BACKGROUND: The Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen test (SPUAT) (Binax Now, USA) was developed for detecting polysaccharide C in urine samples for rapid diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia, the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). To validate positive results of these tests, we retrospectively investigated all positive results obtained from the emergency room of a Korean university hospital among patients with suspected CAP. METHODS: One hundred twenty-three positive SPUAT results were abstracted and analyzed from the authors' laboratory information system among the SPUAT results performed from 1,143 pneumonic patients admitted from the emergency room of a university hospital between 2007 and 2008. Medical records, including conventional microbiologic analysis results, were reviewed in detail for all positive test results. RESULTS: Among 123 patients with the positive SPUAT results, 24 patients were excluded due to hospitalization history during the preceding month. Nine of 99 patients (9.1%) with suspected CAP had confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia upon conventional sputum or blood culture. Thirty-five positive results (35.4%) showed other microorganisms upon conventional methods, which might be due to possible cross-reactivity. Among those, 23 positive results were considered bacterial pneumonic agents, and 12 positive results were regarded as urinary tract infection strains or contaminating agents. Fifty-five positive SPUAT results (55.6%) showed negative conventional microbiologic growth, and some positive SPUAT results might be caused by true pneumococcal infection although without cultural evidence. CONCLUSION: Our retrospective study demonstrated that a positive SPUAT result typically does not agree well with conventional culture methods, suggesting that the value of a positive SPUAT result in etiology determination may be limited under practical conditions in a university hospital.
Antigens, Bacterial ; Clinical Laboratory Information Systems ; Emergencies ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Pneumococcal Infections ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum ; Streptococcus ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Urinary Tract Infections

BACKGROUND: T typing has been used as a screening test for epidemiologic studies of group A streptococci (GAS) infections or carriers, and M typing has been performed for virulence studies. However, M typing is difficult to perform in routine laboratories. Recently, genotyping of the emm gene, which encodes the M protein, has become available. We investigated which T antigen is closely associated with a certain emmgenotype. METHODS: GAS were collected from the children in Jinju who were asymptomatic carriers (N=349) or had acute pharyngitis (N=122) during the 3 year-period from 2002 through 2004. T typing was performed by a slide aggulutination, and emmgenotyping by PCR and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: More than 90% of T1, T3, T6, T12, T25, and T5/27/44 antigens were associated with emm1, emm3, emm6, emm12 and 22, emm75, and emm44/61 genotypes, respectively; however, other T antigens, such as T2, T4, T7, T11, and B3264, were not associated with any particular emm genotypes. CONCLUSION: Several T antigens are so closely associated with particular emm genotypes that one could predict emmgenotypes based on the result of T typing.
Antigens, Viral, Tumor* ; Child ; Epidemiology ; Genotype* ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Pharyngitis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; Virulence

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is known to be one of the most lethal cancers among all cancer types, with a relative 5-year survival rate of less than 8%. Currently, surgery is the only probable curative treatment for PDAC which is available for only 10-15% of the patients diagnosed with the cancer. Organoids resemble the original tissue in morphology and function with self-organizing capacity. Organoids can be cultured with high effectiveness from individual patient derived tumor tissue which makes them an extremely fitting model for translational uses and the improvement of personalized cancer medicine. Before personalized medicine based on organoids can be applied in the clinic, the improvement of drug screening platforms in terms of sensitivity and robustness is necessary.

INTRODUCTION: In our previous studies, we isolated porcine skin-derived mesenchymal stem cells (pSDMSCs) from the ears of adult miniature pigs and evaluated the pluripotency of these pSDMSCs based on expressions of transcription factors, such as Oct-4, Sox-2, and Nanog. Moreover, the characteristic of mesenchymal stem cells was revealed by the expression of various mesenchymal stem cell markers, including CD29, CD44, CD90, and vimentin. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo osteogenesis after maxillary sinus lift procedures with autogenous pSDMSCs and scaffold. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The autogenous pSDMSCs were isolated from the 4 miniature pigs, and cultured to 3rd passage with same methods of our previous studies. After cell membranes were labeled using a PKH26, 1x10(7) cells/100 microliter of autogenous pSDMSCs were grafted into the maxillary sinus with a demineralized bone matrix (DBM) and fibrin glue scaffold. In the contralateral control side, only a scaffold was grafted, without SDMSCs. After two animals each were euthanized at 2 and 4 weeks after grafting, the in vivo osteogenesis was evaluated with histolomorphometric and osteocalcin immunohistochemical studies. RESULTS: In vivo PKH26 expression was detected in all specimens at 2 and 4 weeks after grafting. Trabecular bone formation and osteocalcin expression were more pronounced around the grafted materials in the autogenous pSDMSCs-grafted group compared to the control group. Newly generated bone was observed growing from the periphery to the center of the grafted material. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study suggest that autogenous skin-derived mesenchymal stem cells grafting with a DBM and fibrin glue scaffold can be a predictable method in the maxillary sinus floor elevation technique for implant surgery.
Adult ; Animals ; Bone Matrix ; Cell Membrane ; Ear ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive ; Floors and Floorcoverings ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Organic Chemicals ; Osteocalcin ; Osteogenesis ; Swine ; Tissue Engineering ; Transcription Factors ; Transplants ; Vimentin

BACKGROUND: The erythromycin (EM) resistance rates and emm genotypes of Streptococcus pyogenes could vary by geographical location and study period. The purpose of this study, involving a large number of children, was to determine EM resistance rate and its resistance mechanism of S. pyogenes, and to compare these results with those of previous studies performed at the same area. METHODS: Throat cultures were taken from 2,351 healthy children of four elementary schools from October through December, 2004 in Jinju. A total of 328 strains of S. pyogenes were isolated. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by the agar dilution method against six antimicrobial agents. The phenotypes of EM resistance were evaluated by the double-disk diffusion test and the frequency of ermB and mefA genes was determined by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Resistance rates of S. pyogenes to EM, clindamycin and tetracycline were 9.8%, 8.8% and 18.3%, respectively. Almost all isolates were susceptible to ofloxacin, levofloxacin and chloramphenicol. Constitutive resistance (CR) was observed in 87.5%, M phenotype in 9.4%, and inducible resistance only in 3.1%. The ermB and mefA genes were present in 90.6% and 9.4% of the isolates, respectively. CONCLUSION: The resistance rate to EM of S. pyogenes was 9.8% in 2004, which was a large drop from the 51% shown in 2002. CR with the ermB gene was predominant, suggesting that most of the EM resistant isolates have a high level of resistance.
Agar ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Child ; Chloramphenicol ; Clindamycin ; Diffusion ; Erythromycin* ; Genotype ; Gyeongsangnam-do* ; Humans ; Levofloxacin ; Ofloxacin ; Pharynx ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Streptococcus pyogenes* ; Streptococcus* ; Tetracycline

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study is designed to assess the effect of smoking on the outcome of endoscopic sinus surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 66 patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery with the diagnosis of chronic sinusitis were evaluated. They were divided into 3 groups; non-smoking, quit-smoking and still-smoking groups. Preoperative and postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS), Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT), and endoscopic score for each group were obtained and compared. RESULTS: There were statistically significant correlations between VAS, SNOT score and smoking. However, all patients showed a similar degree of improvement on the subjective symptoms regardless of smoking or nonsmoking. And, postoperative relief of subjective symptoms was not apparent after smoking cessation. In objective findings, postoperative endoscopic scores were 1.6 in non-smoking group, 1.8 in quit-smoking group and 2.7 in still-smoking group. Stillsmoking group had the worst endoscopic result, However, these differences did not reach a statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that smoking had a negative effect on subjective symptoms but not in objective endoscopic findings. In addition, the cessation of smoking after sinus surgery may have no meaningful benefit on the outcome of surgery.
Humans ; Sinusitis ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Smoking Cessation ; Treatment Outcome

Hunter syndrome (or mucopolysaccharidosis type II [MPS II]) arises because of a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase. Short stature is a prominent and consistent feature in MPS II. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with idursulfase (Elaprase(R)) or idursulfase beta (Hunterase(R)) have been developed for these patients. The effect of ERT on the growth of Korean patients with Hunter syndrome was evaluated at a single center. This study comprised 32 patients, who had received ERT for at least 2 yr; they were divided into three groups according to their ages at the start of ERT: group 1 (<6 yr, n=14), group 2 (6-10 yr, n=11), and group 3 (10-20 yr, n=7). The patients showed marked growth retardation as they got older. ERT may have less effect on the growth of patients with the severe form of Hunter syndrome. The height z-scores in groups 2 and 3 revealed a significant change (the estimated slopes before and after the treatment were -0.047 and -0.007, respectively: difference in the slope, 0.04; P<0.001). Growth in response to ERT could be an important treatment outcome or an endpoint for future studies.
Adolescent ; Body Height ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Demography ; Enzyme Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Iduronate Sulfatase/*therapeutic use ; Infant ; Male ; Mild Cognitive Impairment/etiology ; Mucopolysaccharidosis II/complications/diagnosis/*therapy ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Protein Isoforms/therapeutic use ; Republic of Korea ; Young Adult