No abstract available.
History of Medicine ; Korea

Carcinomas of the biliary tract are known to be more common in East Asia than in Western countries, but their exact histopathological characteristics and tumorigenesis are not well elucidated. To examine the histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the biliary tract carcinomas according to their anatomical sites and to elucidate their tumorigenesis, we performed histological review and immunohistochemical study in a total of 135 cases of biliary tract carcinomas; 24 intrahepatic bile duct, 34 gallbladder, 51 common bile duct, and 26 periampullary carcinomas. Precancerous lesions were associated with 5 (20.8%) cases of intrahepatic duct carcinomas (dysplasia 5), 7 (20.6%) cases of gallbladder carcinomas (adenoma 5, dysplasia 2), 10 (19.6%) cases of common bile duct carcinomas (adenoma 7, dysplasia 3), and 2(7.7%)cases of periampullary carcinomas (adenoma 2). Immunohistochemically, c-erbB-2 expression in gallbladder carcinoma (21/34, 62%) was significantly higher than that of intrahepatic (8/24, 33%). Ki-67 indices were higher in common bile duct carcinomas (19%) than those of intrahepatic bile duct (14%) or periampullary carcinomas (12%). Overexpression of p53 gene product in the periampullary carcinomas (20/22, 77%) was higher than that of intrahepatic (12/24, 50%) or common bile duct carcinoma (26/51, 51%). In the precancerous lesions the c-erbB-2 expression was present in 29% of the gallbladder, 20% of the intrahepatic, 10% of the common bile duct precancerous lesions and none of the 2 cases of adenomas in the periampullary region. The p53 overexpression in the precancerous lesions was frequent, ranging from 43% to 60%. These results suggest that a mechanism involving p53 gene mutation and c-erbB-2 gene activation is present in the tumorigenesis in a significant number of the biliary tract carcinomas and they may be the early events in the tumorigenesis of the biliary tract carcinomas.
Adenoma ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Biliary Tract* ; Carcinogenesis ; Common Bile Duct ; Far East ; Gallbladder ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Genes, p53

The author's affiliation should be corrected.

BACKGROUND: Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been detected in a number of pathologic conditions in the central nervous system. This study was investigated the patterns of iNOS expression in the neuronal PC12 cell and the effects of nitric oxide on the apoptosis of PC12 cells. METHODS: The stimulating agents for induction of iNOS expression in PC12 cells were bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-), and interferon-gamma (IFN-). RESULTS: The expression iNOS mRNA and protein in PC12 cells stimulated with LPS/TNF-/IFN- were profoundly increased. The expression of iNOS mRNA arose at 6 hours, peaked at 12 hours, and declined to 48 hours after LPS/TNF-/ IFN- treatment. iNOS protein was increased up to 24 hours in LPS/TNF-/IFN- treated PC12 cells while the expression of nNOS was unaffected. Accumulation of NO derivatives in the culture media was markedly increased at least at up to 48 hours after LPS/TNF-/IFN- treatment. The induction of iNOS expression and NO production in differentiated PC12 cells was correlated with apoptotic cell death judged by transmission electron microscopy and DNA fragmentation from the results of the Terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUDP biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method. After treatment with NOS inhibitor, N-monomethylarginine (NMMA), a profound decrease in NO production by LPS/TNF-/IFN- treated PC12 cells was noted. And the LPS/TNF-/IFN- induced apoptosis was prevented by the NMMA treatment. CONCLUSIONS: From the above results it is concluded that the expression of iNOS in differentiated PC12 cells is induced by the combined application of LPS, TNF-, and IFN-. And the apoptosis of cultured PC12 cells is mediated by iNOS-derived NO.
Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Biotin ; Cell Death ; Central Nervous System ; Culture Media ; DNA Fragmentation ; Interferon-gamma ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Necrosis* ; Neurons* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II* ; Nitric Oxide* ; PC12 Cells* ; RNA, Messenger ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Free radicals are known as an important factor which may act on reperfusion injury after transient or permanent brain ischemia. Numerous studies about cytotoxic function of free radical have been done. Most of these studies demonstrate the function of free radical in reperfusion injury by using radical scavenger or antioxidant as inhibitor of radicals. We used a modification of Karnovsky's Mn2 /diaminobenzidine (DAB) technique to demonstrate intravascular free radicals following transient occlusion and reperfusion of one middle cerebral artery in Sprague-Dawley rats. The MCA was occluded for 2 hours using an intraluminal suture method. The reperfusion time after transient ischemia was 1 hour, 6 hours, and 24 hours, respectively. Animals were perfused transcardially with solution containing Mn2 and DAB. After DAB perfusion, the brains were removed promptly, sectioned in frozen, and stained with methylene blue for light microscopic examination. Upon light microscopic examination, free radicals were confined within intravascular lumen and the amount of deposits increased according to the duration of reperfusion. Upon electron microscopic examination, free radicals were located in nuclear membrane and membrane of mitochondria and RER, and demonstrated as electron dense deposits. In addition, cell processes of the neuron revealed an electron dense deposits beneath the inner side of the membrane. In conclusion, free radicals demonstrated in the reperfusion injury area indicate that free radical acts as an important cytotoxic factor. Intracellular localization of free radicals may explain the relationship between free radical and delayed neuronal injury.
Animals ; Brain Ischemia* ; Brain* ; Free Radicals* ; Ischemia ; Membranes ; Methylene Blue ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Mitochondria ; Neurons ; Nuclear Envelope ; Perfusion ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Reperfusion* ; Sutures

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes and to identify possible risk factors associated with these attitudes among Korean adolescent girls. METHODS: A convenience sample of 1,126 girls aged 15 to 19 years was recruited from thirteen high schools. A self-report survey was conducted including Eating Attitude Test for diagnosing abnormal eating attitudes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression with PASW statistics 18.0. RESULTS: Of the participants, 8.3% met the criteria for abnormal eating attitudes. Misperception of body image, depression, and high or low economical status were significantly associated with abnormal eating attitudes (OR=3.50, 95% CI=1.95~6.28; OR=5.47, 95% CI=3.17~9.44; OR=2.26, 95% CI=1.14~4.47; OR=2.41, 95% CI=1.25~4.66). CONCLUSION: The current study identified the family factors as well as internal ones related to abnormal eating attitudes of Korean adolescent girls. The results indicate that the most effective prevention strategies for this population would be to correct their misperception of body image and control depression. Results also suggest that further studies are necessary to develop a predictive model that could explain the influence of family factors including parent-child interaction and family function to abnormal eating attitudes.
Adolescent ; Aged ; Body Image ; Depression ; Eating ; Feeding and Eating Disorders ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Parent-Child Relations ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

This paper deals with cerebral paragonimiasis and cerebral hemispherectomy conducted as a treatment of cerebral paragonimiasis by Bo Sung Sim in Korea in 1950s-1960s. He demonstrated that cerebral hemispherectomy could be used for unilateral diffuse cerebral paragonimiasis. Sim learned cerebral hemispherectomy from Dr. L. A. French. at the University of Minnesota from 1955 to 1957 in America. The authors argues that Bo Sung Sim's introduction of cerebral hemispherectomy to Korea was not a simple application of an advanced medical technology, but a complicated and active process in that Sim used the technique to intervene intractable complications from cerebral paragonimiasis such as generalized convulsions, spastic hemiplegia and mental deterioration. Bo Sung Sim, one of the neurosurgeons of the first generation in Korea, was trained in neurology, neuropathology, neuroradiology and animal experiments as well as in neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota. After returning to Korea, Sim faced parasitic diseases, one of the most serious public health problems at that time, which were far different from what he learned in America. As a neurosurgeon, Sim tackled with parasitic diseases of the central nervous system with various diagnostics and therapeutics. In 1950s, more than one million populations suffered from pulmonary paragonimiasis acquired by eating raw crabs or by feeding juice of crushed crayfish for the treatment of measles in Korea. About 26.6 percent of people with paragonimiasis had cerebral paragonimiasis. Before bithionol therapy was introduced in 1962, neurosurgery was the only available treatment to control increased intracranial pressures, intractable epilepsy, paralysis and mental deterioration. Between 1958 to 1962, Bo Sung Sim operated on 24 patients of cerebral paragonimiasis. In two of them, he performed cerebral hemispherectomy to control intractable convulsions when he found diffuse cerebral paragonimiasis and cerebral atrophy at the operating table. The two patients were recovered dramatically after the operation. The first patient became a part of medical campus for 20 years after hemispherectomy, doing chores at the hospital and helping Bo Sung Sim for his teaching neuroanatomy. The presence of the hemispherectomized patient in the classroom impressed the students deeply. Furthermore, the hemispherectomized patient stimulated Sim and his school to perform research upon the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the brain with hemispherectomized animals.
Animals ; Brain/parasitology ; Hemispherectomy/*history ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Paragonimiasis/*history/surgery ; Parasitic Diseases/history/therapy ; Trematoda

No abstract available.
Adipocytes* ; Adipokines*

Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by several species of Brucella. Brucellosis is usually an acute or sub-acute febrile illness that histologically develops granulomatous inflammation. Brucella prostatitis is a very rare complication and is usually accompanied by epididymo-orchitis. We now report a case of histologically proven granulomatous prostatitis due to Brucella without clinical evidence of epididymo-orchitis. A 61-year-old farmer presented with myalgia, low back pain, and fever. A needle biopsy of the prostate was performed due to symptoms of urinary frequency and high prostate specific antigen levels (17.3 ng/mL). Histologically, the prostate showed granulomatous inflammation without caseous necrosis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies of blood and prostatic tissue for Brucella were positive, while a PCR study for Mycobacterium tuberculosis was negative. The patient was treated with doxycycline and rifampin. A possibility of Brucella prostatitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of granulomatous prostatitis or prostatitis of unknown origin associated with or without epididymo-orchitis.
Biopsy, Needle ; Brucella ; Brucellosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Doxycycline ; Fever ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Low Back Pain ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Necrosis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatitis ; Rifampin

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to screen the prevalence of aneurysms in migraineurs; to differentiate presenting features in migraineurs with and without aneurysm; and also to correlate the locations of aneurysm to the clinical features of migraine. Methods: A total of 4,416 subjects were interviewed and completed self-reported questionnaires on headache. Of these, 1,773 subjects diagnosed to have migraines based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders II (ICHD-II) criteria were screened for aneurysm by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). When aneurysm was suspected, further investigation with trans femoral cerebral angiography (TFCA) or three dimensional computerized tomography (CT) angiography was performed. Based upon MRA findings, subjects were grouped into unruptured aneurysm migraine patients (UAMP) and no aneurysm migraine patients (NAMP). Results: The prevalence of aneurysm was 3.6% (63 of 1,773) with the mean age of 56.0 years, which were not different from those of general population. There was no difference in migraine subtypes between UAMP and NAMP. Aggravation of headache by estrogen replacement therapy during menopause (p=.039), history of migraine in young age (p= .021), diplopia (p=.026), and retroauricular pain (p=.025) were significantly associated with presence of aneurysm. Although aneurysms were detected more in anterior circulation, there was no correlation between aneurysm site and headache location. The average size of aneurysm was 3.5 ± 2.1 mm and none were ruptured. Interventional therapy of aneurysm did not alter the feature of migraine. Conclusions: The incidence of aneurysm was not different in migraine patients as compared to the general population. Some features which significantly differentiate whether migrainuers have aneurysm or not warrant further study to have a predictive and localizing value.