Generalized granuloma annulare is a rare skin disease presenting generalized eruption with a distinctive histologic picture. The age of onset of generalized granuloma annulare differs from that of localized granuloma annulare. Most of the patients with generalized granuloma annulare were in the fifth to seventh decades and cases of generalized granuloma annulare in infancy or in early childhood have been rarely reported. We herein report two cases of generalized granuloma annulare in 45- and 18-month-old boys, who is the youngest patient yet reported in the Korean literature. The histopathologic findings were compatible with granuloma annulare and all lesions completely involuted in two months after administration of topical or systemic corticosteroids.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Age of Onset ; Granuloma Annulare* ; Granuloma* ; Humans ; Infant ; Skin Diseases

Nerve root compression due to ligamentum flavum hematoma is extremely rare, with less than 70 cases reported in the literature. The clinical presentation and images were similar to those of spinal epidural tumors. Herein, we reported a previously healthy 64-year-old female who presented with right radicular leg pain. Neurological examination was consistent with right L5 root compression. The magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass posterior to the L5 thecal sac, appearing as high intensity on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. During operation, the dark hematoma within the ligamentum flavum was found. The pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of hemorrhage. Her prognosis following surgery was excellent.
Sciatica

Seventeen patients were treated for chronic bacterial prostitis by an injection of 2 gm fosfomycin sodium via perineal route directly into the prostate. Cure rate was 70% of the seven patients who allowed follow-up study at six months after Treatment with one injection. The pain, discomfortness, hematuria and hemospermia were improved except one case. Results demonstrated that direct injection into the prostate offers a new alternative method in the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis.
Follow-Up Studies ; Fosfomycin* ; Hematuria ; Hemospermia ; Humans ; Prostate* ; Prostatitis* ; Sodium*

Objective Construct the lentiviral AQP1 vector and explore whether it can transfect the myocyte or not,then test the law of the AQP1 expression and the edema in the successfully transducted myocytes after cardiopulmonary bypass in sheeps.Methods Design cleavage primer according to ovine AQP1mRNA,clone it into expressing vector and transducated into the 293T cells with other packing vectors to produce the lentiviral AQP1 vector,then test the virus titer.36 adult healthy sheeps are randomly divided into blank or AQP1-lentiviral transfected group,blank or AQP1-lentiviral vector suspension was injected in the ventricle tissue of healthy adult sheeps during cardiopulmonary bypass and take specimen in different time points (2,6,12,24,48,72 h)after extracorporeal circulation,3 in each group.Realtime-PCR WesternBlot ELISA FACS immumofluorescent and Dry/Wet methods are emploied to detect the expression of AQP1 and the according degree of edema.Results lentiviral AQP1 vector was successfully construced and transducated into the myocytes.The tranducated groups have the same trend of AQP1 of expression and cardiac edema after cardiopulmonary bypass compared to the blank vector group,but the degree is heavier(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Lentivral AQP1 vector can successfully transfect the myoctyes,and the overexpressed myocardial tissue have the same trend of AQP1 expression and edema after cardiopulmonary bypass,but with a heaver degree.The expression of aquaporins was positively relevant to the edema.

Objective To observe the expression changes of CD34 and M30 in skin homogenate from a mouse model of scleroderma after irradiation with different doses of UVA1, and to investigate the effect of UVA1 phototherapy on vascular endothelial cell function in scleroderma. Methods The experimental mouse models of scleroderma were established by the injection with bleomycin and randomly divided into model control group (n = 10), UVA1 irradiation group (n = 30) and unirradiated group (n = 10). The UVA1 irradiation group was further equally divided into 3 groups, HD-UVA1 group irradiated with UVA1 at 100 J/cm2, MD-UVA1group with UVA1 at 60 J/cm2, and LD-UVA1 group with UVA1 at 20 J/cm2; phototherapy was performed thrice weekly for 10 weeks followed by the sacrifice of mice. The mice in model control group were killed immediately after the establishment of models, and the mice in unirradiated group received no irradiation after the establishment of models and were maintained till the killing of mice in UVA1 irradiation groups. Skin specimens were obtained from the bleomycin-induced scleroderma lesions of mice and separated into two parts, one was subjected to histopathological examination, and the other one was used to prepare skin homogenate for the detection of CD34 and M30 content with ELISA assay. Results After 30 sessions of treatment with UVA1,the softening and thinning of sclerotic skin were seen by the naked eye, with the most obvious changes in HDUVA1 group; pathological examination revealed a reduction in dermal thickness and the presence of hair follicular structures in subcutaneous fat tissue with no obvious proliferation of collagen in these mice. Compared with the mice in model control group and unirradiated group, there was an increase in CD34 and decrease in M30 content in skin homogenate from UVA 1-irradiated mice, with the most marked changes in mice irradiated with UVA1 at 100 J/cm2. The concentration of CD34 and M30 in skin homogenate from unirradiated group and model control group was significantly different from that in HD-UVA1 group (22.25 ± 8.91 μg/L and 31.97 ±17.97 μg/L vs. 72.39 ± 13.04 μg/L, 162.41 ± 58.00 U/L and 195.71 ± 71.09 U/L vs. 38.06 ± 19.89 U/L, all P ＜ 0.01 ). Additionally, significant differences were observed between the three UVA1 groups in the concentration of CD34 and M30 (F = 21.23, 15.32, respectively, both P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusions UVA1 phototherapy could up-regulate the expression of CD34 but down-regulate that of M30 in skin homogenate from the mouse model of scleroderma, and the effect is correlated with the intensity and cumulative dose of irradiation.

Objective To investigate the role of infiltrating inflammatory cells in photoaging process by comparing the type and number of these cells in sun-exposed and-unexposed skin.Methods The expression of CD3,CD45RO and CD68 were detected by immunohistochemieal staining in 46 paraffin-embeded skin samples from the extensor forearms(sun-exposed)and upper-inner arms(sun-unexposed) of 23 healthy female volunteers.The number of positive cells in sun-exposed and -unexposed sites was counted and statistically tested by paired samples t test,and Pearson correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the number of positive cells and age of these volunteers.Results The number of cells positive for CD3,CD45RO and CD68 per square millimetre in sun-exposed skin was significantly higher than that in sun-unexposed skin(48.91±13.173 vs.40.61±11.571,46.83±12.915 vs.38.00±10.109,85.43±22.346 vs.73.48±16.208,respectively,P<0.01 or 0.05).The number of cells positive for CD3 and CD45RO increased significantly with age (r=0.557,0.555,respectively,both P<0.01) in the sun-exposed skin but not in sun-unexposed skin,and the number of CD68-positive cells was uncorrelated with age in either sunexposed or -unexposed skin.Conclusion T lymphocytes and macrophages may play a role in the process of photoaging.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of aspirin on hypoxic brain neural cells of rat and the effects of extracellular calcium on the neuroprotective effect of aspirin. Methods The hypoxic cell model was established by adding Na_2S_2O_4 to the calcium or calcium free medium. Cultured primary cortical neurons of rat were pretreated with ASA in vitro. The change of intracellular free calcium and neuroglobin (NGB) were observed and analyzed by laser scanning confocal microscope. Results The expression level of [Ca~(2+)] i and NGB increased significantly in the chemical hypoxia group ( P < 0. 05 ). ASA can attenuate the increase of [ Ca~(2+) ] i and NGB in the hypoxic group and calcium-free hypoxia group(P <0. 05). Conclusion Aspirin can inhibit calcium overload and the hypoxia-induced expression of NGB, so protect rat brain cells against hypoxia.

Objective To study the effects of different stimulators on the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs),and to evaluate the effects of the culture supernatant of activated PBMCs,named conditioned media (CM),on the proliferation of and production of MMPs by cultured human fibroblasts.Methods PBMCs were isolated from the venous blood samples of healthy volunteers and divided into three groups to be stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA group),the combination of antibodies against CD3 and CD28 (double-antibody group),or the RPMI 1640 medium containing 10％ fetal calf serum (control group).After 72-hour stimulation,CM was collected from all the three groups,diluted to several different degrees.Cultured human fibroblasts were classified into several groups to be treated with different dilutions of CM from the three groups for 48 or 24 hours,with the fibroblasts untreated with CM serving as the control group.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to evaluate cellular proliferative activity,semi-quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to detect the expressions of MMP-1,MMP-3 and MMP-9 mRNAs in cells,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the levels of interleukin (IL)-6,MMP-1,MMP-3 and MMP-9 proteins in the culture supernatant of cells.Statistical analysis was carried out mainly by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA),Tukey HSD test,and GamesHowell test.Results Compared with the control group,the PHA group showed increased cellular proliferative activity,IL-6 and MMP-3 protein levels in the culture supernatant of activated PBMCs (all P ＜ 0.05).Significant differences were observed among the PHA group,double-antibody group and control group in the relative mRNA expression level (expressed as the ratio of target mRNA to β-actin mRNA) of MMP-1 in activated PBMCs (0.083 ± 0.016 vs.0.188 ± 0.030 vs.0.714 ± 0.104,F =85.905,P ＜ 0.05),but neither MMP-3 nor MMP-9 mRNA was expressed by activated PBMCs.MMP-3 protein was detectable in the culture supernatant of fibroblasts after the treatment with CM,and the level of MMP-3 protein was highest in that of fibroblasts treated with undiluted CM,and lowest with 1/10 diluted CM;at the same dilutions,the level of MMP-3 protein was highest in the culture supernatant of fibroblasts treated with CM from the PHA group,but lowest with that from the control group.Neither MMP-1 nor MMP-9 protein was detected in the culture supernatant of activated PBMCs or treated fibroblasts.There were no significant differences in cellular proliferative activity of and mRNA expressions of MMP-1 or MMP-3 in fibroblasts among these groups (all P ＞ 0.05),and MMP-9 mRNA expression was undetected in the treated fibroblasts.Conclusions PBMCs can be induced to express MMP-1 mRNA and secret MMP-3 protein after activation.However,the culture supernatant of activated PBMCs has no capacity to stimulate the expressions of MMP-1,MMP-3 and MMP-9 mRNAs or proteins by fibroblasts,suggesting that inflammatory cells may function through self-production of MMPs.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and predictive value of high-resolution manometry(HRM) for POEM in treating achalasia. Methods A total of 84 achalasia patients categorized into subtypes by HRM, who also underwent POEM, were enrolled in our study. Eckardt score, Barium esophagogram and HRM were performed before, 6 months and 1 year after POEM. Results POEM was successfully performed in all 84 patients. No perforation occurred in any patient. The Eckardt scores and esophageal diameter after POEM significantly reduced compared with those before(P<0. 05). The 4s-IRP decreased from 33. 4±9. 0 mmHg (1 mmHg =0. 133 kPa) to 14. 6±3. 8 mmHg six months after POEM (P<0. 05) and to 16. 4±3. 9 mmHg one year after POEM (VS preoperate, P<0. 05). The LESP before treatment was 41. 8±15. 4 mmHg, decreasing to 18. 4±7. 1 mmHg six months after POEM (P<0. 05) and 20. 7±7. 6 mmHg one year after POEM (VS preoperate, P <0. 05) . When categorizing patients into 3 subtypes by HRM, 4s-IRP of type II showed the most dramatic decrease six months after POEM(62. 8%), followed by typeⅠ(53. 5%), while type III had the least decrease(41. 8%). The mean decreasing rate of LESP in type III was 42. 3% six months after POEM, followed by typeⅠ(55. 3%) , while type II showed the highest rate(57. 8%). Conclusion POEM is a safe treatment for achalasia and has significant short-term efficacy with Type II responding best to POEM. HRM plays a vital role in typing AC and predicting the effectiveness of POEM and can be useful in selecting an appropriate treatment.

Objective To evaluate the sunscreen application and the level of photoprotective knowledge in both dermatologists and photosensitive patients. Methods The style, sites and amount of the sunscreen applied were examined by 0. 05 % dipyridamole cream in 39 dermatologists and 41 photosensitive patients with Wood's light. The participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire about the photoprotective knowledge. Results Frequent mistakes made by participants in this study were as follow: (1) using an inadequate amount of sunscreen; (2) putting sunscreen in the palm of the hand and rubbing the hands together before application; (3) lacking a systematic approach to sunscreen application. The median quantity of individual sites ranged from 0. 5 mg/cm2 to 1 mg/cm2 except for the forehead of the female dermatologist that had a median thickness of 1. 5 mg/cm2. The questionnaire survey showed that dermatologists also had less knowledge on sun protection even though better than photosensitive patients. Conclusions Dermatologists and photosensitive patients always fail to apply sunscreen in some prominently exposed sites and to paint the average thickness of sunscreen used far less than that of experimentally measured dose (2 mg/cm2). Continuing education and training about pho-toprotection for dermatologists should be carried out to provide better education for the patients on sun protection.