastic sarcoma developed in a setting of immunosuppression following organ or cellular transplantation. It is often associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection and high dose immunosuppression. EBV detection and immunotyping including immunoglobulin clonality is crucial for prediction of prognosis and treatment modality. We report one case of PTLD developed 5 months after renal transplantation in 33 year-old man. Clinical manifestion was submandibular mass, and EBV was detected by in situ hybridization. Histology and immunotyping revealed immunoblastic lymphoma andl lambda chain monoclonality. He has been treated with reduction of immunosuppression, acyclovir and radiotherapy, and is in stable condition with normal renal function at postoperative 11months without evidence of disease reccurrence.
Acyclovir ; Adult ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunosuppression ; In Situ Hybridization ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Immunoblastic ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy

PURPOSE: There are increasing evidences that angiogenesis enhances tumor growth and biological aggressiveness in gastric carcinoma. Mast cells have been implicated in the angiogenic process, by secreting angiogenic factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), or enzymes that degrade extracellular matrices. However, the exact nature of mast cells in relation to cancer is contradictory so we conducted retrospective studies, to find the significance of mast cell densities, and microvessel counts in each clinicopathologic factors, including VEGF expression, in proper muscle (PM) gastric carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 52 specimens, obtained from patients with PM gastric carcinoma, were studied using the immunohistochemical methods, monoclonal antibodies for mast cell tryptase, factor VIII-related antigen and VEGF. RESULTS: Mast cell densities were significantly increased in diffuse histologic type (p=0.042), infiltrating margins (p<0.0001) and VEGF positive (p=0.010) tumors.Microvessel counts were significantly higher in patients over 55 years old (p=0.024), with tumor sizes larger than >3 cm (p=0.015), diffuse histologic type (p=0.038) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.001). Similarly there were significantly increased densities in VEGF positive tumors (p<0.0001). Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between mast cell densities and microvessel counts (r=0.614, p<0.01), indicating a high vascular grade with increased number of mast cells. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated a close relationship between mast cell densities, microvessel counts and VEGF expression. These results suggest that mast cells and VEGF are important regulators of tumor angiogenesis and cooperatively induce the formation of vascular stroma in PM gastric carcinomas.
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Extracellular Matrix ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mast Cells* ; Microvessels ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Tryptases ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A* ; von Willebrand Factor

PURPOSE: Imploding antrum (silent sinus) syndrome has clinical features of enophthalmos and hypoglobus after a downward collapse of inferior orbital wall with an ipsilateral volume decrease of maxillary sinus. We present a case of imploding antrum syndrome after an orbital decompression surgery. CASE SUMMARY: A 26-year-old female underwent inferomedial wall orbital decompression surgery through a caruncular approach to reduce exophthalmos. At 14 months after surgery, her right eye showed 2 mm of enophthalmos and orbital CT scan revealed both maxillary sinusitis. At 28 months after surgery, 3 mm of enophthalmos and hypoglobus of the right were observed, and an orbital CT scan was taken. Orbital CT scan showed a downward collapse of inferior orbital wall, a volume decrease and inward bowing of the maxillary sinus, and a maxillary opacification on the right side, which are typical findings of imploding antrum (silent sinus) syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Imploding antrum (silent sinus) syndrome after orbital decompression surgery is a rare complication. Considering that any prolapsed orbital fat after orbital decompression surgery could result in imploding antrum syndrome with hypoventilation of a maxillary sinus, care should be taken to keep the maxillo-ethmoidal interface (bony strut) intact, which helps maintain maxillary aeration.
Adult ; Decompression ; Enophthalmos ; Exophthalmos ; Eye ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoventilation ; Maxillary Sinus ; Maxillary Sinusitis ; Orbit

PURPOSE: Maspin is known as a tumor suppressor gene, but its significance has been questioned in various human cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression pattern of Maspin in human gastric adenocarcinomas and its possible correlation with clinicopathological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of Maspin mRNA was measured by nested RT-PCR using 60 frozen adenocarcinomas of the stomach and 31 noncancerous tissues from the proximal resection margin. Immunohistochemical study for Maspin protein expression was carried out using 62 paraffin-embedded tissues, composed of both cancer and noncancerous tissues. RESULTS: Maspin mRNA expression was detected in 80.0% (48 of 60) of the gastric adenocarcinomas, but in only 22.6% (7 of 31) of the normal gastric mucosa (p<0.001). The positive rate of Maspin protein expression was higher in the adenocarcinomas than the normal tissues (62.9% vs. 27.4%, p<0.05). In addition, the intestinal type of tumors showed significantly higher expression levels compared to the diffuse type of tumors (81.5% vs. 48.6%, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that Maspin is frequently expressed in human gastric cancers, and its expression might be associated with tumorigenesis of the intestinal type of gastric cancer.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Carcinogenesis ; Gastric Mucosa ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; RNA, Messenger ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of infection-control interventions to decrease the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CA-BSI) and to examine the sustainability of its effect during and after the intervention in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective multi-strategy intervention in intensive care units (ICUs) at 3 university hospitals in Korea. The intervention consisted of education and on-site training for medical personnel involved in catheter care, active surveillance, and reinforcement of current intervention in each unit. After the intervention of 3 months, we identified CA-BSI cases of each hospital using the electronic database for 6 months. RESULTS: During the intervention, the number of CA-BSI decreased significantly compared to pre-interventional period (8.7 vs. 2.3 per 1,000 catheter days; rate ratio 0.28; 95% CI, 0.13-0.61). After the intervention, CA-BSI rate increased slightly, but was still significantly lower than that of pre-interventional period (4.3 per 1,000 catheter days; rate ratio, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.31-0.78). Reduction of gram-negative bacterial infections was noted during and after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: A multi-strategy approach to reduce CA-BSI could be implemented in diverse settings of medical and surgical units in Korea and decreased CA-BSI rates during the intervention.
Catheters ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections ; Hospitals, University ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea ; Prospective Studies ; Reinforcement (Psychology)

As per guidelines for treating dyslipidemia, the recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level in extremely high-risk patients, including those with coronary artery diseases is <55 mg/dL. Although this recommendation has been adopted in the guidelines for dyslipidemia in various countries, there is limited evidence of its efficacy in reducing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), especially among East Asian patients. This study aimed to investigate whether an LDL-C value below 55 mg/dL is associated with decreased risk of CVDs. Methods: Seven clinical trials including 50,970 patients that compared intensive lipidlowering therapy with less therapy or placebo in patients who had >6 months of follow-up, those with a sample size of ≥150 were selected as the final literature for analysis. Risk ratios (RR) using random effects were represented with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the reliability of the results. Results: An LDL-C level of <55 mg/dL was related to significantly reduced events of major CVDs (RR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80-0.98) and myocardial infarction (RR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.73-0.90) and a reduced risk of ischemic stroke (RR 0.79; 95% CI 0.69-0.89, mean follow-up=2 years). However, an LDL-C level below 55 mg/dL did not reduce the incidence of CVD in intensive therapy in East Asian patients. Conclusions: A goal LDL-C value below 55 mg/dL was identified to be related to a decreased risk of developing CVD. However, the relation to LDL-C below 55 mg/dL with a decreased risk of CVD was not observed in East Asian patients.

OBJECTIVE: To assess prosthetic use by upper extremity amputees, and their difficulties with prostheses in activities of daily living and occupations. METHOD: This study is based on a survey of 307 subjects, who were using prostheses manufactured in the Center of Prosthetics and Orthotics. The survey questionnaire included items about general demographic characteristics, side and level of amputation, type of prosthesis and its use, and difficulties in the activities of daily living, employment and driving. RESULTS: The most common type of prosthesis was the cosmetic hand type (80.2%). There were no statistically significant correlations between satisfaction with prosthesis and the amputation level or type of prosthesis. The most common difficulties in daily living activities experienced by amputees were lacing shoes, removing bottle-tops with a bottle opener, and using scissors. Only 7.3% of amputees received rehabilitation services. Less than half of the amputees (44.7%) used their prostheses for eight or more hours a day, and 76.9% used their prostheses for regular or irregular cosmetic purposes. After amputation, most of the respondents (69.0%) became unemployed or changed workplaces. CONCLUSION: In our study, respondents preferred cosmetic usage to functional usage. Only 30.0% of respondents reported satisfaction with their prostheses. Many of the amputees had difficulties in complex tasks and either changed jobs or became unemployed. Clerical workers were the occupation group, which was most likely to return to work. The development of a more functional prosthetic hand and additional rehabilitation services are required.
Activities of Daily Living ; Amputation ; Amputees ; Cosmetics ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Employment ; Hand ; Humans ; Occupations ; Prostheses and Implants ; Return to Work ; Shoes ; Upper Extremity ; Surveys and Questionnaires

In preoperative ABO typing, we observed an ABO discrepancy in a 61 year-old patient with A2B3 phenotype. Standard serologic tests for the ABO blood group phenotypes and ABO gene direct sequencing for the exons 6 and 7 were done as part of the patient's family study. We found that the patient's genotype was identical to cis-AB01/O02, except for a 703 G>A polymorphism at exon 7. An allele-separation by cloning and subsequent sequencing of the heterozygote was carried out. We identified a novel O02 variant allele characterized by a 703 G>A polymorphism in the patient and in her 2 daughters.
Alleles ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Exons ; Genotype ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Nuclear Family ; Phenotype ; Serologic Tests