The propolis, honey bee hive product, is a folk medicine for treating various ailrnents and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is an extract of propolis. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of ethanol extracted propolis (EEP) or CAPE on the tumorigenesis, pulmonary metastases, and proliferation and activity of splenocytes and macrophages in ICR mice. EEP at 0.2, 2 or 20mg/ml applied topically on the back of each mice 30 minutes before application of 7,12-dimethylbenz (a)anthracene and 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate inhibited the number of tumors per mouse by 61, 75 or 100%, respectively. ...continue...
Animals ; Bees ; Carcinogenesis* ; Ethanol ; Honey ; Macrophages* ; Medicine, Traditional ; Mice* ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Propolis*

This study aimed to define a one portion size of food items frequently consumed for convenient use by Koreans in food selection, diet planning, and nutritional evaluation. We analyzed using the original data on 5,436 persons (60.87%) aged 20 ~ 64 years among 8,930 persons to whom NHANES 2005 and selected food items consumed by the intake frequency of 30 or higher among the 500 most frequently consumed food items. A total of 374 varieties of food items of regular use were selected. And the portion size of food items was set on the basis of the median (50th percentile) of the portion size for a single intake by a single person was analyzed. In cereals, the portion size of well polished rice was 80 g. In meats, the portion size of Korean beef cattle was 25 g. Among vegetable items, the portion size of Baechukimchi was 40 g. The portion size of the food items of regular use set in this study will be conveniently and effectively used by general consumers in selecting food items for a nutritionally balanced diet. In addition, these will be used as the basic data in setting the serving size in meal planning.
Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Cattle ; Edible Grain ; Diet ; Food Preferences ; Humans ; Meals ; Meat ; Nutrition Surveys ; Single Person ; Vegetables

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the use of contrast enhancement (especially its extent) predicts malignant brain edema after intra-arterial thrombectomy (IAT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: We reviewed the records of patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent IAT for occlusion of the internal carotid artery or the middle cerebral artery between January 2012 and March 2015. To estimate the extent of contrast enhancement (CE), we used the contrast enhancement area ratio (CEAR)-i.e., the ratio of the CE to the area of the hemisphere, as noted on immediate non-enhanced brain computed tomography (NECT) post-IAT. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the CEAR values being either greater than or less than 0.2. RESULTS: A total of 39 patients were included. Contrast enhancement was found in 26 patients (66.7%). In this subgroup, the CEAR was greater than 0.2 in 7 patients (18%) and less than 0.2 in the other 19 patients (48.7%). On univariate analysis, both CEAR > or =0.2 and the presence of subarachnoid hemorrhage were significantly associated with progression to malignant brain edema (p<0.001 and p=0.004), but on multivariate analysis, only CEAR > or =0.2 showed a statistically significant association (p=0.019). In the group with CEAR > or =0.2, the time to malignant brain edema was shorter (p=0.039) than in the group with CEAR <0.2. Clinical functional outcomes, based on the modified Rankin scale, were also significantly worse in patients with CEAR > or =0.2 (p=0.003) CONCLUSION: The extent of contrast enhancement as noted on NECT scans obtained immediately after IAT could be predictive of malignant brain edema and a poor clinical outcome.
Brain Edema* ; Brain* ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Multivariate Analysis ; Stroke ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thrombectomy*

Invasive aspergillus tracheobronchitis is uncommon manifestation of infection due to Aspergillus species, occurring in severely immunocompromised patients who are generally neutropenic with haematological diseases, AIDS, or after heart and lung transplantation. The pseudomembranous form is the most severe condition and is usually fatal despite treatment with antifungal agents. However, there are a few cases reported with no apparent severe compromise in the host defences. We encountered a pseudomembranous necrotizing bronchial aspergillosis in a 73-year old male patient, who was treated successfully with antifungal agents.
Aged ; Antifungal Agents ; Aspergillosis* ; Aspergillus ; Heart ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Lung Transplantation ; Male

BACKGROUND: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a novel, late mediator of inflammation. This study compared the pro-inflammatory effects of LPS and HMGB1. The transcriptional factors that play an important role in mediating the HMGB1-induced stimulation of IL-8 were also evaluated. METHODS: RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with either LPS (100 ng/ml) or HMGB1 (500 ng/ml). The TNF-alpha, MIP-2 and IL-1beta levels in the supernatant were evaluated by ELISA at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24h after stimulation. An acute lung injury was induced by an injection of LPS (5 mg/kg) or HMGB1 (2.5 mg/kg) into the peritoneum of the Balb/c mice. The lung cytokines and MPO activity were measured at 4h (for LPS) or 24h (for HMGB1) after the injection. The transcriptional factor binding sites for NF-IL6, NF-kappaB and AP-1 in the IL-8 promoter region were artificially mutated. Each mutant was ligated with pIL-6luc and transfected into the RAW264.7 cells. One hour after stimulation with HMGB1 (500 ng/ml), the cell lysate was analyzed for the luciferase activity. RESULTS: The expression of MIP-2, which peaked at 8h with LPS stimulation, increased sequentially until 24h after HMGB1 stimulation. An intraperitoneal injection of HMGB1, which induced a minimal increased in IL-1beta expression, provoked the accumulation of neutrophils the lung. A mutation of AP-1 as well as NF-kappaB in the IL-8 promoter region resulted in a lower luciferase activity after HMGB1 stimulation. CONCLUSION: The proinflammatory effects of HMGB1, particularly on IL-8, are mediated by both NF-kappaB and AP-1.
Acute Lung Injury ; Animals ; Binding Sites ; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; HMGB1 Protein* ; Inflammation ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Interleukin-8* ; Luciferases ; Lung ; Mice ; Negotiating ; Neutrophils ; NF-kappa B ; Peritoneum ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Transcription Factor AP-1 ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is the most common cause of death among infectious diseases with community-acquired pneumonia being the sixth leading cause of death in the USA. In Korea, several studies have evaluated the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia with a limited number of patients and risk factors. This study, evaluated all the possible risk factors (including the pneumonia severity index; PSI) in for the community-acquired pneumonia patients admitted to a referral hospital. METHODS: The medical records of patients admitted to the Chung-Aug University Yongsan Hospital between January 2002 and January 2005 for community-acquired pneumonia were reviewed retrospectively. The demographic data, comorbidity, radiographic findings and laboratory results which might influence the prognosis of pneumonia were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 179 patients admitted for community-acquired pneumonia, 29 patients died (mortality 16%). The risk factors for mortality in the comorbidity category were congestive heart failure and a myocardial infarction. The laboratory data, showed that albumin, LDH, total cholesterol, HDL, PT, aPTT, hemoglobin and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were related to the prognosis. For the pneumonia severity index, the mortality rate increased in a step-wise manner from class I through class V. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidities such as congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction as well as the albumin, LDH, total cholesterol, HDL cholestreol, prothrombin time, activated partial thrombotin time, hemoglobin and blood urea nitrogen(BUN) are important risk factors for mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. PSI is a valuable index for evaluating the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia.
Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Cause of Death ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Communicable Diseases ; Comorbidity ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Mortality* ; Myocardial Infarction ; Pneumonia* ; Prognosis ; Prothrombin Time ; Referral and Consultation* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Urea

Granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has immuno-stimulatory effects. We hypothesized that GM-CSF plays an important role both in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and hemorrhage-induced acute lung injury (ALI). We also postulated that GM-CSF augments LPS-induced inflammation by priming neutrophils. ALI was induced in GM-CSF-/- or control C57BL mice either by LPS injection or by hemorrhage. Lung inflammation (by lung expression for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin- 6 (IL-6), and keratinocyte-derived chemokine) and lung injury (by myeloperoxidase and evans blue dye assay) were evaluated after ALI. Incremental doses of LPS (0, 1, 10, and 100 ng/mL) and GM-CSF (0, 1, 10, and 100 ng/mL) were added to bone marrow neutrophils. The expression of TNF-alpha, MIP-2, and IL-1beta was evaluated with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The mRNA expression of three cytokines, and the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF kappa-B) were evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and electropnoretic mobility shift assay, respectively. GM-CSF -/- mice showed decreased neutrophil infiltration, less leakage, and lower expression of cytokines in the lung after LPS or hemorrhage. GM-CSF augmented LPS-induced protein and mRNA expression of TNF-alpha, MIP-2 and IL-1beta, which was mediated by increased intra-nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B. GM-CSF plays an important role in high-dose LPS and hemorrhage-induced ALI, which appears to be mediated by its priming effect on neutrophils.
Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells/cytology ; Chemokine CXCL2/metabolism ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor/metabolism/*physiology ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides/metabolism ; Lung/metabolism/pathology ; *Lung Injury ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Transgenic ; Neutrophils/*cytology/metabolism ; Peroxidase/metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism

OBJECTIVE: Stroke is associated with significant long-term morbidity and poor quality of life (QOL). Depression is one of the most common complications after stroke and has been associated with QOL cross-sectionally. We investigated the longitudinal impact of depression in the acute phase of stroke on QOL 1 year after stroke. METHODS: In total, 423 patients were evaluated 2 weeks after stroke, and 288 (68%) were followed 1 year later. QOL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Abbreviated form (WHOQOL-BREF) at baseline and follow-up. Depression was diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria; demographic and clinical characteristics data, including stroke severity, were obtained at baseline. The longitudinal associations of post-stroke depression (PSD) at baseline with QOL across two evaluation points were assessed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: The WHOQOL-BREF scores were significantly and persistently lower 1 year after stroke in patients with PSD at baseline compared with those without PSD at baseline independent of demographic and clinical characteristics, including stroke severity. CONCLUSION: PSD in the acute phase of stroke is an independent predictor of QOL in both the acute and chronic phases of stroke. Our findings underscore the importance of evaluating depression in the acute phase of stroke.
Depression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Quality of Life ; Stroke ; World Health Organization

Background: Implant-based dual-plane augmentation mammoplasty requires accurate separation of the pectoralis major muscle (PMM) at its origins. The authors identified the PMM origins during breast reconstruction surgery with the goal of providing additional information on subpectoral implant insertion for reconstructive or aesthetic purposes. Methods: This study was conducted on 67 patients who underwent breast reconstruction surgery at the breast center of our hospital between November 2016 and June 2018. In total, 34 left and 39 right hemithoraces were examined. The left and right hemithoraces were each divided into 15 zones to determine the percentage of PMM attachments in each zone. The distribution of PMM origins in each zone was examined to identify any statistically significant differences. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the origins of the PMM between the right and left hemithoraces. The percentage of attachments increased moving from the fourth to the sixth rib and from the lateral to the medial aspect. Conclusions The anatomical findings of this study could be used as a reference for accurate dissection of the origins of the PMM for the preparation of the subpectoral pocket for subpectoral implant placement.

Calcifying psuedoneoplasm of the spine is a rare non-neoplastic lesion of unknown origin. Radiologic and histologic manifestations are very variable and clinical symptoms include isolated pain, myelopathy, and radiculopathy. Surgical resection is the preferred option of treatment. This report describes three cases of calcifying pseudoneoplasm in the spine. The first case is a 77-year-old female with pain in both legs. The second case is a 67-year-old woman who presented as right leg pain. The third case is a 78-year-old woman with isolated back pain. The involved sites of each of cases were T12, L2-3, and L1, respectively. Surgical resection of the involved masses relieved symptoms.
Aged ; Back Pain ; Epidural Space* ; Female ; Humans ; Leg ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spine*