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

BACKGROUND: Nutrition label reading is helpful in attaining a healthy diet. Nutrition label use and its related factors have been studied in many Korean articles, but their research samples were the general population and not chronic disease patients. This study aimed to explore the use of nutrition labels and its relation to dietary intake among chronic disease patients in Korea. METHODS: A total of 3160 respondents aged> or =20 years from the 2008-2009 Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-IV) participated in the study. Their chronic medical conditions included hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, diabetes and/or stroke and they were interviewed regarding their use of nutrition labels. Nutrition intake was also estimated by 24-hour dietary recalls. RESULTS: Overall, 10.4% of the chronic disease patients reported to using nutrition labels. The nutrients they looked at first were total calories, fat and cholesterol. Factors related to reading nutrition labels were relatively higher education, high body mass index and lower frequency of alcohol intake in males and relatively younger age and higher education in females. Nutrition label users consumed lower total calories, protein and fat in the male CAD group, lower total calories and carbohydrate in both diabetes and total groups and lower total calories and fiber in the female stroke group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that, in Korea, a significantly lower rate of patients with chronic disease read nutrition labels. Strategies need to be developed to improve clinical application of nutrition labels in this population.
Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Chronic Disease* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diet ; Education ; Female ; Food Labeling ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Stroke

No abstract available.
Anemia, Aplastic* ; Hepatitis*

To determine effects of the direction of the rotational work shifting on the circadian rhythm and adaptation of physiological and psychological components were investigated with nursing students. Two groups of seven volunteers participated as experimental subjects, and eight nursing students participated as a control group. The directions of rotation work shift were as follows : CW(clockwise)-shift system rotation in the direction of day shift(3 lays), evening shift(3days), off duty(1day) and night shift(5days). and CCW(counterclockwise)-shift system rotation in the reverse direction. Urinary free cortisol and 17-hydroxycorticoster oids in the urine were measured by the solid-phase radioimmunoassay and the colorimetry methods, re spectively. Plasma melatonin was measured by radioimmunoassay. The urinary free cotisol rhythm changed to ir-regular on the evening and night shift in the CCW shift system, whereas the rhythm seems to adapt on night shift in the CW shift system. The daily rhythms of urinary 17-OHCS indicate that they are well synchronized to shift work. These results show that the rotation of shift in the CW direction is more acceptable in terms of the adaptation of hormonal rhythms. These results indicate that the CCW rotation of shift work makes it more difficult for the workers to adapt on a physiological level, and has many more negative effects on nurses when compared with the CW rotation. Thus, a clockwise rotating shift systern seems to be more desirable for the optimal health and performance of nurses.
Circadian Rhythm* ; Colorimetry ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone* ; Melatonin ; Plasma ; Radioimmunoassay ; Students, Nursing ; Volunteers