The involvement of mucosal mast cells (MMC) in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is still controversial. We aimed to re-evaluate the role of MMC in visceral hypersensitivity associated with IBS using a rat IBS model that develops the IBS symptom after a subsidence of acetic acid-induced colitis. No significant difference in the number of MMC was observed between normal rat colon and IBS rat colon. (61.7 +/-2.9/mm 2 in normal vs. 88.7 +/-13.3/mm 2 in IBS, p >0.29). However, the degranulation rate of MMC was significantly higher in IBS rat colon (49.5 +/-2.4% in normal vs. 68.8 +/-3.4% in IBS, p >0.05). Pretreatment of a mast cell stabilizer, doxantrazole (5 mg/kg, i.p.), reduced the degranulation rate of MMC and significantly attenuated visceral hypersensitivity to rectal distension in IBS rat, whereas it had no effect on the visceral sensory responses in normal rat. These results suggest that, although the number of MMC is not significantly changed in IBS rat colon, the higher degranulation rate of MMC is responsible for visceral hypersensitivity in this model IBS.
Acetic Acid/toxicity ; Animals ; Cell Count ; Colitis/chemically induced/*pathology ; Hypersensitivity/*pathology ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Intestinal Mucosa/*pathology ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome/*pathology ; Male ; Mast Cells/drug effects/*pathology ; Models, Theoretical ; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors/pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Thioxanthenes/pharmacology ; Viscera/immunology ; Xanthones/pharmacology

Many investigators have reported that collagen gel contraction reflects the mechanism of wound contraction. In 1995, Tsai et al. reported that hypertrophic scar-derived fibroblasts in a connective tissue model possessed the greatest contraction potency when compared with those of normal skin and normal oral mucosa-derived CTMs. In this study, we studied the effect of collagen gel contraction by growth factors such as epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-bata1, and transforming growth factor-bata3, Skin fibroblasts used in this study were obtained from the explant of rat skin culture. Fibroblasts were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Growth factors were added per FPCL in the desired concentrations and we measured the collagen gel diameters in growth factor-treated FPCL on day 1,2,3, and 4 respectively after starting incubation. We examined the effects of EGF, PDGF, TGF-bata1, TGF-bata3 and the effects of combinations of TGF-bata1 + EGF, TGF-bata1 + PDGF, and TGF-bata1 + TGF-bata3 to contract a collagen gel. EGF has little influence on collagen gel contraction. TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 increase the collagen contraction. TGF-bata1 enhanced the contractility of collagen gel according to the concentrations. While TGF-bata3 alone had stimulatory contraction effects at low dose, high doses of TGF-bata3 decreased the potency of collagen gel contraction. A combination of TGF-bata1 and EGF minimally decrease TGF-bata1 activity. A combination of TGF-bata1and PDGF had an effect similar to TGF-bata1 activity. A combination of TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 decreased TGF-bata1 activity. According to reports that FPCL contraction is equivalent to the process of wound contraction, growth factors which enhance gel contraction may be related to wound contraction and wound healing. TGF-bata1 is reported to enhance scar formation in fetal wound. EGF accelerates wound healing and inhibits the promotion of hypertrophic scar formation. Compared to the effect of collagen gel contraction in this study, the combination of TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 that inhibited the promotion of collagen gel contraction are thought to diminish the formation of scar tissue. As well, EGF that has not enhanced collagen gel contraction is thought to diminish the production of scar tissue. We will study the interactive effects of TGF-bata3, EGF and TGF-bata1 on the contraction of collagen gels in the future.
Animals ; Cicatrix ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Collagen* ; Connective Tissue ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Fibroblasts ; Gels ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins* ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; Rats ; Research Personnel ; Skin ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries*

Multiple periodontal pathogens sequentially colonize the subgingival niche during the conversion from gingivitis to destructive periodontal disease. An animal model of sequential immunization with key periodontal pathogens has been developed to determine whether T and B lymppocyte effector functions are skewed and fail to protect the host from pathogenic challenge. The present study was performed to evaluate immunomodulatory effect of exposure to Fusobacterium nucleatum(F. nucleatum) prior to Porphyromonas gingivalis(P.gingivalis). Group 1(control) mice were immunized with phosphate-buffered saline, Group 2 were immunized with F. nucleatum prior to P. gingivalis, while Group 3 were immunized P. gingivalis alone. All the T cell clones derived from Group 2 demonstrated type 2 helper T cell clone(Th2 subsets), while those from Group 3 mice demonstrated Th1 subsets. Exposure of mice to F. nucleatum prior to P. gingivalis interfered with opsonophagocytosis function of sera against P. gingivalis. In adoptive T cell transfer experiments, in vivo protective capacity type 2 helper T cell clones(Th2) from Group 2 was significantly lower than type 1 helper T cell clones(Th1) from Group 3 against the lethal dose infection of P. gingivalis. Western blot analysis indicated the different pattern of recognition of P. gingivalis fimbrial proteins between sera from Group 2 and Group 3. In conclusion, these study suggest that colonization of the subgingival niche by F. nucleatum prior to the periodontal pathogen, P. gingivalis, modulates the host immune responses to P. gingivalis at humoral, cellular and molecular levels.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Clone Cells ; Colon ; Fusobacterium nucleatum* ; Fusobacterium* ; Gingivitis ; Immunization ; Mice* ; Models, Animal ; Periodontal Diseases ; Porphyromonas gingivalis* ; Porphyromonas*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Using n-aliphatic alcohols whose physical properties change gradually as their length increases, we investigated the changes of olfactory threshold and trigeminal pungency threshold with the increase of carbon chain length. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Olfactory and trigeminal pungency thresholds were measured in ethanol (C2), 1-butanol (C4), 1-hexanol (C6) and 1-octanol (C8) in 40 normal adults using a two-alternative forced-choice modified by the ascending method of limit (CCCRC) test. Plastic bottles with 30 ml of four n-aliphatic alcohols were diluted threefold successively by mineral oil. Plastic bottles containing only mineral oil were used as controls. RESULTS: The olfactory and trigeminal pungency thresholds decreased and the ratio of olfactory threshold/trigeminal pungency threshold increased with the length of carbon chain in n-aliphatic alcohols. The correlation coefficients among olfactory thresholds in each alcohol were higher than those among trigeminal pungency thresholds. CONCLUSION: Alcohol with long carbon chains showed low olfactory and trigeminal pungency thresholds, indicating that high lipid solubility is an important factor in olfaction and trigeminal chemosensitivity.
1-Butanol ; 1-Octanol ; Adult* ; Alcohols* ; Carbon* ; Ethanol ; Humans ; Mineral Oil ; Plastics ; Smell ; Solubility

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hemispheric contributions to prosody recognitions and interference effects of semantic processing on prosody for stroke patients by using the Korean language. METHODS: Ten right hemisphere damaged patients (RHD), nine left hemisphere damaged patients (LHD), and eleven healthy controls (HC) participated. In pure prosody recognition task, four semantically neutral sentences were selected and presented in both sad and happy prosodies. In interference task, participants listened to emotionally intoned sentences in which the semantic contents were congruent or incongruent with prosody. Participants were asked to rate the valence of prosody while ignoring the semantic contents, and thus, reaction time and accuracy were estimated. RESULTS: In pure prosody recognition task, RHD showed low accuracy as compared to HC (p=0.013), and the tendency of group response showed that RHD performed worse than HC and LHD with regards to accuracy and reaction time. In interference task, analysis of accuracy revealed a significant main effect of groups (p=0.04), and the tendency implied that RHD is less accurate as compared to LHD and HC. The RHD took longer reaction times than HC in congruent and incongruent items (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Right hemispheric laterality to prosody processing of Korean language in stroke patients was observed. Interference effects of semantic contents to prosody processing were not observed, which suggested unique characteristics of prosody for Korean language. These results could be referred as preliminary data for future researches on Korean languages.
Functional Laterality ; Humans ; Reaction Time ; Semantics ; Speech Disorders ; Speech Perception ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance of clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. collected from non-tertiary hospitals and to characterize the phenotype and the genotype of imipenem-non-susceptible isolates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. were identified using recA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with Tsp5091. Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined using disk diffusion test and agar dilution test according to the criteria of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. PCR and sequence analyses were used to detect the blaIMP-1 and blaVIM-2 genes, and to determine the content and order of the resistance genes inserted in integron. RESULTS: Of 71 Acinetobacter spp. isolates collected from non-tertiary hospitals during 2002 and 2003, 60 isolates were A. baumannii, and 2, 4, and 5 isolates were Acinetobacter genomic species 3, 13TU, and A. lwoffii, respectively. The resistance rate of Acinetobacter spp. isolates to beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones was high except for imipenem and meropenem. The presence of blaVIM-2 gene was found in one isolate, Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU, for which the MIC of imipenem was 8 mg/L; the blaVIM-2 gene of this strain was located on 3 kb class 1 integron with aacA7 and aadA1 genes. CONCLUSIONS: Among the tested agents, imipenem and meropenem retained greatest activity against Acinetobacter spp. isolates collected from non-tertiary hospitals. This is the first report of VIM-2-producing Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU strains with class 1 integron containing blaVIM-2 gene.
Acinetobacter* ; Agar ; Aminoglycosides ; Anti-Infective Agents ; beta-Lactams ; Diffusion ; Fluoroquinolones ; Genotype ; Imipenem ; Integrons ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance of clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. collected from non-tertiary hospitals and to characterize the phenotype and the genotype of imipenem-non-susceptible isolates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. were identified using recA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with Tsp5091. Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined using disk diffusion test and agar dilution test according to the criteria of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. PCR and sequence analyses were used to detect the blaIMP-1 and blaVIM-2 genes, and to determine the content and order of the resistance genes inserted in integron. RESULTS: Of 71 Acinetobacter spp. isolates collected from non-tertiary hospitals during 2002 and 2003, 60 isolates were A. baumannii, and 2, 4, and 5 isolates were Acinetobacter genomic species 3, 13TU, and A. lwoffii, respectively. The resistance rate of Acinetobacter spp. isolates to beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones was high except for imipenem and meropenem. The presence of blaVIM-2 gene was found in one isolate, Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU, for which the MIC of imipenem was 8 mg/L; the blaVIM-2 gene of this strain was located on 3 kb class 1 integron with aacA7 and aadA1 genes. CONCLUSIONS: Among the tested agents, imipenem and meropenem retained greatest activity against Acinetobacter spp. isolates collected from non-tertiary hospitals. This is the first report of VIM-2-producing Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU strains with class 1 integron containing blaVIM-2 gene.
Acinetobacter* ; Agar ; Aminoglycosides ; Anti-Infective Agents ; beta-Lactams ; Diffusion ; Fluoroquinolones ; Genotype ; Imipenem ; Integrons ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of resistant and multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have become a worldwide problem. This report provides the trend of antimicrobial resistance, the proportions of MDR and metallo-beta-lactamase-producing isolates among clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from two representative reference laboratories during 2002-2004. Clinical information regarding specimens and type of hospital for isolates was investigated. Antimicrobial susceptibility against 11 antibiotics was tested by disk diffusion according to NCCLS criteria. MDR was assessed as resistance to > or =3 of the core drugs (ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, imipenem and piperacillin). PCR assays and sequencing for detection of blaVIM-2 and blaIMP-1 gene were carried out. RESULTS: Of 1,748 P. aeruginosa isolates, 179 isolates were collected from primary care hospitals and 1,569 isolates were recovered from outpatients and inpatients in secondary care hospitals. From 2002 to 2004, rates of resistance to ceftazidime and imipenem increased from 10% to 12.3% and from 14.8% to 15.9%, respectively. Rates of resistance to amikacin (from 26.2% to 31.0%) and ciprofloxacin (from 35.6% to 46.2%) increased annually. In the period 2002-2004, decreasing of susceptibility to meropenem (from 83.4% to 76.8%) was observed, but meropenem was the most potent agent against P. aeruginosa isolates studied. During the 3-year period, MDR P. aeruginosa accounted for 26.4-33.5% of clinical isolates and the most common MDR phenotype was concurrent resistance to piperacillin, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. The prevalence of VIM-2-producing isolates obviously increased from 1.7% in 2002 to 6.3% in 2004. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that MDR P. aeruginosa was already prevalent in one third of clinical isolates and VIM-2-producing P. aeruginosa isolates disseminated in non-tertiary care hospitals in Korea.
Amikacin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ceftazidime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Diffusion ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Inpatients ; Korea* ; Outpatients ; Phenotype ; Piperacillin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Primary Health Care ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa* ; Pseudomonas* ; Secondary Care

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of resistant and multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have become a worldwide problem. This report provides the trend of antimicrobial resistance, the proportions of MDR and metallo-beta-lactamase-producing isolates among clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from two representative reference laboratories during 2002-2004. Clinical information regarding specimens and type of hospital for isolates was investigated. Antimicrobial susceptibility against 11 antibiotics was tested by disk diffusion according to NCCLS criteria. MDR was assessed as resistance to > or =3 of the core drugs (ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, imipenem and piperacillin). PCR assays and sequencing for detection of blaVIM-2 and blaIMP-1 gene were carried out. RESULTS: Of 1,748 P. aeruginosa isolates, 179 isolates were collected from primary care hospitals and 1,569 isolates were recovered from outpatients and inpatients in secondary care hospitals. From 2002 to 2004, rates of resistance to ceftazidime and imipenem increased from 10% to 12.3% and from 14.8% to 15.9%, respectively. Rates of resistance to amikacin (from 26.2% to 31.0%) and ciprofloxacin (from 35.6% to 46.2%) increased annually. In the period 2002-2004, decreasing of susceptibility to meropenem (from 83.4% to 76.8%) was observed, but meropenem was the most potent agent against P. aeruginosa isolates studied. During the 3-year period, MDR P. aeruginosa accounted for 26.4-33.5% of clinical isolates and the most common MDR phenotype was concurrent resistance to piperacillin, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. The prevalence of VIM-2-producing isolates obviously increased from 1.7% in 2002 to 6.3% in 2004. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that MDR P. aeruginosa was already prevalent in one third of clinical isolates and VIM-2-producing P. aeruginosa isolates disseminated in non-tertiary care hospitals in Korea.
Amikacin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ceftazidime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Diffusion ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Inpatients ; Korea* ; Outpatients ; Phenotype ; Piperacillin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Primary Health Care ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa* ; Pseudomonas* ; Secondary Care

PURPOSE: Data are lacking on the association between the allergic rhinitis (AR) phenotype and sensitization to specific allergens or bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) in children. We here investigated risk factors and comorbidities, including sensitization to specific allergens and BHR, for the AR phenotype by AR and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) classification in a general population-based birth cohort study. METHODS: We enrolled 606 children aged 7 years from the Panel Study of Korean Children. The AR phenotype was assigned in accordance with the ARIA classification in children. Skin prick tests and Provocholine provocation test were performed. Risk factors and comorbidities for AR phenotypes were then analyzed. RESULTS: The prevalence of mild and moderate to severe AR in our study cohort was 37.2% and 8.8%, respectively. Recent use of analgesics or antipyretics and current cat ownership were associated with the risk of mild persistent AR. Sensitizations to Dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus (Der p), Japanese hop and cat were associated with moderate to severe persistent AR. Children with moderate to severe AR had a higher risk of current asthma and BHR compared to mild AR cases (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.77–15.62). Moderate to severe AR with allergic sensitization was associated with the highest risk of BHR (aOR, 11.77; 95% CI, 3.40–40.74). CONCLUSIONS: Moderate to severe-persistent AR is more closely related to respiratory comorbidities and sensitizations than mild AR. Stratifying the AR phenotype by ARIA classification may assist in disease management.
Allergens ; Analgesics ; Animals ; Antipyretics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Asthma ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity ; Cats ; Child ; Classification ; Cohort Studies ; Comorbidity ; Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ; Disease Management ; Humans ; Methacholine Chloride ; Odds Ratio ; Ownership ; Parturition ; Phenotype ; Prevalence ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Risk Factors ; Skin