No abstract available.
Humans*

The effects of polyadenylic.polyuridylic acid [poly(A).poly(U)] on in vitro proliferations of thymus and spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice were investigated. Mice were injected intravenously with 30 micrograms of poly(A).poly(U) or placebo. Two days later, thymus, spleen and peritoneal cells from these mice were prepared and cultured in pooled or non-pooled conditions. Cell proliferations were assessed by the technique of incorporation of tritiated thymidine. It has been revealed that the in vitro proliferations of thymus and spleen cells as well as the productions of interleukin-1 by peritoneal adhering cells and interleukin-2 by spleen cells were significantly enhanced in the cultures of cells from poly(A).poly(U)-treated mice. These enhancing effects were observed only in the cultures of pooled cells from mice whose genetic homogeneity is suspected. Furthermore, thymus cells from poly(A).poly(U)-treated mice acted as strong responder cells but not as stimulators in one way mixed cultures. Thus, the enhanced cellular responsiveness may be mediated by the increased production of cytokines and antigen recognitions of thymus-derived cells following activations via the adjuvant effect of poly(A).poly(U).
Animal ; Cell Division/drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Interleukin-1/biosynthesis ; Interleukin-2/biosynthesis ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Poly A-U/administration & dosage/*pharmacology ; Spleen/*cytology ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Thymus Gland/*cytology

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.
Child* ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural* ; Nephrosis, Lipoid*

Pharmacologic therapy is still the primary management for epilpsy; however, surgical treatment is a reasonable therapeutic option for patients suffering from medically intractable seizures, especially temporal lobe epilepsy having a documented unilateral epileptogenic area. Thirty nine patients with pharmaco-resistant complex partial seizures underwent anterior temporal lobectomy and hippocampectomy in 38 cases and frontal cortisectomy in one case. On pathological examination, hippocampal sclerosis was a predominent pathologic finding and was identified in 18 cases. Other non-neoplastic lesions consisted of 5 cases of vascular lesions(2 cavernous angiomas, 2 arteriovenous malformations and 1 angiomatosis), 3 cases of fibrous nodule, 2 cases of cicatrical changes of cerebral cortex, and 1 case of parasitic infection. Neoplasms including two cases of oligodendroglioma and one case of anaplastic astrocytoma were also noted. In seven cases, there was no detectable lesion on gross and microscopic examination. On post-operative follow-up, seizures were completely terminated in most cases(31 cases, 79%). The rest of the patients also displayed marked alleviation of symptoms. The seizures tended to recur more aften among the patients with neoplasm or no pathologically detectable lesion. In order to detect any minute pathological lesion, thorough gross and microcsopic examinations are considered to be essential.

No abstract available.
Seoul*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Humans ; Leprosy*

The T cell responses to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were analyzed in acute hepatitis patients, chronic active hepatitis (CAH) patients and asymptomatic carriers. Neither proliferative responses nor substantial cytokine production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in response to HBsAg was detected. For further studies, HBsAg- reactive T cell lines were prepared from PBMC of the hepatitis patients and asymptomatic carriers. No proliferative response of the T cell lines was observed. Interestingly, however, T cell lines obtained from acute hepatitis patients were found to produce IFN-r, but not IL- 4, in response to HBsAg stimulation, whereas T cell lines obtained from CAH patients and carriers were not. Results of this study suggest that HBsAg-reactive T cells producing Thl type cytokines may play an important role in the viral clearance during acute infections, while defects in those T cells may be responsible for the viral persistency.
Cell Line ; Cytokines ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; T-Lymphocytes*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Autoimmunity* ; Mice*

BACKGROUND: Surgical repair of a hip fracture and a total hip replacement (THR) are mostly performed in elderly patients. The overall perioerative mortality is 0.5 to 1.0%, for which one of the common causes is pulmonary embolism during the postoperative period. A number of studies have demonstrated reduction in both perioperative blood loss and incidence of postoperative thromboembolism after a total hip replacement with spinal or epidural anesthesia. However a regional technique is often inappropriate for the patient scheduled for a THR because of the long operating time, the positioning and the manipulation required during the procedure. Even though combined epidural-general anesthesia may offer advantages for the patient undergoing a THR, until now the effects of such a technique for a THR have not been reported. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of general anesthesia (GA) and combined epidural-general anesthesia (CEGA) on blood loss, incidence of postoperative thromboembolism and effective postoperative pain control on patients undergoing a THR. METHODS: Thirty cases of both GA and CEGA for a THR performed at the department of anesthesiology, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital from Jan. to Dec. 1999 were selected. The surgical time, volume of intravenous fluid infusion during the operation, intraoperative and postoperative transfusion volume, preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin, postoperative blood loss, use of postoperative analgesics, and incidence of postoperative thromboembolism were measured. RESULTS: Surgical time, volume of intravenous fluid administration during the operation and the use of postoperative analgesics was significaltly less in the group CEGA (P < 0.05). Mean values of intraoperative and postoperative transfusion volume, differences between preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin and postoperative blood loss were less in the CEGA group than in GA group. However, the differences were not found to be statistically significant. No difference was found between the two groups in incidence of postoperative thromboembolism. CONCLUSIONS: CEGA decreases surgical time, volume of intravenous fluid administration during an operation and provides effective postoperative pain control in patients undergoing a THR. Therefore,it is suggested that CEGA offers some advantages over GA alone.
Aged ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia, General* ; Anesthesiology ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* ; Hip ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Operative Time ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Hemorrhage ; Postoperative Period ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Thromboembolism