BACKGROUND: Natural moisturizing factors such as sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid and lactic acid may play an important role in increasing the moisture retention of isolated stratum corneum and reducing the incidence of dry and flaky skin in vivo. Although the precise mechanism of surfactant irritancy is not fully understood, it has been suggested that barrier dysfunction of stratum corneum by surfactants results in skin changes such as scaling, erythema, and even fissuring. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effect of sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid(NaPCA) and lactic acid(LA) with several non-invasive measuring methods in the irritated skin reaction induced by sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) in normal persons and atopic dermatitis patients. METHODS: After skin irritation for 24 hours with patch test of 1% SLS on five volar sites of right forearm, we applied nothing(A), 3% LA+3% NaPCA(B), 3% LA(C), 3% NaPCA(D), and vehi cle(E) twice a day respectively. Visual score, transepidermal water loss(TEWL), water holding capa city(WHC), and erythema index were measured at 30 min, 24hr, 48hr and 72hr after patch removal. RESULTS: 1. After 72hr, the visual scores of B and C were significantly lower than that of A(control) in atopic dermatitis patients, and that of C in normal persons was significantly lower than that of A, D, and E. 2. TEWL values of B and C in both the normal (after 72hr) and atopic dermatitis group (after 48hr and 72hr) were significantly lower than that of A. 3. WHC values of B, C, D in both the normal and atopic dermatitis group were significantly higher than that of A after 48hr and 72hr. 4. After 72hr, erythema indices by Mexameter of B, C, and D in both the normal and atopic dermatitis group were significantly lower than that of A and values of C were significantly lower than that of E. In the atopic dermatitis group, values of D were also significantly lower than that of E. 5. The mean visual score was significantly correlated with TEWL value and erythema index of Mexameter (r=0.58, r=0.64) and the TEWL value was significantly correlated with erythema index of Mexameter (r=0.64). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that topical application of a moisturizing factor might improve the surfactant-induced disruption of permeability barrier with improvement of the water holding capacity of the stratum corneum.
Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Erythema ; Forearm ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lactic Acid* ; Patch Tests* ; Permeability ; Skin* ; Sodium* ; Surface-Active Agents

BACKGROUND: The bioengineering methods for investigating irritant skin reaction have been developed for several decades to evaluate the irritation potential more objectively and quantitatively and obtain the information which is not obvious by the visual examination. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the irritant skin reaction of three kinds of surfactants with various low concentrations which produce little reaction visually and investigative the threshold concentration that is reliable for a patch test. Also we investigated the sensitivity and the correlation between visual examination and bioengineering methods in four different concentrations of surfactants METHODS: Twenty healthy volunteers were patch tested with 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 1.0% of sodium lauryl sulfate(SLS), cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride(CETAC), POE(20) sorbitan monolaurate (Tween-20) on the flexor side of the Lt. forearm. The result of patch test was evaluated by visual scoring, evaporimeter, colorimeter, and corneometer until 72 hours. RESULTS: 1. SLS, anionic surfactant, showed the highest irritation potential in visual scoring, TEWL, and skin color measurement. And CETAC, cationic surfactant, showed the greatest irritation in corneometer measurements than other surfactants. 2. TEWL was the most sensitive method for evaluation of skin irritation and correlated most closely with visual examination. 3. Concentration of surfactant higher than 0.1% showed to produce reliable and constant result of skin irritation as the experimental primary irritant. CONCLUSION: SLS is proved to be the most appropriate primary irritant for studying irritant contact dermatitis, and the degree and mode of skin irritation is different according to the concentration and kinds of surfactants. TEWL measurement is the most sensitive bioengineering method, which could detect early stages of irritation and correlate well with visual examination.
Ammonium Compounds ; Bioengineering* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Forearm ; Healthy Volunteers ; Patch Tests ; Skin ; Sodium ; Surface-Active Agents*

Today, the duodenal tuberculosis is a very rare disease. Final diagnosis of duodenal tuberculosis is difficult due to inconsistent symptoms and nonspecific duodenal lesions. We found 2 cases of duodenal tuberculosis by gastrascopy. In gastroscopic findings, there were undetermined ulcers and irregular nodular mucosal changes.
Diagnosis ; Rare Diseases ; Tuberculosis* ; Ulcer

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of a set of self-reported questionnaires for periodontitis for estimating the prevalence of chronic adult periodontitis in the Korean population. METHODS: The questionnaire is comprised of a total of 14 questions with four summarized concepts including self-diagnosis of oral status, subjective signs related to oral health, smoking and drinking status, and use of auxiliary oral hygiene devices including scaling. The predictiveness of the measures from these self-reported questions was assessed by logistic regression modeling using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) statistics, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC including all questions were 0.571, 0.768, and 0.781, respectively; the sum of sensitivity and specificity was 1.34. To gain robustness, a simplified predictive model was built with six questions. Its results were 0.536, 0.817, and 0.762 for sensitivity, specificity, and AUC, respectively. The sum of sensitivity and specificity was found to be 1.35. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported questionnaire for periodontitis showed considerable validity, but further study is required to provide optimal validity and predictability.
Area Under Curve ; Chronic Periodontitis ; Drinking ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontal Diseases ; Periodontitis* ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: CD43 is a sialoglycoprotein that is highly expressed on most leukocytes, except on B lymphocytes and dendritic cells. CD43 has been reported to be involved in the adhesion and apoptosis of lymphocytes. Although the aberrant expression of CD43 antigen in non-lymphoid tissues has been reported, the expression of the CD43 antigen in gastrointestinal malignancies is not well studied. Here, we studied the expression of CD43 in colon adenocarcinoma using the anti-CD43 monoclonal antibody developed in our laboratory. METHODS: Thirty patients who had undergone surgical resection for colorectal carcinoma were recruited. The expression of CD43 molecule was determined by analyzing the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens immunohistochemically using our newly developed anti-CD43 mAb (K06). The results obtained by the immunohistochemical analysis correlated to the clinicopatho-logical parameters. RESULTS: The expression of CD43 were found in 20 out of 30 colorectal carcinoma cases. The expression of CD43 antigen is higher in well differentiated adenocarcinomas than poorly or moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas. CONCLUSIONS: The new anti-CD43 mAb might be helpful for the detection of the expression of CD43 on colorectal carcinoma cells. Further studies are required to assess the relationship between the CD43 expression and the colorectal carcinogenesis.
Adenocarcinoma ; Antigens, CD43 ; Apoptosis ; B-Lymphocytes ; Carcinogenesis ; Colon ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Dendritic Cells ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukocytes ; Lymphocytes

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to confirm the clinical usefulness of the Alvarado score's application and the differences in diagnostic values between male and female for patients who were diagnosed with acute appendicitis when they came to the hospital for pain in the right lower abdomen. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 211 patients who entered the surgical department of this hospital for doubtful acute appendicitis from June 2003 to May 2005. Using a retrospective method, we examined the patients' records and compared their ages, sex, symptoms, preoperative physical examinations, leukocyte and neutrophils figures, and the final postoperative pathological diagnosis. RESULTS: One hundred twelve patients were male, and 99 were female. A clinical Alvarado score of above 7 in sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value was the standard for being judged positive. In this study, the sensitivity of the Alvarado score was 86.2%, its specificity was 61.6%, and the accuracy of diagnosis was 82.9%. The positive predictive value was 92.6%, and the negative predictive value was 51.0%. The accuracies were 83.9% and 81.8%, respectively, that for males being a little higher than that for female, but with no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was highly accurate for an Alvarado score above 7 (82.9%). The diagnosis of acute appendicitis by using the Alvarado score is simple, fast, reliable, and repeatable, and it can be used under any conditions without other expensive and complicated diagnostic tools.
Abdomen ; Appendicitis* ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVES: Hepatic adenoma is a rare benign tumor, occuring in women of child-bearing age and it is known that hepatic adenoma is associated with history of oral contraceptive use in about 90% of cases, rarely with type I glycogen storage disease or anabolic steroids. There have been five cases of hepatic adenoma reported in Korea and three cases have been confirmed in our hospital. We examined the clinical findings of these eight cases and compare them with those of hepatic adenoma reported in western countries. METHODS: We reviewed five cases published in medical literature of Korea and three cases confirmed in our hospital. The clinical, laboratory, and radiological features of the eight cases were examined and all were pathologically proven cases as hepatic adenoma. RESULTS: Six cases were male and two cases were female. Mean age of them were 37+/-6 years old which ranged from 24 to 45 years old. Two cases of female did not have history of ingestion of oral contraceptives and six cases of male did not have history of having anabolic steroids. The associated diseases were chronic hepatitis B in two cases, glycogen storage disease type I in one case, and ovarian mucinous cystadenoma in one case. The presenting symptoms were upper abdominal discomfort in five cases, chronic fatigue in one case and two cases had no symptom. Hepatic adenomas were single mass in seven cases and only one case suspected of having glycogen storage disease showed six nodules. The mean diameter of the eight hepatic adenoma was 7.7+/-3.7cm which range from 2.0cm to 15cm. Seven of the eight cases were larger than 5cm in diameter. but there was no case of intraperitoneal bleeding. In laboratory studies, AST/ALT was elevated(81/84IU/L, normal range less than 40IU/L) in one case which was suspected of glycogen storage disease. Alkaline phosphatase were elevated in four cases and elevated alpha-FP was not found in any case. Hepatic adenoma was shown as hyperechoic mass with indistinct margin by ultrasonography and hypodense mass with contrast enhancement by computed tomography. Hepatic adenoma showed isodense or low signal intensity in T1WI, and low or high signal intensity in T2WI. Hepatic angiography showed hypervascular mass in six cases but avascular mass in two cases. CONCLUSION: The reported cases of hepatic adenoma were predominant in men, associated with chronic hepatitis B in two cases, and females with hepatic adenoma had no history of having oral contraceptive. Despite the large size of hepatic adenoma, there was no case accompanied by peritoneal bleeding. These findings contrasts with those of hepatic adenoma reported in western countries. Therefore the pathogenesis and clinical course of hepatic adenoma in Korea may be different with those of hepatic adenoma occurring in western countries and further studies are needed.
Adenoma* ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Angiography ; Contraceptives, Oral ; Cystadenoma, Mucinous ; Eating ; Fatigue ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease ; Glycogen Storage Disease Type I ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reference Values ; Steroids ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the cause of peptic ulcer diseases, and gastric cancer. Hydrolysis of urea generating ammonia may cause cytotoxic effects on the gastric epithelium. The ammonia may induce the synthesis of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in gastric epithelium as an adaptive cytoprotective mechanism. The first aim was to examine the concentration of ammonia and EGF in gastric juice before and after H. pylori eradication in functional dyspepsia patients. The second aim was to examine the correlation among ammonia concentration, EGF concentration, and inflammatory score of gastritis. METHODS: The concentration of ammonia and EGF were measured by ELISA. The grade and severity of gastritis were measured according to the updated Sydney system. RESULTS: The concentration of ammonia in gastric juice was much higher in the H. pylori positive subjects (10,787 +/- 6,584 micro mol/L) than in the negative subjects (2,339 +/- 1,158 micro mol/L, p<0.0001). The concentrations of EGF in gastric juice was much higher in the positive subjects (1,462 +/- 393 pg/mL) than in the negative subjects (1,088 +/- 499 pg/mL, p<0.005). The concentration of ammonia and EGF in gastric juice showed significant correlation (r=0.63, p<0.0001). The concentrations of ammonia and histologic severities showed significant correlation (r=0.41, p<0.0001). Moreover, the level of EGF in gastric juice and histologic severities showed positive correlation (r=0.20, p<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: As the concentration of ammonia in gastric juices increased, the concentration of EGF was also increased in functional dyspepsia with H. pylori infection. The concentration of EGF in gastric juice may play a role in the adaptive cytoprotection in H. pylori- induced gastritis.
Adult ; Ammonia/*analysis ; English Abstract ; Epidermal Growth Factor/*analysis ; Female ; Gastric Juice/*chemistry ; Gastritis/drug therapy/*metabolism/microbiology/pathology ; Helicobacter Infections/drug therapy/*metabolism ; *Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND: At present, lamivudine-interferon combination therapy is being tried on chronic hepatitis B patients who had no significant response to interferon-alpha mono-therapy. The therapeutic effect of lamivudine-interferon combination therapy is showing various outcomes depending on the period of therapy and the status of the patient. Thus we conducted this study to compare the therapeutic effect of lamivudine-interferon combination therapy versus interferon-alpha monotherapy in korean patients with chronic hepatitis B. METHOD: Among the chronic hepatitis B patients, 138 patients who showed positive to HBeAg, and serum HBV DNA levels are over 5 pg/mL and serum ALT levels are over 40 IU/L were allocated to IFN-alpha monotherapy group (70 patients) and lamivudine-interferon combination therapy group (66 patients). We compared two groups on ALT normalization rate, HBeAg seroconversion rate, HBV DNA loss rate and HBeAg loss rate in both group. IFN-alpha was percutaneously injected three times a week. Mean administered dose was 27125 (+/-11841) MU and mean administered duration was 6.4 (+/-1.6) months. Lamivudine was concomitantly and continuously administered with IFN-alpha for over 6 months (mean 13.2 +/- 16.5). The lamivudine therapy was terminated at the point when HBeAg turned positive into negative. RESULTS: Mean follow-up period was 28 months. HBeAg loss rate was 40.9% in lamivudine- interferon combination therapy group and 28.6% in IFN-alpha monotherapy group on the 12th month of the therapy, showing there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.13). HBeAg seroconversion rate was 40.9% in lamivudine-interferon combination therapy group and 21.4% in IFN-alpha monotherapy group on the 12th month of the therapy (p=0.014). HBV DNA loss rate was 90.9% in lamivudine-interferon combination therapy group and 88.6% in IFN-alpha monotherapy group within 12months of the therapy, showing there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.35). Serum ALT normalization rate was 92.4% in lamivudine-interferon combination therapy group and 85.7% in IFN-alpha monotherapy group within 12months of the therapy, showing there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.11). CONCLUSION: The lamivudine-interferon combination therapy compared to the Interferon-alpha monotherapy showed a statistically significant higher HBeAg seroconversion rate.
DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha* ; Interferons* ; Lamivudine

BACKGROUND: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an extremely aggressive tumor with a poor clinical course. Although many efforts have been made to improve patients' survival rates, patients who survive longer than 2 years after chemotherapy are still very rare. We examined the baseline characteristics of patients with long-term survival rates in order to identify the prognostic factors for overall survivals. METHODS: A total of 242 patients with cytologically or histologically diagnosed SCLC were enrolled into this study. The patients were categorized into long- and short-term survival groups by using a survival cut-off of 2 years after diagnosis. Cox's analyses were performed to identify the independent factors. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 65.66 years, and 85.5% were males; among the patients, 61 of them (25.2%) survived longer than 2 years. In the multivariate analyses, CRP (hazard ratio [HR], 2.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-6.06; p=0.012), TNM staging (HR, 3.29; 95% CI, 1.59-6.80; p=0.001), and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR, 11.14; 95% CI, 2.98-41.73; p<0.001) were independent prognostic markers for poor survival rates. CONCLUSION: In addition to other well-known prognostic factors, this study discovered relationships between the long-term survival rates and serum CRP levels, TNM staging, and PFS. In situations with unfavorable conditions, the PFS would be particularly helpful for managing SCLC patients.
Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival* ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma* ; Survival Rate