Recent development of maxillofacial surgery has taken an interest in the regeneration of facial bone defects. For the reconstruction of facial bone defects, autogenous bone grafts have been widely used. However, there are some clinical problems : the morbidity of donor sites, resorption of autogenous bone graft and, the availability of the proper form and size. The purpose of this study is to find the effective solutions to above problems. The present study was designed to evaluate the roles and regenerating capacity of fibrin sealant. Fibrin sealant is a newly developed substance for hemostasis, tissue sealing and wound healing. I made the experimental study on the effects and roles of bibrin sealant in sutogenous bone graft procedure to minimize the above complications and problems. Twenty-five adult white rabbits were used as the experimental material. Three trephine defects were made by drilling on the parietal bone of each rabbit. Defect size was 8x8mm. First group consisted of the rabbits which had the artificial defect on the parietal bone as control. The defect in second group was sealed up with autogenous boon chip only. Last group comprised the rabbits autografted by mixing the bone chip with the fibrin sealant. The results were carefully examined grossly and microscopically from the 3rd day to the 28th day postoperatively. The following results were obtained ; 1. The mixture of fibrin sealant and bone chip was useful for regenerating the bone defects. Most of the defects were substituted by new bone. 2. In the case of the graft with bone chip only, most defects were also filled with new bone, but less than fibrin group. 3. In the control group, new bone was formed around the peripheral area only. A mixture of fibrin sealant and autogenous bone chip plays an effective role in forming new bone. find judging from the results of this experiment, it may be expected the much use of the fibrin sealant in maxillofacial orthopedic surgery.
Adult ; Autografts ; Bone Regeneration* ; Facial Bones ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin* ; Hemostasis ; Humans ; Orthopedics ; Parietal Bone ; Rabbits ; Regeneration ; Surgery, Oral ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVES: To analyze differences in health behaviors among the social strata in Korea by using the 1995 National Health and Health Behavior Survey Data. METHODS: Study participants numbered 2,352 men and 1,016 women aged between 15-64 years old, with housewives, students and non-waged family workers excluded. Health behaviors in this study were defined according to the recommendations of the Alameda 7 study. The measure of health behaviors was based on the Health Practices Index(HPI; 0-5 range, with the exclusion of snacking between meals and regularly eating breakfast) developed by the Alameda County research. The significance of the relationship between social strata and HPI was assessed by considering the adjusted means from the multi-variate model. RESULTS: For men, incidence rates of never having smoked, no/moderate use of alcohol, regular exercise, and regular 7-8 hours sleep per night were higher in the upper social strata. Meanwhile, for women, incidence rates of never having smoked, no/moderate use of alcohol, appropriate weight, regular exercise, and regular 7-8 hours sleep per night were higher in the upper strata. HPI varied significantly among social strata in both sexes (p<0.001), a result which held true when adjusted for age, education, income, social insurance type, marital status and region. CONCLUSIONS: Health behaviors assessed by Health Practices Index(HPI) varied significantly among social strata for both sexes. Therefore, the existing gap in health behaviors among social strata can be corrected more effectively by target oriented health promotional activities.
Eating ; Education ; Female ; Health Behavior* ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Male ; Marital Status ; Meals ; Smoke ; Snacks ; Social Security

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition frequently occurs in patients with liver cirrhosis independently for its etiology and can modify prognosis of the disease. Since malnutrition was observed at all clinical stages, but more frequently seen at advanced stages, early and detailed nutritional assessment in all patients with liver cirrhosis is important. The aims of this study are to define the nutritional status and the difference of nutritional index according to etiology and Child classification in patients with liver cirrhosis in Korea. METHODS: A total 138 cirrhotic patients (41 alcoholic cirrhosis, 97 virus-related cirrhosis) were studied. The diagnosis of cirrhosis was based on clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic criteria and liver biopsy. The patients were divided into three groups according to the severity of their liver disease as assessed by the Child-Pugh classification. Nutritional parameter of protein (serum albumin, serum transferrin, total lymphocyte count) were measured. RESULTS: The patients with protein malnutrition are as follows: albumin 55, transferrin 68, total lymphocyte count 8. The frequency of moderate to severe protein malnutrition was high in alcoholic cirrhosis.: albumin (<2.9 g/dL) (26.8% vs 17.5%), transferrin (<180 mg/dL) (48.5% vs 24.8%), total lymphocyte count (<1200 number/L) (2.4% vs 2.0%). The mean value of nutritional index correlated with the degree of liver function impairment. (Child C showed the lowest value). CONCLUSION: In spite of limitation of nutritional index in this study, our study showed that severe protein-energy malnutrition was rare in Korea, and protein-energy malnutrition was not only more common in alcoholic cirrhosis but related to the severity of liver disease. Therefore, our data suggests that clinician should understand the importance of not imposing unnecessary restrictions and supplementation on protein intake for fear of imbalance of nutrition.
Biopsy ; Child ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; Malnutrition* ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Prognosis ; Protein-Energy Malnutrition ; Serum Albumin ; Transferrin

Acute infection increases disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) and causes life threatening complication such as acute renal failure or ischemic bowel disease. We here report a case of acute renal failure and ischemic bowel disease complicated by acute pyelonephritis in a patient with SLE. A 19-year-old woman was admitted for high fever and right flank pain. Urine examination revealed acute pyelonephritis. Thrombocytopenia, proteinuria, positive antinuclear antibody and anti-dsDNA, false positive VDRL confirmed SLE. The pyelonephritis improved with antibiotic treatment, but oliguria and abdominal pain and ascites newly developed. Kidney biopsy and abdominal computed tomography revealed lupus nephritis type IV and ischemic bowel disease, respectively. After methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide treatment, the patient improved.
Abdominal Pain ; Acute Kidney Injury* ; Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Ascites ; Biopsy ; Cyclophosphamide ; Female ; Fever ; Flank Pain ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Lupus Nephritis ; Methylprednisolone ; Oliguria ; Proteinuria ; Pyelonephritis* ; Thrombocytopenia ; Young Adult

β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) can be cleaved by α-, and γ-secretase at plasma membrane producing soluble ectodomain fragment (sAPPα). Alternatively, following endocytosis, APP is cleaved by β-, and γ-secretase at early endosomes generating β-amyloid (Aβ), the main culprit in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, APP endocytosis is critical for Aβ production. Recently, we reported that Monsonia angustifolia, the indigenous vegetables consumed in Tanzania, improved cognitive function and decreased Aβ production. In this study, we examined the underlying mechanism of justicidin A, the active compound of M. angustifolia, on Aβ production. We found that justicidin A reduced endocytosis of APP, increasing sAPPα level, while decreasing Aβ level in HeLa cells overexpressing human APP with the Swedish mutation. The effect of justicidin A on Aβ production was blocked by endocytosis inhibitors, indicating that the decreased APP endocytosis by justicidin A is the underlying mechanism. Thus, justicidin A, the active compound of M. angustifolia, may be a novel agent for AD treatment.
Alzheimer Disease ; Cell Membrane ; Cognition ; Endocytosis ; Endosomes ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Tanzania ; Vegetables

OBJECTIVE: Habitual abortion(HA) is postulated to be due to several factors including immunogenetic mechanisms. Many studies have been conducted on the effect of the major histocompatibility(MHC) region in the reproductive phenomena suggesting an immunological or genetic involvement in HA. HLA-G is a nonclassical class I MHC molecule, with evidence of protecting cells against natural killer cell lysis and not stimulating an allogeneic response by peripheral blood T cells. These features suggest that expression of HLA-G could be a crucial factor for fetal survival in the face of a potentially hostile maternal immune system. The goal of this study was to investigate the immunogenetic role of HLA-G gene in the early pregnancy loss. This is the first report in Korea about the HLA-G gene in the patients of habitual abortion. METHODS: Twenty-one chorionic villi (study group) in the women with habitual abortion (at least 3 spontaneous abortion) and 10 normal chorionic villi (control group) in the women with therapeutic abortion were included in this study. The expression of HLA-G gene in placental extravillous cytotrophoblasts were made by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and chromosomal analysis was done by ordinary GTG-banding method. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for the statistical analysis. RESULT: As a result, HLA-G mRNA was expressed in 52.4%(11/21) of study group, in 70%(7/10) of control group and there was no statistical significance. In study group, positive rate of HLA-G mRNA was 57.1%(4/7) in the patients with normal chromosome, and 50.0%(7/14) in the patients with abnormal chromosome and there was no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Thus, these results suggest that HLA-G gene might not be a immunogentic marker of early pregnancy loss. But further large scale of study would be needed to reveal the role of HLA-G in habitual abortion.
Abortion, Habitual ; Abortion, Therapeutic ; Chorion* ; Chorionic Villi* ; Female ; HLA-G Antigens ; Humans* ; Immune System ; Immunogenetics ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Korea ; Leukocytes* ; Pregnancy* ; RNA, Messenger ; T-Lymphocytes ; Trophoblasts

Dysfunction of vascular access remains a leading cause of morbidity in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis, accounting for 10-25% of their hospitalization. The main cause of vascular access dysfunction is thrombosis which is related to venous stenosis. The pathogenetic mechanism of venous stenosis includes cytokines, coagulation factors, growth factors and adhesion molecules. Two such cytokines, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) and interleukin-6(IL-6), are known to be important in vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. MCP-1 secreted by vascular endothelial cells, suppresses vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. In contrast, IL-6 is secreted by monocytes, and it stimulates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. The followings are the results of our investigation into the plasma levels of MCP-1 and IL-6, as well as the clinical features of 70 patients currently receiving hemodialysis. 1) The patients were divided into two groups, a group with a history of vascular access obstruction (obstructed group) and a group with no such history (non-obstructed group). The mean age of the patients in the obstructed group was 48.1+/-14.2 years and that of the non-obstructed group, 53.2+/-13.7 yerars. The male-to-female ratios were 12 : 8 and 25 : 25 respectively. The average number of obstructions was 1.5+/-0.7. 2) The average duration of dialysis treatment was 17.2+/-42.2 months for the obstructed group and 28.5+/-35.2 months for the non-obstructed group. The dosage of heparin and erythropoietin given during dialysis, the amount of ultrafiltration, average blood pressure, hematocrit, platelet count, and the levels of albumin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, calcium, phosphorus, glucose, iPTH and creatinine were analysed, but there was no meaningful statistical difference between the two groups, There was, however, a statistically significant(p<0.05) difference in the levels of HDL-cholesterol between the two groups : In the obstructed group, an average level of HDL-cholesterol was 34.4+/-8.5 mg/dL whereas in the non-obstructed group, was 41.3+/-13.7 mg/dL. 3) The obstructed group had a MCP-1 level of 403.2+/-233.9 pg/mL and the non-obstructed group had a level of 271.8+/-124.1pg/ml, which is a meaningful statistical difference(p<0.01). Although the IL- 6 level was 10.3+/-24.3 pg/mL in the obstructed group and 5.0+/-8.1 pg/mL in the non-obstructed group, there is not significant difference because the distri bution of the sample values was widely scattered. In conclusion, MCP-1 levels showed higher levels in the group that had a history of vascular access obstruction perhaps as a result of over-secretion stimulated by A-V fistula obstruction. The higher IL-6 levels(without statistical meaning) in the same group may have relevance to vasclar access obstruction, but additional studies with a larger population are needed to clarify any relationship.
Female ; Male ; Humans

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM)is a demyelinating disorder that affects pons and is characterized by disturbance of consciousness, quadriparesis, and mutism and has been considered to have poor prognosis. It commonly occurs in patients with rapidly corrected hyponatremia. However, hypoglycemia induced CPM has been rarely reported. Diagnosis is confirmed by MR imaging. Here we report a case of CPM after severe hypoglycemia without any electrolyte disturbance in a patients with diabetic nephropathy.
Consciousness ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Diabetic Nephropathies* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia* ; Hyponatremia ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mutism ; Myelinolysis, Central Pontine* ; Pons ; Prognosis ; Quadriplegia

Systemic amyloidosis is an uncommon disease characterized by deposits of fibrillar aggregates of monoclonal immunoglobuloin light chains in vital organs. This amyloid deposit cause cardiac or renal dysfunction and ultimately, death. Cardiac amyloidosis may be asymptomatic or important causes of progressive heart failure and refractory arrhythmia. Cardiac involvement from AL amyloidosis is rapidly fatal. The amyloidoses are classified according to the biochemical nature of the fibril-forming protein. Cardiac amyloidosis is common in primary (AL) and heterofamilial amyloidosis and very rare in the secondary (AA) form. As we experienced a case of systemic amyloidosis affected heart, liver and kidney, which was confirmed by histology. We present a 57-year-old female case with literature review.
Amyloidosis* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Kidney ; Liver ; Middle Aged ; Plaque, Amyloid