Epidermoid cysts occur rarely on the palms and soles, where hair is not present. These cysts have long been assumed to arise from traumatic implantation of epidermal fragment, but the pathogenesis is still controversial. Recently, with microscopic findings, immunohistochemical features, and molecular studies, the epidermoid cysts of the sole may be induced by the human papillomavirus. We report two cases of epidermoid cysts of the sole with the discussion of the pathogenesis.
Epidermal Cyst* ; Hair ; Humans*

AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compounds), which was at first extracted from cultured broth of Basidiomycotina, is known to be one of the Biological Response Modifiers (BRM). We examined the protective effects of AHCC on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury in mice. The AHCC pretreatment prevented the suppression of several physiological and biochemical parameters in the mice injected with CCl4 or TAA for 5 days. The liver weights and serum ALT and AST levels were increased by CCl4 or TAA, the degree of which was significantly reduced with the AHCC pretreatment. The AHCC pretreatment induced increasing activity of GST (glutathione s-transferase) and showed an increasing tendency of P450 and EROD (ethoxyresorufin o-dealkylation). The AHCC pretreatment also showed negative effects against the suppression of drug metabolizing enzymes, such as P450, EROD, and GST induced by CCl4 or TAA. AHCC pretreatment showed protective effects with significant inhibition of fatty change, inflammation, and necrosis in CCl4 and TAA intoxicated mice liver. The present study suggests that the protective effect of AHCC pretreatment might be related to the protection of liver from the drug induced liver injury in mice model.
Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 ; Drug-Induced Liver Injury* ; Immunologic Factors ; Inflammation ; Liver ; Mice* ; Necrosis ; Thioacetamide ; Weights and Measures

The first phase of this study was limited to the relation of the retinal arteries to the quadrants of the optic disk. After examination of hundreds of normal eyegrounds, it became apparent that there are several definite and easily recognizable variations in the distribution of the vessels as they emerge from the optic nerve head. The classification is made by dividing the surface of the nerve head into four quadrants, i.e., the upper and lower nasal and the upper and lower temporal. Since there are four main branches of the retinal artery, namely, the superior and inferior temporal and the superior and inferior nasal, there are nine possible variations in the distribution of these vessels over the surface of the optic nerve head.
Classification* ; Head ; Optic Disk* ; Retinal Artery*

No abstract available.
Apoptosis ; Cell Aging ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Tretinoin

PURPOSE: The 99mTc-Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) renal scan is used primarily for the diagnosis of renal scarring and acute pyelonephritis in children with urinary tract infections (UTI). This study aimed to evaluate clinical differences based on the positive or negative results of DMSA scans and kidney ultrasonography (US) in pediatric UTI. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 142 pediatric patients with UTI who were admitted to Myongji Hospital from January 2004 to December 2012. We performed a comparative analysis of clinical parameters such as age, sex, white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil count, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level, creatinine (Cr) level, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and durations of hospitalization and fever, grouped by the results of the DMSA scans and kidney US. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 33.8+/-48.3 months, and 78 (55%) were male. Fifty-two patients had abnormal DMSA findings, and 71 patients had abormal kidney US findings (test positive groups). In the DMSA scan positive group, there were significant differences in age, WBC counts, neutrophil counts, CRP level, BUN level, Cr level, hospitalization duration, number of abnormal findings on kidney US, and incidence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) compared with the scan negative group. The kidney US positive group had significant differences in age, neutrophil count, CRP level, BUN level, Cr level, hospitalization duration, number of abnormal findings on the DMSA scans, and more frequent VUR compared with the US negative group. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that there were no major differences in clinical parameters based on the results of the DMSA scans compared with kidney US in pediatric UTI. However, as kidney US and DMSA scan were performed to predict VUR, the sensitivity and negative predictive value was increased.
Blood Urea Nitrogen ; C-Reactive Protein ; Child* ; Cicatrix ; Creatinine ; Diagnosis ; Fever ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Leukocytes ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Pyelonephritis ; Retrospective Studies ; Succimer ; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid* ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Tract Infections* ; Urinary Tract* ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Animals ; Horns ; Myelin Sheath ; Neurons ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Potassium ; Pronase ; Rats ; Sensation ; Sodium ; Thermolysin ; Trigeminal Nucleus, Spinal

BACKGROUND: Plastic tubes have recently been used for blood collection tubes in clinical laboratories. The silicone coated plastic tube is said to be very similar with the glass tube and to show no difference with the glass tube in routine blood test except for some tests such as hormone tests and drug monitoring. So, we investigated the influence of plastic tube on the thyroid hormone test using two types of plastic vacuum tubes. METHODS: A total of 105 cases for the total triiodothyronine (T3), total thyroxine (T4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were studied. The glass tube was a plain glass tube, and the plastic tube was a serum separator tube with gel. The plastic vacuum tubes used in this study were the SST II plus tube (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, USA) and the Vacuette tube (Greiner Bio-One, Kremsmunster, Austria). An IMMULITE 2000 analyzer (Diagnostic Products Corporation, Los Angeles, USA) was used to measure the total T3, total T4 and TSH. RESULTS: Comparisons of the measured values within 1 hour of blood collection in the plastic tube with that in the glass tube are as follows. There was no difference between the Vacuette tube and the glass tube for the three tests, while there was statistically significant difference between the SST II plus tube and the glass tube for the total T3 and total T4. CONCLUSIONS: It might need more cautious interpretation of the results by a solid-phase, competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay, when the plastic vacuum tube is used as a blood collection tube instead of the glass tube.
Drug Monitoring ; Glass* ; Hematologic Tests ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Lakes ; Plastics* ; Silicones ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyrotropin ; Thyroxine ; Triiodothyronine ; Vacuum*

BACKGROUND: Sometimes we receive specimens collected several hours ahead, hemolyzed, or turbid. To decide to analyze the samples or not, the influence of storage time, hemolysis, and turbidi-ty on PT and PTT were studied. METHODS: Total of 198 cases for PT and 192 for aPTT were studied to clarify the effect of storage time on PT and aPTT. We performed the tests of PT and aPTT at 0, 2, 4, and 8 hours after collection of specimens. For the hemolysis effect study, we used 31 cases. Slightly, moderately, and severely hemolyzed plasma were obtained by adding hemolysate to plasma. For the turbidity effect study, we used 30 cases. Slightly, moderately, and severely turbid plasma were obtained by adding Intrali-pos (20% soybean oil) to plasma. RESULTS: Delayed test time affected the aPTT results after 8 hours. Hemolysis affected the PT and aPTT results. Turbidity did not affect the PT and aPTT results; however, the Coagrex-100s rejected to analyze the severely turbid samples. CONCLUSIONS: It is recommended that specimens be evaluated immediately or within 4 hours and that hemolysed or severely turbid specimens for PT and aPTT tests not be used.
Hemolysis* ; Plasma ; Soybeans

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between somatostatinergic tone (SST) and the size of growth hormone (GH)-producing pituitary tumors. GH levels of 29 patients with newly diagnosed acromegaly were measured using a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), an insulin tolerance test (ITT), and an octreotide suppression test (OST). Differences between GH levels during the ITT and the OGTT (DeltaGH(IO)), and between the OGTT and the OST at the same time point (DeltaGH(OS)) were compared according to the size of the tumor and the response pattern to the OST. DeltaGH(IO) of macroadenomas (n=22) was non-significantly higher than those of microadenomas while DeltaGH(OS) of macroadenomas were significantly higher than those of microadenomas. According to further analyses of macroadenomas based on the response pattern to the OST, GH levels during the ITT were significantly higher in non-responders. DeltaGH(OS) showed near-significant differences between responders and non-responders. In conclusion, as the size of the pituitary tumor increases, the effect of glucose on SST appears to be attenuated. Macroadenomas that are non-responders to the OST possess a portion of GH secretion exceeding the range of regulation by SST.
Acromegaly/*diagnosis/*pathology ; Adenoma/drug therapy/*pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal/therapeutic use ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Human Growth Hormone/*blood/secretion ; Humans ; Insulin/blood ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/analysis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Octreotide/therapeutic use ; Pituitary Neoplasms/drug therapy/*pathology

A small beam or slit of light focused at the pupillary margin will induce regular, persistent oscillations of the pupil. The period of these cycles is the pupil cycle time that can be easily measured and expressed in milliseconds. When the efferent part of the light reflex of the pupil is normal, determination of the period of these cycles in milliseconds provides a number which may be correlated with conduction time in the anterior visual pathway. Cox and Drews reoorded pupillary response to alternating half-field visual stimuli and found that stimulation of the temporal visual field (nasal retina) caused more pupillary constriction than did equivalent stimulation of the nasal field(temporal retina). These findings imply an asymmertric decussation of pupillomotor pathways in the midbrain in humans as well as greater sensitivity of the nasal retina. We measured nasal and temporal pupil cycle time on 200 normal eyes of Koreans by half-field stimulation of the nasal and temporal retina. And we found that: 1. The mean temporal pupil cycle time was 1071 +/- 92m sec, in right eye and 1068 +/- 81m sec, in left eye. The mean nasal pupil cycle time was 894 +/- 63m sec, in right eye and 899 +/- 57m sec, in left eye. Difference between nasal and temporal pupil cycle time was 177 +/- 73m sec, in right eye and 169 +/- 64m sec, in left eye. 2. The difference of pupil cycle time between the right and left eyes was 3 +/- 84m sec, in temporal retina and 5 +/- 61m sec, in nasal retina. The difference of pupil cycle time between the two eyes was not significant statistically. 3. The mean temporal pupil cycle time of the two eyes was 1069 +/- 85m sec, and the mean nasal pupil cycle time was 897 +/- 62m sec. Difference between nasal and temporal pupil cycle time was 172 +/- 74m sec. In 95% of normal population, the discrepancy between temporal and nasal pupil cycle time was shorter than 253m sec. 4. The mean temporal pupil cycle time was 1066 +/- 86m sec, in male and 1072 +/- 83m sec, in female. The mean nasal pupil cycle time 901 +/- 63m sec, in male and 894 +/- 59m sec, in female. The difference of pupil cycle time between the male and female was not significant statistically.
Constriction ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mesencephalon ; Pupil* ; Reflex ; Retina ; Visual Fields ; Visual Pathways