No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality. It is well known that androgen and sex hormone-binding globulin(SHBG) in women were associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as obesity, central fat accumulation and atherogenic lipid profile. High resolution B-mode ultrasonography can visualize directly both luminal and vessel wall characteristics, and ultrasonic measurement of carotid intima-medial thickness(IMT) can be used to investigate the atherosclerosis of coronary, cerebral and peripheral arteries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate(DHEA-S) and SHBG, and body fat distribution pattern, cardiovascular risk factor and carotid atherosclerosis in women. METHODS: Blood pressure, fasting serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile, SHBG and DHEA-S were measured. Body fat distribution pattern was assessed by waist to hip ratio, waist to thigh ratio and subscapular to triceps skin fold thickness ratio, faf mass measured by bioelectric impedance analyzer, subcutaneous fat area, visceral fat area, and visceral to subcutaneous fat area ratio(VSR) at the level of umbilicus using the computed tomography. The IMT of the carotid artery was measured by high resolution B mode ultrasound as a marker of atherosclerosis. RESULTS: 1) There was no significant difference of age-adjusted values of carotid IMT among subjects with NGT(0.426+/-0.09mm), IGT(0.46+/-10.09mm) and NIDDM(0.453+/-0.11mm). 2) In postrnenopausal women, carotid IMT was greater(0.484+/-0.11mm, p=0.05) than premenopausal women(0.426+/-0.08mm), but it was not significant after age adjustment. Serum SHBG and DHEA-S levels in postmenopausal women were significantly lower(p<0.05) than premenopausal women, but they were not significant after age adjustment. 3) Carotid IMT was significantly correlated with age(r=0.37, p<0.01), fasting serum glucose (r=0.32, p<0.01), total cholesterol(r= 0.25, p<0.05), LDL-cholesterol(r=0.26, p<0.05), visceral fat area(r=0.35, p<0.01) and VSR(r=0.31, p<0.05). 4) By the stepwise multiple regression analysis, carotid IMT was positively and significantly associated with age(p<0.01) and serum DHEA-S concentration(p<0.05) in dent of age, body mass index, waist to hip ratio, fasting serum glucose. CONCLUSION: Carotid IMT was associated with age and serum DHEA-S concentration in women without cardiovascular disease. Therefore, serum DHEA-S may be one of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women. However, we could not conclude its cause-result relationship because of cross sectional nature of our study, and prospective study will be needed.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Fat Distribution ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery Diseases* ; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate* ; Dehydroepiandrosterone* ; Electric Impedance ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Mortality ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Phenobarbital ; Risk Factors ; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin* ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Thigh ; Ultrasonics ; Ultrasonography ; Umbilicus ; Waist-Hip Ratio

For the rapidly growing elderly population, the achievement and maintenance of good nutritional status is critical to health, functioning and quality of life. Elderly women living alone have been identified as a group associated with poor nutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess dietary intakes of elderly women living alone as compared to those of elderly women living with family in a rural area and to examine seasonal variation. The subjects are 49 elderly women living alone and 41 elderly women living with family who reside in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongbuk, and their food intakes were assessed once each time in summer 2005, winter 2005-2006, and spring 2006. The average ages were 74.7 years for living alone and 72.8 years for living with family. Education level was not different between the two groups. Height, weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and fasting blood glucose were not significantly different between the two groups. Average intakes of major nutrients, nutrient adequacy ratio, mean adequacy ratio and index of nutritional quality were lower in the elderly women living alone compared with the elderly women living with family in summer, but the differences in intakes of most nutrients became insignificant both in winter and in spring. High carbohydrate and low fat diet was prevalent and intakes of carbohydrate and fat in summer deviated from macronutrient acceptable distribution ranges. Percentages of the subjects who consumed energy less than 75% of the estimated energy requirement and nutrients less than the estimated average requirement were higher than those reported by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In summer, the percentage of the subjects who consumed energy less than both 75% of the estimated energy requirement and 4 nutrients less than estimated average requirements was 58.5% of the elderly women living alone, which was higher than 26.5% of the elderly women living with family and that of National Nutrition Survey. Therefore, nutrition policies including nutrition education and support are necessary to improve nutritional status of elderly, especially elderly women living alone and should reflect regional and seasonal characteristics.
Aged* ; Blood Glucose ; Body Weight ; Diet ; Education ; Fasting ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do* ; Humans ; Nutrition Policy ; Nutrition Surveys ; Nutritional Status ; Nutritive Value ; Quality of Life ; Seasons*

The purpose of this study was to assess dietary habits and seasonal variation and diversity of food intakes of elderly women living alone as compared to those of elderly women living with family in a rural area. Forty nine elderly women living alone and forty one elderly women living with family who reside in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongbuk, were interviewed using questionnaires in summer 2005, and their food intakes were assessed secondly in winter and thirdly in spring 2006. The average ages were 74.7 years for elderly living alone and 72.8 years for elderly living with family. Tooth status and bone fracture experience were similar between the groups. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disease was 61.2% and that of circulatory disease was 32.7% of the subjects. Average of total score of mental depression of the subjects was 5.94 out of 12 points, and it was not significantly different between the two groups. Skipping meals was more frequent and mealtime was more irregular in the elderly women living alone as compared with the elderly women living with family. Consumption of dietary supplements was also less in the elderly women living alone. Food intakes by the elderly women living alone tended to be lower than those by the elderly women living with family. Dietary diversity score was significantly lower with the elderly women living alone as compared with the elderly women living with family only in summer (p < 0.01). Percentages of the subjects who have taken meat group and vegetable group were significantly lower in the elderly living alone compared with the elderly living with family during summer. Therefore, it is necessary to develop food assistance or supporting program suited for the season within a community for elderly women living alone.
Aged ; Depression ; Dietary Supplements ; Eating ; Female ; Food Assistance ; Food Habits ; Fractures, Bone ; Humans ; Meals ; Meat ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; Prevalence ; Seasons ; Tooth ; Vegetables

Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis (Gougerot and Carteaud) is a rare but clinically distinct dermatosis of which the etiology is unknown. We report 2 cases. One case is a 16-year-old boy who had a hyperpigmented reticulated eruption on the trunk and both arms and the other case is a 33-year-old man who had a similar eruption on the chest and back. The former, with previous treatment with oral and topical antifungal agent in another clinic didn't show any improvement and the latter case, with initial treatment of itraconazole did not improve his skin lesion. The rashes of two patients virtually disappeared with administration of minocycline. These observations indicate that the role of microorganisms sensitive to minocycline or anti- proliferative effect of minocycline could be presumed.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Arm ; Exanthema ; Humans ; Itraconazole ; Male ; Minocycline* ; Papilloma* ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Thorax

BACKGROUND: We developed an ethanol extract of peanut sprouts (EPS), a peanut sprout-derived natural product, which contains a high level of trans-resveratrol (176.75 microg/ml) and was shown to have potent antioxidant activity. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the potential anti-inflammatory activity of EPS by measuring its antioxidant potential in skin. METHODS: The anti-inflammatory activity of EPS was tested using two models of skin inflammation: oxazolone (OX)-induced contact dermatitis in mice and compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells. As biomarkers of skin inflammation, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nerve growth factor (NGF) levels were measured. RESULTS: OX-induced contact dermatitis was suppressed markedly in mice that were treated with an ointment containing 5% EPS as evidenced by a decrease in the extent of scaling and thickening (p<0.05) and supported by a histological study. COX-2 (messenger RNA [mRNA] and protein) and NGF (mRNA) levels, which were upregulated in the skin of OX-treated mice, were suppressed markedly in the skin of OX+EPS-treated mice. Consistent with this, compound 48/80-induced expression of COX-2 (mRNA and protein) and NGF (mRNA) in HaCaT cells were suppressed by EPS treatment in a dose-dependent manner. As an inhibitor of NF-kappaB, IkappaB protein levels were dose-dependently upregulated by EPS. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis revealed that EPS scavenged compound 48/80-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HaCaT cells. CONCLUSION: EPS exerts a potent anti-inflammatory activity via its anti-oxidant activity in both mouse skin and compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells in vitro. Compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells are a useful new in vitro model of skin inflammation.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Dermatitis, Contact* ; Ethanol* ; Flow Cytometry ; Inflammation ; Mice* ; Nerve Growth Factor ; NF-kappa B ; Oxazolone ; p-Methoxy-N-methylphenethylamine ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; RNA ; Skin

Mondor's disease is an uncommon superficial thrombophlebitis, usually of thracoabdominal wall. The exact cause is unclear, but it is suggested that the trauma, strenous exercise, breast surgery are often associated. Clinically, it is characterized by a palpable, tender, linear cutaneous groove and it is always almost unilateral. We report a case of bilateral Mondor's disease. 49 year old female presented a cord like subcutaneous lesion on right thoracoabdomial wall. She had a history of strenous exercise for several weeks. Histologic exam reveals thrombophlebitis. A week later, the patient had another same linear subcutaeous lesion on left abdomen.
Abdomen ; Breast ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Thrombophlebitis

BACKGROUND: Although the pathogenesis of vitiligo isn't fully understood, a recent study demonstrates that oxidative stress plays an important role to induce vitiligo. Peroxiredoxin (Prx) is a novel peroxidase family to remove hydrogen peroxide using thioredoxin system, which is consisted of thioredoxin, thioredoxin reductase, and NADPH. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the change of expression of Prx I to elucidate the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. METHODS: Sample specimens were obtained from the lesional skin of vitiligo patients, and non-depigmented skin was obtained from the perilesional area as control samples. The skin samples were immediately frozen using liquid nitrogen, and then section samples were prepared to perform immunohistochemical staining with antibodies for Prx I. Some of the skin biopsy samples were used for primary culture of keratinocytes. Protein extracts from the expanded keratinocytes were prepared for Western blot analysis of Prx I. RESULTS: In vitiligo, the ubiquitous expression of Prx I in all layers of epidermis, which was also observed in the normal perilesional skin, was reduced in the depigmented lesion of vitiligo patients. The reduction of Prx I was remarkable from the lesions which were exposed to sunlight. Consistently, Prx I expression from the lesional keratinocytes were noticeably reduced in comparison with that from perilesional keratinocytes. CONCLUSION: Our results showing that Prx I is impaired in the epidermis of depigmented lesions of vitiligo patients suggest that oxidative stress is an important factor to induce vitiligo.
Antibodies ; Biopsy ; Blotting, Western ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Keratinocytes ; Nitrogen ; Oxidative Stress ; Peroxidase ; Peroxiredoxins ; Skin ; Sunlight ; Thioredoxin-Disulfide Reductase ; Thioredoxins ; Vitiligo

Granuloma faciale is an uncommon localized form of small-vessel vasculitis characterized by single or multiple lesions on the face in middle-aged whites, especially males. Histopathological examination demonstrates a dense polymorphous cellular infiltrate consisting of neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes and histiocytes in the upper two thirds of the dermis. A characteristic subepidermal Grenz zone separates the infiltrate from the epidermis. We report a case of granuloma faciale, showing interesting evidence of palisaded granuloma-like pattern in the serial biopsy specimen at 3-year interval.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Eosinophils ; Epidermis ; Granuloma* ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Vasculitis

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of patients over the age of 25 years with acne has significantly increased over the past 10 years. Several etiologic factors such as genetic factor, hyperandrogenism, stress, and cosmetics have been studied. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences between adolescent acne and post-adolescent acne, based on the clinical features, asoociated diseased and aggravating factors of 327 acne patients. METHODS: 327 consective patients, first visited to our hospital with clinical facial acne between March 2000 and February 2001, were enrolled. 220 adolescent patients(AP) were under the age of 25 and post-adolescent patients(PP) were over age of 25. RESULTS: 1. In the face, cheeks and forehead in adolescents, chin and cheeks in post-adolescents were predilection sites. The predominant type was a comedonal type in adolescents and a papulopustular type in post-adolescents(P<0.05). Severity of inflammatory type was not different between two groups. Familial factors were important in both groups, but more frequently found in post-adolescents with persistent acne(P<0.05). 2. Rosacea, chloasma, and hyperandrogenic features such as hirsutism and androgenetic alopecia were more frequently observed in post-adolescents. Seborrheic and atopic dermatitis were more frequent in adolescents. Four patients had all the features of chloasma, acne, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis and hirsutism. 3. Aggravation by weason especially summer, sweating, stress, and cosmetics was more frequent in adolescents. In PP, acne was more frequently aggravated by sunlight, foods and menstrual period. CONCLUSION: Post-adolescent acne was mainly a papulopustular type predominantly located on the chin and cheeks with mild to moderated severity, and family history and hyperandrogenism were strong etiologic factors in persistent acne. Aggravating factors were not significantly different between two group, which suggested cosmetics and stress might not be important in post adolescent acne.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Adolescent* ; Alopecia ; Cheek ; Chin ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Forehead ; Hirsutism ; Humans ; Hyperandrogenism ; Melanosis ; Prevalence ; Rosacea ; Sunlight ; Sweat ; Sweating