Cutis verticis gyrata is a morphologic term, typically occurring on the scalp, characterized by eleuated, folded convolutions of the scalp, which may be either secondary to local disease in the scalp, or primary(idiopathic) disease. This case report was a 33-year-old woman, teacher. A birth, the patient had a small, round, soft, convoluted mass on the right parietal scalp. The mass slowly enlarged in size with the same rate of body growth. Now, the lesion is 15*13cm in size, well demarcated, oval shaped, soft, convoluted mass with overlying normal skin colored or hyperpigmented macules. Light microscopic findings of the skin kesion showed deeper extension of the nevus cells into the dermis and subcutis, which presented as an intradermal nevus, Electron microscopy showed that the nevus cell had an indented nucleus and numerous mitochondrias and melanosomes in the cytoplasm.
Adult ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Female ; Humans ; Melanosomes ; Microscopy, Electron ; Mitochondria ; Nevus ; Nevus, Intradermal* ; Parturition ; Rabeprazole ; Scalp ; Skin

A 5-month-old male infantshowed greasy sealy papules on the scalp, dirty scaly papules on the trunk and scaly petechial papules on both the palms and soles since birth. When admitted to the hospital, the patient exhibited lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, abdominal distension, mild fever and skin eruption. The biopsy specimens from the skin and lymph node showed an infiltrate composed almost entirely of histiocytic cells with irregularly shaped nuclei and abundant, well demarcated cytoplasm. The histiocytic cells of the infiltrate were proved as Langerhans cells by electron microscopic examination and S-100 protein study. He was treated with methotrexate 30mg/m twice a week and prednisolone 40mg/m daily. Initially skin lesions and general condition were improved, but the patient expired. due to septicemia after 3 months.
Biopsy ; Cytoplasm ; Fever ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Infant ; Langerhans Cells ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Male ; Methotrexate ; Parturition ; Prednisolone ; S100 Proteins ; Scalp ; Sepsis ; Skin

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the prioritization of research topics by Korean oncology nurses. METHODS: A descriptive and cross-sectional survey was conducted via the website of the Korean Oncology Nursing Society, with participation sought by email from all of its members. RESULTS: Overall, 'pain' and 'quality of life' were the most important among the 74 topics, 'cancer prevention' was ranked 47th, while 'informatics' and 'telehealth' were ranked 62nd and 72nd, respectively. Korean oncology nursing research needs to be expanded to include community-based cancer prevention. In addition, research on informatics and telehealth in the oncology nursing area is necessary given the current dramatic changes in the implementation of information technology in medical services. CONCLUSION: These findings may contribute toward the development of a Korean oncology nursing research agenda and the provision of information to funding agencies with respect to setting the priorities of oncology nursing research.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Electronic Mail ; Financial Management ; Informatics ; Korea ; Nursing ; Nursing Research ; Oncologic Nursing ; Quality of Life ; Societies, Nursing ; Telemedicine

Magnolol, isolated from the stem bark of Magnolia officnalis, is typical Oriental herbs. It has been known to have many biological activities such as anti-platelet aggregation, hydroxyl radical scavenging, Ca2+ -channel blocking, a tonic, anti-rheumatic, anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer action and ischemic heart disease. But, it is still unclear how they effectively regulate their various biological properties. Ceramide is emerging as a second messenger of apoptotic cell death and there is increasing evidence that ceramide is involved in neurodegenerative disease and the process of senescence. The present study investigated the effect of Magnolol on ceramide-induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells. We showed that ceramide induced apoptosis through the mediation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and Magnolol, as an effective antioxidant, significantly inhibited the increase of ROS generation, thereby preventing apoptosis. Furthermore, an increase of caspase activity (apoptosis executors) resulted from ceramide reduced by Magnolol. These results implicate that ROS play on important roles in ceramide-induced apoptosis, also Magnolol protects via effectively inhibition of ROS generation by ceramide through selective pathway.
Aging ; Apoptosis* ; Cell Death ; Humans ; Hydroxyl Radical ; Magnolia ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Negotiating ; Neuroblastoma ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Second Messenger Systems

Factors such as senescence,stress and neurodegenerative diseases,including Alzheimer's disease, contribute to the impairment of organs,especially the brain.They also negatively affect normal brain functions such as memory and cognition.In this study,the neuroprotective role of the natural product BF-7 was examined against A beta - induced neurotoxicity in SK-N-SH human neuronal cells.BF-7 significantly attenuated A beta-induced apoptosis as measured by intracellular calcium levels,accumulation of reactive oxygen species,mitochondrial dysfunction,and caspase activity.These results strongly indicate that BF-7 plays an effective and positive role in the improvement of brain functions,including learning and memory,in our model system for Alzheimer's disease.Thus,BF-7 might be useful for developing strategies to protect the nervous system and improve brain function.
Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid beta-Peptides* ; Amyloid* ; Apoptosis ; Brain ; Calcium ; Cell Death* ; Fibroins* ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory ; Mitochondria ; Nervous System ; Neurons* ; Oxidative Stress ; Oxygen

The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of dopaminergic receptors (DR) in behavioral sensitization, as measured by locomotor activity, and the over-expression of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptides after repeated administration of cocaine in mice. Repeated administrations of cocaine induced behavioral sensitization and CART over-expression in mice. The levels of striatal CART mRNA were significantly increased on the 3rd day. CART peptides were over-expressed on the 5th day in the striata of behaviorally sensitized mice. A higher proportion of CART+ cells in the cocaine-treated mice were present in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell than in the dorsolateral (DL) part of caudate putamen (CP). The concomitant administration of both D1R and D2R antagonists, SCH 23390 (D1R selective) and raclopride (D2R selective), blocked cocaine induced-behavioral sensitization, CART over-expression, and cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA)/phospho-cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB) signal pathways. SCH 23390 more predominantly inhibited the locomotor activity, CART over-expression, pCREB and PKA activity than raclopride. Cocaine induced-behavioral sensitization was also attenuated in the both D1R and D2R knockout (KO) mice, respectively. CART over-expression and activated cAMP/PKA/pCREB signal pathways were inhibited in the D1R-KO mice, but not in the D2R-KO mice. It is suggested that behavioral sensitization, CART over-expression and activated cAMP/PKA/pCREB signal pathways induced by repeated administration of cocaine could be more predominantly mediated by D1R.
Adenosine ; Animals ; Cocaine* ; Mice ; Motor Activity ; Nucleus Accumbens ; Peptides* ; Phosphotransferases ; Putamen ; Raclopride ; Receptors, Dopamine ; RNA, Messenger ; Signal Transduction

Background: Ultraviolet radiation causes skin damage due to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory intermediates and direct attack of DNA of skin cells. Astaxanthin is a reddish pigment that belongs to a group of chemicals called carotenoids and has protective effects as an antioxidant. Objective: To determine the beneficial effects of astaxanthin on damaged human skin after exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Methods: Normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) were pre-treated with astaxanthin for 24 hours and exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation. After 24 hours, the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay measured cell viability, ROS assay and flow cytometry analysis assessed apoptosis, and western blotting was performed to determine expression of apoptosis-related proteins. Results: Astaxanthin significantly inhibited UVB-induced NHEKs cytotoxicity. Pretreatment of NHEKs with astaxanthin reduced UVB-induced ROS production. Astaxanthin caused significant inhibition of UVB-induced apoptosis, as evidenced by flow cytometry analysis and western blotting. Conclusion These results suggest that astaxanthine has a beneficial effect of reducing damage caused by UVB by effectively inhibiting cell death and reducing ROS production in keratinocytes.

Ceramide induces cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner in neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells. To investigate the mechanism of SK-N-SH cell death by C2-ceramide, morphological features and Hoechst 33258 staining were analyzed. In these morphlogic study the cell death by ceramide showed typical apoptotic features, nuclear condensation, fragmentation, and membrane blebbing. Ceramide-induced apoptosis was accompanied by nuclear accumulation of p53. Inhibition of p53 expression with p53 antisense oligonucleotides inhibited apoptosis evoked by ceramide. Also, ceramide induced mitochondrial event, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi m) and interestingly, inhibition of p53 attenuated collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, suggests that ceramide induces mitochondrial dysfunction through upregulation of p53 expression. These results suggest that ceramide-induced apoptosis is dependent upon increase in cellular p53 levels which play a critical role in the regulation of apoptotic cell death and p53 modulates mitochondrial function such as mitochondrial membrane potential level.
Apoptosis ; Bisbenzimidazole ; Blister ; Cell Death* ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Membranes ; Neuroblastoma ; Neurons* ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; Up-Regulation

In the present study, we determined whether green tea extract, EGCG protected against beta-amyloid induced neurotoxicity and learning impairment in vitro and in vivo models. Incubation of SK-N-SH cells with Abeta induced activation of caspase-3, mitochondrial dysfunction such as collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and release of cytosolic cytochrome c. Interestingly, pre-treatment of EGCG reduced significantly activation of caspase-3 and increase of mitochondrial damage such as the breakdown of MMP and release of cytochrome c, eventually attenuated the cell death induced by Abeta. These results show that EGCG inhibited caspase activity and blocked mitochondrial damage. For in vivo experiment, ICR mice received vehicle or vehicle plus EGCG (10 mg/kg) i.p. for 3 days. Before 2 days of treatment, 5 microliter of PBS containing 8 nmol of Abeta1-42 were injected into the lateral ventricle. On the 14th day of treatment, animals were applied to passive avoidance test, and after behavial test, animals were sacrificed. Then, morphological techniques were used to determine the extent of neuronal degeneration in the hippocampus. Abeta, but not PBS, injections into hippocampus led to neuronal loss and evidence of widespread apoptosis. EGCG treated animals had significant reductions in the amount of neuronal degeneration, and TUNEL positive cells compared with Abeta alone treated animals. These data suggest that EGCG at therapeutically relevant concentrations, might protect against neuronal degeneration induced by Abeta.
Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death* ; Cytochromes c ; Cytosol ; Hippocampus ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Lateral Ventricles ; Learning ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Neurons* ; Tea*