Nitric oxide (NO) induces apoptotic cell death in murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. To elucidate the roles of SEK1/MKK4, a upstream kinase for both c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) and p38 kinase, on NO-induced apoptosis, we generated clones of RAW 264.7 cells which stably overexpressd kinase inactive SEK1 (RAW/SEK1-Kl) or wild type SEK1 (RAW/SEK1-WT). Treatment of kinase inactive SEK1 transfected RAW 264.7 cells (RAW/SEK1-Kl) with sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO generating agent, significantly decreased the cell viability up to 20% of RAW control cells which were treated with the same amount of SNP. However, RAW/SEK1-WT cells were less susceptible to NO induced apoptosis. For a while, caspase-3 like activity in NO treated RAW/SEK1-Kl cells was significantly increased with parallell to apoptotic death rate. However, caspase1 like activity was not affected by NO in any transfectants. The NO induced apoptosis in RAW/SEK1-Kl cells was significantly prevented by the addition of caspase-3 like inhibitor (N-Ac- DEVD-CHO). In addition, the phosphotransferase activity of JNK1 in NO-treated RAW/SEK1-WT is significantly increased, but not in RAW/SEK1-Kl cells. These results suggest that SEK1 may play anti-apoptotic role in RAW cells from NO-induced apoptosis.
Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival ; Clone Cells ; Macrophages ; Mortality ; Nitric Oxide* ; Nitroprusside ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Kinases

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by gastrointestinal ployposis and mucocutaneous melanin pigmentation involving the lip, oral mucosa, digits, palms and soles. The polyps are almost hamartomatous. The relationship of gastrointestinal carcinoma and the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome has been discussed for many years. The question is unsettled whether gastrointestinal carcinoma arise in hamartomatous polyps itself. Recently, there are a few reports that adenomatous and carcinomatous changes were superimposed upon the background of the hamartoma. Occasionally epithelial misplacement of the epithelium is found in the small intestinal polyps. Since the epithelial misplacement may involve submucosa, muscularis propria and serosa, a difficulty of histopathologic differential diagnosis between the epithelial misplacement and invasive adenocarcinoma cause overdiagnosis of cancer in the gastrointestinal polyps of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. We present a case of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome of 39-year-old woman with multiple gastrointestinal polyps, two of which showed extensive epithelial misplacement even into the pancreas and another one at the colon showed carcinomatous change at the tip portion. Areas of hamartoma, adenoma and in situ carcinoma were noted in this colonic hamartomatous polyp. This case support that adenoma and carcinomatous changes may evolve directly within a hamartomaous polyp itself.
Female ; Humans ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Adenocarcinoma ; Adenoma

No abstract available.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Breast*

No abstract available.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell*

Psoriasis is a relatively common disorder that affects at least 1-2% of the population, however, the pathogenesis is not fully understood yet. Histopathologically, psoriatic lesion is characterized by hyperplasia of keratinocyte, intraepidermal neutrophil accumulation and activated T lymphocyte infiltration in the dermis. Among many cytokines, IL-8 is known to play a role for the activation and migration for neutrophil and T lymphocyte and for the proliferation of keratinocyte. We performed immunohistochemical staining with anti-IL-8 monoclonal antibody for the active lesion, stable lesion and normal-looking skin of ten psoriatic patients and ten healthy controls. Strong expression of IL-8 in the epidermis and dermis was noted from the active as well as stable psoriatic skins. In the normal-looking skin of the psoriatic patients, only faint expression which is not different from healthy control skin, was noted. These observations indicate that the expression of IL-8 is increased in psoriatic lesion, and IL-S is important for the initiation and maintenance of psoriasis.
Cytokines ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Interleukin-8* ; Keratinocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Neutrophils ; Psoriasis ; Skin*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of experiences in home visiting nursing service among the elderly in community provided by nursing students. METHOD: This is a phenomenological study to investigate the experience of community-based patients. Data were collected through in-depth interviews from the 4th of March to the 15th of December 2003. Individual interviews were conducted with 8 patients on subjective experiences. Data were analyzed through Colaizzi's method, in which meaningful statements were extracted. RESULT: Four categories were identified from nine theme clusters. The four categories were 'thankfulness', 'dependence', 'sorrowfulness' and 'the sense of being'. CONCLUSION: These results show the importance of visiting nursing service for the elderly in community.
Aged* ; House Calls* ; Humans ; Life Change Events ; Nursing Services* ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Nursing

No abstract available.
Blood Platelets* ; Leukocytes* ; Plateletpheresis*

BACKGROUND: The eosinophil chemotactic and activating effects of eotaxin and the known association of eosinophils with asthma suggest that eotaxin expression is increased during an asthma attack. This study was aimed to determine whether the plasma eotaxin levels are higher in patients during as asthma attack and to correlate the eotaxin levels with the disease activity, severity and response to therapy. METHOD: A case-control study of the plasma eotaxin levels was performed in 100 patients with exacerbated asthma and 48 age-and sex-matched subjects with stable asthma. RESULTS: The plasma eotaxin levels were significantly higher in the 100 patients with exacerbated asthma (233±175 pg/ml) than in the 48 subjects with stable asthma(169±74 pg/ml). A tread toward higher eotaxin levels was observed in asthmatic subjects who were taking oral steroids (332±225 pg/ml) than in those who were not (214±159 pg/ml) and higher levels were found in those admitted to the hospital (275±212 pg/ml) than in those discharged after receiving only emergency treatment (190±115 pg/ml). The eotaxin levels inversely correlated with the FEV1 (r=-0.25, p<0.01). The eotaxin levels were higher in moderate persistent (323±256 pg/ml) and severe persistent asthmatics (276±170 pg/ml) than in mild intermittent asthmatics (160±60 pg/ml). CONCLUSION: Eotaxin expression is directly associated with asthma exacerbation, impaired pulmonary function and the disease severity.
Asthma* ; Case-Control Studies ; Emergency Treatment ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Plasma* ; Steroids

PURPOSE: Urinary tract infection (UTI) in children is the most common disease during the infantile period, therefore early diagnosis and treatment are important. Pyuria is a useful clinical parameter for the initial diagnosis of a UTI. In this study we aimed to compare the clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings in relation to the duration of pyuria in infants with UTIs. METHODS: Three hundred seventy-four infants <12 months of age who were admitted between January 1995 and December 2005 for the first episode of a febrile UTI were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups according to the duration of pyuria as follows: group 1, pyuria resolved <3 days after initial treatment; and group 2, pyuria lasted at least 3 days after initial treatment. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups in relation to gender, age, total duration of fever, and organisms in the urine. Group 2 had a significantly higher peripheral blood leukocyte count (14,360.86+/-5,526.16 cells/mm3 vs. 11,822.55+/-5,687.26 cells/mm3, P<0.001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (32.81+/-19.34 mm/hr vs. 23.74+/-20.43 mm/hr, P<0.001), and C-reactive protein (6.84+/-5.68 mg/dL vs. 3.78+/-3.99 mg/dL, P<0.001) than group 1. There was a significantly higher incidence of hydronephrosis and a higher grade of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in group 2 compared to group 1. CONCLUSION: In infants with UTI, pyuria of longer duration is related to severe UTI and higher grade VUR, therefore aggressive radiologic studies may be necessary.
Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; Child ; Early Diagnosis ; Fever ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Incidence ; Infant ; Leukocyte Count ; Pyuria ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Tract ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase(G6PD) deficiency is the most common X- linked inherited disorder and is estimated to affect 400 million people worldwide. But the incidence of this disease is very rare in far-east Asia, especially in Korea. Many drugs and infections cause hemolytic anemia in patients with G6PD deficiency. We experienced a case of G6PD deficiency with chronic hepatitis B. The diagnosis was made by clinical symptoms, laboratory data including serologic test and bone marrow findings. We report a case of G6PD with chronic hepatitis with a brief review of related literatures.
Anemia, Hemolytic ; Asia ; Bone Marrow ; Diagnosis ; Glucose-6-Phosphate* ; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Serologic Tests