Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen presenting cells that can activate naive T cells. Mature DCs exress high levels of MHC and costimulatory molecules on their surface and have capacity to produce IL-12, a 75 kDa heterodimeric cytokine composed of p35 and p40 subunit. IL-12 is currently thought to be one of most critical determinants for skewing the immune response towards Th1. Expression of IL-12 in dendritic cells seems to be regulated by various stimuli including CD40L. In the present study we investigated expression of IL-12 in mature DCs, which were cultured from bone marrow cells in the presence of GM-CSF. Maturity of the DCs was confirmed by morphologic characteristics, immunophenotypes, and allostimulatory activities. Exprssion levels of IL-12 p40 in the DCs were measured by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Increases in IL-12 p40 expression were observed after treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an anti-MHC class II monoclonal antibody, or an anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody. The most remarkable increases, however, were observed in the DCs treated with an anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody. These results support a previous notion that signals through CD40/CD40L interaction may be important for the production of IL-12 by DCs. Moreover, results of this study show a possibility of using monoclonal antibodies against CD40 molecules for preparing DCs producing high amount of IL-12, which can be used for anti-tumor or anti-viral immunotherapy.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antigen-Presenting Cells ; Bone Marrow Cells ; CD40 Ligand ; Dendritic Cells* ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Immunotherapy ; Interleukin-12* ; Mice* ; T-Lymphocytes

No abstract available.
Humans ; Spinal Cord*

Absence status consists of prolonged episodes during which there is a disturbance of mental function in association with a continuous repetitive or intermittent spike and wave pattern on the electroencephalography. We report a 14 year-old male who had previous history of partial to secondiary generalized seizure, showed absence status during acute phase of brainstem infarction.
Adolescent ; Brain Stem Infarctions* ; Brain Stem* ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Male ; Seizures ; Status Epilepticus*

BACKGROUND: It was known that the prevalence of reflux esophagitis in Korea was below 5% and there were few epidemiological data on feflux esophagitis in Korea. It was reported that the associated factors of reflux exophagitis were sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, drugs, exercise, diet habits, but the nuvber of systematic studies on these factors was small. Thus, we studied to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of reflux esophagitis in Korea. METHODS: We examined 5,487 subjects (male 3,450, female 2,037, age;18082 year) visting health promotion center for routine check-up including esophagogastroduodenoscopy. All of them were given a questionnaire about past medical history, use of drugs, smoking, alcohol consumption, social history, diet habits. We recruited 275 cases with reflux esophagitis and 550 controls without refoux esophagitis on esophagogastroduodenoscopy. We estimated the prevalence of reflux esophagitis and performed retrospectively a cross-sectional study to evaluate the associated factors of reflux esophagitis. RESULTS: The prevalence of reflux esophagitis was 5.01%, 7.10% in male, 1.47% in female. The prevalence in male was significantly higher than that in female (p<0.05). The associated factors of reflux esophagitis were smoking, alcohol consumption, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride(p<0.05). It was investigated that the cases with reflux esophagitis in relation to diet habits ate more frequently fried foods in oil, Chinese dishes than controls(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of reflux esophagitis in routine check-up subjects was 5.01%. The associated factors of refoux esophagitis were smoking, alcohol consumption, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride.
Alcohol Drinking ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cholesterol ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Esophagitis ; Esophagitis, Peptic* ; Female ; Food Habits ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Obesity ; Prevalence* ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Triglycerides ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Anti-idiotype antibody (anti-id Ab) which recognizes idiotope in the variable region of immunoglobulin (Ig) can regulate Ab production by B cells in vivo and in vitro. Although it has been reported that anti-id Ab can suppress IgM production by lymphocytes or hybridoma cells without suppression of cell proliferation, the regulatory mechanism of anti-id Ab is not completely understood. We studied the effects of anti-id Ab on the production of IgG class anti-DNA Ab by hybridoma cells, on the proliferation of cells, and on the transcription levels of Ig genes. In contrast to suppressive effect of anti-id Ab on the production of IgM previously reported by others, stimulatory effects of anti-id Ab on the production of IgG by hybridoma cells as well as the proliferation of these .cells were observed. However, little effect of anti-id Ab on the transcription levels of Ig genes was observed. These results suggest that anti-id Ab can increase Ab production by stimulation of cell proliferation. Furthermore, these results suggest that the effect of anti-id Ab on the production of Ab may be determined by the difference in class of Ab produced by hybridoma cells following the treatment with anti-id Ab.
Antibody Formation* ; B-Lymphocytes ; Cell Proliferation ; DNA* ; Genes, Immunoglobulin ; Hybridomas* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Immunoglobulins ; Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors associated with provoked pulmonary embolism (PE). METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 patients with PE. Patients that had transient risk factors at diagnosis were classified as having provoked PE, with the remaining patients being classified as having unprovoked PE. The baseline clinical characteristics and factors associated with coagulation were compared. We evaluated the risk factors associated with provoked PE. RESULTS: Of the 237 PE patients, 73 (30.8%) had provoked PE. The rate of respiratory failure and infection, as well as the disseminated intravascular coagulation score and ratio of right ventricular diameter to left ventricular diameter were significantly higher in patients with provoked PE than in those with unprovoked PE. The protein and activity levels associated with coagulation, including protein C antigen, protein S antigen, protein S activity, anti-thrombin III antigen, and factor VIII, were significantly lower in patients with provoked PE than in those with unprovoked PE. Multivariate analysis showed that infection (odds ratio [OR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4 to 7.4) and protein S activity (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95 to 0.99) were significantly associated with provoked PE. CONCLUSIONS: Protein S activity and presence of infection were important factors associated with provoked PE. We should pay attention to the presence of infection in patients with provoked PE.
Cohort Studies ; Diagnosis ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; Factor VIII ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Protein C ; Protein S ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors*

A 78-year-old woman with a medical history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus who underwent surgery for lumbar stenosis died of sudden cardiac arrest two days after the operation. An autopsy was performed; however, the cause of death was not identified macroscopically. Congo red staining detected amyloid deposits in the systemic organs, including the heart, lungs, liver, thyroid, and kidney. Immunohistochemical staining revealed an immunoglobulin lambda light chain, which can cause the primary form of systemic amyloidosis. The prognosis of patients with systemic amyloidosis is directly associated with cardiac involvement. In this case, amyloid formation was noted in the myocardial interstitium and intramyocardial vascular wall, which caused luminal narrowing, subsequently causing arrhythmia and ischemic heart disease in each tissue, respectively. We present a case of primary systemic amyloidosis with severe cardiac involvement that was diagnosed after a comprehensive postmortem examination.

AIMTo avoid the limitation of the use of cationic polyethlenimine (PEI)-complexed plasmid DNA use for in vitro or in vivo gene delivery due to its cytotoxicity and lower efficiency in the presence of serum.

METHODSA polyplex with decreased positive charge on the complex surface was designed. The PEI/DNA (PD) complexes coated with an anionic biodegradable polymer, alginate were prepared and their gene delivery behavior with PD was compared.

RESULTSThe alginate-coated PD polyplex, where alginate : PEI : DNA [alginate : DNA, 0.15 (w/w); PEI : DNA, N : P = 10] showed about 10 - 30 fold-increased transfection efficiency compared to corresponding non-coated complexes to C3 cells in the presence of 50% serum. The surface charge of the alginate-coated complex was approximately half of that of the alginate-lacking complex. The size of alginate-coated complex was slightly smaller than that of the corresponding complex without alginate. The former complex also showed a reduced erythrocyte aggregation activity and decreased cytotoxicities to C3 cells in comparison with PD complex.

CONCLUSIONThe alginate-coated PD polyplexes as a new gene delivery system can improve transfection efficiency in high serum concentration with low cytotoxicity to C3 cells.

Alginates ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cell Line, Transformed ; Cell Survival ; Culture Media ; DNA ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; metabolism ; Erythrocyte Aggregation ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; metabolism ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Genetic Vectors ; Glucuronic Acid ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Hexuronic Acids ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Plasmids ; Polyethyleneimine ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Serum ; Transfection

We present three neuropathologically-verified and two clinically-probable cases of Creutfeldt Jakob disease. All five had nonspecific prodromal complaints or symptoms prior to overt neurological signs and showed striking progressive neurologic deterioration, especially cognitive decline and cerebellar dysfunction. Myoclonic involuntary movements and complete decapitated states followed in one or two months. The characteristic even pathognomonic in proper clinical settings, features of electroencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography and pathologic findings are presented.
Cerebellar Diseases ; Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome* ; Dyskinesias ; Electroencephalography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Strikes, Employee

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of testosterone on the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 in rat penile corpus cavernosum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Sprague Dawley rats (n=60) were divided into 3 groups: control, castration, and testosterone replacement after castration. Testosterone was administered for 7 days at week 1 and week 2 after castration. The intracavernosal pressure/systemic blood pressure was recorded after pelvic nerve stimulation. Expression of TGF-beta1 was determined by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: At week 1 and 2 after castration, the intracavernosal pressure/systemic blood pressure was significantly decreased in the castration group (31.3+/-15.7%, 18.6+/-4.6%) compared to the control group (58.0+/-11.4%, 58.9+/-8.2%) and testosterone replacement group (50.6+/-14.5%, 49.1+/-19.4%)(p<0.05). The expression of TGF-beta1 was increased at both 1 and 2 weeks of castration compared to the control group, and was down-regulated with testosterone replacement. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the testosterone maintains erectile function and regulates the expression of TGF-beta1 in the rat penile corpus cavernosum.
Animals ; Blood Pressure ; Castration ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Transforming Growth Factors*