No abstract available.
Drug Therapy*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of oral misoprostol with vaginal misoprostol administration in mid-trimester pregnancy termination after pretreatment with serial laminarias tenting. METHODS: This study was made in 50 patients for mid-trimester pregnancy termination at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chonbuk National University Hospital from January 1999 through December 2002. Twenty five women received misoprostol orally in a dose of 200 micro gram every hour for 3 doses followed by 400 micro gram every 4 hours after serial laminarias tenting. Twenty five women received misoprostol vaginally in a dose of 400 micro gram every 4 hours after serial laminarias tenting. Side effects of drug, induction to delivery interval, delivery numbers within 24 hours, curettage numbers for retained placenta, and the length of hospital stay were compared. RESULTS: The mean time of induction to delivery interval was significantly shorter in the vaginal group (15.5 +/- 12.7 vs 24.2 +/- 14.3 hours, p<0.01). The length of hospital stay was also shorter in the vaginal group (38.9 +/- 13.1 vs 47.2 +/- 14.5 hours, p<0.01). The number of patients delivered within 24 hours was more in the vaginal group (92 vs 72%, p<0.05). The side effects of misoprostol were slightly more common in the oral group than the vaginal group without statistical significance. CONCLUSION: We suspect that after serial tenting of laminarias, intravaginal misoprostol appears to be more safe and effective than oral misoprostol for mid-trimester termination.
Curettage ; Female ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Jeollabuk-do ; Laminaria ; Length of Stay ; Misoprostol* ; Obstetrics ; Placenta, Retained ; Pregnancy*

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease manifested by diffuse continuous mucosal and submucosal inflammation. Adenocarcinoma of the colon may be complicated in the long-standing, extensive ulcerative colitis. But the case of an atypical carcinoid tumor arising in the chronic ulcerative colitis has been very rarely reported. A case was experienced involving a 54-year-old woman with chronic ulcerative pancolitis that was complicated by an atypical carcinoid tumor of the sigmoid colon. A small, flat, elevated lesion was found at the sigmoid colon, 8 years after the initial diagnosis of ulcerative colitis had been made. The microscopic finding of the lesion showed the nest of moderately differentiated, medium sized cells with large nuclei. The immunohistochemical stains for cytokeratin, NSE, chromogranin A, and synaptophysin were positive.The patient was treated with a total colectomy accompanied with an ileostomy, and is now in a very favor able state of recovery.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoid Tumor* ; Chromogranin A ; Colectomy ; Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Colon ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Coloring Agents ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Ileostomy ; Inflammation ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Keratins ; Middle Aged ; Synaptophysin ; Ulcer*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatitis A is increasing during the recent years in Korea, and sporadic cases of hepatitis E are not rare. We investigated the etiology of acute viral hepatitis, including 27 cases of coinfection with hepatitis A and E, during the last 3 years. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of one hundred eleven patients with acute viral hepatitis at Chung-Ang University Hospital was done from January 2005 to July 2007. The patients were positive for any one of the following tests: IgM anti-HAV, IgM anti-HBc, HCV RNA and IgM anti-HEV. RESULTS: The proportions of acute viral hepatitis A, B and C were 94.6% (105/111), 4.5% (5/111) and 0.9% (1/111), respectively. Among the patients with hepatitis A, 27 patients (24.3%) were positive for IgM anti-HEV. We analyzed 105 patients with either hepatitis A only or they had coinfection of hepatitis A and E. The mean age, the duration of the hospital stay, the mean levels of serum transaminase, bilirubin and albumin and the protrombin time were similar between the patients with hepatitis A only and those with coinfection of hepatitis A and E. All the patients were discharged without serious complication such as fulminant hepatic failure. The biochemical liver function tests were normalized in all patients within 8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The most common etiology of acute viral hepatitis in Koreans was the hepatitis A virus. Patients coinfected with hepatitis A and E were observed. The patients with coinfection of hepatitis A and E showed no significant difference in their clinical features and laboratory parameters, as compared to the patients with hepatitis A only.
Bilirubin ; Coinfection ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis A ; Hepatitis A Antibodies ; Hepatitis A virus ; Hepatitis E ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Liver Failure, Acute ; Liver Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA

As prediction of rapidly aging society, bone health is considered increasingly important and received more attention than ever. Bone health is regulated by balancing between bone resorptive osteoclasts and bone formative osteoblasts. Disruption of balance between bone-resorbing osteoclasts and bone-forming osteoblasts results in bone disease. Natural products have recently received much attention as an alternative tool for the development of novel therapeutic strategy. Baicalein is reported it has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Baicalein also has been known that it has both promotive effect on MC3T3-E1 cell line and inhibitory effect on RAW 264.7 cell line. However, the inhibitory mechanism of baicalein using bone marrow derived macrophages (BMMs) on osteoclast differentiation remains not clear. In this study, the suppressive mechanism by baicalein on osteoblast differentiation was evaluated. Bicalein inhibited receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclast differentiation in BMMs in a dose dependent manner without any toxicity. Baicalein suppressed phosphorylation of protein kinaseB (Akt), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and phosphoinositide-specific phospholipaseCgamma2 (PLCgamma2). Furthermore, Baicalein suppressed the induction of RANKL-induced c-Fos and Nuclear factor of activated T cell c1 (NFATc1), essential genes on osteoclastogenesis. In BMMs, Bicalein inhibited the mRNA expression of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), osteoclast-associated receptor (OSCAR), cathepsinK, dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP). Moreover, baicalein promoted differentiation of osteoblast on bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). Taken together, these results suggest that baicalein has a potential for treating bone lytic diseases, such as osteoporosis, periodontitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Acid Phosphatase ; Aging ; Antioxidants ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Biological Products ; Bone Diseases ; Bone Marrow* ; Cell Line ; Genes, Essential ; Macrophages* ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Osteoblasts ; Osteoclasts* ; Osteoporosis ; Periodontitis ; Phospholipase C gamma ; Phosphorylation ; Phosphotransferases ; RANK Ligand ; RNA, Messenger