BACKGROUND: The improvement in social economic standard of living and aging bring high attention to osteoporosis in women. Many studies have been released so far about how effectively Hormone Replacement Therapy(HRT) in postmenopausal women works for the increase in Bone Mineral Density(BMD) in hip and vertebrae with the different rate of bone formation. In addition, it has been believed that HRT could increase BMD of hip and lumbar vertebrae reduce fractures caused by osteoporosis. In this study, we will find the effect of HRT on the increase in BMD of lumbar vertebrae and hip in postmenopausal women, by measuring and comparing BMD of lumbar vertebrae with high rate of trabecular bone to that of hip with high rate of cortical bone one year after HRT in postmenopausal women. METHODS: Subjects were 48 out of 325 postmenopausal women patients who visited osteoporosis clinic, Sun Hospital, Taejeon, from January, 1995 to December, 1995 and had the osteoporosis test and the vertebrae osteoporosis test one year after. We compared and analyzed the change of BMD in each part by retesting BMD of lumbar vertebrae and hip one year after the continuous HRT in women. SPSS/PC was used for statistical procedure. RESULTS: Subjects have mean age of 54.8+/-4.5 years, mean menopausal age of 48.4+/-3.5 years, mean postmenopause period of 6.5 +/- 5.9 years, mean body mass index 23.4+/-3.1kg/m2, mean weight of 56.7 +/- 7.8kg and mean height of 154715.4cm. No correlation was observed of their age, menopausal age, the number of years since menopause and body mass index to the changing rate of BMD in lumbar vertebrae and femur one year after HRT in women. The BMD prior to treatment was, respectively, as follows , L2-L4(0.8983710.llg/cm2), Hip(neck, 0.7597+/-0.10g/cm2 ; trochanter, 0.6259+/-0.08g/cm2 ; Ward's triangle,0.5186+/-0.90g/cm2), and that one year after treatment ; L2-L4(0.9277+/-0.llg/cm2), Hip(neck,0.7592710.llg/cm2 ; trochanter, 0.63227:0.08g/cm" ; Ward's triangle,0.5340+/-0.09g/cm2). There was significant increase in BMD of lumbar vertebrae and femur Ward's triangle(P<0.01) among BMD of each part one year after HRT, but BMD of femur neck and that of trochanter region has no significant incense. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that one year treatment with HRT in postmenopausal women resulted in significant increase in BMD of not only lumbar vertebrae with lots of trabecular bone but also Ward's triangle regions of femur, regardless of age and postmenopausal period of postmenopausal women at the beginning of treatment. It is considered that HRT may be effective in preventing osteoporotic fractures of lumbar vertebrae and hip on postmenopausal women, and that postmenopausal period would not be an important factor in the beginning of HRT treatment.
Aging ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density* ; Daejeon ; Female ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Hip* ; Hormone Replacement Therapy* ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Menopause ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; Postmenopause ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Solar System ; Spine*

BACKGROUND: Recently, liquid-based cytology (LBC) has been introduced as an alternative to the conventional smear (CS) technique in thyroid fine needle aspiration, due to its diagnostic convenience. METHODS: We assessed 77 cases of thyroid fine needle aspiration using the SurePath(TM) method (SP) as LBC and CS via split-sample techniques. BRAF mutation tests were carried out via polymerase chain reaction and pyrosequencing immediately after diagnosis or a delay of more than one year. RESULTS: In a comparison between SP and CS, the rate of concordance between SP and CS was as high as 84.4% (kappa value, 0.754). In comparison with histologic diagnosis, the overall sensitivity was 100% for both. The specificity was 62.5% for SP and 56.3% for CS. Relative to CS, papillary carcinomas on SP slides revealed more accentuated nuclear irregularities, nucleoli, and reduced nuclear size. In contrast to CS, the delayed BRAFV600E mutation test using SP slides after 1-2 years failed. The use of new primers amplifying shorter product size could help the delayed test achieve success. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the diagnostic efficacy of SP and CS were negligible. The failure of the delayed BRAF mutation test on the SP slides might be associated with DNA degradation.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; DNA ; Needles ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thyroid Gland

Diffuse pulmonary nodular lesions have many causes. When they are caused by infection, the likely organisms are M. tuberculosis and various fungi. Silicosis, eosinophilic granuloma and pulmonary metastasis should be considered for differential diagnosis. Differential diagnosis needs detailed clinical history, physical examination and various laboratory tests. A case of persistent diffuse pulmonary nodular lesions which had persisted 5 years is reported. The patient was a 25 years old man with minimal pulmonary symptoms. Detailed past history and physical examination suggested thyroid tumor. Chest radiography showed numerous evenly sized well-defined nodules scattered in entire lung fields. Previous chest X-rays showed similar nodular lesions, which had lasted for 5 years. The number of nodules was slightly increased. Neck CT showed heterogenous mass in left lobe of thyroid gland and multiple lymphadenopathies along both internal jugular chains. Total thyroidectomy was performed. A case of lung metastasis which progressed slowly in papillary thyroid cancer is reported.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Eosinophilic Granuloma ; Fungi ; Humans ; Lung ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Physical Examination ; Radiography ; Silicosis ; Thorax ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is physiologically expressed by germinal center-associated helper T-cells and has an inhibitory effect on T-cell activity. METHODS: We examined 63 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and determined the number of PD-1-positive helper T-cells in a representative tumor area after immunohistochemical staining using a monoclonal antibody against PD-1. The PD-1-positive cells were counted in 3 high-power fields (HPFs; 400x). RESULTS: Patients were divided into 2 groups: one with a high number of PD-1-positive cells (>20/HPF, n=33) and one with a low number of PD-1-positive cells (< or =20/HPF, n=30). The former group showed decreased overall survival, but at a statistically non-significant level (p=0.073). A high number of PD-1-positive cells was more common in patients at an advanced clinical stage and with high international prognostic index score (p=0.025 and p=0.026, respectively). The number of extranodal sites also somewhat correlated with the PD-1 staining status (p=0.071). However, the number of PD-1-positive cells was not associated with patient age, serum lactate dehydrogenase level, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score. CONCLUSIONS: The high number of PD-1-positive cells might be associated with an unfavorable outcome in DLBCL patients.
B-Lymphocytes ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; T-Lymphocytes ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer

PURPOSE: HER2 is a 185-kDa transmembrane protein, which shares a considerable homology with the epidermal growth factor receptor. The over-expression of HER2 has been reported to be associated with a poor clinical outcome in breast cancer. In clinical practice and research studies, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) have commonly been used for the detection of HER2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of HER2 according to the results of IHC and FISH for HER2. METHODS: IHC and FISH were performed on the same breast cancer specimens from 388 Korean patients, with a mean follow-up duration of 59.8 months, with survival analyses were made according to the results of the HER2 detection methods; A0485 Ab (DAKO, Denmark) and the HER2 test kit (DAKO HerceptTest(TM), Denmark) for IHC, and the HER2 FISH kit (Vysis Inc., Downers Grove, Ill) for FISH were used. RESULTS: The IHC showed HER2 over-expression rates of 34.8% and 26.8% by the A0485 antibody and HercepTest, respectively. The rate of HER2 amplification by FISH in the same specimen was 25.8%. HER2 was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analyses regardless of the detection methods. In the survival analyses, according to the IHC results for HER2, only the 3+ scoring group in the positive results was associated with a poor survival. However, the positive group in the FISH test revealed a significantly worse survival than the FISH-negative group. CONCLUSION: For the prediction of survival of patients with breast cancer, the FISH test would be more useful than IHC, especially in the 2+ scoring IHC cases.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Fluorescence ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Survival Analysis*

PURPOSE: HER2 is a 185-kDa transmembrane protein, which shares a considerable homology with the epidermal growth factor receptor. The over-expression of HER2 has been reported to be associated with a poor clinical outcome in breast cancer. In clinical practice and research studies, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) have commonly been used for the detection of HER2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of HER2 according to the results of IHC and FISH for HER2. METHODS: IHC and FISH were performed on the same breast cancer specimens from 388 Korean patients, with a mean follow-up duration of 59.8 months, with survival analyses were made according to the results of the HER2 detection methods; A0485 Ab (DAKO, Denmark) and the HER2 test kit (DAKO HerceptTest(TM), Denmark) for IHC, and the HER2 FISH kit (Vysis Inc., Downers Grove, Ill) for FISH were used. RESULTS: The IHC showed HER2 over-expression rates of 34.8% and 26.8% by the A0485 antibody and HercepTest, respectively. The rate of HER2 amplification by FISH in the same specimen was 25.8%. HER2 was confirmed as an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analyses regardless of the detection methods. In the survival analyses, according to the IHC results for HER2, only the 3+ scoring group in the positive results was associated with a poor survival. However, the positive group in the FISH test revealed a significantly worse survival than the FISH-negative group. CONCLUSION: For the prediction of survival of patients with breast cancer, the FISH test would be more useful than IHC, especially in the 2+ scoring IHC cases.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Fluorescence ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Survival Analysis*

Multifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma (mPTC) comprises about 20-30% of PTC. In mPTC, individual tumor foci can be identical or frequently composed of different histological types including follicular, solid, tall-cell or conventional patterns. We report a case of mPTC consisting of one encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC) and three conventional PTCs in a 44-year-old woman. This case genetically demonstrates unique features including the simultaneous presence of the BRAF V600E (T1799A) mutation and the BRAF K601E (A1801G) mutation in conventional PTC and FVPTC, respectively.
Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Factor IX ; Female ; Humans ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms

BACKGROUND/OBSECTIVE: Airway inflammation by eosinophils, neutrophils and alveolar macrophages is a characteristic feature of asthma that leads to pathological subepithelial thickening and remodeling. Our previous study showed that oxidative stress in airways resulted in eosinophilia and epithelial apoptosis. The current study investigated whether glutathione-containing dry yeast extract (dry-YE) ameliorated eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction. MATERIALS/METHOD: This study employed 2 µg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or 20 ng/mL eotaxin-1-exposed human bronchial epithelial cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice. Dry-YE employed in this study contained a significant amount of glutathione (140 mg in 100 g dry yeast). RESULTS: Human bronchial epithelial cell eotaxin-1 and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) were markedly induced by the endotoxin LPS, which was dose-dependently attenuated by nontoxic dry-YE at 10-50 µg/mL. Moreover, dry-YE inhibited the MUC5AC induction enhanced by eotaxin-1, indicating that eotaxin-1-mediated eosinophilia may prompt the MUC5AC induction. Oral supplementation with 10-100 mg/kg dry-YE inhibited inflammatory cell accumulation in airway subepithelial regions with a reduction of lung tissue level of intracellular adhesion molecule-1. In addition, ≥ 50 mg/kg dry-YE diminished the lung tissue levels of eotaxin-1, eosinophil major basic protein and MUC5AC in OVA-exposed mice. Alcian blue/periodic acid schiff staining revealed that the dry-YE supplementation inhibited goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction in the trachea and bronchiolar airways of OVA-challenged mice. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative stress may be involved in the induction of eotaxin-1 and MUC5AC by endotoxin episode and OVA challenge. Dry-YE effectively ameliorated oxidative stress-responsive epithelial eosinophilia and mucus-secreting goblet cell hyperplasia in cellular and murine models of asthma.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Asthma* ; Chemokine CCL11 ; Eosinophil Major Basic Protein ; Eosinophilia* ; Eosinophils ; Epithelial Cells ; Glutathione ; Goblet Cells ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Inflammation ; Lung ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; Mice ; Mucin 5AC ; Mucins ; Mucus* ; Neutrophils ; Ovalbumin ; Ovum ; Oxidative Stress ; Trachea ; Yeasts

PURPOSE: We evaluated the prognostic significance of p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in stage III gastric carcinoma to determine the correlation between the p53 and PCNA expression and various clinicopathological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of p53 and PCNA were studied immunohistochemically in 64 cases of stage III gastric carcinomas with paraffin-embedded tissue specimens which were obtained surgically at the department of surgery, Presbyterian Medical Center from 1991 to 1992. Both expression were compared with known factors of prognosis. Survival rate and other clinicopathological parameters were analysed. RESULTS: Expression rates of p53 and high PCNA group were 40.6% and 26.6%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the p53 and PCNA expression and various clinicopathological variables such as age, sex, stage, histology, tumor depth, number of metastatic node, tumor size, site and method of operation. To analyse survival, we evaluated overall survival according to the extent of p53 and PCNA expression. No significant correlations between the p53 and PCNA expression and overall survival were found. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the p53 and PCNA expression seems to be hard to use as a prognostic indicator in stage III gastric carcinoma.
Prognosis ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen* ; Protestantism ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: The use of mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) represents a promising strategy for performing preclinical studies in the field of cell-based regenerative medicine; however, mBMSCs obtained via conventional isolation methods have two drawbacks, i.e., (i) they are heterogeneous due to frequent macrophage contamination, and (ii) they require long-term culturing for expansion. METHODS: In the present study, we report a novel strategy to generate highly pure mBMSCs using liposomal clodronate.This approach is based on the properties of the two cell populations, i.e., BMSCs (to adhere to the plasticware in culture dishes) and macrophages (to phagocytose liposomes). RESULTS: Liposomal clodronate added during the first passage of whole bone marrow culture was selectively engulfed by macrophages in the heterogeneous cell population, resulting in their effective elimination without affecting the MSCs.This method allowed the generation of numerous high-purity Sca-1 ＋ CD44 ＋ F4/80 - mBMSCs ([ 95%) with just one passaging. Comparative studies with mBMSCs obtained using conventional methods revealed that the mBMSCs obtained in the present study had remarkably improved experimental utilities, as demonstrated by in vitro multilineage differentiation and in vivo ectopic bone formation assays. CONCLUSION Our newly developed method, which enables the isolation of mBMSCs using simple and convenient protocol, will aid preclinical studies based on the use of MSCs.