No abstract available.
Animals ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Rats*

No abstract available.

Vincristine (VCR) is a chemotherapeutic agent widely used in treatment of malignancies. However, VCR has a limitation in use since it commonly causes a painful neuropathy (VCR-induced peripheral neuropathy, VIPN). Inflammatory cytokines secreted by immune cells such as macrophages can exacerbate allodynia and hyperalgesia, because inhibiting the inflammatory response is a treatment target for VIPN. In this study, we investigated whether Trichinella spiralis, a widely studied helminth for its immunomodulatory abilities, can alleviate VCR-induced allodynia. Von Frey test showed that T. spiralis infection improved mechanical allodynia at 10 days after VCR injection. We further observed whether the difference was due to mitigated axon degeneration, but no significant difference between the groups in axonal degeneration in sciatic nerves and intra-epidermal nerve fibers was found. Conversely, we observed that number of infiltrated macrophages was decreased in the sciatic nerves of the T. spiralis infected mice. Moreover, treatment of T. spiralis excretory-secretory products caused peritoneal macrophages to secrete decreased level of IL-1β. This study suggests that T. spiralis can relieve VCR-induced mechanical allodynia by suppressing neuroinflammation and that application of controllable degree of helminth may prove beneficial for VIPN treatment.

We report a case of lipoid pneumo nia in a 57-year-old man who had a history of ingestion of green perilla oil and residual neurologic deficit of cerebral infarction with right hemiparesis. Lipoid pneumonia was diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage.
Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Cerebral Infarction ; Eating* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Paresis ; Perilla* ; Pneumonia*

BACKGROUND: Experimental and clinical studies have suggested that remifentanil probably causes acute tolerance or postinfusion hyperalgesia. This study was designed to confirm whether remifentanil given during propofol anesthesia induced postoperative pain sensitization, and we wanted to investigate whether pregabalin could prevent this pronociceptive effect. METHODS: Sixty patients who were scheduled for total abdominal hysterectomy were randomly allocated to receive (1) a placebo as premedication and an intraoperative saline infusion (control group), (2) a placebo as premedication and an intraoperative infusion of remifentanil at a rate of 3-4 ng/ml (remifentanil group), or (3) pregabalin 150 mg as premedication and an intraoperative infusion of remifentanil at a rate of 3-4 ng/ml (pregabalin-remifentanil group). Postoperative pain was controlled by titration of fentanyl in the postanesthetic care unit (PACU), followed by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with fentanyl. The patients were evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain scores at rest and after cough, consumption of fentanyl, sedation score and any side effects that were noted over the 48 h postoperative period. RESULTS: The fentanyl titration dose given in the PACU was significantly larger in the remifentanil group as compared with those of the other two groups. At rest, the VAS pain score in the remifentanil group at 2 h after arrival in the PACU was significantly higher than those in the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that remifentanil added to propofol anesthesia causes pain sensitization in the immediate postoperative period. Pretreatment with pregabalin prevents this pronociceptive effect and so this may be useful for the management of acute postoperative pain when remifentanil and propofol are used as anesthetics.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Cough ; Fentanyl ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; Humans ; Hyperalgesia ; Hysterectomy ; Pain, Postoperative ; Piperidines ; Postoperative Period ; Premedication ; Propofol ; Pregabalin

A non-isotopic in situ hybridization method with biotin-labelled oligonucleotide probes was used to examine growth hormone(GH) and prolactin(PRL) gene expression in 32 patients with pituitary adenomas; 13 were prolactinomas, 8 GH secreting adenomas, and 11 mixed GH and PRL secreting adenomas.Positive immunostaining for GH was found in all patients with GH secreting adenomas, and mixed GH and PRL secreting adenomas. Positive immunostaining for PRL was found in all patients with prolactinomas and 9(81.8%) of 11 mixed GH and PRL secreting adenomas, 5(62.5%) of 8 GH secreting adenomas. Immunohistochemistry revealed that 13 were lactotrope adenomas, 5 somatotrope adenomas, and 14 GH and PRL cell adenomas.In situ hybridization revealed that GH mRNA expression was found in all the patients with somatotrope adenomas and GH and PRL cell adenomas, and 6(46.1%) of 13 lactotrope adenomas. PRL mRNA expression was 100% in lactotrope and GH and PRL cell adenomas, and 4(80.0%) of 5 somatotrope adenomas.The patients with a clinical diagnosis of acromegaly had detectable PRL mRNA in their neoplasm and it is suggested that the PRL cells in the adenomas did not result from dedifferentiation, but from the neoplastic stimulus for some mixed tumors probably occurred in cells previously committed to produce PRL and GH. In lactotrope adenomas, the PRL cells of the patients without expression of GH mRNA may be arised from cells programmed to secrete PRL or precussor PRL cells rather than from mixed GH-PRL cells. The finding that some patients produced mRNA detectable by in situ hybridization, but no hormone detectable by immunohistochemistry within tumor was suggested of a silent adenoma.These observations indicated that in situ hybridization studies may improve the classification of pituitary adenomas and may provide a precise knowledge of the biology of these neoplasms.
Acromegaly ; Adenoma ; Biology ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Gene Expression ; Human Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Hybridization ; Methods ; Oligonucleotide Probes ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Prolactin ; Prolactinoma ; RNA, Messenger

Hyperprolactinemia is the most common hypothalamo-pituitary disorder encountered in clinical endocrinology. Excluding the drug-induced hyperprolactinemia, the most common cause of this disorder is a pituitary tumor. Prolactinoma is mainly made up of prolactin-secreting cells but pseudoprolactinoma is tumor that does not secrete prolactin itself. The pseudoprolactinoma interrupts the flow of prolactin inhibiting factor, dopamine, from the hypothalamus through the pituitary stalk to the normal pituitary. The differentiation prolactinoma from pseudoprolactinoma is vitally important since true prolactinomas are most commonly responded well in terms of tumor shrinkage to medical treatment using dopamine agonist therapy, whereas pseudoprolactinomas do not. Thus surgical treatment is clearly indicated as first-line treatment if we know that a lesion is a pseudoprolactinoma. We compared prolactinoma with pseudoprolactinoma in clinical and endocrinologic characteristics of 48 cases after immunohistochemical diagnosis. We could not find any differential point of both tumors in clinical and radiological characteristics although some differences were exist. But we had found the relationship between the mean level of pretreatment serum prolactin and the presence of positive immunohistochemical stain for prolactin. The pretreatment serum prolactin level was significantly higher in patients with tumors showing many prolactin immunohistochemical staining cells than in those with none(p<0.05). When the pretreatment serum prolactin exceeded 100ng/ml, the tumors contain 94% of prolactin positive cells in stain. So, if the pretreatment serum prolactin exceeds 100ng/ml, we primarily suspect prolactinoma and medical treatment should be considered. If the pretreatment level below 100ng/ml, we suspect pseudoprolactinoma and surgical treatment should be considered.
Diagnosis ; Dopamine ; Dopamine Agonists ; Endocrinology ; Humans ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Hypothalamus ; Pituitary Gland ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Prolactin ; Prolactinoma

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to implement Health Plus Happiness Plus projects in Gyeongsangnam-Do and assess the policy implications of initiatives to address regional health inequalities. METHODS: Health Plus Happiness Plus projects were started as strategies to address regional health inequalities in Gyeongsangnam-Do. The principles of these projects are taken from the Health Action Zones initiatives in England: participation, partnership, resource concentration in project areas. The time period for these projects is from 2010 to 2017, and the total budget is 5.6 billion won. In 2010, a 6.8 hundred million won total budget was invested in 17 project areas. Such investments fell into four broad categories: establishment of the means and local framework; survey development to analyze the health determinants; development of an education and training center; and establishment of a technical support center. RESULTS: Education and training programs for practitioners and coordinators were provided, and project teams and project promotion committees were established in project areas. Health survey result briefing meetings were held, and 17 health committees were established in project areas. CONCLUSIONS: Health Plus Happiness Plus projects have some problems in relation to participation and partnerships, however, if these principled projects are performed continuously, they will contribute to a reduction of standardized mortality rate and regional health inequalities in Gyeongsangnam-Do and the improvement of residents' well-being in project areas.
Budgets ; Happiness ; Health Surveys ; Investments ; Socioeconomic Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Korea. Colonoscopic screening with removal of adenomas is an effective strategy for reducing the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer. This study was conducted to investigate predictable factors of early colorectal cancer (ECC) in patients with advanced adenoma (AA), tumor in situ (Tis), and submucosal (SM) cancer diagnosed after colonoscopic polypectomy. METHODS: Between August 2003 and June 2012, a total of 1,001 patients who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy in Jeju National University Hospital were enrolled in this study. RESULTS: Patients were classified into four groups; non-AA, AA, Tis, and SM cancer. Compared to the AA group, the ECC group (n=50) had large adenoma size (12.2+/-5.9 mm vs. 15.3+/-6.5 mm, P<0.01), distal location (39.3% vs. 52.0%, P=0.05) and diabetes mellitus (13.1% vs. 25.0%, P=0.04). However, age, sex, body mass index, the mean number of polyps, and morphological features (polypoid vs. nonpolypoid lesions) were not significantly different between the AA and ECC groups. In multivariate analysis, adenoma size >15 mm (odds ratio [OR], 4.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.40-8.38), distal location (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.33-5.05), and diabetes mellitus (OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.07-4.43) were significantly associated with ECC. Of the 12 patients with SM cancer, 5 underwent additional operations and had no remnant carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Predictable factors of ECC after colonoscopic polypectomy may be adenoma size >15 mm, distal location and diabetes mellitus.
Adenoma ; Body Mass Index ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Multivariate Analysis ; Polyps

In adults, most intussusceptions develop from a lesion, usually a benign or malignant neoplasm, and can occur at any site in the gastrointestinal tract. Intussusception in the proximal gastrointestinal tract is uncommon, and gastro-gastric intussusception is extremely rare. We present a case of gastro-gastric intussusception secondary to a primary gastric lymphoma. An 82-year-old female patient presented with acute onset chest pain and vomiting. Abdominal CT revealed a gastro-gastric intussusception. We performed upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, revealing a large gastric mass invaginated into the gastric lumen and distorting the distal stomach. Uncomplicated gastric reposition was achieved with endoscopy of the distal stomach. Histological evaluation of the gastric mass revealed a diffuse large B cell lymphoma that was treated with chemotherapy.
Adult ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chest Pain ; Drug Therapy ; Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Intussusception* ; Lymphoma* ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Stomach ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vomiting