No abstract available.
Infertility* ; Laparoscopy*

OBJECTIVE: To investigated whether lowering oxygen tension affects invasion of cultured trophoblast. METHODS: Trophoblasts were isolated from the normal placenta in early pregnancy(6-10 weeks in gestation). Isolated trophoblasts were cultured under normoxic(5% CO2, 95% humid air in incubator) and hypoxic(MERCK, 1% O2, 99% CO2) conditions for 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively. The proliferation ability was measured using [H3] thymidine assay. Total RNA was extracted from the cultured trophoblasts. The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP-2) and tissue inhibitor of metallo- proteinase(TIMP-2) were determined by reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Northern blot analysis. The invasiveness of cultured trophoblast was observed using in vitro invasion assay. RESULTS: [H] thymidine assay indicated that cellular DNA synthesis was not affected by the culture condition. The expression of MMP-2 mRNA was decreased at 24 hours and then progressively increased in the time-dependent manner in each culture condition. The expression of TIMP-2 was decreased in the time-dependent manner under hypoxic condition. In vitro invasion assay revealed that the cultured trophoblasts under hypoxic condition has more invasive ability than them under normoxic condition. CONCLUSION: These data suggests that hypoxic condition may stimulates the invasion of trophoblast in the human placentation. And MMP-2 and TIMP-2 may be related to control their invasiveness under hypoxic condition.
Blotting, Northern ; DNA ; Humans ; Oxygen ; Placenta ; Placentation ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger ; Thymidine ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 ; Trophoblasts*

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study was performed to investigate the clinical effects of mizoribine with using methotrexate (MTX) or mizoribine alone on those patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who showed an ineffective response or intolerance to the MTX. METHODS: The patients were divided into two groups: (1) combination therapy of mizoribine with MTX and (2) mizoribine alone. All the patients took 100 mg mizoribine daily for at least 16 weeks. Before and after administration of mizoribine for 16 weeks, we assessed the clinical variables such as the visual analogue pain scale (VAS), the tender joint counts (TJC), and the swollen joint counts (SJC). At each time, the laboratory parameters including the ESR, CRP, complete blood count (CBC), liver enzymes and creatinine were also measured. Disease activity scores (by the DAS28) and the adverse effects were determined at baseline and after 16 weeks. RESULTS: Fifty patients were recruited in this study (mizoribine plus MTX group: n=35, mizoribine group: n=15). There were no significant differences in the initial laboratory values between the two treatment groups. After treatment for 16 weeks, the DAS28 was decreased significantly in the mizoribine plus MTX group (4.7+/-1.14 vs. 3.9+/-0.97, respectively, p<0.05). Yet the mizoribine alone group did not showed any significant change of the DAS28 (4.3+/-0.56 vs. 3.9+/-0.37, respectively, p=0.076). Mild gastrointestinal disturbance was the most common adverse effect. The incidence of adverse effects was similar in both treatment groups (20% vs. 27%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Mizoribine in combination with MTX was effective for RA patients who showed an ineffective response or intolerance to MTX. Furthermore, this treatment can be considered to be relatively safe.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Blood Cell Count ; Creatinine ; Humans ; Incidence ; Joints ; Liver ; Methotrexate ; Pain Measurement ; Retrospective Studies