PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of glucose concentrations on formation of reactive oxygen products and cellular activity in human retinal pigment epithelial cells. METHODS: Human retinal pigment epithelial cells were cultured with high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) and normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml). The amounts of reactive oxygen products were assayed with dihydroethidium (DHE). Paraquat-induced cellular activity was determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. RESULTS: Reactive oxygen products of human retinal pigment epithelial cells were increased 120%, 250% and 390% in high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) media compared to those of normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml) media. Paraquat-induced cell toxicity was increased by high glucose concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: High glucose increased formation of reactive oxygen products in human retinal pigment epithelial cells. These results suggest that high glucose can make human retinal pigment epithelial cells more sensitive to oxidative cellular injury.
Epithelial Cells* ; Glucose* ; Humans ; Oxygen* ; Retinaldehyde*

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of glucose concentrations on the formation of reactive oxygen products and cellular injury in human lens epithelial (HLE) cells. METHODS: Human lens epithelial (HLE) cells were cultured with high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) and normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml) contained Modified Egle's Medium (MEM). The amounts of reactive oxygen products were assayed by dihydroethidium (DHE). Paraquat-induced cytotoxicity was determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 -diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. RESULTS Reactive oxygen products of human lens epithelial cells increased 110%, 250% and 630% in the high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) media compared to the normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml) media. The paraquat-induced cells toxicity was increased by the high glucose. CONCLUSIONS: High glucose increased the formation of reactive oxygen products in human lens epithelial cells. These results suggest that high glucose can induce cataract formation in diabetic patients.
Cataract ; Epithelial Cells* ; Glucose* ; Humans* ; Oxygen*

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of glucose concentrations on the formation of reactive oxygen products and cellular injury in human lens epithelial (HLE) cells. METHODS: Human lens epithelial (HLE) cells were cultured with high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) and normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml) contained Modified Egle's Medium (MEM). The amounts of reactive oxygen products were assayed by dihydroethidium (DHE). Paraquat-induced cytotoxicity was determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 -diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. RESULTS Reactive oxygen products of human lens epithelial cells increased 110%, 250% and 630% in the high glucose (200 mg/100 ml, 300 mg/100 ml, 400 mg/100 ml) media compared to the normal glucose (100 mg/100 ml) media. The paraquat-induced cells toxicity was increased by the high glucose. CONCLUSIONS: High glucose increased the formation of reactive oxygen products in human lens epithelial cells. These results suggest that high glucose can induce cataract formation in diabetic patients.
Cataract ; Epithelial Cells* ; Glucose* ; Humans* ; Oxygen*

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of tuberculosis-related knowledge and family support on medication adherence in tuberculosis patients. Methods: The data were collected from 175 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis at three general hospitals located in two provincial cities in South Korea from September 1 to November 31, 2020. The 160 questionnaires were analyzed using IBM SPSS WIN 25.0. Results: The patients’ average score for tuberculosis-related knowledge was 15.85±5.87 (out of 25), for family support it was 22.03±9.20 (out of 35), and for medication adherence it was 5.11±2.68 (out of 8). There were significant differences in tuberculosis-related knowledge, family support, and medication adherence according to patients’ general characteristics and significant positive relationships among tuberculosis-related knowledge, family support, and medication adherence. Factors affecting patients’ tuberculosis medication adherence were history of stopping the medication, the importance of treatment among tuberculosis-related knowledge and family support, and these factors could explain 78% of patients’ taking tuberculosis drugs. Conclusion It could be concluded that the importance of tuberculosis treatment and family support are very important for improving patients’ rates of medication adherence. Therefore, medical staffs caring for tuberculosis patients need to manage patients’ medication of tuberculosis drugs with continuous consultation.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is associated with premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, and is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. The prevalence of heterozygous FH is one in five hundred people. Owing to dysfunctional low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors due to genetic mutations, serum low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are considerably increased from birth. FH is clinically diagnosed by confirmation of family history and characteristic findings such as tendon xanthoma or xanthelasma. Thus, clinical concern and suspicion are important for early diagnosis of the disease. Current guidelines recommend lowering LDL-C concentration to at least 50% from baseline. Statins are shown to lower LDL-C levels with high safety, and thus, have been the drug of choice. However, it is difficult to achieve an ideal level of LDL-C with a single statin therapy in the majority of FH patients. Alternatively, lipid lowering combination therapy with the recently-introduced ezetimibe has shown more encouraging results.
Azetidines ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II ; Lipoproteins ; Parturition ; Prevalence ; Tendons ; Xanthomatosis ; Ezetimibe

Behcet's disease (BD) involves multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. Ocular manifestations of BD mostly include bilateral panuveitis and retinal vasculitis, which are very challenging to treat. Interferon alfa-2a (IFN) has been recently introduced for treating refractory Behcet uveitis, mainly in Germany and Turkey. Nonetheless, there is so far no consensus about the ideal treatment regimen of IFN for Behcet uveitis. We report our experience of IFN treatment in five Korean BD patients with refractory uveitis. All patients complained of oral ulcers; one patient had a positive pathergy test and 2 showed the presence of HLA-B51. Immunosuppressive agents used prior to IFN treatment included cyclosporine and methotrexate. The IFN treatment was commenced with a dose of 6-9 MIU/day for 7 days, adjusted according to individual ocular manifestations, tapered down to 3 MIU three times in a week, and then discontinued. All patients showed positive response to IFN treatment; 50% of them showed complete response without additional major ocular inflammation during the follow-up period. Other BD symptoms also improved after IFN treatment in most cases. After treatment, the relapse rate and the required dose of oral corticosteroid were decreased in most cases, showing a significant steroid-sparing effect. However, the visual acuity was not improved in most cases due to irreversible macular sequelae. Despite the small sample size of this study, we suggest that, in Korean patients, IFN is an effective treatment modality for BD uveitis as was observed in German and Turkish patients.
Adult ; Behcet Syndrome/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Chronic Disease ; Cyclosporine/therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage ; Interferon-alpha/*therapeutic use ; Male ; Recombinant Proteins/therapeutic use ; Recurrence ; Remission Induction ; Treatment Outcome ; Turkey ; Uveitis/diagnosis/*drug therapy/etiology ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: To investigate the minimal requirements of the limbal epithelium for successful limbal stem cell transplantation and the healing process. METHODS: Nine rabbits were divided into 4, 6, and 8 clock-hour transplantation groups. Limbal autografts from the healthy fellow eye were transplanted to the iatrogenic damaged eye. The amniotic membrane served as a stem cell niche. Experimental corneas were evaluated by slit lamp examination and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: In the over 9 hours transplantation group, the healing process of the epithelium from the limbal stem cell was revealed and cornea-specific keratin k3, transcription factor p63, and connexin 43 were detected by immunohistochemistry. The normal corneal epithelium was regenerated after 60 days postoperatively in the fellow donor eye. CONCLUSIONS: Limbal cell transplantation of over 9 hours seems to be a safe and effective method in the treatment of severe ocular surface disorders. In addition, the donation of limbal epithelium for up to 8 hours did not affect the normal corneal regenerating capability.
Amnion ; Autografts ; Cell Transplantation* ; Connexin 43 ; Cornea* ; Epithelium* ; Epithelium, Corneal ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Rabbits ; Stem Cell Niche ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors ; Transcription Factors ; Transplants*

PURPOSE: The diagnosis-related group (DRG) system has been adapted to reduce overall medical costs by grouping and classifying relatively homogenous patients based on similar resource consumption patterns in the treatment. However, despite its wide range of disease manifestation from early inflammation to severe peritonitis, acute appendicitis is included in the DRG system. Responding to a need to assess the DRG system for patients diagnosed with appendicitis, this study evaluates the efficacy of the current DRG system applied to a broad spectrum of the patients with appendicitis undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of the patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. Based on the DRG codes' classification, the patients were analyzed for the amount of DRG reimbursement and the total in-patient cost in relation to the time sequence of the disease onset. Statistical analysis was performed to find factors correlated with the DRG reimbursement and total in-patient cost. RESULTS: Findings indicate that, as the symptom duration becomes prolonged, the CRP level and the use of peritoneal drainage increased. Patients with a symptom duration greater than 24 hours required approximately 5 days of hospital stay, 0.5 day longer in the length of hospital stay than that of patients with less than 12 hours of the onset time. As expected, the amount of DRG reimbursement and the total in-patient cost accumulated as the symptom duration increased. CONCLUSION: The current DRG reimbursement system for the patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy recompenses a broad spectrum of patients diagnosed with appendicitis effectively.
Appendectomy* ; Appendicitis ; Classification ; Diagnosis-Related Groups* ; Drainage ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Peritonitis ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index

The best available evidence indicates that the prevalence of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in the general population is 2.29 per 1,000 persons. Women have twice the risk of developing paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) compared to men. Individuals aged >65 years have >5 times the risk of developing PSVT compared to younger persons. Twelve-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) obtained during both tachycardia and sinus rhythm may reveal the etiology and help diagnose SVT. It is important to conduct a 12-lead ECG to differentiate tachycardia mechanisms according to whether the atrioventricular (AV) node is an obligate component. Invasive electrophysiologic (EP) study and catheter ablation have become a standard treatment for SVT, in addition to being an acute medical treatment. Diagnostic EP study complications are rare, but can be life threatening.
Catheter Ablation ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Tachycardia ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular*

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