This study was conducted to invetigate the effect of high-dose steroid administration on adipogenesis and secretion of PAI-1 in rat. Sixty healthy Wistar rats were divided into three groups. Group A consisted of 20 control animals received 5 ml/kg isotonic saline for 1 weeks. Group B consisted of 20 animals received 10 ml/kg of methylprednisolone intraperitoeally for 1 week. Group C comprized 20 animals received 10 ml/kg of methylprednisolone intraperitoneally for 1 week. After the completionof treatment, blood sampling was performed for measurenement of PAI-1 and the animale were sacrificed for histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical study. The PAI-1 protein expressin of femoral heads were evaluated with Western-blotting. Blood level of PAI-1 increased significantly in high-dose steroid treated group(Group B and C) compared to control group. In histopathologic examination, significant fat morrow conversion, fat cell hypertrophy and fat cyst formation were observed in high-dose steroid treated group. Immunohistochemically, PAi-1 expression was sprominent in the fat cells. Protein expression of PAI-1 of femoral heads increased significantly in highdose steroid treated group compared to control group. In lights of above results, it is postulated that increased secretion of PAI-1 from fat cells could play a major role in the pathogenesis of osteonecrosis of the femoral head in rats treated with high-dose steroid.
Adipocytes ; Adipogenesis* ; Animals ; Head ; Hypertrophy ; Methylprednisolone ; Osteonecrosis ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1* ; Rats* ; Rats, Wistar

The authors developed a computer program for use in report printing as well as data storage and retrieval for the gastrointestinal endoscopy service. This program used IBM PC XT and was written in dBASE III plus language. We applied the automatic SNOMED coding method, which is one of the most efficient and accurate method of computerization of medical data. The working sheet which contained the results of previous endoscopic studies could be printed during registration. The dBASE word processor enabled issuing of the formal report of endoscopic result, and the data storage was carried out during the typewriting of the report. Two kinds of data files were stored in the hard disk; the temporary file contained full informations and the permanent file contained patients identification data and SNOMED code. Searching of a specific case was performed by chart number, patients name, date of study, or SNOMED code within a second. All the cases were arranged by SNOMED codes of procedure, topography and morphology codes. Every new data was copied to the diskette automatically. with which data could be restored in case of hard disk failure. The main advantages of this program in comparison to the large main frame computer system are low price, flexibility and easy accessibility. Based on our experience (including surgical pathology department, radiology, clinical pathology), we assume that this program may fit every endoscopy room where there are less than 20,000 cases per year.
Information Storage and Retrieval ; Clinical Coding* ; Computer Systems ; Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal* ; Humans ; Information Storage and Retrieval* ; Pathology, Surgical ; Pliability ; Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine

p53 is the most frequently mutated gene in female breast cancer tissues and the prognosis of breast cancer could be changed by mutation of the gene. This study was performed to examine risk factors for breast cancer subtypes classified by p53 mutation and to investigate the roles of p53 gene mutation in carcinogenesis of breast cancer. The study subjects were 81 breast cancer patients and 121 controls who were matched to cases 1:1 or 1:2 by age, residence, education level and menopausal status. All the subjects were interviewed by a well-trained nurse with standardized questionnaire on reproductive factors, and were asked to fill the self-administrative food frequency and 24 hour recall questionnaires. p53 gene mutation in the cancer tissue was screened using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) method. Mutation type was identified by direct sequencing of the exon of which mobility shift was observed in SSCP analysis. Mutations were detected in p53 gene of 25 breast cancer tissues. By direct sequencing, base substitutions were found in 20 cancer tissues (10 transition and 10 transversion), and frame shift mutations in 5 (4 insertions and 1 deletion). For the whole cases and controls, risk of breast cancer incidence decreased when the parity increased, and increased when intake amount of total calory, fat, or protein increased. Fat and protein were statistically significant risk factors for breast cancer with p53 mutation. For breast cancer without p53 mutation, protein intake was the only significant dietary factor. These results suggests that causes of p53 positive breast cancer would be different from those of p53 negative cancer, and that dietary factors or related hormonal factors induce mutation of p53, which may be the first step of breast cancer development or a promoter following some unidentified genetic mutations.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinogenesis ; Case-Control Studies* ; Education ; Exons ; Female ; Frameshift Mutation ; Genes, p53 ; Humans ; Incidence ; Parity ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Prognosis ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors*

No abstract available.
Enterococcus*

No abstract available.
Enterococcus*

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to nfluence of sequential embryo transfers in an invitro fertilization was examined. METHOD: After in vitro fertilization, a maximum of 6 fertilized oocytes was enrolled in this study. At day 3 after an oocytes retrieval, embryos with good quality were transferred (mean 4.9), remaining embryos (mean 2.0/cycle) were cryopreserved at blastocyst stage (Group 1). At day 5 after oocytes collection, second a embryos had reached the blastocyst stage (Group 2) using P1 supplemented with 10 SSS and 30% Follicular fluid. No statistical difference in the pregnancy rate could be seen between the group without a second embryo transfer (n=21; 28.6%) and the group with a second transfer (n=52; 28.8%). RESULTS: The incidence of multiple pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was not statistically different between both group and no high-rank multiple pregnancy (greater than triplete) were observed (o.9%, 15.4%, respectively, p=0.74, chi2). Out of 114 cycles (506 embryos) cultured embryos in group 2, 52 cycles (159 embryos, 29.8%) reached the blastocyst stage. CONCLUSION: The second transfer did not have a significant effect on the pregnancy rate. The most important factor for the pregnancy seems to be the quality of the embryos transferred on day 3 following oocyte retrieval. We recommend embryo transfer is performed only one, day 2~3 or D5.
Blastocyst ; Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Follicular Fluid ; Incidence ; Oocyte Retrieval ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Pregnancy, Multiple

A survey was performed in order to determine the infection status of the metacercariae of heterophyid fluke in two goby species, Boleophthalmus pectinirostris and Scartelaos sp., collected from Gangjin-gun, and Shinangun, Sooncheon-shi, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea. A total of three metacercariae of Heterophyopsis continua was found in only one B. pectinirostris (10.0%) from Gangjin-gun. Heterophyes nocens metacercariae were detected in 24 B. pectinirostris (96.0%) and 14 Scartelaos sp. (63.6%) from Shinan-gun. Heterophyopsis continua metacercariae were found in 11 B. pectinirostris (44.0%) and 21 Scartelaos sp. (95.5%) from Shinan-gun. Stictodora fuscata metacercariae were detected in 18 B. pectinirostris (72.0%) from Shinan-gun. No metacercariae were detected in 20 B. pectinirostris from Sooncheon-shi. From the above results, this study is the first to prove that B. pectinirostris and Scartelaos sp. serve as the second intermediate hosts of some heterophyid flukes in Korea.
Trematoda/*isolation & purification ; Perciformes/*parasitology ; Korea ; Animals

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cauda Equina* ; Dogs*

BACKGROUND: Compared with conventional routes of delivering potent analgesics to postoperative patients, transdermal administration of fentanyl offers the advantages of simplicity and noninvasiveness. The analgesic efficacy and safty of transdermal fentanyl patch (TDFP) were evaluated postoperatively. METHOD: TDFP releasing 25 mcg/hr (Group 1) or placebo (Group 2) were applied to 40 women 6 hours before total abdominal hysterectomy under the general anesthesia. Postoperatively, self-administered intravenous fentanyl was maintained with a 20-mcg incremental dose and a 10-min. locking interval. Each group was assessed following 48 hours with respects to vital signs, VAS pain scores, hourly-used fentanyl doses, satisfaction scores and side effects. RESULT: VAS observed 24 hours, 36 hours after operation were significantly lower in group 1 than group 2. Hourly-used fentanyl doses were significantly lower in group 1 than group 2 at 2 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours after operation. The incidence of side effects were similar between group 1 and group 2. CONCLUSION: TDFP-25 mcg applied 6 hours before operation provides supplementary analges-ia after the postoperative period without significant side effects such as respiratory depression.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia, General ; Female ; Fentanyl* ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Incidence ; Postoperative Period ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Vital Signs

BACKGROUND: The angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE) plays an important role in cardiovascular disease by production of angiotensin and degradation of bradykinin. Cloning of ACE gene revealed an insertion/deletion(I/D) polymorphism according to the presence/absence of a 287 base pair fragment in the 16th intron of ACE gene, and the ACE polymophism was associated with ACE activity. The genotype DD was identified as a risk factor for myocardial infarction in several studies. We analyzed the ACE I/D polymorphism in 62 patients with myocardial infarction and 67 normal subjects. METHODS: Genomic DNA from peripheral blood was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and characterized by three ACE genotypes; two insertion alleles(genotype II), two deletion alleles(genotype DD) and heterogenous alleles(genotype ID). ACE activity was determined by spectrophotometric method utilizing the synthetic substrate. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in ACE polymorphism between patients and normal subjects. But, the frequency of genotype DD was significantly increased in the low-risk group of patients compared with the high-risk group. The multi-vessel disease was more strongly associated with genotype DD, but there was no statistical significance. The ACE activity was strongly associated with ACE polymorphism with the activity being highest in genotype DD. There was no significant difference between patients and control subjects of the same genotype. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in ACE polymorphism between patients and normal subjects. The frequencies for genotype II, ID, DD were 0.328, 0.537, 0.134, respectively in normal subjects. There was high frequency of genotype II compared with Caucasians. A deletion polymorphism(genotype DD) may increase the risk for myocardial infarction in lowrisk group, and the serum ACE activity was correlated with three genotypes.
Angiotensins ; Base Pairing ; Bradykinin ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; DNA ; Genotype ; Humans ; Introns ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Risk Factors