Bone tissue engineering using stem cells with osteogenic potential is a promising avenue of research for bone defect reconstruction. Organic, inorganic, and composite scaffolds have all been engineered to provide biomimetic microenvironments for stem cells. These scaffolds are designed to promote stem cell osteogenesis. Here, we review current technologies for developing biomimetic, osteoinductive scaffolds for stem cell applications. We summarize the reported in vitro and in vivo osteogenic effects of these scaffolds on stem cells.
Biomimetics* ; Bone and Bones ; Osteogenesis* ; Polymers* ; Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is one of the major treatments for correcting anemia, but its use should be carefully considered because of adverse transfusion reactions and inappropriate usage. Therefore, individual health care facilities have self evaluated their use of transfusion in an attempt to decrease unnecessary procedures. In this study, we evaluated the differences in the minimum hemoglobin (Hb) trigger for RBC transfusion among clinical departments in Severance Hospital. METHODS: We analyzed the electronic medical records of RBC transfusion episodes that were conducted at a Hb level above 8 g/dL from July 2014 to September 2015. We classified these data by clinical department, and considered the overall medical conditions of the patients. The minimum Hb trigger level in this study was defined as the lowest Hb level within 24 hours prior to RBC transfusion. RESULTS: A total of 4,953 RBC transfusion episodes that were conducted at Hb levels above 8 g/dL were analyzed over that period. In general, the minimum Hb trigger level was higher in the operation group than the hemorrhage group. When compared among clinical departments, the department of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine, and anesthesiology showed high levels of minimum Hb trigger equal to or greater than 10 g/dL. CONCLUSION: The minimum Hb trigger level differed among clinical departments, with the operation group showing a much higher level of minimum Hb trigger. We hope that these data will be practically applied to establish plans and strategies for managing the appropriateness of RBC transfusions in Korea. In addition, continuous evaluation and transfusion education for clinical departments should be performed.
Anemia ; Anesthesiology ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Electronic Health Records ; Erythrocyte Transfusion* ; Erythrocytes* ; Hemorrhage ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea ; Neurosurgery ; Orthopedics ; Rehabilitation ; Transfusion Reaction ; Unnecessary Procedures

Dementia pugilistica (DP) or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease or dementia that may affect amateur or professional boxers as well as athletes in other sports who suffer concussions. The condition is thought to affect around 15% to 20% of professional boxers and caused by repeated concussive or subconcussive blows. CTE was in the past referred to as dementia pugilistica, which reflected the prevailing notion that this condition was restricted to boxers. Recent research, however, has demonstrated neuropathological evidence of CTE in retired American football players, a professional wrestler, a professional hockey player and a soccer player, as well as in nonathletes. It is probable that many individuals are susceptible to CTE, including those who experience falls, motor vehicle accidents, assaults, epileptic seizures, or military combat, and that repeated mild closed head trauma of diverse origin is capable of instigating the neurodegenerative cascade leading to CTE. We report a 62-year old man suspicious of dementia pugilistica with clinical features of frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism.
Athletes ; Brain Injury, Chronic ; Dementia ; Epilepsy ; Football ; Frontotemporal Dementia ; Head Injuries, Closed ; Hockey ; Humans ; Military Personnel ; Motor Vehicles ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Parkinsonian Disorders ; Soccer ; Sports

Herein, we report a patient showing panagglutination in the unexpected antibody identification test after the administration of daratumumab. The patient was a 66-year-old woman who had undergone multiple cycles of chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for treating multiple myeloma; however, despite treatment, she had relapsed. Therefore, daratumumab, on clinical trials in Korea, started to be administered. After administration of daratumumab, the result of antibody screening test was positive, on the contrary to the result prior to the administration. Moreover, all positive reactions were shown in the antibody identification to the panel cells. After destroying CD38 antigens on the surface of RBCs using DTT, negative results were obtained. Daratumumab—a novel therapeutic human CD38 monoclonal antibody that can be used as targeted immunotherapy—is an FDA-approved drug for treating multiple myeloma. Because CD38 is expressed not only on myeloma cells, but also on red blood cells (RBCs), the use of daratumumab might lead to RBC agglutinations, and thereby resulting in false-positive results on the pre-transfusion tests. Therefore, caution is needed in case of a patient receiving daratumumab. Furthermore, additional test using DTT is required, especially when panagglutination was shown in the antibody identification test, as in this case.
Aged ; Antigens, CD38 ; Drug Therapy ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Multiple Myeloma* ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

BACKGROUND: Bcr-abl rearrangement is the molecular hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The test for bcr-abl rearrangement, especially using RT-PCR, is the standard test for the diagnosis of CML. We analyzed hematological significances of bcr-abl rearrangement by RT-PCR and the breakpoint distribution within the major bcr in CML patients. METHODS: From 1994 October to 1997 September, we performed the bcr-abl rearrangement using RT-PCR, in 268 untreated patients with various hematologic diseases, and classified the breakpoints within BCR gene as three types (b2a2, b3a2, e1a2) according to PCR product sizes. We compared hematologic parameters between two groups of b2a2 and b3a2 breakpoints in CML. RESULTS: Among the patients with clinically diagnosed CML, 96.8% (61/63) were bcr-abl positive. In ALL, 52.8% (19/36) were bcr- abl positive. All patients with hematologic diseases other than CML or ALL were bcr- abl negative. Among 61 CML patients with positive bcr-abl rearrangement, 19 patients (31.1%) showed b2a2 type and 42 patients (68.9%) b3a2 type. Patients with b3a2 breakpoints showed more frequent peripheral basophilia (P<0.01) than those with b2a2 type. However, other hematologic parameters were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: RT-PCR test for bcr-abl rearrangement is a specific and efficient test for the diagnosis of CML. However, the hematological significance of b2a2 and b3a2 types is uncertain in CML.
Diagnosis ; Hematologic Diseases ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVES: The Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale (IIRS) is a well-validated self-report instrument for assessing negative impact of chronic illness and/or adverse effects of its treatment on everyday life domains. Although extensive literature probed its psychometric properties in medical illness, little attention was paid for its validity for psychiatric population. This study aimed to test factorial structure of the Korean Version of the IIRS (IIRS-K) in a consecutive sample of psychiatric outpatients. METHODS: Data set of 307 first-visit patients of psychiatric clinic at Guri Hanyang univ. Hospital were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency were tested in IIRS-K. We also checked Spearman's correlation analysis between IIRS-K, Zung's self-report anxiety scale and Zung's self-report depression scale. RESULTS: 76.9% of the patients were with anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. The principal component factor analysis of the IIRS-K extracted three-factor structure accounted for 63.2% of total variance that was contextually similar to the original English version. This three-factor solution showed the best fit when tested confirmatory factor analysis compared to the original IIRS, two-factor model of IIRS-K suggested from medical outpatients, and one-factor solution. The IIRS-K also showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.90) and good convergent validity with anxiety and depression scales. CONCLUSIONS The IIRS-K showed the three-factor structure that was similar but not identical to original version. Overall, this study proved factorial validity of the IIRS-K and it can be used for Korean clinical population.

Background: The human lung serves as a niche for a unique and dynamic bacterial community related to the development and aggravation of multiple respiratory diseases. Therefore, identifying the microbiome status is crucial to maintaining the microecological balance and maximizing the therapeutic effect on lung diseases. Therefore, we investigated the histological type-based differences in the lung microbiomes of patients with lung cancer. Methods: We performed 16S rRNA sequencing to evaluate the respiratory tract microbiome present in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer were stratified based on two main subtypes of lung cancer: adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC). Results: Among the 84 patients analyzed, 64 (76.2%) had adenocarcinoma, and 20 (23.8%) had SqCC. The α- and β-diversities showed significant differences between the two groups (p=0.004 for Chao1, p=0.001 for Simpson index, and p=0.011 for PERMANOVA). Actinomyces graevenitzii was dominant in the SqCC group (linear discriminant analysis [LDA] score, 2.46); the populations of Haemophilus parainfluenza (LDA score, 4.08), Neisseria subflava (LDA score, 4.07), Porphyromonas endodontalis (LDA score, 3.88), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (LDA score, 3.72) were significantly higher in the adenocarcinoma group. Conclusion Microbiome diversity is crucial for maintaining homeostasis in the lung environment, and dysbiosis may be related to the development and prognosis of lung cancer. The mortality rate was high, and the microbiome was not diverse in SqCC. Further large-scale studies are required to investigate the role of the microbiome in the development of different lung cancer types.

BACKGROUND: The p16INK4a gene methylation has been reported to be a major tumorigenic mechanism. METHODS: We evaluated the methylation status of the p16INK4a genes in 231 invasive breast cancer and 90 intraductal carcinoma specimens using a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and p16 protein expression using immunohistochemistry. The quantity of cell-free methylated p16INK4a DNA in the plasma samples of 200 patients with invasive breast cancer was also examined using a fluorescence-based real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. RESULTS: The frequencies of p16INK4a methylation in invasive and intraductal tumors were 52.8% (122/231) and 57.8% (52/90), respectively. The p16 protein was overexpressed in 145 of the 231 invasive carcinomas (62.8%) and 63 of the 90 intraductal carcinomas (70%). High p16 expression in invasive carcinomas correlated significantly with a high histologic grade, a negative estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status, p53 immunoreactivity and high Ki-67 expression with immunohistochemistry. In addition, the methylation index of p16INK4a was significantly higher in the cancer patients than the normal controls (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High p16 immunoreactivity correlated with a loss of differentiation in breast carcinomas and high frequency of p16INK4a promoter methylation in both invasive and intraductal carcinomas, suggesting it may be involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating ; DNA ; Estrogens ; Genes, p16 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Methylation ; Plasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Progesterone

PURPOSE: Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is an important cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Diagnostic methods for detection of C. difficile infection (CDI) are shifting to molecular techniques, which are faster and more sensitive than conventional methods. Although recent advances in these methods have been made in terms of their cost-benefit, ease of use, and turnaround time, anaerobic culture remains an important method for detection of CDI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In efforts to evaluate a novel chromogenic medium for the detection of C. difficile (chromID CD agar), 289 fecal specimens were analyzed using two other culture media of blood agar and cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose-egg yolk agar while enzyme immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction-based assay were used for toxin detection. RESULTS: ChromID showed the highest detection rate among the three culture media. Both positive rate and sensitivity were higher from chromID than other culture media. ChromID was better at detecting toxin producing C. difficile at 24 h and showed the highest detection rate at both 24 h and 48 h. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous use of toxin assay and anaerobic culture has been considered as the most accurate and sensitive diagnostic approach of CDI. Utilization of a more rapid and sensitive chromogenic medium will aid in the dianogsis of CDI.
Chromogenic Compounds/chemistry ; Clostridium difficile/chemistry/*isolation & purification ; Culture Media/*chemistry

BACKGROUND: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can detect many more microorganisms of a microbiome than traditional methods. This study aimed to analyze the vaginal microbiomes of Korean women by using NGS that included bacteria and other microorganisms. The NGS results were compared with the results of other assays, and NGS was evaluated for its feasibility for predicting vaginitis. METHODS: In total, 89 vaginal swab specimens were collected. Microscopic examinations of Gram staining and microbiological cultures were conducted on 67 specimens. NGS was performed with GS junior system on all of the vaginal specimens for the 16S rRNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and Tvk genes to detect bacteria, fungi, and Trichomonas vaginalis. In addition, DNA probe assays of the Candida spp., Gardnerella vaginalis, and Trichomonas vaginalis were performed. Various predictors of diversity that were obtained from the NGS data were analyzed to predict vaginitis. RESULTS: ITS sequences were obtained in most of the specimens (56.2%). The compositions of the intermediate and vaginitis Nugent score groups were similar to each other but differed from the composition of the normal score group. The fraction of the Lactobacillus spp. showed the highest area under the curve value (0.8559) in ROC curve analysis. The NGS and DNA probe assay results showed good agreement (range, 86.2-89.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Fungi as well as bacteria should be considered for the investigation of vaginal microbiome. The intermediate and vaginitis Nugent score groups were indistinguishable in NGS. NGS is a promising diagnostic tool of the vaginal microbiome and vaginitis, although some problems need to be resolved.
Area Under Curve ; Bacteria/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Candida/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Female ; Fungal Proteins/genetics ; Gardnerella vaginalis/genetics/isolation & purification ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; *Microbiota ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry/genetics/metabolism ; ROC Curve ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Trichomonas vaginalis/genetics/isolation & purification ; Vagina/*microbiology ; Vaginitis/*diagnosis/microbiology