OBJECTIVES: Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) is widely used as a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, PKC is involved in the secretion of mucins. MUC16, one of the membrane-bound mucins, is produced in human airway epithelial cells. However, the effect and signaling pathway of PMA on MUC16 expression in human airway epithelial cells has not been reported. Therefore, the effect and brief signaling pathway of PMA on MUC16 expression were investigated in human airway epithelial cells in this study. METHODS: In the mucin-producing human NCI-H292 airway epithelial cells and the primary cultures of normal nasal epithelial cells, the effect and signaling pathway of PMA on MUC16 expression were investigated using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR, enzyme immunoassay, and immunoblot analysis with several specific inhibitors and small interfering RNA (siRNA) for p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). RESULTS: PMA increased MUC16 expression, and activated phosphorylation of p38 MAPK. However, it did not activate phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). SB203580 (p38 MAPK inhibitor) inhibited PMA-induced MUC16 expression, while U0126 (ERK1/2 inhibitor) did not. In addition, the knockdown of p38 MAPK by p38 MAPK siRNA significantly blocked PMA-induced MUC16 mRNA expression. Rottlerin (PKCdelta inhibitor) inhibited PMA-induced MUC16 expression, and also inhibited the phosphorylation of activated p38 MAPK by PMA. CONCLUSION: These results show for the first time that PMA-induced MUC16 expression is regulated by activation of the PKCdelta and p38 MAPK signaling pathway in human airway epithelial cells.
Acetophenones ; Benzopyrans ; Butadienes ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Mucins ; Nitriles ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phorbols ; Phosphorylation ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Kinase C ; Protein Kinases ; Pyridines ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; RNA, Small Interfering

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: An increased expression of cyclin D1 has been observed in several tumors. Vimentin is known to be present in undifferentiated thyroid cancer. The serum thyroglobulin level can be a useful laboratory parameter to detect tumor recurrence in patients suffering with treated, well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. We performed immunohistochemical assay for the cyclin D1, vimentin and thyroglobulin (Tg) expression in 97 papillary thyroid cancer tissue specimens to investigate their clinical implication for the prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma patients. METHODS: Immunohistochemical assays for cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg were performed on 97 consecutive thyroid carcinoma specimens. The correlation between these factors and the clinicobiological parameters weas analyzed. RESULTS: In 97 papillary thyroid carcinoma specimens, the expression of cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg was seen in 64 cases (66.0%), 36 cases (37.1%) and 55 cases (56.7%), respectively. Only the cyclin D1 expression was significantly increased in the larger tumors (P=0.01). However, there was no evident correlation between these factors and gender, age, tumor size, the lymph node status, the TNM stage and the number of tumors. CONCLUSION: An increased expression of cyclin D1 was present in the larger tumors. Overexpression of cyclin D1 seemed to play a role in carcinogenesis and tumor growth. However, the clinical utility of cyclin D1, vimentin and Tg in thyroid cancer patients has to be further defined by prospective studies with larger sample sizes.
Carcinogenesis ; Cyclin D1* ; Cyclins* ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Sample Size ; Thyroglobulin* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Vimentin*

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of a set of self-reported questionnaires for periodontitis for estimating the prevalence of chronic adult periodontitis in the Korean population. METHODS: The questionnaire is comprised of a total of 14 questions with four summarized concepts including self-diagnosis of oral status, subjective signs related to oral health, smoking and drinking status, and use of auxiliary oral hygiene devices including scaling. The predictiveness of the measures from these self-reported questions was assessed by logistic regression modeling using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) statistics, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC including all questions were 0.571, 0.768, and 0.781, respectively; the sum of sensitivity and specificity was 1.34. To gain robustness, a simplified predictive model was built with six questions. Its results were 0.536, 0.817, and 0.762 for sensitivity, specificity, and AUC, respectively. The sum of sensitivity and specificity was found to be 1.35. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported questionnaire for periodontitis showed considerable validity, but further study is required to provide optimal validity and predictability.
Area Under Curve ; Chronic Periodontitis ; Drinking ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontal Diseases ; Periodontitis* ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-administered questionnaire survey to determine its validity and reliability as well as to improve the instructions for measurement of periodontal disease during oral examination for reliably calculating the prevalence of periodontal disease. METHODS: The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and the WINSTEPS program that employs the Rasch model to evaluate validity and reliability of the instrument. RESULTS: We developed a self-administered questionnaire survey consisting of 14 questions based on NHANES. We confirmed the reliability by testing and re-testing the questionnaire survey using selfadministered methods. The average Kappa index obtained was 0.73, which indicated a relatively high reliability. CONCLUSIONS: Reliability and validity of the self-administered assessment tool for periodontal disease developed for the local situation/circumstances of Korea is suitable to be applied for oral examination of a large population. Moreover, the questionnaire survey for periodontal disease could be used to acquire data for constructing a database for oral health policy development.
Diagnosis, Oral ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys ; Oral Health ; Periodontal Diseases* ; Policy Making ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Reproducibility of Results*

OBJECTIVE: Infliximab, a monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor-alpha, is effective in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), who have not responded to conventional therapy. There were no data on the efficacy and side effect of infliximab in patients with AS in Korea. The objective of this study is to observe the efficacy and adverse effect of infliximab retrospectively in Korean patients with AS. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of thirty-three AS patients. The patients were enrolled to fulfill the modified New York criteria of AS and be in active disease state and resist to conventional therapy. Patients were given 3~5 mg/kg of infliximab infusions at weeks 0, 2, 8 and 16. Information on C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and antinuclear antibody (ANA) test was collected at each infusion. The paired t-test was used for comparison between the visits. RESULTS: There were 29 male and 4 female patients. The mean age at first infliximab treatment was 34.6+/-9.8 years. All patients were HLA-B27 positive. ESR and CRP decreased significantly from baseline to 16 weeks after treatment (p<0.001, respectively). The mean ESR was 76.1+/-36.5 mm/h at baseline and 21.3+/-31.6 mm/h at 16 weeks. The mean CRP was 6.4+/-4.8 mg/dL at baseline and 1.3+/-2.1 mg/dL at 16 weeks. Only 1 out of 33 patients got worse. All patients were tested negative for ANA at baseline. After 16 weeks of therapy, the induction of ANA was observed in 8 patients, but no patients have lupus-like symptoms. CONCLUSION: Infliximab is an effective therapy with non-specific adverse effect in AS non-responsive to conventional therapy in Korea.
Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; Female ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Infliximab ; Korea ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Orlistat(Xenical(R), Roche) is considered a safe and effective drug to treat obesity by reduced absorption of 30% digested fat. To date, no serious adverse effects affecting the liver have been published except a case of subacute hepatic failure leading to liver transplantation in a young women with moderate obesity treated with orlistat. We report a case of acute cholestatic hepatitis in a young woman with moderate obesity treated with orlistat: a 33-year-old female admitted for the evaluation of jaundice. Abdominal ultrasonography, ERCP, routine chemistry, viral markers, and a fine needle biopsy of liver were performed. Microscopic findings of the liver biopsy specimen were compatible with acute cholestatic hepatitis. After steroid therapy, liver function was improved.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; Anti-Obesity Agents/*adverse effects ; Cholestasis/*chemically induced/diagnosis ; English Abstract ; Female ; Hepatitis, Toxic/*diagnosis/etiology ; Human ; Lactones/*adverse effects ; Lipase/antagonists & inhibitors

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study is to define the relationship between the decreased renal function and anemia, and also to determine whether this relationship is different in male and female patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 289 patients (male:female=157:132) who were followed at the department of internal medicine at Chonnam National University Hospital. General linear models were used to analyze the relationship between the hemoglobin concentration and Modification of Diet in the Renal Disease formula estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (mL/min/1.73 m2). RESULTS: Among all patients, the mean hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit of the men with a Glomerular Filtration Rate of 50~59 mL/min/1.73 m2 was an absolute change of 0.8 g/dL (p=0.021) and it was 2.6% (p=0.011) lower than those of the patients with a Glomerular Filtration Rate> or =90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and continued to decrease further as the Glomerular Filtration Rate decreased, respectively (Hgb.: r=0.635, Hct.: r=0.640, all p<0.001). Among the male patients, the mean hemoglobin concentration and the hematocrit of men with a Glomerular Filtration Rate of 40~49 mL/min/1.73 m2 was an absolute change of 1.7 g/dL (p<0.01) and it was 4.4% (p<0.01) lower than those of the male patients with a Glomerular Filtration Rate> or =90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and continued to decrease as the Glomerular Filtration Rate decreased, respectively (Hgb.: r=0.698, Hct: r=0.689, all p<0.001). Among the female patients, the mean hemoglobin concentration with a Glomerular Filtration Rate of 60~69 mL/min/1.73 m2 was an absolute change of 0.9 g/dL (p<0.01) and the mean hematocrit was 2.8% (p<0.01) lower than those of the female patients with a Glomerular Filtration Rate> or =90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and continued to decrease further as the Glomerular Filtration Rate decreased, respectively (Hgb.: r=0.672, Hct.: r=0.687, all p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in the hemoglobin concentration was statistically significant in the patients of both genders, along with a moderately decreased Glomerular Filtration Rate (< or =60 mL/min/1.73 m2).
Anemia ; Diet ; Female ; Filtration ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Jeollanam-do ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Linear Models ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: To introduce and demonstrate the advantages of the new hybrid two-dimensional (2D) proton spectroscopic imaging (Sl) over the single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) and conventional 2D Sl in the clinical application of spectroscopy for pediatric cerebral disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-one hybrid 2D proton spectroscopic imaging was performed in 79 children (36 normal infants and children, 10 with hypoxic-ischemic injury, 20 with toxic metabolic encephalopathy, seven with brain tumor, three with meningoencephalitis, one with neurofibromatosis, one with Sturge-Weber syndrome and one with lissencephaly) ranging in age from the third day of life to 15 years. In adult volunteers (n = 5), all three techniques including hybrid 2D proton Sl, SVS using PRESS sequence, and conventional 2D proton Sl were performed. Both hybrid 2D proton Sl and SVS using PRESS sequence were performed in clinical cases(n= 12). All measurements were peformed with a 1.5-T scanner using standard head quadrature coil. The 16 x 16 phase encoding steps were set on variable field of view (FOV) depending on the size of the brain. The hybrid volume of interest inside FOV was set as 75 x 75 x 15 mm3 or smaller to get rid of unwanted fat signal. Point-resolved spectroscopy (TR/TE = 1,500 msec/135 or 270 msec) was employed with standard chemical shift selective saturation (CHESS) pulses for water suppression. The acquisition time and spectral quality of hybrid 2D proton Sl were compared with those of SVS and conventional 2D proton Sl. RESULTS: The hybrid 2D proton Sl was successfully conducted upon all patients. The 2D spectral data acquisition time was less than 6 minutes, while the data acquisition time of SVS was 4.3 minutes. This was short enough for pediatric application. The spectra acquired with hybrid 2D proton Sl showed nearly the same sensitivity and spectral resolution with SVS. The spectral quality of hybrid 2D proton Sl was, on the other hand, far better than that of conventional 2D proton Sl. The other advantage of hybrid 2D proton Sl was that the extent of metabolic abnormalities could be evaluated through the characteristics of the relative levels of the three metabolites, i.e., N-acetylaspartate, choline, and creatine. CONCLUSION: The hybrid 2D proton Sl can be successfully employed for the evaluation of the metabolic abnormalities in the various pathologic conditions of pediatric brain without penalty in acquisition time and spectral quality when compared to SVS. The extent of metabolic abnormalities, which cannot be obtained with SVS technique, also can be evaluated with hybrid 2D proton Sl.
Adult ; Brain Diseases, Metabolic ; Brain Neoplasms ; Brain* ; Child ; Choline ; Creatine ; Hand ; Head ; Humans ; Infant ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Meningoencephalitis ; Neurofibromatoses ; Protons* ; Spectrum Analysis ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome ; Volunteers ; Water