No abstract available.
Adult* ; Female* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Crohn Disease*

Cholangiocytes, the lining epithelial cells in bile ducts, are an important subset of liver cells. They are activated by endogenous and exogenous stimuli and are involved in the modification of bile volume and composition. They are also involved in damaging and repairing the liver. Cholangiocytes have many functions including bile production. They are also involved in transport processes that regulate the volume and composition of bile. Cholangiocytes undergo proliferation and cell death under a variety of conditions. Cholangiocytes have functional and morphological heterogenecity. The immunobiology of cholangiocytes is important, particularly for understanding biliary disease. Secretion of different proinflammatory mediators, cytokines, and chemokines suggests the major role that cholangiocytes play in inflammatory reactions. Furthermore, paracrine secretion of growth factors and peptides mediates extensive cross-talk with other liver cells, including hepatocytes, stellate cells, stem cells, subepithelial myofibroblasts, endothelial cells, and inflammatory cells. Cholangiopathy refers to a category of chronic liver diseases whose primary disease target is the cholangiocyte. Cholangiopathy usually results in end-stage liver disease requiring liver transplant. We summarize the biology of cholangiocytes and redefine the concept of cholangiopathy. We also discuss the recent progress that has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of cholangiopathy and how such progress has influenced therapy.
Bile ; Bile Ducts ; Biology* ; Cell Death ; Chemokines ; Cytokines ; Endothelial Cells ; Epithelial Cells ; Hepatocytes ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Liver ; Liver Diseases ; Myofibroblasts ; Peptides ; Stem Cells

No abstract available.
Pyelonephritis, Xanthogranulomatous* ; Wilms Tumor*

PURPOSE: The diagnosis of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis(HPS) can be made by clinical manifestations and upper gastrointestinal(UGI) series in most cases. Recently, the ultrasonogram(US) is a more accurate and reliable method for the diagnosis of HPS in early stage. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 27 HPS patients confirmed surgically from January 1999 to March 2000. We reviewed clinical histories and physical and laboratory findings. Among these patients, ultrasonograms were carried out in 23 cases preoperatively. Therefore, we analyzed pyloric muscle thickness(PT), pyloric diameters(PD), and pyloric canal lengths(PL), and calculated pyloric volume(PV) by the equation of 'PV=pie(1/2PV)2xPL'. RESULTS: The mean age on admission was 39.0+/-20.4 days and 70.4% of the patients were under 6 weeks of age. The mean age at onset was 26.9+/-20.4 days and the duration of symptoms was 12.7+/-11.6 days. On physical examination, the pyloric tumors were palpated in 14 cases(51.9%) and the gastric peristalses were noted in 8 cases(29.6%). UGI series were carried out in 21 cases, and all of them had the characteristic findings of HPS. The mean PT was 5.23+/-1.05mm, the mean PD wase 13.56+/-2.25mm, the mean PL was 21.42+/-3.85mm, and the calculated PV was 3.23+/-1.35 mL. According to the criteria by Stunden, et al., PT(>=4mm), PD(>=12mm) and PL(>=15mm) were satisfied in 91.3, 73.9 and 91.3% respectively. The PV(>=1.4mL) was satisfied in 95.7% according to the criterion by Westra, et al. CONCLUSION: The US in the diagnosis of HPS is safe and useful. With measurements of PV parameter, the diagnosis by US will be more reliable and more accurate.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Peristalsis ; Physical Examination ; Pyloric Stenosis, Hypertrophic* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites were isolated from the blood of an ocular patient, and have been successfully passaged in the laboratory, for over a year, by peritoneal inoculation in mice. The isolated parasite was designated the Korean Isolate-1 (KI-1) and its characteristics were compared with those of the RH strain, a wellknown virulent strain originating from a child who suffered from encephalitis. The morphology, pathogenicity, infectivity and cell culture characteristics of the KI-1 were similar to those of the RH strain. Both RH and KI-1 antigens were detected by an anti-T. gondii monoclonal antibody (mAb), Tg563, against the major surface protein SAG1 (30 kDa), whereas no reaction was observed against an anti-Neospora caninum mAb, 12B4. The KI-1 was confirmed as an isolate of T. gondii. A long-term laboratory maintenance and characterization of a local T. gondii isolate is reported for the first time in the Republic of Korea.
Animals ; Antigens, Protozoan/analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Electron ; Middle Aged ; Parasitemia/parasitology ; Sarcoma 180 ; Serial Passage ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; *Toxoplasma/classification/growth & development/isolation & purification/pathogenicity ; Toxoplasmosis, Ocular/*diagnosis/parasitology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Virulence

No abstract available.

Torture is an extreme life stressor which increases the risk of serious psychological and physical sequelae of victims. Despite Geneva declaration, Amnesty International reports that torture remains as human rights issue in many sites of the world. Even in Korean peninsula, torture is a serions human rights issue. This paper is a critical review on torture; to describe its methods and effects, the assessment of psychological and physical sequelae, and its treatment. Torture also affects survivor's family. The more prolonged, repeated, and unpredictable the experience of torture is, the more serious psychiatric consequences are likely. Psychological responses and sequelae include not only symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but also depression, personality changes, somatoform disorders and others. Diagnositic terms such as complex PTSD or torture syndrome have been used to denote the complexity of torture trauma. Treatment is a combination of pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, guidance for of socialre readaptation. Ensuring safety and trust between survivors and medical staffs is important. Torture prevention is to expose the facts particularly health data to the public, and collaborate with international organizations fighting against torture. Preventive interventions is linked to a change in the underlying socio-political causes and to the creation of necessary conditions for human rights and development at the level of society.
Depression ; Drug Therapy ; Human Rights ; Humans ; Medical Staff ; Somatoform Disorders ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Survivors ; Torture*

Neurenteric cyst is a rare, congenital, and benign cystic lesion of the central nervous system, which is generally thought to result from failure of separation of the neuro-ectodermal and neuro-endodermal elements during week 3 of embryogenesis. Neurenteric cysts in the intracranial area are very rare lesions that typically occur in the spinal canal or even more seldom in the posterior cranial fossa. A girl presented to the outpatient clinic with complaints of moderate to severe episodes of headache with associated vomiting for 2 weeks. There was a positive sign of severe neck stiffness. Her brain MRI showed a neurenteric cyst located within the anterior intradural space of the foramen magnum. We report our experience with an intracranial neurenteric cyst located in the anterior brain stem area.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Brain ; Brain Stem ; Central Nervous System ; Cranial Fossa, Posterior ; Embryonic Development ; Female ; Foramen Magnum ; Headache ; Neck ; Neural Tube Defects ; Pregnancy ; Spinal Canal ; Vomiting

Background: This study was designed to determine whether presynaptic receptor blockade could be differentiated from postsynaptic receptor blockade by examining the effect of increasing frequencies of indirect stimulation on partial twitch depression in vitro rat phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm preparations. Methods: After isolating rat phrenic nerve hemidiaphragm preparation, T200/T1 ratio (twitch height of the 200th stimuli divided by that of the 1st stimuli) at frequencies of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz using a drug concentration which provided approximately 20% twitch depression at 0.1 Hz was calculated. To compare T200/T1 ratios with TOF ratios, 2.0 Hz TOF response was measured immediately after 200th stimuli at either frequency of stimulation. Results: Hexamethonium caused a marked decrease in T200/T1 ratio at 0.5~2.0 Hz of stimulation, whereas alpha-bungarotoxin caused no change in T200/T1 ratios at up to 2.0 Hz of stimulation. The T200/T1 ratios produced by d-tubocurarine, vecuronium, mivacurium, and rocuronium located intermediate between alpha-bungarotoxin and hexamethonium, however significant differences among four drugs were found at 2.0 Hz. The propensity for decrease in T200/T1 ratios at 2.0 Hz might differ from this study: hexamethonium >d-tubocurarine >rocuronium >mivacurium = vecuronium >alpha-bungarotoxin. T200/T1 ratios at 2.0 Hz were not different from TOF ratios. Conclusions: When the observed effects in this study were provided with result of alpha-bungarotoxin acting predominantly at postsynaptic receptors and hexamethonium acting predominantly at presynaptic receptors, the effects of nondepolarizing muscle relaxants at each binding site could be differentiated by examining the T200/T1 ratios at 2.0 Hz.
Animals ; Binding Sites ; Bungarotoxins ; Depression* ; Hexamethonium ; Phrenic Nerve* ; Rats* ; Receptors, Presynaptic ; Tubocurarine ; Vecuronium Bromide