OBJECTIVE: We investigated the expression of uPA and uPAR in eutopic endometrium of advanced stage endometriosis and control patients. METHODS: The 33 endometriosis patients and 32 controls were enrolled. Endometrial samples were obtained from 65 premenopausal women aged 29~44 years, undergoing laparoscopic surgery or hysterectomy for non-malignant lesions. Sufficient samples were collected from 33 patients with endometriosis stage III and IV and 32 controls without endometriosis confirmed by laparoscopic surgery. The mRNA expression of uPA and uPAR from eutopic endometrium were analyzed by RT-QC PCR. RESULTS: The mRNAs of uPA and uPAR were expressed in eutopic endometrium from endometriosis and normal controls throughout the menstrual cycle. Uterine endometrium from women with endometriosis expresses significantly (p<0.05) higher levels of u-PA mRNA than endometrium from normal women without endometriosis in the proliferative phase. There were no significant differences in expression of uPAR in eutopic endometrium between controls and endometriosis patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that eutopic endometrium from endometriosis patients may be more invasive and prone to peritoneal implantation because of greater u-PA mRNA expression than endometrium from women without endometriosis. Thus, increased proteolytic activity may be one etiology for the invasive properties of the endometrium resulting in the development of endometriosis.
Endometriosis* ; Endometrium* ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Laparoscopy ; Menstrual Cycle ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteolysis ; RNA, Messenger* ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the expression of TSP-1 and -2 in eutopic endometrium of advanced endometriosis and control patients. METHODS: The 33 endometriosis patients and 32 controls were enrolled. Endometrial samples were obtained from 65 premenopausal women aged 29-44 years, undergoing laparoscopic surgery or hysterectomy for non-malignant lesions. Sufficient samples were collected from 33 patients with endometriosis stage III and IV and 32 controls without endometriosis confirmed by laparoscopic surgery. The mRNA expression from eutopic endometrium for TSP-1 and -2 were analyzed by RT-QC PCR. RESULTS: The mRNAs of TSP-1 and -2 were expressed in eutopic endometrium from endometriosis and normal controls throughout the menstrual cycle. There were no significant differences in expression of TSP-1 and TSP-2 in eutopic endometrium between controls and endometriosis patients. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that TSP-1 and -2 had no crucial role compared to other molecules in the regulation of angiogenesis. These findings also suggest that dysregulation of other angiogenic regulators would be concerned in pathophysiologic role in endometriosis development.
Endometriosis* ; Endometrium ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Laparoscopy ; Menstrual Cycle ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger* ; Thrombospondin 1 ; Thrombospondins

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) the neuropsychological deficits with major depressive disorder(MDD) in depressed state and 2) the changes of neuropsychological dysfunctions during depressed episodes and remitted periods in the MDD group. METHODS: 12 patients with MDD and 70 normal controls who were diagnosed and classified by DSM-IV and SCID-IV interview participated in this study. The psychopathology was measured using the Hamilton rating scale for depression(HAM-D) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale(BPRS). The memory function, executive function, and sustained attention were measured by a trained psychologist using the Korean version of Memory Assessment Scale(K-MAS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST), and Vigilance(VIG) and Cognitrone (COG) in Vienna Test System. After 6 weeks of treatment, we retested the cognitive tests in order to measure the cognitive functions in remitted states. RESULTS: Patients with MDD achieved significantly lower score in sentence immediately recall, verbal memory score and total memory score of the K-MAS, total errors of the WCST, response time of Vigilance and response time at "Yes" response of Cognitrone than normal controls at baseline. After 6 weeks of medication, the psychiatric symptoms in the patient group were attenuated, and most of the neuropsychological functions including attention, memory, and frontal/executive function were improved except for response time of Cognitrone. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for distinct neuropsychological deficits in patients with MDD on their depressed states and remitted periods. The impairment on response time remains after remission, and this would be a trait marker of major depressive disorder.
Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Executive Function ; Humans ; Memory ; Psychopathology ; Reaction Time ; Wisconsin

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) whether the change of manic symptoms in bipolar patients would be correlated with cognitive functions and 2) whether there would be significant changes in the cognitive function between acute manic and euthymic states. METHODS: The thirty-five patients who were diagnosed as manic episode by DSM-IV and SCID-IV interview participated in this study. The memory function, executive function, and sustained attention were measured using Memory Assessment Scale (MAS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and Vigilance (VIG) and Cognitrone (COG) in the Vienna Test System respectively. The psychopathology was measured using Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) by a trained psychologist. After 6 weeks of drug treatment, the cognitive tests and psychopathology were retested by the same psychologist. RESULTS: The normal control group (N=76) and bipolar disorder patients group (N=35) showed different neurocognitive performance which were performed at baseline. After 6 weeks of medication, the YMRS and BPRS scores in the patient group decreased significantly. Although the psychiatric symptoms were attenuated, most of the neurocognitive functions including attention, psychomotor speed, memory (N=34), and frontal/executive function (N=35) were still impaired after treatment. Furthermore, the correlations between the variation of psychiatric symptoms and the differences in neurocognitive functions were statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION: This study provides an evidence for distinct neuropsychological dysfunctions in acute manic state in bipolar disorder patients. Besides, the impairments of neuropsychological functioning remain after medication and remission. These neuropsychological dysfunctions might be one of the trait markers of the disorder, and we suggest that the dysfunctions make the bipolar disorder patients with medication still experience difficult to adjust daily life.
Bipolar Disorder ; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ; Cognition ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Executive Function ; Humans ; Memory ; Neuropsychology ; Psychopathology ; Wisconsin

OBJECTIVE: Personality dimension is considered as a risk factor of depression. This study was to compare aggression, impulsivity, hopelessness, and TCI (temperament and character dimensions) between patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and normal controls. METHODS: A total of 56 MDD patients and the same number of normal controls who were matched for age, gender, and education were recruited. All subjects completed the following questionnaires; Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, 11th Version (BIS-11), and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). RESULTS: MDD patients were significantly higher scores in anger, hostility of AQ, BHS, motor impulsivity of BIS-11, and Harm Avoidances (HA) of TCI with all subscales of HA than normal controls, whereas novelty seeking 1 (NS1) (Exploratory of NS), Reward Dependence (RD) with RD3 (Attachment).RD4 (Dependence), Self-Directedness (SD) with most subscales of SD, Cooperativeness (CO), and ST3 (Spiritual Acceptance) showed lower scores than normal controls. Moreover, BHS and HA, BIS and NS showed moderate positive correlation in MDD patients, while BHS and SD, HA and SD were negatively correlated. CONCLUSION: The present study showed unique clinical features, especially personality dimensions of patients with MDD. Our results could be applicable to suggest treatment process and to predict one's prognosis for depression in that psychological properties are important for drug compliance and treatment response.
Aggression ; Anger ; Compliance ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Hostility ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reward ; Risk Factors ; Temperament

PURPOSE: We report clinical features and viral studies on 153 children with aseptic meningitis in the Pusan area in 1996 and compare the results of this study with those of other reports in 1990 and 1993. METHODS: One hundred fifty-three children with aseptic meningitis who have been admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, St. Benedict Hospital between July and October 1996 were included. We described age and sex distribution, monthly distribution, clinical manifestations, laboratory data and complication. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 2.32:1 and the most age was 4.21 years. It occurred mostly in July, August and October. It was later than the peak incidence between May and July in 1990 and 1993. The main symptoms were fever, headache and vomiting in this order. Rash was mostly maculopapular form and frequent in those younger than 4 years-old. No specific results were not found in peripheral blood and CSF studies. We failed to isolate the causative agent in the viral culture, but Echovirus 9 was suspected as a causative agent by its clinical features and other similar reports. The duration of clinical symptoms in the early diagnostic group was significantly shorter that in late diagnostic group. CONCLUSIONS: Aseptic meningitis was prevalent in children in the Pusan area, during the summer of 1996. It was frequent in male and the mean age was 4.21 years. It occurred mostly in July, August and October. Peak incidence was later than in 1990 and 1993. The main symptoms: fever, headache, vomiting and rash were observed frequently.
Busan* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Echovirus 9 ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fever ; Headache ; Hospital Distribution Systems ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Meningitis, Aseptic* ; Pediatrics ; Sex Distribution ; Vomiting

OBJECTIVE: To compare the analgesic effectiveness and safety of tramadol 37.5 mg/acetaminophen 325 mg combination tablets (tramadol/acetaminophen) with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for the treatment of osteoarthrits in elderly patients. METHODS: This randomized controlled study enrolled 48 patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis where the diagnostic period was over 3 months. Patients with at least moderate pain [visual analog scale (VAS) with scores > or =40/100 mm] after the washout period were randomized to tramadol/acetaminophen or NSAID. All patients received tramadol/acetaminophen 1 tablet TID or NSAID (naproxen 500 mg) BID. The primary outcome measures were the final pain VAS scores. Secondary measures included pain relief (5 point Likert scale), adverse events, and overall medication assessments. RESULTS: In total, 43 intent-to-treat (ITT) patients received tramadol/acetaminophen (n=21) or NSAID (n=22). Mean baseline pain VAS scores showed no difference between two groups. ITT analysis showed significantly better mean final VAS scores (38.45 vs 31.24, p=0.004) and mean final pain relief scores (2.18 vs 2.95; p=0.007) for tramadol/acetaminophen rather than for NSAID. The most common treatment related adverse events with tramadol/acetaminophen were nausea/vomiting (47.6%) and constipation (33.3%). Epigastric soreness and heartburn was more frequent in NSAID treatment. CONCLUSION: Tramadol/acetaminophen combination showed better effectiveness in pain reduction compared with NSAIDs when used for the treatment of osteoarthritis in elderly patients.
Aged ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Constipation ; Heartburn ; Humans ; Knee ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Tablets ; Tramadol

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether polymorphisms of gene encoding CYP1B1 is associated with the risk of endometriosis in Korean women. METHODS: We investigated 199 patients with histopathologically confirmed endometriosis rAFS stage III/IV and 183 control group women who were surgically proven to have no endometriosis. The genetic distribution of four different CYP1B1 polymorphisms at G119-T, G432-C, T449-C, and A453-G were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR products. RESULTS: We found no overall association between each individual CYP1B1 genotype and the risk of endometriosis. The odds ratio of genotype GG/GC+GG/TC+TT/AA compared to GG/CC/CC/AA (reference) was calculated as 2.06 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.003~4.216. CONCLUSIONS: This results suggest that CYP1B1 genetic polymorphism may be associated with development of endometriosis in Korean women.
Endometriosis* ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length