This Study was performed to investigate the effect of foods containing benzoic acid on the urinary hippuric acid concentration in the toluene exposed workers. The urinary hippuric acid concentration were measured at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 minute after intake of soft drink and bread containing benzoic .acid: in volunteers,: who did not have been exposed toluene occupationally. After that urinary hippuric: acids also were measured at the end of shift in toluene exposed workers. And also the concentration of toluene in air were analysed! by gas chromatography. So the relationships between urinary hippuric acid concentration and age, work duration, concentration of toluene in air and intake of benzoic acid containing food were observed. The results were as follows: 1. The urinary hippuric acid concentration reached the highest level at 30 minute after intake of soft drink with bread at a level of 1.41g/g creatinine and soft drink; alone at a level of 1.04g/g creatinine which contained benzoic acid among unexposed toluene, and then gradually decreased. 2. In toluene exposed group no significant effect of general; characteristics siich; as gender, age, work duration, drinking and smoking on urinary: hippuric acid concentration was showed in toluene exposed group. 3. The mean value of urinary hippuric acid concentration of group taking benzoic acid containing foods was significantly higher than that of group not taking. 4. Multiple regression analysis showed that toluene concentration in .air and benzoic acid containing foods were together significantly influence on urinary ; hippuric acid concentration. And the function between variables is Y = 0.014Tpluene +0.489Benzoic acid +0.745 and the contribution rates were 31%. In conclusion, it was suggested that the information on intake of benzoic acid containing foods should be considered in measurement of urinary hippuric acid for the more accurate toluene exposure evaluation.
Benzoic Acid* ; Bread ; Carbonated Beverages ; Chromatography, Gas ; Creatinine ; Drinking ; Occupations ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Toluene* ; Volunteers

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Animals ; Epidermal Growth Factor* ; Gene Expression* ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone* ; Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide* ; Rats*

No Abstract Available.
Adipose Tissue* ; Glomus Tumor*

No abstract available.
Osteoarthropathy, Primary Hypertrophic*

BACKGROUND: There is concem about the rising incidence of skin cancer. However, few articles have reported the change in the clinical and epidemiological aspects of skin cancer. OBJECTIVE: We performed this study in order to clarifiy the recent changes in cutaneous premalignant and malignant lesions. METHODS: A statistical analysis was made using 101 cases of cutaneous premalignant lesions and 205 cases of ma]ignant tumors out of a total number of 20,175 new outpatients that visited the Department of Dermatology at the Seoul National University Hospital during a 6 year period(1990-1995). RESULTS: The frequency of premalignant lesions was 0.50% and that of malignant tumors was 1.02%. The frequency showed an increasing tendency compared to previous reports. In the premalignant lesion cases, actinic keratosis was most common and represented a figure of 82.2%. Among the malignant tumors, basal cell carcinoma was most frequent at 24.4%. Age, sex and anatomical site distribution of basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma was no different. The mean age of squamous cell carcinoma was greater than in previous reports and main preceding lesions were actinic keratosis and cheilitis. The frequency of lymphoma was markedly increased but the reason for this remains to be determined. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed the continous increasing incidence of skin cancers and emphasize the need for public eduacation, early diagnosis and proper treatment.
Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cheilitis ; Dermatology ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Keratosis, Actinic ; Lymphoma ; Melanoma ; Outpatients ; Seoul ; Skin Neoplasms ; Statistics as Topic*

PURPOSE: The prevalance rate of chronic hepatitis B viral infection in children is high in our contry. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the effectiveness of and the factors predictive of response to interferon-alpha therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: Thirty-two children with chronic hepatitis B werew admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine from Oct. 1992 to Apr. 1994, and liver biopsies were performed. They recieved interferon-alpha (Intermax-alpha: 3 million IU intramuscularly three times a week) for from 4 to 6 months and were followed for 19+/-7.5 months after treatment. The control group comprised forty children with chronic hepatitis B who had conservative or no treatment. The therapeutic effectiveness of IFN-alpha was evaluated, and factors predictive of response to treatment were analyzed. RESULTS: 1) Thirty two children in the treatment group comprised 22 males and 10 females. The mean age was 11.7+/-3.5 years at entry. The pathologic types were chronic lobular hepatitis in 4, chronic persistant hepatitis in 12 and chronic active hepatitis in 16 cases. The mean age of 40 children in the control group was 8.2+/-4.4 years. There were no differences in the clinical and laboratory data between the two group. 2) The serum ALT and AST levels normalized in 29 (91%) of 32 treated cases and 33 (88%) of 40 controls. The normalization of serum aminotransferases in control group, however, was thought to be meaningful because most controls were in healthy chronic carrier state with normal aminotransferases levels. The serum HBV-DNA was cleared in 25 (78%) of 32 treated cases and 7 (41%) of 40 controls, which showed statistically significant difference (P<0.005) between two groups. HBeAg was cleared in 24 (75%) of the treated cases and 10 (25%) of 40 controls (P<0.05). The positive seroconversion of anti-HBe was noted in 18 (56%) of 32 treated cases and 7 (18%) of 40 controls (P<0.05). 3) Normalization rate of AST and ALT levels, the clearance rate of HBV-DNA andHBeAg, and the seropositive rate to anti-HBe were 100%, 50%, 75% and 50% in CLH; 83%, 75%, 58% and 42% in CPH; 94%, 88%, 88% and 69% in CAH, respectively. 4) Children with higher pretreatment peak ALT level were more likely to clear HBeAg and HBV-DNA. The clearance of HBeAg and HBV-DNA were 6 (55%) and 5 (45%) of 11 children with pretreatment peak ALT level of less than 100IU/L; 6 (75%) and 7 (88%) of 8 children with pretreatment peak ALT level of 100-200IU/L; 12 (92%) and 13 (100%) of 13 children with pretreatment peak ALT level of greater than 200IU/L. 5) Children with lower pretreatment HBV-DNA level were more likely to clear HBeAg and HBV-DNA. The clearance of HBeAg and HBV-DNA were 13 (72%) and 14 (78%) of 18 children with pretreatment HBV-DNA level less than 100pg/ml; 2 (40%) and 2 (40%) of 5 children with pretreatment HBV-DNA level greater than 100pg/ml. 6) Children with higher post-treatment peak ALT level were more likely to clear HBeAg and HBV-DNA. The clearance of HBeAg and HBV-DNA were 8 (73%) and 7 (64%) of 11 children with posttreatment peak ALT level less than 100IU/L; 9 (69%) and 10 (77%) of 13 children with post-treatment peak ALT level of 100-200IU/L; 7 (88%) and 8 (100%) of 8 children with post-treatment peak ALT level greater than 200IU/L. 7) Normalization of serum ALT and AST level took 7.1+/-6.8 months. The clearance of HBV-DNA and HBeAg took 12.9+/-8.3 and 10.1+/-7.3 months, respectively. positive seroconversion to antiHBe was obserbed at 10.6+/-6.3 months after IFN-alpha treatment. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that interferon-alpha therapy can induce an increased clearance of HBV-DNA and HBeAg with an increased positive seroconversion to anti-HBe in children with chronic type B hepatitis. Factors that may help in in identifying those children with a better chance of responding, were higher pre- and post-treatment peak ALT levels and lower pretreatment peak HBV-DNA levels.
Biopsy ; Carrier State ; Child* ; Female ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha* ; Liver ; Male ; Pediatrics ; Prospective Studies ; Transaminases

We carried out the mouse tail technique and the Candida albicans test for the study of the phototoxic reaction to amiodarone. The mouse tail technique is based on the inflammatory response of mouse tails after systemic administration of the drug and UVA irradiation and the Candida albicans test is based on growth inhibition of Candida albicana In the mouse tail technique, following the administration of amiodarone and UVA irradia tion for 5 consecutive days, there was a significant increase(14% ) in the relative water content as compared to other control groups. In the Candida albicans test, UVA irradiation after pretreatment with amiodarone resulted in a clear Candida-free zone around the disc. The results showed that amiodarone had a phototoxic potential and that both of the methods were a good screening test for demonstrat.ing the phototoxicity of a certain drug.
Amiodarone ; Animals ; Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Dermatitis, Phototoxic ; Mass Screening ; Mice* ; Tail* ; Water

BACKGROUND: This is a retrospective, descriptive study, evaluating the observed agreement between 1996 & 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions of nosocomial pneumonia (NP) for medical intensive care unit (MICU) and surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. METHODS: A total of 476 adult patients who were over 15 years of age and had been admitted to the MICU & SICU of a university hospital between August 1, 2005 and August 1, 2007 were enrolled. Data were collected from electronic medical records according to the 1996 & 2002 CDC definitions of NP. RESULTS: According to the 1996 CDC definitions of NP, there were a total of 116 NP cases and incidence rate was 11.6 per 1,000 patient-days; when analyzed with the 2002 CDC definitions of NP, 75 cases met the criteria and the incidence rate was 7.5 per 1,000 patient-days. Kappa value measuring agreement between the two definitions was 0.67 (95% confidence interval 0.601-0.706). When 1996 CDC definitions were compared with 2002 CDC definitions, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 93.3, 88.5, 60.3, and 98.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Even though the aforementioned NP criteria had been applied to the same study population, the number of patients that met the definitions changed depending on which criteria had been used. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the differences when making a comparison.
Adult ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Electronic Health Records ; Humans ; Incidence ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Pneumonia ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

No abstract available.
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated*