Lichenoid drug eruption (LDE) is a rare form of delayed-type drug eruption. Among anti-tuberculosis (Tb) agents, cycloserine (CS) has been reported as a rare cause of LDE. Positive results on the lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) have not been reported in patients with LDE. In the present case, we performed LTT and a patch test, and successfully proved CS as the offending drug in this patient, who had been treated with multiple anti-Tb drugs. These observations suggest that CS should be considered a possible cause of LDE and that LTT can be an option for the diagnosis of LDE.
Cycloserine ; Diagnosis ; Drug Eruptions* ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; Humans ; Lichenoid Eruptions ; Lymphocyte Activation* ; Lymphocytes* ; Patch Tests

Hesperidin, which is the most abundant flavonoid of Citrus unshiu (Rutaceae), has been reported to possess diverse activities and widely used as functional foods and cosmetics. For the development of functional products, extraction procedure is indispensable. Extraction conditions affect the composition of extract as well as its biological activity. Therefore, we tried to optimize extraction conditions such as extraction solvent, extraction time and extraction temperature for maximum yield of hesperidin using response surface methodology with threelevel-three-factor Box-Behnken design (BBD). Regression analysis showed a good fit of the experimental data and the optimal condition was obtained as ethanol concentration, 59.0%; temperature 71.5degrees C and extraction time, 12.4 h. The hesperidin yield under the optimal condition was found to be 287.8 microg per 5 mg extract, which was well matched with the predicted value of 290.5 microg. These results provides optimized extraction condition for hesperidin and might be useful for the development of hesperidin as functional products like health supplements, cosmetics and medicinal products.
Citrus* ; Ethanol ; Functional Food ; Hesperidin*

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer deaths in Korean women. Although tumor-induced mediators and cancer therapy can suppress cell-mediated immunity, the concurrence of herpes zoster in breast cancer patients has not been well-recognized. Objective: This study aimed to delineate the characteristics of herpes zoster in patients with breast cancer, particularly its association with patient age and breast cancer severity, treatment, and clinical course. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of breast cancer patients at a tertiary referral center in Korea from January 2003 to June 2018, identified patients with a subsequent diagnosis of herpes zoster, and analyzed their clinical characteristics. Results: Among 8,124 patients with breast cancer, 2.04% further developed zoster during a median 31-month follow-up period. Age at the diagnosis of breast cancer was higher in the zoster group than in the no zoster group.Cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy significantly increased the risk of zoster. Time from the diagnosis of breast cancer to zoster development was significantly shorter for invasive cancers than for in-situ cancers, with higher risk in the initial 2 years from the cancer diagnosis. Conclusion This study showed that breast cancer patients are at an increased risk of zoster, particularly in the time following cancer diagnosis. Therefore, a recent diagnosis of breast cancer should warrant clinical suspicion of zoster for patients with suggestive symptoms, and active management should be started.

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer deaths in Korean women. Although tumor-induced mediators and cancer therapy can suppress cell-mediated immunity, the concurrence of herpes zoster in breast cancer patients has not been well-recognized. Objective: This study aimed to delineate the characteristics of herpes zoster in patients with breast cancer, particularly its association with patient age and breast cancer severity, treatment, and clinical course. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of breast cancer patients at a tertiary referral center in Korea from January 2003 to June 2018, identified patients with a subsequent diagnosis of herpes zoster, and analyzed their clinical characteristics. Results: Among 8,124 patients with breast cancer, 2.04% further developed zoster during a median 31-month follow-up period. Age at the diagnosis of breast cancer was higher in the zoster group than in the no zoster group.Cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy significantly increased the risk of zoster. Time from the diagnosis of breast cancer to zoster development was significantly shorter for invasive cancers than for in-situ cancers, with higher risk in the initial 2 years from the cancer diagnosis. Conclusion This study showed that breast cancer patients are at an increased risk of zoster, particularly in the time following cancer diagnosis. Therefore, a recent diagnosis of breast cancer should warrant clinical suspicion of zoster for patients with suggestive symptoms, and active management should be started.

Objective: To determine the relationship between line bisection test (LBT) performance time and prognosis of hemispatial neglect (HSN) in stroke patients. Methods: Data on stroke patients with HSN were prospectively collected. After patient recruitment and eligibility screening, the LBT, Motor-Free Visual Perception Test 3rd edition, and Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination were performed at the time of admission and 4 weeks thereafter. The LBT performance time was also measured. All patients received conventional rehabilitation for 4 weeks. Based on the improvements in their LBT grades, the patients were divided into improved and non-improved groups. The evaluation results of the two groups were compared using Mann–Whitney U-tests and logistic regression was performed to predict the independence of each outcome. Results: In total, 26 stroke patients with HSN were included, with 13 patients in each group. Significant differences were observed in the baseline LBT performance times between the improved and non-improved groups (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed associations between HSN prognosis, and baseline LBT performance time (odds ratio=0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.90–1.00; p<0.05) and baseline Motor-Free Visual Perception Test 3rd edition (odds ratio=1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.43; p<0.05). Conclusion A significant relationship was observed between the baseline LBT performance time and HSN prognosis.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Melanoma ; Parkinson Disease

BACKGROUND: Osteopontin (OPN) and carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), which are expressed on the surface of tumor cells, are associated with hypoxia during tumor development and progression. However, the roles of these proteins in the plasma of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are poorly understood. Herein, we hypothesized that plasma OPN and CAIX levels could be used as diagnostic and prognostic tumor markers in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: Fifty-three patients with NSCLC and 50 healthy control subjects were enrolled. We selected controls without malignancy and matched them with NSCLC patient cases according to age and gender. Blood samples were collected at the time of diagnosis; the plasma levels of OPN and CAIX were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: The plasma levels of OPN in the patients with NSCLC were significantly elevated as compared to those in the controls (p=0.016). However, there was no difference in the plasma level of CAIX between the NSCLC patients and controls. NSCLC patients with a distant metastasis had a remarkable increase in plasma OPN compared with patients without metastasis (p=0.026), but no such correlation was found for CAIX. There was no difference in overall survival rates according to the plasma level of OPN between the two groups (by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis). CONCLUSION: Plasma OPN levels were elevated in patients with NSCLC as compared with the controls, with greater elevation of OPN levels in the advanced stages of disease. Therefore, plasma OPN may have utility as a diagnostic, but not prognostic, biomarker of advanced NSCLC.
Anoxia ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; Carbonic Anhydrases ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteopontin ; Plasma ; Proteins ; Survival Rate ; Biomarkers, Tumor