Cutaneous chromomycosis is a slow growing verrucous skin infection caused by five species, identified as Philadophara verruscosa, Fonsecaea dermatitidis, Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Fonsecaea compactum, Cladosporium, carionii. We report a case of chromomycosis of the skin causing by Cladosporium genus, in view of its rarity and unique light microscopic and ultrastructural features. This 65-year-old female had suffered from eczematous and lichenified skin lesion for the last two years since she burned her dorsum of the left hand by boiling oil. The lesion was slowly progressed, and ended up to the brownish hardening of the skin covered with crusts. Skin punch biopsy was done. Histologically, the sections revealed typical features of chronic granulomatous inflammation along with the heavy infiltration of the lymphocytes, plasma cells and histiocytes. Pseudocarcinomatous downgrowth of the epidermis and microabscesses in the upper dermis were also found. Numerous thick walled fungal organisms were noted within the giant cells and freely in the dermis, which were positive ant PAS stain, and diastase resistant. Thick mucous capsule is not observed. The organisms showed very faint yellowish walls with a few buddings and a few short elongated hyphae were also noted. Ultrastructurally, the fungus wall was multilayered and inner organelles were sparse. There is no evidence of systemic involvement, especially brain.
Female ; Humans ; Biopsy

PURPOSE: Telomerase is known to play a role of adding repetitive parts to chromosomal ending and to be involved in carcinogenic process through cell immortalization. The purpose of this study is to evaluate that restraining of telomerase activation can have killing effect on cancer cell and enhance susceptibility of cancer cells to anticancer substance. METHODS: The killing effect on melanoma cells was studied by using recombinant adenovirus that makes it possible to inhibit telomerase from getting activated, with such targets as two types of melanoma cell lines. This recombinant adenovirus was used combined with cisplatin, one of the most representative anticancer medicine to evaluate enhancement in susceptibility of cancer cells to anticancer substance. RESULTS: From the result of cytotoxic assay, it is found that melanoma cells have much resistance to cisplatin on the whole. In the case of using Ad-OA of recombinant virus alone, killing effect on melanoma cells was insignificant. On the other hand, when Ad-OA was used in combination with cisplatin, susceptibility of melanoma cell lines to cisplatin was enhanced. CONCLUSIONS: Ad-OA, recombinant adenovirus, could be used as a supplementary medicine in the targeted cancer gene therapy against cancer cell lines resistant to cisplatin.
Adenoviridae* ; Cell Line* ; Cisplatin* ; Genes, Neoplasm ; Hand ; Homicide ; Melanoma* ; Telomerase

No abstract available.
Hypothyroidism*

No abstract available.
Ascites ; Hydrops Fetalis* ; Pleural Effusion ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.
Cell Line* ; Cytokines* ; Humans* ; Neuroblastoma*

BACKGROUND: Naringin, one of the flavonoids in citrus fruit peels, is known to have antioxidant and hepatotonic effects in animal studies. We evaluated the effect of naringin on 1) blood lipid profiles, 2) regression of fatty streak of aorta, and 3) liver toxicity in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rabbits. METHODS: New Zealand White Rabbits (2.0 - 2.5 Kg) were divided to three groups; group without treatment, group treated with 100 mg/kg/d or 500 mg/kg/d naringin, and group treated with 1 mg/kg/d or 20 mg/kg/d lovastatin. They were fed on 0.25% or 1.0% cholesterol-containing diet for 8 weeks and then sacrificed. Blood samples were collected for measurement of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, serum GOT and GPT. Aortas and livers were harvested for evaluation of fatty streak and pathologic examination. RESULTS: 1)Feeding of 1% cholesterol diet for eight weeks significantly increased the cholesterol level upto 20 folds. Neither lovastatin nor naringin did lower these marked hypercholesterolemia. But both naringin (500 mg/kg/d) and lovastatin (1 mg/kg/d) significantly reduced the area of fatty streak by 75% and 58%, respectively. Naringin was more effective in inhibition of fat infiltration into liver than lovastatin which showed hepatotoxicity as increase of serum GPT level (p=0.01). 2)Feeding of 0.25% cholesterol diet for eight weeks significantly increased the cholesterol level upto 17 folds. Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels tended to decrease by treatment with naringin (500 mg/kg/d) and lovastatin (20 mg/kg/d), but this decreases were not statistically significant. However, areas of fatty streak significantly decreased by treatment with naringin and lovastatin by 64 and 82%, respectively (p<0.05). Microscopic analysis revealed that foam cell infiltration into intima was significantly reduced by naringin and lovastatin. In contrast to lovastatin, naringin significantly reduced the level of serum GPT (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Like lovastatin, naringin has strong antiatherogenic action which may not be associated with its very mild lipid lowering action. In contrast to lovastatin, naringin does have hepatoprotective effect.
Animals ; Aorta ; Cholesterol ; Citrus ; Diet ; Flavonoids ; Foam Cells ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Liver ; Lovastatin ; Rabbits* ; Triglycerides

PURPOSE: Neonatal lupus erythematosus (NLE) is a rare disorder caused by the transplacentally transmitted maternal autoantibodies. It is characterized by congenital complete atrioventricular block (CCAVB), skin lesion and less commonly hepatic and hematologic abnormalities. This study was designed to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) mothers and their neonates. METHODS: 29 neonates born to 25 SLE mothers were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Chonnam University Hospital between January 1994 and June 2005. We investigate the medical records retrospectively. RESULTS: Among 25 SLE mothers, 32.4% had history of spontaneous abortion or stillbirth in previous pregnancy, and 7 (28.0%) of preeclampsia and 3 (12.0%) of premature rupture of membranes in present pregnancy. Among 29 newborns, 14 (48.2%) were premature, 4 (13.7%) were intrauterine growth retardation, and 11 (37.9%) were confirmed as NLE. Anti-SSA/Ro was positive in 13 (52.0%) of 25 examined neonates including 6 (85.7%) of 7 neonates with electrocardiographic abnormalities. Two cases of CCAVB were diagnosed during the pregnancy. One patient didn't show heart failure, he is on the followed up without medical treatment until 4 years of age. The other one showed heart failure, cardiac pacemaker was inserted at 7 days of age, dilated cardiomyopathy developed at 4 years of age. Five neonates with sinus bradycardia resolved spontaneously. One (3.4%) had typical lupus skin lesion with thrombocytopenia and elevated liver enzyme, one (3.4%) had leukopenia, and two (6.9%) had elevated liver enzymes only. CONCLUSIONS: With careful antenatal monitoring of SLE mothers and their fetuses, neonates should be monitored by autoantibody, EKG, and laboratory test.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Atrioventricular Block ; Autoantibodies ; Bradycardia ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Fetus ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Jeollanam-do ; Leukopenia ; Liver ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Medical Records ; Membranes ; Mothers* ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Skin ; Stillbirth ; Thrombocytopenia

The purpose of the study is to develop a Web-based health information service system for the middle-aged women. To identify users' information needs, we conducted an online survey of 189 middle-aged women. It was found that they had various health problems but very few did any health prevention or health promotion activities. We developed following contents in the following areas based on the result of needs assessment. They were exercise, diet including weight control, osteoporosis, climacteric, aging, breast and cervical cancer. Besides this health information, FAQ on women's health, my health knowledge test, statistics, link to related institutes and web sites, newspaper articles/mass media clips, journal articles, conferences papers, and other educational information were added. The homepage was developed as a subsystem of the Healthguide. It was evaluated by the users and the expert panel. The users rated 3.6 out of 5 point in their satisfaction rating and the experts rated 3.9 out of 5 in their site evaluation. It is expected that a Web-based women's health information service system will contribute to women's health promotion as well as provide a community for women's health related researchers and experts to share information on women's health.
Academies and Institutes ; Aging ; Breast ; Climacteric ; Congresses as Topic ; Diet ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Information Services* ; Internet ; Middle Aged ; Needs Assessment ; Periodicals ; Osteoporosis ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Women's Health*

OBJECTIVE: To know whether leiomyomas come from increased proliferation or from decreased apoptosis of uterine muscular cells, and compare the results with the menstrual cycles and expression of ER/PR. METHODS: Between Mar. 2003 to Jun. 2003, the authors got 15 leiomyomatous and normal myometrial tissues from the patients who had undergone hysterectomy transabdominally or laparoscopically. As soon as they were excised, these tissues had been sent to the pathologic department to be stained by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) to determine apoptotic index (A.I.), and immunohistochemistry of Ki-67 to do Ki-67 immunoreactivity index (K.I), and ER/PR. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference of A.I. between leiomyoma and normal myometrial tissues But there was a significantly higher Ki-67 immunoreactivity index in leiomyoma rather than normal myometrial tissue. The increase of K.I. in leiomyomas has the reverse correlation with age, but was not statistically correlated with the menstrual cycles. There was no significant different pattern of expressions of ER/PR between in leiomyoma and in normal uterus. CONCLUSION: The main reason the leiomyomas come from may be increased proliferation instead of decreased apoptosis of leiomyoma cells. Although leiomyomas were known to be influenced by sex hormone, there was no solid evidence of increase of K. I. correlated with menstrual cycle or expression status of ER/PR in leiomyomas. Maybe there are another factors such as age that control the pathogenesis of leiomyoma rather than hormones or their receptors.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Proliferation* ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Leiomyoma* ; Menstrual Cycle* ; Uterus

The incidence of fetal cardiac arrhythmia is approximately 1-3%. Sustatined fetal tachyarrhythmia may cause fetal hydrops and rnay lead to fetal death. We experienced a case of fetal atrial flutter without fetal hydrops at 34 weeks of gestation, which was diagnosed by fetal echocardiography. Transplacental fetal therapy with maternal digoxin administration resulted in restoration of normal fetal sinus rhythm. At birth, the infant showed normal electrocardiographic finding with normal Apgar scores.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Flutter* ; Digoxin ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Fetal Death ; Fetal Therapies ; Humans ; Hydrops Fetalis ; Incidence ; Infant ; Mothers* ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Tachycardia