Nitric oxide (NO), the production of which is dependent on Nitric oxide synthase (NOS), has been shown to contribute to pathogeneses in various diseases. Recent investigations of NOS expression in tumor tissues indicate that NO may mediate one or more roles during the growth of human cancers. The aim of this study was to determine whether iNOS is expressed in human colon carcinoma cell lines and to determine the types of NOS isozymes in colon carcinoma cell lines with high and low metastatic potentials. METHODS: We measured the expressions of iNOS and eNOS and the formation of nitrotyrosine which indicates peroxinitrate production in highly metastatic colon cancer cell (KM1214) and lowly metastatic colon cancer cell (KM12C) by Western blots. RESULTS: The iNOS were detected in both KM1214 and KM12C by Western blot analysis. The expression of iNOS in KM1214 cells was significantly higher than in KM12C cells. The expression of iNOS was increased with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in colon cancer cells but the rate of increase was higher in KM1214 cells than in KM12C cells. CONCLUSIONS: In human colon carcinoma cells, iNOS is expressed in cancer cells and expression of iNOS is higher in highly metastatic colon cancer cells than in lowly metastatic colon cancer cells and iNOS expression may have some role in colon cancer metastasis.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Humans* ; Isoenzymes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitric Oxide Synthase* ; Nitric Oxide*

Peritoneal adhesion is one of the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in most parts of the world. In 1989, Thompson and others proposed reduced peritoneal plasminogen activating activity as a possible mechanism of adhesion formation. We used adult Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 250~350 gm of both sexes. An ether jar was used to induce anesthesia, and a 15 to 20 mg intramuscular injection of ketamine into the hind leg was used to maintain anesthesia. The rat was fixed supine on a rat board, its midabdomen shaved, and povidone-iodine applied. Then the abdomen was opened using Metzenbaum scissors and 2.5 2.5 cm2 area of the parietal peritoneum was abraded in the flank area, left or right side, using sterilized electro-surgical tip cleaner until the preperitoneal fat layer was completely destroyed and blood ooze was emitted from the burst capillaries. The procedure lasted 2~3 minutes. Then, the animals were randomly selected either to apply topically one cc of saline as a control group or to apply drugs dissolved in one cc of saline as on experimental groups. The drugs were disodium cromolycate, verapamil, and urokinase. Disodium cromolycate was used 3 mg/animal, verpamil 0.5 mg, and urokinase 2,000 units/on the animal. The same drugs and the same amounts were used at the same site topically on the 2nd and the 3rd postoperative days without anesthesia by using smooth-tipped needle. Then the animals were examined on the 7th postoperative day under ether anesthesia to find adhesion formations and to grade them into no adhesion, mild, moderate, or severe adhesions according to severity of the adhesions. We used about 15 animals in each group. The results for the peritoneal adhesions were expressed as present or not present to compare the presence of adhesion between the control group and the study groups. The Chi-square test was used, and p values below 0.05 were regarded as significant. In the control rats, there were no adhesions in 3 animals, and adhesions in 12 animals. In the disodium cromolycate-treated groups, there were no adhesions in 8 and adhesions in 8 rats, indicating less frequent adhesion formation, but the p value was 0.081. In the verapamil group, the ratio of no adhesion to adhesion was 4 : 11 which was almost the same as that of the control group(p=0.666). However, in the urokinase group, the ratio was 8 : 6 and the p value was 0.039, so the effects are ignificantly different. With these result, we can conclude that intraperitoneal topical application of urokinase is effective in prevention of rat peritoneal adhesion formation. The effect of disodium cromolycate was only marginal. Verapamil was not effective in prevention of peritoneal adhesion in this study.
Abdomen ; Adult ; Anesthesia ; Animals ; Capillaries ; Ether ; Humans ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Ketamine ; Leg ; Needles ; Peritoneum ; Plasminogen ; Povidone-Iodine ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator ; Verapamil

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic surgery has became or is being tried as a standard procedure in most of abdominal surgeries due to the advantages of little postoperative pain, shortened of hospital stay, early return to daily life, the cosmetic effect etc. In this article, we examine the availability of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy through a clinical review of patients who had undergone by laparoscopic or conventional herniorrhaphy. METHODS: The records and data of 137 inguinal hernia patients who underwent laparoscopic herniorrhaphy (n=57) or conventional herniorrhaphy (n=80), with similar sex and age distribution, were retrospectively analyzed. Laparoscopic herniorrhaphy equated to transabdominal preperitoneal repair and conventional herniorrhaphy to Bassini's or Ferguson's repair. As statistical method, the Chi-square and T-test was used. RESULTS: There was no significant difference noted between the groups in relation to sex, age, site and type of hernia, complication rate, or recurrence rate in both group. The laparoscopic group had a longer mean operative time (87.3 vs 68.6 min) and less frequent postoperative analgesic use (49.1 vs 72.6%) as compared to the conventional group. However there was no statistical significance. The laparoscopic group had a significantly shorter mean postoperative hospital day (3.6 vs 7.8 days) and the mean period of return to work (6.2 vs 15.2 days) as compared to the conventional group. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic herniorrhaphy is thought to be becoming the preferred operative procedure for young patients with a flourishing social activity particularly due to its shortening of the postoperative hospital stay and facilitating the early return to work. There is a need for the complication and recurrence rate to be reestimated following a sufficient and strict follow up. After studying more cases, a reevaluation must be done concerning the advantage of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy.
Age Distribution ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hernia ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Operative Time ; Pain, Postoperative ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Return to Work ; Surgical Procedures, Operative

Objective: Recently, rational polypharmacy approaches have been proposed, regardless of the lower risk and cost of monotherapy. Considering monotherapy as first-line treatment and polypharmacy as rational treatment, a balanced attitude toward polypharmacy is recommended. However, the high prevalence of polypharmacy led the Japanese government to establish a polypharmacy reduction policy. Based on this, the association between the policy and psychiatrists’ attitude toward polypharmacy has been under debate. Methods: We developed an original questionnaire about Psychiatrists’ attitudes toward polypharmacy (PAP). We compared the PAP scores with the treatment decision-making in clinical case vignettes. Multiple regression analyses were performed to quantify associations of explanatory variables including policy factors and PAP scores. The anonymous questionnaires were administered to psychiatrists worldwide. Results: The study included 347 psychiatrists from 34 countries. Decision-making toward polypharmacy was associated with high PAP scores. Multiple regression analysis revealed that low PAP scores were associated with the policy factor (β=-0.20, p=0.004). The culture in Korea was associated with high PAP scores (β=0.34, p<0.001), whereas the culture in India and Nepal were associated with low scores (β=-0.15, p=0.01, and β=-0.17, p=0.006, respectively). Conclusion Policy on polypharmacy may influence psychiatrists’ decision-making. Thus, policies considering rational polypharmacy should be established.