No abstract available.
Aged* ; Femur* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Interleukin-6* ; Nephritis* ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch*

BACKGROUND: There is a long-standing controversy whether melanocytes in vitiligo of more than 1 year duration are actually lost or still present. Resolving this matter is essential in understanding the underlying pathology and for the development of the treatment. On previous immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies of vitiligo lesions, damage of melanocyte and keratinocyte in early lesions were reported and complete absence of melanocyte in long standing lesions were known. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the existence of the differences in pathologic changes in melanocytes according to the duration of the lesion. METHODS: We investigated the vitiliginous skin samples from 31 patients with early(less than 1 year duration) vitiligo and 30 patients with long standing(l to 5 years duration) vitiligo under the electron microscopy. RESULTS: Multiple degenerative changes in melanocytes were observed in the early and long standing lesions. In long standing lesions, degeneration of melanocytes including pyknotic, in-dented nuclei, vacuolated cytoplasms and blunted dendrites were more pronounced than early lesions. Even in long standing lesions, definite or presumptive melanocytes were observed in 16(53.3%) of 30 cases. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the melanocytes of vitiligo lesions were damaged and that the percentage of degenerative changes increase in accordance with the duration of the lesion. However, in long standing lesions as well as in early lesions, some residual melanocytes can be observed ultrastructurally.
Cytoplasm ; Dendrites ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Melanocytes ; Microscopy, Electron ; Pathology ; Skin ; Vitiligo*

No abstract available.
Child* ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem* ; Humans

PURPOSE: Henoch-Schonlein purpura(HSP) nephritis has been reported to vary from 25 to 50% among HSP patients and is a common cause of chronic glomerulonephritis in children. In our study, we evaluated the distribution and the association of the Insertion/Deletion(I/D) polymorphism of angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE) gene with clinical manifestations, particularly proteinuria in children with HSP nephritis, compared with that in HSP. METHODS: ACE gene polymorphism was determined in children with HSP nephritis(n=33) and HSP(n=28) who were diagnosed in Busan Paik hospital from January 1996 to June 2001. The I/D polymorphism of ACE gene was determined by PCR amplication of genomic DNA. RESULTS: The ACE I/D genotype frequency was DD : 25%, ID : 50%, II : 25% in HSP and DD : 24 %, ID : 46%, II : 30% in HSP nephritis, there was no significant difference in the genotype and allele frequencies between two groups. When statistical analysis was done according to the presence of D allele, the amount of 24-hour urinary protein excretion and the incidence of moderate to heavy proteinuria(>500 mg/m2/day) at onset and last follow-up were higher in DD/ID genotype than in those in II genotype, but these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We suggest a lack of association between I/D polymorphism of ACE gene and clinical manifestations in children with HSP nephritis. However, further follow-up studies based on a sufficient number of patients and long term follow up periods are necessary to confirm the role of I/D polymorphism of ACE gene in children with HSP nephritis.
Alleles ; Angiotensins* ; Busan ; Child* ; DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Glomerulonephritis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nephritis* ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteinuria ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch*

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the best cutoff line for insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-3 to discriminate between growth hormone deficiency (GHD) patients and the control group. METHODS: Two hundred thirty subjects with normal controls (129 boys and 101 girls, aged 7-15 years), 14 patients with complete GHD (12 boys and 2 girls), and 17 patients with partial GHD (9 boys and 8 girls) were studied. IGF-I serum concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay (RI), and IGFBP-3 concentrations were measured by immunoradiometric assay (IRMA). RESULTS: The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot analysis showed that the best IGF-I and IGFBP-3 cutoff line was at -1 standard deviation (SD). By comparing IGF-I serum levels of GHD children within 1 SD of normal control, we determined the sensitivity (S) (87.5-100%) and specificity (Sp) (80-84.6%) according to the age group. For IGFBP-3 , we determined the following values: S (58.7-85.7%) and Sp (79.2-85.5%). Eleven of 1 4 patients with complete GHD (78.5%) and 16 of 17 patients with partial GHD (94.1%) had IGF-I concentrations equal to or below -1 SD of the control group mean. Ten of 12 complete GHD children (83.3%) and 13 of 17 partial GHD children (76.5%) had IGFBP-3 concentrations equal or below -1 SD of the control group mean. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the measurement of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations might provide essential supplementary data in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with GHD. Our results support the need to use cutoff lines based on below -1 SD of the control.
Aged ; Carrier Proteins ; Child ; Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Immunoradiometric Assay ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Radioimmunoassay ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of growth hormone(GH) secretion on serum concentration of leptin, we evaluated the differences in serum concentration of leptin between patients with growth hormone deficiency(GHD) and GH normal short stature in prepubertal male children, and the relationship between GH and serum leptin level. Also, we analyzed the correlation between serum concentrations of leptin and insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-I), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3), total cholesterol(TC), free fatty acid(FFA) and body mass index(BMI). METHODS: Eight cases with GHD and 10 cases with GH normal short stature were included in this study. Patients were all male, prepubertal children with mean age 10.6 years. Blood samples were collected in these patients by L-dopa GH provocation test. Statistical analysis of the comparisons of serum leptin level and correlation of multiple variables were performed using PC-SAS program. Significance was defined as P<0.05. RESULTS: The mean serum concentration of leptin in GHD(12.27+/-10.63ng/mL) was significantly higher than in GH normal short stature(5.39+/-3.21ng/mL)(P=0.0344). Serum concentration of leptin was negatively correlated to GH(y=-7.7x+43.3, r=-0.23, P=0.0109). Serum concentration of leptin was positively correlated to BMI(y=2.5x-33.3, r=0.75, P=0.0003). Serum concentration of leptin was not correlated to IGF-I, IGFBP-3, TC and FFA. CONCLUSION: Serum concentration of leptin was siginificantly increased in patients with GHD compared to GH normal short stature and was negatively correlated to GH.
Child ; Growth Hormone* ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Leptin* ; Levodopa ; Male

The antiarrhythmic efficacy if low dose amiodarone treatment was studied in 30 cases of ventricular premature beats(VPBs). Amiodarone was administered 600mg daily in three divided doses for for initial 7-10 days as loadihg dosage,then 100-200mg once daily as maintenance. The results obtained were as follow : 1) The complete control of VPBs was achieved by amiodarone treatment in 90%, 27cases of 30 cases(all 11 cases with simple VPBs and 16 cases of the remainders with complex VPBs). 2) The QT interval and QTc were significantly prolonged, whereas heart rate was reduced significantly after amiodarone treatment. 3) In 27 cases of responder, the frequency of VPBs began to decrease overtly 2-3 days after amiodarone administration, then relatively stablized in 6 days, and complete cnotrol of VPBs was achieved in all cases about 10 days after treatment. 4) No significant side-reaction was observed except the decrease of serm T3 level after treatment.
Amiodarone* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac* ; Heart Rate ; Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the alterations of growth and bone metabolism in SDR induced by dexa administration and to evaluate the effects of GH treatment in dexamethasone(dexa) induced growth and bone metabolism in SDR. METHODS: Forty-five female Sprague-Dawley rats(weight 150-170gm) were divided in 3 groups: Group 1(n=15) received normal saline as control, Group 2(n=15) received dexa(1mg/kg/day), Group 3(n=15) received dexa and rhGH(LG Chem, 1IU/kg/day) simultaneously. Group 2 and 3 were injected rhGH daily, 6 days per week. Each group was divided in three subgroups(n=5) and sacrificed at 4, 6, 8 weeks, respectively. RESULTS: In Group 2, the length of tibia and femur and tibia epiphyseal plate thickness decreased significantly at 4, 6, 8 weeks compared to Group 1, respectively. In Group 2, serum IGF-I and PICP level also decreased at 6, 8 weeks and serum ICTP level increased at 4, 6 weeks compared to Group 1 significantly. In Group 3, the length of tibia and femur increased at 4, 6, 8 weeks compared to Group 2 but there was no statistical significance. In Group 3, tibia epiphyseal plate thickness increased significantly at 6, 8 weeks compared to Group 1. In Group 3, serum IGF-I and PICP level increased significantly at 4, 6, 8 weeks respectively compared to Group 2. But serum ICTP level showed no changes between two groups. Serum PTH level increased in Group 2 compared to Group 1, and decreased in Group 3 compared to Group 2 but no statistical significance was noted, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that dexa inhibits longitudinal bone growth and interferes with bone metabolism, both inhibiting bone formation and stimulating bone resorption in SDR. Simultaneous GH administration may abolish alterations of growth and bone metabolism induced by dexa in SDR.
Animals ; Bone Density ; Bone Development ; Bone Resorption ; Dexamethasone* ; Female ; Femur ; Growth Hormone* ; Growth Plate ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Metabolism* ; Osteogenesis ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tibia

Purpose: We report a first case of traction retinal detachment accompanied by ocular syphilis in Korea.Case summary: A 20-year-old male visited with poor left-eye vision. His best-corrected visual acuity was 0.3; no inflammation was evident in the anterior chamber, but many inflammatory cells were found in the vitreous cavity. Fundus examination revealed inferior exudative and tractional retinal detachment. Optical coherence tomography revealed an epiretinal membrane; fluorescein angiography showed that the inferior (detached) retina did not fluoresce. Syphilis was serologically detected; ceftriaxone (2 g daily) was intravenously injected for 14 days. The vitreous cavity inflammation improved, but the tractional membrane proliferation triggered tractional retinal detachment. We performed vitrectomy to remove the tractional membrane and prescribed intravitreal antibiotics. The patient was discharged after intravenous injection of penicillin G (20 MU daily) for 14 days. Three months after surgery, the best-corrected left-eye visual acuity had improved to 0.8, and no recurrence of the retinal detachment was noted. Conclusions Patients with ocular syphilis may evidence retinal detachment despite initial prescription of systemic antibiotics. A possible need for surgery should be kept in mind; the prognosis is good if an operation is performed in a timely manner.