Kawasaki disease (KD) is a major cause of acquired coronary artery diseases in childhood. The serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and MMP-9 in KD have been reported to be significantly higher than other diseases. Several studies have demonstrated that MMP-3 5A/6A polymorphism and MMP-9 C-1562T polymorphism modify each transcriptional activity in allele specific manner. We hypothesized that these polymorphisms may play a role as a risk factor for development of coronary artery lesions (CAL) in KD. Eighty-three patients, diagnosed with KD in Cheju National University Hospital from January 2000 to February 2004, were divided into two groups according to the presence of CAL. Genotyping of MMP-3 and MMP-9 gene polymorphisms were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. With regard to MMP-3 gene polymorphism, the KD with CAL group had a higher frequency of 6A/6A genotype than control group (p=0.0127) and the KD without CAL group (p=0.0036). However, no significant differences in the allele and genotype distributions of the MMP-9 polymorphism were observed. These findings suggest that MMP-3 6A/6A genotype may be an independent risk factor for CAL formation in KD.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Alleles ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Coronary Arteriosclerosis/enzymology/etiology/*genetics ; Female ; Gelatinase B/genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/*complications ; *Polymorphism, Genetic ; Promoter Regions (Genetics)/*genetics ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Risk Factors ; Stromelysin 1/*genetics

PURPOSE: Cysteinyl leukotrienes are important inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of asthma; therefore interruption of cysteinyl leukotrienes by leukotriene receptor antagonists improves clinical symptoms in the management of patients with mild to moderate asthma. We evaluated whether clinical response to montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, in childhood asthma was predicted by genotypes of leukotriene C4 synthase (LTC4S) promoter gene polymorphism. METHODS: An 8-week prospective, open trial of montelukast was carried out in 161 children with mild to moderate asthma. Genotyping of LTC4S gene polymorphism was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: The distribution of the LTC4S genotypes AA, AC, and CC was 70.8 percent, 23.6 percent, and 5.6 percent, respectively in asthma group and 74.0 percent, 22.6 percent, and 3.4 percent, respectively in control group. A statistically significant difference in the distribution of LTC4S genotype was not observed between the asthma and the control groups, and there was no significant difference between the LTC4S genotype and asthma severity. The responders to montelukast were significantly prevalent in the mild asthma group (P< 0.05). There was no significant difference in the distribution of the responders compared to non-responders within genotype in the total asthma group or the moderate asthma group. However, the responsiveness for montelukast was significant difference within genotype for both AA and AC/CC in the mild asthma group: The AA genotype was more included in the responder group (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the mild persistent asthma group, the A allele of LTC4S polymorphism may be regarded as a predictable factor for clinical response to montelukast. However, LTC4S polymorphism was not significantly associated with the clinical response to montelukast in asthmatic children.
Alleles ; Asthma* ; Child ; Genotype ; Humans ; Leukotriene Antagonists ; Leukotriene C4* ; Leukotrienes ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Prospective Studies ; Receptors, Leukotriene

BACKGROUND: To determine the molecular structure of type II collagen-specific T-cell receptors associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We generated CII-specific T-cell lines of 8 RA patient s by prolonged in vitro culture with bovine CII (bCII) and the immunogenic peptide (256-270) of human CII. The proliferation response towards CII stimulation was measured from the uptake of 3 H-thymidine. Changes in the secretion of Th 1 and Th2 cytokines in the culture supernatent were measured by ELISA. The TCR clonotypes of these T-cells were examined by RT-PCR/ SSCP analyses of all 22 V beta chains. RESULTS: T-cells from patients' tissue exhibited strong proliferation index upon CII stimulation, which was maintained up to 6 months in the culture. The secretion of INF-gamma from these T-cells increased along with the duration of culture time, while the amount of IL-4 production did not show significant changes. The SSCP band patterns of patients' T-cells appear as discrete bands unlike the smeary streak produced from normal samples. Some SSCP bands, each representing selected expansion of a TCR containing certain subtype of V beta peptides, appeared to be identical in more than one patients. Among these, the expansion of SSCP band representing the V beta 14 CDR3 region persisted after switching the antigen to the immunogenic human peptide (256-270). CONCLUSION: CII-reactive T-cells expressing distinct CDR3 motifs are selectively expanded in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid of RA patients, and their persistent proliferation upon CII stimulation, as well as the production Th 1-type cytokines, may play pivotal roles in RA pathogenesis.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; Molecular Structure ; Peptides ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell ; Synovial Fluid ; T-Lymphocytes*

Oral administration of antigen has long been used in the induction of immune tolerance in various animal models of autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Alleveation of arthritogenic symptoms has been reported from RA patients who received oral administration of type II collagen (CII) without side effects, however its rather inconsistent therapeutic efficacy and variation among patients calls for more detailed investigation on the mechanism of oral tolerance to be settled as regular treatment for RA. In an attempt to understand the immunogenic processes underpinning tolerance induction by orally administered CII, we analyzed changes in the expression of costimulatory molecules and STAT/SOCS signaling messengers in the mouse model of collagen induced arthritis (CIA). We found thatin the spleen of CIA mice, that has been undergone repeated oral feeding of CII prior to the induction of arthritis, showed increased promortion of CTLA4 expressing lymphocytes than in the spleen of PBS fed control. On the other hand, cells expressing CD28 or ICOS were decreased in the spleen of tolerized mice. Tolerance induction by oral CII administration also enhanced the expression of STAT6 in both RNA and protein level, while not affecting the expression of STAT3. The expression of SOCS3, which hasbeen known to transmit STAT-mediated signals from Th2 type cytokines, remained unchanged in the spleen of tolerized mice. Interestingly transcript of SOCS1, which has been associated with Th1 related pathways, was only visible in the spleen of tolerized but not of control mice, suggesting that as in the case of IL-6 signaling, it may exert a feed back inhibition toward the Th1 type stimulation.
Administration, Oral* ; Animals ; Arthritis* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Collagen ; Collagen Type II* ; Cytokines ; Hand ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Interleukin-6 ; Lymphocytes ; Mice* ; Models, Animal ; RNA ; Spleen

Background: The presence of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations have been associated with a poor prognosis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC). The frequency of TERT promoter mutations varies widely depending on the population and the nature of the study. Methods: Data were prospectively collected in 724 consecutive patients who underwent thyroidectomy for PTC from 2018 to 2019. Molecular testing for BRAF V600E and TERT promoter mutations was performed in all cases. Results: TERT promoter alterations in two hotspots (C228T and C250T) and C216T were found in 16 (2.2%) and 4 (0.6%) of all PTCs, respectively. The hotspot mutations were significantly associated with older age at diagnosis, larger tumor size, extrathyroidal extension, higher pathologic T category, lateral lymph node metastasis, and higher American Thyroid Association recurrence risk. The patients with C216T variant were younger and had a lower American Thyroid Association recurrence risk than those with hotspot mutations. Concurrent BRAF V600E was found in 19 of 20 cases with TERT promoter mutations. Of 518 microcarcinomas measuring ≤1.0 cm in size, hotspot mutations and C216T variants were detected in five (1.0%) and three (0.6%) cases, respectively. Conclusions Our study indicates a low frequency of TERT promoter mutations in Korean patients with PTC and supports previous findings that TERT promoter mutations are more common in older patients with unfavorable clinicopathologic features and BRAF V600E. TERT promoter mutations in patients with microcarcinoma are uncommon and may have a limited role in risk stratification. The C216T variant seems to have no clinicopathologic effect on PTC.

BACKGROUND: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been increasingly used to treat malignant skin tumors including the Bowen disease. However, patients could be displeased with the long incubation time required for conventional PDT. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the efficacy and safety of PDT with a short incubation time of ablative CO2 fractional laser pretreatment for treating Bowen disease. METHODS: Ten patients were included. Just before applying the topical photosensitizer, all lesions were treated with ablative CO2 fractional laser, following the application of methyl aminolevulinate and irradiation with red light (Aktilite CL 128). Histological confirmation, rebiopsy, and clinical assessments were performed. Adverse events were also recorded. RESULTS: Five of the ten (50%) lesions showed a complete response (CR) within three PDT sessions. After four treatment sessions, all lesions except one penile shaft lesion (90%) achieved clinical and histological CR or clinical CR only. The average number of treatments to CR was 3.70+/-1.70. The treatments showed favorable cosmetic outcomes and no serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that pretreatment with an ablative fractional CO2 laser before PDT has similar treatment efficacy and requires a shorter photosensitizer incubation time compared with the conventional PDT method.
Bowen's Disease ; Carbon ; Carbon Dioxide ; Cosmetics ; Humans ; Lasers, Gas ; Light ; Photochemotherapy ; Skin ; Treatment Outcome ; Triazenes

BACKGROUND: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been increasingly used to treat malignant skin tumors including the Bowen disease. However, patients could be displeased with the long incubation time required for conventional PDT. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the efficacy and safety of PDT with a short incubation time of ablative CO2 fractional laser pretreatment for treating Bowen disease. METHODS: Ten patients were included. Just before applying the topical photosensitizer, all lesions were treated with ablative CO2 fractional laser, following the application of methyl aminolevulinate and irradiation with red light (Aktilite CL 128). Histological confirmation, rebiopsy, and clinical assessments were performed. Adverse events were also recorded. RESULTS: Five of the ten (50%) lesions showed a complete response (CR) within three PDT sessions. After four treatment sessions, all lesions except one penile shaft lesion (90%) achieved clinical and histological CR or clinical CR only. The average number of treatments to CR was 3.70+/-1.70. The treatments showed favorable cosmetic outcomes and no serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that pretreatment with an ablative fractional CO2 laser before PDT has similar treatment efficacy and requires a shorter photosensitizer incubation time compared with the conventional PDT method.
Bowen's Disease ; Carbon ; Carbon Dioxide ; Cosmetics ; Humans ; Lasers, Gas ; Light ; Photochemotherapy ; Skin ; Treatment Outcome ; Triazenes

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Flavobacteriaceae Infections ; Flavobacterium/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic/blood/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry/genetics/metabolism ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vitro cytotoxicity of the pozzolan cement and other root-end filling materials using human periodontal ligament cell. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Endocem (Maruchi), white ProRoot MTA (Dentsply), white Angelus MTA (Angelus), and Super EBA (Bosworth Co.) were tested after set completely in an incubator at 37degrees C for 7 days, Endocem was tested in two ways: 1) immediately after mixing (fresh specimens) and 2) after setting completely like other experimental materials. The methods for assessment included light microscopic examination, cell counting and WST-1 assay on human periodontal ligament cell. RESULTS: In the results of microscopic examination and cell counting, Super EBA showed significantly lower viable cell than any other groups (p < 0.05). As the results of WST-1 assay, compared with untreated control group, there was no significant cell viability of the Endocem group. However, the fresh mixed Endocem group had significantly less cell viability. The cells exposed to ProRoot MTA and Angelus MTA showed the highest viability, whereas the cells exposed to Super EBA displayed the lowest viability (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The cytotoxicity of the pozzolan cement (Endocem) was comparable with ProRoot MTA and Angelus MTA. Considering the difficult manipulation and long setting time of ProRoot MTA and Angelus MTA, Endocem can be used as the alternative of retrofilling material.
Cell Count ; Cell Survival ; Humans* ; Incubators ; Methods ; Periodontal Ligament* ; Pemetrexed