Twenty four hyperlipidemic patients, consist of 13 males and 11 females, were administration a new hypolipidemic agents, Pantethine, and blood lipid level were checked sereally for 16 weeks. The following results are obtained. 1. The serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol are markedly increased by 11.8%. 2. The serum cholesterol level are reduced mildly by 4.8% & it seems to be insignificant. 3. The serum triglyceride level are moderately reduced by 10.7%. 4. In 11 female patients, pantethine are more than effect on male patients. 5. Pantethine has been well tolerated in most patients. With a consideration of remakable safety, it is promising that pantethine are effective in reducing cholesterol, Triglyceride and increasing high density lipoprotein-cholesterol level.
Cholesterol ; Female ; Humans ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; Male ; Triglycerides

Various new technologies have been applied for developing vaccines against various animal diseases. Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine technology was used for manufacturing the porcine circovirus type 2 and RNA particle vaccines based on an alphavirus vector for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). Although VLP is classified as a killed-virus vaccine, because its structure is similar to the original virus, it can induce long-term and cell-mediated immunity. The RNA particle vaccine used a Venezuela equine encephalitis (VEE) virus gene as a vector. The VEE virus partial gene can be substituted with the PED virus spike gene. Recombinant vaccines can be produced by substitution of the target gene in the VEE vector. Both of these new vaccine technologies made it possible to control the infectious disease efficiently in a relatively short time.
Alphavirus ; Animal Diseases ; Animals* ; Circovirus ; Communicable Diseases ; Diarrhea ; Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine ; Encephalomyelitis, Equine ; Immunity, Cellular ; Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus ; RNA ; Vaccines ; Vaccines, Synthetic ; Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle ; Venezuela

No abstract available.
Malignant Atrophic Papulosis*

The conventional surgery, based on the nonaccommodative angle after full correction of a hypermetropic refractive error, has resulted in a high incidence of undercorrection in the partially accommodative esotropia. In this study, we compared the conventional surgery group (82 patients)to the augmented surgery group (102 patients)in a total of 184 patients.The follow-up period in each group was at least 6 months. Of the 82 patients in conventional surgery group, 55 (67%)showed postoperative deviations of 10 delta or less, 25 (30%)undercorrection, and 2 (3%)overcorrection.Of the 102 patients in augmented surgery group, 81 (79%)revealed postoperative deviations of 10 delta or less, 9 (9%)undercorrection, and 12 (12%) overcorrection.The deviation was improved toward orthotropia by spectacle reduction of less than +2.0 D in overcorrected patients (2 of 2 in conventional surgery group, and 9 of 12 in augmented group).But 3 patients in augmented surgery group remained overcorrected. Our conclusion is that augmented surgery, even if it increase overcorrection, provides better postoperative alignment than conventional surgery in partially accommodative esotropia.
Esotropia* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Refractive Errors

This study was undertaken to develop species-specific forward and universal reverse PCR primers for the detection of Streptococcus sobrinus. These primers target the variable regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA coding gene (rDNA) and their specificity was tested against 10 strains of S. sobrinus strains and 20 different species of oral bacteria using serial dilutions of the purified genomic DNA of S.sobrinus ATCC 33478T . Our data show that species-specific amplicons were obtained from all the S. sobrinus strains tested but not from other species. Both direct and nested PCR could detect as little as 400 pg and 4 fg of genomic DNA from S. sobrinus ATCC 33478T , respectively. This result suggests that these PCR primers are highly specific and sensitive and applicable to the detection of S. sobrinus.
Bacteria ; Clinical Coding ; Collodion ; DNA ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Streptococcus ; Streptococcus sobrinus

Anatomical variations of the inferior mesenteric artery are extremely uncommon, since the inferior mesenteric artery is regularly diverged at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. We found a rare case in which the inferior mesenteric artery arose from the superior mesenteric artery. The findings were made during a routine dissection of the cadaver of an 82-yr-old Korean woman. This is the tenth report on this anomaly, the second female and the first Korean. The superior mesenteric artery normally arising from abdominal aorta sent the inferior mesenteric artery as the second branch. The longitudinal anastomosis vessels between the superior mesenteric artery and inferior mesenteric artery survived to form the common mesenteric artery. This anatomical variation concerning the common mesenteric artery is of clinical importance, performing procedures containing the superior mesenteric artery.
Aged, 80 and over ; Aorta, Abdominal/abnormalities ; Female ; Humans ; Mesenteric Artery, Inferior/*abnormalities/anatomy & histology ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior/*abnormalities/anatomy & histology ; Republic of Korea

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is characterized by elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and normal free thyroxine levels. The Korean Thyroid Association recently issued a guideline for managing SCH, which emphasizes Korean-specific TSH diagnostic criteria and highlights the health benefits of levothyroxine (LT4) treatment. A serum TSH level of 6.8 mIU/L is presented as the reference value for diagnosing SCH. SCH can be classified as mild (TSH 6.8 to 10.0 mIU/L) or severe (TSH >10.0 mIU/L), and patients can be categorized as adults (age <70 years) or elderly (age ≥70 years), depending on the health effects of LT4 treatment. An initial increase in serum TSH levels should be reassessed with a subsequent measurement, including a thyroid peroxidase antibody test, preferably 2 to 3 months after the initial assessment. While LT4 treatment is not generally recommended for mild SCH in adults, it is necessary for severe SCH in patients with underlying coronary artery disease or heart failure and it may be considered for those with concurrent dyslipidemia. Conversely, LT4 treatment is generally not recommended for elderly patients, regardless of SCH severity. For those SCH patients who are prescribed LT4 treatment, the dosage should be personalized, and serum TSH levels should be regularly monitored to maintain the optimal LT4 regimen.

Background: This study investigated the incidence of endocrine immune-related adverse events (irAEs) for recently developed immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) drugs. Methods: We collected studies on newly developed ICI drugs using PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception through January 31, 2023. Among ICI drugs, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and ipilimumab were excluded from the new ICI drugs because many papers on endocrine-related side effects have already been published. Results: A total of 44,595 patients from 177 studies were included in this analysis. The incidence of hypothyroidism was 10.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.9% to 11.4%), thyrotoxicosis was 4.6% (95% CI, 3.8% to 5.7%), hypophysitis was 0.8% (95% CI, 0.5% to 1.1%), adrenal insufficiency was 0.9% (95% CI, 0.7% to 1.1%), and hyperglycemia was 2.3% (95% CI, 1.6% to 3.4%). Hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis occurred most frequently with programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors (13.7% and 7.5%, respectively). The rate of endocrine side effects for the combination of a programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitor (durvalumab) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 inhibitor (tremelimumab) was higher than that of monotherapy. In a meta-analysis, the combination of tremelimumab and durvalumab had a 9- to 10-fold higher risk of pituitary and adrenal-related side effects than durvalumab alone. Conclusion Newly developed PD-1 inhibitors had a high incidence of thyroid-related irAEs, and combined treatment with durvalumab and tremelimumab increased the risk of pituitary- and adrenal-related irAEs. Based on these facts, it is necessary to predict the endocrine side effects corresponding to each ICI drug, diagnose and treat them appropriately, and try to reduce the morbidity and mortality of patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) levels may serve as a useful marker of cardiovascular risk for screening of the general population. We evaluated reference levels and distribution of NT-proBNP in the Korean general population based on a large cohort study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We included 1,518 adult subjects (ages 40-69) of a community-based cohort from the Korea Rural Genomic Cohort (KRGC) Study. Thorough biochemical and clinical data were recorded for all subjects. Levels of NT-proBNP from all participants were determined. In order to determine normal reference levels, subjects with factors known to influence NT-proBNP levels were excluded. RESULTS: The characteristics of the cohort are described below; subjects were 41.2% male, and the mean age was 54.8+/-8.4 years. The distribution of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the cohort included hypertension (25%), left ventricular hypertrophy by electrocardiography (ECG-LVH) (15%), hypercholestolemia (4.5%), smoking (32%), diabetes (10.9%), history of coronary heart disease (4.9%), history of heart failure (0.9%), symptoms of heart failure (6.1%), elevated serum creatinine (> or =1.5, 3.7%), and severe obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2, 4.6%). The levels of NT-proBNP of all subjects are shown below; the mean was 60.1+/-42.1, and the median was 36.5 pg/mL. In addition, the levels of NT-proBNP of normal subjects (which did not have any risk factors, n=224) are shown below; the mean was 40.8, and the median was 32.1 pg/mL. In normal subjects, the NT-proBNP level was slightly higher in females (25.7+/-24.8 vs. 46.9+/-35.4, p<0.001). NT-proBNP level increased with age in both the normal population and the total population. There were no significant differences in NT-proBNP levels in subjects who smoked, or had diabetes mellitus, hypertension or ECG-LVH. However, in subjects with a history of congestive heart failure (CHF) (58.5+/-103.29 vs. 213.8+/-258.8, p<0.005), elevated serum creatinine levels (> or =1.5 mg/dL, 146.2+/-98.2 vs. 54.3+/-38.1, p<0.001), or who were older (> or =60, 48.4 vs. 84.2+/-139.5 pg/mL, p<0.05), the BNP level was higher. In addition, patients with more than 3 risk factors for CHF had higher BNP levels (risk 0: 40.8+/-34.0, 1-2: 57.4+/-93.2, > or =3: 85.0+/-152.9 pg/mL). NT-proBNP levels were also related with age, sex, urine albumin, serum Cr, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We determined the reference value and distribution of NT-proBNP in the Korean adult general population. We also found that adjustments for the independent effects of age, sex and renal function appear necessary when determining cardiac risk based on proBNP levels.
Adult ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cohort Studies ; Coronary Disease ; Creatinine ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Natriuretic Peptides ; Obesity ; Peptide Fragments ; Population Surveillance ; Reference Values ; Risk Factors ; Serum Albumin ; Smoke ; Smoking

The effects of a beta-dunnione compound MB12662 on the gastric secretion and ulcers were investigated in rats. In order to assess the effects of MB12662 on the gastric secretion and acidity, rats were subjected to pylorus ligation operation, and 6 hours later, gastric fluid was collected. Treatment with MB12662 reduced the gastric fluid volume to 47.3% of control level and increased pH. In an alcohol-induced ulcer model, rats were orally administered 3 mL/kg of ethanol, and 1 hour later, the ulcer lesions ware measured under a stereomicroscope. MB12662 reduced ulcer index in a dose-dependent manner which was much stronger than a proton-pump inhibitor pantoprazole. In a stress-induced ulcer model, rats were subjected to water-immersion restraint stress, and 5 hours later, the ulcer lesions ware examined. MB12662 also attenuated the stress-induced gastric lesions, although the efficacy of MB12662 was lower than that of pantoprazole. Therefore, it is suggested that MB12662 could be a candidate compound for the prevention or treatment of gastric ulcers induced by gastric over-secretion and alcoholic hangover.
2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles ; Alcoholics ; Animals ; Ethanol ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Ligation ; Pylorus ; Rats ; Stomach Ulcer ; Ulcer