The purpose of this experiment is to examine if purified Korean red ginseng extracts could have an effect on leukocyte migration and to select the best chemotactic factor for leukocyte migration. When chemotactic factor such as TC-199 medium, milk and filtrate of E.coli culture for 48hrs at 37'C extracts was used and adquet incubation periods was 60 minutes at 37'C. The various purified Korean red ginseng extract was stimulated for the leukocytes migration in modified Boyden chamber, however fraction number 2 and 4 were shown most active migration through the filter. This mean was effect an enhancement of immunological activity to leukocyte migration in vivo.
Chemotaxis* ; Leukocytes ; Milk ; Panax*

Efforts from many different approaches have been made to cure Raynand's phenomenon, such as a dorsal sympathectomy, topical injection of nitroglycerin, phentolamin and procaine, and oral or parentral administration of various drugs. However, there has been no successful management proven yet. In recent years, it was reported that intra-arterial administration in normal subjects as well as patients with Raynaud's syndrome has demonstrated a significant rise in blood flow to the hands. We used intermittent stellate ganglion blocks in conjunction with intra-arterial injections of reserpine and procaine in 10 patients suffering from finger necrosis. The stellate ganglion block was performed in a paratracheal approach by injection of 1% lidocaine purposely mixed with adrenaline followed by the administration of reserpine 1mg and procaine 50mg through a butterfly needle inserted in the radial or brachial artery. The administration of reserpine and procaine was done only twice at intervals of 1 week because of the development of suspected arterisclerosis. The stellate ganglion block was carried out once a week for about 3 months, then once a month as needed for 6 to 12 months. AS the procedure was carried out and the necrotic tissue sloughed off, oozing appeared and new granulation tissue was observed. 5 out of 10 patients were healed completely and the rest improved considerably but were not followed to the end. We concluded that the intra-arterial administration of reserpine and procaine helped initiate and accelerate increasing blood flow to the hand and the stellate ganglion block continued to help revascularization by dilating the peripheral beds.
Brachial Artery ; Butterflies ; Epinephrine ; Fingers ; Granulation Tissue ; Hand ; Humans ; Injections, Intra-Arterial ; Lidocaine ; Necrosis ; Needles ; Nitroglycerin ; Procaine ; Reserpine* ; Stellate Ganglion* ; Sympathectomy

A 4-year-old girl developed acute motor, sensory impairment, lower abdominal pain and urinary dysfunction after URI. In acute stage of disease, MRI showed diffuse spinal cord swelling and high signal intensity on T2WI below T2 body level. The patient did not improved and one month later, follow-up MRI showed diffuse spinal cord atrophy and syrinx formation as sequelae of ATM on T1WI below T9 level. To our knowledge, this is the first case showing the sequelae of acute transverse myelitis seen in Korea.
Abdominal Pain ; Atrophy* ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Myelitis, Transverse* ; Spinal Cord*

This study was performed to evaluate the changes of serum IgG4 level in children with allergic diseases. Serum Ige, IgG and IgG4 level were measured using enyzme immunoassay (IgE) and radial immunodiffusion method (IgG and IgG4) in 21 children with bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis or urticaria Eosinophil counts in peripheral blood and the values of serum IgE were significantly increased in allergic patients. The values of IgG4 in allergic patients were also increased compare to those in controls (24.23mg/dl versus 20.33mg/dl). But the values of IgG4 were not significantly correlated to either IgG or IgE levels. Further studies will be needed for measuring allergen specifie IgE and IgG4 levels considering the onset of diseases, methods and duration of treatment.
Asthma ; Child ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoassay ; Immunodiffusion ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Rhinitis ; Urticaria

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus activity in Korea has been reported beginning in October, peak in November, continuing in winter and ending in spring. But the peak month and the incidence of rotavirus seems to be changed recently. So we investigated the trends of rotavirus activity for the last 10 years in Hanyang University Hospital (HUH). Also latex agglutination test was compared with automated enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay for the detection of rotavirus in stool specimens. METHODS: Stool specimens (3,636 from HUH, 1989-1998; 1,171 from Hanyang University Kuri hospital, HUKH, 1996-1998) from pediatric patients with acute diarrhea were tested for rotavirus,. Sixty specimens were tested by latex agglutination test (Sliders Rota-kit 2, bioMerieux Vitek, France) and enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay (VIDAS Rotavirus, bioMerieux Vitek, France) according to the instructions from the manufacturer. RESULTS: The annual incidence of rotavirus diarrhea from 1989 to 1998 was 47%, 32%, 33%, 25%, 26%, 24%, 24%, 17%, 17%, 14%, respectively. Positive rate of rotavirus was 25% for the 10year period in HUH, 20% for the recent 3 years in HUKH. Peak month was November (46%) in the first 5 year, but November incidence decreased to 17% in the last 5 year, and the peak moved to January, February, and March (34%, 35%, 33%, respectively). Epidemic period was from October to February during the first 5 year, but from December to April during the last 5 year period. The agreement rate of the two methods was 90% and VIDAS Rotavirus showed significantly higher sensitivity compared to Sliders Rota-kit 2. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of rotavirus diarrhea decreased gradually for the last 10 years and the peak month of rotavirus activity was changed from November to January, February, and March. The VIDAS Rotavirus was more sensitive than the Sliders Rota-kit 2 for the detection of rotavirus in stool.
Diarrhea ; Epidemiology ; Gastroenteritis* ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Latex Fixation Tests ; Rotavirus*

No abstract available.
Reference Values*

Ranunculus tachiorei is a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) which contains unsaturated lactone and protoanemonine. Protoanemonine is formed by the breakdown of the glycoside Ranunculin after injury to the plant and causes severe vesiculation and linear streaks after contact with field buttercups(Ranunculus spp.) The amount of protoanemonine in buttercups varies widely with the species of plant and its stage of growth, the highest content being at the time of flowering. We report a case of primary irritant dermatitis due to contact with Ranunculus Tachiorei which was applied for the folk treatment of Bell palsy.
Bell Palsy ; Dermatitis, Irritant* ; Flowers ; Humans ; Plants ; Ranunculus*

The purine antimetabolite 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) has been in clinical use for over 30 years and is still a widely used agent in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The bioavailibility, clinical efficacy and toxicity of 6-MP administered orally for maintenance therapy of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are highly variable in many studies, as well as at differnt times in same patient. there are many factors affecting the bioavailibility of 6-MP. The most notably factor being that concomitantly administered drugs and foods might contribute to a decrease in the bioavailibity of this drug. In our sociocultural environment milk is a major constituent of child's foods. Cow's milk contains a high concentration of xanthine oxidase, which could potentially transform 6-TM into 6-thioxanthine (6-TX) and 6-thiouric acid (6-TUA) which have no more therapeutic effects. In this study, we evaluated the effect of various milk products on the bioavailability of 6-MP. Incubation at 37degrees C for 30 min raw or pasteurized milk resulted in transformation of a large quantity of clinically relevant concentration of 6-MP into 6-TUA. The concomitant adminstration of folic acid and allopurinol has markedly inhibitory effect on the 6-MP destroying activity of milk at clinically relevant concentrations. These observations may help to optimize modalities of administration of 6-MP for the treartment of patients with childhood leukemia.
6-Mercaptopurine* ; Allopurinol ; Biological Availability* ; Child ; Complement Factor B ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Milk* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Xanthine Oxidase

The congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCMA) of the lung is a rare variant of congenital cystic lung disease consisted of one or usually multiple interconnecting cysts in the pulmonary parenchyma lined by cuboidal and columnar epithelium. This diease present clinically in three ways: 1) stillborn or perinatal death, 2)progress respiratory distress in the newborn, and 3)acute and chronic pulmonary infections in the older infant and child. The onset of symptoms, which are cyanosis, tachypnea, and other forms of respiratory distress, usually occurs at or shortly after birth, This manifestations are related to compression of the remained normal ung by expansion of the cysts. We have experienced a case of congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung in a 1-day-old male infant who had tachypnea. A right upper lobectomy was done with satisfactory postoperative courses clinically and radiologically at 8 months of age. A brief review of the related literature is presented.
Child ; Cyanosis ; Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation of Lung, Congenital* ; Epithelium ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Lung Diseases ; Lung* ; Male ; Parturition ; Tachypnea

Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis of infancy and early childhood characterized by high fever, rash, mucositis, lymphadenopathy and coronary artery damage. The failure to indentify a causative organism using convetional culture and serological techniques, and the lack of response to antibiotics indicate that the disorder is probably not due to any known bacterial or viral pathogens. During the acute phase of the disease, the alterations of T and B cell functions, changes of cytokine and immunoglobulin levels have been reported. This study was performed to investigate the changes of immunoglobulins levels in patients with Kawasaki disease. IgG, IgA, IgM and IgG subclasses were measured using immunoprecipitation and EIA in the sera of patients with Kawasaki disease. The results were as follows: 1) Acute phase reactants such as CRP and ESR were significantly increased in Kawasaki patients compared to those in control patients(p<0.01). 2) Serum IgG levels in Kawasaki disease were markedly increased than those in control patients, while serum IgA and IgM levels showed no significant changes (P: No Significance). 3) IgG1 and IgG4 were predominantly increased increased in the sera of Kawasaki patients, while IgG2 and IgG3 were not significantly increased (P: No Significance). With these results, unidentified infectious organism with abnormal immune response could be suggested as an etiologic factor of Kawasaki disease.
Acute-Phase Proteins ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child* ; Coronary Vessels ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Immunoglobulin M ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunoprecipitation ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Mucositis ; Vasculitis