The bone is the dynamic living tissue which is always maintained bone mineral content by bone resorption and formation. It has been well known that the bone mineral content is decreased very slowly with aging. It is very difficult to diagnose the osteopenia because it is almost subclinical. Another important problem in the osteopenia is the fracture occurring spontaneously. The quantitative method of bone mineral mass provide an information to diagnose the osteopenia and predict the risk of spontaneous fracture. Various methods have been used to access the degree of bone atrophy but have not been routinely available for clinical application in the hospital. The microdensitometric method is a noninvasive, easy, accurate, and objective one to monitor the degree of changes in the skeletal mass quantitatively. So, we measured the 7 indices at the middle site of the 2nd metacarpal bone with a microdensitometer and computer on an X-ray film of the hands and studied the correlations between the age and indices of those under 30 and over 30 yrs old in healthy and fracture groups. The results were obtained as follows : 1. There was a significant high correlation between age and indices in healthy and fracture groups. 2. The measurement of age by microdensitometric method was highly correlated with the chronological age. 3. Comparing both groups, There was a significant correlation of D (P<0.001), MCI(P<0.01), and d (P<0.01) over 30 yrs in male and GSmin (P<0.001) and ΣGS/D (P<0.01) over 30 yrs in female. 4. In fracture group, 1) The index of bone width(D) was slightly larger than in the healthy group. 2) The metacarpal index(MCI) was lower than in the healthy group. 3) The index of medulla width(d) was wider than in the healthy group. 4) The density index of cortex(GSmax) was smaller than in the healthy group. 5) The density index of cortex and medulla(GSmin) was smaller than in the healthy group. 6) There was no considerable difference in ΣGS/D between healthy and fracture groups. 7) The densitometric pattern was more aggrevated than in the healthy group.
Aging ; Atrophy ; Bone Density ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Bone Resorption ; Female ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Miners ; Radiography ; X-Ray Film

It has been known that the interconnection between the gervous, endocrine and immune system are largely mediated through regulatory soluble factors such as neruopeptides, cytokines and hormones. Capsaicin, the pungent principle of hot peppers, is a neurotoxin that affects primary sensory neurons of the C and A-b type and depletes primary sensory neurons (polymodal nociceptors) of neuropeptides like tachykinin. In this study capsaicin was used to explore the possible role of the neruons on the expression of cellular and humoral immune responses and TNF-a prodcution. Mice were pretreated with s.c. injections in the neck region with a single dose of 100 u,g of capsaicin per mouse before immunization. ...continue...
Anaphylaxis* ; Animals ; Capsaicin* ; Carcinogenesis* ; Cytokines ; Immune System ; Immunity, Humoral ; Immunization ; Mice* ; Neck ; Neuropeptides ; Sensory Receptor Cells ; Tachykinins

No abstract available.
Asthma*

BACKGROUND: The skin prick test and in vitro allergen-specific IgE assays are commonly used to diagnose atopic diseases. However, there is still a need for comparison of their diagnostic efficiency. Objective and METHOD: To evaluate their clinical efficiency, the results of UniCAP and multiple antigen simultaneous test (MAST) were compared with skin prick test results. After 51 allergic patients completed skin prick test (SPT), serum sample was collected and UniCAP and MAST were performed to determine specific IgE to house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus : Dp and D. farinae. Df). Result : When SPT was used as a reference standard, UniCAP depicted higher sensitivity of 88.8% to Dp IgE and 91.4% to Df - IgE, but lower specificity of 73.3% to Dp IgE and 75.0% to Df - IgE. However, MAST had lower sensitivity of 75.1% to Dp-IgE and 71.4% to Df - IgE, higher specificity of 93.3% to Dp-IgE and 93.7% to Df - IgE. The values of UniCAP and MAST were significantly correlated with the reactivity grade of skin prick test, respectively. Additionally, the response of SPT was not apparently associated with ECP levels. CONCLUSION: These study results may suggest that both UniCAP and MAST are generally feasible for measuring house dust mite - specific IgE and that they are both replicable.
Dust* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Pyroglyphidae* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin*

Bacteriological index(BI) was calculated by slit-skin smears taken from the earlobe and the dorsal surfaces of the proximal phalanges of the index finger and of the great toe in 110 lepromatous leprosy patients who have been treated regularly by antileprosy chemotherapy. The bacteriaI indices from the three sites were compared, and the results were as follows. 1) Sixteen patients whose BI of the earlobe smear was 4. 0 in average shawed the highest degree of positivity of M. leprae in the smears taken from the finger and the great toe. 2) ln seventy-four patients whose BI of the earlobe smear was l. 0 or higher, eight (10.8%) showed higher BI in smears taken from both the finger and the great toe, fifteen (20. 3%) and twenty-seven(36. 5%) showed approximately the same BI in smears taken from the finger and the great toe, respectively, 3) In thirty-six patients whose BI of the earlobe smear was negative, twelve (33. 3%) showed higher BI in smears taken from both the finger and the great toe. 4) The mean value of BI of the three sites was 3.7 in the earlobe, 3. 2 in the finger and 3. 0 in the great toe. Comparing the BI of the three sites, the finger and the great toe were found to have comparable BI with the earlobe, although the BI of the earlobe was highest. The authors concluded that it was quite reasonable to include the finger and the great toe in slit-skin smears for M. leprae identification, particularly when the BI of the earlobe was negative. A follow-up investigation seems mandatory.
Drug Therapy ; Fingers* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leprosy, Lepromatous ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; Skin* ; Toes*

The eye is a common target organ of the allergy, and allergic conjunctivitis is the most common of eye diseases. Clinical manifestations of allergic conjunctivitis are acute bilateral red, itchy, and watery eyes. The presence of conjuncitival eosinophilia may be consided to be a diagnostic indicator of allergic conjunctivitis. ECP is a quantifiable toxic product secreted by activated cosinc phils. VCAM-1 promotes adhesion of leukocytes to endothelium in vitro and may promote imflammation in vivo. The objective of this study is to measure eosinophil count, ECP and sVCAM-1 levels of tears and sera in patients with acute allergic conjunctivitis and normal subjects and to assess the correlation of these mediators with the severity of the disease and the clinical usefulness. Seventeen subjects were selected on the basis of clinical manifestations, history, skin prick test, total IgE. A microcapillary tube was used to collect the tears from the inner canthus, conjunctival epithelia were obtained for eosinophil count by scraping the upper tarsal conjunctiva. The level of ECP was measured by CAP system (Kabi-Pharmacia, Sweden), sVCAM-1 was measured by ELISA (R&D, USA). Serum IgE and eosinophil count were in creased in 10 patients, allergic skin prick test were positive in 11 subjects (D.p: 9, D.f: 8), eosinophilia in conjunctival epithelium were present in 11 subjects (4 patients: > 3/HPF, 7 patients: 1-3/HPF). ECP in tears were increased in patients significantly (12.0+8.0 vs 3.9+3.8 ng/ml, p=0.01), but not in serum (52.5+43.1 vs 28.3+25.9 ng/ml). There is no significant correlation between eosinophil count and ECP in serum and tears (p>0.05, r-=0.19). Serum sVCA-M-1 level is significant different between patients and controls (1916.5+756.0 vs 1147.2+146.1 micro gram/ml, p=0.01), sVCAM-1 is significantly correlated to eosinophil count (p=0.01, r=0.56) and ECP (p<0.05, r=0.65). In conclusion, eosinophil and ECP in tears may be very important role in allergic conjunctivitis and are useful indicators of the disease. The elevation of sVCAM-1 in serum may be interpreted simply as marker of the presence of non-specific inflammation.
Cell Adhesion* ; Child* ; Conjunctiva ; Conjunctivitis, Allergic* ; Endothelium ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Epithelium ; Eye Diseases ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Leukocytes ; Skin ; Tears* ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cyclophosphamide* ; Food Deprivation* ; Mice*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cyclophosphamide* ; Food Deprivation* ; Mice*

A 23-year-old woman had solar urticaria that was activated by visible light and UVA, but the intensity of the urticarial reaction of visible light was more pronounced than that of UVA. The results of passive and reverse passive transfer studies were negative, We report a case of solar urticaria which is characterized by overlapping features of 60th type Il and Il[ in the classification of Harber.
Classification ; Female ; Humans ; Light ; Urticaria* ; Young Adult

No abstract available.