Purpose: This study aimed to determine the correlation between uncertainty, self efficacy, social support, and self-care performance among liver transplant recipients. Methods: Participants comprised 111 liver transplant recipients who visited the outpatient clinic at the hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery department of a hospital in D city. Data were collected from September to October 2021 using self-report questionnaires, and were analyzed by the SPSS 23.0 program. Results: Self-care performance was correlated with uncertainty (r=-.31, p=.001), self efficacy (r=.22, p=.023), and social support (r=.38, p<.001). Conclusion To improve self-care performance in liver transplant recipients, it is necessary to develop nursing interventions that can reduce uncertainty and enhance self efficacy and social support.

BACKGROUND: It has been found that Helper T cells in the peripheral blood are decreased in the cell mediated immunity in the pulmonary tuberculosis But it has not been confirmed yet that only decrease in number of cells which has phenotype in the peripheral blood is defined to decrease in cell mediated immunity. The immunocytochemical study was performed to observe the change of the percentage of T-lymphocytes with their subsets and activated T cells in the peripheral blood of pulmonary tuberculosis and to know how many T cells would be activated, relative to resting cells in the peripheral blood. METHODS: The peripheral blood obtained from twenty two patients and ten healthy controls were smeared on the gelatin coated slide glass prepared for of mononuclear cells. The double bridge technique of alkaline phosphatase-antialkaline phosphatase(APAAP) method was used. As the primary antibodies, T1(anti-human T cell), T4(anti-human helper/inducer T cells) and T8(anti-human supressor/cytotoxic T cell) antibodies and interleukin-2 receptor (for early activated T cell),very late activation antigen (for activated cytotoxic T cell), T cell lineage specific activation antigen monoclonal actibodies were used. RESULTS: 1) There were significantly decrease in the absolute number of T4(+) cells but significantly increase of T8(+) cells in the peripheral blood of pulmonary tuberculosis (p<0.05). 2) The percentage of T4(+) cells showed significantly decrease in pulmonary tuberculosis but T8 (+)cells significantly increase(p<0.05). T4(+)/T8 (+) ratio showed significantly decrease in the peripheral blood of the pulmonary tuberculosis(p <0.05) 3) There were significantly increase in the absolute number of variable stages of activated T cells in the peripheral blood of the pulmonary tuberculosis(p<0.05). 4) The percentage of IL-2R, VLA-1, TLiSA were 6.45+1.56%, 7.64+1.34*, 10.45+1.16% in order which showed significantly increase in the peripheral blood of the pulmonary tuberculosis(p <0.05). CONCLUSION: We speculate that only a few percentage of T lymphocyte is activated in cell mediated immunity in pulmonary tuberculosis.
Antibodies ; Cell Lineage ; Gelatin ; Glass ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Integrin alpha1beta1 ; Interleukin-2 ; Lymphocytes ; Phenotype ; T-Lymphocytes* ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

Atopic dermatitis (AD), which is known as the most common pruritic skin disease, is caused by epidermal barrier dysfunction, allergies, microwave radiation, histamine intolerance, and genetic defects. To investigate the therapeutic effects of fermented soycrud (FSC) on AD pathology, alteration of AD phenotypes induced by phthalic anhydride (PA) treatment was assessed by ear thickness analysis, measurement of immune-related organ weights, ELISA, and histological and pathological analyses of ICR mice after FSC treatment for 2 weeks. Except for water content, the concentrations of most major components were lower in FSC compared to common tofu (CMT). Thymus and lymph node weights were significantly reduced in ICR mice treated with PA+CMT or PA+FSC, whereas spleen and body weights were maintained. Elevation of ear thickness induced by PA treatment was rapidly diminished in the CMT- and FSC-treated groups, although there was no significant difference between the two groups. Furthermore, significant reduction of epidermal thickness was detected in both the PA+CMT- and PA+FSC-treated groups. However, IgE concentration and dermal thickness were reduced only by PA+FSC treatment, whereas PA+CMT treatment maintained levels comparable to PA+vehicle treatment. The number of infiltrated mast cells was higher in the PA+vehicle-treated group compared to the untreated control. Following CMT or FSC treatment, mast cell infiltration was slightly reduced, although the CMT-treated group showed greater cell numbers. These results indicate that FSC may significantly relieve the phenotypes of AD induced by PA treatment and should be considered as a potential candidate for AD therapy.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Cell Count ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Ear ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Histamine ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Lymph Nodes ; Mast Cells ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Microwaves ; Organ Size ; Phenotype ; Phthalic Anhydrides ; Skin Diseases ; Soy Foods ; Spleen ; Thymus Gland ; Water ; Weights and Measures

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the safety of biologics and small molecules for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in patients receiving antirejection therapies after organ transplants. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients with IBD who received organ transplants at the Asan Medical Center between January 1989 and December 2021. We compared the parameters of patients receiving biologics or small molecules to those of patients without those therapies. Results: This study included a total of 53 patients (ulcerative colitis, 41; Crohn’s disease, 6; and gastrointestinal Behçet’s disease, 6). Among them, 15 patients were receiving biologics or small molecules and 38 were not. During a mean follow-up of 119 months, the proportion of patients experiencing severe infections was significantly higher in those treated with biologics or small molecules than in those not treated. However, other safety outcomes (e.g., malignancies, adverse events, including organizing pneumonia or hepatic failure, and death) were not different between the two groups. Kaplan–Meier curve analysis revealed no significant difference in the safety outcome rate related to the use of biologics or small molecules. During follow-up, eight patients underwent bowel resections for IBD. The rate of bowel resection was not different between the two groups. Conclusion The use of biologics or small molecules for patients with IBD who received organ transplants did not show a significant difference in safety outcomes. However, the possibility of severe infections must be considered.