A total of 335 inguinal hernias in children were analyzed by the authors at the Department of General Surgery, St. Benedict Hospital, for last 10 years, from 1986 to 1995. The male patients were predominant (2.25:1), and 78.2% were under 2 years of age. Right side was 1.63 times more frequent than the left. Among the 19 cases of incarcerated hernias, 84% could be reduced preoperatively in safe. Only 3.6% of the cases were repaired by Bassini procedure, but the others didn't require posterior wall reconstruction. Bilaterality was 25 cases (7.5%), and 8 cases (2.4%) developed later contralateral hernias after primary ipsilateral fix. Complications were in 15 cases (4.5%) such as scrotal seroma and/or hematoma (3%), wound infection (0.6%), pneumonia (0.9%). For the more comprehensive care for the herniated children, specialized practice by a pediatric surgeon would be required in the future.
Child* ; Hematoma ; Hernia ; Hernia, Inguinal* ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Seroma ; Wound Infection

Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is a newly discovered member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily that has a role in herpes simplex virus entry, in T cell activation and in tumor immunity. We generated mAb against HVEM and detected soluble HVEM (SHVEM) in the sera of patients with various autoimmune diseases. HVEM was constitutively expressed on CD4(+)and CD8(+)T cells, CD19(+)B cells, CD14(+)monocytes, neutrophils and dendritic cells. In three-way MLR, mAb 122 and 139 were agonists and mAb 108 had blocking activity. An ELISA was developed to detect sHVEM in patient sera. sHVEM levels were elevated in sera of patients with allergic asthma, atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis. The mAbs discussed here may be useful for studies of the role of HVEM in immune responses. Detection of soluble HVEM might have diagnostic and prognostic value in certain immunological disorders.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology ; Antibody Specificity ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/blood/immunology ; Asthma/blood/immunology ; Autoimmune Diseases/*blood/immunology ; Cell Division ; Cell Line ; Dermatitis, Atopic/blood/immunology ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity/*blood/immunology ; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/*blood/immunology ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Member 14 ; Receptors, Virus/*blood/immunology ; Solubility

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress-responsive enzyme that modulates the immune response and oxidative stress associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). This study aimed to investigate neuronal regeneration via transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) overexpressing HO-1. Canine MSCs overexpressing HO-1 were generated by using a lentivirus packaging protocol. Eight beagle dogs with experimentally-induced SCI were divided into GFP-labeled MSC (MSC-GFP) and HO-1-overexpressing MSC (MSC-HO-1) groups. MSCs (1 × 10⁷ cells) were transplanted at 1 week after SCI. Spinal cords were harvested 8 weeks after transplantation, after which histopathological, immunofluorescence, and western blot analyses were performed. The MSC-HO-1 group showed significantly improved functional recovery at 7 weeks after transplantation. Histopathological results showed fibrotic changes and microglial cell infiltration were significantly decreased in the MSC-HO-1 group. Immunohistochemical (IHC) results showed significantly increased expression levels of HO-1 and neuronal markers in the MSC-HO-1 group. Western blot results showed significantly decreased expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, cycloogygenase 2, phosphorylated-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, and galactosylceramidase in the MSC-HO-1 group, while expression levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein, β3-tubulin, neurofilament medium, and neuronal nuclear antigen were similar to those observed in IHC results. Our results demonstrate that functional recovery after SCI can be promoted to a greater extent by transplantation of HO-1-overexpressing MSCs than by normal MSCs.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Dogs ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Galactosylceramidase ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; Heme Oxygenase-1* ; Heme* ; Interleukin-6 ; Intermediate Filaments ; Lentivirus ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Neurons ; Oxidative Stress ; Product Packaging ; Regeneration ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Transducers ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha