No abstract available.
Chromosome Aberrations* ; Ethylene Oxide* ; Lymphocytes* ; Transferases*

No abstract available.
Hepatitis B e Antigens* ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis*

Small cell carcinoma does originate from APUD cells of any parts of the body. Usually the cases discovered in the lung and have poor prognosis. In esophagus only about 100 cases are reported world widely after McKneown reports in 1952 and only 2 cases were reported in Korea. There was a cese of small cell carcinoma developed multiple lesions in esophagus but no reports said that small cell carcinoma developed syncronously in esophagus and other organs. We are to report a case that showed a multiple lesions in esophagus and cardia. The patient 60 yeata old man, has suffered from the substernal discomfort and significant weight loss for one month.
APUD Cells ; Carcinoma, Small Cell* ; Cardia* ; Esophagus* ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung ; Prognosis ; Stomach ; Weight Loss

BACKGROUND: When used to reverse the anticoagulant effect of heparin, protamine administration after cardiovascular bypass often can lead to systemic hypotension. During the reversal of heparin-induced anticoagulation, the effects of protamine on both a heparin-protamine complex and free protamine on the cardiovascular system should be considered. METHOD: To determine whether the hypotensive effect of heparin-protamine and/or protamine could be caused by endothelium-dependent and-independent component, we studied rings of the arotic arteries in rats suspended in organ chambers containing Tris Tyrode solution at 37oC and 100% O2. Arterial rings with or without endothelium were contracted with 40 mM KCl or 3 +/- 10-6M phenylephrine and then exposed to increasing concentrations of protamine (final organ bath concentration, 40~400 g/ml) both in the absence and presence of heparin (200 U/ml). RESULTS: Protamine induced concentration-dependent relaxation in arterial rings with endothelium, which were significantly greater than in rings without endothelium. The endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by protamine was inhibited by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (10-5M) pretreatment, but was not inhibited by indomethacin (3x10-6M) pretreatment on rings with endothelium. Furthermore, the contractile inhibition was enhanced by superoxide dismutase (100 U/ml). Also, such vasodilating actions were not influenced in the presence of heparin (200 U/ml). In endothelium-denuded strips, protamine (400ug/ml) inhibited Ca++ induced contraction, which was evoked in Ca++-free solution containing 40 mM K+, and also inhibited the norepinephrine (NE)-induced contraction. Protamine inhibited on the NE-induced contraction, but not the caffein-induced contration in Ca++ free, 2 mM EGTA solution. Also, such inhibition of contracions were not inluenced in the presence of heparin (40 U/ml). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that protamine (in the presence or absence of heparin) acts on endothelial cell receptors to stimulate the production of nitric oxide and inhibits both Ca++-influx and the NE-induced Ca++ release from intracellular stores.
Animals ; Arteries* ; Baths ; Cardiovascular System ; Egtazic Acid ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium ; Heparin* ; Hypotension ; Indomethacin ; Nitric Oxide ; Norepinephrine ; omega-N-Methylarginine ; Phenylephrine ; Rats* ; Relaxation ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Vasodilation*

The authors present two cases of granular dystrophy of the cornea developed in 47-year-old house wife and her 27-year-old son respectively. The mother first noticed diminished vision at 23 years of age and was diagnosed as corneal dystrophy at the age 28. Her son was diagnosed as corneal dystrophy at his age 16. The disease has run a slow, torpid course, progressing without dramatic incident and inflammatory symptoms, but attack of slight epiphora and photophobia occurred as age advanced. The corneal change was characterized by the presence of miliary sized milk-white spots in the stroma mainly at the central area of the cornea. The visual acuity was progressively deteriorated over the year but not gravely reduced allowing useful activities.
Adult ; Cornea* ; Humans ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Middle Aged ; Mothers ; Photophobia ; Spouses ; Vision, Low ; Visual Acuity

In order to prepare the fundamental data for preventing the hazardous effects at toluene exposure in many kinds of industry, the authors determined the level of urinary hippuric acid on 592 toluene exposed women(exposed group) and 102 unexposed women(control group) in Pusan area, from April 1 to October 31, 1986. Hippuric acid was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The results were summarized as follows; 1. The mean value of urinary hippuric acid concentration of the control group was 0.44+/-0.21g/l(0.11-0.89g/l). The distribution of urinary hippuric acid concentration of the control group was not fit to the normal distribution. 2. The mean value of urinary hippuric acid concentration of the exposed group was 1.56+/-0.95g/l(0.44-4.57g/l). The distribution of urinary hippuric acid concentration of control group was not fit to the normal distribution. 3. The urinary hippuric acid concentration by age group was not statistically significant in the control group, but in the exposed the urinary hippuric acid concentration was highest in women between 20-29 years old(1.71+/-0.95g/l) and was statistically significant(p<0.01). 4. The urinary hippuric acid concentration by duration of working hours was not statistically significant(p>0.1).
Busan ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Female ; Humans ; Toluene*

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative neuromuscular disease of unknown etiology in which the upper and lower motor neurons are progressively destroyed. Recent evidences support the role of autoimmune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of ALS. This study investigated the effects of sera from ALS patients on neuromuscular transmission in phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm preparations and on calcium currents of single isolated dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells in mice. Mice were injected with either control sera from healthy adults or ALS sera from 18 patients with ALS of sporadic form, for three days. Miniature end plate potential (MEPP) and nerve-evoked end plate potential (EPP) were measured using intracellular recording technique and the quantal content was determined. Single isolated DRG cells were voltage-clamped with the whole-cell configuration and membrane currents were recorded. Sera from 14 of 18 ALS patients caused a significant increase in MEPP frequency in normal Ringer's solution (4.62+/-0.14 Hz) compared with the control (2.18+/-0.15 Hz). In a high Mg2+/low Ca2+ solution, sera from 13 of 18 ALS patients caused a significant increase in MEPP frequency, from 2.18+/-0.31 Hz to 6.09+/-0.38 Hz. Sera from 11 of 18 patients produced a significant increase of nerve-evoked EPP amplitude, from 0.92+/-0.05 mV to 1.30+/-0.04 mV, while the other seven ALS sera did not alter EPP amplitude. In the ALS group, EPP quantal content was also elevated by the sera of 14 patients (from 1.49+/-0.07 to 2.35+/-0.07). MEPP frequency and amplitude in wobbler mouse were 4.03+/-0.53 Hz and 1.37+/-0.18 mV, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of wobbler controls (wobblers without the symptoms of wobbler). Sera from ALS patients significantly reduced HVA calcium currents of DRG cells to 42.7% at -10 mV. Furthermore, the inactivation curve shifted to more negative potentials with its half-inactivation potential changed by 6.98 mV. There were, however, significant changes neither in the reversal potential of ICa nor in the I-V curve. From these results it was concluded that: 1) The serum factors of sporadic ALS patients increase neuromuscular transmission and can alter motor nerve terminal presynaptic function. This suggests that ALS serum factors may play an important role in the early stage of ALS, and 2) Calcium currents in DRG cells were reduced and rapidly inactivated by ALS sera, suggesting that in these cells, ALS serum factors may exert interaction with the calcium channel.
Adult ; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis* ; Animals ; Calcium Channels* ; Calcium* ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials ; Ganglia, Spinal ; Humans ; Membranes ; Mice* ; Miniature Postsynaptic Potentials ; Motor Neurons ; Neuromuscular Diseases ; Neuromuscular Junction

No abstract available.
Body Mass Index* ; Pregnancy* ; Weight Gain*

The structure and function of short-length amino terminal PTH analogues were studied. The substitution of Leu7 with Phe in [Ala3, 10Leu7Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 analogue peptides did not show any reduction in cAMP formation. Replacement of the 1st, 7th and 8th residues revealed different activities, depending upon the residue type. The substitution of Ala1 by Ser in [Ala3, 10Leu7Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 caused nearly a complete loss of cAMP formation. Meanwhile, NMR analysis of [ (Ala1/ Ser1) Ala3, 10 (Leu7/Phe7) Arg11]rPTH (1-11) NH2 revealed an alpha- helical backbone structure with a flexible conformation at the carboxyl-terminus. The overall results suggest that 11-residue short oligopeptide analogues of PTH tend to form an alpha-helical structure and the different activities of those analogues could be associated with residue specificity rather than the secondary conformational structure.
Amino Acid Substitution ; Animals ; Circular Dichroism ; Cyclic AMP/metabolism ; Human ; LLC-PK1 Cells ; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular ; Parathyroid Hormone/*chemistry/*metabolism ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Receptor, Parathyroid Hormone, Type 1/genetics ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Swine

OBJECTIVE: Mammalian embryos undergo changes of energy environment for transfer from oviduct to uterus. An experimental design was used to examine the effects of glucose on the development in vitro of mouse embryos. METHODS: Two cell embryos were recovered from ICR female mice (3-4 weeks) at 46-50 hrs after 5 IU hCG injection (mated just after hCG injection) and cultured in 50 micro gram MEM droplets supplemented with nothing (control; n=46), 0.5 mM glucose (Group A; n=46) or 3.15 mM glucose (Group B; n=46) under mineral oil. All experimental media were supplemented with 20% human follicular fluid. Results were observed: (i) the number of zona-intact blastocysts (ZiB); (ii) the number of zona-escaped blastocysts (ZeB; hatching~hatched); (iii) the mean cell numbers; and (iv) the proportion of inncer cell mass (% ICM) in the blastocysts. RESULTS: Total blastocyst formation rates were (NS) in glucose groups (group A: 52.2; B: 47.8%) than control group (60.9%). ZiB rates the highest (p<0.05) in control (47.8%) than those in group A (21.7%) and B (28.3%). ZeB rates the highest (NS) in group A (30.4%) than those in control (13.0%) and group B (19.6%). Blastocysts, cultured in group B (50.5), had the highest (NS) mean cell numbers compared with the others (control: 39.2; group A: 45.6). The % ICM in blastocysts cultured in group A (20.6%) was the highest (NS) than those of other tested groups (control: 15.2%; group B: 13.9%). CONCLUSION: This study shows that a low dose of glucose added to culture medium increases the developmental capacity of 2 cell embryos in mice.
Animals ; Blastocyst* ; Cell Count* ; Embryo, Mammalian ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Follicular Fluid ; Glucose* ; Humans ; Mice* ; Mineral Oil ; Oviducts ; Research Design ; Uterus