BACKGROUND: All though the cause of alopecia areata is not known, many studies have recenty focused on the autoimmunity of alopecia areata. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to detect autoantibodies against hair follicular antigens and compare the autoantibody level before and after treatment of alopecia areata. METHODS: We collected serum from: (a) 7 alopecia areata patients with good therapeutic responses, (b) 5 alopecia areata patients with poor therapeutic responses (c) 5 normal control people. First, we detected the antigens of hair follicles with SDS-PAGE. Secondly we reacted the antigens with the patients' and normal control serums by Western blotting. RESULTS: The follicular antigens were seen in the range of 44kD-57kD. Autoantibodies obviously apparent in patients of alopecia areata but not in the normal control. High concentrations of were Autoantibodies against follicular antigens seemed to be present in the patients with good therapeutic responses and as they had been treated well, the level of autoantiboies has decreased. Autoantibodies, however, were present in small amounts and were almost an changed between before and after treatment in the patients with poor therapeutic responses except for one case. CONCLUSION: There are kinds of autoantibodies against hair follicles in the serums of alopecia areata patients, and the titers of antibodies may be correlated with therapeutic responses.
Alopecia Areata* ; Alopecia* ; Antibodies ; Autoantibodies* ; Autoimmunity ; Blotting, Western ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Hair Follicle* ; Hair* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Mandibular Fractures ; Osteomyelitis ; Transplants

Polycstic kidney was rare problem of pediatric disease category. We have experienced one case of polycstic kidney(Potter type I) with pulmonary hypoplasia who born after 35 weeks of gestation to a 34 year-old mother. The clinical course of this infant was characterized by respiratory difficulty with apnea, cyanosis and marked abdominal distension. Chest X-Ray film showed no airation in the both lung fields. He died from respiratory failure due to pulmonary hypoplasia, 3 hrs after birth. We tried discussion about polycstic kidney with literature review.
Adult ; Apnea ; Cyanosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Kidney ; Lung ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Polycystic Kidney Diseases* ; Pregnancy ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Thorax ; X-Ray Film

BACKGROUND: Obtaining and utilizing the feed-backs from residents who have finished four year of anesthesia residency could well contribute to improvement in training program. Therefore authors have designed a self questionnaire to analyze the degrees or measures of satisfaction from such training program and data were evaluated to provide,in future,the guideline which would improve the quality of the training program. METHODS: The self-questionnaires were sent to residents(n=148),who have been through the entire four year of residency training courses under anesthesia department. The assessment was conducted to measure the degree of satisfaction based on several variables such as motivation, selection of anesthesiology as a first choice, type of training hospital, and sex. To evaluate the current problems of anesthesia residency program, we made 30 open-ended and close-ended questions. Data analysis was made using Fishers exaet test. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant difference between the degree of satisfaction and their motivation for choosing anesthesia, anesthesia as a major, selection of anesthesiology as a first choice, and types of hospitals. As for the difference in satisfaction of training, male residents showed significantly higher satisfaction rate( n=92, 36.2%) than female residents(n=47, 17%). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that degrees of satisfaction was more likely related to the program of each training hospital and sex compared to other variables studied.
Anesthesia Department, Hospital ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthesiology ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Internship and Residency* ; Male ; Motivation ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Statistics as Topic

We report a case of multicystic mesothelioma in the visceral peritoneum anterior of the ascending colon. A 39-year-old female patient visited hospital with a palpabel tender mass in the right flank. An ultrasonogram showed multiple cystic mass lesions in the right flank and CT scan showed a multicystic rative mass with enhancing wall and septum in front of the ascending colon. The patient underwent explolaparotomy and the mass. which inpathology turned out to be a benign multicystic masothelioma, was removed.
Colon, Ascending ; Female ; Humans ; Mesothelioma* ; Peritoneum* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Congenital combined deficiency of vitamin K dependent coagulation factors is a rare coagulation disorder. We experienced a 20-month old boy who was found to have a congenital vitamin K dependent coagulation factor defeciency. He presented with continuous bleeding on lacerated hard palate and had a history of numerous hemorrhagic episodes with multiple bruises after birth. Laboratory finding showed prolonged prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time. Blood coagulation work-up showed marked decreased activities of the coagulation factors II, VII, IX, X and the natural anticoagulants proteins C and S. Assay of coagulation factors in the parents and sibling were with the normal range. There's no evidence of malabsorption, liver disease or ingestion of a coumarin compound. Response to intravenous administration of vitamin K1 was not significant but transfusion of fresh frozen plasma corrected prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time. We reported a case of congenital combined deficiency of vitamin K dependent coagulation factors.
Administration, Intravenous ; Anticoagulants ; Blood Coagulation ; Blood Coagulation Factors ; Contusions ; Eating ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Diseases ; Male ; Palate, Hard ; Parents ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Parturition ; Plasma ; Prothrombin Time ; Reference Values ; Siblings ; Vitamin K 1 ; Vitamin K* ; Vitamins*

Lichen nitidus(LN) is an uncommon chronic inflammatory disease of shiny, flat-topped, flesh-colored uniform papules most commonly located on the penis, forearms and wrists, lower abdomen, and thighs. LN almost has localized distribution, but in rare cases, it may become generalized. In Korea, three cases of generalized LN were reported. We report here three cases of generalized lichen nitidus in 31-year-old man, 8-year-old boy, and 6-year-old girl who had generalized numerous pinhead-sized, erythematous to flesh-colored, shiny papules. Microscopically, they had typical appearance of LN.
Abdomen ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Forearm ; Humans ; Korea ; Lichen Nitidus* ; Lichens* ; Male ; Penis ; Thigh ; Wrist

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Subjective cognitive decline has been proposed as a potential indicator of the preclinical state of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results of the studies of cortical atrophy on brain MRIs in subjects with subjective cognitive decline are inconsistent across the literatures. We investigated whether subjects with subjective cognitive decline had less gray matter volume compared to controls without subjective cognitive decline as per brain MRI. METHODS: Thirty-six subjects with subjective cognitive decline and thirty-three controls without subjective cognitive decline were recruited retrospectively from among the patients who had visited the department of neurology at Inha University Hospital between January 2008 and December 2010. All subjects had undergone a brain MRI scan including 3D T1-weighted spoiled gradient recalled echo imaging. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to examine gray matter volumes between the two groups, after controlling for age, sex, education, and total intracranial volumes (TIV). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age, gender, education, and TIV between the two groups. In comparison to controls without subjective cognitive decline, subjects with subjective cognitive decline showed gray matter atrophy in the left superior and medial frontal gyri, left superior and inferior parietal lobules, and right precuneus and insular in the VBM analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with subjective cognitive decline encountered in clinical settings have greater similarity to an AD gray matter atrophy pattern compared with cognitively normal individuals without subjective cognitive decline.
Alzheimer Disease ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Education ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neurology ; Rabeprazole ; Retrospective Studies

We report a case of cat scratch disease caused by Bartonella henselae in Korea. A 25-yr-old woman developed left cervical lymphadenopathy with history of contact with a dog. The cervical lymphadenopathy persisted for 1 month and resolved gradually and spontaneously. Serologic test was not done during the acute stage of the disease. Immunofluorescent antibody test performed during the convalescent stage was positive for B. henselae. To confirm B. henselae infection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis using aspirates of cervical lymph node was performed and the presence of B. henselae DNA was demonstrated. This is the first reported case of cat scratch disease in Korea confirmed by PCR for B. henselae DNA.
Adult ; Bartonella henselae/*genetics/*isolation and purification ; Cat-Scratch Disease/*diagnosis/*microbiology ; DNA, Bacterial/*analysis/*genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods

The ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) activity of mouse was found to be highest in the small intestine. The mitochondrial OAT from mouse small intestine was purified to homogeneity by the procedures including heart treatment, ammonium sulfate fractionation, octyl-Sepharose chromatography, and Sephadex G-150 gel filtration. Comparing to the amino acid sequence of mouse hepatic OAT, six N-terminal amino acid residues have been deleted in intestinal OAT. However, the subsequent sequence was identical with that of hepatic OAT. The molecular weights of both intestinal and hepatic OAT were estimated as 46 kDa by SDS-gel electrophoresis and as 92 kDa by gel filtration, indicating that both native OATs are dimeric. Biochemical properties of intestinal OAT, such as molecular weight, pH optimum and K(m) values for L-ornithine and alpha-ketoglutarate, were similar to those of hepatic OAT. However, intestinal OAT was more labile than hepatic OAT to tryptic digestion.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animal ; Intestine, Small/enzymology* ; Liver/enzymology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Molecular Weight ; Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase/metabolism* ; Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase/isolation & purification ; Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase/genetics* ; Tissue Distribution ; Trypsi