Normal human B cells produce autocrine growth factor in response to Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I strain (SAC). However, the functional role and molecular nature of the B cell derived-B cell growth factor (B-BCGF) are largely unknown. We have tried to investigate the nature of B-BCGF using mAb for several years. We report here that B- BCGF is capable of binding to hemoglobin (Hb). The concentrated culture supernatant from tonsillar B cells stimulated with SAC for 24 h was loaded into the fast protein liquid chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. The peak with BCGF activity was shown to have a M.W. of 16-18 Kda in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver stain. Amino acid sequence of the fraction was found to identical to human hemoglobin (Hb) by more than 85%. However, Hb itself had no BCGF activity. The presence of Hb in culture supernatant was due to the contamination of SRBC during B cell purification. SRSC were completely removed from B cells by percoll-gradient centrifugation and B cells were stimulated with SAC and exogenous Hb was added to the cultures. The Hb fraction from FPLC again showed a BCGF activity. These data strongly suggested that BCGF binds to Hb. We confirmed this in dot blot as well as Western blot. The M.W of Hb-binding BCGF was 20 Kda. This information may provide a rapid progress in research of BCGF.
Amino Acid Sequence ; B-Lymphocytes ; Blotting, Western ; Centrifugation ; Chromatography, Ion Exchange ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Humans ; Silver ; Staphylococcus aureus

No abstract available.
Humans ; Physicians, Family*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate effects of patients' age, amenorrhea duration, motivation, purpose, regimen, side effects on compliance to hormone replacement therapy(HRT) Methods: Compliance to HRT was assessed in 258 postmenopausal women who began HRT in the Menopause Clinic of Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym university. One hundred sixty nine women who had intact uterus received continuous combined therapy with 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) and 100 mg of micronized progesterone. Eighty nine women who were hysterectomized received only 0.625 mg of CEE. RESULTS: A total of 103 women (39.9%) reported that they continued HRT at least for one year. Continuation of HRT was significantly more common among women who started HRT becuase of recommendation by gynecologist after hysterectomy in our department (p< 0.05). A greater percentage of women who received only CEE without uterus continued HRT than women who received continuous combined therapy (p< 0.05). Duration of amenorrhea, reasons for taking HRT and side effects such as irregular bleeding or breast tenderness were not related to the continuation of HRT. CONCLUSION: Education of menopausal women about the benefit/risk and side effects of HRT may be critical in improving compliance.
Amenorrhea ; Breast ; Compliance* ; Education ; Estrogens ; Female ; Heart ; Hemorrhage ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Menopause ; Motivation ; Progesterone ; Uterus

BACKGROUND: Malignant skin tumor cells derived from epidemal keratinocyte penetrate the basement membrane to proliferate in dermal interstitial strozirarnd invade surrounding tissue and finally metastasize to distant organs. In this stage of invaiac a and metastsis, the existence of proteolytic enzymes, which are capable of degrading the tissue barrier composed primarily of collagen, elastin, glycoproteins and proteoglycans, is imagnant. One of theses enzymes, cathepsin B, a lysosomal thiol protease, has been reported to ie ound in association with plasma membrane in animal and human tumors and to be releasec b tumor cells. OBJECT: We assayed the cathepsin B activities of squamo is cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma in order to investigate the correlation between the degree of cathepsin B activities and invasiveness or metastatic potential of skin tumors. METHODS: Cathepsin B-like protease activity was measurec by the method of Hirao using a synthetic substrate, Z-Phe-Arg-MCA. The skin tissues (penie Koreskin for control, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma tumor masses) were homogenized and their subcellular organelles were fractionated by centrifugation. Each of the fractionated preparations were used as enzyme solution. RESULTS: Cathepsin B-lilke activities were found mainly in the membrane fractions in all the samples. The activities of squamous cell carcinoma (12.484+1.904) and basal cell carcinoma (10.598+1.926) were higber than those of the control skin (9.115+0.815). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that membrane-bound conrt epsin B-like protease participates in local dissolution of the extracellular matrices and were ar endothelial cells to be able to make metastasis to other remote organ during the invasivest ges of malignant skin tumors.
Animals ; Basement Membrane ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cathepsin B* ; Cathepsins* ; Cell Membrane ; Centrifugation ; Collagen ; Elastin ; Endothelial Cells ; Extracellular Matrix ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratinocytes ; Membranes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Oncogenes ; Organelles ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Proteoglycans ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Paget Disease, Extramammary*

BACKGROUND: Colistin (polymyxin E) is active against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB). However, the effectiveness of inhaled colistin is unclear. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness and safety of aerosolized colistin for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by MDR-GNB. METHODS: In this retrospective longitudinal study, we evaluated the medical records of 63 patients who received aerosolized colistin treatment for VAP caused by MDR-GNB in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) from February 2012 to March 2014. RESULTS: A total of 25 patients with VAP caused by MDR-GNB were included in this study. The negative conversion rate was 84.6% after treatment, and acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in 11 patients (44%, AKI group). The average length of MICU stay and colistin treatment- related factors, such as daily and total cumulative doses and administration period, were not significantly different between groups. In-hospital mortality tended to be higher in the AKI group (p = 0.07). Multivariate analysis showed that a body mass index less than 18 was an independent risk factor of mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 21.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.59-302.23; p = 0.02). Notably, AKI occurrence was closely related to the administration of more than two nephrotoxic drugs combined with aerosolized colistin (OR = 15.03, 95% CI 1.40-161.76; p = 0.025) and septic shock (OR = 8.10, 95% CI 1.40-161.76; p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The use of adjunctive aerosolized colistin treatment appears to be a relatively safe and effective option for the treatment of VAP caused by MDR-GNB. However, more research on the concomitant use of nephrotoxic drugs with aerosolized colistin will be necessary, as this can be an important risk factor of development of AKI.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Body Mass Index ; Colistin* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Longitudinal Studies ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Shock, Septic ; Treatment Outcome*

OBJECTIVE: Methotrexate is the first-line drug in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) exhibiting higher efficacy and better tolerability than most other DMARDs. To have a better understanding of the anti-arthritic mechanism of methotrexate, we investigated the effect of methotrexate on suppressing the autoimmune inflammatory and destructive arthritis in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice. METHODS: The effects of methotrexate on joint inflammation were assessed by clinical scoring and histologic analysis. Levels of cytokines and autoreactive antibodies were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. The population of TH17 and Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells and phosphorylation of their critical transcription activators, STAT3 and STAT5, were examined by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS: Treatment with methotrexate significantly alleviated joint inflammation and cartilage destruction in CIA. Serum levels of total immunoglobulins G, G1, G2a specific to type II collagen were also reduced considerably in methotrexate-treated mice. The drug inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-17 in arthritic joints ex vivo as well as by splenocytes in vitro. Moreover, methotrexate treatment resulted in reciprocal modulation of TH17 cells and Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in spleen tissues, in which TH17 cells were decreased and Treg cells in number were increased. Subsequent analysis of CD4+T cells showed that phosphorylation of STAT3 was decreased whereas phosphorylation of STAT5 was increased in methotrexate-treated mice. CONCLUSION: Methotrexate treatment effectively suppressed autoimmune arthritis and restored homeostasis of the immune system by reciprocal regulation of TH17 and Treg cells in a mouse model of collagen-induced arthritis.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Antirheumatic Agents ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Experimental ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Cartilage ; Collagen Type II ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Homeostasis ; Immune System ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunohistochemistry ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-17 ; Interleukin-6 ; Joints ; Methotrexate ; Mice ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Phosphorylation ; Spleen ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Th17 Cells ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

The symmetrical peripheral gangrene syndrome consists of sudden onset of symmetrical gangrene of the fingers, toes and more raely, the nose, upper lip, ear lobes, or genitalia. There is no evidence of occulusion of large vessels or vasculitis. We experienced a case of symmetrical peripheral gangrene developed in fingers and toes with disseminated intravascular coagulation in 20 day-old permature infant with sepsis by Enterobacter aerogenes. Thereafter, we presented a case with a brief review of the related literatures.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation* ; Ear ; Enterobacter aerogenes ; Fingers ; Gangrene* ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Infant ; Lip ; Nose ; Sepsis ; Toes ; Vasculitis

Lichen planopilaris is believed to be a variant of lichen planus which is occasionally accompanied by classical lichen planus. A 68-year old male had asymptomatic skin colored or light violet colored papules and nodules on the occipital area followed by hair loss for 2 months. He had also violaceous pea to bean sized whitish scaly papules on the right lower extremity. Histopathological examination revealed the dilated follicles to be filled with horny material. There were also intense infiltrations of monocytes which were most prominent at the lower pole of the hair follicles on the scalp lesion. There was also hyperkeratosis, focal hypergranulosis and band-like infiltrations of lymphocytes at the dermo-epidermal junction on the lesion of the lower extremity. Direct immunofluorescence examination showed linear deposition of fibrin at the dermo-epidermal junction in the hair follicles. We had an opportunity to observe a man with lichen planopilaris who had loss of scalp hair which was accompanied by classical lichen planus on the lower extremity.
Aged ; Fibrin ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Lichen Planus ; Lichens* ; Lower Extremity ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Monocytes ; Peas ; Scalp ; Skin ; Viola

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical manifestations, contact history, and status of tuberculosis contact investigations in school-age children and adolescents with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) at two centers. METHODS: This study was conducted with 54 patients in the age ranging from 10 to 18 years, who were diagnosed with pulmonary TB at the Pusan National University Hospital and Pusan National University Children's Hospital, January 2008 to December 2012. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the patients. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 16 years old; 11 patients were aged 10 to 14 and 43 patients were aged 15 to 18. Among 54 patients, 19 had history of contact with pulmonary TB, 10 had contact with house members (household), and remaining 9 had contact with classmates (non-household). One out of 10 patients who had household contacts and 6 out of 9 patients who had non-household contacts were evaluated with contact investigation after the exposure to pulmonary TB. Among 7 patients who were evaluated with contact investigation, 3 were diagnosed with active pulmonary TB, 1 had latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), and 3 had no evidence of TB or LTBI. The median period of diagnosis after the exposure to active pulmonary TB was 2 years in patients with household contacts and 0.23 years in patients with non-household contacts. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that if the contact investigation conducted properly, it would be helpful for early diagnosis and prevention of pulmonary TB.
Adolescent* ; Busan ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Latent Tuberculosis ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*