No abstract available.
Antibodies, Neutralizing* ; Feces* ; Rotavirus*

We investigated the sero-prevalence of toxocariasis among healthy Korean adults in 1999. A total of 314 sera from normal inhabitants in Whachon-gun, Gangwondo, Korea was examined for specific antibody levels against excretory-secretory products of second stage larvae of Toxocara (TES). The presence of cross-reactions with other helminthiases such as cysticercosis, paragonimiasis, sparganosis or clonorchiasis was also checked by specific IgG ELISA. Sera showing positive reaction against TES were also tested by IgG immunoblot and by IgE ELISA. Out of 314 subjects, 16 was found to be positive by TES IgG ELISA and immunoblot, among whom 12 were also positive by TES IgE ELISA. Among the 16 seropositive samples, two sera showed positive reaction against Paragonimus and sparganum antigen, respectively. These results inferred that cross-reactions were negligible between toxocariasis and other helminthiases. Toxocariasis seroprevalence among Korean rural adults was detected to be approximately 5%.
Adolescent ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth/blood ; Cross Reactions ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Larva Migrans, Visceral/*epidemiology/immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Toxocara/immunology

BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis(MDR-TB) in patients is mainly caused by acquired drug resistance, However, a small proportion of MDR-TB is caused by initial drug resistance(IDR), which may be somewhat different from acquired drug resistance. This study analyzed the clinical characteristics of IDR in MDR-TB patients to use the results as basic data in managing the disease. METHODS: A retrospective study of 30 IDR cases in MDR-TB patients from Jan. 1995 to Dec. 1998 was perormed. In order to analyzed the clinical charcteristics, the age, sex, family history, duration of negative conversion, number of resistant drugs, treatment regimens, duration of treatment, extent of disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray was examined. In order too analyzed the level of improvement, the extent of the disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray, tested by Wilcoxon signed rank sum test, and the disease free interval rate of 1-year and 4-year was examined using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 46.6 years and the sex ratio 1:1. Six(20%) patients had a family history. The mean negative conversin of the sputum AFB stain was 2.6 months. The number of resistant drugs was 7.6 and the number of used drugs 3.6. Twenty-three(67%) patients were treated for less than 12months and 28(93%) patients were treated with first-line drugs. The extent of the disease and the cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray improved after treatment(p<0.05). Among 13 patients who were followed up for 22.6 months, 2(15%) patients relapsed and the disease free interval rate of 1-year and 4-year was 85%. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that the duration of treatment of IDR in MDR-TB with first-line drugs be 9-12 months even if the extent of disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray improves.
Drug Resistance* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant

PURPOSE: This study investigated the effects of trunk muscle activity with power grasping during one leg stance. METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects participated in this study. Subjects were divided into two groups, one that performed power grasping, and another that did not. An investigator measured the activities of a subject's trunk muscle such as internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO), erector spinae (ES), and gluteus medius (GM) while a subject was doing one leg stance. RESULTS: An independent t-test was used to analyze trunk muscle activities with power grasping during one leg stance between the experimental group and the control group. Only the EO activity differed significantly between groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that one leg stance with power grasping affected trunk muscle activity. Therefore, this is a useful method for providing lumbar spine stability.
Hand Strength* ; Humans ; Leg* ; Low Back Pain ; Methods ; Research Personnel ; Spine

Antioxidant properties have been proposed as a mechanism for the putative anti-inflammatory effects of phenolic compounds. To reveal the relationship between antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory effects of various antioxidants, we measured 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH)-reducing activity and examined the inhibitory effects on LPS-induced inflammation-related gene expression in the BV2 microglial cell line. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (0.2microgram/ml) was used with or without antioxidants to treat cells, and the regulation of iNOS and cytokine gene expression was monitored using an RNase protection assay (RPA). Although, all tested antioxidants had similar DPPH-reducing activity and inhibited nitrite production, but the curcuminoid antioxidants (ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and curcumin) inhibited LPS-induced gene expression (iNOS, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-1 Ra) in a concentration-dependent manner. Other tested antioxidants did not exhibit the same effects; N-acetylcysteine (NAC) only began to suppress IL-1beta gene expression just below the concentration at which cytotoxicity occurred. Moreover, the antioxidant potency of curcuminoids appeared to have no correlation with anti-inflammatory potency. Only curcumin could inhibit LPS-induced microglial activation at a micromolar level. These data suggest that curcumin may be a safe antioxidant possessing anti-inflammatory activity.
Acetylcysteine ; Antioxidants* ; Cell Line* ; Curcumin ; Gene Expression ; Interleukin-1 ; Interleukin-6 ; Nitric Oxide ; Phenol ; Ribonucleases ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVE: Acute cauda equina syndrome secondary to lumbar disc herniation is a rare clinical entity, but its sequelae such as bladder and sexual dysfunction are too severe to overlook. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between surgical timing and outcome. METHODS: Between 1994 and 1999, 43 patients(34 male and 9 female), ranging in age from 19 to 67 years(mean: 44.5), were operated due to acute cauda equina syndrome secondary to lumbar disc herniation. All presented with bladder and bowel dysfunction:36(83.7%) had motor weakness and 32(74.4%) had sensory deficit. The levels of herniations were L4/5 in 16 patients, L5/S1 in 10 and L3/4 in 5. RESULTS: The time to surgery from the onset of the symptom ranged from less than 24 hours to more than 14 days:10 patients underwent surgery within 48 hours of onset. The mean follow-up period was 54 months. In motor function recovery, there was no significant difference, but in bladder and sexual functions, there was significant difference according to the duration of symptoms before surgery. CONCLUSION: In acute cauda equina syndrome, emergency decompression surgery should be done. The outcome is good in patients operated within 48 hours compared to those treated more than 48 hours after the onset of the syndrome.
Cauda Equina* ; Decompression ; Emergencies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Polyradiculopathy* ; Recovery of Function ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic

For over a half centry, physicians have suspected that patients with duodenal ulcer are offered an insurance policy against gastric carcinoma. This may be used clinically so that gastric lesion in the presence of duodenal ulcer, are considered benign. However, the duodenal ulcer may coexit with gastric cancer, Although rare in incidence of coexistence of duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, physician always should be alert in diagnosing of gastric lesion in the presence of the duodenal ulcer. Here, we present 60 years old woman with coexitence of duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, diagnosed by endoscopy and treated surgically.
Duodenal Ulcer* ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Insurance ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Neoplasms*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Dizocilpine Maleate* ; Rats* ; Spinal Cord*

BACKGROUND: A mixture of local anesthetics such as lidocaine and bupivacaine has frequently been used in clinical practice. The rationale behind this is to take advantage of lidocaine's rapid onset and bupivacaine's perpetuation in anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in the onset and recovery of nerve blocking action exerted by the different combinations of these two in the mixture. METHODS: Isolated sciatic nerve preparations obtained from adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. Recordings of A-fiber compound action potentials (A-CAPs) were made at the end of the isolated nerve while single pulse stimuli (0.5 msec, supramaximal intensity, 2 Hz) were applied to the opposite end of the nerve. Seven different composition of lidocaine-bupivacaine mixtures were prepared (0 : 6, 1 : 5, 2 : 4, 3 : 3, 4 : 2, 5 : 1, 6 : 0 vol./vol.), where basal concentrations of lidocaine and bupivacaine were 0.2% and 0.05%, respectively. Amplitudes of A-CAPs were measured before, during and after perfusion of mixture solution. The time needed for A-CAPs amplitude to decrease to 10% of the basal value after starting perfusion (onset time) and that needed to reach to 50% of the basal value after ceasing the perfusion (recovery time) were measured. RESULTS: With increasing concentration ratios of lidocaine to bupivacaine in the mixture as mentioned above, the following onset and recovery times were obtained (6.0 +/- 0.3, 5.6 +/- 0.3, 6.0 +/- 0.5, 8.3 +/- 0.5, 7.3 +/- 0.6, 7.8 +/- 0.3, and 10.8 +/- 0.8, minutes; 38 +/- 4, 63 +/- 12, 87 +/- 19, 100 +/- 13, 104 +/- 18, 137 +/- 27, and 157 +/- 18 minutes, respectively). CONCLUSION: Onset times were, in general, exponentially decreased with the increase in the lidocaine concentration. However, recovery times were lineary increased with the increase in the bupivacaine concentration. So, it should be kept in mind that rapid onset can only be obtained with the expense of substantial reduction in the duration of local anesthetic effect of the mixture, and vice versa.
Action Potentials ; Adult ; Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Local ; Bupivacaine ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Male ; Nerve Block ; Neural Conduction* ; Perfusion ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sciatic Nerve

PURPOSE: Using proteomic analysis, this study was performed to see the characteristics of proteins expression in the muscles of spastic cerebral palsy patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied twelve specimens from six patients with spastic cerebral palsy, three patients with myelomeningocele, and three normal people who underwent orthopaedic surgeries due to trauma. We studied the extracted proteins showing differences in the two-dimensional electrophoresis, and the prominent thirteen proteins were re-evaluated by proteomics and the reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction, which was to clarify the relationship between gene and protein expression. RESULTS: Among fifteen proteins, six proteins were found to be higher in normal people, and nine were found to be higher in the groups of patients by spot histogram. The results of proteomic analysis with MALDI-TOF for fifteen proteins showed that the expression of DJ-1 was related to cerebral palsy. CONCLUSION: This study shows that strong expression of DJ-1 is related to spasticity and cerebral palsy. We showed for the first time the possibility of any relationship between spastic condition and DJ-1 expression.
Cerebral Palsy ; Electrophoresis ; Humans ; Meningomyelocele ; Muscle Spasticity ; Muscles ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteins ; Proteomics