PURPOSE: Identification of antibody specificity is difficult using a multiple antigen PRA (MA-PRA) assay. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical impact of single antigen PRA (SA-PRA) ELISA assay on the transplant outcome and to analyze the clinical significance of SA-PRA compared with CDC-AHG, flow cytometric crossmatch (FCXM) and MA-PRA. METHODS: A total of 151 kidney transplanted patients were tested for the presence of HLA antibodies in the pre- and posttransplant period. The HLA specificities were classified as donor-specific antibodies (DSA) including donor private antigen specific (DS-HLA) or donor public antigen specific (DS-cross reactive group (CREG)), and nondonor specific HLA antibodies. RESULTS: Of the 151 recipients, 28 patients experienced acute rejection episodes (ARE). The pretransplant CDC-AHG, FCXM and MA-PRA tests were positive in 2, 8 and 18 patients, respectively and the concordance between FCXM and MA-PRA was 89.4% (135/151). Of the 47 sera which were tested with both MA-PRA and SA-PRA, 4 sera were SA-PRA positive and MA-PRA negative. The HLA specificities which were not determined with MA-PRA were detected with SA-PRA test. The patients with DSA showed higher incidence of ARE (7/12, 58% vs. 21/139, 15%; P<0.001) and lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at 6 posttransplant months (54.9+/-10.2 vs. 66.2+/-19.3; P=0.023) than the patients without DSA. The patients with ARE had higher incidence of posttransplant DS-HLA (6 (21%) vs. 0 (0%); P<0.001), DS- CREG (7 (25%) vs. 0 (0%); P<0.001), de novo HLA antibody (6 (21%) vs. 0 (0%); P<0.001) than the patients without ARE. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that analysis of HLA specificities using the SA-PRA may be useful as a supportive crossmatch test or as a monitoring test after transplantation for early detection of patients at risk of poor clinical outcome.
Antibodies ; Antibody Specificity ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells for the induction and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. We tested whether bone marrow derived DCs are capable of inducing protective immunity against a murine lymphoma (A20). DCs were grown from tumor-bearing BALB/c mice by culturing bone marrow cells. BALB/c mice were injected (sc) with A20 cells on day 0. Intraperitoneal immunization with DCs mixed with lethally irradiated A20 cells were started when the tumor reached ca. 4-5 mm in diameter (Group A) or on day -7 (Group B). Booster immunizations were given every 3-4 days for four weeks. By 31 days in group A, there was a significant reduction in tumor growth in the mice immunized with DCs mixed with irradiated A20 cells as compared with the control groups (p=0.016). In group B, tumor growth was completely inhibited and there was no tumor growth following extended observations after completion of immunization. Thus, DCs mixed with irradiated tumor cells can induce an antitumor effect. This provides a rationale for the use of DCs mixed with irradiated tumor cells in immunotherapy for minimal residual disease of lymphomas.
Animals ; Apoptosis/immunology ; Bone Marrow Cells/immunology ; Cell Division/immunology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dendritic Cells/*immunology/transplantation ; Female ; Immunization/*methods ; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed ; Lymphoma/*immunology/pathology/*therapy ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to investigate the anti-angiogenic inhibitory effect of KR-31831, a newly developed anti-angiogenic agent, on an in vivo human ovarian carcinoma model using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Xenografted ovarian tumors were established by subcutaneous injection of SKOV3 cells into mice. The mice were treated daily with KR-31831 at 50 mg/kg for 21 days. Tumor tissues were excised corresponding to the DCE-MRI sections for evaluation of MVD with CD31 immunohistochemistry. All in vivo MRIs were performed on a 7.0 Tesla micro-MRI System. DCE-MRI was acquired prior to initiating treatment with KR-31831 and again on days 3 and 21 after treatment. The permeability parameters (Ktrans, ve, and vp) were estimated using a pharmacokinetic model. RESULTS: Qualitatively, the Ktrans parametric mapping showed different changes before and after treatment with KR-31831 in the treatment group. For quantification of this change, the median of Ktrans values were compared before and after treatments in the control and KR-31831-treated groups. A non-parametric statistical test (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) showed decreasing Ktrans values on day 21 compared to days 0 and 3 in the KR-31831-treated group (p < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in the control group (p = 0.84). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that DCE-MRI can be a useful tool by which to evaluate the anti-angiogenic effect of KR-31831 on a xenografted human ovarian carcinoma model.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors/*pharmacology ; Animals ; Benzopyrans/*pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; *Contrast Media ; Female ; Humans ; Imidazoles/*pharmacology ; Immunohistochemistry ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Microvessels/pathology ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Ovarian Neoplasms/*blood supply/pathology

BACKGROUND: Recently, quantitative point-of-care testing (POCT) for cardiac markers using colloidal gold particles was developed in Korea. We evaluated the analytical performance of the HUBI-QUANPRO (Humasis, Korea) assay in comparison with two other assays. METHODS: We evaluated the analytical precision and linearity of HUBI-QUANPRO creatine kinase (CK)-MB, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and B-type natriuretic peptides (BNP). HUBI-QUANPRO assay was compared with ADVIA Centaur (Siemens, Germany) and Triage (Biosite Diagnostics, USA) assays by using 100 blood samples. In addition, we evaluated the interference of hemoglobin on the HUBI-QUANPRO assay. RESULTS: The coefficients of variation of HUBI-QUANPRO CK-MB, cTnI, and BNP were 7.5-9.7%, 12.0-17.4%, and 14.7-15.7%, respectively. The linearity ranges of HUBI-QUANPRO CK-MB, cTnI, and BNP were 4.7-27.8 ng/mL, 0.76-6.51 ng/mL, and 76.2-762.2 ng/mL, respectively. The comparison study showed no significant difference among them. When 0.5% hemolysis occurred, remarkable hemoglobin interference was found in the three markers resulting in underestimation of the concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: HUBI-QUANPRO CK-MB and BNP showed good analytical performances compared with the other two assays. Hemoglobin interference was noted in the HUBI-QUANPRO assay, especially more in BNP. Although the linearity range of cTnI was narrow, its agreement rate with ADVIA Centaur was good, thus the HUBI-QUANPRO assay could be useful as a quantitative POCT for cardiac markers in the emergency department.
Creatine Kinase ; Emergencies ; Gold Colloid ; Hemoglobins ; Hemolysis ; Korea ; Natriuretic Peptides ; Triage ; Troponin I

Background: Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) is caused by the mutation of NPC genes, which leads to the abnormal accumulation of unesterified cholesterol and glycolipids in lysosomes. This autosomal recessive disease is characterized by liver dysfunction, hepatosplenomegaly, and progressive neurodegeneration. Recently, the application of induced neural stem cells (iNSCs), converted from fibroblasts using specific transcription factors, to repair degenerated lesions has been considered a novel therapy. Objectives: The therapeutic effects on NPC by human iNSCs generated by our research group have not yet been studied in vivo; in this study, we investigate those effects. Methods: We used an NPC mouse model to efficiently evaluate the therapeutic effect of iNSCs, because neurodegeneration progress is rapid in NPC. In addition, application of human iNSCs from NPC patient-derived fibroblasts in an NPC model in vivo can give insight into the clinical usefulness of iNSC treatment. The iNSCs, generated from NPC patientderived fibroblasts using the SOX2 and HMGA2 reprogramming factors, were transplanted by intracerebral injection into NPC mice. Results: Transplantation of iNSCs showed positive results in survival and body weight change in vivo. Additionally, iNSC-treated mice showed improved learning and memory in behavior test results. Furthermore, through magnetic resonance imaging and histopathological assessments, we observed delayed neurodegeneration in NPC mouse brains. Conclusions iNSCs converted from patient-derived fibroblasts can become another choice of treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as NPC.

Background: A precise anatomical understanding of the adductor canal (AC) and its neural components is essential for discerning the action mechanism of the AC block. We therefore aimed to clarify the detailed anatomy of the AC using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), histological evaluation, and immunofluorescence (IF) assays. Methods: Gross dissections of 39 thighs provided morphometric data relevant to injection landmarks. Serial sectional images of the AC were defined using micro-CT and ultrasonography. The fascial and neural structures of the AC proper were histologically evaluated using Masson’s trichrome and Verhoeff-Van Gieson staining, and double IF staining using choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and neurofilament 200 antibodies. Results: The posteromedial branch insertion of the nerve to vastus medialis (NVM) into the lateral border of the AC proper was lower (14.5 ± 2.4 cm [mean ± SD] above the base of the patella) than the origin of the proximal AC. The AC consists of a thin subsartorial fascia in the proximal region and a thick aponeurosis-like vastoadductor membrane in the distal region. In the proximal AC, the posteromedial branch of the NVM (pmNVM) consistently contained both sensory and motor fibers, and more ChAT-positive fibers were observed than in the saphenous nerve (27.5 ± 11.2 / 104 vs. 4.2 ± 2.6 / 104 [counts/µm2], P < 0.001). Conclusions Anatomical differences in fascial structures between the proximal and distal AC and a mixed neural component of the neighboring pmNVM have been visualized using micro-CT images, histological evaluation, and IF assays.

The bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leucosis. This study investigated the presence of the BLV in leukemia (179 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 292 acute myeloid leukemia and 46 chronic myelogenous leukemia cases) and 162 lung cancer patients (139 adenocarcinoma, 23 squamous cell carcinoma) to determine if the BLV is a causative organism of leukemia and lung cancer in Koreans. A BLV infection was confirmed in human cells by PCR using a BLV-8 primer combination. All 517 cases of human leukemia and 162 lung cancer were negative for a PCR of the BLV proviral DNA. In conclusion, although meat has been imported from BLV endemic areas, the BLV infection does not appear to be the cause of human leukemia or lung cancer in Koreans. These results can be used as a control for further studies on the BLV in Koreans.
Acute Disease ; Adenocarcinoma/virology ; Cell Line ; DNA, Viral/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukemia/*virology ; Leukemia Virus, Bovine/*genetics ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/virology ; Leukemia, Myeloid/virology ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Chronic/virology ; Lung Neoplasms/*virology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods ; Proviruses/*genetics

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of an active contour model for estimating the posterior ablative margin in images obtained by the fusion of real-time ultrasonography (US) and 3-dimensional (3D) US or magnetic resonance (MR) images of an experimental tumor model for radiofrequency ablation. METHODS: Chickpeas (n=12) and bovine rump meat (n=12) were used as an experimental tumor model. Grayscale 3D US and T1-weighted MR images were pre-acquired for use as reference datasets. US and MR/3D US fusion was performed for one group (n=4), and US and 3D US fusion only (n=8) was performed for the other group. Half of the models in each group were completely ablated, while the other half were incompletely ablated. Hyperechoic ablation areas were extracted using an active contour model from real-time US images, and the posterior margin of the ablation zone was estimated from the anterior margin. After the experiments, the ablated pieces of bovine rump meat were cut along the electrode path and the cut planes were photographed. The US images with the estimated posterior margin were compared with the photographs and post-ablation MR images. The extracted contours of the ablation zones from 12 US fusion videos and post-ablation MR images were also matched. RESULTS: In the four models fused under real-time US with MR/3D US, compression from the transducer and the insertion of an electrode resulted in misregistration between the real-time US and MR images, making the estimation of the ablation zones less accurate than was achieved through fusion between real-time US and 3D US. Eight of the 12 post-ablation 3D US images were graded as good when compared with the sectioned specimens, and 10 of the 12 were graded as good in a comparison with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide staining and histopathologic results. CONCLUSION: Estimating the posterior ablative margin using an active contour model is a feasible way of predicting the ablation area, and US/3D US fusion was more accurate than US/MR fusion.
Ablation Techniques ; Catheter Ablation* ; Cicer ; Dataset ; Electrodes ; Meat ; NAD ; Shadowing (Histology) ; Transducers ; Ultrasonography*