BACKGROUND/AIMS: The status of tumor suppression gene can be assessed indirectly by analyzing the loss of heterozygosity. Hepatoblastoma is a malignant liver tumor in childhood. To find the molecular carcinogenetic mechanism of hepatoblastoma, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of p73, APC and p53 was studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hepatoblastoma tissues from thirty-three cases were collected by lobectomy or tumorectomy. On H- stained sections, normal and tumor cells were microdissected separately and LOH analysis was perfomed using 8 markers: six of p73, one of APC and one of p53. RESULTS: Number of cases showing at least one LOH in six p73 markers was four out of twenty- six (15.4%): each LOH frequencies in D1S160, D1S170, D1S199, D1S228, D1S243 and D1S253 were in order of 7.7%, 0%, 9.1%, 0%, 12.5% and 0%. LOH frequency of APC was 41.7% and that of p53 was 13.3%. CONCLUSION: Low LOH frequency of p73 related markers indicates that p73 gene may not be implicated in carcinogenesis of hepatoblastoma.
Carcinogenesis ; Hepatoblastoma* ; Liver ; Loss of Heterozygosity*

Mycotic aneurysm of the abdominal aorta is a rare disease. Despite intensive antibiotic therapy, rupture leads to a high mortality rate, so early diagnosis and treatment is very important. Rupture is the most common complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm, while renal artery stenosis is very rare. We report the radiologic findings of mycotic aneurysm of the suprarenal abdominal aorta leading to right renal artery stenosis induced by mass effect and renovascular hypertension.
Aneurysm, Infected* ; Aorta, Abdominal* ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Early Diagnosis ; Hypertension, Renovascular ; Mortality ; Rare Diseases ; Renal Artery Obstruction ; Rupture

This study was carried out to evaluate nutritional quality of the dosirak severed by 3 Dosirak manufacturing establishment in Kangnung. The subjects of this study came from 3 different male high schools in Kangnung. The portion amounts of Dosirak were weighed and the food intake was measured by substracting the leftover from the averaged portion amount. The leftover was measured by a modified aggregate selection plate waste measurement technique. The nutrient intakes were analyzed by a computer aided nutritional analysis program for professionals(CAN pro). The menu of the dosirak was too simple. The total amount of Dosirak was 714g and the percent of plate waste was 714g and the percent of plate waste was 7.2%. The male high school students were taking adequate energy, but the nutrients which did not meet 75% of the 1/3RDA(Recommended Dietary Allowances) were Ca, Fe, and vitamin B2.
Adolescent* ; Eating ; Humans ; Male* ; Nutritive Value* ; Riboflavin

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatic fibrosis in rat induced by thioacet amide shares similar morphological and biochemical characteristics with human liver cirrhosis. Thioacetamide (T AA) initially induces accumulation of collagen in Disse space and eventually leads to macro- and micronodular cirrhos is. Ito cell was believed to play a main role in hepatic fibrosis. And it s activity was known to be regulated by the expression of various genes. But little has been discovered about the upstream signal trans duction pathway of these genes in hepatic fibrosis. The expression of genesrelated to Ito cell activity was regulated by many transcription factors , the activity of which was regulated by protein kinase C( PKC) is oforms. So it is s upposed that PKC could be as s ociated with fibrosis in liver. METHODS: We investigated the correlation of PKC is oforms and It ocell activity in the course of hepatic fibrosis using TAA induced rat liver cirrhosis model. We used six week- old male rats , and administered 0.03% TAA in drinking water. The animals were sacrificed at 9, 20, and 30 weeks after TAA administration. The degree of hepatic fibrosis was evaluated by measuring the total amount of collagen.-SMA immunohist ochemical st aining of liver tissue was done to determine the Ito cell activity. The expression pattern of PKC isoforms was investigated by West ern blotting. RESULTS: In TAA- treated group, collagen cont ent and Ito cell activity did not increase until 30 weeks and 20 weeks of treatment , respectively, while in control group collagen cont ent and Ito cell activity were not detected. Collagen content showed linear correlation with Ito cell activity. This implied that the proliferation of activated Ito cells was prior to the increase of collagen content. In view of expression pattern of PKC is oforms, PKC alpha showed no difference in TAA- treated group and control group. In TAA-treated group, PKCbeta1 exhibited increased level of expression in both particulate and cytosolic forms at 9 weeks, while PKCdelta and PKC epsilon showed striking shift to particulated form. After 20 weeks, all of the PKC beta1, delta, and epsilon degenerated and showed remarkably decreased level of expression. This suggested PKC alpha had no relation to hepatic fibrosis,while PKC beta1, delta, and epsilon, showing activity at 9 weeks, were related to fibrosis og liver. In response to fibrogenic factors, molecules engaged in intracellular signal transduction pathway like PKC beta1, delta, and epsilon, began to change prior to the increase of Ito cell activity, morphologic changes and alterations of collagen content. CONCLUSION: Our results strongly suggest that the activity of PKC isoforms play an important role in early step of hepatic fibrosis, while accompanying Ito cell activity do in later step.
Animals ; Collagen ; Cytosol ; Drinking Water ; Fibrosis ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver* ; Male ; Protein Isoforms ; Protein Kinase C-epsilon ; Protein Kinases ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Strikes, Employee ; Thioacetamide ; Transcription Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Liver cirrhosis is an end-stage liver disease. Ito cell is known to have central role in fibrogenes is of liver cirrhosis. But collagen content and Ito cell activity in liver cirr hosis have received little attention. So Ito cell activity and hepatocyte proliferation activity according to collagen content was investigated. WAF-1 and c- met were studied to evaluate the effect of cell cycle. METHODS: We analyzed 56 cases of liver cirrhosis ( viral:41, biliary:11, alcoholic:2, Wilson' s disease:2). Collagen content was measured by spectrophot ometry. Ito cell activity and prolifer ation index was measured by-SMA and Ki- 67 immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In viral cirrhosis, high collagen group showed increased Ito cell activity compared to low collagen group. There was no difference in hepatocyte prolifer ation activity bet ween high and low collagen group in viral cirrhosis. In biliary cirrhos is, high collagen group showed increased Ito cell activity in septal zones compared to low collagen group. WAF- 1and c- met were negative in most of cases. CONCLUSION: Collagen content of liver cirrhosis is closely related to increment of activated Ito cells . Ito cell activity was prominent in septal zones than in parenchymal areas of viral cirrhosis and that was only significant in septal zones of biliary cirrhosis. There is no correlation bet ween collagen content and hepatocyte proliferation activity.
Cell Cycle ; Collagen* ; Fibrosis ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; Hepatocytes* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Diseases ; Liver*

Congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is the most common intra-abdominal disease required surgery during the first few months of life. The expression of pyloric stenosis is dependent upon the genetic influence of ancestors affected with the disease, as well as unknown environmental influences in the postnatal period. Pyloric stenosis has been reported in multiple sibs in a family, which suggests the genetic influence on the expression of this disease. Until now, the genetic influence is thought a sex-modified polygenic or multifactorial background which facilitates the expression of a common dominant gene. We experienced a case of congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in a two siblings. The siblings suffered projectile vomiting for 2~4 days at 16 days old of age and 15 days old of age. After we confirmed the diagnosis by upper gastrointestinal series and abdominal sonogram, the Fredet-Ramstedt pyloromyotomy was done successfully. This case suggests the genetic influence on the expression of this disease.
Diagnosis ; Genes, Dominant ; Humans ; Pyloric Stenosis ; Pyloric Stenosis, Hypertrophic* ; Siblings* ; Vomiting

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the difference in satisfaction and learning benefits between e-portfolios compared to paper portfolios during clinical practice in medical schools. Methods: Utilization of and satisfaction with e-portfolios among 40 third-year medical students in the medicine department of Ajou University School of Medicine was collected using an online survey in December 2020. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an analysis of variance. Results: Students perceived that e-portfolios were highly beneficial for consistently documenting activities during clinical practice, when compared to paper-based portfolios (mean±standard deviation [SD]=2.60±1.22). However, the least rated aspect was that e-portfolios require less time than paper-based portfolios (mean±SD=1.80±1.14). Additionally, among the various clinical practice courses using e-portfolios, the highest satisfaction was observed with the fewest content items in the e-portfolio. Conclusion To maximize the potential benefits of e-portfolios, improvements in implementation and usability are essential. Additionally, for effective utilization of e-portfolios in clinical practice, it is necessary to clearly define students’ required competencies and ultimate goals, and structure content accordingly.

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian failure is often common complication by the conditioning protocol used for bone marrow transplantation (BMT). To determine the frequency of recovery of ovarian function after allo-BMT and the major factor that predict recovery, we monitored ovarian function in 24 premenopausal women METHOD: Twenty-four women met the inclusion criteria, which were (1) moderate to severe aplastic anemia before BMT, (2) disease-free at least 18 month after transplantation, (3) age younger than 40 years and more than 3 years after menarche at transplantation and (4) regular menstrual periods before transplantation. Recovery of ovarian function was determined by regular menses without menopausal symptom and sign. we divided conditioning regimen to two groups, Group I : cytoxan alone(n=17), Group II : cytoxan plus total body irradiation (TBI)(n=7). RESULTS: All women became amenorrhea after BMT and the clinical characteristics were not significant between two groups. 17 patients who received only cytoxan all recovered ovarian function between 1 to 14 months(median : 7.28) after BMT. The median age at BMT of women with regained ovarian function was 26 years (range, 21 to 33) versus 30 (range, 21 to 37) for those who did not. The age at transplantation was not significant between two groups in our study and the most predictive independent factor in ovarian recovery is the presence of total body irradiation. None of women who received TBI regained ovarian function during 19-49 month follow up. CONCLUSION: Gonadal insufficiency due to pre-BMT conditioning is more severe in radiation based regimen than cytoxan alone. therefore, we recommend early hormone replacement therapy in radiation treated women to prevent the complication of premature menopause.
Amenorrhea ; Anemia, Aplastic* ; Bone Marrow Transplantation* ; Bone Marrow* ; Cyclophosphamide ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gonads ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Menarche ; Menopause, Premature ; Whole-Body Irradiation

OBJECTIVES: Metabolic syndrome components, insulin resistance and central obesity cause type 2 diabetes and hypertension. This will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Women after menopause are at increased risk of metabolic syndrome. Several researchers studied that in menopause, metabolic syndrome increased cardiovascular mortality. We studied the impact on cardiovascular mortality of postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome in the Republic of Korea. METHODS: Twenty four thousand nine hundred forty nine postmenopausal women aged 40 years or older were enrolled at health promotion centers of national university hospital located in 18 regions during 1994-2004. Age, weights, height, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein were evaluated and history taking about alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise was performed. In addition, subjects who died of cardiac disease were analyzed from January 1995 to December 2009. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was higher in postmenopausal women with increased in age, BMI, blood pressure (BP), FBG, cholesterol, TG. Thirty cardiac deaths occurred during the observation period. Factors affecting cardiac death were age, smoking, FBG and when age and smoking were controlled. FBG was an important factor affecting cardiovascular mortality in our study. When controlling age, smoking, and alcohol consumption, metabolic syndrome caused an increased relative risk of cardiovascular mortality. Survival rate was much lower in postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome than those without metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome in Korean postmenopausal women increased cardiovascular mortality.
Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Height ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Death ; Fasting ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Insulin Resistance ; Lipoproteins ; Menopause ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Postmenopause ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Survival Rate ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a combination of enuresis alarm-desmopressin compared with a desmopressin-based combined pharmacotherapy as the first line in monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (MNE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 48 MNE children. Of these, 20 enuretic children were included in the alarm-desmopressin group (AD group) and 28 in the combination pharmacotherapy group (CP group). In the CP group, patients were given desmopressin based combination therapy with imipramine or oxybutynin for 6 months. In the AD group, patients were administered an enuresis alarm associated with an initial 3-month desmopressin combination. The response rates of each therapy were analyzed after 1, 3 and 6 months. After cessation of the 6 month treatment course, the initial and lasting cure rates were analyzed 1 and 6 month later. RESULTS: There was no differentiation in the baseline characteristics and drop-out rates between the two groups during treatment. The mean response rates in the AD and CP groups were 91.8 and 93.7%, respectively. The initial cure rate was higher in the AD (92.3%) than the CP group (52.4%) (p=0.024). The lasting cure rate was also higher in the AD (76.9%) than the CP group (33.3%) (p=0.032). Most of the relapses occurred within 2 month in the CP group and within 4 month in the AD group. CONCLUSIONS: In MNE, a combination of enuresis alarm-desmopressin showed a similar response rate, high initial and lasting cure rates, with a delayed relapse, compared with combination pharmacotherapy. Therefore, a combination of enuresis alarm-desmopressin can be considered a useful tool as the first line in MNE. (Korean J Urol 2005;46:19-24)
Behavior Therapy ; Child ; Deamino Arginine Vasopressin ; Drug Therapy ; Enuresis* ; Humans ; Imipramine ; Nocturnal Enuresis* ; Recurrence