BACKGROUND: The large surfaces of the skin are often initial site of contact between microorganism and human. The skin are coated with epidermis and epithelial cells can recognize microorganism and mount a fast defense through the production of various inducible antibiotic peptides. This leads to chracteristic broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Recent studies introduce us new peptides with antimicrobial activity such as P,-defensins and cathelicidins. They are expressed on the epithelia and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, which are first lines of defence from various invasive environments. Futhermore, they are considered very interesting and important endogenous antibiotics. Our previous study has shown that the expression of human defensin(hBD-2) mRNA, which is potent antibiotic peptide against Gram-negative bacteria(P. aeruginosa), was upregulated with ultraviolet(UV) irradiation, tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and lipopolysaccharide(LPS) in HaCaT cells. A novel hBD-3, 5-kDa, nonhemolytic antimicrobial peptide, was demonstrated a salt-insensitive broad spectrum of potent antimicrobial activity against many potentially pathogenic microbes in especially, multiresistant S. aureus. We have analyzed the expression patterns of hBD-3 in HaCaT cell lines. OBJECTIVE: This research have done in order to evaluate the expression and regulation of hBD-3 mRNA in human keratinocyte cell lines. METHODS: HaCaT cell lines were used to all culture experiments. Cultured human keratinocytes were stimulated with UV irradiation or TNF-α or LPS to determine whether hBD-3 mRNA production occurred. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was per-formed to amplify hBD-3 cDNA from stimulated keratinocytes in a time dependant manner, and densitometry was used to verify the specificity of RT-PCR amplication products. RESULTS: Expression of hBD-3 was upregulated with UV irradiation, TNF-α and LPS in Ha-CaT cells compared to control CONCLUSIONS: Human keratinocytes are capable to induce hBD-3 mRNA, as well as hBD-2, in response to UV irradiation, TNF-α and LPS. suggesting that these cells could play an important role against the bacterial infection and UV light damage in human skin.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteria ; Bacterial Infections ; Cathelicidins ; Cell Line* ; Densitometry ; DNA, Complementary ; Epidermis ; Epithelial Cells ; Fungi ; Humans* ; Keratinocytes ; Necrosis ; Neutrophils ; Peptides ; RNA, Messenger ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin ; Ultraviolet Rays

INTRODUCTION: Although it is well known that medical students are not getting an adequate amount of sleep, there have been only few studies on the sleep patterns of medical students in Korea. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the life style and sleep patterns of Korean medical students and the impact they have on the students' academic performance. METHODS: A questionnaire package was administered to the 3rd year medical students at the Seoul National University to examine their sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends. It consisted of questions asking about their lifestyles as well as Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and GPA (Grade Point Average) that are considered relevant to their sleep patterns. A total of 110 students (85 males and 25 females, mean age 24.4+/-20.6) responded to the survey and the result was analyzed using the independent t-test, the chi-square test, the paired t-test, Pearson's rank correlation and ANOVA. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant in all analyses. RESULTS: The weekend bedtime was significantly delayed (01:24 on weekday; 03:12 on weekend; t=-5.23, p<0.01), the weekend rise time was delayed (07:36 on weekday; 10:30 on weekend; t=-24.48, p<0.01) and the total sleep time was increased on weekends (5:57 on weekday; 8:17 on weekend; t=15.94, p<0.01). They wished to sleep for 7 hours 6 minutes which was different from their actual weekday total sleep time (t=-11.41, p<0.01). The poor sleeper group had lower GPAs than the good sleeper group (t=2.05, p<0.05). The GPA of medical students were negatively correlated with age (r=-0.23, p<0.05), daily amount of smoking (r=-0.78, p<0.01), total amount of smoking (r=-0.75, p<0.01), weekday sleep latency (r=-0.23, p<0.05), weekend sleep latency (r=-0.23, p<0.05) and PSQI score (r=-0.30, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Medical students were experiencing a lack of sleep during weekdays as they have a later bedtime and earlier rise time, and consequently had more hours of sleep on weekends. Overall, the responded students were experiencing poor sleep quality, and the GPAs of the poor sleeper group were lower than those of the good sleeper group.
Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Students, Medical

On the contrary to congenital anomalies of intestinal rotation in pediatric patients, those in adults are generally nonsymptomatic and of little consequence. Occasionally, however, an adult may have midgut nonrotation and complain of chronic or recurrent abdominal pain. Intestinal nonrotation can be divided into complete or partial failure of rotation and into abnormalities affecting the proximal segment, the distal segment or both. We report herein a 43-year old female patient with symptomatic partial, cecocolic nonrotation.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult* ; Female ; Humans

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the anglographic finding and clinical result of transarterial embolotherapy(TAE) in patients with injuries of renal artery branches by blunt trauma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was based on retrospective analysis of seven cases, in which TAE was attempted for the control of traumatic renal arterial bleeding. All procedures were performed via the transfemoral approach. TAE was performed with stainless steel coil in two cases, Gelfoam in one case, and Gelfoam and stainless steel coil in four cases. RESULTS: Angiographic findings of vascular injuries were pseudoaneurysm in four cases, extravasation in two cases and arteriocalyceal fistula in one case. All procedures were performed successfully without complication. CONCLUSION: Pseudoaneurysm is a common anglographic finding in patients with injury of renal artery branches and TAE is considered a safe and effective method for treating such cases.
Aneurysm, False ; Embolization, Therapeutic* ; Fistula ; Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Renal Artery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stainless Steel ; Vascular System Injuries

We report a case of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with unique histopathological findings in which numerous infiltrated neutrophils exhibited nuclear segmentation anomalies. In comparison with well-described neutrophilic dermatoses of myelodysplastic syndrome such as Sweets syndrome and pyoderma gangrenosum, this case took a rapid and aggressive clinical course. We suggest that a nuclear segmentation anomaly, pseudo Pelger-Hiiet anomaly, is likely to reflect acute transformation of MDS and can be a poor prognostic marker.
Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; Neutrophils* ; Pyoderma Gangrenosum ; Skin Diseases ; Sweet Syndrome

To evaluate antioxidative effect of vitamin E, selenium and zinc sulfate on release of oxygen free radicals from polymorphonuclear leukocytes[PMNs], I measured the amount of superoxide release from human PMNs stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate[PMA]with addition of some antioxidant and antioxidative micronutrients using superoxide-dependent cytochrome c reduction.And to determine a protective effect of them on cultured bovine retinal pigment epithelial cells [RPE]from oxygen radicals, I measured a viability of bovine RPE using MTT assay after incubation with human PMNs and PMA. Vitamin E, selenuim and zinc sulfate are utilized at different concentrations of 1, 10 and 20 microM. Vitamin E and zinc sulfate inhibited superoxide production from PMNs stimulated by PMA from 10 microM concentration gnificantly. But in case of selenium, significant antioxidative effect was not found at each concentration.The antioxidative effect on cultured bovine RPE was evaluated using MTT assay.Among antioxidant and antioxidative micronutrients tested, vitamin E and zinc sulfate inhibited free radical damage to bovine RPE, they increased cell survival rate on culture at concentration of 1, 10 and 20 microM. In contrast, selenium did not increase cell survival rate significantly. With these results, it was found that vitamin E and zinc sulfate had antioxidative effect against superoxide release from PMNs and also protective effect of bovine RPE from free radical damages.Recent studies supported that peroxide may play an important role in causing tissue damage in human and experimental models of ocular inflammation and possibly in Behcet`s disease.It was suggested that antioxidant vitamins and minerals like vitamin E or zinc sulfate might be useful for management and/or prevention of these conditions.
Cell Survival ; Cytochromes c ; Epithelial Cells* ; Free Radicals ; Humans* ; Inflammation ; Micronutrients ; Minerals ; Models, Theoretical ; Myristic Acid ; Oxygen ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Retinaldehyde* ; Selenium* ; Superoxides* ; Vitamin E* ; Vitamins* ; Zinc Sulfate* ; Zinc*

PURPOSE: To determine the clinical characteristics and visual prognosis of intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs). METHODS: We analyzed the patients with surgical removal of IOFB and follow-up of 4 months or longer. RESULTS: Of all 126 eyes of 126 patients, 118 patients (93.6%) were men and mean age was 42.7 years. The cause was lawn mower in 49 eyes (38.9%). Metal composition was in 114 eyes (90.5%), corneal inlet was present in 101 eyes (80.2%) and posterior location was in 97 eyes (73.0%) were there. Visual acuity was worse than 0.04 in 77 eyes (61.1%) before operation and in 36 eyes (28.6%) at the final visit. The final visual acuity was significantly related with initial visual acuity (criterion: 0.1, P=0.001), wound length (criterion: 3 mm, P< 0.001), location (anterior vs. posterior location, P< 0.001) and size (criterion: 3mm, P< 0.001) of IOFB, traumatic cataract (P=0.011), vitreous hemorrhage (P=0.001) and retinal tear (P< 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSION: Lawn mower is the main cause of IOFB and the countermeasure should be needed for it. Initial visual acuity, location and size of IOFB, wound length, vitreous hemorrhage and retinal tear may be the important factors on visual prognosis of IOFB.
Bays ; Cataract ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foreign Bodies* ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis* ; Retinal Perforations ; Visual Acuity ; Vitreous Hemorrhage ; Wounds and Injuries

We report two cases of cellulitis on the saphenous venectomy scar which developed after a coronary artery bypass graft(CABG). A 68-year-old male and a 62-year-old female developed acute cellulitis in the saphenous vein donor extremity after CABG. The repeated bacterial cultures were negative in both cases. However, onychomycosis was confirmed in one patient. The intervals between CABG and the initial bout of cellulitis in the male and female patient were 10 and 22 months, respectively. Although the exact pathogenesis remains obscure, factors such as direct bacterial infection, hypersensitivity to streptococcal exotoxins, a local compromise of lymphatic and venous drainage, and fungal infection might have contributed to the development of cellulitis in these patients.
Aged ; Bacterial Infections ; Cellulitis* ; Cicatrix* ; Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Drainage ; Exotoxins ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Onychomycosis ; Saphenous Vein ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Cutaneous malignant tumors has increased recently and they have varied in their developing patterns according to social and environmental influences. However, we have little clinical data about the cutaneous malignant tumors in the Chonnam provinee. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to analyze the clinical characteristics of cutaneous malignant tumors observed in the Chonnam province and to compare them with the data previously reported in Korea. METHOD: We clinically analyzed 427 cases of cutaneous malignant tumors during a 10 year period betwecn January 1987 and Oetober 1996, at the Department of Dermatology, Chonnam Univemity Hospital in Kwangju. RESULTS: 1. The average armual incidence of cutaneous malignant tumors among the total number of outpatients was 1.00+/- 0.25%. The incidence tended to increase with time from 0.90+/-0.29% in the first 5 year-period to 1.15+/-0.09% in the late 5 year-period. The increasing rate was most pronmient in basal cell carcinoma. 2. The most common tumor in the 427 patients with malignant tumor was basal cell carcinoma (52.5%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (19.9%), malignant melanoma (13.3%), metastatic carcinoma (3.7%), malignant lymphoma (2.3%). 3. The mean age of onset was 60.7+/-16.0 years old (male; 59.6+/-15.0, female; 61.9+/-17.1) in the in the group as a whole; 63.9 in BCC, 63.3 in SCC and 55.8 in malignant melanoma. The ratio of men to women was 1.14:l. 4. The most common site of a11 malignant tumors was the head and neck (64.6%), where 89.3% of BCC, 58.8% of SCC, and 15.8% of malignant melanoma developed. The next common site was the lower exlremities and feet (15.7%) followed by the trunk (7,7%), and upper extremities and hands (7.3%).
Age of Onset ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Dermatology ; Female ; Foot ; Gwangju ; Hand ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Jeollanam-do* ; Korea ; Lymphoma ; Male ; Melanoma ; Neck ; Outpatients ; Upper Extremity

Adenosine deaminase(ADA)has been used for the diagnosis of localized tuberculosis.The titer of ADA was measured from the ocular fluid of the patients who had undergone vitreoretinal surgery due to non-tuberculous vitreoretinal disease. Forty five patients were included and twenty patients were male. Mean age was 51.9 years. Four patients had diabetes mellitus and two had essential hypertension. The most frequent cause of vitreoretinal surgery was proliferative vitreoretinopathy(12 eyes). For the analysis of ADA titer, vitreous fluid(group I)was aspirated in 36 patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy and subretinal fluid(group II)in 9 patients undergoing scleral encircling. Mean titer of ADA was 9.01+/-15.69 IU/L, and there was no significant difference on the statistics between group I(6.06+/-13.75 IU/L)and group II(20.83+/-18.17 IU/L). All 45 eyes showed negative reaction to polymerase chain againt tuberculosis, and 25 of 29 patients had positive reaction to tuberculin skin test. There was no statistically significant relationship between ADA titer and tuberculin skin test. This result suggests that ADA may be used for the diagnosis of posterior ocular tuberculosis, since the normal concentration in the posterior ocular fluid was compatible with the one in other body fluids where it has been used for the diagnosis of localized tuberculosis.
Adenosine Deaminase* ; Adenosine* ; Body Fluids ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Skin Tests ; Tuberculin ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Ocular ; Vitrectomy ; Vitreoretinal Surgery