BACKGROUND: Bacterial meningitis is an infectious disease with high rates of mortality and high frequency of severe sequelae. Early identification of causative bacterial and viral pathogens is important for prompt and proper treatment of meningitis and for prevention of life-threatening clinical outcomes. In the present study, we evaluated the value of the Seeplex Meningitis ACE Detection kit (Seegene Inc., Korea), a newly developed multiplex PCR kit employing dual priming oligonucleotide methods, for diagnosing acute meningitis. METHODS: Analytical sensitivity of the kit was studied using reference strains for each pathogen targeted by the kit, while it's analytical specificity was studied using the human genome DNA and 58 clinically well-identified reference strains. For clinical validation experiment, we used 27 control cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples and 78 clinical CSF samples collected from patients at the time of diagnosis of acute meningitis. RESULTS: The lower detection limits ranged from 101 copies/microL to 5x101 copies/microL for the 12 viral and bacterial pathogens targeted. No cross-reaction was observed. In the validation study, high detection rate of 56.4% was obtained. None of the control samples tested positive, i.e., false-positive results were absent. CONCLUSIONS: The Seeplex Meningitis ACE Detection kit showed high sensitivity, specificity, and detection rate for the identification of pathogens in clinical CSF samples. This kit may be useful for rapid identification of important acute meningitis-causing pathogens.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Meningitis/*diagnosis/microbiology/virology ; Middle Aged ; *Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Bacterial/cerebrospinal fluid ; RNA, Viral/cerebrospinal fluid ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sequence Analysis, RNA

PURPOSE: There is no reported evidence for an anthropometric index that might link obesity to men's sexual health. We evaluated the ability of an anthropometric index and the symptom scores of five widely used questionnaires to detect men's health problems. We determined the predictive abilities of two obesity indexes and other clinical parameters for screening for lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual dysfunction in middle-aged men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,910 middle-aged men were included in the study. Participants underwent a detailed clinical evaluation that included recording the symptom scores of five widely used questionnaires. The participants' body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were determined. Serum prostate-specific antigen, urinalysis, testosterone, estimated glomerular filtration rate, evaluation of metabolic syndrome, and transrectal ultrasonography were assessed. RESULTS: By use of logistic regression analysis, age and total prostate volume were independent predictors of lower urinary tract symptoms. Metabolic syndrome was the only significant negative predictive factor for chronic prostatitis symptoms. Age and metabolic syndrome were independent predictive factors for erectile dysfunction. Waist-to-hip ratio had a statistically significant value for predicting erectile dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that total prostate volume is a significant predictor of lower urinary tract symptoms, and central obesity has predictive ability for erectile dysfunction. Metabolic syndrome was the only significant negative predictive factor for chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. The management of correctable factors such as waist-to-hip ratio and metabolic syndrome may be considered preventive modalities against the development of men's health problems.
Aging ; *Body Mass Index ; Erectile Dysfunction/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms/diagnosis ; Male ; *Men's Health ; Metabolic Syndrome X/*physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; Organ Size ; Prognosis ; Prostate/*ultrasonography ; Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood ; Prostatitis/*diagnosis ; Testosterone/blood ; Ultrasound, High-Intensity Focused, Transrectal ; *Waist-Hip Ratio

No abstract available.
Liposarcoma*

BACKGROUND: The Rx Imola (Randox, UK) is newly released bench top - fully automated analyzer based on Window XP software with high-throughput (640 tests per hour with ISE) and continuous random access. We evaluated the performance of Rx Imola for the routine chemistry. METHODS: Repeatability (within-day precision), between-day precision, within-device precision, linearity, recovery rates and correlation were evaluated for 19 items including AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, total bilirubin, calcium, phosphorus, albumin, total protein, BUN, creatinine, glucose, amylase, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDH, CK and uric acid. Commercialized quality control materials and patient's sera were used. For correlation study, 747-100 (HITACHI, Japan) and VITROS 950 (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, USA) were used as comparative analyzers. RESULTS: Coefficients of variation (CVs) of all items in repeatability and between-day precision study were below 5%. The linearities were statistically acceptable (R2>0.99) for all items. The recovery rates ranged from 95.7 to 105.3%. The comparison study showed high correlation between Rx Imola and 747-100 or VITROS 950. Correlation coefficients of all items were above 0.99 except HDL and albumin. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed satisfactory results in precision, linearity, recovery rates and comparison studies of Rx Imola. It was expected to be useful for routine chemistry analysis and back up, because of high performance, easy handling and small size.
Amylases ; Bilirubin ; Calcium ; Chemistry* ; Cholesterol ; Creatinine ; Glucose ; Phosphorus ; Quality Control ; Statistics as Topic ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid

A 35 year old woman was admitted to the hospital owing to her nausea, vomiting, oliguria and petechia with re-administration of rifampin. Laboratory tests were performed and they showed a hemoglobin level of 8.6 g/dL, a leukocyte count of 7,660/microliter, a platelet count of 1,000/microliter, a blood urea nitrogen level of 92.3 mg/dL and a creatinine level of 10.6 mg/dL. The Direct Coombs' test and anti-platelet antibody test were positive. Hemolytic anemia combined with thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure related to rifampin was suspected. We proved the formation of immune complex with anti-rifampin antibody and rifampin by in vitro testing. Hemolytic anemia combined with thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure after treatment with rifampin is a rare condition. We report here on such a case along with a brief review of the related literature.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Adult ; Anemia, Hemolytic* ; Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Coombs Test ; Creatinine ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Nausea ; Oliguria ; Platelet Count ; Rifampin* ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND: Concomitant quinolone resistance in extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae is a crucial problem in the clinical management of infections. In foreign countries, the fluoroquinolone acetylating aminoglycoside-(6)-N-acetyltransferase (aac[6']-Ib-cr) gene, a novel plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinant has been reported to occur in conjunction with qnr. We aim to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of concomitant aac(6')-Ib-cr and qnr expression in ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Korea. METHODS: Between December 2007 and April 2008, we collected 60 and 69 clonally unrelated non-repetitive clinical isolates of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively. We studied the expressions of 11 types of ESBL-encoding genes, 4 types of 16s rRNA methylase genes; rmtA, rmtB, rmtC and armA, 3 types of qnr genes; qnrA, qnrB, qnrS and aac(6')-Ib. The presence of aac(6')-Ib-cr variants was detected by sequencing. The involvement of integrons was studied using multiplex PCR and sequencing of gene-cassette arrays. Conjugation experiments were performed to confirm plasmid-mediated resistance and the relationships among coharbored genes. RESULTS: We observed a high prevalence of the cr variant (61.1%) of aac(6')-Ib, and the prevalence of this variant in qnr and aac(6')-Ib-coharboring isolates (67.4%) was higher than in qnr-negative isolates (51.7%). The high prevalence of the cr variant was significantly related to the high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of ciprofloxacin, tobramycin, and amikacin and indicated the statistically significant roles of qnrB, qnrS, rmtA, and rmtB in quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance. CONCLUSIONS: The aac(6')-Ib-cr variants were widespread and showed significant relation to the high-level quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance in ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae.
Acetyltransferases/*genetics ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/*genetics ; Escherichia coli/enzymology/*genetics ; Genes, Bacterial/genetics ; Klebsiella pneumoniae/enzymology/*genetics ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Phenotype ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; beta-Lactamases/*biosynthesis

Silicone fluid is a biomaterial widely used in modern cosmetic procedures because there are few side effects, considerable chemical stability and predictable physical properties. However, many local and systemic adverse reactions have reported. In particular some serious pulmonary complications have been reported such as pulmonary thromboembolism, acute respiratory distress syndrome with some cases leading to mortality. Most of the serious complicated cases were induced by an illegal silicone fluid injection. We experienced two cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome with pulmonary hemorrhage induced by an illegal silicone fluid injection. The patients were 41 & 51 year old women, who complained of dyspnea. The chest X-ray and HRCT scan findings showed a bilateral ground glass attenuation on the bilateral dependent portion of the upper and middle lung zone. The patients clinical symptoms and the radiologic and other laboratory findings were compatible with acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by the silicon fluid injection. Here we report two cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome with pulmonary hemorrhage induced by an illegal silicone injection with a review of the relevant literature.
Dyspnea ; Female ; Glass ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Lung ; Mortality ; Perineum* ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult* ; Silicon* ; Silicones* ; Thorax

Detection of genetic alterations could provide a tool as an adjuvant for the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to define patients at risk for early relapse. In this study, a multi-target fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was conducted to investigate the correlation between the alterations of chromosomes, including 5p15.2, 6p11.1-q11, 7p12, and 8q24.12-q24.13 (LaVysion Test), and clinicopathological variables, and to clarify the potential of the multi-target FISH assay in 37 NSCLC. The most notable finding was the higher frequency of a gain in chromosome 5p15.2 in early-stage (I+IIa) lung cancers. The frequency of the gain was 81.3% (16/22) in stage I tumors. The frequencies of gains in 6p11.1-q11 and 8q24.12-q24.13 were 61.5% (8/13) and 84.6% (11/13) in stage IIIa cancers, as compared with lower frequencies in stage I tumors at 25.0% and 31.3%, respectively. There was also a significant difference in the histological type. Our results suggest that a gain in 6p11.1-q11 and 8q24.12-q24.13 plays an important role in tumor progression and is associated with histological differentiation. On the other hand, gene amplification in the 5p region was one of the most consistent alterations in early-stage lung cancer, and thus a series of genes in the critical 5p15.2 region might potentially associated with the development of lung cancer.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis/*genetics/pathology ; *Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5/genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6/genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8/genetics ; Female ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis/*genetics/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Tumor Markers, Biological/genetics

PURPOSE: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals interfere with the endocrine system and therefore affect growth and pubertal progression. The study aim was to compare the growth and pubertal progression in wild-type female rats with different bedding types. METHODS: Twenty 5-week-old female wild-type Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two groups with different bedding types: one group received wood shaving bedding, while a second group received corncob bedding. We determined crown-rump length and body weight as anthropometric measurements and assessed the serum growth hormone (GH) and estradiol levels. The gh1 mRNA expression levels were compared using quantitative real time transcription polymerase chain reaction. The estrous cycle was evaluated by vaginal smear. RESULTS: The anthropometric measurements were not significantly different between the two groups. The mean relative expression of the gh1 gene was lower in the corncob bedding group than that in the wood shaving group (P=0.768). Meanwhile serum GH and estradiol were increased in the wood shaving bedding group; however this difference was not statistically significant. The time to first estrus and the length of the estrous cycle were increased in the corncob bedding group; the proportion of normal estrous cycles was also decreased. These findings indicate irregularities in the estrous cycle. CONCLUSION: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals in corncob bedding might be associated with time to first estrus and length of the estrous cycle. Therefore, the type of bedding should be considered as a factor affecting pubertal progression in rodents.
Adolescent ; Animals ; Bedding and Linens ; Body Weight ; Crown-Rump Length ; Endocrine Disruptors ; Endocrine System ; Estradiol ; Estrous Cycle ; Estrus ; Female ; Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Puberty ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; RNA, Messenger ; Rodentia ; Vaginal Smears ; Wood

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii can cause devastating disease in the fetus and newborn infant. Serologic testing of pregnant women for Toxoplasma-specific antibodies can be used to identify those women at risk of transmitting Toxoplasma gondii infection. In Korea, despite a few reports on the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma (Toxo) antibody, the incidence of acute or chronic toxoplasma infection during pregnancy has not been well established. We performed a prospective screening for Toxoplasma antibodies to obtain a basic epidemiological data on the seroprevalence of acute and chronic toxoplasma infection. METHODS: During a 6-month period, 787 pregnant women at various weeks of gestation were enrolled in the prospective study. Toxo IgG and IgM antibodies were determined by the Abbott AxSYM Toxo IgG and IgM assays. Serum specimens showing positive results of both IgG and IgM antibodies were further tested using the Abbott ARCHITECT Toxo IgG Avidity test. RESULTS: The seropositivities of Toxo-specific IgG and IgM antibodies in this cohort were 2.3% (18/787) and 0.1% (1/787), respectively. No woman showed positive results for both Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies. One specimen showing IgG positive and IgM grayzone results was tested by Toxo IgG avidity test and a low avidity test result (9%) was obtained, suggesting a possible acute primary infection. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first trial on the investigation of the seroprevalence of both IgG and IgM antibodies in Korea, and we found that the seroprevalence of the antibodies was lower than that previously reported.
Antibodies ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prospective Studies ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Serologic Tests ; Toxoplasma ; Toxoplasmosis