BACKGROUND: Human high density lipoprotein (HDL) is known to stimulate endothelin-1 (ET-1) production through the phospholipase C (PLC)/Ca2+/ protein kinase C (PKC) pathway. Calcium channel blockers may be involved in the decrease of HDL- induced ET-1 production. This study was designed to evaluate whether HDL-induced ET-1 production was affected by Ca2+ channel blockers in cultured human proximal tubular cells (PTC). METHODS: The human PTC were obtained from human nephrectomized tissues, and cultured in six different media, which were bovine serum free (SF) DMEM/F12 medium alone, and five other SF DMEM/F12 media with 200 microgram/ml of HDL, with 200 microgram/ml of HDL and each 10 micrometer of diltiazem, nifedipine, and verapamil solved in 100% ethanol 0.1 volume%, and with 200 microgram/ml of HDL and 0.1 volume% of 100% ethanol as a control. After 24 hours of exposure, ET-1 in the supernatant was measured by radioimmunoassay, and ET-1 level in each well were marked as pg ET-1/mg cell protein/ 24 hr in consideration of cell count. RESULTS: In SF medium, ET-1 production was 1.803+/-0.295pg/mg cell protein/24 hr. In SF medium with 200 microgram/ml of HDL, ET-1 production significantly increased from 1.803+/-0.295 to 10.860+/-0.476 pg/mg cell protein/24 hr (P<0.05). In SF medium with 200 microgram/ml of HDL and 100% ethanol 0.1 volume%, ET-1 production significantly decreased from 10.860+/-0.476 to 6.700+/-1.273pg/mg cell protein/ 24 hr (P<0.05). In SF media with 200 microgram/ml of HDL and each 10 micrometer of diltiazem, nifedipine, and verapamil solved in 100% ethanol 0.1 volume%, ET- 1 production was decreased from 6.700+/-1.273 to 4.043+/-1.550 by diltiazem (P<0.05), to 3.260+/-0.752pg/ mg cell protein/24 hr by verapamil (P<0.05), and to 4.414+/-1.567pg/mg cell protein/24 hr by nifedipine (P=0.067). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the HDL- induced ET-1 production in cultured human PTC was significantly decreased by diltiazem and verapamil, and it seemed to be decreased by nifedipine.
Calcium Channel Blockers* ; Calcium Channels* ; Calcium* ; Cell Count ; Diltiazem ; Endothelin-1* ; Ethanol ; Humans* ; Lipoproteins ; Nifedipine ; Protein Kinase C ; Radioimmunoassay ; Type C Phospholipases ; Verapamil

The prognostic significance of morphologic parameters was evaluated in 36 cases of renal cell carcinoma diagnosed during five years(1986~1990). We reviewed and classified on the basis of pathologic stage, tumor size, histologic pattern, cell type and nuclear grade. Mean age was 51 years old. Average tumor size was 7.3 cm in diameter. Six of 35 patients died of disease. Overall mean survival was 43.3+/-7.3 months. An increasing nuclear grade was generally correlated with a decrease in cummlative survival rate. Similarly, a higher stage at the time of diagnosis could predicated a low survival rate only for high nuclear grade carcinoma. There was an apparent positive correlation between grade and age, grade and size, grade and cell type, cell type and histologic pattern as well as stage and age. This positive correlations are in part a function of nuclear grade; only 20% of grade 3 & 4 tumor consisted of clear cells whereass 71% of grade 1 & 2 consisted of clear cell type. All 6 cases of granular cell types and 50% of mixed cell type were grade 3 & 4. The tumor size of the primary was well correlated with the nuclear grade. Nuclear grade was the most significant factor among the morphologic parameters studied.

To investigate the mechanism of crescent formation, sequential pathologic changes from the New Zealand White rabbits with anti-GBM antibody induced GN by administration of guinea pig anti-GBM IgG were studied by light (LM), immunofluorescent (IF) and electron (EM) microscopy. Although no glomerular changes were observed in LM, swelling of the endothelial cells and the epithelial cells were noted in EM by day 2. By day 7, early and cellular crescents were evident. Proteinaceous materials and fibrins were noted in the glomerular capillary lumina (GCL) and Bowman's space (BS) associated with segmental hypercellularity. The GBM damage became progressively severe, followed by focal detachment of the visceral epithelial cells from the GBM. At day 14, fibrin strands, mononuclear cells and collagen fibrils were present between the proliferating extracapillary cells. At day 31, fibrocellular crescents were predominated. Elongated spindle cells, morphologically resembling myofibroblasts, were noted near the Bowman's capsule (BC). A degree of tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and inflammatory infiltrates increased as it did with fibrous organization of crescent. Intense linear IF staining for IgG and C3 were seen throughout the experiments along the GBM. In conclusion, the progression of crescent from an early "proteinaceous" stage through cellular, fibrocellular and fibrous stages was well documented in this study. Inflammatory cells and coagulation mechanism may activate the initiation of the GBM damage at the early stage. Activated periglomerular mononuclear cells may also cause disruption of BC which facilitates entry of activated periglomerular cells and fibroblasts into BS leading to progressive fibrous crescent formation.
Animals ; Atrophy ; Bowman Capsule ; Capillaries ; Collagen ; Endothelial Cells ; Epithelial Cells ; Fibrin ; Fibroblasts ; Fibrosis ; Glomerulonephritis ; Guinea Pigs ; Immunoglobulin G ; Microscopy ; Myofibroblasts ; Rabbits*

No abstract available.
Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Ki-1 monoclonal antibody is a well known marker for Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin's disease, but also occasionally reacts with activated lymphoid cells of either benign or malignant nature. Recently, Ki-1 antibody positive Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, usually of large cell and/or polymorphous type, has been reported in the lymph nodes, skin, soft tissue, and stomach, but not in the bone. We report a case of multifocal primary bone lymphoma in a seven-year old body involving the left shoulder and right frontal bone, which proved to be a large cell, polymorphous lymphoma, helper T-cell type expressing Ki-1 antigen.
Child ; Male ; Female ; Humans

Cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis is a rescently described histiocytic disorder. It is characterized by the presence of fever, pancytopenia, and subcutaneous nodules resulting from the infiltration of lympho-histiocytes in the dermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue. The characteristic findings is presence of bean-bag histiocytes containing phagocytized red blood cells, lymphocytes, and platelets. We experienced two cases of cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis with hard and erythematous subcutaneous nodules. These skin lesions exhibited infiltration of the subcutaneous tissue by large, benign histiocytes with cytophagic features. Hemophagocytic histiocytes were observed in the cervical lymph node in case 1, and bone marrow in case 2. One patient is alive, while the other one died with hemorrhagic complications.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and the relationships among PMS, perfection, and anxiety in nursing college students and general college students. METHODS: The questionnaire survey was carried out with a convenience sample of 215 college students. The MDQ (Menstrual Distress Questionnaire), APS-R (Almost Perfect Scale-Revised), STAI (State and Trait Anxiety Inventory) were used. The data were collected from June to October, 2011. Data analysis included frequency, chi2-test, t-test, and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: There were significant differences in PMS and perfection but there not in anxiety between nursing college students and general college students. There were significant correlations among PMS, perfection and anxiety in nursing college students, and there were significant correlations among PMS and anxiety in general college students but not significant correlations among PMS and perfection. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that to provide effective interventions for PMS in college students, it is necessary to design nursing interventions that consider perfection and anxiety.
Anxiety* ; Female ; Humans ; Menstruation ; Nursing ; Premenstrual Syndrome* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Statistics as Topic

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop web-based self-nutrition management u-Health program for diabetic patients (DMDMG: Diabetes Mellitus Dietary Management Guide) for achieving systematic self-management of diet. METHODS: The program consisted of five parts with different contents according to the results of needs assessment. Five major parts were 1) meal management part which contains calorie prescription, meals recording and dietary assessment, 2) prevention of disease part with information of diabetes and assessment of dietary behavior, 3) dietary behavior modification part with an education on dietary behavior modification plan and dietary behavior plan, 4) meal plan containing a training section for meal plan and self constructing part for meal planning by making tables, and 5) information about myself which composed with general and physical information. The system proposed in this study provides nutrients intake results right after input of diet intake, which is possible with simultaneous calculation of input data in the server with 3,495 food and 1,821 meal data base. The nutrients analysis program was evaluated with 26 diabetic patients with two-day 24 hr recall. RESULTS: The differences of nutrients intakes between DMDMG and CANPRO 3.0 ranged from 13.5-16.5%, which was caused by the differences of databases of the two programs. The characteristics of DMDMG were; 1) it can provide an interactive tailored nutrition management, 2) it is a practical tool of diabetes nutritional management, 3) the program gives motivation for the dietary behavior modification. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of whole program needs to be conducted, but the program was an innovative tool for self-management of nutrient intakes, diet behaviors, meal management and tailored nutrition education.
Behavior Therapy ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Education ; Humans ; Meals ; Motivation ; Needs Assessment ; Prescriptions ; Self Care

Both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pulmonary involvement of collagen vascular disease(CVD) are well known cause of diffuse interstitial lung disease which lead to fibrosis and honeycombing. We analyzed HRCT findings of 33 patients with IPF and 14 patients with CVD in terms of predominant pattern, site of involvement, mediastinal lymph node enlargement, pleural change and pulmonary volume loss. Criteria of mediastinal lymph node enlargement and pleural thickening were 15mm in long diameter and 3mm, respectively. Volume loss of the lung was measured by using hilar height ratio (apex to hilum/hilum to diaphragmatic dome). Mean age was 61 years for IPF and 46 years for CVD and male: female ratio was 27:6, 4:10, respectively. Predominant HRCT pattern was honeycombing for IPF (63%), and ground-glass opacity for CVD (66%) (p=0.001). Predominantly, subpleural involvement was seen in 90% for IPF and 74% for CVD. Mediastinal lymph node enlargement was seen in 47% of the patient with IPF and 14% with CVD (p=0.004). pleural thickening was seen in 97% of the patients with IPF and 42% with CVD (P=0.002), Pleural effusion was seen in 10% of the patients with IPF and 36% with CVD (P=0.009). Hilar height ratio of more than 1.5 was seen in 84% of the patients with IPF and 29% with CVD. In conclusion, our study shows that patients with IPF are prone to have more progressed stage of pulmonary fibrosis than the patients with CVD on HRCT.
Collagen* ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis* ; Lung ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Pleural Effusion ; Pulmonary Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: To report the radiological and clinical outcomes of internal fixation using distal clavicle hook plates for distal clavicle fractures. METHODS: From April 2008 to December 2012, 32 patients with distal clavicle fractures underwent surgery using an AO hook plate. The reduction was qualified and evaluated according to the radiological findings. The evaluation of the clinical outcomes was performed with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) score, the Korean Shoulder score, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score. RESULTS: By radiological evaluation, we found that 31 of 32 patients showed anatomical reduction and solid bone union. Although we obtained satisfactory UCLA scores, Korean Shoulder Scale scores, and VAS pain scores, 12 cases of complications were present. We found 4 cases of osteolysis of the acromion, 1 case of nonunion, 3 cases of periprosthetic fractures, 3 cases of subacromial pain, and 1 case of skin irritation. We performed re-operations in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: To avoid complications associated with clavicle hook plates, choosing the appropriate hook size and bending of the hook according to the slope of the acromion undersurface is critical. Also, we believe that early removal of clavicle plates may help reduce complications.
Acromion ; California ; Clavicle* ; Humans ; Osteolysis ; Periprosthetic Fractures ; Shoulder ; Skin