The purpose of this study is that evaluate the distribution and biological roles of TNF-a, interleukin-1beta(IL-1beta), interleukin-6(IL-6) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1) in the synovial fliud of patients with non-inflammatory chronic temporomandibular joint(TMJ) disorders in relation to pain during joint movements and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) findings. TMJ synovial fluids aspirates were obtained from 36 patients (36 joints) with chronic TMJ disorders and from 8 controls(8 joints). Patients were divided to four groups. The control group was from healthy volunteers(8 joints), group I(18 joints) was patients with anterior disc displacement with reduction, group II(5 joints) was patients with disc displacement without reduction and group III (5 joints) was osteoarthritis. The TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 levels in the aspirates were determined by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the TIMP-1 level was measured by an enzyme immunoassay. Following examinations for pain during joint movements and MRI observations, these cytokines'level and frequencies of detection were compared. The level of IL-1beta was not significant different in all groups. but the level of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and TIMP-1 were significant different among groups. The level of IL-6 and TIMP-1 were correlated to pain during movement(p <0.01) and the level of TNF-a(p <0.05). Also, the level of IL-6 was correlated to the level of TIMP-1(p <0.01). Especially, The level of the TIMP-1 level was significantly correlated to the pain during movement and showed very high levle of Pearson's correlation coefficient (r=0.833)(p <0.001). The results indicated that the TNF-alpha, IL-6 and TIMP-1 levels in the TMJ aspirates of patients with chronic TMJ disorders have been raised. Especially, IL-6 and TIMP-1 were very high levels in the patients who were degraded in the TMJ. Also, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and TIMP-1 showed the significant correlation in the chronic temporomandibular joint disorders. Therefore I suggest that these cytokines were also correlated to the pain during movement in the chronic temporomandibular joint disorders.
Cytokines* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Interleukin-6 ; Joints ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteoarthritis ; Synovial Fluid ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders* ; Temporomandibular Joint* ; Therapeutic Irrigation* ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) is a low-grade malignant salivary gland neoplasm that was first described in 1972. EMC occurs in the older age group, there is a female predilection and mainly involves the parotid gland. Most authors recommend superficial parotidectomy as a treatment for low-grade malignant tumor in the superficial lobe of parotid gland. The treatment of epithelial-myoepithelial tumors typically includes surgical excision aimed at achieving a R0 resection. This paper reports a case of EMC of the parotid gland treated only by a conservational surgical excision. The lesion was exposed by the retromandibular approach and detached. After the parotid gland envelop was exposed, the mass was observed and was easy to remove due to capsulation. The preoperative diagnosis was a pleomorphic adenoma on the left parotid gland. The tumor was removed surgically with a conservative extracapsular dissection. The postoperative diagnosis was EMC, so superficial parotidectomy or radiation therapy was considered. Nevertheless, the patient was observed and no additional treatment was attempted because the patient was old and a successfully excision of the tumor had been achieved.
Adenoma, Pleomorphic ; Female ; Humans ; Parotid Gland ; Salivary Gland Neoplasms

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most abundant forms of human genetic variations and resources for mapping complex genetic traits and disease association studies. We have constructed a linkage disequilibrium(LD) map of chromosome 22 in Korean samples and compared it with those of other populations, including Yorubans in Ibadan, Nigeria (YRI), Centred'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) reference families (CEU), Japanese in Tokyo (JPT) and Han Chinese in Beijing (CHB) in the HapMap database. We genotyped 4681 of 111,448 publicly available SNPs in 90 unrelated Koreans. Among genotyped SNPs, 4167 were polymorphic. Three hundred and five LD blocks were constructed to make up 18.6% (6.4 of 34.5 Mb) of chromosome 22 with 757 tagSNPs and 815 haplotypes(frequency > or = 5.0%). Of 3430 common SNPs genotyped in all five populations, 514 were monomorphic in Koreans. The CHB + JPT samples have more than a 72% overlap with the monomorphic SNPs in Koreans, while the CEU + YRI samples have less than a 38% overlap. The patterns of hot spots and LD blocks were dispersed throughout chromosome 22, with some common blocks among populations, highly concordant between the three Asian samples. Analysis of the distribution of chimpanzee-derived allele frequency (DAF), a measure of genetic differentiation, Fst levels, and allele frequency difference (AFD) among Koreans and the HapMap samples showed a strong correlation between the Asians, while the CEU and YRI samples showed a very weak correlation with Korean samples. Relative distance as a quantitative measurement based upon DAF, Fst, and AFD indicated that all three Asian samples are very proximate, while CEU and YRI are significantly remote from the Asian samples. Comparative genome-wide LD studies provide useful information on the association studies of complex diseases.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Variation ; Haplotypes ; HapMap Project ; Humans ; Nigeria ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Tokyo

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most abundant forms of human genetic variations and resources for mapping complex genetic traits and disease association studies. We have constructed a linkage disequilibrium(LD) map of chromosome 22 in Korean samples and compared it with those of other populations, including Yorubans in Ibadan, Nigeria (YRI), Centred'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) reference families (CEU), Japanese in Tokyo (JPT) and Han Chinese in Beijing (CHB) in the HapMap database. We genotyped 4681 of 111,448 publicly available SNPs in 90 unrelated Koreans. Among genotyped SNPs, 4167 were polymorphic. Three hundred and five LD blocks were constructed to make up 18.6% (6.4 of 34.5 Mb) of chromosome 22 with 757 tagSNPs and 815 haplotypes(frequency > or = 5.0%). Of 3430 common SNPs genotyped in all five populations, 514 were monomorphic in Koreans. The CHB + JPT samples have more than a 72% overlap with the monomorphic SNPs in Koreans, while the CEU + YRI samples have less than a 38% overlap. The patterns of hot spots and LD blocks were dispersed throughout chromosome 22, with some common blocks among populations, highly concordant between the three Asian samples. Analysis of the distribution of chimpanzee-derived allele frequency (DAF), a measure of genetic differentiation, Fst levels, and allele frequency difference (AFD) among Koreans and the HapMap samples showed a strong correlation between the Asians, while the CEU and YRI samples showed a very weak correlation with Korean samples. Relative distance as a quantitative measurement based upon DAF, Fst, and AFD indicated that all three Asian samples are very proximate, while CEU and YRI are significantly remote from the Asian samples. Comparative genome-wide LD studies provide useful information on the association studies of complex diseases.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Variation ; Haplotypes ; HapMap Project ; Humans ; Nigeria ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Tokyo

BACKGROUND: Although several hospital-based stroke studies were published, there has not been any reliable data representing the clinical characteristics of stroke in Korea. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients with ischemic stroke registered in the Korean Stroke Registry (KSR), which is the largest prospective hospital-based nation-wide stroke registry in Korea. METHODS: The KSR provided standardized protocols for collecting data, which includes the data of demographics, subtypes of stroke, risk factors, and neurological outcome at discharge. The brain imaging studies, including CT or MRI, were performed in all cases. RESULTS: KSR registered 10,811 patients of acute ischemic stroke between Nov. 2002 and Jun. 2004. The large-artery atherosclerosis was the most common subtype (37.3%), followed by small vessel occlusion (30.8%). Hypertension (65.4%) was the most common risk factor, followed by smoking (34.5%) and diabetes (28.3%). Although most of the hypertensive and diabetic patients had been diagnosed before the stroke, less than 45.4% and 32.5% of them were under regular control. The steno-occlusive lesion of extracranial carotid artery was only 29.3% and the ratio of intra- to extracranial artery disease was more than 2 in KSR. Only 20.5% of patients were admitted within 3 hours after stroke onset and 2.1% were treated with intravenous thrombolysis. In-hospital case-fatality was 5.2%, which is relatively comparable to those of previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: The KSR provided informative data in understanding the clinical characteristics of ischemic stroke in Korea. Further analysis of KSR will facilitate clinical trials and development of guidelines for the management of stroke patients.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Demography ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroimaging ; Prospective Studies* ; Registries ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke*