No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Ophthalmic Artery*

We report a case of a tick bite by Ixodes nipponensis found on the neck of a 75-year-old female. The tick was thought to be in the lesion for 10 days. Till now 31 cases of tick bites were reported in Korea including the present case. The review of the Korean cases revealed that the ratio of female/male was 1.3 : 1, its age distribution was from 1st to 8th decade, sites of the invasion were trunk, head and neck, extremities, and anogenital area in order of frequency. Its prevalent season was spring and summer and the most common species(17/31) was Ixodes nipponensis.
Age Distribution ; Aged ; Extremities ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Ixodes ; Korea ; Neck ; Seasons ; Tick Bites* ; Ticks*

BACKGROUND: Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) remain one of the most promising target cells for gene therapeutic approaches, but is currently limited by a number of issues, including the low gene transfer efficiency. METHODS: We evaluated the effect of recombinant fibronectin fragment (retronectin) and cytokines during retroviral transduction of CD34+ cells and analyzed the characteristics of transduced cells. To rapidly characterize and isolate transduced cells, we used a retroviral vector coding for the truncated form of the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor (delta LNGFR). RESULTS: The total number of CD34+ cells (1.5~6.3-fold) and the amount of cycling (S+G2/M) cell fractions (2~6-fold) were increased after cytokine prestimulation, especially using thrombopoietin (TPO)-based cytokines. The immunophenotype of CD34+ cells showed no significant differences according to the cytokines. However, CD34+AC133+ cells were more effectively maintained in the presence of TPO. The transduction efficiency of CD34+ cells was significantly increased in the presence of retronectin (6.7+/-2.3% vs 23.1+/-4.4%). Immunomagnetic selection of the transduced cells allowed us to enrich these effectively (6.7+/-2.3% --> 86.3+/-6.5%). Compared with control, delta LNGFR transduction did not influence on the immunophenotype and cloning efficiency of CD34+ cells. Among the delta LNGFR+/-derived colonies, 85.0% were shown to contain an integrated delta LNGFR gene. CONCLUSION: These data show that retronectin and TPO-based cytokines can be used to facilitate retroviral transduction of CD34+ cells. Also, delta LNGFR transduced cells could be rapidly characterized by FACS analysis and effectively enriched by immunomagnetic selection method. Further improvement of transduction conditions for stimulation of HSC proliferation without differentiation and development of new vectors that obviate the requirement for cell division are likely to enhance transduction of primitive HSC.
Cell Division ; Clinical Coding ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Cytokines* ; Fibronectins* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Nerve Growth Factor ; Thrombopoietin ; Zidovudine*

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the most common complications in patients with chronic renal failure. Common causes are peptic ulcer, gastritis, duodenitis, esophagitis, Mallory-Weiss tear, and angiodysplasia. However, gastric polyp is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We diagnosed a bleeding hyperplastic polyp in chronic renal failure patient with melena. He had a bleeding polyp with a Y-shaped stalk. This polyp was treated effectively by endoscopic snare polypectomy.
Angiodysplasia ; Duodenitis ; Esophagitis ; Gastritis ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Mallory-Weiss Syndrome ; Melena ; Peptic Ulcer ; Polyps* ; SNARE Proteins

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the most common complications in patients with chronic renal failure. Common causes are peptic ulcer, gastritis, duodenitis, esophagitis, Mallory-Weiss tear, and angiodysplasia. However, gastric polyp is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We diagnosed a bleeding hyperplastic polyp in chronic renal failure patient with melena. He had a bleeding polyp with a Y-shaped stalk. This polyp was treated effectively by endoscopic snare polypectomy.
Angiodysplasia ; Duodenitis ; Esophagitis ; Gastritis ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Mallory-Weiss Syndrome ; Melena ; Peptic Ulcer ; Polyps* ; SNARE Proteins

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that subjects with exceptional longevity and their offsprings have a lower incidence and delayed onset of age-related diseases. Cardiovascular protective effect through over-presentation of Apo E2 with lower LDL cholesterol level, high HDL cholesterol, and larger size of HDL and LDL particle with cholesteryl ester transfer protein(CETP) genetic variation were suggested as a mechanism of less cardiovascular disease in exceptional longevity. Objective of this study is to examine what risk factors of cardiovascular diseases were related with exceptional longevity in Korea. METHODS: One hundred seventeen centenarians, 179 nonagenarians, 61 octogenarian regional controls were visited and joined after informed written consent was obtained. Age was first identified by National Residence Registry with help of regional government and verified by visiting researchers with birth year animal, age of first child and neighbor's connection memory. Detailed interview with questionnaires about health status and life style, physical examination, physical and cognitive function, and blood tests were performed. Data about risk factors of cardiovascular disease was analyzed and compared exceptional longevity group with regional control group and 455 octogenarian control data from 2001 National Health and Nutrition Examination. RESULTS: Hypertension and diabetes history, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia, obesity and abdominal obesity, and physical inactivity ratio of longevity groups were significantly less than control group. Level of homocysteine, and C-reactive protein and low serum HDL cholesterol ratio were not much different between longevity and control group. CONCLUSION: Fewer risk factors and delayed onset of cardiovascular disease were observed in Korean exceptional longevity group. Future research about genetic protective effect of cardiovascular disease in longevity is required.
Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Apolipoprotein E2 ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Child ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Genetic Variation ; Hematologic Tests ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Incidence ; Korea ; Life Style ; Longevity* ; Memory ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Parturition ; Physical Examination ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors*

Nevus sebaceus is a congenital cutaneous hamartoma which has a potential to develop both benign and malignant neoplasm in late life. The most common benign tumor developed within the nevus is syringocystadenoma papilliferum and the most common malignant tumor basal cell epithelioma. Although two different tumors often develop simultaneously on the lesion, it is rare to see more than two different tumors developing on the lesion of nevus sebaceus. In Korean literatures only three such cases were reported. We report an additional case of nevus sebaceus developing three different tumors, syringocystadenoma papilliferum, sebaceous epithelioma, and basal cell carcinoma, in a 67-year-old female patient.
Aged ; Carcinoma* ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Female ; Hamartoma ; Humans ; Nevus*

PURPOSE: We studied the plasma homocysteine level and coagulation factors such as fibrinogen and antithrombin III (ATIII) in acute cerebral infarction (ACI). METHODS: We enrolled 222 patients who visited our emergency department from March 1, 2003, to August 31, 2003. The ACI patient group included those who visited the emergency department within 24 hours due to cerebral infarction symptoms and included 115 patients the control group included those visited the emergency department due to minor trauma (CRAMS score>9) and include 56 patients in the homocysteine control group and 51 in the fibrinogen and ATIII group. ACI patient group was subclassified according to great artery, small artery, or cardioembolic cerebral infarction. RESULTS: The plasma homocysteine level, the fibrinogen, and ATIII were 16.3+/-7.9 micrommol, 283.2+/-60.1 mg/dl, 87.3+/-25.8%, respectively, in the ACI patient group and 9.6+/-4.0 micrommol, 245.3+/-62.2 mg/dl, 109.8+/-14.7% in the control group. The values of plasma homocysteine and fibrinogen in the was higher than it was in the control group. The value of ATIII in the ACI patient group was lower than it was in the control group. In according to cerebral infarction type, no differences were observed in the plasma homocyteine, fibrinogen, and ATIII. CONCLUSION: In cases of acute cerebral infarction, fibrinogen and ATIII have no statistical usefulness in classifying the type of cerebral infarction. However, the value of plasma homocysteine, fibrinogen, and ATIII have statistical usefulness in deciding on the existence or nonexistence of an acute cerebral infarction.
Antithrombin III ; Arteries ; Blood Coagulation Factors* ; Blood Coagulation* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Fibrinogen ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Plasma* ; Stroke*

PURPOSE: Recently, a new animal model for permanent focal brain ischemia using macrospheres was developed wherein the hypothalamic area was free from ischemic injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate spatiotemporal changes in the expressions of cFos, pERK, and pAkt proteins in the macrosphere model. METHOD: Three or four macrospheres were injected into the internal carotid artery after ligation of the external carotid artery to induce permanent focal brain ischemic injury. RESULT: Twenty-four hours after macrosphere injection, 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazlium (TTC) staining showed a marked ischemic injury in the blood supply territory of the middle cerebral artery, for example, the cerebral cortex and striatum. Furthermore, TUNEL staining revealed apoptotic cell death in the ischemic injury region of the cerebral cortex and striatum. Expression of the cFos protein was significant in the penumbral zone, but not in the ischemic core of the cortex and striatum, two and six hours after ischemic insult. A transient prominent expression of the pERK1/2 protein was noted in the penumbral zone of the cortex and striatum two hours after injection of macrospheres. In contrast, there was a strong immunoreactivity for the pAkt protein in the ischemic core, but not in the penumbral zone of the cortex and striatum, six hours after ischemic injury. CONCLUSION: The above results suggest that early expressions of cFos, pERK1/2, and pAkt proteins take part in different signaling cascades for cell survival or death in macrosphere animal model of permanent focal brain ischemic injury.
Animals* ; Brain Ischemia ; Brain* ; Carotid Artery, External ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival ; Cerebral Cortex ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Ligation ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Models, Animal*

The numb chin syndrome (NCS) is characterized by chin or lower lip numbness restricted to the distribution of the mental nerve (the distal trigeminal nerve). The authors report a patient whose initial symptom of tumor recurrence was unilateral numbness of the chin. A 65-year-old male was admitted because of paresthesia around the left chin and left lower lip. Neurologic examination revealed hypesthesia on the left side of chin, lower lip and buccal mucous mem-brane. Bone scan (Tc-99m MDP) showed focal hot uptakes on the left mandible and left first rib. Brain CT with bone window setting showed a focal osteolytic lesion in the bone marrow of the left mandibular canal without destruction of bone cortex. Both coronal T1 weighted image and axial T2 weighted image showed focal low signal intensities on the left ramus. The pathophysiologic mechanism could be understood by identification of the pathologic focus.
Aged ; Bone Marrow ; Brain ; Chin ; Hodgkin Disease* ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Lip ; Male ; Mandible ; Neurologic Examination ; Paresthesia ; Recurrence ; Ribs