OBJECTIVE: Melatonin, which is secreted by pineal gland play an important role in the regulation of ovarian function via seasonal rhythm and sleep in most mammals. It also has a role in the protection of cells by removing toxic oxygen free radicals brought about by metabolism. In the present study, effects of melatonin on the mouse oocyte maturation were examined using two different culture conditions provided with 5% or 21% oxygen concentration. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Immature mouse oocytes were obtained from the ovarian follicles of 3~4 weeks old ICR strain mice intraperitoneally injected with 5 I.U. PMSG 44 hour before. Under stereomicroscope, morphologically healthy oocytes with distinct germinal vesicle (GV) were liberated from the graafian follicles and collected using mouth-controlled micropipette. They were then cultured for 17 hour at 37degrees C, 5% CO2 and 21% O2 (95% air) or 5% CO2, 5% O2 and 90% N2. New modified Hank's balanced salt solution (New MHBS) was used as a culture medium throughout the experiments. Effects of melatonin were examined at a concentration of 0.0001 micrometer, 0.01 micrometer or 1.0 micrometer. For the prevention of spontaneous maturation of immature oocytes during culture, dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) and/or hypoxanthine were included in the medium. RESULTS: Under 21% oxygen condition, oocytes cultured in the presence of 0.01 micrometer melatonin showed a significantly higher maturation rates, in terms of germinal vesicle breakdown (95.0% vs 89.0%) and polar body formation (88.1% vs 75.4%), compared to those cultured with 0.0001 micrometer or 1.0 micrometer melatonin. However, no difference was observed in oocytes cultured under 5% oxygen whether they were treated with melatonin or not. In the presence of 0.01 micrometer melatonin, oocytes either cultured under 21% or 5% oxygen exhibited no difference in the polar body formation (85.6% vs 86.7%). However, in the absence of melatonin, oocytes cultured under 21% oxygen exhibited lower polar body formation (74.7%). When oocytes were cultured in the presence of dbcAMP alone or with varying concentrations of melatonin, those treated with both compounds always showed better maturation, i.e., germinal vesicle breakdown and polar body formation, compared to those cultured with dbcAMP alone. At the same concentration of melatonin, however, oocytes exposed to 21% oxygen showed poor maturation than those to 5% oxygen. Similar results were obtained from the experiments using hypoxanthine instead of dbcAMP. CONCLUSION: Based upon these results, it is suggested that melatonin could enhance the meiotic maturation of mouse oocytes under 21% oxygen concentration, and release oocytes from the meiotic arrest by dbcAMP or hypoxanthine regardless of the concentration of oxygen, probably via the removal of oxygen free radicals.
Animals ; Bucladesine ; Female ; Free Radicals ; Hypoxanthine ; Mammals ; Melatonin* ; Metabolism ; Mice* ; Oocytes* ; Ovarian Follicle ; Oxygen ; Pineal Gland ; Polar Bodies ; Seasons

No abstract available.
Animals ; Mice* ; Microinjections* ; Zygote*

Vascular dementia is one of the few remediable causes of dementia among the eldery. Prevention of the disease can be best achieved by primary or secondary prevention of controllable risk factors for strokes. Therefore, early and accurate diagnosis of vascular cognitive impairment prior to the dementia stage is essential to the prevention and treatment of vascular dementia. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods for prevention of vascular dementia are listed in this article. Recent epidemiologic data, suggesting a direct correlation between vascular risk factors and Alzheimer type dementia, emphasized the importance of controlling vascular risk factors in the prevention of dementia. Treatment strategies for patients diagnosed as vascular dementia are also discussed. Several clinical trials for symptomatic improvement of vascular dementia are ongoing and their success can be a hope to patients with vascular dementia.
Alzheimer Disease ; Cognition Disorders ; Dementia ; Dementia, Vascular* ; Diagnosis ; Hope ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Secondary Prevention ; Stroke

No abstract available.
Hemiplegia* ; Humans ; Stroke ; Upper Extremity*

No abstract available.
Colon, Descending* ; Leiomyosarcoma*

BACKGROUND: Urography(IVU) is considered the best first investigation in patient with suspected urinary calculi, but recently ultrasonography(USG), combined with a plain film of the abdomen, has been suggested as an alternative. METHODS: We undertaken study to see if this approch can be used in emergency patients and outpatients by radiologists with different amounts of ultrasound experence. Some 192 patients with suspected urinary colic presenting to Koo Hospital Emergency Department and Youngnam Universith Hospital outward Department(IM, URO, FM) over 12-month period were studied. They had a plain abdominal film(KUB) and USG examination of the kidney, ureter, bladder following hydration and subsequently underwent IVU. Of these, 22 patients passed a stone before their IVU. The data analysis was performed on the remaining 170 patients. Urography was used as the gold standard. RESULTS: Some 170 patients subsequently underwent IVU at a mean interval of 1.8 days after the ultrasound examination. In 91 of 170 patients the IVU was positive. In 97 of 170 patients the combination of JUB plus USG was positive, leaving three false negative KUB plus USG. Thus the sensitivity of KUB plus USG was 97%, specificity was 89%, positive predictive value was 91%, and negative predictive value was 96%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings in this study suggest that in the hydrated patient the combination of KUB plus US is a very sensitive and relative specific screening test. Because of the high negative predictive value of KUB plus US, urography is not likely to be helpful when KUB plus US are negative. Urography is indicated only if KUB plus US findings are equivocal or if intervention is necessa.ry.
Abdomen ; Colic ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Kidney ; Mass Screening ; Outpatients ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Statistics as Topic ; Ultrasonography* ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Calculi* ; Urography*

A case of carcinoma of the parathyroid gland causing hyperparathyroidism was experienced at the department of orthopaedic surgery, C.A.F.G.H. This patient, a 23 years old male, had complained of a left shoulder pain during the past 3months. And weakness of the lower extremities causing walking disturbance, multiple bone pain, and polyuria had occurred sinoe one month before admission. Physical examination revealed a hard palpable mass in the right anterior region of the neck. Radiologic examination revealed subperiosteal bone resorption in phalanges of the hands and feet, generalized osteoporosis and cystic lesions, and pathologic fracture of the ribs, left humerus, and left femur. Laboratory studies demonstrated hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia, increased alkaline phosphatase and PTH, hypercalciuria, and hyperphophaturia. Sonogram and C-T scan of the neck revealed a mass in the right inferior portion of the thyroid. Rib biopsy revealed the findings of ostitis fibrosa cystica, and parathyroid gland and regional lymph node biopsy revealed a parathyroid carcinoma with regional lymph node metastasis.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Biopsy ; Bone Resorption ; Femur ; Foot ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Hand ; Humans ; Humerus ; Hypercalcemia ; Hypercalciuria ; Hyperparathyroidism ; Hypophosphatemia ; Lower Extremity ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteoporosis ; Parathyroid Glands ; Parathyroid Neoplasms ; Physical Examination ; Polyuria ; Ribs ; Shoulder Pain ; Thyroid Gland ; Walking

Shaken baby syndrome refers to the group of nonaccidental injuries occuring in infants and children as a consequence of violent shaking. The characteristic injuries include subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages, retinal hemorrhages, traction-typed metaphyseal fracture of long bone and fractures of the ribs. General physical findings may include bruising and burns, but sometimes no extracranial injuries are detected. Affected children are nearly always under 2 years of age or younger. Common symptoms include lethargy, irritability, seizures, increased or decreased muscle tone, poor feeding, impaired consciousness, vomiting and apnea. We experienced a case of shaken baby syndrome in a 3-month-old girl. Although the history of trauma(shaking) is little known, our findings of clinical and radiographic features corresponded to shaken baby syndrome. (J Korean Pediatr Soc 2000;43:851-855)
Apnea ; Burns ; Child ; Consciousness ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lethargy ; Muscle Hypotonia ; Retinal Hemorrhage ; Ribs ; Seizures ; Shaken Baby Syndrome* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Vomiting

Immunohistochemical analysis of 24 paraffin-embedded osteosarcomas was studied to evaluate the expression of simple cytokeratin, basal cytokeratin and epithelial membrane antigen(EMA) according to the histologic subtypes and anatomical locations. Mean age of the patients was 18 years. Anatomical locations of the tumors were femur(8), tibia(10), humerus(4), lumbar spine(1), and zygomatic arch(1). Histologic subtypes included osteoblastic(14), fibroblastic(4), chondroblastic(4), epithelioid(1), and mixed osteoblastic and fibroblastic(1). All were positive in the immunohistochemical stain for vimentin. The expression of cytokeratin and/or EMA was found in 10 cases(41.7%) regardless of anatomical locations and histologic subtypes. Positive immunoreaction for EMA was demonstrated in osteoblastic(5), chondroblastic(2), epithelioid(1), and mixed osteoblastic and fibroblastic(1) types. Osteoblastic (2), chondroblastic(2), and epithelioid(1) types among them also showed immunoreactivity with anti-simple cytokeratin monoclonal antibody, NCL-5D3. The expression of basal cytokeratin (NCL-LL002) was found in two osteoblastic, one chondroblastic, one epithelioid, and one mixed osteoblastic and fibroblastic types. These findings indicate that cytokeratin and EMA immunoreactivity can not be regarded as an absolute specific marker of the epithelial origin of tumor and may also occur in osteosarcoma.

HIV-1 tat, a strong transactivator, is essential for the HIV-1 replication and AIDS progression. The Tat function is markedly inhibited by human anti-oncogene p53. This work was initiated to identify the p53-associated inhibitory mechanism on tat-mediated transactivation. Inhibitory function of P53 was confirmed by co-transfection of tat-expressing Jurkat cells with LTR-CAT plasmid, or H3Tl cells (LTR-CAT integrated HeLa cells) with different ratio of pSV-tat/pCDNA-p53 plasmids. Results from the direct protein-protein .interaction between soluble p53 and tat, and yeast two-hybrid experiments showed that the co-suppression mechanism is unlikely to be due to the direct interaction. CAT activity was not affected by tat in Jurkat cells which were transfected with p53-promoter-CAT or p53-enhancer-CAT, suggesting that the tat-mediated p53 suppression is not directly associated with p53-promoter. Finally, we have tested protein kinase activity in p53-tranfected Jurkat cells, which might phosphorylate HIV-1 tat, resulting in inhibition of tat function. Some of our data lead us to assume that the p53-mediated tat inhibition is likely to be associated with p53-associated, signaling-mediated phosphorylation of tat, resulting in the dysfunction of tat. This study is now under investigation.
Animals ; Cats ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; HIV-1* ; Humans ; Jurkat Cells ; Phosphorylation ; Plasmids ; Protein Kinases ; RNA Interference ; Trans-Activators ; Transcriptional Activation ; Yeasts