Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract and occur most frequently in the stomach. The liver is the most common metastatic site of a GIST, and spontaneous rupture of the hepatic metastasis of a malignant gastric GIST is rare. We report the case of a 70-year-old man who presented with sudden right lower quadrant abdominal pain and was diagnosed with a spontaneously ruptured hepatic metastasis of a malignant gastric GIST. The patient was successfully managed with transcatheter arterial embolization of the hepatic artery.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemorrhage ; Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Liver ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous ; Stomach

Persistent sciatic artery (PSA), a rare congenital vascular anomaly, increases susceptibility to aneurysms and accounts for 40–61% of the cases. Here, we describe a case of PSA in a 70-yearold man with a history of alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Bilateral complete PSAs were detected incidentally on computed tomography angiography during evaluation for spontaneous intramuscular bleeding in the thigh due to cirrhosis-related coagulopathy. Selective angiography of the left PSA revealed aneurysmal dilatation and thrombotic occlusion of the PSA, which was partially removed with aspiration thrombectomy. Intramuscular bleeding was succesfully managed with empirical embolization of the deep femoral artery.

BACKGROUND: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are critically involved in generating pain in various painful conditions, including neuropathic and inflammatory pain. This experiment was conducted in order to assess the antinociceptive effects of vitamin E in the modulation of pain in rats subjected to the formalin test. METHODS: Five percent formalin was injected into the hind paw after intraperitoneal injection of either vitamin E 1 g/kg dissolved in olive oil or olive oil alone. The Number of flinches were measured in a 5 minute interval for 1 hour. RESULTS: Formalin injected into the left hind paw induced a biphasic nociceptive behavior. Intraperitoneal injection of vitamin E diminished the nociceptive behavior during phase 1 and 2. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic administration of vitamin E produces analgesia in a rat model of formalin-induced hyperalgesia. Furthermore, vitamin E affects pain of peripheral origin.
Analgesia ; Animals ; Formaldehyde ; Hyperalgesia ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Olea ; Plant Oils ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins ; Olive Oil

BACKGROUND: Projection of future trends in disease burden can facilitate setting of priorities for health policies and resource allocation. We report here projections of disease-specific mortality and the burdens of various diseases in Korea from 2016 to 2030. METHODS: Separate age- and sex-specific projection models for 21 major cause clusters from 2016 to 2030 were developed by applying coherent functional data models based on historical trends from 2002 to 2015. The age- and sex-specific years of life lost (YLL) for each cause cluster were projected based on the projected number of deaths. Years lived with disability (YLD) projections were derived using the 2015 age- and sex-specific YLD to YLL ratio. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) was the sum of YLL and YLD. RESULTS: The total number of deaths is projected to increase from 275,777 in 2015 to 421,700 in 2030, while the age-standardized death rate is projected to decrease from 586.9 in 2015 to 447.3 in 2030. The largest number of deaths is projected to be a result of neoplasms (75,758 deaths for males; 44,660 deaths for females), followed by cardiovascular and circulatory diseases (34,795 deaths for males; 48,553 deaths for females). The three leading causes of DALYs for both sexes are projected to be chronic respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). CONCLUSION We demonstrate that NCDs will continue to account for the majority of the disease burden in Korea in the future.

In this study, we aimed to synthesize PAMAMG3 derivatives (PAMAMG3-KRRR and PAMAMG3-HKRRR), using KRRR peptides as a nuclear localization signal and introduced histidine residues into the KRRR-grafted PAMAMG3 for delivering a therapeutic, carcinoma cell-selective apoptosis gene, apoptin into human primary glioma (GBL-14) cells and human dermal fibroblasts. We examined their cytotoxicity and gene expression using luciferase activity and enhanced green fluorescent protein PAMAMG3 derivatives in both cell lines. We treated cells with PAMAMG3 derivative/apoptin complexes and investigated their intracellular distribution using confocal microscopy. The PAMAMG3-KRRR and PAMAMG3-HKRRR dendrimers were found to escape from endolysosomes into the cytosol. The JC-1 assay, glutathione levels, and Annexin V staining results showed that apoptin triggered cell death in GBL-14 cells. Overall, these findings indicated that the PAMAMG3-HKRRR/apoptin complex is a potential candidate for an effective nonviral gene delivery system for brain tumor therapy in vitro.

In this study, we aimed to synthesize PAMAMG3 derivatives (PAMAMG3-KRRR and PAMAMG3-HKRRR), using KRRR peptides as a nuclear localization signal and introduced histidine residues into the KRRR-grafted PAMAMG3 for delivering a therapeutic, carcinoma cell-selective apoptosis gene, apoptin into human primary glioma (GBL-14) cells and human dermal fibroblasts. We examined their cytotoxicity and gene expression using luciferase activity and enhanced green fluorescent protein PAMAMG3 derivatives in both cell lines. We treated cells with PAMAMG3 derivative/apoptin complexes and investigated their intracellular distribution using confocal microscopy. The PAMAMG3-KRRR and PAMAMG3-HKRRR dendrimers were found to escape from endolysosomes into the cytosol. The JC-1 assay, glutathione levels, and Annexin V staining results showed that apoptin triggered cell death in GBL-14 cells. Overall, these findings indicated that the PAMAMG3-HKRRR/apoptin complex is a potential candidate for an effective nonviral gene delivery system for brain tumor therapy in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Cordyceps militarys water extract (CME) has been reported to exert antitumor and immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro. However, the therapeutic mechanism has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we examined the effects of CME on the antigen presenting function of antigen presenting cells (APCs). METHODS: Dendritic cells (DCs) were cultured in the presence of CME, and then allowed to phagocytose microspheres containing ovalbumin (OVA). After washing and fixing the efficacy of OVA, peptide presentation by DCs were evaluated using CD8 and CD4 T cells. Also, we confirmed the protein levels of proinflammatory cytokines through western blot analysis. RESULTS: CME enhanced both MHC class I and class II-restricted presentation of OVA in DCs. In addition, the expression of both MHC class I and II molecules was enhanced, but there was no changes in the phagocytic activity of exogenous OVA. Furthermore, CME induced the protein levels of iNOS, COX-2, proinflammatory cytokines, and nuclear p65 in a concentration-dependent manner, as determined by western blot. CONCLUSION: These results provide an understanding of the mechanism of the immuno-enhancing activity of CME on the induction of MHC-restricted antigen presentation in relation to their actions on APCs.
Antigen Presentation ; Antigen-Presenting Cells ; Blotting, Western ; Cordyceps ; Cytokines ; Dendritic Cells ; Microspheres ; Ovalbumin ; Ovum ; T-Lymphocytes ; Water

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Health Planning ; Health Policy ; HIV ; Korea ; Methods ; Mortality ; Nervous System Diseases ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Tuberculosis ; Violence

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of mortality and prevalence trends is important for health planning and priority decision-making in health policy. This study was performed to examine disease-specific mortality and prevalence trends for diseases in Korea from 2002 to 2015. METHODS: In this study, 206 mutually exclusive diseases and injuries were classified into 21 cause clusters, which were divided into three cause groups: 1) communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional conditions; 2) non-communicable diseases (NCDs); and 3) injuries. Cause specific trends for age-standardized mortality and prevalence rates were analyzed by the joinpoint regression method. RESULTS: Between 2002 and 2015, the age-standardized mortality declined to about 177 per 100,000 population, while the age-standardized prevalence rate increased to approximately 68,065 per 100,000 population. Among the 21 cause clusters, most of the disease mortality rates showed decreasing trends. However, neurological disorders, self-harm, and interpersonal violence included periods during which the mortality rates increased in 2002–2015. In addition, the trends for prevalence rates of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome, tuberculosis, transport injuries, and self-harm, and interpersonal violence differed from the overall prevalence rates. The annual percent change in prevalence rates for transport injuries increased during 2004–2007, and then decreased. The self-harm and interpersonal violence prevalence rates decreased from 2004 to 2014. CONCLUSION Between 2002 and 2015, overall decreasing trends in the mortality rate and increasing trends in the prevalence rate were observed for all causes in Korea. Especially, NCDs represented an important part of the increasing trends in Korea. For clusters of diseases with unusual trends, proper management must be considered.

The development of selective targeting of drug molecules towards the mitochondria is an important issue related to therapy efficacy. In this study, we report that gallic acid (GA)-mitochondria targeting sequence (MTS)-H3R9 exhibits a dual role as a mitochondria-targeting vehicle with antioxidant activity for disease therapy.In viability assays, GA-MTS-H3R9 showed a better rescue action compared to that of MTS-H3R9 . GA-MTS-H3R9 dramatically exhibited cell penetration and intercellular uptake compared to MTS and fit escape from lysosome release to the cytosol. We demonstrated the useful targeting of GA-MTS-H3R9 towards mitochondria in AC16 cells.Also, we observed that the antioxidant properties of mitochondrial-accrued GA-MTSH3R9 alleviated cell damage by reactive oxygen species production and disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential. GA-MTS-H3R9 showed a very increased cytoprotective effect against anticancer activity compared to that of MTS-H3R9 . We showed that GA-MTS-H3R9 can act as a vehicle for mitochondria-targeting and as a reagent for therapeutic applications intended for cardiovascular disease treatment.