Gastric tuberculosis is a rare disease and is usually secondary to pulmonary or intestinal tuberculosis. Only a few cases of gastric tuberculosis have been reported in the literature. In most cases, gastric tuberculosis exists as an ulcerating lesion, whereby the clinical symptom is non-specific and similar to that of a peptic ulcer. The diagnosis af gastric tuberculosis is based on either positive histological or bacteriological study. Submucasal tumors resembling gastric tuberculosis has been reported extremely rare in incidence. In this study we report a case of a young woman admitted with intermittent abdominal pain due to gastric tuberculosis presenting as submucosal tumor in the greater curvature of the lower body. After gastric resection, a histological examination revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseation necrosis which is consistent with tuberculosis. There was no evidence of the tuberculous lesion anywhere else. The patient was put on antituberculosis medications. The patient's follow-up observation in the clinic was uneventful.
Abdominal Pain ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Necrosis ; Peptic Ulcer ; Rare Diseases ; Tuberculosis* ; Ulcer

PURPOSE: The underlying cause of myasthenia gravis (MG) is unknown, although it likely involves a genetic component. However, no common genetic variants have been unequivocally linked to autoimmune MG. We sought to identify the genetic variants associated with an increased or decreased risk of developing MG in samples from a Korean Multicenter MG Cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine new genetic targets related to autoimmune MG, a whole genome-based single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) analysis was conducted using an Axiom(TM) Genome-Wide ASI 1 Array, comprising 598375 SNPs and samples from 109 MG patients and 150 neurologically normal controls. RESULTS: In total, 641 SNPs from five case-control associations showed p-values of less than 10(-5). From regional analysis, we selected seven candidate genes (RYR3, CACNA1S, SLAMF1, SOX5, FHOD3, GABRB1, and SACS) for further analysis. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that a few genetic polymorphisms, such as in RYR3, CACNA1S, and SLAMF1, might be related to autoimmune MG. Our findings also encourage further studies, particularly confirmatory studies with larger samples, to validate and analyze the association between these SNPs and autoimmune MG.
Antigens, CD/genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/genetics ; Calcium Channels/genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Myasthenia Gravis/*etiology ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics ; Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics ; Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel/genetics

Understanding human immune responses in chronic refractory tuberculosis (CRTB) is important for developing immunotherapy against the disease. The aim of this study was to examine cytokine responses [interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10] by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in CRTB patients after in vitro stimulation with the 30-kDa or purified protein derivative (PPD) antigen (Ag). Most of the CRTB cases were multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. The results were compared with those from early TB (E-TB) patients and healthy tuberculin reactors (HTR). IFN-gamma production was significantly depressed in both CRTB and E-TB groups compared with HTR. In response to the 30-kDa Ag, TNF-alpha levels were significantly depressed only in CRTB patients, while greatly increased in E-TB patients. In addition, IL-10 production was significantly increased in E-TB patients, and PBMC from both E-TB and CRTB patients secreted more IL-6 than HTR. IL-10 neutralization significantly increased TNF-alpha levels, whereas anti-TNF-alpha did not alter IL-10 induction significantly in PBMC from HTR and CRTB patients. Our findings suggest that CRTB patients have depression in both IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha reponses, which might play important roles during chronic M. tuberculosis infection.
Depression* ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Interferon-gamma* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-12 ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Tuberculin ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

PURPOSE: Stem cell-based therapies represent new promises for the treatment of urinary incontinence. This study was performed to assess optimized cell passage number, cell dose, therapeutic efficacy, feasibility, toxicity, and cell trafficking for the first step of the pre-clinical evaluation of human amniotic fluid stem cell (hAFSC) therapy in a urinary incontinence animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proper cell passage number was analyzed with hAFSCs at passages 4, 6, and 8 at week 2. The cell dose optimization included 1x10(4), 1x10(5), and 1x10(6) cells at week 2. The in vivo cell toxicity was performed with 0.25x10(6), 0.5x10(6), and 1x10(6) cells at weeks 2 and 4. Cell tracking was performed with 1x10(6) cells at weeks 2 and 4. RESULTS: The selected optimal cell passage number was smaller than 6, and the optimal cell dose was 1x10(6) for the mouse model. In our pre-clinical study, hAFSC-injected animals showed normal values for several parameters. Moreover, the injected cells were found to be non-toxic and non-tumorigenic. Furthermore, the injected hAFSCs were rarely identified by in vivo cell trafficking in the target organs at week 2. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates for the first time the pre-clinical efficacy and safety of hAFSC injection in the urinary incontinence animal model and provides a basis for future clinical applications.
Amniotic Fluid/*cytology ; Animals ; Cell Movement ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Injections ; Mice ; Stem Cell Transplantation/*methods ; Stem Cells/*cytology ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Incontinence/*therapy

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of pre-emptive subdiaphragmatic instillation of lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum on postoperative pain following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and also to evaluate it's effect on the changes of blood pressure during an operation. METHODS: Thirty-three relatively healthy patients for an LC were allocated into the two groups. after the induction of general anesthesia with sodium thiopental, vecuronium, nitrous oxide and enflurane (1-2 vol%), 0.2% lidocaine 200 ml was subdiaphragmatically instilled 10 min before pneumoperitoneum in the lidocaine group (n = 15), and normal saline in the control group (n = 18). The changes of the systolic and mean arterial pressure (SAP and MAP), postoperative pain score, and the number of analgesics used during the postoperative 24 h were compared between two groups. RESULTS: The pain scores at postoperative 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h and the number of analgesics used were significantly low in the lidocaine group compared to the control group (P<0.01). The elevations of SAP and MAP during pneumoperitoneum were significantly attenuated in the lidocaine group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This data suggests that subdiaphragmatic instillation of lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum is effective in the control of postoperative pain following an LC and also effective to attenuate the elevation of blood pressure during pneumoperitoneum. However, further study is needed to evaluate the safety of these methods before recommendation of routine use.
Analgesics ; Anesthesia, General ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure* ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Enflurane ; Humans ; Lidocaine* ; Nitrous Oxide ; Pain, Postoperative* ; Pneumoperitoneum* ; Sodium ; Thiopental ; Vecuronium Bromide

OBJECTIVE: Atopic dermatitis is a chronically relapsing inflammatory skin disease. However, little is known about the prevalence of atopic dermatitis outside of North America and Europe. We evaluated the nationwide prevalence of atopic dermatitis with the comparison of prevalence between 1995 and 2000, and between Seoul and provincial cities in Korea. We also evaluated the risk factors for atopic dermatitis. METHODS: A cross-sectional ISAAC based questionnaire survey was conducted on random samples of schoolchildren (6 to 15 year olds) in 1995 and 2000. And kindergarten children (5 year olds) were surveyed in 2003, throughout South Korea. RESULTS: The lifetime and last twelve months prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Korean school-aged children was increased from 1995 to 2000. The twelve-month prevalence of atopic dermatitis was higher in Seoul than in other provincial cities in 1995, but the prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Seoul and Provincial Centers became similar in 2000. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Korean school-aged children was increased from 1995 to 2000. The further evaluations that include objective examination are necessary to confirm these outcomes because the environmental and risk factors may be different among the countries according to their life styles.
Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Epidemiology ; Europe ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Style ; North America ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Skin Diseases