The infection with tapeworm of the Mesocestodes sp. has been rarely reported and only 8 cases of human infection were found in the world up to date. This is to report the first case of human infection with this tapeworm belonged to Cyclophyllidea in Korea. In January 1967, a 45 years old man visited to the out clinic of St. Mary's Hospital with the complaints of intermittent indigestion and abdominal distension nearly for 1 year. Laboratory findings appeared almost normal except increased eosinophils up to 14 per cent. The characteristic ova of Mesocestoides sp. were found by the serial stool examinations, which contained hexacanth larva inside the egg shell without operculum as in Cyclophyllidea. It was failed to reveal the scolex by the first evacuation, but one among 3 worms evacuated by the treatment with atabrine and enough purgations 2 months later, has been found the characteristic scolex. They were 85 cm to 136 cm long and the scolex had 4 distinct suckers but no rostellum, the matured proglottid had numerous testes bilaterally and ovary with yolk glands in central parts, and in the gravid proglottid spiral uterus was opened to uterine pore and characterized by the spherically distended uterine capsules. The patient had the history of ingestion of 15 snakes as raw about 1 year ago as usually seen in Japanese cases.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda-Mesocestodes sp. ; case report

This study was conducted to determine how much of a residual accommodation remained under 0.5% scopolamine and 1% cyclogyl in young Koreans ranged from 6 years to 20 years. The amount of the residual accommodation was measured by the blur point method, and the following results were obtained. 1) The average residual accommodation for 150 eyes was 0.99 D under 0.5% scopolamine and for 96 eyes was 1.53 D under 1% cyclogyl. 2) In comparing the cycloplegic agents, 0.5% scopolamine was almost parallel with 1% atropine (0.96D) and 1% cyclogyl was almost parallel with 5% homatropine (1.42 D). 3) The residual accommodation under 0.5% scopolamine and 1% cyclogyl showed a gradual decrease with increasing age as Erst reported for 1% atropine and 5% homatropine. 4) In comparing with foreign countries, the residual accommodation in Koreans was at a similar level with white people.

No abstract available.
Blood Donors* ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans

This study was conducted to determine how much of a residua1 accommodation remained one hour after three instillations of atropine or homatropine in 384 eyes of younger Koreans. The amount of residual accommodation was measured by the blur point method, and the following results were obtained. 1) The average amount of the residual accommodation was 0.96 D under l% atropine and 1.42 D under 5% homatropine. 2) In comparing the two cycloplegic agents, 1% atropine was found to be more effective than 5% homatropine. 3) Residual accommodation under l% atropine and 5% homatropine showed gradually decrease in older patients. 4) No sex difference was found.
Accommodation, Ocular/*drug effects ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Atropa belladonna/*pharmacology ; Atropine/*pharmacology ; Child ; Female ; Human ; Korea ; Male ; *Plants, Medicinal ; *Plants, Toxic

Estrogen may promote osteoblast/osteocyte viability by limiting apoptotic cell death. We hypothesize that hsp27 is an estrogen- regulated protein that can promote osteoblast viability by increasing osteoblast resistance to apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of estrogen treatment and heat shock on TNF alpha- induced apoptosis in the MC3T3-E1 cell line. Cells were treated with 0 - 100 nM 17betaestradiol (or ICI 182780) for 0 - 24 hours before heat shock. After recovery, apoptosis was induced by treatment with 0 - 10 ng/ml TNF alpha. Hsp levels were evaluated by Northern and Western analysis using hsp27, hsp47, hsp70c and hsp70i - specific reagents. Apoptosis was revealed by in situ labeling with Terminal Deoxyribonucleotide Transferase (TUNEL). A 5 - fold increase in hsp27 protein and mRNA was noted after 5 hours of treatment with 10 - 20 nM 17beta estradiol prior to heat shock. Increased abundance of hsp47, hsp70c or hsp70i was not observed. TUNEL indicated that estrogen treatment also reduced (50%) MC3T3-E1 cell susceptibility to TNF alpha-induced apoptosis. Treatment with hsp27-specific antisense oligonucleotides prevented hsp27 protein expression and abolished the protective effects of heat shock and estrogen treatment on TNF alpha-induced apoptosis. Hsp27 is a determinant of osteoblast apoptosis, and estrogen treatment increases hsp27 levels in cultured osteoblastic cells. Hsp27 contributes to the control of osteoblast apoptosis and may be manipulated by estrogenic or alternative pathways for the improvement of bone mass.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Estradiol ; Estrogens* ; Hot Temperature ; HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Indicators and Reagents ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; Osteoblasts* ; RNA, Messenger ; Shock ; Transferases ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

PURPOSE: There have been some reports on the prevalence of positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody(ANCA) in Henoch-Schonlein purpura(HSP), but the results were conflicting. We performed this study to evaluate the clinical significance of ANCA(c-ANCA and p-ANCA) in Korean children with HSP. METHODS: The medical records of 30 patients(13 boys and 17 girls) aged 6.0+/-1.9(5-12) years with a clinical diagnosis of HSP based on the EULAR/PReS criteria were reviewed retrospectively. From the years 2007 to 2008, the sera from children with acute HSP were tested for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies(ANCA). The target antigens of these autoantibodies are proteinase 3(c-ANCA) or myeloperoxidase(p-ANCA). RESULTS: Palpable purpura was seen in all 30 patients(100%), abdominal pain in 20(67%), arthralgia in 17(57%), and renal involvement in 11(37%). Laboratory findings showed leukocytosis in 4 patients(13%), thrombocytosis 18 in(60%), and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate in 18(60%). Anti-streptolysin O titers were elevated in 7% of the patients and no patient showed elevation of serum IgA level. The sera from 29 patients were negative for c-ANCA and p-ANCA by indirect immunofluorescence, but only one patient had weakly positive results, which became negative at follow-up. CONCLUSION: We conclude that c-ANCA or p-ANCA is not an important serologic marker in children with HSP, because it was neither diagnostically nor immunologically specific in children with HSP. These results suggest that ANCA are not involved in the pathogenesis of HSP in children.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; Arthralgia ; Autoantibodies ; Blood Sedimentation ; Child ; Cytoplasm ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Leukocytosis ; Medical Records ; Myeloblastin ; Peroxidase ; Prevalence ; Purpura ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombocytosis

PURPOSE: Early identification of causative agents in lower respiratory infection of pediatric patients can reduce morbidity and prevent an overuse of antimicrobials. Two kinds of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a commercial shell vial viral culture were performed to identify causative agents in pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nasopharyngeal aspirates of 220 children diagnosed with viral pneumonia were obtained. Two kinds of multiplex PCR (Seeplextrade mark RV detection kit, and Labopasstrade mark RV detection kit), and a shell vial culture by R-Mix were performed. RESULTS: Positive samples from 220 total samples by two multiplex PCRs were 52.7% and 46.4%, respectively. We also cultured 103 samples that showed positive results of the adenovirus, influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by two multiplex PCR. The RSV was most frequently detected in 53.0% (Seeplex) and 51.7% (Labopass) of patients. The detection rate of adenovirus (AdV) was 10.3% and 12.1%, influenza virus (IFV) A and B was 12.5% and 3.4%, and parainfluenza virus (PIFV) 1, 2, and 3 were 2.9% and 2.6%. Shell vial cultures showed concordant results with each multiplex PCR by 96.1% and 77.7%, respectively. Sequencing results were 90% consistent with multiplex PCR. CONCLUSION: Multiplex PCR showed more positivity than the shell vial culture and it can be an effective primary test. Other complementary efforts such as viral cultures and sequencing analysis could be considered, according to clinical and laboratory conditions.
Adenoviridae/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Orthomyxoviridae/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Pneumonia, Viral/*virology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Respirovirus/genetics/*isolation & purification

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in immune compromised patients such as those undergoing hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (HPCT) and those with HIV infections can cause severe morbidity and mortality despite treatment with appropriate antiviral agents. The recovery of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) plays an important role in the reconstitution of CMV specific immunity in immunocompromised patients. Recent studies have reported that CMV reactivation can be successfully treated by adoptive transfer of CMV-specific T cell clones from CMV seropositive donors expanded in vitro with CMV infected fibroblasts or lysates of CMV infected cells. Other studies have used immune dominant CMV proteins or peptides to expand CMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. This review describes the clinical manifestations of CMV disease in immunocompromised patients, recent advances of antiviral therapy for CMV disease, the principals of the induction of cellular immune response to CMV, and the clinical application of CMV immunotherapy.
Cytomegalovirus Infections/*immunology/*therapy ; Humans ; *Immunocompromised Host ; *Immunotherapy, Adoptive

BACKGROUND: Interpretation of indeterminate results by anti-HIV Western blot assay, which is currently used as a confirmatory test for HIV infection, can be usually difficult. We analyzed outcomes of the patients with indeterminate results by anti-HIV Western blot. METHODS: Medical records of patients, who were indeterminate by the anti-HIV Western blot assay in a university hospital during recent 5 years, were retrospectively reviewed. HIV screening test was performed by chemiluminescent immunoassay autoanalyzer (Abbot Laboratories, USA) with HIV Ag/Ab Combo kits. Confirmatory Western blot assay for the positive samples by HIV screening test was committed to the Korean National Institute of Health. RESULTS: A total of 202,639 specimens were tested for HIV screening during the period, and 644 (0.32%) sera showed positive results. Among these, 46 (7.1%) cases were indeterminate by the Western blot, which were from 20 patients, and 13 of them converted to be anti-HIV positive, and 3 were lost to follow-up. Another four patients were turned out to be negative for HIV infection, including two neonates from HIV-positive mothers receiving antiviral treatment during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the patients who showed Western blot-indeterminate results converted to HIV positive after follow-up. Thus, careful monitoring of patients with indeterminate Western blot results should be essential.
Blotting, Western ; Follow-Up Studies ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Mass Screening ; Medical Records ; Mothers ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: The extraction of nucleic acid is initially a limiting step for successful molecular-based diagnostic workup. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of three automated DNA extraction systems for clinical laboratory use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Venous blood samples from 22 healthy volunteers were analyzed using QIAamp(R) Blood Mini Kit (Qiagen), MagNA Pure LC Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit I (Roche), and Magtration-Magnazorb DNA common kit-200N (PSS). The concentration of extracted DNAs was measured by NanoDrop ND-1000 (PeqLab). Also, extracted DNAs were confirmed by applying in direct agarose gel electrophoresis and were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for human beta-globin gene. RESULTS: The corrected concentrations of extracted DNAs were 25.42 +/- 8.82 ng/microLiter (13.49-52.85 ng/microLiter) by QIAamp(R) Blood Mini Kit (Qiagen), and 22.65 +/- 14.49 ng/microLiter (19.18-93.39 ng/microLiter) by MagNA Pure LC Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit I, and 22.35 +/- 6.47 ng/microLiter (12.57-35.08 ng/microLiter) by Magtration-Magnazorb DNA common kit-200N (PSS). No statistically significant difference was noticed among the three commercial kits (p > 0.05). Only the mean value of DNA purity through PSS was slightly lower than others. All the extracted DNAs were successfully identified in direct agarose gel electrophoresis. And all the product of beta-globin gene PCR showed a reproducible pattern of bands. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of the three automated extraction systems is of an equivalent level and good enough to produce reasonable results. Each laboratory could select the automated system according to its clinical and laboratory conditions.
Automation/methods ; DNA/blood/*isolation & purification ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; *Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reproducibility of Results