No abstract available.
Coronary Vessels*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nitric oxide (NO) production in the respiratory epithelium and the demonstration of inducible nitric oxide synthase in ciliated epithelium of the upper airway have recently been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the nasal epithelium after capsaicin treatment, which stimulates the substance P innervation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vivo treatment -Capsaicin (112 nM) was applied to the nasal cavities of the rat and guinea pig, and 30 nl of normal saline was applied for the control groups. After 2 hours, animals were sacrificed with cardiac perfusion of 4% paraformaldehyde and septal mucosa were removed. The 8 nm serial frozen tissue sections were made, and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase was determined using nicotinamide adenine diphosphate-diaphorase histochemistry. In vitro treatment- The nasal septum of the rats and the trachea of the guinea pigs were incubated in DMEM culture media with or without 112 nM capsaicin for experimental or control groups. After 0, 30 or 120 minutes of incubation, the tissues were fixed and processed for nicotinamide adenine diphosphate-diaphorase histochemistry. RESULTS: Both in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that the strong positive histochemical reactivity were observed in the respiratory epithelium of the rats and guinea pigs after capsaicin treatment compared to control groups. CONCLUSION: These data imply that capsaicin induces the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and that the substance P innervation of the nasal mucosa may have a protective role in the airway defense mechanism through nitric oxide production.
Adenine ; Animals ; Capsaicin* ; Culture Media ; Epithelium* ; Guinea Pigs ; Guinea* ; Mucous Membrane ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasal Mucosa ; Nasal Septum ; Niacinamide ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II* ; Perfusion ; Rats* ; Respiratory Mucosa ; Substance P ; Trachea

Osteomyelitis is the inflammatory disease occured in the bone, involving a bone marrow, a Harversian system and the underlying cortical bone. Osteomyelitis is divided into acute and chronic osteomyelitis. Chronic osteomyelitis. is presented as a pain, swelling, pus discharge and radiographic change. The pathogenesis of osteomyelitis occcuring in the facial bone is predominately due to odontogenic microorgarnisms, Staphylococcus, resulted in odontogenic infection or post-traumatic infection. The mandible is the most commonly involved facial bone and the bones in the middle of third of the face is rare because of a abundant blood supply. Moreover, Osteomyelitis occuring in the zygoma is extremely rare. In our department, we report the case that osteomyelitis occuring in the zygoma with diabetes is resulted by odontogenic maxillary sinusitis.
Bone Marrow ; Facial Bones ; Mandible ; Maxillary Sinus* ; Maxillary Sinusitis* ; Osteomyelitis* ; Staphylococcus ; Suppuration ; Zygoma*

Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is an uncommon cause of a proximal intestinal obstruction. The most characteristic symptoms are postprandial fullness, nausea, and vomiting. The diagnosis is established by ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Almost all patients respond well to conservative management. However, if conservative management fails, surgical options should be applied. In this article, we report a case of SMA syndrome with Nutcracker syndrome in a patient with diabetes mellitus. Establishing the diagnosis of Nutcracker syndrome is usually based on clinical suspicion and radiological findings. Several complications that have been reported to result from SMA syndrome include peptic ulcer disease, pancreatitis, metabolic alkalosis, and uremic syndrome. However, Nutcracker syndrome accompanied by SMA syndrome is extremely uncommon, as described in this case. To our knowledge, this association has not been reported previously.
Alkalosis ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior ; Nausea ; Pancreatitis ; Peptic Ulcer ; Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome ; Vomiting

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and effects of balance training with a newly developed Balance Control Trainer (BCT) that applied the concept of vertical movement for the improvements of mobility and balance in chronic stroke patients. METHOD: Forty chronic stroke patients were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental group (n=20) underwent training with a BCT for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, in addition to concurrent conventional physical therapy. The control group (n=20) underwent only conventional therapy for 4 weeks. All participants were assessed by: the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), 10-meter Walking Test (10mWT), Timed Up and Go test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Korean Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Manual Muscle Test (MMT) before training, and at 2 and 4 weeks of training. RESULTS: There were statistically significant improvements in all parameters except knee extensor power at 2 weeks of treatment, and in all parameters except MBI which showed further statistically significant progress in the experimental group over the next two weeks (p<0.05). Statistically significant improvements on all measurements were observed in the experimental group after 4 weeks total. Comparing the two groups at 2 and 4 weeks of training respectively, 10mWT, TUG, and BBS showed statistically more significant improvements in the experimental group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Balance training with a newly developed BCT is feasible and may be an effective tool to improve balance and gait in ambulatory chronic stroke patients. Furthermore, it may provide additional benefits when used in conjunction with conventional therapies.
Gait ; Humans ; Mobility Limitation ; Postural Balance ; Stroke

BACKGROUND: This study was to investigate the effect of biomechanical stimulation on osteoblast differentiation of human periosteal-derived stem cell using the newly developed bioreactor. METHODS: Human periosteal-derived stem cells were harvested from the mandible during the extraction of an impacted third molar. Using the new bioreactor, 4% cyclic equibiaxial tension force (0.5 Hz) was applied for 2 and 8 h on the stem cells and cultured for 3, 7, and 14 days on the osteogenic medium. Biochemical changes of the osteoblasts after the biomechanical stimulation were investigated. No treatment group was referred to as control group. RESULTS: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and ALP messenger RNA (mRNA) expression level were higher in the strain group than those in the control group. The osteocalcin and osteonectin mRNA expressions were higher in the strain group compared to those in the control group on days 7 and 14. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression was higher in the strain group in comparison to that in the control group. Concentration of alizarin red S corresponding to calcium content was higher in the strain group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that cyclic tension force could influence the osteoblast differentiation of periosteal-derived stem cells under optimal stimulation condition and the force could be applicable for tissue engineering.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bioreactors ; Calcium ; Humans* ; Jaw* ; Mandible ; Molar, Third ; Osteoblasts* ; Osteocalcin ; Osteonectin ; RNA, Messenger ; Stem Cells* ; Tissue Engineering ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

PURPOSE: Obesity is associated with morbidity following gastric cancer surgery, but whether obesity influences morbidity after laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) remains controversial. The present study evaluated whether body mass index (BMI) and visceral fat area (VFA) predict postoperative complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 217 consecutive patients who had undergone LG for gastric cancer between May 2003 and December 2005 were included in the present study. We divided the patients into two groups ('before learning curve' and 'after learning curve') based on the learning curve effect of the surgeon. Each of these groups was sub-classified according to BMI (<25 kg/m2 and > or =25 kg/m2) and VFA (<100 cm2 and > or =100 cm2). Surgical outcomes, including operative time, quantity of blood loss, and postoperative complications, were compared between BMI and VFA subgroups. RESULTS: The mean operative time, length of hospital stay, and complication rate were significantly higher in the before learning curve group than in the after learning curve group. In the subgroup analysis, complication rate and length of hospital stay did not differ according to BMI or VFA; however, for the before learning curve group, mean operative time and blood loss were significantly higher in the high VFA subgroup than in the low VFA subgroup (P=0.047 and P=0.028, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: VFA may be a better predictive marker than BMI for selecting candidates for LG, which may help to get a better surgical outcome for inexperienced surgeons.
Body Mass Index ; Gastrectomy* ; Humans ; Intra-Abdominal Fat* ; Learning ; Learning Curve ; Length of Stay ; Obesity ; Operative Time ; Postoperative Complications ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Surgeons

INTRODUCTION: The first aim of this study was to isolate the dental tissue-derived stem cells from the dental follicle (DF), dental pulp (DP), and root apical papilla (RAP) of the extracted wisdom teeth. Second was to evaluate their characterization with the expressions of transcription factors and cell surface markers. Finally, their ability of the in vitro multi-lineage differentiations into osteogenic and adipogenic cells were compared, respectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dental tissues, including dental follicle, dental pulp, and root apical papilla, were separated in the extracted wisdom teeth. These three dental tissues were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with supplements, respectively. After passage 3, the homogeneous shaped dental tissue-derived cells were analyzed the expression of transcription factors (Oct-4, Nanog and Sox-2) and cell surface markers (CD44, CD90 and CD105) with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. In order to evaluate in vitro multi-lineage differentiations, the culture media were changed to the osteogenic and adipogenic induction mediums when the dental tissue-derived cells reached to passage 3. The characteristics of these three dental tissue-derived cells were compared with immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: During primary culture, heterogenous and colony formatted dental tissue-derived cells were observed in the culture plates. After passage 2 or 3, homogenous spindle-like cells were observed in all culture plates. Transcription factors and mesenchymal stem cell markers were positively observed in all three types of dental tissue-derived cells. However, the quantity of expressed transcription factors was most large in RAP-derived cells. In all three types of dental tissue-derived cells, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiations were observed after treatment of specific induction media. In vitro adipogenic differentiation was similar among these three types of cells. In vitro osteogenic differentiation was most strongly and frequently observed in the RAP-derived cells, whereas rarely osteogenic differentiation was observed in the DP-derived cells. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that three types of human dental tissue-derived cells from extracted wisdom teeth were multipotent mesenchymal stem cells, have the properties of multi-lineage differentiations. Especially, stem cells from root apical papilla (SCAP) have much advantage in osteogenic differentiation, whereas dental follicle cells (DFCs) have a characteristic of easy adipogenic differentiation.
Culture Media ; Dental Pulp ; Dental Sac ; Durapatite ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Molar, Third ; Nitro Compounds ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; Stem Cells ; Transcription Factors

PURPOSE: Although Roux-en-Y (R-Y) reconstruction after distal gastrectomy has several advantages, such as prevention of bile reflux into the remnant stomach, it is rarely used because of the technical difficulty. This prospective randomized clinical trial aimed to show the efficacy of a novel method of R-Y reconstruction involving the use of 2 circular staplers by comparing this novel method to Billroth-I (B-I) reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 118 patients were randomly allocated into the R-Y (59 patients) and B-I reconstruction (59 patients) groups. R-Y anastomosis was performed using two circular staplers and no hand sewing. The primary end-point of this clinical trial was the reflux of bile into the remnant stomach evaluated using endoscopic and histological findings at 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: No significant differences in clinicopathological findings were observed between the 2 groups. Although anastomosis time was significantly longer for the patients of the R-Y group (P<0.001), no difference was detected between the 2 groups in terms of the total surgery duration (P=0.112). Endoscopic findings showed a significant reduction of bile reflux in the remnant stomach in the R-Y group (P<0.001), and the histological findings showed that reflux gastritis was more significant in the B-I group than in the R-Y group (P=0.026). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this randomized controlled clinical trial showed that compared with B-I reconstruction, R-Y reconstruction using circular staplers is a safe and feasible procedure. This clinical trial study was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov (registration No. NCT01142271).
Bile ; Bile Reflux ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastric Stump ; Gastritis ; Hand ; Humans ; Methods ; Prospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Sorafenib is the standard treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to investigate the prognosis predictors and the role of second-line cytotoxic systemic chemotherapy (CSC) in patients with advanced HCC after sorafenib discontinuation in the pre-regorafenib era. METHODS: From 2007 to 2015 in the pre-regorafenib era, the medical records of 166 HCC patients, who had permanently discontinued sorafenib, were retrospectively reviewed. For further analysis of survival factors after sorafenib treatment failure, we compared the survival of patients who had maintained liver function after second-line treatment with the best supportive care (BSC) group and selective BSC (SBSC) group. RESULTS: After discontinuation of sorafenib, median overall survival (OS) was 2.8 (1.9–3.7) months. The OS in patients who discontinued sorafenib due to adverse effect, progression, and poor clinical condition were 5.5 (2.4–8.6), 5.5 (2.2–8.9), and 0.9 (0.5–1.3) months, respectively (P<0.001). The independent predictive factors of survival after sorafenib failure were serum level of bilirubin and albumin, α-fetoprotein, discontinuation cause, and second-line CSC. In comparison with survival between second-line CSC and BSC group, the CSC group showed better survival outcome compared to the BSC group (10.6 vs. 1.6 months, P<0.001) and SBSC group (10.6 vs. 4.2 months, P=0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The survival after sorafenib failure in patients who discontinued sorafenib due to progression and adverse effects was significantly better than in those who discontinued treatment due to clinical deterioration. In the pre-regorafenib era, patients who received second-line CSC showed better survival than those who received only supportive care after sorafenib failure.
Bilirubin ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Failure