This study was conducted to determine the correlation between weighted needle pinprick sensory threshold(PPT) and sensory nerve conduction tests. The subjects were 53 healthy controls, 31 diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathic symptoms(DM) and 36 diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathic symptoms(DN). PPT was measured on the index and little fingers, bilaterally, as well as under the lateral malleolus, bilaterally. In electrophysiologic assessment the left and right median, ulnar and sural nerves were studied. Each mean PPTs was high in order of controls, DM and DN. Age adjusted PPT was significantly different among three groups on right little finger(p<0.05) and left malleolus(p<(0.05), but not significantly different between DN and DM on other sites. Each sensory nerve conduction velocity and amplitude was statistically significantly different among three groups(p<0.05). Correlations of PPT with sensory nerve conduction velocity and amplitude were statistically significant on each site and ranged from -0.4203(left malleolus) to -0.5649(right index finger) and from -0.3897(left index finger) to -0.6200(right index finger), respectively. When electrophysiological study is not feasible, measurement of PPT may be helpful for the assessment of peripheral sensory neurological function.
Fingers ; Humans ; Needles* ; Neural Conduction* ; Sensory Thresholds* ; Sural Nerve

Mid-arm circumference and mid-arm circumference/head circumference ratio(MAC/HC) were measured in 207 AGA(appropriate for gestational age) infants delivered at 26 to 42 weeks of gestation from January 1990 to December 1993 in Yeungnam University Hospital, Taegu, Korea. There were linear relationships between MACs and MAC/HC ratios and gestational age(MAC : y=03181x -2.2069, r=0.81, p<0.001 ; MAC/HC ratio : y=0.049x+0.1128, r=0.62, ; < 0.001). Using standard curves of MAC and MAC/HC ratio according to the gestational age, measurement of MAC or MAC/HC ratio can be a noninvasive, simple method to evaluate the intrauterine growth of newborn infants and the nutritional status of growing premature infants.
Daegu ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Infant, Premature ; Korea ; Methods ; Nutritional Status* ; Pregnancy

Purpose: There are few reports on the therapeutic effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists in boys with central precocious puberty, and studies reported in Korea are very rare. We aimed to assess the significance of clinical factors and the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment on final adult height in boys diagnosed with central precocious puberty. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 18 boys treated for idiopathic central precocious puberty between 2007 and 2018 at Chosun University Hospital. Gestational age, birth weight, and parental height were assessed at the initial visit. Chronological age, bone age, bone age/chronological age ratio, height and height standard deviation scores, predicted adult height, body mass index, and hormone levels were assessed during the treatment period. Results: At the time of diagnosis, the chronological age was 9.9±0.6 years, the bone age was 11.6±1.0 years, and the bone age/chronological age ratio was 1.20±0.1. The bone age/chronological age ratio decreased significantly to 1.12±0.1 at the end of treatment (P<0.05). The luteinizing hormone/follicular stimulating hormone ratios were 3.4±1.2, 0.6±0.4, and 0.6±1.0 at the start of treatment, after 1 year of treatment, and at the end of treatment, respectively. After gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment, the final adult height reached 172.0±4.8 cm compared to the target height range of 171.0±4.0 cm. Conclusion In boys with central precocious puberty, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment improved growth potential.

Purpose: The clinical significance of birth weight relative to gestational age in girls with central precocious puberty is unclear. This study sought to compare clinical parameters such as final adult height (FAH) and menarche onset after treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) on birth weight in girls with central precocious puberty treated. Methods: This retrospective study reviewed data of 69 girls with precocious puberty who had reached their FAH in a long-term trial of GnRHa treatment between January 2007 and December 2017. The subjects were divided into small for gestational age (SGA) (n=19) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) (n=50) groups. Results: When starting GnRHa treatment, bone age was 10.9±0.9 and 10.3±0.8 years in the SGA and AGA groups, respectively (P<0.05). The predicted adult height (PAH) (established according to the Bayley-Pinneau average table) and advanced PAH (established according to the Bayley-Pinneau advanced table) were 151.5±4.8 cm and 155.8±4.9 cm in the SGA group, respectively, and 153.4±5.3 cm and 159.0±6.0 cm in the AGA group. After treatment, no significant difference in bone age was found between the groups. The time to menarche after treatment was 12.5±7.6 and 21.1±12.3 months in the SGA and AGA groups, respectively (P<0.05). FAH in the SGA and AGA groups was 161.0±4.7 cm and 161.6±5.0 cm, respectively, without a significant difference. Conclusion SGA girls with precocious puberty have increased bone age and earlier menarche relative to AGA girls. However, no difference in FAH after treatment was found between these groups.

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to compare the effects of the stepwise exposure treatments on the morphological normality, fertilization and blastocyst formation rate of the frozen-thawed mouse mature oocytes by vitrification or ultra-rapid freezing and to use as a fundamental data for the cryopreservation of human oocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the vitrified and ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were observed. After choosing the 3step exposure treatment groups, we observed the morphological normality and fertilization, blastocyst formation rate vitrified and ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes. RESULTS: The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the vitrified mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were 75%, 85%, 88% and 58%, 61%, 54% respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the control was 92% and 65%. There were no significant differences in fertilization rate among control and treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rates of the ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after three-stepwise exposure treatments (1step, 3step and 5step) were 83%, 83%, 84% and 75%, 63%, 56% respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rate of the control was 95% and 67%. There were no significant differences among control and treatments (p>0.05). The morphological normality and fertilization rate of the vitrified or ultra-rapid frozen mouse mature oocytes after 3step exposure treatment were 69% and 75%, respectively. The blastocyst formation rate was 60% and 57%. The results did not differ significantly between vitrification and ultra-rapid freezing (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: As known in the above results, there were no significant differences in the fertilization and blastocyst formation rate of the frozen-thawed mouse mature oocytes by vitrification or ultra-rapid freezing among the control and treatments. It is suggested that vitrification and ultra-rapid freezing method were effective for the cryopreservation of mouse mature oocytes.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Cryopreservation ; Fertilization ; Freezing* ; Humans ; Mice* ; Oocytes* ; Vitrification*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze life respect-related content in the 7th to 10th grade textbooks of middle and high schools. METHODS: Sixty two textbooks adopted as middle and high school textbooks were analyzed for content on life respect. RESULTS: There were 6 categories related to life respect content in the 7th to 9th grade textbooks ('prevention of accidents and the first-aid', 'mental health', 'sex and health', 'prevention of drug abuse, smoking and drinking', 'normal life and health', and 'society and health'). Content on life respect in the 10th grade textbooks was categorized as 'drug abuse, smoking, drinking, and health', 'sex and health', 'mental health', 'life science and treating human life too lightly', 'normal life and health', and 'society and health'. CONCLUSION: Content on life respect attached importance to more practical issue such as prevention of violence and suicide rather than fundamental understanding about self and life. These results suggest that the content on life respect should help adolescents find their own values and meaning of life within the concept of coexistence.
Adolescent ; Drinking ; Humans ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Suicide ; Value of Life ; Violence

OBJECTIVES: The symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be treated with methylphenidate, a potent blocker of the dopamine transporter (DAT). The homozygosity of the 10-repeat allele at dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) seems to be associated with a poor response to methylphenidate (MPH) in children with ADHD. In present study, we investigated association between DAT density using I-123N-(3-iodopropen-2-yl)-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorophenyl)tropane ([123I]IPT SPECT) and the homozygosity for 10-repeat allele at DAT1, and response to MPH in children with ADHD. METHODS: Eleven drug-naive children with ADHD were included in the study and treated with MPH for about 8 weeks. After the genotyping and SPECT were performed, we compared DAT density between ADHD children with and without the homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele at DAT1 and investigated correlation between the homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele and response to MPH. RESULTS: ADHD children with 10/10 genotype (n=7) had a significantly higher DAT density in basal ganglia than the children without 10/10 genotype (n=4)(Right: z=-2.65, p=0.008; Left: z=-2.65, p=0.008). We found that while only 28.6% (2/7) of the subject with 10/10 genotype showed good response (> or =50% improvement) to MPH treatment, 100% (4/4) of the subjects without 10/10 genotype showed good response to MPH treatment (chi2 test: F=5.238, df=1, p=0.022). CONCLUSION: Our findings support an association between homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele at DAT1 and the DAT density assessed in vivo and correlation between the homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele and poor response to MPH.
Alleles* ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* ; Basal Ganglia ; Child ; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins* ; Dopamine* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Methylphenidate* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: The widely used chemotherapeutic agents exert their anti-cancer effects by the inducing of apoptosis in sensitive tumor cells. Recently, the protective effect of zinc ion on apoptosis has been reproted. However, it is not well understood about the effects of zinc ion on the anticancer drug-induced apoptosis. In general, zinc inhibits a nuclear endonuclease, thereby causing inhibition of apoptosis. In addition, there is other possibility that zinc can prevent apoptosis at earlier stage such as the activation of caspase-3 than that of the activation of endonuclease. Therefore, we investigated the effects of zinc ion on the apoptosis of HL-60 cells caused by adriamycin (ADR). METHODS: HL-60 cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 and treated with various concentrations and time periods of ADR with or without pretreatment of zinc ion. Cellular DNA was extracted and analyzed by electrophoresis on a 1.5% agarose gel to detect DNA fragmentation. The activity of caspase-3 was measured by the proteolytic cleavage of the fluorogenic substrate DEVD-AMC. Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage was analyzed by western blotting using anti-PARP antibody. RESULTS: ADR induced the apoptotic death of HL-60 cells in a dose and time dependent manner, which was characterized by increasing ladder-pattern DNA fragmentation. Pretreatment of HL-60 cells with zinc ion caused potent inhibition of ADR-induced apoptosis. Consistent with apoptotic death of HL-60 cells, ADR induced the catalytic activation of caspase-3. After pretreatment of zinc ion, the activation of caspase-3 and the proteolysis of PARP induced by ADR were markedly inhibited. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that zinc ion prevents the ADR-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells through an inhibition of caspase-3 activity, which occurs upstream from the activation of endonuclease.
Apoptosis* ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; DNA ; DNA Fragmentation ; Doxorubicin ; Electrophoresis ; Fluorescent Dyes ; HL-60 Cells* ; Humans ; Proteolysis ; Sepharose ; Zinc*

Background: This study aims to analyze the risk factors for urinary tract infection (UTI) by cefotaxime-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, using data from the National Health Insurance Data Sharing Service. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted to analyze the risk factors during 11 years (2010–2020). Study groups were selected based on the laboratory data of the hospital, which comprised 3,638 and 877 cases of cefotaxime-resistant E. coli and K.pneumoniae, respectively. Controls comprised 8,994 and 1,573 cases of cefotaxime-nonresistant (intermediate or susceptible) E. coli and K.pneumoniae, respectively. Clinical and socioeconomical features were obtained from the National Health Insurance service data. Results: In a multivariate analysis of risk factors for UTI by cefotaxime-resistant E. coli, the odds ratio (OR) of the male sex was 1.335 (95% confidence interval, 1.204–1.480), age 0–9 years was 1.794 (1.468–2.191), chronic renal disease was 1.227 (1.062–1.417), and hemodialysis was 1.685 (1.255–2.262). Moreover, the ORs of L-tube, central venous pressure catheter, and Foley catheter use were 1.204 (1.047–1.385), 1.332 (1.156–1.534), and 1.473 (1.316–1.649), respectively; the OR of previous antimicrobial use was 1.103 (1.009–1.206) and that of healthcare facility use was 1.782 (1.576–2.014). In a multivariate analysis of risk factors for UTI by cefotaxime-resistant K. pneumoniae, OR of the male sex was 1.460 (1.199–1.778), liver disease was 1.295 (1.037–1.617), and hemodialysis was 2.046 (1.263–3.315). The ORs of L-tube and Foley catheter use were 2.329 (1.861–2.915) and 1.793 (1.431–2.246), respectively, and the OR of the healthcare facility use was 1.545 (1.161–2.056). Conclusion In this study, the risk factors for UTI caused by cefotaxime-resistant E. coli or K. pneumoniae were analyzed based on the data of a specific healthcare facility linked to the National Health Insurance system. We suggest that it is a simple and effective way to elucidate risk factors of infections caused by major antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

Isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is a rare genetic disorder that is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. It is characterized by absent or incomplete pubertal development owing to an isolated defect in the production, secretion, or action of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. The incidence of IHH is estimated at 1:30,000 in males and 1:125,000 in females. Although the vast majority of IHH cases are sporadic, some X-linked recessive, autosomal dominant, and autosomal recessive modes of inheritance have been described. IHH can be classified into Kallmann syndrome with anosmia and normosmic IHH. Here, we report dizygotic twin sisters with normosmic IHH who showed short stature and absence of puberty as a result of a variant of the FGFR1 gene. They had a normal sense of smell, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed well-defined olfactory bulbs. The older sister and the twins' mother had cleft palate, while the younger sister did not. The mother had menarche at the age of 16 years after hormonal replacement owing to delayed puberty. Molecular analysis of the FGFR1 gene identified a missense variant c.874C>G (p.His292Asp) in the twins and their mother. Herein, we described the clinical heterogeneity observed in the 2 affected twins who carry an identical variant in the FGFR1 gene. Further studies of the effects of modifier genes and epigenetic factors on the expression of FGFR1, as well as the various clinical manifestations of its mutations, are warranted.