No abstract available.
Foodborne Diseases*

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Phospholipase A (PLAq) is an rate-limiting enzyme hydrolyzing arachidonic acid from the sn-2 position of membrane phospholipids. In vitro studies demonstrated that the enzyme could be secreted into extracellular mileu by pro-inflammatory cytokines and endotoxin which were reported to have important roles in chronic liver diseases. This study was performed to know whether the enzyme is involved in the pathophysiology of the diseases. METHODS: The subjects were composed of 24 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 26 patients with liver cirrhosis and 14 healthy individuals. The PLAp activities wem measured in the sera of the subjects by detecting radioactivity of "C-fatty acid hydrolyzed from "C-labeled phosphotadylethanolamine by the enzyme. RESULTS: The activities of PLA were increased in the patients with chronic liver diseases, especially in the chronic hepatitis B patients with acute exacerbation and in the decompensated cirrhosis patients. Furthermore, their activities were closely related with the levels of transaminase in hepatitis group and with the levels of serum albumin in cirrhosis group, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that extracellular PLA might be involved in the exacerbution and progression of the chronic liver diseases.
Arachidonic Acid ; Cytokines ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver* ; Membranes ; Phospholipases A2* ; Phospholipases* ; Phospholipids ; Radioactivity ; Serum Albumin

No abstract available.
Shock, Septic*

Prazosin hydrochloride, a new antihypertensive agent with a unique sympatholytic mode of action, was evaluated in 35 cases with essential hypertension. The treatment was started with 3 or 4 mg of prazosin daily divided into 2 or 3 doses, and the dosage was gradually increased weekly up to 20 mg per day depending on the response of the blood pressure. Observations with this drug varied from three to ten weeks, the average being five weeks. In 21 out of 35 cases (60.0%), satisfactory reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressures with prazosin were noted in both supine and standing positions. These were accompanied by no significant postural hypotension. In 15 out of 21 cases of satisfactory responders, the diastolic blood pressure fell to 90mmHg or less, and in five cases out of 14 poor responders prazosin was given only for three weeks. The average time lapse before effectiveness of the drug in mild, moderate and severe hypertensive cases was 3.3, 3.5 and 6.5weeks, respectively. The average daily effective dosage of prazosin in these groups was 7.1, 9.1 and 12.0mg, respectively. The cardinal unpleasant symptoms appeared in eight out of 35 cases during the medication. These included postural dizziness, weakness, headache, drowsiness and urinary frequency. However, in all cases, except one in which urinary frequency was noted, the symptoms were mild and transient disappearing spontaneously despite continued administration of prazosin. No significant changes were noted in complete blood conuts and routine urinalysis as well as in S-GOT, S-GPT, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels examined during and after medication.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Dizziness ; Headache ; Hypertension ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Prazosin* ; Sleep Stages ; Urinalysis

Prazosin hydrochloride, a new antihypertensive agent with a unique sympatholytic mode of action, was evaluated in 35 cases with essential hypertension. The treatment was started with 3 or 4 mg of prazosin daily divided into 2 or 3 doses, and the dosage was gradually increased weekly up to 20 mg per day depending on the response of the blood pressure. Observations with this drug varied from three to ten weeks, the average being five weeks. In 21 out of 35 cases (60.0%), satisfactory reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressures with prazosin were noted in both supine and standing positions. These were accompanied by no significant postural hypotension. In 15 out of 21 cases of satisfactory responders, the diastolic blood pressure fell to 90mmHg or less, and in five cases out of 14 poor responders prazosin was given only for three weeks. The average time lapse before effectiveness of the drug in mild, moderate and severe hypertensive cases was 3.3, 3.5 and 6.5weeks, respectively. The average daily effective dosage of prazosin in these groups was 7.1, 9.1 and 12.0mg, respectively. The cardinal unpleasant symptoms appeared in eight out of 35 cases during the medication. These included postural dizziness, weakness, headache, drowsiness and urinary frequency. However, in all cases, except one in which urinary frequency was noted, the symptoms were mild and transient disappearing spontaneously despite continued administration of prazosin. No significant changes were noted in complete blood conuts and routine urinalysis as well as in S-GOT, S-GPT, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels examined during and after medication.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Dizziness ; Headache ; Hypertension ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Prazosin* ; Sleep Stages ; Urinalysis

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic airway inflammation is a characteristic feature of bronchial asthma. Recent studies showed that increased production and release of eosinophils from bone marrow(BM) might be the essential step in the development of eosinophilic airway inflammation. To testify the hypothesis that increase in BM eosinophil production may be an important determinant of the severity of airway eosinophilia, their relationship was studied in a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. METHODS: BALB/c mice were sensitized with intraperitoneal ovalbumin adsorbed to aluminum potassium sulfate, followed by challenges with intranasal ovalbumin on two consecutive days. Saline was used for sensitization and challenge in control mice. Bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) was performed at 24 h after last nasal challenge, immediately followed by BM cell harvest from the femurs. The severity of airway inflammation was assessed as BAL eosinophilia, and the capacity of BM eosinophil production was assessed as BM eosinophil colony forming units(Eo-CFUs) using a semisolid culture assay. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the percentage of BAL eosinophils and lymphocytes with a resultant decrease in the percentage of alveolar macrophages in the ovalbumin- treated mice, compared with the saline-treated mice(p<0.05, respectively). Change in the percentage of neutrophils was not statistically significant. Compared with the saline-treated mice, the number of BM Eo-CFUs was significantly increased in the ovalbumin- treated mice(p<0.05). But the number of BM Eo-CFUs was not correlated significantly with the number of eosinophils in BAL fluid in the ovalbumin-treated mice. CONCLUSION: Respiratory exposure to allergen induced not only airway eosinophilia but also BM eosinophilopoiesis in this mice model of asthma. However there was no direct relationship between BM eosinophilopoiesis and airway eosinophilia, suggesting that the capacity of eosino-phil production in BM may not an important determinant of severity of airway eosinophilia.
Aluminum ; Animals ; Asthma* ; Bone Marrow* ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Femur ; Inflammation ; Lymphocytes ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; Mice* ; Neutrophils ; Ovalbumin ; Potassium

Tuberculosis can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract but 80~90% of patients present the disease in the ileocecal region. The cases of colon cancer coexisting with colonic tuberculosis are relatively rare and ascending colon is the predominant site of the combined disease. A 46-year-old man, without specific past medical or family history, showed multiple colonic polyps and ulcers on colonoscopic examination. After surgery, the surgical specimen disclosed adenocarcinoma in the ascending colon, eleven adenomatous polyps throughout the colon, and multiple tuberculous ulcers in the entire colon. Tuberculosis of terminal ileum was also accompanied. The association of colonic tuberculosis and colon cancer with multiple polyps in this case may have been coincidental. The preoperative colonoscopic examination and pathologic diagnosis by frozen section during operation are necessary for the adequate treatment.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenomatous Polyps ; Colon* ; Colon, Ascending ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colonic Polyps ; Diagnosis ; Frozen Sections ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Ileum ; Middle Aged ; Polyps ; Tuberculosis* ; Ulcer

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a genetically trarlsmitted benign muscular dystrophy which has autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. It starts anytime within the first 30 years of life, and usually involves the face and shoulder girdle, and finally the pelvic muscles with very slow progression. Authors-report a fanily consisting of a father, two sons and one daughter, who had suffered from exertional dyspnea, weakness of facial muscle and winged scapulae, all wlth a slow progressive course. Two of these patients were biopsied arld confirmed light microscopically and electron microsopically.
Dyspnea ; Facial Muscles ; Fathers ; Humans ; Inheritance Patterns ; Muscles ; Muscular Dystrophies ; Muscular Dystrophy, Facioscapulohumeral* ; Nuclear Family ; Scapula ; Shoulder

Weber-Christian disease (WCD) is a rare inflammatory disease of adipose tissue, which is characterized by painful cutaneous nodules and constitutional symptoms. Although any area of the body containing fat can be affected by WCD, the involvement of retrobulbar fat is uncommon and proptosis is a rare presenting manifestation. We report a case who presented with proptosis of the right eye which is accompanied by painful subcutaneous nodules, high fever and myalgia. Biopsies of retrobulbar tissue and suprapubic nodule showed lobular panniculitis with mixed cellular infiltration, mainly composed of histiocytes and lymphocytes. He responded well to high-dose glucocorticoid.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Case Report ; Exophthalmos/pathology* ; Exophthalmos/etiology* ; Exophthalmos/drug therapy ; Glucocorticoids/administration & dosage ; Human ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/pathology* ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/drug therapy ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/complications*

Weber-Christian disease (WCD) is a rare inflammatory disease of adipose tissue, which is characterized by painful cutaneous nodules and constitutional symptoms. Although any area of the body containing fat can be affected by WCD, the involvement of retrobulbar fat is uncommon and proptosis is a rare presenting manifestation. We report a case who presented with proptosis of the right eye which is accompanied by painful subcutaneous nodules, high fever and myalgia. Biopsies of retrobulbar tissue and suprapubic nodule showed lobular panniculitis with mixed cellular infiltration, mainly composed of histiocytes and lymphocytes. He responded well to high-dose glucocorticoid.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Case Report ; Exophthalmos/pathology* ; Exophthalmos/etiology* ; Exophthalmos/drug therapy ; Glucocorticoids/administration & dosage ; Human ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/pathology* ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/drug therapy ; Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative/complications*