No abstract available.
Animals ; Autoimmunity* ; Mice*

Serum is free of cellular components. Because DNA is located in the nuclei or mitochondria of cells, serum could be assumed DNA free. Few previously published case reports to date have used serum for DNA typing. Here, we report on human genotyping via short tandem repeat (STR) analysis using serum as a sample, and discuss problems involved in the process.
DNA Fingerprinting* ; DNA* ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats* ; Mitochondria

The N-terminal sequence of HIV1 gp41 (amino acid residues 584-623) was known to be the immundominant region of HIV1 gp41 protein. In order to determine epitope for gp41 protein of Korean anti-HIV1 positive sera, multiple antigenic peptides (MAPs) for the sequences corresponding to 584-604, 590-612, 604-623 and 584-618 of HIV1 gp41 were synthesized by solid phase method using Fmoc-Lys (Fmoc)-OH and used as coating antigens for ELISA. The reactivities of the synthetic peptides with Korean HIV1 positive (21 samples) and anti-HIV1 negative sera (22 samples) obtained from healthy blood doner were estimated by an indirect ELISA. MAPs for 584-604, 590-612 and 604-623 of gp41 reacted with 62 %, 100 % and 81 % of Korean anti-HIV1 positive sera tested, respectively. The results suggest that the epitope for HIV1 gp 41 for Korean anti-HIV1 positive sera is located in the region of amino acid 590-612 of gp41. MAP for gp41 (584-618) reacted with all (100 %) of anti-HIV1 positive sera tested, but did not react with anti-HlV1 negative sera. In addition, this MAP reacted stronger with seven samples of anti-HIV1 positive sera of anti-HIV1/2 combo performance panel than the mixture of 584-604, 590-612 and 604-623 of gp41, but did not react with anti-HIV negative serum. The high sensitivity and selectivity of MAP of gp41 (584-618) suggest that this peptide as a coating antigen in an ELISA system will be useful for antibody detection of HIV1.
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epitope Mapping* ; Immune Sera* ; Peptides*

We report a case of 34-year-old woman who had left main coronary artery disease and treated with medication only. She was presented with severe chest pain. Isolated left main coronary disease was demonstrated on selective left coronary angiography. There was no regional wall motion abnormality on echocardiogram with normal global LV systolic function. We considered the lesion as a varient of Takayasu's arteritis. So with anti-anginal medication, treatment started with steroid therapy. After then there was no chest pain. We performed follow-up coronary angiography after 1 month and 3 month in which revealed improved left main lesion. Since then there was no subjective symptom and Thallium-201 SPECT revealed no significant ischemic finding. We think that this case's underlying disease is may be Takayasu's arteritis which has isolated left main stenosis without systemic involvement and improved with medical treatement only.
Adult ; Chest Pain ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Disease ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Takayasu Arteritis ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

No abstract available.
Autoantibodies* ; DNA*

No abstract available.
Giant Cell Tumor of Bone* ; Giant Cell Tumors* ; Giant Cells*

No abstract available.
Autoantibodies* ; Humans*

BACKGROUND: Patients with acne are at risk of using various over-the-counter drugs (OTCs). In addition, several OTCs are introduced in pharmacies in Korea. However, only few drugs are supported by well-established data. Among the treatments, acne patches are easy to purchase and use. Thus, they are widely used by patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the patient's perception and usage of acne patches. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 80 patients with acne who visited the outpatient department of the National Medical Center for 2 months. RESULTS: A total of 42 (52.5%) patients answered that they had used acne patches, and 38 (47.5%) patients stated that they had never used patches. Moreover, 27 (64.29%) patients responded that they used the patches on inflammatory lesions. Moreover, several patients were using acne patches after pricking themselves. There was only one response to confirm the ingredient when purchasing acne patch. Moreover, 14 (33.33%) participants responded that they noted side effects after using acne patches. Overall, the satisfaction score for the use of acne patches was 5.05. CONCLUSION: Patients often use acne patches because they can be easily purchased and used. However, they do not know how to properly choose and use the product that fits their skin. Therefore, doctors must educate patients on how to properly select and use the products.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Bandages ; Colloids ; Humans ; Korea ; Nonprescription Drugs ; Outpatients ; Pharmacies ; Skin

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the relationship among the myelography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electromyography (EMG) findings in young patients with low back pain, and we wanted to assess the significance of the spinal geometric measurements as well as type of disc herniation seen on MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four young men with lower back pain were included, and they were all clinically suspected of suffering with lumbar disc herniation. All of them underwent myelography, MRI and EMG. We measured spinal geometry including the anteroposterior diameters of the central canal and thecal sac, the interlaminar distance, the width of the lateral recess and the thickness of the ligamentum flavum, and we evaluated for root deviation as well as disc herniation on the MRIs. We compared the types of disc herniation on MRI with the myelography and EMG findings. Also, we investigated the correlation of the spinal geometric measurements on MRI with the EMG and myelography findings. RESULTS: The types of disc herniation on MRI were not significantly related to the myelography (p = 0.298) and EMG findings (p = 0.372). The EMG findings were not related to either the myelography findings (p = 0.435) or the spinal geometric measurements (p > 0.05) on MRI. Nerve root compression that was noted on myelography was related to the thecal sac AP diameter (p = 0.016) and the width of the lateral recess (p = 0.011). There were no correlations between myelography and the findings of root deviation on MRI (p=0.052). CONCLUSION: MRI can play an excellent diagnostic role for young patients with radiculopathy or lower back pain. It could increase the diagnostic accuracy if it is used in conjunction with myelography and EMG. The narrowing of thecal sac AP diameter and the width of lateral recess rather than the type of disc herniation on MRI were well correlated with the myelography and EMG findings.
Electromyography ; Humans ; Ligamentum Flavum ; Low Back Pain* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Myelography* ; Radiculopathy ; Spine

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the differences of expression of TGF-betaS(TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2) in the human proliferative endometrium, secretory endometrium, and the decidua during early pregnancy. And we also have studied the endometrial expression of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 in the menopause and compared that to the expression in the endometrium and decidua. METHODS: We have studied the expression of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 by immunohistochemical staining method in the proliferative endometrium, secretory endometrium, decidua during early pregnancy, and menopausal endometrium. RESULTS: In the epithelial cells, TGF-beta1 was moderately expressed in the secretory phase and was weakly expressed in the proliferative phase and menopause. In the stromal cells, TGF-beta1 was not expressed in the whole menstrual phase and menopause. And in the epithelial cells, TGF-beta2 was moderately expressed in the proliferative phase, secretory phase, and menopause. In the stromal cells, TGF-beta2 was not expressed in the whole menstrual phase and menopause. Especially, TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 were markedly expressed in the decidua during early pregnancy compared to the expression in the proliferative, secretory endometrium, and menopausal endometrium. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that TGF-beta1 may have an important role in the epithelial cells during the secretory phase, not stromal cells. And TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2 may have a paracrine and autocrine role in the decidua/trophoblast interaction during pregnancy , especially in the normal pregnancy.
Decidua ; Endometrium* ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans* ; Menopause ; Menstrual Cycle* ; Pregnancy ; Stromal Cells ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Transforming Growth Factor beta2