OBJECTIVE: In the development of squamous neoplasia of the uterine cervix, high risk HPV infection has been followed by CD44 variant expression and angiogenesis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sequential changes and relatianship of CD44 variant expression, microvessel density (MVD), and VEGF expression in CIN III, microinvasive (MI) and invasive (CA) squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: The materials were 17 cases of CIN III, 14 cases of MI and 15 cases of CA. In situ PCR for HPV 16/18 and immunohistochemical studies for CD44std, v6, v7/8, CD 31 for MVD, and VEGF were performed. RESULTS: CD44std expression was decreased in squarnous neoplasia compared to normal, and CD44v6 and v7/8 expressions were increased, however, there was no statistical significance. Accentuated staining of CD44v6 and v7/8 along the infiltrating borders was noted in 76.9% and 69.2% of MI and in 71.4% and 42.9% of CA, respectively. High MVD and VEGF 2+ expression were higher in the squamous neoplasia compared to narmal, however, there was no significant difference between the squamous neoplasia and no significant relationship between MVD and VEGF expression. The expression rates of CD44std and CD44v6 were higher in HPV 16/18 negative squamous neoplasia and that of CD44v7/8 was higher in HPV 16/18 pasitive squamous neoplasia, however, their differences were not significant. The incidences of high MVD and VEGF 2+ expression were higher in HPV 16/18 positive suqmaous neoplasia with no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that CD44 variants expression and angiogenesis are involved in the development of squamous neoplasia of the uterine cervix, however, HPV 16/18 might not be related to CD44 variant expression and angiogenesis.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Incidence ; Microvessels* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

A clinical and histologic survey was done on 71 cases of basal cel carcinoma(BCC) filed at Department of Clinical Fathology, Kang Nam, Han Kang, and Kang Dong Sacred Heart Hospital during past 13 year s from 1979 to 1991. The results were summerized as follows: 1. Of all malignant skin tumors BCC accounted for 31.6%. The frequency of BCC in the total number of outpatients visiting the Department of Dermatology was 0.06%. 2. The ratio of men to women with HCC was 1:1.03. 83.8% of the pat.ients with BCC were older than the age of l0 years with the mean age of 56.9 years. 3. 83.8% of the BCC appared in the face, especially on the nose(25.4%), eyelid(20.3%). 4. On the basis of classification of Lever et al, the solid type(66.7% ) was the most com mon histologic pattern, followed by the adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification of Farmer et al, the nodulocystic type(35.1% ) was the most common histologic pattern followed by infiltrative(31.6%), adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification on Sexton et al, in the order of decreasing frequency, liistologic subtypes were the nodular(43.9%), mixed (22.8%), infiltrative(19.3%), supeficial(3.5%), morpheic(3.5%), and micronodular(3.5%).
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Classification ; Dermatology ; Female ; Heart ; Humans ; Male ; Outpatients ; Skin

Epidermal keratinocytes are important sources of a wide variety of cytokines that include the endothelin-1 (ET-1). Glucocorticoids have been shown to inhibit the production of several cytokines. However, their effect on ET-1 synthesis by keratinocytes is still unknown. It has been reported that ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation stimulates both the synthesis and release of ET-1 and it was observed that ET-1 secretion by HaCat cells increased with increasing UVB exposure. In this study, the effects of glucocorticoid on ET-1 production were evaluated using cultured HaCat keratinocytes. The results showed that dexamethasone suppressed basal re-lease of ET-1. In addition, it strongly inhibited the UVB-mediated augmentation of ET-1 production. Furthermore, lincomycin slightly enhanced the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone on ET-1 synthesis.
Cytokines ; Dexamethasone* ; Endothelin-1 ; Glucocorticoids ; Keratinocytes* ; Lincomycin

Kikuchi's disease is a self-limiting lymphadenitis, predomin;intly of young women who present with cervical lymphadenopathy. We present a case of Kikuchis disease in a 18-year-old female, representing multiple tender subcutaneous mass on her neck, left eyelid and posteriarcuricle. Histopathologically, the biopsied mass was a lymph node showing architectural effacement by necrotic focicomposed of nucear karyorrhexis and mononucl ar cell proliferation.
Adolescent ; Cell Proliferation ; Eyelids ; Female ; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Neck

No abstract available.
Castration ; Granuloma ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body

In case of submucosal tumor, adenoma and atypism, we can't frequently use the snare polypectomy for treatment of them. Adenoma and atypism are premalignant, so other therapeutic modalities are necessary for resection of them. We have perfortned endoscopic mueosectomy such as strip biopsy, and "O"ring ligation on various mucosal lesions of upper GI tract in 23 patients(11 men, l2 women) from June 1993 to December l994. Fourteen patients wbo had adenoma were followed up endoscopically for 6 months to 24 months(mean: 14 months). The results were as follows: 23 patients(27 lesions) were enrolled in this study. Mean age was 50.3(range 32-74 years). The method of mucosectomy was strip biopsy in 19 cases(21 lesions), and "O"ring ligation in 4 cases(6 lesions). The rate of complete resection was 88.9%. If adenomas were resected incompletely, we added a laser therapy. There was no recurrence except a case in which carcinoma was detected on the other site during follow-up. No serious compication occurred such as massive bleeding or perforation. Based on the above results, the endoscopic mucosectomy is considered to be a safe and effective modality in the treatment of the flat polyps of upper GI tract and could be used for prevention of gastric cancer.
Adenoma ; Biopsy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; Ligation ; Male ; Polyps ; Recurrence ; SNARE Proteins ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Upper Gastrointestinal Tract*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether polymorphisms of gene encoding CYP1B1 is associated with the risk of endometriosis in Korean women. METHODS: We investigated 199 patients with histopathologically confirmed endometriosis rAFS stage III/IV and 183 control group women who were surgically proven to have no endometriosis. The genetic distribution of four different CYP1B1 polymorphisms at G119-T, G432-C, T449-C, and A453-G were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR products. RESULTS: We found no overall association between each individual CYP1B1 genotype and the risk of endometriosis. The odds ratio of genotype GG/GC+GG/TC+TT/AA compared to GG/CC/CC/AA (reference) was calculated as 2.06 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.003~4.216. CONCLUSIONS: This results suggest that CYP1B1 genetic polymorphism may be associated with development of endometriosis in Korean women.
Endometriosis* ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally used to identify highly degraded forensic samples, particularly when the extracted DNA is not sufficient for nuclear DNA analysis. However, direct sequencing, the most widely used mtDNA analysis method, is laborious and time-consuming, and precludes the simultaneous analysis of many samples. Here, we describe a rapid and simple screening method for mtDNA analysis in Koreans using single base extension (SBE) methods. Sixteen highly polymorphic mtDNA SNPs from the control region were selected, and a multiplex SBE system was constructed to analyze them. Because the developed system consists of two duplex PCRs, which produce small amplicons with fewer than 270 bp, it works well with highly degraded samples such as old skeletal remains. Using this multiplex SBE system, 145 different haplotypes were expected to be observed from 593 unrelated Koreans. Seventy-three haplotypes were expected to be observed only once, and the most frequent haplotype was expected to occur 80 times. Since the mean number of pairwise differences was estimated to be 4.55, the developed system could be useful to exclude samples that do not match evidence and reference samples. Therefore, the multiplex SBE system used in this study will be a useful tool to analyze many samples simultaneously and to efficiently screen out non-matching mtDNA sequences in forensic casework.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; DNA ; DNA, Mitochondrial* ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Methods ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*

OBJECTIVE: The HPV vaccination target adolescents, and may be influenced by opinion of parents and other family member. For implementation of HPV vaccine, we measured knowledge of HPV infection and acceptability of vaccination among adults in Korea. METHODS: From August 2006 to November 2007, we provided a written questionnaire to females (above 19 years- olds) who visited Il-sin Christian hospital for prenatal care or gynecological examination. The questionnaire was built using elements of The Health Belief Model. We measured (1) awareness of HPV (2) perceived susceptibility (3) perceived seriousness (4) perceived benefit of vaccination (5) perceived barriers (6) cues to action. RESULTS: Total 975 females answered the questionnaire, and the mean age was 40 years. Only 23.8% knew the fact cervical cancer is related to HPV infection. 78.3% of respondents were willing to accept HPV vaccination after they understood HPV vaccination can prevent cervical cancer. Financial burden and possible side effect were barriers to vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Despite of low awareness of HPV infection, most (78.3%) adults favored having HPV vaccination. But the vaccine was more likely to be accepted if it is recommended by a physician and reasonably priced.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Cues ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Female ; Gynecological Examination ; Humans ; Korea ; Papillomavirus Infections ; Parents ; Prenatal Care ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Vaccination

Human membranous nephropathy (MN) is morphologically characterized by subepithelial immune complex deposits and progressive thickening of glomerular basement membranes (GBM). Studies have suggested that the enhanced secretion of classical and novel type IV collagen chains in MN contributes to spike formation and the novel type IV collagen chain is particularly related to thickening of GBM. It is unclear whether the increased accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in GBM is due to the increased mRNA expression for type IV collagen in glomerular visceral epithelial cells (GECs). To answer this question, we analyzed seven renal biopsies of patients with idiopathic MN using in situ hybridization. In MN, the number of GECs expressing mRNA for alpha1(IV) collagen was 2.82+/-1.80/glomerular cross section (gcs), and the number expressing mRNA for alpha4(IV) collagen was 8.42+/-2.85/gcs. The number of GECs expressing mRNA for alpha4(IV) collagen was significantly larger than that of alpha1(IV) collagen mRNA. The expression of mRNA for these ECM proteins in normal controls was negligible. These results suggest that subepithelial immune complexes stimulate the gene expression of alpha1(IV) collagen and alpha4(IV) collagen in glomerular GECs which, in turn, increase the secretion of ECM proteins and contribute to the thickening of GBM in MN.
Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Biopsy ; Collagen ; Collagen Type IV* ; Extracellular Matrix ; Gene Expression ; Glomerular Basement Membrane ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous* ; Humans* ; In Situ Hybridization ; Podocytes ; RNA, Messenger*