BACKGROUND: Chlamydia pneumoniae, a new species of the obligate intracellular Chlamydia, has been recognized as a significant pathogen that causes infection of the human respiratory tract and has recently been associated with coronary atherosclerosis. Diagnosis of infections with C. pneumoniae is problematic, because the syndrome usually presents few distinguishing features and culture of the organism is far more difficult than other Chlamydia species. To further improve the cell culture isolation and passage of C. pneumoniae organisms. we have studied several chemical and physical factors that might affect their viability and growth. METHODS: C. pneumoniae strain (TW-183) was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. Ga. First we compared McCoy HeLa-229, and HEp-2 cells in the search for a more efficient and practical cell culture system. The growth rate of C. pneumoniae was assessed by the effects of diethylaminoethyl-dextrin, by the adequate centrifugation force and time, by the growth promoting effect of cycloheximide, and by the optimal incubation time. All of the results were evaluated by the indirect immunofluorescent stain using the genus-specific monoclonal antibody(HYMo 1-1) to Chlamydia. RESULTS: The HEp-2 cell was the most efficient for culturing C. pneumoniae and the inclusion bodies in monolayer were increased with DEAE-dextran pretreatment at 30microgram/ml. Also application of a centrifugal force of 1.500 xg for at least 15 minute during inoculation enhanced the growth of C. pneumoniae. The best concentration of cycloheximide in the culture medium for host cell cytostasis was 1microgram/ml. The yields of organisms were greater when the cultures were harvested at 48 hours. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that this system may make it more practical for laboratories to culture for C. pneumoniae.
Cell Culture Techniques ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Centrifugation ; Chlamydia* ; Chlamydophila pneumoniae* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Cycloheximide ; DEAE-Dextran ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Inclusion Bodies ; Pneumonia ; Respiratory System

No abstract available.
Anemia, Aplastic* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute*

BACKGROUND: A two-dose measles vaccination schedule is recommended routinely for either school entry or 11 to 13 years of age in America since 1989. But, several studies were performed on measles antibody in Korea and it remains controversial whether a second dose measles vaccine after 15 months is necessary. To generate baseline data, measles antibody prevalence and its levels according to different age groups in children and young adults in Taejon area were studied. METHODS: A total of 261 subjects at 3 to 21 years of age, who had received a single dose of measles vaccine, were tested for measles antibody by quantitative alpha enzyme immunoassay. The subjects were divided into five age-groups based on the educational system (preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, young-adult). RESULTS: The seropositivity rates were 97.7% and not significantly different among groups. The expected tendency of declining antibody levels with advancing age, as reported by other studies, was not observed in this study. Except for between Group I and Group II, no significant difference was noted in the antibody levels among the five age groups. Group II showed significantly higher antibody levels than those of Group I (P=0.0025). CONCLUSIONS: No declining tendency of measles antibody levels with advancing age is different from many other studies and contradicts the current recommendations for supplementary vaccinations after 15 months. These might reflect the regional characteristics of the study population in Taejon area and current vaccination rate. Therefore, futher studies with larger population in different geographic regions by quantitative EIA would be needed.
Americas ; Appointments and Schedules ; Child ; Daejeon ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Korea ; Measles Vaccine ; Measles* ; Prevalence ; Vaccination* ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Granulomatous Disease, Chronic* ; Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Combination

PURPOSE: The objectives of this study are to compare the hospital employees' and patients' recognition and attitudes toward the opening of the medical services market, to analyze the differences between hospital employees and patients on the factors in selecting a foreign hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study collected and analyzed data using systematic questionnaires that were self-administered by employees and outpatients to compare their recognition of the opening of the medical services market and the factors involved in selecting a foreign hospital. RESUTLS: Employees exhibited a higher level of recognition than the patients. Reasons for agreement were to ensure the right of selection for both the employees and patients. Reasons for disagreement, however, were split between the two groups: degraded public characteristics of medical services, for employees; and expensive medical fees, for patients. The most urgent task to prepare for the opening of the medical services market is the improvement of the diagnosis and treatment technologies for employees, and improvement of the services provided by hospital staff for patients. CONCLUSION: Korean hospitals shall need to improve their diagnosis and treatment technologies and provide medical services of high quality in order to compete with foreign hospitals.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated newly introduced VARIANTTM II(Bio-Rad Laboratories, CA, USA) hemoglobin(Hb) A1c autoanalyzer, including bar code reading, cap-piercing system and automatic hemolyzing. It utilizes ion-exchange high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) method. METHODS: Linearity, precision, comparison with Hi-AUTOA1cTM HA-8121(Kyoto Daiichi, Kagaku Co. Ltd, Kyoto, Japan) and analysis time were evaluated. The reference range was determined by VARIANTTM II from 120 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Linearity through the range from 5.8% to 14.7% was good(r2=0.9909). The within-run coefficients of variation(CVs) for groups of low, middle and high level were 3.07%, 1.96% and 2.14% and between-day CVs for each group were 2.35%, 3.09% and 2.10%, respectively. Correlation equation between VARIANTTM II and Hi-AUTOA1cTM HA-8121 was VARIANTTM II = 1.0886(Hi-AUTOA1cTM HA-8121) + 0.4760% Hb A1c(r=0.9906). Two instruments were also compared by Altman and Bland's method and mean bias was 1.20. Analysis time of VARIANTTM II was 15.6 tests per hour compared with 14.8 tests of Hi-AUTOA1cTM HA-8121. The reference range in this study was 2.8-5.9% Hb A1c. CONCLUSIONS: VARIANTTM II showed the acceptable performance and advantage of calibration, and it was suitable for routine use in the clinical laboratory.
Automatic Data Processing ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Calibration ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Reference Values

In a 49-year-old man admitted due to dyspnea, epistaxis and loss of consciousness, disseminated intravascular coagulation with petechiae and ecchymosis was presented. Bacteria within monocytes and neutrophils were observed in the peripheral blood smear of this patient, and, also, prominent toxic changes, such as marked granulation, vacuolation, and Dohle bodies, were noted in leukocytes. These bacteria could be confirmed by Gram stain of peripheral blood smear and blood cultures as Klebsiella pneumoniae, at 48 hours after bacteremia was diagnosed by the blood films. We believe that this report is the first case of bacteremia diagnosed by a Wright's stained peripheral blood smear in Korea. Despite intensive treatment with respiratory support, associated with broad spectrum antibiotherapy, he died on the second day of the admission and before getting the result of blood cultures. Therefore, direct examination of peripheral blood smears could be a valuable tool for the early diagnosis and management of high-level bacteremia.
Bacteremia* ; Bacteria ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; Dyspnea ; Early Diagnosis ; Ecchymosis ; Epistaxis ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Korea ; Leukocytes ; Middle Aged ; Monocytes ; Neutrophils ; Purpura ; Unconsciousness

Pasteurella multocida, a Gram-negative coccobacillus, is part of the normal oral flora of many types of animals, including domestic dogs and cats. It is the etiologic agent of a variety of infectious diseases, such as hemorrhagic septicemia in cattle or fowl cholera in chiken. Although this is a primary pathogen in the animal world, infection due to Pasteurella multocida in man has been described with increasing frequency recently. The majority of individuals with pasteurella multocida pulmonary infection possess some underlying pulmonary diseases, most commonly bronchiectasis or COPD. With review of literature, We report a young man who developed the empyema caused by Pasteurella multocida.
Animals ; Bronchiectasis ; Cats ; Cattle ; Cholera ; Communicable Diseases ; Dogs ; Empyema ; Empyema, Pleural* ; Hemorrhagic Septicemia ; Lung Diseases ; Pasteurella multocida* ; Pasteurella* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

BACKGROUND: There are highly-polymorphic DNA markers in the human genomic DNA, known as the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR). The VNTR markers can be used to evaluate the engraftment of stem cells. We evaluated the discrimination power of 3 types of long-tandem repeat (LTR) and tried to predict underlying disease relapses by DNA chimerism. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients were transplanted with allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) and their related donors were tested. We used the three long-tandem repeats (LTR) D1S80, D1S111, and YNZ22 for VNTR-PCR. The informative test was performed before transplantation. The chimerism analysis was performed on days +30, +60, +90, and +180 after transplantation. RESULTS: The most informative marker was D1S80 with 55.2% discrimination potential. The power of discrimination was 79.3% in the combination of 3 LTRs. Twenty-two cases were tested for DNA chimerism analysis. When the complete chimerism was represented, the engraftment was more successful and when the mixed chimerism was represented, the underlying disease relapse rate increased. CONCLUSTIONS: DNA chimerism analysis was useful to evaluate the marrow status of patients. It also served as an indication for donor lymphocyte infusion. However, compared to unrelated allogenic PBSCT, the discrimination potential for the combination of 3 LTR loci was lower in the related allogenic PBSCT. Therefore, it is thought that additional short-tandem repeats and DNA sequencing are required for more discrimination power especially in related transplantation cases.
Bone Marrow ; Chimerism ; Discrimination (Psychology)* ; DNA ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Recurrence ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stem Cells* ; Tissue Donors

Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia is a disorder caused by impaired DNA synthesis. Vitamin B12 binds to the intrinsic factor produced by the parietal cells and is absorbed in the distal ileum. After total gastrectomy, megaloblastic anemia is developed due to the absence or deficiency of the intrinsic factor. Concomitant iron deficiency states such as various malabsorption syndromes and alcoholism induce that the bone marrow erythroid megaloblastosis and peripheral blood macroovalocytosis are masked because of countervailing the tendency of iron deficiency to produce microblasts and hypochromic microcytic erythrocytes. We experienced a case of Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia with low RBC mean corpuscular volume (MCV) due to combined with iron deficiency anemia in 42 year-old female patient and report the case with literature review.
Adult ; Alcoholism ; Anemia ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency* ; Anemia, Megaloblastic ; Bone Marrow ; DNA ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Ileum ; Intrinsic Factor ; Iron* ; Malabsorption Syndromes ; Masks ; Rabeprazole ; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency* ; Vitamin B 12* ; Vitamins*