BACKGROUND: Respiratory viral infections can become epidemic due to high contagiosity. Since there was no rapid diagnostic method for complete diagnosis in the past, diagnosis was solely made on the basis of clinical symptoms or the time of infection. With recent developments in rapid diagnostic methods like multiplex reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR, R-mix virus culture, etc., early detection and effective treatment of respiratory viral infections is possible. Herein, we compared the efficiency of multiplex RT-PCR and the R-mix virus culture for the rapid detection of respiratory viruses. METHODS: We used 96 nasopharyngeal swab specimens for culturing respiratory viruses using R-mix (Diagnostics Hybrids Inc., USA). Afterwards, multiplex RT-PCR was performed using specimens stored at -70degrees C. RESULTS: R-mix virus culture yielded positive results in 34 cases (35.4%) and multiplex RT-PCR in 73 cases (76.0%). Both methods yielded identical results in 51 cases (29 positive cases and 22 negative cases). Among 45 cases that showed different results, 40 showed negative results in R-mix virus culture and positive results in multiplex RT-PCR, and 1 showed positive result in R-mix virus culture and negative result in multiplex RT-PCR. Different viruses were detected in the remaining 4 cases by both the methods. CONCLUSIONS: Multiplex RT-PCR provided faster results and had higher detection rates than R-mix virus culture. Further, unlike R-mix virus culture, multiplex RT-PCR can be used to identify new respiratory viruses. Therefore, multiplex RT-PCR is more useful than R-mix virus culture in the diagnosis of respiratory virus infection.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Viral/analysis ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Respiratory Tract Infections/*virology ; Retrospective Studies ; *Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; *Virus Cultivation ; Virus Diseases/*diagnosis ; Viruses/genetics/*isolation &purification

PURPOSE: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a current, frequently used marker for severe bacterial infection. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of PCT levels to differentiate bacteremic from nonbacteremic patients with fever. We assessed whether PCT level could be used to accurately rule out a diagnosis of bacteremia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples and blood culture were obtained from patients with fever between August 2008 and April 2009. PCT was analyzed using a VIDAS(R) B.R.A.H.M.S PCT assay. We reviewed the final diagnosis and patient histories, including clinical presentation and antibiotic treatment. RESULTS: A total of 300 patients with fevers were enrolled in this study: 58 with bacteremia (positive blood culture) (group I); 137 with local infection (group II); 90 with other diseases (group III); and 15 with fevers of unknown origin (group IV). PCT levels were significantly higher in patients with bacteremia than in those with non-bacteremia (11.9 +/- 25.1 and 2.5 +/- 14.7 ng/mL, respectively, p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity were 74.2% and 70.1%, respectively, at a cut-off value of 0.5 ng/mL. A serum PCT level of < 0.4 ng/mL accurately rules out diagnosis of bacteremia. CONCLUSION: In febrile patients, elevated PCT may help predict bacteremia; furthermore, low PCT levels were helpful for ruling out bacteremia as a diagnosis. Therefore, PCT assessment could help physicians limit the number of prescriptions for antibiotics.
Bacteremia/blood/*diagnosis ; Biological Markers/blood ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Calcitonin/*blood ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever/blood/*diagnosis/etiology ; Fever of Unknown Origin/blood/diagnosis/microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Protein Precursors/*blood ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Young Adult

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Blood culture is the definitive method for the diagnosis and treatment of bacteremia and fungemia. Analysis of blood cultures positive for pathogenic species and trends in antimicrobial susceptibility can help delineate appropriate and experimental treatment strategies. In this study, we investigated the incidence of pathogenic species and trends in antimicrobial susceptibility in blood cultures collected from 2003 to 2007 to help clinicians to determine the best methods of diagnosis and treatment. Changes between previously published analyses and this study were also investigated. METHODS: Five-year blood culture results obtained at Kyung Hee University Hospital between 2003 and 2007 were analyzed to determine the bacterial and fungal species present and the antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by the broth microdilution method and the CLSI disk diffusion method. RESULTS: Among the 66,437 blood cultures, 5,645 were positive. Of the positive blood cultures, 59.8% were positive for aerobic and facultative anaerobic gram-positive cocci. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were frequently isolated. The numbers of anaerobic species and fungi decreased over the years. CONCLUSION: CoNS were the microorganisms most commonly isolated from blood cultures at Kyung Hee University Hospital. The number of cultures positive for fungi was higher than that reported in previous studies, but the absolute isolation rate over five years decreased. Anaerobic species were much less frequently isolated than reported for other hospitals.
Bacteremia ; Diffusion ; Fungemia ; Fungi ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Incidence

OBJECTIVE: Tributyltin (TBT), an endocrine disrupting chemical, has been reported to decrease ovarian function by causing apoptosis in the ovary, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Therefore, we examined whether TBT increases the expression of adipogenesis-related genes in the ovary and the increased expression of these genes is associated with apoptosis induction. METHODS: Three-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered TBT (1 or 10 mg/kg body weight) or sesame oil as a control for 7 days. The ovaries were obtained and weighed on day 8, and then they were fixed for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) or frozen for RNA extraction. Using the total RNA of the ovaries, adipogenesis- and apoptosis-related genes were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The ovarian weight was significantly decreased in rats administered 10 mg/kg TBT compared to that in control rats. As determined by the TUNEL assay, the number of apoptotic follicles in ovary was significantly increased in rats administered 10 mg/kg TBT. The real-time PCR results showed that the expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as PPARgamma, aP2, CD36, and PEPCK was increased after TBT administration. In addition, apoptosis-related genes such as TNFalpha and TNFR1 were expressed more in the TBT-administered rats compared with the control rats. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that TBT induces the expression of adipogenesis- and apoptosis-related genes in the ovary leading to apoptosis in the ovarian follicles. These results suggest that the increased expression of adipogenesis-related genes in the ovary by TBT exposure might induce apoptosis resulting in a loss of ovarian function.
Adipogenesis ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase ; Female ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Ovarian Follicle ; Ovary ; PPAR gamma ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I ; RNA ; Sesame Oil ; Trialkyltin Compounds ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVE: Tributyltin (TBT), an endocrine disrupting chemical, has been reported to decrease ovarian function by causing apoptosis in the ovary, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Therefore, we examined whether TBT increases the expression of adipogenesis-related genes in the ovary and the increased expression of these genes is associated with apoptosis induction. METHODS: Three-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered TBT (1 or 10 mg/kg body weight) or sesame oil as a control for 7 days. The ovaries were obtained and weighed on day 8, and then they were fixed for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) or frozen for RNA extraction. Using the total RNA of the ovaries, adipogenesis- and apoptosis-related genes were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The ovarian weight was significantly decreased in rats administered 10 mg/kg TBT compared to that in control rats. As determined by the TUNEL assay, the number of apoptotic follicles in ovary was significantly increased in rats administered 10 mg/kg TBT. The real-time PCR results showed that the expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as PPARgamma, aP2, CD36, and PEPCK was increased after TBT administration. In addition, apoptosis-related genes such as TNFalpha and TNFR1 were expressed more in the TBT-administered rats compared with the control rats. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that TBT induces the expression of adipogenesis- and apoptosis-related genes in the ovary leading to apoptosis in the ovarian follicles. These results suggest that the increased expression of adipogenesis-related genes in the ovary by TBT exposure might induce apoptosis resulting in a loss of ovarian function.
Adipogenesis ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; DNA Nucleotidylexotransferase ; Female ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Ovarian Follicle ; Ovary ; PPAR gamma ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I ; RNA ; Sesame Oil ; Trialkyltin Compounds ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Although trisomy 18 (Edwards' syndrome) or the terminal deletion syndromes of 18p and 18q have been occasionally detected, pseudoisodicentric chromosome 18 is a very rare constitutional chromosomal abnormality. We describe a case of pseudoisodicentric chromosome 18q without mosaicism, which was confirmed from fetal cells in the amniotic fluid used for prenatal diagnosis of multiple congenital anomalies. A 23-yr-old pregnant woman was suspected of having a fetal anomaly at 18(+3) weeks gestation. In sonography, the fetus showed multiple anomalies: bilateral overt ventriculomegaly in the brain, ventricular septal defect and valve anomaly in the heart, bilateral club foot, polydactyly, meningocele, and a single umbilical artery. The pregnancy was terminated and a conventional G-banded chromosome study was performed using amniotic fluid. Twenty metaphase cells among the cultured amniocytes showed a 46,XX,psu idic(18)(q22). Consequently, the fetus had partial trisomy (18pter-->q22) and partial monosomy (18q22-->qter). Both parents were confirmed to have a normal karyotype.
Abnormalities, Multiple/diagnosis/*genetics ; Centromere ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis/*methods ; Trisomy ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Young Adult

We report a recent case in which ciprofloxacin-resistant Shigella flexneri was isolated from a 23-yr-old female patient with a history of travel to India. Prior to her admission to our internal medicine department, she experienced symptoms of high fever and generalized weakness from continuous watery diarrhea that developed midway during the trip. S. flexneri was isolated from the stool culture. Despite initial treatment with ciprofloxacin, the stool cultures continued to show S. flexneri growth. In the susceptibility test for antibiotics of the quinolone family, the isolate showed resistance to ciprofloxacin (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC], 8 microg/mL), norfloxacin (MIC, 32 microg/mL), ofloxacin (MIC, 8 microg/mL), nalidixic acid (MIC, 256 microg/mL), and intermediate resistance to levofloxacin (MIC, 4 microg/mL). In molecular studies for quinolone resistance related genes, plasmid borne-quinolone resistance genes such as qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, aac(6')-Ib-cr, qepA, and oqxAB were not detected. Two mutations were observed in gyrA (248C-->T, 259G-->A) and 1 mutation in parC (239G-->T). The molecular characteristics of the isolated S. flexneri showed that the isolate was more similar to the strains isolated from the dysentery outbreak in India than those isolated from Korea.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/drug effects ; Dysentery, Bacillary/microbiology ; Feces/microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; India ; Mutation ; Quinolones/*pharmacology ; Shigella flexneri/drug effects/*isolation & purification/metabolism ; Travel ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: The Korean Red Cross blood laboratory centers use Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay on the PK7300 instrument as a primary donor screening test for syphilis, and semi-quantitative TPPA and RPR card as supplementary tests. We compared the results of Treponema pallidum latex agglutination and RPR tests on the automated analyzer with those of TPPA and RPR card tests. METHODS: A total of 1,000 samples with negative TPPA results and 103 samples with positive TPPA results (> or =1:80 titers) were evaluated in this study. HiSens Auto TP, RPR (HBI, Anyang, Korea) and Mediace TPLA, RPR (Sekisui, Tokyo, Japan) reagents were used on the automated analyzer. FTA-ABS test was performed as a confirmatory test to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of HiSens Auto TPLA, RPR and Mediace TPLA, RPR reagents. RESULTS: The concordance rate between HiSens Auto TP, Mediace TPLA and TPPA was 95.5% and 95.4%, respectively. The concordance rate between HiSens Auto RPR, Mediace RPR and RPR card was 79.6% and 80.6%, respectively. Sensitivity of HiSens Auto TP and Mediace TPLA was 87.7% and 90.8%, respectively, and specificity was 99.5% and 99.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Despite the high concordance rate between TPLA and TPPA, there were negative TPLA results which were positive for both TPPA and FTA-ABS tests. Therefore, changing the primary donor screening test for syphilis from current TPPA to TPLA on the automated analyzer requires further investigation.
Agglutination* ; Blood Donors* ; Donor Selection ; Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-Absorption Test ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Indicators and Reagents ; Latex* ; Plasma* ; Red Cross ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Syphilis ; Treponema pallidum*

We present a rare case of microgranular variant acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) associated with ider(17)(q10)t(15;17)(q22;q12) of an old-age patient. The initial chromosome study showed a 46,XX,del(6)(?q21q25),der(15)t(15;17)(q22;q12),ider(17)(q10)t(15;17)[10]/47,sl,+ider(17)(q10)t(15;17)[3]/46,XX[16]. FISH signals from a dual color dual fusion translocation PML-RARA probe were consistent with the results of conventional cytogenetics. Because of the rarity of ider(17)(q10)t(15;17) in microgranular APL, further studies on both gene dosage effect of this chromosomal abnormality and the influence of ider(17)(q10)t(15;17) on clinical features such as prognosis, survival, and treatment response of APL cases are recommended.
Bone Marrow Cells/pathology ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/*diagnosis/genetics/pathology ; Middle Aged ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics ; *Translocation, Genetic