Progressive renal fibrosis is considered to be the final common pathway leading to chronic renal insufficiency, however, the mechanism regarding renal fibrosis in renal injury is not well understood. Recently, several kinds of cytokines have been known to be related to fibrosis after renal injury. The interaction between elements regulating fibrogenesis would be better understood by looking at the effect of TGF-beta1 on the synthesis and accumulation of extracellular matrix, especially collagenous proteins. Crescentic glomerulonephritis (CGN) was induced in New Zealand White rabbits by administration of guinea pig anti-GBM IgG after sensitization with guinea pig IgG; and their kidneys were analyzed for the development of crescents and fibrosis through sequential renal biopsies. Serum creatinine levels in a time course progressively increased until day 15. We semi-quantitatively assayed the levels of the expression of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA and TGF-beta1 mRNA factored for GAPDH mRNA using RT-PCR. We observed a progressive interstitial fibrosis and the expression of collagen I both in the cortex and medulla. The effect of repeated renal biopsy itself on pathology and on the expression of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA and TGF-beta1 mRNA in a time course were not significant, but a very mild increase of the expression of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA was noted at day 15. Histology showed a progressive crescent formation and interstitial fibrosis in a time course that roughly paralleled the expression of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA in both cortex and medulla. TGF-beta1 mRNA was hardly expressed at day 0 in cortex as well as in medulla. It was elevated from day 1, peaked at day 7, and then decreased. In medulla, TGF-beta1 mRNA was noticeably expressed at day 1, peaked at day 4, and then decreased. The expression of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA was seen even before inducing CGN. It was gradually and continuously increased until day 15 both in cortex and medulla. These results suggest that the expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA precedes that of alpha1(I) collagen mRNA in the early stage of CGN and has a central role for provoking the accumulation the collagen I, the most representative interstitial extracellular matrix, in the rabbit model CGN induced by anti-GBM antibody. We conclude that the measurement of the expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA and/or alpha1(I) collagen mRNA in a biopsy sample can be a useful predictor for renal outcome.
Animals ; Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease ; Biopsy ; Collagen ; Creatinine ; Cytokines ; Extracellular Matrix* ; Fibrosis ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Guinea Pigs ; Immunoglobulin G ; Kidney ; Pathology ; Rabbits ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; RNA, Messenger* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

Kimura's disease is a benign, uncommon, chronic inflammatory condition that usually presents with painless subcutaneous nodules or plaques. Head and neck are the most frequently involved sites in Kimura's disease. Mandible is the most commonly involved, followed by neck, cheek, scalp and forehead. Other possible sites are oral cavity, inguinal area and extremities, but there have been no reports involving the nose, especially the one that looks like a rhinophyma. We describe a case of Kimura's disease presenting like a rhinophyma.
Cheek ; Extremities ; Forehead ; Head ; Mandible ; Mouth ; Neck ; Nose ; Rhinophyma ; Scalp

No abstract available.
Spleen*

No abstract available.
Niemann-Pick Disease, Type A*

Recently it is known that Turner's syndrome is frequently associated with hypothyroidism. We report a case of Turner's syndrome associated with subclinical hypothyroidism. A 23-year-old female was admitted to the hospital with complaints of amenorrhea and short stature. She had a mosaicism of 45, X0/46, Xi(X_q) in the cell, cultured from the peripheral blood. The plasma thyroxine and triiodothyronine were normal and there was no clinical symptom of hypothyroidism. But the thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH) concentration was unusually higher(184 uU/L). She has been treated with the cyclic therapy of conjugated estrogen and medroxyprogesterone, in addition to the thyroxine replacement therapy. After 2 months, the menstruation was restored and TSH was normalized.
Amenorrhea ; Cells, Cultured ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Medroxyprogesterone ; Menstruation ; Mosaicism ; Plasma ; Thyroxine ; Triiodothyronine ; Turner Syndrome ; Young Adult

Forth-nine patients with clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas were evaluated clinically, endocrinologically and morphologically in this study.The results obtained were as follows.1) The mean age was 47.1 years(range 23 to 76 years), and 22 were male(44.9%) and 27(55.1%) female.2) The major clinical manifestations of male patients were visual disturbance(72.7%), headache(54.5%), loss of libido(45.5%), but those of female visual disturbance(59.6%), headache(48.1%), amenorrhea(48.1%), loss of body hair(25.9%), and galactorrhea(22.2%).3) All were macroadenomas evaluated by CT scan, and in the male patients 16(72.7%) were grade III and 6(27.3%) grade IV by Hardy classification, and in the female patients 6(22.2%) were grade II, 12(44.4%) grade III, and 9(33.3%) grade IV.4) The elevation of serum prolactin were observed 7(31.8%) out of male, and 24(88.9%) of female.5) Combined stimulation test revealed that GH insufficiency was 89.6%, ACTH 58.9%, LH 58.7%, FSH 51.1 %, and TSH 50.0% and hormone insufficiency more than 4 pituitary hormone was 54.2%.6) Prolactin response to TRH decreased in 12(70.6%) of 17 patients with normal basal prolactin, and 19(76.0%) of 25 with elevated prolactin.7) Immunohistochemistry revealed that null cell adenoma was 57.1%, gonadotrope adenoma 26.5%, plurihormonal adenoma 8.0%, silent corticotrope adenoma 4.0%, thyrotrope adenoma(2.0%), and lactotrope adenoma(2.0%).8) The ultrastructural characteristics examined by electron-microscopy were similar despite of immunohistochemical differences.In summary, the prevalance of clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma was middle aged men and women, and their main symptoms were visual disturbance and headache. Hyperprolactinemia and pituitary hormone insufficiency more than 4 hormone were observed commonly. Most of them were null cell adenoma and gonadotrope adenoma examined by immunohistochemistry. Further study using modern techniques: cell culture, subunit-immunostaining. And Northern blot analysis of mRNA for pituitary hormone or subunit, will be needed to clarify null cell adenomas.
Adenoma ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Blotting, Northern ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Classification ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphocytes, Null ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Prolactin ; RNA, Messenger ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Choriocarcinoma* ; Female ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Pregnancy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in cardiopulmonary endurance among positions in middle school soccer, and to identify the incidence of sports injuries in association with soccer matches and training. Ninety-six (32 forwards, 27 defenders, 29 midfielders, and eight goalkeeper [GK]) middle school soccer players (12.77+/-0.53 years) participated in this study. They had no medical problems. Their height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were measured, and they also went through tests for maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). We interviewed middle school soccer players about their soccer careers and their history of sports-related injuries. Physical fitness was compared among players in different playing positions. VO2max was significantly higher in forward and defender groups than GK group. There was no significant relationship in cardiopulmonary endurance among outfield players. GK were taller and heavier than outfield players. BMI was significantly higher in GK group than midfielder group. They had played soccer for 39.08+/-20.28 months on average. During matches and training, forwards suffered 13 injuries (36.1%); defenders suffered 10 injuries (27.8%); midfielders suffered 12 injuries (33.3%); and only one GK came down with an injury (2.8%). The most common types of injuries were to knees (36.1%) and ankles (33.3%).
Ankle ; Athletic Injuries* ; Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Incidence ; Knee ; Oxygen Consumption ; Physical Fitness ; Soccer* ; Sports*

BACKGROUND: The automated urine cell analyzer UF-100 (Syxmex co., Japan), flow cytometer-based instrument, has enabled to perform rapid and efficient work. We evaluated the UF-100 by comparing performance in urine sediment testing with counting chamber, standardized method, and traditional manual microscopy widely used in laboratories, and established reference ranges in our hospital. METHODS: Urine samples were obtained from patients in their 20s to 60s who visited hospital for regular check-up between March and April 2007 at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital. We selected randomly a total of 261 samples (male 130, female 131) and evaluated correlations of red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts of UF-100 with counting chamber, and manual microscopy. Moreover, we established reference ranges of UF-100 and counting chamber according to CLSI guideline, using 156 urine samples (male 93, female 63) with normal dipstick (strip) test results. RESULTS: The RBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.538, 0.873, and 0.619, respectively. The WBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.992, 0.902, and 0.893, respectively and showed good correlations. The results of UF-100 were higher than counting chamber and manual microscopy. The RBC reference ranges of UF-100 nd counting chamber were 0.5-24.9/microliter (male 0.4-12.2/microliter, female 0.9-38.8/microliter) and 0-4/microliter (male 0-4/microliter, female 0-5/microliter), and the WBC reference ranges of those were 0.9-21.8/microliter (male 0.8-12.6/microliter, female 2.0-23.4/microliter) and 0-7/microliter (male 0-7/microliter, female 0-9/microliter). CONCLUSIONS: The fully automated analyzer UF-100 could be useful to enhance efficiency by labor-saving, turnaround time reduction and improving throughput and to enable standardization. But it is needed for further study including clinical evaluation, because the results and reference ranges between UF-100 and counting chamber or manual microscopy showed considerable differences.
Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Microscopy ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND: The automated urine cell analyzer UF-100 (Syxmex co., Japan), flow cytometer-based instrument, has enabled to perform rapid and efficient work. We evaluated the UF-100 by comparing performance in urine sediment testing with counting chamber, standardized method, and traditional manual microscopy widely used in laboratories, and established reference ranges in our hospital. METHODS: Urine samples were obtained from patients in their 20s to 60s who visited hospital for regular check-up between March and April 2007 at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital. We selected randomly a total of 261 samples (male 130, female 131) and evaluated correlations of red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts of UF-100 with counting chamber, and manual microscopy. Moreover, we established reference ranges of UF-100 and counting chamber according to CLSI guideline, using 156 urine samples (male 93, female 63) with normal dipstick (strip) test results. RESULTS: The RBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.538, 0.873, and 0.619, respectively. The WBC correlation coefficients between UF-100 and counting chamber, UF-100 and manual microscopy, counting chamber and manual microscopy were 0.992, 0.902, and 0.893, respectively and showed good correlations. The results of UF-100 were higher than counting chamber and manual microscopy. The RBC reference ranges of UF-100 nd counting chamber were 0.5-24.9/microliter (male 0.4-12.2/microliter, female 0.9-38.8/microliter) and 0-4/microliter (male 0-4/microliter, female 0-5/microliter), and the WBC reference ranges of those were 0.9-21.8/microliter (male 0.8-12.6/microliter, female 2.0-23.4/microliter) and 0-7/microliter (male 0-7/microliter, female 0-9/microliter). CONCLUSIONS: The fully automated analyzer UF-100 could be useful to enhance efficiency by labor-saving, turnaround time reduction and improving throughput and to enable standardization. But it is needed for further study including clinical evaluation, because the results and reference ranges between UF-100 and counting chamber or manual microscopy showed considerable differences.
Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Microscopy ; Reference Values