A total of 53 patients infected with Taenia solium were treated with praziquantel in two different dose levels. Twenty-six cases were treated with praziquantel in a single oral dose of 5 mg/kg body weight. All cases except one were completely cured. The cure rate was 96.2 per cent. The other 27 cases were treated with a single dose of 10 mg/kg body weight. All cases were completely cured and revealed a cure rate of 100 per cent. Side effects were mild and transient. About half of the cases complained of a mild abdominal pain. Soft stool or diarrhea and dizziness were observed in some cases. Tests on clinical hematology, serum biochemistry and urinalysis were performed immediately before and one day after treatment in all cases. There were no significant abnormalities detected in these tests.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda ; Taenia solium ; chemotherapy-praziquantel ; abdominal pain ; hematology ; serum ; biochemistry ; urinalysis

We studied the effect of carbon monoxide (CO)-induced hypoxia on synaptosomal uptake and release of dopamine (DA) in rat striatum. When the rats were intoxicated at a blood level of carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO), 60-70% for 3-4hrs, [3H] DA uptake was inhibited as much as 80% of control activity. This suppressed activity remained as long as 12 hrs after termination of the intoxication. After a week recovery period, the suppressed uptake activity was restored completely. When the rats were intoxicated maintaining a blood level of HbCO at 30-40% for 6-7hrs, the uptake was inhibited to 57% of the control actvity and this suppressed activity was restored within 12hrs. For the rats maintaining a blood level of HbCO at 15-25% for 6-7hrs, uptake inhibition was not shown. Acute CO intoxication(at 60-70% of HbCO for 3-4 hrs) caused an increase in K+-stimulated DA release to 147% of the control value. In conclusion, the diminished uptake and increased release of striatal DA in a CO intoxicated brain would cause an extraneuronal accumulation of DA with depletion of intraneuronal DA level, which may play a role in CO-induced hypoxic cell damage.
Animal ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning/*complications ; Corpus Striatum/*ultrastructure ; Culture Media ; Dopamine/*metabolism ; Female ; Hypoxia, Brain/chemically induced/*pathology ; In Vitro ; Male ; Rats ; Synaptosomes/*metabolism

Resveratrol has been reported to exert anticancer activity via modulation of multiple pathways and genes. In this study, we examined the effect of resveratrol on YD-10B human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and its molecular mechanisms of action. We found that resveratrol inhibited the proliferation of YD-10B cells in a dose- and timedependent manner. The suppressive effect of resveratrol was accompanied by a reduction in Bmi-1 gene expression.We observed that silencing the Bmi-1 gene by small interfering RNA effectively downregulated the levels of GLUT1 mRNA and protein, which were also repressed by resveratrol. Bmi-1 silencing increased the number of YD-10B cells in S-phase arrest by approximately 2.3-fold compared with the control. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrate, for the first time, that resveratrol suppresses Bmi-1-mediated GLUT1 expression in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and suggest that the specific molecular targeting of Bmi-1 and/or GLUT1 expression can be combined with a chemotherapeutic strategy to improve the response of oral cancer cells to resveratrol.

BACKGROUND: Glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus are frequently observed in chronic liver disease. However, the causal relationships between these two are difficult to prove. Chronic hepatitis B infection, which is prevalent in Korea, is thought to be a good model to study the natural history of abnormal glucose metabolism in chronic liver disease because many patients with chronic hepatitis B infection eventually progress to liver cirrhosis. METHODS: In order to evaluate glucose metabolism in chronic hepatitis B infection, we did intravenous glucose tolerance test in patients with chronic hepatitis B and age, sex and body mass index matched controls and compared the first phase insulin response and glucose disappearance rates between 2 groups. RESULTS: Patients with chronic hepatitis B showed lower glucose disappearance rate and higher plasma insulin and C-peptide area (0-10min after iv glucose) than controls. Patients with decreased glucose disappearance rate had higher AST level and decreased plasma C-peptide area (0-10min). CONCLUSION: Most of the patients with chronic hepatits B infection is associated with insulin resistance and compensatory increase in the first phase insulin secretion. Inadequate insulin secretion may contribute to decreased glucose disappearance rate in these patients.
Body Mass Index ; C-Peptide ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Glucose Intolerance ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Glucose* ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Insulin* ; Korea ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Metabolism* ; Natural History ; Plasma

We report a case of reversible pituitary enlargement due to hypothyroidism in a 3-year-old male. OnT1-weighted images, the mass was located in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, and the signal intensity ofthe mass was equal to that of brain cortex. Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images showed homogeneous enhancement ofthe mass. After supplemental therapy with thyroid hormone for 8 months, MRI showed that the pituitary gland wasmarkedly smaller.
Brain ; Child, Preschool ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Hypothyroidism* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Pituitary Gland ; Thyroid Gland

We report a case of reversible pituitary enlargement due to hypothyroidism in a 3-year-old male. OnT1-weighted images, the mass was located in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, and the signal intensity ofthe mass was equal to that of brain cortex. Gd-DTPA enhanced T1-weighted images showed homogeneous enhancement ofthe mass. After supplemental therapy with thyroid hormone for 8 months, MRI showed that the pituitary gland wasmarkedly smaller.
Brain ; Child, Preschool ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Hypothyroidism* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Pituitary Gland ; Thyroid Gland

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the functional outcome with regard to cognitive deficits in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHOD: Two hundred thirty-four patients who underwent surgical procedure for aneurysmal SAH were enrolled. Medical records of the patients were reviewed. RESULTS: Mental confusion (52.1%) was more common symptom than the motor (20.3%) and language (30.9%) impairment in patients with aneurysmal SAH. Neurological grade at admission (Hunt and Hess grade), cerebral vasospasm, and mental confusion were major prognostic factors. In terms of functional outcome, patients with mental confusion showed lower Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores at admission and on discharge, lower FIM gain and FIM efficiency, and longer hospital stay with statistical significance than those without confusion. CONCLUSION: The patients with cognitive deficits achieved poor functional outcome in the patients with aneurysmal SAH. More attention to cognitive impairment is necessary to achieve better rehabilitation goal.
Aneurysm* ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Medical Records ; Rehabilitation ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* ; Vasospasm, Intracranial

Differentiation between acute and old fractures in the thoracic and lumbar spine is often difficult. We have evaluated the intraobserver agreement and interobserver variability of interpretations. We have prepared 50 cases from 40 patients with thoracic or lumbar spine fracture for evaluation. At first, two radiologist interpreted each of the 50 cases, Only by using plain roentgenograms. Then, they interpreted the cases again using also spine CT, MRI, bone scintigrams and follow-up roentgenograms. Intraobserver agreement was found to be 78% in Doctor A, and 76% in Doctor B. Interobserver agreement was only 62% at first. It was 88%, when they used CT, MRI, bone scintigrams and follow-up roentgenograms. It was not easy to differentiate the old fractures from acute one only by plain roentgenograms. Differentiation was more difficult, when the patient was female or over 55 years old. Plain roentgenography in hyperextension posture seems to be a simple but useful method for the diagnosis of the acute fracture. MRI was more valuable than CT or bone scintigraphy to differentiate the old fractures from the acute ones.
Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fractures, Compression ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Observer Variation ; Posture ; Radiography ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Spine*

Dental pulp is a highly vascularized tissue with high regenerative potential. Revascularization of severed vasculature in the tooth is required for pulp healing during avulsed tooth treatment. In this study, the relative expression of angiogenesis-related proteins was determined in human dental pulp cells using a human angiogenesis proteome profiler array. The proteome profiler array detected differentially expressed angiogenesis-related factors under conditions of hypoxia, which enhances the angiogenic potential of dental pulp cells. We confirmed that hypoxia regulates the mRNA expression of angiogenesis-related factors, including CXCL16 in dental pulp cells. Furthermore, conditioned media of hypoxic pulp cells induced tube-like structures of vascular endothelial cells, which were reduced by the neutralization of CXCL16 function. In conclusion, our data show that angiogenesis-related factors are differentially expressed by hypoxia in dental pulp cells and suggest that CXCL16 may involve in the revascularization of hypoxic dental pulp.
Anoxia* ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Dental Pulp* ; Endothelial Cells ; Humans* ; Proteome ; RNA, Messenger ; Tooth ; Tooth Avulsion

Neuromedin B (NMB) acts as a growth factor or a morphogen and plays a role in cancer progression. Indeed, the NMB receptor (NMB-R) is overexpressed in different types of tumors. In our current study, we investigated the involvement of NMB-R in the proliferation of oral cancer cells. Human oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and human oral cancer cells, SCC-25 cells were found to be NMB-R-positive. The NMB-R antagonist PD168368 inhibited the proliferation of SCC-25 cells and reduced their colony formation capacity. We also found that PD168368 induced the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of SCC-25 cells in a dose-/time-dependent manner. Overall, this antitumor activity of PD168368 in human oral cancer cells suggests that NMB-R is a potential target for the future prevention and treatment of human cancers.
Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms* ; Receptors, Bombesin*