The objective of the study was to observe the effect of n-3 PUFA on cell proliferation and apoptosis by determining mRNA and protein of COX-2 and eicosanoid product and the mRNA and protein of Bu and Bcl-2 related to apoptosis in colon carcinogenesis of 1,2- dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-treated rats. Ninety male Sprague Dawley rats weighing about 170g were divided into 3 groups, control and n-3 PUFA supplemented groups (FO group: 6.2 mmoles n-3 PUFA; 2FO group: 12.4 mmoles n-3 PUFA) and fed experimental diet for 14 weeks. All rats were intramuscularly injected with DMH 15 mg/kg twice a week for 6 weeks to deliver total dose of 180 mg/kg body weight. Compared with the control group, 6.2 mmoles n-3 PUFA significantly reduced the levels of mRNA and protein expression of COX-2 and 2-series eicosanoids (TXB2 and PGE2 and decreased cell proliferation in colonic mucosa. However, high levels of n-3 PUFA supplementation significantly increased the levels of mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, TXB2 and PGE2. and increased cell proliferation which was similar level to that of control group. Compared with the control group, n-3 PUFA, regardless of the amount, significantly increased apoptotic index in colonic mucosa. Western blot and RT-PCR analyses showed that the levels of mRNA and protein expression of Bax were significantly increased by 6.2 mmoles n-3 PUFA, but decreased by 12.4 mmoles n-3 PUFA. The analyses also showed the levels of mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2 were significantly reduced by 6.2 mmoles n-3 PUFA, but increased by 12.4 mmoles n-3 PUFA. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in mRNA and protein was significantly reduced by 6.2 mmoles n-3 PUFA but increased by 12.4 mmoles n-3 PUFA. Overall, these results indicate that n-3 PUFA could be effective in preventing colon carcinogenesis by reducing cell proliferation with lower level of COX-2 and 2-series eicosanoid, and increasing apoptosis by inducing pro-apoptotic gene, Bax and inhibiting anti-apoptotic gene, Bcl-2 in the colonic mucosa of DMH-treated rats. However, high level of n-3 PUFA supplementation could stimulate colon carcinogenesis by increasing cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Body Weight ; Carcinogenesis* ; Cell Proliferation ; Colon* ; Control Groups ; Diet ; Dimenhydrinate ; Dinoprostone ; Eicosanoids ; Fatty Acids, Omega-3* ; Genes, bcl-2 ; Humans ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with community and hospital onset MRSA isolated from patients admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital. METHODS: The study was carried out on MRSA isolated from clinical specimens of patients admitted into the wards and the intensive care unit in a 2,200-bed tertiary care teaching hospital from January 1st through December 31st, 2007. In order to identify the risk factors associated with MRSA acquisition, the medical records were reviewed. All statistics were computed using SPSS version 14.0. RESULTS: Of the 835 MRSA isolates, 179 (21.4%) were CO-MRSA and 656 (78.6%) were HO-MRSA. Of the 179 CO-MRSA isolates, 6 (3.4%) were CA-MRSA. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a history of using medical device or antibiotics within 1 year before the isolation of MRSA were significant risk factors for HO-MRSA, and a history of hospitalization within 1 year before the isolation of MRSA was a significant risk factor for CO-MRSA. Analysis on the antibiotics administered within 1 year before the isolation of MRSA showed that levofloxacin, macrolides, 1st generation cephalosporins, 3rd generation cephalosporins, 4th generation cephalosporins, vancomycin, metronidazole, and carbapenem were all significant risk factors for HO-MRSA and that TMP/SMX was a significant risk factor for CO-MRSA. Of the 6 (3.4%) CA-MRSA isolates, 1 (16.7%) was the pathogen responsible for soft tissue infection. No patients died from the CA-MRSA infection. CONCLUSION: MRSA isolated from clinical specimens of patients admitted into the wards and the ICU in a tertiary care teaching hospital was usually HO-MRSA, CO-MRSA and HO-MRSA usually had at least one of the risk factors associated with MRSA acquisition, and CO-MRSA was mainly HACO-MRSA.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cephalosporins ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Logistic Models ; Macrolides ; Medical Records ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Metronidazole ; Ofloxacin ; Risk Factors ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Vancomycin

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the sonographic findings of endometrial polyp and to differentiate it from other endometrial lesions. METHODS: Using transvaginal sonography, preoperative sonographic findings of pathologically proven endometrial polyp in 24 patients were retrospectively evaluated for the size, margin, echogenicity, nature (cystic, solid, mixed), and blood flow signal by color Doppler sonography (CDS). The t-test was used to check the statistical significance for Resistive index (RI) between endometrial polyp and other endometrial lesions. RESULTS: Of 110 patients studied for abnormal vaginal bleeding, 24 (21.9%) patients had endometrial polyps, 4 (3.6%) patients had secretory phased endometriums, 4 (3.6%) patients had submucosal myomas, 4 (3.6%) had retained placentaes, 1 (0.9%) had endometrial hyperplasia, 1 (0.9%) had blood clot, 1 (0.9%) had endometrial carcinoma and 71 (64.6%) patients had normal findings. The sonographic findings of endometrial polyp were well defined (24 patients), round (16 patients), hyperechoic (20 patients), and solid mass (21 patients). Using transvaginal CDS, the location of blood flow (9 patients) showed a single feeding artery with a mean RI of 0.60. There were no statistical significant differences between endometrial polyp and other endometrial lesions in arterial waveform (mean RI: 0.6) by transvaginal CDS (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Endometrial polyp has a characteristic sonographic appearance of a well-defined, hyperechoic round mass by transvaginal sonography. In addition, it contains a single feeding vessel to the vascular stalk with a characteristic color Doppler signal detected by transvaginal CDS. These findings enable us to make differential diagnosis from other endometrial lesions.
Arteries ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Endometrium ; Female ; Humans ; Myoma ; Placenta, Retained ; Polyps* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography* ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Uterus

OBJECTIVE: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patient, to compare the HRQOL of SLE patients with that of healthy controls, and to identify the predicting variables on physical and mental health in Korean patients with SLE. METHODS: In this cross sectional study, the HRQOL and clinical and laboratory parameters were assessed by Short Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36), EuroQol5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), time trade off (TTO), standard gamble (SG), Centers for Epidemiologic StudiesDepression (CES-D), self-efficacy scale, social support, social network, SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Damage Index (SDI), respectively, from 111 outpatients with SLE. And the data of the SF-36 and EQ-5D in SLE patients were compared with those in 228 healthy controls. RESULTS: 106 (95.5%) were women and 5 (4.5%) were men, with a mean (+/-SD) age of 33.2 years (+/-9.9) and mean disease duration of 7.19 years (+/-4.59). The mean scores of SF-36 global, mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) were 62.2 (+/-20.4), 67.5 (+/-24.6), and 65.7 (+/-24.8), respectively. The mean EQ-5D utility and visual analogue scale (VAS) score were 0.73 (+/-0.20) and 67.5 (+/-17.9). The mean scores of the TTO and SG were 0.60 (+/-0.55) and 0.59 (+/-0.45). The scores on the SF-36 global, EQ-5D utility and EQ-5D VAS in healthy controls were 77.5 (+/-13.1), 0.73 (+/-0.20) and 67.5 (+/-17.9), respectively. The mean scores of CES-D, self-efficacy scale, social support, and social network were 9.09 (+/-6.82), 66.5 (+/-17.4), 2.53 (+/-0.17) and 2.29 (+/-0.46), respectively. The mean SLEDAI and the mean SDI were 5.87 (+/-4.32) and 0.73 (+/-1.02). The SDI was negatively correlated with the scores of SF-36 global, PCS, and EQ-5D VAS (r=-0.30, p<0.001; r=-0.34, p<0.001; r=-0.28, p<0.003), and positively correlated with the CES-D (r=0.19, p<0.04). In multivariate models, the predicting variables on SF-36 global and 6 MCS was self-efficacy, and the predicting variables on SF-36 PCS were SLEDAI and self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: In this study, we observed that HRQOL in Korean patients with SLE was lower than those in healthy control. The SF-36 and the EQ-5D were valid measurements to assess HRQOL in patients with SLE. In multivariate model, self-efficacy and SLEDAI were only meaningful variables correlated with HRQOL among variables. Therefore, to improve the HRQOL in Korean patients with SLE, we should focus on a program to improve self-efficacy.
Female ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Male ; Mental Health ; Outpatients ; Quality of Life* ; Rheumatology

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate clinicopathologic characteristics of squamous cell carcinoma arising from ovarian mature cystic teratoma and to determine whether SCC Ag and CA 125 are useful serum markers for diagnosing this tumor. METHODS: From January 1990 to December 2005, 1266 patients diagnosed with ovarian mature cystic teratoma were reviewed. Of the 1266 patients, 8 patients which had squamous cell carcinoma arising from mature cystic teratoma were evaluated in this study. A retrospective analysis of clinicopathologic characteristics and disease-free survival rate was performed. RESULTS: The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma arising from ovarian mature cystic teratoma was 0.7% (8/1266). The mean age of the patients was 47.3 years (range, 32-72 years). Five patients (62.5%) had clinical FIGO stage I disease and three patients (37.5%) had stage III disease. The mean tumor diameter was 13.3 cm. The mean SCC Ag level was 0.3 ng/mL which was normal and the mean CA 125 was slightly increased to 68.5 U/mL. The mean disease free survival was 58.4 months and 2-year disease-free survival was 62.5% (5/8). Out of 8 patients, one patient died and one out of 7 patients who survived had recurrence. Age, clinical FIGO stage, grade, residual tumor, postoperative treatment were not significant prognostic factor for disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma arising from ovarian mature cystic teratoma in our institute was lower and survival rate was relatively higher compared to previous studies. SCC Ag and CA 125 were not helpful tumor markers in diagnosing squamous cell carcinoma arising from ovarian mature cystic teratoma. Age, grade, residual tumor, postoperative treatment were not significant prognostic factor for disease-free survival.
Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Ovary* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Teratoma* ; Biomarkers, Tumor

The aim of this study was to elucidate the epidemiology of traumatic head injury (THI) among Korean children. A prospective, in-depth trauma survey was conducted in five teaching hospitals. Data from all of the children who attended the emergency department (ED) were analyzed. From June 2008 to May 2009, 2,856 children with THI visited the 5 EDs. The average age of the subjects was 5.6 (SD +/- 4.9) yr old, and 1,585 (55.5%) were 0-4 yr old. The male-to-female ratio was 2.3 to 1 (1,979 vs 877). Consciousness levels of the subjects were classified according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and 99.1%, 0.6%, and 0.4% were determined as mild, moderate, or severe injury, respectively, according to the GCS categorization. Most injuries occurred at home (51.3%), and the most common mechanism of injury was collision (43.2%). With regard to outcome, 2,682 (93.9%) patients were sent home, and 35 (1.2%) were transferred to another hospital. A total of 133 (4.7%) patients were hospitalized, and 38 (1.3%) underwent surgery. The incidence and characteristics of pediatric THI in Korea are affected by sex, location and injury mechanism.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Craniocerebral Trauma/*epidemiology/radiography ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sex Factors

Promoter hypermethylation of the p16(INK4a) gene was investigated in 81 sets of samples of tumor tissue and adjacent normal tissue from Korean patients with primary lung cancer, using the modified real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/ SYBR Green detection method. The results showed hypermethylation of p16(INK4a) in 27.2% of tumor tissues, and in 11.1% of adjacent normal tissue. No significant association was found between the overall aberrant methylation in tumor and corresponding normal specimens (r=0.137, p=0.219). In 22 cases with p16(INK4a) hypermethylation in tumor tissues, only 4 (18.1%) cases were found to have a hypermethylated normal tissue specimen. The findings of this study show that smoking can influence the methylation level of the promoter region of p16(INK4a), and that this occurs in tumor tissues more frequently than in normal tissues. Other clinicopathological characteristics, including age, sex, tumor stage, and histologic type were not found to be correlated with p16(INK4a) methylation.
Adult ; Aged ; Base Sequence ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/*genetics ; *DNA Methylation ; DNA Primers/genetics ; DNA, Neoplasm/chemistry/genetics ; Female ; *Genes, p16 ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung Neoplasms/*genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Smoking/adverse effects/genetics

Recently, dietary pattern analysis was emerged as an approach to examine the relationships between diet and risk of chronic diseases. This study was to identify groups with population who report similar dietary pattern in Korean ge-nome epidemiology study (KoGES )and association with several chronic diseases. The cohort participants living in Ansung and Ansan (Gyeonggi province )were totally 10,038. Among those, 6,873 subjects with no missing values in food frequency questionnaire were included in this analysis. After combining 103 food items into 17 food groups, 4 dietary factors were obtained by factor analysis based on their weights. Factor 1 showed high factor loadings in vege-tables, mushrooms, meats, fish, beverages, and oriental-cereals. Factor 2 had high factor loadings in vegetables, fruits, fish, and factor 3 had high factor loadings in cereal-oriental, cerial-western and snacks. Factor 4 showed positive high factor loadings in rice and Kimchi and negative factor loadings in mushrooms and milk and dairy products. Using factor scores of four factors, subjects were classified into 3 clusters by K-means clustering. We named those 'Rice and Kimchi eating' group, 'Contented eating' group, and 'Healthy and light eating' group depending on their eating cha-racteristics. 'Rice and Kimchi eating' group showed high prevalence in men, farmers and 60s. 'Contented eating' group and 'Healthy and light eating' group had high prevalence in women, people living in urban area (Ansan Citizen ), with high-school education and above, and a monthly income of one million won and more. 'Contented eating' group appeared lower distribution proportion in the sixties and 'Healthy and light eating' group does higher in the fifties. 'Contented eating' versus 'Rice and Kimchi eating', odds ratio for hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity significantly decreased after adjusting age and sex (OR =0.64, 0.73, and 0.85 respectively, 95% CI ). Although our results were from a cross-sectional study, these imply that the dietary patterns were related to diseases.
Adult* ; Agaricales ; Beverages ; Chronic Disease ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dairy Products ; Diet ; Eating ; Education ; Epidemiology* ; Female ; Fruit ; Genome* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Meat ; Milk ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio* ; Prevalence* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Snacks ; Vegetables ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study was to evaluate whether high body mass index (BMI) or thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level would affect selecting thyroid nodule for fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) after ultrasound (US) evaluation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 3155 thyroid nodules (2159 benign and 996 malignant nodules) were included. Four grades of BMI and three levels of TSH were applied for grouping. US features of the thyroid nodules were divided into ‘probably benign’ and ‘suspicious for malignancy’ categories. Patients were grouped according to gender and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to find the association between variables and malignancy. RESULTS: TSH levels were significantly higher in the malignant group (p<0.001). The grades of BMI did not show difference between the malignant and benign groups (females, p=0.074 and males, p=0.157). Younger age and ‘suspicious for malignancy’ US category were independent risk factors for malignancy in both genders. In females, a high TSH level (odds ratio=1.010, p<0.001) had significant association with malignancy. Except for younger age (odds ratio=0.998, p<0.001), no variable in nodules with ‘probably benign’ US category was significantly associated with malignancy. CONCLUSION: High TSH levels were more frequent in thyroid malignancy group, but neither high BMI nor high TSH level give additional information for FNA selection after US.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Body Mass Index ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Obesity ; Risk Factors ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroid Nodule ; Thyrotropin ; Ultrasonography

Background: Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), which encodes thiol protease that hydrolyzes a peptide bond at the C-terminal glycine residue of ubiquitin, regulates cell differentiation, proliferation, transcriptional regulation, and numerous other biological processes and may be involved in lung cancer progression. UCHL1 is mainly expressed in the brain and plays a tumor-promoting role in a few cancer types; however, there are limited reports regarding its role in lung cancer. Methods: Single-cell RNA (scRNA) sequencing using 10X chromium v3 was performed on a paired normal-appearing and tumor tissue from surgical specimens of a patient who showed unusually rapid progression. To validate clinical implication of the identified biomarkers, immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis was performed on 48 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue specimens, and the correlation with clinical parameters was evaluated. Results: We identified 500 genes overexpressed in tumor tissue compared to those in normal tissue. Among them, UCHL1, brain expressed X-linked 3 (BEX3), and midkine (MDK), which are associated with tumor growth and progression, exhibited a 1.5-fold increase in expression compared to that in normal tissue. IHC analysis of NSCLC tissues showed that only UCHL1 was specifically overexpressed. Additionally, in 48 NSCLC specimens, UCHL1 was specifically upregulated in the cytoplasm and nuclear membrane of tumor cells. Multivariable logistic analysis identified several factors, including smoking, tumor size, and high-grade dysplasia, to be typically associated with UCHL1 overexpression. Survival analyses using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets revealed that UCHL1 overexpression is substantially associated with poor survival outcomes. Furthermore, a strong association was observed between UCHL1 expression and the clinicopathological features of patients with NSCLC. Conclusion UCHL1 overexpression was associated with smoking, tumor size, and high-grade dysplasia, which are typically associated with a poor prognosis and survival outcome. These findings suggest that UCHL1 may serve as an effective biomarker of NSCLC.