Prostate cancer is one of the major health care problems, but the molecular pathogenesis has been relatively insufficiently elucidated. Recently, whole exome sequencing of prostate cancer identified recurrent mutations involving MED12 in Caucasian patients, which finding was not reproduced in one subsequent study by Sanger sequencing. Thus, we investigated mutation status of MED12 in exons 2 and 26 by Sanger sequencing in 102 radical prostatectomy cases from Korean patients. The analysis found the mutation in none of the cases. Therefore, MED12 mutation does not appear to represent a significant molecular alteration in this cohort of patients according to the analysis by the traditional gold standard.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the factor structure of neurocognitive tests used on schizophrenia patients by using the confirmative factor analysis, and to assess the factor score differences of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Comprehensive neurocognitive tests were administered to stabilized schizophrenia patients (N=114) and healthy controls (N=120). In the results of factor analyses on patients, the multifactorial-6-factor model, which included the speed of processing, working memory, verbal learning and memory, visual learning and memory, attention/vigilance, and reasoning/problem solving as suggested by the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS), showed the better goodness of fit than any of the other models tested. And assessing the group differences of factor scores, we found the patients performed worse than the controls in all factors, but the result showed meaningful variations of impairments across the cognitive factors. Our study identifies the six major domains with multifactorial structure of cognitive abilities in schizophrenia patients and confirms the distinctive impairment patterns of each cognitive domain. These results may have utility in better understanding the pathology of schizophrenia as well as in genetic studies.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Attention ; Cognition Disorders/etiology ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Memory ; Middle Aged ; Models, Psychological ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Problem Solving ; Schizophrenia/*diagnosis/etiology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Verbal Behavior ; Verbal Learning

Metaplastic thymoma (MT), accepted in the World Health Organization 2004 scheme, is a circumscribed tumor of the thymus exhibiting biphasic morphology. We herein describe the clinicopathologic features of four MTs and the differential diagnoses of this unusual tumor. There were three women and one man with mean age of 49.5 years. The patients were found to have mediastinal masses, and underwent surgical excision. One exhibited symptoms of myasthenia gravis, and the serum titer for anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody was positive. Grossly, the tumors were encapsulated, and showed vaguely multinodular, solid, tan-white to yellow cut surfaces. Histologically, they comprised epithelial islands intertwining with bundles of delicate spindle cells. The patients remained well after surgical excision at 5-55 months. Because of the distinctive histological appearance and benign clinical course, MT should be distinguished from other more aggressive mediastinal neoplasms displaying biphasic feature.
Carcinosarcoma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Islands ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Metaplasia ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Thymoma ; Thymus Gland ; World Health Organization

Objectives: ：The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of depressive patients who admitted to general hospital. We examined the clinical characteristics of patients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry as depressive symptoms, according to the type of consultation request, and comparing ‘with re-consultation’ and ‘without re-consultation’ groups. Methods: ：We performed a retrospective chart review of 4,966 inpatients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry from August 2005 to December 2011. Results: ：For about 6 years, among the inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation, a total of 647 patients were referred for depressive symptoms, accounting for 13.82% of the total consultations. The average age of depressive patients was 58.6 years, which was higher than the average of 56.4 years of overall patients. Among the depressive patients, 275 patients were included in ‘with re-consultation’ group and there was no statistically significant difference when comparing ‘with re-consultation’ group and ‘without re-consultation’ group. How-ever, there was a difference in the tendency of the two groups in the type of consultation request. ‘With re-consultation’ group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 3-2-1, whereas the ‘without re-consultation’ group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 2-3-1. Conclusions ：The group of inpatients who were referred for depressive symptoms in general hospital showed the largest proportion of the group of patients referred to the Department of Psychiatry. ‘With re-consultation’ group had a higher rate of re-consultation due to the occurrence of new symptoms after hospitalization compared to ‘without re-consultation’ group. Therefore, doctors in each department and psychiatrists should pay attention to the depressive symptoms of inpatients and actively discuss treatment plans to improve the quality of medical services, identify risk factors, and make efforts to intervene early if necessary.

Malakoplakia is a characteristic inflammatory condition, which is usually seen in the urogenital tract, and less frequently in the gastrointestinal tract. We present a case of colonic malakoplakia in an immunocompromised patient. A 55-year-old female visited the outpatient clinic for routine cancer surveillance. Her past medical history was significant for kidney transplantation 11 years ago, and she had been taking immunosuppressants. A colonoscopy revealed several depressed flat lesions and elevated polyps, which were 0.3 to 0.4 cm in size and accompanied by whitish exudates. A biopsy revealed an infiltration of histiocytes with ample granular eosinophilic cytoplasm, with some lymphocytes and plasma cells. Many histiocytes had the characteristic morphology, described as Michaelis-Gutmann bodies: one or several round basophilic structures of approximately 1 to 10 microm in size with some being laminated, some appearing homogeneous, and others having a dense central core with a targetoid appearance. These Michaelis-Gutmann bodies were positively stained on von Kossa stain, and were diagnostic for malakoplakia.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Basophils ; Biopsy ; Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Cytoplasm ; Eosinophils ; Exudates and Transudates ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Lymphocytes ; Malacoplakia ; Plasma Cells ; Polyps ; Transplants

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is a rare systemic vasculitis. It is characterized by peripheral eosinophilia, asthma, neuropathy, skin manifestation, and less frequently gastrointestinal tract symptoms. Here we report a case of CSS which is initially manifested as acute acalculous cholecystitis. A 67-year-old asthmatic woman visited Emergency Room because of acute abdominal pain. Computed tomography showed acalculous cholecystitis and laparoscopic cholecystectomy was done. Pathology of gallbladder showed marked eosinophilic infiltration with necrotizing vasculitis and granuloma. On the basis of asthma, sinusitis, lung infiltration, combined peripheral eosinophilia and neuropathy, the patient was diagnosed as CSS. To our knowledge, this is the first case of pathologically proven eosinophilic cholecystitis in Korea.
Abdominal Pain ; Acalculous Cholecystitis* ; Aged ; Asthma ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Cholecystitis ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome* ; Emergencies ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Gallbladder ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung ; Pathology ; Sinusitis ; Skin Manifestations ; Systemic Vasculitis ; Vasculitis

BACKGROUND: Molecular mechanisms of natural killer (NK) cell development from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have not been clearly elucidated, although the roles of some genes in NK cell development have been reported previously. Thus, searching for molecules and genes related NK cell developmental stage is important to understand the molecular events of NK cell development. METHODS: From our previous SAGE data-base, Gpnmb (Glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B) was selected for further analysis. We confirmed the level of mRNA and protein of Gpnmb through RT-PCR, quantitative PCR, and FACS analysis. Then we performed cell-based ELISA and FACS analysis, to know whether there are some molecules which can bind to Gpnmb. Using neutralizing antibody, we blocked the interaction between NK cells and OP9 cells, and checked IFN-gamma production by ELISA kit. RESULTS: Gpnmb expression was elevated during in vitro developmental stage and bound to OP9 cells, but not to NK precursor cells. In addition, we confirmed that the levels of Gpnmb were increased at NK precursor stage in vivo. We confirmed syndecan4 as a candidate of Gpnmb's binding molecule. When the interaction between NK cells and OP9 cells were inhibited in vitro, IFN-gamma production from NK cells were reduced. CONCLUSION: Based on these observations, it is concluded that Gpnmb has a potential role in NK cell development from HSCs.
Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Melanoma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Syndecan-4

Academic Medical Centers ; Conscious Sedation ; Deep Sedation ; Dental Care ; Dentistry ; Humans ; Midazolam ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Outpatients ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies