No abstract available.
Adult ; *Fatty Liver/diagnosis/etiology/pathology ; Humans ; Male

The lysozyme activities of knee joint fluid in normal Korean people, patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and patients with degenerative arthritis have been reported by Lee in 1974. This time I have studied the chronologic changes of lysozyme activity of knee joint fluid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis following intra-articular injection of steroid preparation (6-methylprednisolone acetate). The results obtained were as follows. 1. The synovial concentration of lysozyme in patients with rheumatoid arthritis was found to be 10.88 mcg/ml which is higher than normal value of 8.69 mcg/ml. 2. The lysozyme activity of joint fluid obtained 5 days after intra-articular injection of steroid prepatation was variable ranging from 7.40 mcg/ml to 10.0mcg/ml with the average of 8.97 mcg/ml, which corresponded to the relief of clinical manifestations. 3. The lysozyme activity of joint fluid obtained 10 days after intra-articular injection of steroid preparation decreased to 8.36 mcg/ml on average with the range from 7.60 to 9.30 mcg/ml which was in accordance with much relief of clinical manifestations. 4. The lysozyme activity of joint fluid obtained 20 days after intra-articular steroid injection was 9.55 mcg/ml on average with the range from 8.25 to 11.25 mcg/ml which was in accordance with the aggravations of clinical manifestations.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Humans ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Joints ; Knee Joint ; Muramidase ; Osteoarthritis ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is riot quite a rare diseasep; it has about 1% prevalence. The cause of vitiligo is not clear, however, in recent studies an autoimmune origin is freqluei itily mentioned. OBJECT: We tried to an lyze some clinical features of vitiligo and relate them with the presence of autoantibodies. MEHTODS: A total of 381 vitiligo patients was included for the analysis of clinical features. A laboratory study included rhumatoid factor, antinuclear antibocoly, antithyroglobulin antibody and antimicrosome antibody. Some 62 patients were examined for opl thmologic changes. RESULTS: One hundred and one(26.5%) of 381 patients exam ned showed at least one of the autoantibodies tested. Twenty nine pateints showed 2 different aitintibodies. The age at aonset of vitiligo in the autoantibody positive group was 6.6 years later than that of the autoantibody negative group. Autoimmune and/or endocrine diseases were more frequinty found among aut.oantibody positive patients. These diseas s included hyperthyroidism, diabetes me litus and alopecia areata. One patient revealed retinal hypoigmentation and showed no autoantibcidics. CONCLUSION: About 9% of vitiligo patients who were autoantiocyte positive had clinical evidence of diseases associated with the autoantibody. However, it is prudent. to xpect that more patients with t.he autoantibody may develop later systemic autoimmune diseases or endocrinopathies. A long term follow-up of these patients seem:, to be very important.
Alopecia Areata ; Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Autoantibodies* ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Endocrine System Diseases ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Prevalence ; Retinaldehyde ; Riots ; Vitiligo

The nevus spilus, also called speckled lentiginous nevus, presents itself as a patch of melanization dotted by smaller macules of darker color, frequently occuring on the trunk, and in some respect, resembeing the cafe au lait of von Recklinghausens disease and Albrights syndrome. We present clinical and histopathologic observation made on 14 patients, 13 male and 1 female, who agreed to go through a biopsy, during 5 years period from 1975 to 1980. The age at the visit ranged from 11 years to 61, with a mean of 22. 4. The location of lesions were shouIder (in 5 cases), neck (in 2), back (in 2), trunk (in 4),arm (in 1), and buttock (in 1). The epidermal changes consist of hypererkatosis (in 7), acanthosis (in 6), elongation of rete ridge and papillomatosis (in 9), basilar hypermelanosis (in 14), and nevus cell nests(in 3) The dermal changes consists of mild perivascular lymphoid and histiocytic cellular infiltrations (in 11), chromatophores (in 8) and dilated blood vessels (in 6). It is suggested that nevus spilus should be considered as a giant lentigo, a neoplasia of epictermal melanocytes, where junctional nevus is to develop.
Biopsy ; Blood Vessels ; Buttocks ; Chromatophores ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Lentigo ; Male ; Melanocytes ; Neck ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Nevus* ; Papilloma

No abstract available.
Maxillary Sinus* ; Maxillary Sinusitis*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is considerable variance in individual susceptibility to hepato-toxic effects of ethanol as evidenced by the finding that only about 10-20% of alcoholics develop alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The aims of this study were, 1) to get the data on the genetic polymorphisms of three major ethanol-metabolizing enzymes (ADH, CYP2E1, ALDH) in normal Korean adults, and to search for the specific genotypes influencing alcohol drinking behavior by the comparison of allele frequencies between healthy control group and heavy drinker group with or without liver disease, 2) to investigate the influence of the genetic polymorphisms of these enzymes on the susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease by the comparison of allele frequencies between heavy drinker group without liver disease and alcoholic liver cirrhosis group. METHODS: Healthy control group included 53 healthy males in military service without evidence of liver disease or alcoholism. Heavy drinker group without liver cirrhosis included 29 males who had been drinking 80g or more of alcohol daily for more than ten years but did not have any clinical evidence of liver disease. Alcoholic cirrhosis group included 43 male patients who had drunk 80g or more of alcohol daily for more than ten years and had clinical evidences of overt cirrhosis. Subjects with hepatitis B surface antigen or anti-hepatitis C antibody were excluded. Genotypes of the three enzymes were determined by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) with genomic DNAs extracted from peripheral leukocytes. RESULTS: 1) In healthy Korean males, allele frequency of ADH22, ADH31, CYP2E1 c2 and ALDH22 was 81%, 94%, 30% and 14%, respectively. 2) The absence of ALDH22 or CYP2E1 c2 allele were significant risk factors for being a heavy drinker (odds ratio,' 0.09, 0.42, respectively). 3) Although it was not associated with the polymorphism of each ethanol-metabolizing enzymes, the susceptibility to alcoholic liver cirrhosis was significantly associated with combined genotypes of ADH2(22) & ADH3(1+1)& CYP2E1 B or C. COMCLUSION: Genetic polymorphisms of ethanol-metabolizing enzyrnes are significantly associated with the suseptability to alcoholic liver disease as well as alcohol drinking behavior.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholics* ; Alcoholism ; Alleles ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; DNA ; Drinking ; Ethanol ; Fibrosis ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic* ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic* ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Risk Factors

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an immune-mediated disease which is a leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease in developed country. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blocker, infliximab has been considered a promising option for patients with refractory KD. Although chronic use of a TNF-alpha blocker could increase risk of opportunistic infections, a few studies have documented that use of infliximab was safe without serious adverse effects in patients with KD. We observed serious bacterial infection after infliximab treatment in an infant with refractory KD. Our patient was a 5-month-old male infant diagnosed with KD who did not respond to repeated doses of intravenous immunoglobulin. We effectively treated him with a single infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg), but gram-negative (Acinetobacter lwoffii) septicemia developed after infliximab infusion. Therefore, we report a case of serious septicemia after treatment with infliximab, and suggest considering the risk of severe infection when deciding whether to prescribe infliximab to an infant with refractory KD.
Bacterial Infections ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Developed Countries ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant* ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Sepsis* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Infliximab

Objectives: Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) is frequently found in critically ill patients and is associated with poor prognosis. However, CSR has not been evaluated in neurocritical patients. This study investigated the frequency and prognostic impact of CSR in neurocritical patients using biosignal big data obtained from intensive care units. Methods: This study included all patients who received neurocritical care at the tertiary hospital from January 2018 to December 2019. Clinical information and biosignal data of intensive care units were used and analyzed. The respiratory curve was visually assessed to determine whether CSR and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were present, and a heart rate variability (HRV) was obtained from the electrocardiogram. Results: CSR was confirmed in 166 of 406 patients (40.9%). Patients with CSR were older, had a higher frequency of cardiovascular risk factors as well as heart failure, and had a poor outcome (modified Rankin scale ≥4). As a result of multiple regression analysis adjusted for other variables, CSR was significantly associated with poor outcome with an odds ratio of 2.27 times higher (95% confidence interval 1.25–4.14, p=0.007). HRV analysis demonstrated that CSR and OSA had distinct autonomic characteristics. Conclusions This study first revealed the substantial frequency of CSR in neurocritical patients and suggests that it can be used as a predictor of poor prognosis in neurocritical care.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Imrnortalized human fetal liver cell lines established by transfecting simian virus 40 T gene wae found to lose differentiated liver cell functions in successive long-term culture. Butyrate, known as a differentiation-promoting agent for a variety of cancer cell lines, is produced in the colon by bacterial flora and selectively transported into the liver though the portal blood flow. Therefe, butyrate might play a role in the maintenance of differentiation in hepatocytes in vivo. In thepresent study, the effects of butyrate on cell growth and differentiation in human fetal liver cell lines was investigated. METHODS: Human fetal liver cell lines imrnortalized by SV 40 T antigen were treated with sodium butyrate (1mM), and cell growth rate after butyrate treatment were nmsured by the number of viable cells, determined by trypan blue dye exclusice method. The effects of sodium butyrate on the hepatocyte-specific differentiatian were assessed by albumin and alfa-fetoprotein (AFP) mRNA expression, analyzed using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, and were also by the increment of albumin secretion into culture media, determined by a competitive inhibition ELISA. RESULTS: Treatment with sodium butyrate resulted in a cessation of cellular proliferation and alterations in cellular morphology (increased cell size and polygonal change in shape). The level of albumin mRNA after sodium butyrate treatment was elevated by about two times as compared to that of control. In contrast, AFP mRNA expression were dennstrated neither before nor after sodium butyrate treatment. The average amount of albumin released in the medium was less than 6pghnl/10'cells/2days in the absence of sodium butyrate, and increased to 17 p g/ml/10'cells/2days at day 2, 21ugfml 10'cells/2days at day 4 in the presence of sodium butyrate, and these levels thereafter were over 10 times higher than that in the absence of sodium butyrate until day 10. CONCLUSION: These mults indicate that treatment of immcetalized fetal liver cell lines with butyrate leads to inhibition of cellular proliferation and promotion of adult hepatocyte-specific differentiation.
Adult ; Antigens, Viral, Tumor ; Butyrates ; Butyric Acid* ; Cell Line* ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Size ; Colon ; Culture Media ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatocytes ; Humans* ; Liver* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Simian virus 40 ; Sodium* ; Trypan Blue

No abstract available.
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; Carrier State/*drug therapy ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*therapeutic use