PURPOSE: To evaluate leptin values in placental cord blood of newborns with normal intruterine growth after 30 weeks of gestation and to study the relationship of leptin with gestational age, birth size, ponderal index, BMI, placental weight, gender difference, Insulin-like Growth Factor-I(IGF-I) and Insulin-like Growth Factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3). METHODS: Ninety healthy newborns(49 males and 41 females) with normal intrauterine growth were studied. They were classified into 4 groups according to the gestational age(GA):group I(30-33 weeks GA, n=17), group II(34-36 weeks GA, n= 24), group III(37-39 weeks GA, n=32) and group IV(40-42 weeks GA, n=17). At the time of delivery, newborn infant' weight, length, head circumference and placental weight were measured and BMI, ponderal index were calculated. A venous cord blood sample was collected at the time of delivery and serum leptin(RIA), IGF-I (IRMA) and IGFBP-3(IRMA) were measured. RESULTS: Cord blood leptin correlated positively with gestational age(r=0.730, P>0.01), body weight(r=0.686, P<0.01), length(r=0.419, P<0.01), head circumference(r= 0.498, P<0.01), BMI(r=0.750, P<0.01), ponderal index(r=0.704, P<0.01), placental weight(r=0.536, P<0.01), IGF-I(r=307, P<0.01) and IGFBP-3(r=0.736, P<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis showed BMI, IGFBP-3 and sex(female) were independent predictors of leptin values. Leptin values increased progressively throughout gestation. Mean leptin values of group II(3.90+/-.28ng/mL) were significantly higher (P<0.01) than those of group I(1.92+/-.09ng/mL) and also values of group III(5.37+/-.52ng/mL) were higher than those of group II(P<0.05). But there was no significant difference between group III and group IV(6.45+/-.36ng/mL). Mean leptin values in females(5.07+/-.54ng/mL, n=41) were significantly higher than in males(4.07+/-.76 ng/mL, n=49) but there was no inter-gender difference in body weight, BMI, ponderal index, IGF-I, IGFBP-3. In addition, mean leptin values in females(7.45+/-.07 ng/mL) were significantly higher than in males(5.02+/-.09ng/mL) after 40 weeks of gestation. CONCLUSION: BMI, IGFBP-3 and sex(female) were independent predictors of leptin values. Leptin values increased significantly after 34 weeks of gestation and females had higher leptin values than males, especially in fullterm newborns. Leptin values in newborns had higher correlations with IGFBP-3 than with IGF-I as gestational age increased.
Body Weight ; Female ; Fetal Blood* ; Gestational Age ; Head ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Leptin* ; Linear Models ; Male ; Parturition ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.
DNA*

Varicella during pregnancy is a threat to both mother and fetus because of disseminated infection, varicella pneumonia and meningitis etc. And about 10% of babies acquire intrauterine infection, as indicated by the congenital varicella syndrome, neonatal varicella or zoster during infancy. We report a case of varicella in a 30-year-old, 39 weeks and 3 days' gestational age, full-term pregnant woman presented with generalized erythematous papules, vesicles, pustules and umbilicated pustules on the whole body. She was ordered absolute bed rest for delaying the delivery and treated with acyclovir and varicella-zoster immune globulin. However, she delivered a healthy baby which weighed 3,350 gm the next early morning. In our investigation of cord blood after delivery, varicella-zoster IgG and IgM by ELIZA method were negative and varicella-zoster virus DNA by polymerase chain reaction was also negative. The newborn revealed no clinical evidence of skin lesions and anomalies of varicella. So we supposed there was no intrauterine varicella infection.
Acyclovir ; Adult ; Bed Rest ; Chickenpox* ; DNA ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Fetus ; Gestational Age ; Herpes Zoster ; Herpesvirus 3, Human ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Infant, Newborn ; Meningitis ; Mothers ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women* ; Skin

No abstract available.
Humans ; Liver Function Tests* ; Liver*

Primary tumors of the adrenal cortex are comparatively rare. In the medical literature they are most frequently reported as single case. Because of their infrequent occurence some features of their clinical behavior and pathologic anatomy are not widely known. For this reason the recording of the 7 cases from the Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University is thought to be worth while. Of the seven tumors, five were associated with primary aldosteronism, one Cushing's syndrome, and the remaing one virilizing syndrome. All were benign. Females were affected more frequently than males. Adrenocortical adenomas tend to be small, weighing less than 42 gm. The tumors associated with primary aldosteronism were composed of zona fasciculata-like cells and "hybrid" cells. The tumor with Cushing's syndrome consisted of zona reticularis-like cells. The tumor with virilizing syndrome consisted of zone reticularis-like cells.
Female ; Humans ; Adenoma

This study was conducted to set up a common mechanism for varying phases of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(FSGS) by comparing the morphological differences between human FSGS and changes in 5/6 renal ablation animal model, which has been accepted as experimental prototype for hyperfiltration theory as pathogenesis of FSGS. Both the human and the experimental rats showed very similar changes such as segmental glomerulosclerosis, vacuole formations or inclusion of small granules of podocytes, appearance of foamy cells in the capillary lumina, eosinophilic deposits along the mesangial area, and focal atrophy of tubules with associated interstitial fibrosis. The halo, frequently seen in human FSGS, is due to detachment of visceral epithelium from basement membrane, however, did not appear in the experimental rat specimen. On the other hand, the foamy cells and hyalinization were more frequently noted in the rat series and even involved the arterioles. The mesangial proliferation never appeared in the rat series occasionally found in human FSGS. In conclusion, the pathogenesis of FSGS cannot depend solely on the hyperfiltration theory of hemodynamic derangement, but has complex impairment of visceral epithelium and cells forming the constituents of basement membrane.
Animals ; Arterioles ; Atrophy ; Basement Membrane ; Biopsy ; Capillaries ; Eosinophils ; Epithelium ; Fibrosis ; Hand ; Hemodynamics ; Humans* ; Hyalin ; Models, Animal* ; Nephrectomy* ; Podocytes ; Rats* ; Vacuoles

This study was conducted to set up a common mechanism for varying phases of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(FSGS) by comparing the morphological differences between human FSGS and changes in 5/6 renal ablation animal model, which has been accepted as experimental prototype for hyperfiltration theory as pathogenesis of FSGS. Both the human and the experimental rats showed very similar changes such as segmental glomerulosclerosis, vacuole formations or inclusion of small granules of podocytes, appearance of foamy cells in the capillary lumina, eosinophilic deposits along the mesangial area, and focal atrophy of tubules with associated interstitial fibrosis. The halo, frequently seen in human FSGS, is due to detachment of visceral epithelium from basement membrane, however, did not appear in the experimental rat specimen. On the other hand, the foamy cells and hyalinization were more frequently noted in the rat series and even involved the arterioles. The mesangial proliferation never appeared in the rat series occasionally found in human FSGS. In conclusion, the pathogenesis of FSGS cannot depend solely on the hyperfiltration theory of hemodynamic derangement, but has complex impairment of visceral epithelium and cells forming the constituents of basement membrane.
Animals ; Arterioles ; Atrophy ; Basement Membrane ; Biopsy ; Capillaries ; Eosinophils ; Epithelium ; Fibrosis ; Hand ; Hemodynamics ; Humans* ; Hyalin ; Models, Animal* ; Nephrectomy* ; Podocytes ; Rats* ; Vacuoles

The term "pineal anlage tumor" has been recently proposed and few cases have been reported. We report the first Korean case of pineal anlage tumor in a 6-year-old girl who complained of headache and vomiting for 2 months. Brain MRI revealed a well defined, lobulated, calcifying mass in the pineal region. Tumor was totally removed. Pathological examination revealed a primitive pineal parenchymal tumor with melanotic epithelial component that was similar to histologic findings of melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy, so-called retinal anlage tumor and of the developing pineal gland. The tumor was composed mostly of small, undifferentiated cells, Flexner-Wintersteiner rosettes, and ganglionic differentiation. The tumor also contained the cartilage and skeletal muscle cells.
Brain ; Cartilage ; Child ; Female ; Ganglion Cysts ; Headache ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Neuroectodermal Tumor, Melanotic ; Pineal Gland ; Pinealoma ; Vomiting

No abstract available.

Hemangiopericytoma is a rather uncommon neoplasm composed mainly of cells derived from the vascular pericytes of Zimmermann, which are normally found in close apposition to the endothelial cells of capillaries and postcapillary venules. Authors studied a case in which primary hemangiopericytoma located in the left orbit of a 54-year-old woman. Review of the literatures about incidence, clinical symptoms, histological features and biological behavior of the orbital hemangiopericytoma was presented.
Female ; Humans ; Incidence