Plasmid vectors with either RSV or CMV promoter are frequently used for DNA- mediated immunization due to the availability in commercial. Consequently, influence of the vector constituents, such as promoter, enhancer and transcription termination signal etc. on vaccination efficiency is not studied extensively. As an initial attempt to develop an efficient vector system for DNA-rnediated immunization, influence of promoter for antigen gene expression on vaccination efficiency has been analyzed. Initially, plasmids with either B-actin or muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter were constructed from the plasmid with prototype CMV promoter. In addition, ovalbumin (OVA) antigen gene has been cloned into each vectors to generate the plasmid vectors with different promoters for induction of the anti-OVA immune responses. Antigen protein expression in antigen gene transfected mouse muscle myoblast cells showed that the level from MCK promoter containing plasmid was slightly higher than those from either CMV or B-actin promoter containing plasmids. Also, the same plasmid turned out to be slightly more efficient than other plasmids in antibody imrnune response induction in vivo, when they were applied both through intramuscularly and intradermally. These results suggest that the commonly used CMV promoter containing plasmid vector could be further modified to develop an efficient vector for DNA-mediated immunization.
Animals ; Clone Cells ; Creatine Kinase, MM Form ; Gene Expression ; Immunization ; Mice ; Myoblasts ; Ovalbumin ; Plasmids* ; Vaccination*

No abstract available.
Abdominal Wall* ; Diagnosis* ; Fetus*

We report a case of exogastric schwannoma of the stomach in 41-years-old male patient with papable mass in left upper abdomen. Upper GI series revealed extrinsic compression on the greater curvature of the stomach. CT scan showed a low density mass attached to greater curvature of the stomach with inhomogeneous contrast nhancement in the mass lesion. The mass was removed by surgery, and confirmed pathologically as schwannoma arising from the stomach.
Abdomen ; Humans ; Male ; Neurilemmoma* ; Stomach* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Though the primary carcinoma of the vermiform appendix is rare, the secondary carcinoma of the vermiform appendix is extremely rare. About fourty cases have been reported through the world. The breast is most common primary site, and adenocarcinoma is most common form. The metastatic carcinoma of the vermiform appendix, from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, were extremely rare. The authors experienced a case of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the vermiform appendix, in thirty-two years old housewife. She was diagnosed with carcinoma of the uterine cervix on December, 1983, and treated with a radical hysterectomy on February, 1984, at Chicago, and with a radiation therapy. She had been suffered from palpable masses on left axilla and left neck region, and and coughing and chest pain. After an excision biopsy, on August, 1984, she showed intestinal obstruction sign including abdominal distension with abdominal pain. A right-sided hemicolectomy was performed on November, 1984. During gross examination, the wall of the distal portion of the vermiform appendix was moderatery thickened, and showed homogeneous light yellow cut surface. On microscopic examination, there were clusters of tumors that had negative stained preparations. On electron microscopic examination, the secretory granules were not found, and the characteristics of squamous cells, including intercellular spaces, desmosomes and tonofibrils, were noted.
Adenocarcinoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Pick's disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorder presenting cortical type of dementia. Pick's disease shows unique clinical and pathological features, that are due to a degeneration of fronto-temporal lobes of the cerebrum. The authors experienced a case of Pick's disease in a 58-year-old male patient who had dementia symptoms for five years. The patient showed compulsive behavior since five years ago. Memory decline started from four years ago and progressed. Brain CT disclosed lobar atrophy of the cerebral gyri in frontal and temporal lobes. He died of septicemia associated with aspiration pneumonia. At autopsy, both cerebral hemispheres showed marked encephalomalacia. The gyral atrophy was moderately severe in prefrontal and anterior temporal lobes. Coronal section disclosed moderate dilatation of the lateral ventricles. Microscopically, there were marked neuronal loss in prefrontal and anterior temporal cortices. Also noted were Pick's cells and Pick's body in occasional pyramidal cells preserved.
Atrophy ; Autopsy* ; Brain ; Cerebrum ; Compulsive Behavior ; Dementia ; Dilatation ; Encephalomalacia ; Humans ; Lateral Ventricles ; Male ; Memory ; Middle Aged ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons ; Pick Disease of the Brain* ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Pyramidal Cells ; Sepsis ; Temporal Lobe

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of aromatase inhibitor (AI) for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients with thin endometrium, hyper-responsiveness after clomiphene citrate (CC) treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective study was performed in 43 PCOS patients (50 cycles) with ovulatory dysfunction between March 2004 and September 2004. AI group (total 36 cycles) included the patients 1) with thin endometrium below 6 mm on hCG day after CC (n=17), 2) with more than 5 ovulatory follicles after 50mg of CC (n=4), 3) who do not want multiple pregnancy (n=14). Patients were treated with Letrozole 2.5mg for days 3 to 7 of the menstrual cycle. CC group (total 14 cycles) were treated with CC 50~100 mg. RESULTS: In PCOS patients, ovulation was occurred 97.2% after AI use. Between AI group and CC group, there was no significant difference in the mean age, duration of infertility, interval of menstruation, basal FSH, prior treatment cycles, and the day of hCG administration. But, the number of mature follicles (> or =15 mm) was lower in the AI group (1.08+/-0.45 vs. 1.64+/-0.75) (p=0.018), and the thickness of endometrium (mm) was significantly thicker in the AI group (10.35+/-1.74 vs. 9.23+/-1.61) (p=0.044), and E2 (pg/ml) concentration on hCG day was lower in the AI group (116.9+/-75.8 vs. 479.5+/-300.8) (p=0.001). Among the AI group, patients with prior thin endometrium (below 6 mm) during CC treatment showed 10.6+/-1.6 mm in the endometrial thickness and 106.6+/-66.8 pg/ml in E2 concentration. Patients with more than 5 ovulatory follicles after CC showed decreased follicle number (1.25+/-0.5) compared to prior CC cycle. CONCLUSIONS: In PCOS patients, AI group showed significantly thicker endometrium, lesser number of mature follicles, and lower E2 concentration on hCG day than CC group. AI might be useful alternative treatment for ovulation induction in PCOS patients with thin endometrium and hyper-responsiveness after CC treatment.
Aromatase* ; Clomiphene* ; Endometrium ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility ; Menstrual Cycle ; Menstruation ; Ovulation ; Ovulation Induction ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Multiple ; Prospective Studies

BACKGROUND: De novo methylation and transcriptional silencing of p16 gene is one of the main pathways in inactivation of p16 gene in colon neoplasm. But there has been no study about that in Korea yet. The aims of this study were to determine p16 methylation status and its association with clinicopathologic parameters and stage of colon cancers and adenomas in patients of Korea. METHODS: We examined p16 methylation of sixty primary colon cancer tissues and thirty colon adenoma tissues using methylation specific PCR after bisulfite modification of the DNA samples. RESULTS: In colon cancer group, 30 patients were male and the others were female, and the average age was 59.7+/-12.5 years. Three cases were in Dukes' stage A, 24 in B, 26 in C, and 7 in D respectively. p16 gene was methylated in 20% (12 of 60) of colon cancers. There was no significant correlation between methylation status of p16 gene and clinicopathologic variables of colon cancers including patient's age, sex, tumor location, size, and differentiation. In Dukes' stage C and D, methylation was positive in 24.2% (8/33 cases) comparing 14.8% (4/27 cases) in Dukes' A and B, but there was no significant difference statistically (p=0.52). In colon adenoma group, there were 15 simple adenomas, and 15 advanced adenomas (>or=1cm, including villous component, or high grade dysplasia). The p16 gene was methylated in 16.7% (5 of 30) of colon adenomas; in 3 cases of simple adenoma and in 2 cases of advanced adenoma. There was no significant correlation between p16 methylation status and clinicopathological variables in colon adenoma. CONCLUSION: The p16 gene was methylated in 20% of colon cancers and 16.7% of colon adenomas in the present series, suggesting that the methylation of p16 tumor suppressor gene might be expressed in similar rate in colon cancer/adenoma in Korea, and play a role in colorectal tumorigenesis in its early stage.
Adenoma* ; Carcinogenesis ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; DNA ; Female ; Genes, p16 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Methylation* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Alcohol influences the neuroadaptation of brain cells where receptors and enzymes like protein kinase C (PKC) exist. Naltrexone acts on opioid receptors. However, other mechanisms of action remain unknown. We prepared SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and fed them with 150 mM ethanol for 72 h followed by treatment with naltrexone for 24 h. We performed microarray analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed that PKC epsilon increased 1.90 times and showed an overall decreasing pattern as time increased. Phosphorylated ERK also increased 2.0 times according to the change of PKC epsilon. Integrin alpha7 increased 2.32 times and showed an increasing pattern as time increased. In conclusion, naltrexone influences PKC epsilon neuronal signaling system and endothelial adhesion molecule integrin alpha7 in addition to the well-known opioid system.
Antigens, CD/*metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Comparative Study ; DNA, Complementary/genetics ; Humans ; Integrin alpha Chains/*metabolism ; Naltrexone/*pharmacology ; *Neuroblastoma/enzymology/metabolism/pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Protein Kinase C-epsilon/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Time Factors

Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by choreic movement and progressive dementia. A definite diagnosis of Huntington's disease cannot be made by clinical informations alone. Pathologic or genetic studies are necessary to exclude other neurodegenerative diseases which may present with familial dementia, dystonia, and chorea. We report a 40 year-old male patient with Huntington's disease confirmed by pathologic and genetic studies. His daughter who had rigidity, dystonia, involuntary movement, and progressive cognitive decline had abnormal CAG trinucleotide repeat on the short arm of chromosome 4. These findings confirmed that the korean patient with Huntington's disease has same genetic abnormalities with the western and other oriental patients with Huntington's disease.
Adult ; Arm ; Chorea ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Dyskinesias ; Dystonia ; Humans ; Huntington Disease* ; Male ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Nuclear Family ; Trinucleotide Repeats

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of the ritodrine hydrochloride alone with combined treatment with magnesium sulfate in the management of preterm labor. METHODS: One hundred thirty three singleton pregnancies with preterm labor were treated with either ritodrine hydrochloride (n=97) or ritodrine hydrochloride and magnesium sulfate (n=36). The principal outcomes assessed were delay of duration, maternal-fetal side effects, and fetal outcome. RESULTS: The treatment to delivery time was not statistically different between the ritodrine group and the combined magnesium sulfate group (mean+/-SD 10.7+/-13.0 days, 8.6+/-9.1 days, respectively). The proportion delivered after 48 hours, 72 hours, or 7 days was also not statistically different between two groups (29% vs. 22%, 40% vs. 39%, 60% vs. 64%, respectively). No statistical difference was found in the side effects of treatment or fetal outcomes. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in efficacy and safety between ritodrine hydrochloride and combined treatment with magnesium sulfate in the management of preterm labor.
Female ; Magnesium Sulfate* ; Magnesium* ; Obstetric Labor, Premature* ; Pregnancy ; Ritodrine*