Depending on the intracellular buffering of calcium by chelation, zinc has the following two apparent effects on neuronal excitability: enhancement or reduction. Zinc increased tonic activity in the depolarized state when neurons were intracellularly dialyzed with EGTA but attenuated the neuronal activity when BAPTA was used as an intracellular calcium buffer. This suggests that neuronal excitability can be modulated by zinc, depending on the internal calcium buffering capacity. In this study, we elucidated the mechanisms of zinc-mediated alterations in neuronal excitability and determined the effect of calcium-related channels on zinc-mediated alterations in excitability. The zinc-induced augmentation of firing activity was mediated via the inhibition of small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels with not only the contribution of voltage-gated L-type calcium channels (VGCCs) and ryanodine receptors (RyRs), but also through the activation of VGCCs via melastatin-like transient receptor potential channels. We suggest that zinc modulates the dopaminergic neuronal activity by regulating not only SK channels as calcium sensors, but also VGCCs or RyRs as calcium sources. Our results suggest that the cytosolic calcium-buffering capacity can tightly regulate zinc-induced neuronal firing patterns and that local calcium-signaling domains can determine the physiological and pathological state of synaptic activity in the dopaminergic system.
Animals ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels, L-Type ; Cytosol ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Egtazic Acid ; Electrophysiology ; Fires ; Neurons ; Potassium ; Rats ; Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel ; Transient Receptor Potential Channels ; Zinc

No abstract available.
Cisapride* ; Gastric Emptying* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of the proximal nerve stump, in end-to-side nerve repair, to functional recovery, by modifying the classic end-to-side neurorrhaphy and suturing the proximal nerve stump to a donor nerve in a rat model of a severed median nerve. METHODS: Three experimental groups were studied: a modified end-to-side neurorrhaphy with suturing of the proximal nerve stump (double end-to-side neurorrhaphy, Group I), a classic end-to-side neurorrhaphy (Group II) and a control group without neurorrhaphy (Group III). Twenty weeks after surgery, grasping testing, muscle contractility testing, and histological studies were performed. RESULTS: The grasping strength, muscle contraction force and nerve fiber count were significantly higher in group I than in group II, and there was no evidence of nerve recovery in group III. CONCLUSIONS: The contribution from the proximal nerve stump in double end-to-side nerve repair might improve axonal sprouting from the donor nerve and help achieve a better functional recovery in an end-to-side coaptation model.
Anastomosis, Surgical/methods ; Animals ; Axons/pathology ; Forelimb ; Hand Strength ; Male ; Median Nerve/pathology/*surgery ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscle, Skeletal/physiopathology ; Nerve Regeneration ; Nerve Transfer/*methods ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recovery of Function ; Ulnar Nerve/pathology/*surgery

We studied the retinal complication of systemic alpha-interferon in 52 patients who had chronic myelogenous leukemia of chronic phase. 32 patients of them were systemically injected with alpha-interferon for 6 months or more, and 20 patients who were not injected were used as a control. In the injected group, 10 of the 32 patients(31%) showed retinopathies such as yellowish white subretinal deposits, multiple blot shaped hemorrhages, and cotton wool spots. However in the control group, there was only one patient who showed blot shaped hemorrhage. The injected group had significantly much higher chance to have retinopathy than the control group(p<0.05). Majority of the retinal findings were yellowish white subretinal deposits rather than retinal hemorrhage or cotton wool spots. The possibility of interferon related retinopathy increased in older patients and in the patients with longer use of systemic alpha-interferon (p>0.05). The sex and hematologic factor did not affect the development of retinopathy(p<0.05). Since the patients under long term treatment of systemic alpha-interferon are at higher risk of retinopathy, their fundus should be examined periodically.
Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; Interferons* ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Retinal Hemorrhage ; Retinaldehyde ; Wool

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stomach cancer is the most common malignancy and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in Korea. The early diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer are very important because the prognosis of early gastric cancer is excellent. Gastric screening may provide an opportunity to detect asymptomatic early gastric cancer. We analyzed the characteristics of gastric cancer diagnosed with a health screening test to evaluate the usefulness of a screening program for gastric cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathological characteristics of 111 gastric cancer patients diagnosed using gastric endoscopy as a gastric screening test at the Health Promotion Center of Kyungpook National University Hospital from July 1997 through December 2005. RESULTS: The incidence of gastric cancer was 0.38% and the mean patient age was 58.5 years old. The proportion of early gastric cancer was 73% of all gastric cancer. In 55 cases, constituting 49.6% of all gastric cancer and 68% of early gastric cancer, the lesions were confined to the mucosa. The most common macroscopic types were type IIc in early gastric cancer and Borrmann type 3 in advanced gastric cancer. There were significant positive correlations between lymph node metastasis and both the depth of tumor invasion and size of the lesion. The 5-year survival rates are 82.7% in total gastric cancer and 97.2% in early gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Gastric cancer detected during health screening has a favorable prognosis because gastric cancer confined to the mucosa predominates and early gastric cancer detected at screening has a lower incidence of metastasis to regional lymph nodes.
Early Diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Mass Screening ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate

Recently, air pollution has become more and more severe globally and has decreased the quality of life significantly in subjects with or without allergic diseases. Air pollution more severely affects patients with allergic diseases, including allergic rhinitis (AR); therefore, it could devastate quality of life. Many epidemiological studies have shown that air pollutants increased outpatient clinic visits as well as the prevalence/severity of AR and decreased quality of life in patients with AR. Traffic-related air pollution also increases the severity and occurrence rate of AR, and heavy traffic is also associated with an increased prevalence of AR. Immunologically, air pollutants increase airway inflammation and mucin production by triggering the generation of reactive oxygen species and inducing the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat protein 3 inflammasome and apoptosis. Since air pollution affects both the upper and lower airways and is known to be a risk factor for AR, proper diagnosis and treatment should be applied. In this review article, we will address several epidemiological and clinical studies about the effects of air pollution on AR, mechanisms by which air pollutants aggravate AR, and treatment of AR triggered by air pollutant.

A 50-year-old woman visited the hospital with persistent watery rhinorrhea which she had for 2 months. Endoscopic examination revealed a mass in the right nasal cavity and rdiological findings revealed a bony defect on the lateral wall of the sphenoid sinus associated with the protrusion of the mass lesion. Endoscopic skull base reconstruction was performed via transpterygoid approach, including a watertight closure of the dural defect with both underlay and overlay repairs. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage persisted after reconstruction. The right lateral lamella was identified as a secondary CSF leakage site. CSF leakage is common among patients with meningoencephalocele. However, a secondary CSF leakage accompanied with meningoencephalocele in other areas is uncommon. The present patient experienced CSF leakage from multiple sites—one associated with the original meningoencephalocele and another from a secondary defect at the skull base. This complication is rare in clinical practice. Here, we describe this rare case with a brief literature review.

OBJECTIVES: It is well known that allergic rhinitis (AR) has positive association with adenotonsillectomy. However, the impact of AR on symptom improvement after adenotonsillectomy is not well documented. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the effect of AR on the symptom improvement after adenotonsillectomy between AR and nonallergic patients. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 250 pediatric patients younger than 10 years old who received adenotonsillectomy from June 2009 to June 2014 in a tertiary referral hospital. All patients underwent skin prick test or multiple allergen simultaneous test (MAST) before surgery and classified into AR group and control group. Obstructive and rhinitis symptoms including snoring, mouth breathing, nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, itching, and sneezing were evaluated before and 1 year after surgery using questionnaire and telephone survey. RESULTS: AR group was 131 and control group was 119, showing higher prevalence (52.4%) of AR among adenotonsillectomized patients. Both groups showed dramatic improvement of symptoms such as snoring and mouth breathing after surgery (all P < 0.05). However, AR group showed significantly less improvement than control group in snoring, mouth breathing, nasal obstruction, and rhinorrhea (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative mouth breathing and snoring were dependent on tonsil grade and postoperative symptoms were mainly dependent on presence of AR. Nasal obstruction was dependent on tonsil grade and presence of AR preoperatively and presence of AR postoperatively. These suggest the importance of AR as a risk factor for mouth breathing, snoring, and nasal obstruction. CONCLUSION: AR has positive association with adenotonsillectomy and not only allergic symptoms but also obstructive symptoms such as snoring and mouth breathing improved less in AR group than control group. Hence, patients with AR should be monitored for long-term basis and more carefully after adenotonsillectomy.
Adenoidectomy ; Child ; Humans ; Mouth Breathing ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nasal Obstruction ; Palatine Tonsil ; Prevalence ; Pruritus ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinitis ; Rhinitis, Allergic* ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; Sneezing ; Snoring ; Telephone ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tonsillectomy

Angioleiomyoma is an uncommon benign tumor composed of smooth muscle cells and vascular endotheliums. It is common in the uterus and the gastrointestinal tract but rare in the head and neck. This neoplasm is extremely rare in the nasal cavity, accounting for less than 1% of all vascular leiomyomas. The tumor has a benign nature and the recurrence of tumor is rare and complete removal is the treatment of choice. We present a case of angioleiomyoma which involves the nasal vestibule and was excised by a sublabial approach.
Accounting ; Angiomyoma ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Head ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Nasal Cavity ; Neck ; Recurrence ; Uterus

OBJECTIVES: Cartilage reshaping by laser irradiation is used to correct septal and auricular cartilage deformities. Chondrocyte viability following laser irradiation and reshaping has been well established. However, the regeneration process of chondrocyte after laser irradiation has not been revealed yet. The aims of this study were to determine the mechanism of cartilaginous thermal injury and the regenerative process of damaged cartilage following laser irradiation. METHODS: Laser irradiation was performed on human septal cartilage and rabbit auricular cartilage using a 1,460-nm diode laser. We observed change in the shape of cartilage and evaluated the extent of cartilage injury using live/dead cell assay via confocal microscopy. Hoechst and propidium iodide (PI) staining was used to evaluate the mechanism of chondrocyte injury after laser irradiation. To evaluate the regeneration of cartilage, laser irradiated cartilages were reimplanted into a subperichondrial pocket and were harvested at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after reimplantation for viability assessment and histologic examination. RESULTS: Laser irradiation using a 1,460-nm diode laser produced a marked shape change in both human septal and rabbit auricular cartilages. Thermal damage on cartilage was correlated with the exposure time and the laser power. Hoechst and PI staining showed that chondrocyte death by laser irradiation was due to mainly necrosis, rather than apoptosis. In lower power treatment group (0.3 W and 0.5 W), all the chondrocytes regenerated within 4 weeks, however, in 1 W treatment group, chondrocytes could not regenerate until 4 weeks. CONCLUSION: Reshaping of cartilage using 1,460 nm diode laser was attained concurrently with the thermal injury to the chondrocytes. The extent of thermal damage on chondrocytes was dependent on the exposure time and the laser power and the damaged chondrocytes irradiated with lower level of laser power could be regenerated after reimplantation into subperichondrial pocket.
Apoptosis ; Cartilage ; Chondrocytes ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Ear Cartilage ; Humans ; Lasers, Semiconductor ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Necrosis ; Propidium ; Regeneration ; Replantation