No abstract available.
Pneumonia*

Purpose: Alterations in the structure of the p53 protein are one of the most common changes associated with human cancers. The CREB-binding protein(CBP) is a transcriptional co-activators of various sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factors and is involved in a wide variety of cellular activities, such as DNA repair, cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. This article examined the expression levels of the p53 protein and CBP as well as their diagnostic value in a biopsy sample. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis were performed in 60 hyperplastic polyps, 180 adenomatous polyps, and 120 adenocarcinomas which had sampled from colono-fibroscopic exam from January 2000 to August 2003. RESULTS: 1. p53 protein expression was observed in 15% (9/60) of hyperplastic polyps, in 68.9% (124/180) of adenomatous polyps, and in 80% (96/120) of adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 2. p53 protein expression according to the cellular atypia in the adenomatous polyp was observed in 45% (27/ 60) of mild dysplasia, 78.3% (47/60) of moderate dysplasia, and 83.4% (50/60) of severe dysplasia. There was an increasing tendency in high grade dysplasia, which is statistically significant (P<0.05). 3. p53 protein expression according to the level of differentiation was observed in 90% (54/60) of well differentiated adenocarcinomas, 78% (39/50) of moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas, and 30% (3/ 10) of poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 4. CBP expression was observed in 30% (18/60) of hyperplastic polyps, 70.6% (127/180), of adenomatous polyps, and 85% (102/120) of adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 5. CBP expression according to cellular atypia in adenomatous polyp was observed in 48.3% (29/60) of mild dysplasia, 76.6% (46/60) of moderate dysplasia, and 86.7% (52/60) of severe dysplasia (P<0.05). 6. CBP expression according to cellular differentiation was observed in 90% (36/60) of well differentiated adenocarcinomas, 86% (43/50) of moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas, and 50% (5/10) of poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.05). Conclusion: The p53 protein and CBP expression can indicate the malignant potentiality of the colon cell indirectly.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adenomatous Polyps ; Apoptosis ; Biopsy ; Colon* ; CREB-Binding Protein* ; DNA Repair ; Humans ; Polyps* ; Transcription Factors

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Humans ; Lung, Hyperlucent*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the bacteriological characteristics and antibiotics sensitivity in acute appendicitis. METHODS: The microbiologic culture and antibiotics sensitivity tests were done on 165 patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy under the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The postoperative complications were also checked. The microbiologic and clinical results were compared between perforated and non-perforated groups. RESULTS: The most common organism cultured from the periappendiceal fluid was Escherichia coli (51.2%), followed by Enterobacter (16.2%) and Pseudomonas (8.9%). In the antibiotics sensitivity test, ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were highly susceptible. Ceftriaxone and cefotaxime were also highly susceptible. Piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem and meropenem were very highly susceptible. The complication rate of perforated appendicitis group (17.9%) was higher than that of the non-perforated appendicitis group (7.1%) (P<0.001). A surgical drain was used more frequently in perforated group (23% vs 84.6%, P<0.001). The mean in-patient days were longer in the perforated group (5.7 vs 7.2 days, P<0.001). In the patients with infectious wound complication, antibiotic resistance was more prominent in the non-perforated group than in the perforated group. CONCLUSION: In the perforated appendicitis group, more precise and careful procedure was required. In the non-perforated appendicitis group, more prudent use of the available antibiotics to conserve valuable therapeutic resources and improved infection control to limit the spread of resistant organisms was required.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendectomy ; Appendicitis ; Cefotaxime ; Ceftriaxone ; Ciprofloxacin ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Enterobacter ; Escherichia coli ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Infection Control ; Ofloxacin ; Postoperative Complications ; Pseudomonas ; Thienamycins

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of home care nursing services provided by community health nurses and to identify barriers to the services. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with three types of community health care nurses. Participants were 257 nurses, 46 of whom were hospital based home care nurses, 176 were community based visiting nurses, and 35 were long term care insurance based visiting nurses. A structured questionnaire on 7 domains of home care nursing services with a 4-point Likert scale was used to measure activities and barriers to care. Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 21.0 program. RESULTS: Hospital based home care nurses showed a high level of service performance activity in the domain of clinical laboratory tests, medications and injections, therapeutic nursing, and education. Community based visiting nurses had a high level of service performance in the reference domain. Long term care insurance based visiting nurses showed a high level of performance in the service domains of fundamental nursing and counseling. CONCLUSION: The results show that although health care service provided by the three types of community health nurse overlapped, the focus of the service is differentiated. Therefore, these results suggest that existing home care services will need to be utilized efficiently in the development of a new nursing care service for patients living in the community after hospital discharge.
Adult ; Community Health Nursing ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; *Home Care Services ; Humans ; Long-Term Care ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nurses/*psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; *Task Performance and Analysis

Objective: Exploiting their ability to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages like cartilage, bone, fat, and muscle, and to elicit paracrine effects, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in clinical settings to treat tissue injuries and autoimmune disorders. One of accessible sources of MSC is the samples used for Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which is a cervical screening method for detecting potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous alterations in the cervical cells and to diagnose genetic abnormalities in fetuses. This study aimed to identify and isolate the stem cells from Pap smear samples collected from pregnant women, and to trace the origin of these cells to maternal or fetal tissue, and characterize their stem cell properties. Methods: To investigate the possibility and efficiency of establishing MSC lines from the Pap smear samples, we were able to establish 6 cell lines from Pap smear samples from 60 pregnant women at different stages of gestation. Results: The 3 cell lines randomly selected among the 6 established in this study, displayed high proliferation rates, several characteristics of MSCs, and the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes. Our study identified that the stem cell lines obtainable from Pap smear sampling were uterine cervical stromal cells (UCSCs) and had 10% efficiency of establishment. Conclusion Despite their low efficiency of establishment, human UCSCs from Pap smear samples can become a simple, safe, low-cost, and donor-specific source of MSCs for stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Objective: Exploiting their ability to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages like cartilage, bone, fat, and muscle, and to elicit paracrine effects, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in clinical settings to treat tissue injuries and autoimmune disorders. One of accessible sources of MSC is the samples used for Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which is a cervical screening method for detecting potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous alterations in the cervical cells and to diagnose genetic abnormalities in fetuses. This study aimed to identify and isolate the stem cells from Pap smear samples collected from pregnant women, and to trace the origin of these cells to maternal or fetal tissue, and characterize their stem cell properties. Methods: To investigate the possibility and efficiency of establishing MSC lines from the Pap smear samples, we were able to establish 6 cell lines from Pap smear samples from 60 pregnant women at different stages of gestation. Results: The 3 cell lines randomly selected among the 6 established in this study, displayed high proliferation rates, several characteristics of MSCs, and the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes. Our study identified that the stem cell lines obtainable from Pap smear sampling were uterine cervical stromal cells (UCSCs) and had 10% efficiency of establishment. Conclusion Despite their low efficiency of establishment, human UCSCs from Pap smear samples can become a simple, safe, low-cost, and donor-specific source of MSCs for stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

We report one case of renal PV infection after renal allograft transplantation leading to graft dysfunction. According to prior reports, PV induced interstitial nephritis might be a cause of graft loss. Pathologic findings show varying degrees of interstitial infiltration and tubular degenerative changes, which resemble acute cellular rejection. Therapeutic strategies have not yet been developed. Case ; A 23 years old male underwent renal transplantation from his HLA haploidentical 25 year old sister. His renal function had been good with cyclosporin, steroid and azathioprine until 9 months after transplantation, when his serum creatinine level rose to 2.2mg/dl. The renal biopsy revealed diffuse lymphocyte infiltration in the interstitium and feature of the tubulitis. Also, giant tubular epithelial cells with large, hyperchromic nuclei were present. Despite steroid pulsing and OKT3, renal function progressively de- teriorated. After 10 days of OKT3 therapy, the patient suffered from high fever, dyspnea and general aches. A chest X-ray revealed interstitial infiltration in both lung fields and the cytomegalovirus PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test of serum and blood was positive. Intravenous ganciclorvir was administered and immunosuppressants were tapered. 4 months after admission, he lost his graft function and underwent hemodialysis. The aforementioned renal biopsy was retested immunohistochemically. Nuclear inclusions in renal tubular epithelial cells were shown and these inclusions were reacted positively with PV monoclonal antibodies.
Adult ; Allografts* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Azathioprine ; Biopsy ; Creatinine ; Cyclosporine ; Cytomegalovirus ; Dyspnea ; Epithelial Cells ; Fever ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Intranuclear Inclusion Bodies ; Kidney Transplantation ; Lung ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Muromonab-CD3 ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Renal Dialysis ; Siblings ; Thorax ; Transplants ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Studying the prognostic factors of distant metastasis is quite important for predicting these patients' prognosis and also for providing standards for post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy. Microbiological studies currently enable researchers to look for new predictors of distant metastasis in patients with colon cancers. In this study, the VEGF-C expression and stain rate of D2-40 were investigated as prognostic factors. METHODS: 79 Specimens were collected from the patients who underwent colorectal operation and they were pathologicaly diagnosed with cancer at Chung-Ang University hospital from March, 2003 to Sept. 2005. The specimens were immunohistochemically stained to detect the VEGF-c expression and the D2- 40 stain rate. RESULTS: The VEGF-C expression was related to lymph node metastasis, tumor embolism and the frequency of the T- stage, but it was not related to progression of cancer. The D2-40 stained lymphatic density was significantly increased in the cases with lymph node metastasis and in the tumor embolism cases; furthermore, the density became higher in relation to the increased T-stage and progression of cancer. CONCLUSION: The VEGF-C expression and lymphatic vessel density appear to be prognostic factors for colon cancer.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Vessels ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Prognosis ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide (NO), a cytotoxic molecule is produced in various tissues including tumor cells during interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy . Lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells are induced during IL-2 therapy, and have cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. The current study investigated the effects of NO synthesized in target cells or exposure of target cells to NO on the sensitivity of target cells to LAK cell cytotoxicity. METHODS: Cytotoxicity was measured using 4 h chromium release assays. LAK cells which were induced by a 4 day incubation of BALB/c mouse splenocytes with IL-2 (6,000 IU/mL) were employed as effector cells. RD-995 skin tumor cells originated from a C3H/HeN mouse were employed as target cells. NO synthesis in target cells was induced by a 24 h incubation of RD-995 cells with IFN gamma (25 U/mL), TNF (50 U/mL) and IL-1 (20 U/mL). S-nitrosyl acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), an NO donor, was used to expose target cells to NO. N(G) -monomethyl-L-arginine (MLA) and carboxy-PTIO were added during cytotoxicity assays to inhibit NO synthesis, and to scavenge NO produced by target cells, respectively. RESULTS: Sensitivity of NO-producing RD-995 cells to LAK cell cytotoxicity was decreased by addition of MLA and carboxy-PTIO during cytotoxicity assays. However, the two reagents had no effect on the sensitivity of non-NO-producing RD-995 cells. Pretreatment of RD-995 target cells with SNAP increased the sensitivity in comparison with untreated cells. CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivity of target cells to LAK cell cytotoxicity is increased by target cell NO synthesis or exposure to NO. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether these in vitro results have relevance to in vivo phenomena.
Animals ; Chromium ; Humans ; Indicators and Reagents ; Interleukin-1 ; Interleukin-2 ; Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated* ; Lymphocytes ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide* ; Skin ; Tissue Donors