No abstract available.
Gestational Age* ; Humans ; Infant*

BACKGROUND: Regular blood donation can lead to iron deficiency. Serum ferritin is sensitive indicator of body iron depletion. The aim of this study is to evaluate serum ferritin reagents using the turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) and to establish a reference range in first time blood donors in Korea. METHODS: The study was prospectively conducted, between Feb. 2011 and Apr. 2011, on 120 male and 120 female blood donors at five blood centers. Serum ferritin was determined by TIA using two brands of reagents (Beckman Coulter Inc., USA; HBi, South Korea) and two automated chemistry analyzers (AU640, Beckman Coulter Inc.; Hitachi7180, Hitachi High-Technologies Corp., Japan). Precision, linearity, limit of detection, analytical measurement range and correlation with chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) were evaluated. A reference range for serum ferritin in first time donors was established. RESULTS: The coefficients of variation of precision were less than 4%. Linearity was observed up to 312.7~450 microg/L depending on which reagent used. Both reagents had good correlation with CLIA results. Serum ferritin levels for first time donors showed left skewed distribution. The reference ranges for males and females were 34.1~385.9 microg/L and 6.8~121 microg/L using Beckman Coulter (AU) reagent, and 18.7~271.3 microg/L and 4~83.7 microg/L using HBi (AU) reagent, and 15.2~274.7 microg/L and 6~84 microg/L using HBi (Hitachi) reagent. CONCLUSION: A reference range for serum ferritin in first time donors in Korea was established using automated chemistry analyzers with inexpensive TIA reagents.
Blood Donors ; Female ; Ferritins ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Indicators and Reagents ; Iron ; Korea ; Limit of Detection ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Reference Values ; Tissue Donors

OBJECTIVE: The aim of study was to analyze obstetric and neonatal causes of Korean neonatal deaths. METHODS: The study subjects are a cohort of infants who were born during 1996 and who died before their first birthday. The data were collected through three stages of the study: the collection of existing data, a national infant mortality survey at medical facilities, and data integrating and adjusting process. The sources of existing data were health insurance data and the resident registration data. The National infant mortality survey was conducted by both 'Ministry of Health and Welfare' and 'Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs'. 3930 medical and health facilities where obstetrics services are available were surveyed during November 1998. The survey results were computerized to match data sets, and any overlap among different data sets were filtered. Causes of deaths were grouped according to the KCD (Korean Standard Classification of Diseases). Causes of neonatal death were further analyzed using composite causes combining obstetric and neonatal conditions. RESULTS: Causes of 2,433 neonatal death were known out of 2,856 deaths. "Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period" comprised 77.1% of neonatal death, being the most common cause. The next common cause was 'congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities', constituting 15.7% of neonatal death. Among the 'certain conditions originating in the perinatal period', 'respiratory distress of newborn' constituted 17.1% of neonatal deaths and 'disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight', constituted 15.6% of neonatal deaths. Neonatal sepsis constituted 14.8% of neonatal death. Among congenital malformations 'congenital malformation of the heart' was most common, constituting 6.2% of neonatal death. 'Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period' was more important cause of preterm neonatal death. Of the related maternal condition, idiopathic preterm birth, multifetal pregnancy, premature rupture of the membranes and hypertensive diseases during pregnancy were common conditions. Congenital malformation was the most important cause of term neonatal death. CONCLUSION: Prematurity-related condition was more important cause of preterm neonatal death while congenital malformation was the most important cause of term neonatal death.
Cause of Death ; Classification ; Cohort Studies ; Dataset ; Gestational Age ; Health Facilities ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Mortality ; Insurance, Health ; Membranes ; Obstetrics ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Rupture ; Sepsis

No abstract available.
Abortion, Spontaneous* ; Chorion* ; Chorionic Villi* ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a worldwide health-care burden. Prevalence rates vary and the distribution of genotypes depends on geographical location. Here, the recent prevalence of HCV infections and distribution of HCV genotypes among Korean blood donors were studied. METHODS: Between February 2005 and December 2009, a total of 11,064,532 donors were screened for anti-HCV and 11,412,690 donors were screened for HCV RNA. HCV genotyping was conducted for 748 blood donors with HCV RNA by using the line probe assay (VERSANT HCV Genotype 2.0 Assay, Bayer Healthcare, USA) after amplification of the 5'-untranslated and core regions of the genome. RESULTS: The anti-HCV prevalence was 0.16% (17,250/11,064,532). HCV RNA was detected in 959 out of the 11,412,690 donors (8.4/100,000). HCV RNA was more prevalent among women, donors who resided at harbor sites, and first-time donors. In addition, the prevalence of HCV RNA increased with age. The genotypes of 740 out of the 748 tested donors (98.9%) were identified. HCV genotype 1b (47.7%) and 2a/2c (35.0%) were dominant. Genotypes 2 (7.6%), 2b (2.3%), 3a (1.6%), 1a (1.3%), 1 (0.9%), 2v (0.5%), 1v (0.1%), and 3 (0.1%) were also identified. Genotype 4a/4c/4d (0.1%) was detected for the first time in one Korean blood donor. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of HCV genotypes in Korea has not changed remarkably, with the exception of genotype 4a/4c/4d. A periodic study to monitor the prevalence of HCV infections and the distribution of HCV genotypes is required to identify emerging genotypes in Korea.
5' Untranslated Regions ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Donors ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Hepatitis C/*epidemiology/virology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Viral/analysis ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: We investigated whether psychological factors could influence on the symptoms of chronic prostatitis based on general population that have not previously been examined or treated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August and November 2000, we randomly selected 100 male residents in the area of Chung-nam including Daejoen city. The participants completed self- administered questionnaires. Based on our inclusion criteria, 87 participants were included in this study. RESULTS: Scores of Beck Depression Inventory of participants with higher pain and urinary symptoms domain scores were significantly higher than those with lower pain and urinary symptoms domain scores of the National Institutes of Health-chronic prostatitis symptom index (p=0.001 and p=0.028, respectively). However, anxiety did not influence on the symptoms of chronic prostatitis based on the results of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Based on the results of Bem Sex Role Inventory, masculinity score of participants with higher urinary symptoms domain scores were significantly lower than those with lower urinary symptoms domain scores (p=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that psychological problems may involve in an early stage of chronic prostatitis and have a causative role in chronic prostatitis.
Academies and Institutes ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Gender Identity ; Humans ; Male ; Masculinity ; Prostatitis* ; Psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The mature cystic teratoma is the most common ovarian neoplasm arising in young women and comprises approximately 10-20% of all ovarian tumors. But malignant transformation is an uncommon complication in a mature cystic teratoma(dermoid cyst) of ovary, usually being reported in about 2% of cases. Among those rare tumors with malignant change in a mature cystic teratoma, 80% are squamous cell carcinoma, 7-8% are sarcomas of various types, 6-7% are adenocarcinoma, and the remainder include thyroid carcinomas, carcinoids, and melanomas, and choriocarcinomas, and mixed malignancies. We experienced a case of adenocarcinoma arising in mature cystic teratoma of the ovary and report this case with a brief review of literatures.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Carcinoid Tumor ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Choriocarcinoma ; Female ; Humans ; Melanoma ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Ovary* ; Pregnancy ; Sarcoma ; Teratoma* ; Thyroid Neoplasms

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Many molecular diagnostic methods have been developed to detect sexually transmitted infections (STI). The STDetect Chip (LabGenomics, Korea) which is a DNA microarray-based tool, newly developed for STI diagnosis in vitro, and the real-time PCR-based Anyplex STI-7 (Seegene, Korea) in clinical use were evaluated using ATCC DNA and clinical samples to determine the clinical usefulness of the STDetect Chip. METHODS: The two methods were compared for consistency, sensitivity, and specificity for 6 pathogens in 300 prospectively selected clinical samples. Analytical sensitivity for ATCC Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Trichomonas vaginalis DNA and the effect of mixing bacterial DNA were studied. RESULTS: The consistency of the two methods for clinical samples was superior at more than 0.92 kappa value. The sensitivity and specificity of the STDetect Chip compared with Anyplex STI-7 were 90.5-98.8%, and 95.6-99.6%, respectively. With similar analytical performance for ATCC DNA, the STDetect Chip detected 10(-5) ng/µL of N. gonorrhoeae, 10(-4) ng/µL of C. trachomatis, 10(-6) ng/µL of M. hominis, and 10(-3) ng/µL of T. vaginalis. For the mixture of three bacterial DNAs, less sensitive detection level was observed for T. vaginalis. CONCLUSIONS: The STDetect Chip showed good agreement with the Anyplex STI-7 test and it is considered clinically useful for detecting sexually transmitted pathogens.
Chlamydia trachomatis ; Diagnosis* ; DNA* ; DNA, Bacterial ; In Vitro Techniques ; Mycoplasma hominis ; Neisseria gonorrhoeae ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Pathology, Molecular ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases* ; Trichomonas vaginalis

OBJECTIVE: Bacteroides fragilis is the most frequently isolated anaerobes in tissue of intraabdominal infection, particularly in intraabdominal sepsis or abscess. In acute experimental model with an intraabdominal infection, the response to B. fragilis is characterized by infiltration of neutrophils and monocytes. To understand the pathogenesis of B. fragilis infection, it is important to explore the mechanism for inflammatory signals such as chemokines induced by this bacteria. The goal of this study was to determine whether peritoneal monocytes or fibroblasts surrounding with intraabdominal abscess induced by B. fragilis could express chemokines such as monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) or macrophage inflammatory protein-1a (MIP-1a). METHODS: 1) After C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with abscess-inducing agents containing B. fragilis, RNA was extracted from the intraperitoneal tissues of the mice using Ottawa sand and the guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform method in 3 days later. 2) After C57BL/6 mouse peritoneal monocytes were infected with B. fragilis for 1, 4 and 9 hours, cellular RNA was extracted from the cells. 3) Fibroblasts isolated from intraabdominal abscess nodules induced by B. fragilis infection were growth in tissue culture for 3 to 4 weeks. After the fibroblasts were stimulated with IL-1alpha (0.1-10 ng/ml) or TNFalpha (0.1-10 ng/ml) for 24 hours, total cellular RNA was extracted. MCP-1 or MIP-1alpha mRNA expression was assessed using RTPCR. MCP-1 or MIP-1alpha proteins in cluture supernatants or tissue extracts were also measured by ELISA. RESULTS: 1) MCP-1 or MIP-1alpha mRNA was highly expressed in peritoneal tissue of C57BL/6 mice bearing with intraabdominal abscess induced by B. fragilis. 2) Expression of MCP-1 mRNA increased at 9 hours in mouse peritoneal monocytes infected with B. fragilis. MIP-1alpha mRNA was initially expressed and perisisted in the monocytes infected with B. fragilis for 9 hours. MCP-1 or MIP-1alpha proteins was also parallel to the expression of those chemokines. 3) The fibroblasts isolated from intraabdominal abscess nodules by B. fragilis infection constitutively expressed MCP-1, MIP-1alpha, production in the fibroblasts was significantly upregulated in response to proinflammatory cytokines produced in the monocytes, including IL-1alpha and TNFalpha, but MCP-1 production were not. The normal fibroblasts from uninfected mice didnot show significant production of MCP-1 or MIP-1a in response to IL-1a or TNFalpha. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that peritoneal monocytes and fibroblasts surrounding with abscesses induced by B. fragilis produce MCP-1 or MIP-1a. Furthermore, it could be extrapolated that those effects may play a role in the formation of intraabdominal abscess nodules.
Abscess* ; Animals ; Bacteria ; Bacteroides fragilis* ; Bacteroides* ; Chemokine CCL2* ; Chemokine CCL3 ; Chemokines ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fibroblasts ; Guanidine ; Intraabdominal Infections ; Macrophages* ; Mice ; Models, Theoretical ; Monocytes* ; Neutrophils ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger ; Sepsis ; Silicon Dioxide ; Tissue Extracts ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha