OBJECTIVES: We examined the patterns of cell death induced by the 6-hydroxydopamine, a selective dopaminergic toxin that used to produce Parkinson's disease model. METHOD: Neocortices from 14- or 15-day-old fetal mice for neuron-glia co-cultures were used for this experiments. RESULTS: Cortical cell cultures exposed to 10-100 microM 6-hydroxydopamine for 24 hr under-went neuronal death without injuring glia. The degenerating neurons showed hallmark of apoptosis featuring cell body shrinkage, nuclear chromatin condensation and aggregation, nuclear membrane disintegration with intact plasma membrane, and prominent internucle- osomal DNA fragmentation. Neither the glutamate antagonists (10 microM MK-801 and 50 microM CNQX) nor antioxidants (trolox, 100 microM, N-acetyl-cysteine, 100 microM) prevented the 6-OHDA induced neuronal injury. The death was attenuated by addition of two different anti-apoptotic agents, 1 microgram/ml cycloheximide and caspase inhibitor (100 microM zVAD-fmk). CONCLUSION: These features suggest that 6-OHDA induced apoptotic type of neuronal death in cortical neuronal culture. Considering the protective effect of caspase inhibitors, a mechanism involving caspase cascade rather than oxidative stress is responsible for the 6-OHDA-induced neuronal apoptosis. In addition, our results showed that 6-OHDA-induced apoptosis is not confined to dopaminergic neurons and the primary cortical culture system so this system is suitable for the study of 6-OHDA-induced neuronal apoptosis.
Animals ; Antioxidants ; Apoptosis* ; Caspase Inhibitors ; Cell Culture Techniques* ; Cell Death ; Cell Membrane ; Chromatin ; Coculture Techniques ; Cycloheximide ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; DNA Fragmentation ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists ; Mice* ; Neocortex ; Neuroglia ; Neurons* ; Nuclear Envelope ; Oxidative Stress ; Oxidopamine* ; Parkinson Disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The clinical usefulness of nasogastric tube insertion in poisoning patients is controversial. This study compared the incidence of aspiration pneumonia between patients with or without nasogastric tubes. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical reports of poisoning patients seen from January 2006 to December 2007. We classified the patients into groups with and without nasogastric tube insertion and evaluated the incidence and risk factors of aspiration pneumonia. RESULTS: Ultimately, 63 patients were included. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia was higher in patients with nasogastric tube insertion than in patients without nasogastric tube insertion (conscious patients: 58.8% vs. 11.8%, p=0.010; unconscious patients: 72.2% vs. 27.3%, p=0.027). Nasogastric tube insertion was a significant risk factor for developing aspiration pneumonia (odds ratio 3.54; 95% confidence interval 1.74~12.34). CONCLUSIONS: Nasogastric tube insertion did not prevent aspiration pneumonia, but was a risk factor. The results have implications in the development of a hypothesis about why a nasogastric tube increases the risk of aspiration pneumonia. This study has important limitations stemming mostly from other compounding factors and its retrospective design.
Charcoal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Unconscious (Psychology)

We experienced a case of enteritis mimicking acute appendicitis in Dengue fever. This is the first case report of such complication in Korea. A 36-year-old man presented with fever and abdominal pain after a trip to the Philippines. He complained of severe pain on the right iliac fossa region. Complete blood cell count showed thrombocytopenia with leucopenia. Computed tomogram (CT) of abdomen and pelvis revealed a normal appendix. Dengue fever was confirmed by IgM capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against dengue virus. During the follow-up period of 4 weeks, he was recovered and platelet count gradually. We can see from this case that dengue fever may present with abdominal pain, which mimics acute appendicitis. Early recognition of dengue fever mimicking appendicitis is important to prevent unnecessary surgical intervention.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Appendicitis ; Appendix ; Blood Cell Count ; Dengue ; Dengue Virus ; Enteritis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; Korea ; Pelvis ; Philippines ; Platelet Count ; Thrombocytopenia

We experienced a case of enteritis mimicking acute appendicitis in Dengue fever. This is the first case report of such complication in Korea. A 36-year-old man presented with fever and abdominal pain after a trip to the Philippines. He complained of severe pain on the right iliac fossa region. Complete blood cell count showed thrombocytopenia with leucopenia. Computed tomogram (CT) of abdomen and pelvis revealed a normal appendix. Dengue fever was confirmed by IgM capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against dengue virus. During the follow-up period of 4 weeks, he was recovered and platelet count gradually. We can see from this case that dengue fever may present with abdominal pain, which mimics acute appendicitis. Early recognition of dengue fever mimicking appendicitis is important to prevent unnecessary surgical intervention.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Appendicitis ; Appendix ; Blood Cell Count ; Dengue ; Dengue Virus ; Enteritis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; Korea ; Pelvis ; Philippines ; Platelet Count ; Thrombocytopenia