BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) stimulates renal fibrosis in various renal diseases including IgA nephropathy. METHODS: We examined whether immunoglobulin A (IgA) stimulated TGF-beta1 synthesis in human mesangial cells (MCs), and whether this effect was mediated through the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway. We measured the intraglomerular TGF-beta1 mRNA expression by using competitive RT-PCR, and this was compared with various parameters in IgA nephropathy patients. RESULTS: The IgA aggregate increased the TGF-beta1 mRNA expression in MCs, while this expression was not affected by the culture media or IgG aggregate. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and calphostin C did not influence the TGF-beta1 mRNA expression that was increased by the IgA aggregate. Intraglomerular TGF-beta1 mRNA expression was significantly correlated with creatinine clearance (r=-0.764, p=0.027), daily proteinuria (r=0.781, p=0.022), serum creatinine (r=0.884, p=0.004), and tubulointerstitial changes (r=0.809, p=0.015). Glomerular TGF-beta1 mRNA expression was associated with an increased tendency for glomerulosclerosis (r=0.646, p=0.084). After 4 years, patients with a high expression of intraglomerular TGF-beta1 mRNA showed a tendency for an decrease of their renal function. CONCLUSION: The IgA aggregate increased TGF-beta1 mRNA expression in MCs, and this was independent of the PKC pathway. The evaluation of intraglomerular TGF-beta1 mRNA expression could be useful in predicting the progression of IgA nephropathy.
Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Glomerular Mesangium/*cytology/metabolism ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA/metabolism/pathology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A/*pharmacology ; Male ; Proteins/*metabolism ; RNA, Messenger/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Multiple carcinoid tumors in stomach are very rare tumors and associated with pernicious anemia, chronic atrophic gastritis and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. These are believed to be due to hypergastrinemia, resulting in chronic stimulation of enterochromaffine-like (ECL) cells, leading to hyperplasia, metaplasia and ultimately neoplasia. The carcinoid tumor is potentially malignant, even though it may grow slowly, so the treatment of choice must be endoscopic lumpectomy or surgical gastrectomy. The prognosis depends on the site of the tumor and its size. Most carcinoid tumors are less than 1 cm in size and metastasis is uncommon but metastasis in tumors with size over 2 cm is common. A case of multiple carcinoid tumors in stomach, which was successfully removed by endoscopy, is herein reported.
Anemia, Pernicious ; Carcinoid Tumor* ; Endoscopy ; Gastrectomy ; Gastrins ; Gastritis, Atrophic ; Hyperplasia ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Metaplasia ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Stomach* ; Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

Metformin (1,1-dimethylbiguanide hydrochloride), derived from French lilac (Galega officinalis), is a first-line anti-diabetic drug prescribed for patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the role of metformin in odontoblastic cell differentiation is still unclear. This study therefore undertook to examine the effect of metformin on regulating odontoblast differentiation in MDPC-23 mouse odontoblastic cells derived from mouse dental papilla cells. As compared to controls, metformin significantly accelerated the mineralization, significantly increased and accelerated the expressions of ALP and Col I mRNAs, and significantly increased the accelerated expressions of DSPP and DMP-1 mRNAs, during differentiation of MDPC-23 cells. There was no alteration in cell proliferation of MDPC-23 cells, on exposure to metformin. These results suggest that the effect of metformin on MDPC-23 mouse odontoblastic cells derived from mouse dental papilla cells, facilitates the odontoblast differentiation and mineralization, without altering the cell proliferation.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; Dental Papilla ; Humans ; Metformin* ; Mice ; Miners ; Odontoblasts* ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND: The contingent negative variation (CNV) reflects neuronal activities related to sensorimotor integration and motor planning or execution and is probably originated from the frontal-subcortical circuit. The aim of this study is to investigate the neurophysiologic changes in uremia and the effect of hemodialysis to them by utilizing the CNV test. METHODS: Fifteen right-handed healthy subjects and 12 patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) were studied. CNV was recorded from Fz, Cz, and Pz referenced to linked ear lobes by using an S1 (click)-S2 (flashes)-key press paradigm. The amplitude of initial CNV (iCNV) was calculated as the average amplitude of 550~750 msec after S1. The amplitude of late CNV (lCNV) was calculated as the average amplitude between 200 msec before S1 and S2. The test was repeated for the patients group at the time of pre- and post-hemodialysis. Neuropsychological measurements, the trail making test (TMT) and mini-mental state score (MMSE), were conducted at the time of each test. RESULTS: Both the mean amplitudes of iCNV and lCNV at the vertex (Cz) were significantly lower in the patient group than those in the control group (p<0.05). The MMSE score and TMT were also significantly different between the patient and control group (p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between the values of neuropsychological tests and the parameters of CNV. Both iCNV and lCNV were not significantly different between the pre- and post-dialysis test. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that CNV negativity in uremia reflects dysfunctions in the frontal-subcortical circuit. In addition, hemodialysis seems to have no significant effect on it in patients with ESRD.
Contingent Negative Variation* ; Ear ; Evoked Potentials ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Neurons ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Renal Dialysis ; Trail Making Test ; Uremia

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on quality of life (QOL) and physical ability in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: Patients with MI who were referred to the Cardiac Health and Rehabilitation Center 2 weeks after percutaneous coronary intervention were divided into CR and non-CR groups. The CR group performed supervised exercises 3 times a week for 2 months. QOL assessment, using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and physical ability evaluation were performed at the beginning and end of CR. RESULTS: The CR group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in physical functioning (PF), physical role functioning (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health perceptions (GH), vitality (VT), social role functioning (SF), emotional role functioning (RE), mental health (MH), physical component summary (PCS), and mental component summary (MCS). The non-CR group showed improvement in RP. Secondary outcomes, including resting heart rate (RHR), maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)), metabolic equivalent of task (MET), maximal exercise time (ET(max)), stage 3 Borg rating of perceived exertion (3RPE), maximal Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPEmax), and stage 3 rate pressure product (3RPP), improved in the CR group. The non-CR group showed improvements in VO(2max), MET, ET(max), and 3RPE. There were significant differences in improvements in PF, RP, BP, VT, SF, MH, MCS, RHR, VO(2max), MET, ET(max), 3RPE, and 3RPP between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Male patients with MI demonstrated improvements in QOL and physical ability following hospital-based CR; the impact on the mental component was greater than that on the physical component.
Exercise ; Health Surveys ; Heart Rate ; Home Care Services, Hospital-Based ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Health ; Metabolic Equivalent ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Oxygen Consumption ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Physical Fitness ; Quality of Life* ; Rehabilitation Centers ; Rehabilitation*

BACKGROUND: Although massive use of live attenuated mumps virus vaccines successfully reduced the incidence of mumps virus infection worldwide, mumps outbreaks have not been completely eliminated, even in vaccinated populations. In recent years, the incidence of mumps has been remarkably increased in Korea. This study was designed to evaluate the recent seroprevalence rate of mumps IgG among children in Kyonggi province at 1996 and 1999. METHODS: Study population included students from 8 elementary schools in Kyonggi province. Serum samples were collected twice at 1996 and 1999 and tested for mumps-specific antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We also conducted a questionnaire survey on the parents and collected the records including history of vaccination and mumps infection. RESULTS: The seropositive rates against mumps were 89.47% and 89.74% at 1996 and 1999, respectively, and they were not significantly different when compared to age, sex, and region. Although the first vaccination rates were 92.17% and 92.25% at 1996 and 1999, respectively, the second vaccination rates were only 37.89% and 38.03% at 1996 and 1999, respectively. Infection rate showed no significant difference between vaccinated groups and nonvaccinated groups. Seropositive rate of infected group was higher than that of noninfected group but it was not significantly different between the vaccinated and the nonvaccinated. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the seropositive rate and vaccination against mumps in children. There were no significant relationships between vaccination and infection. Therefore, it seems likely that the vaccination is not fully protective against mumps infection. This study will be helpful for the establishment of guideline for prevention and treatment of mumps in Korea.
Child* ; Disease Outbreaks ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mumps virus ; Mumps* ; Parents ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Vaccination ; Vaccines ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective: This study examined the characteristics of the patients taking poison intentionally at the pre-hospital stage to prevent it at the community level. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data that had been reported to fire stations from January 2017 to December 2018. This data included sex, age, occupation, the season of the year, time, place, methods, alcohol ingestion, transferred to the hospital or not, and we examined how taking poison had an effect on the suicide success rate. Results: The subjects were a total of 1,356 patients who had been reported to fire stations due to intentionally taking poison. Forty-five point five percent of them were male, and 54.5% were female. The most common method of intentional taking poison was sedatives (58.3%), followed by pesticides (24.6%), antidepressants (19.0%), and other methods (12.6%). The home place was preferred more than any other places. The suicide success rate was 2.1% in males and 1.4% in females. For the age groups, those patients 40-64 years old tried taking poison much more than the other age groups. In the aspect of the season of the year, summer was the highest season for taking poison, at 30.3%. The daytime was more preferred than the night time. Conclusion In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of the pre-hospital intentional poisoning cases according to gender, age, occupation, season of the year, time, and between the transferred and the untransferred groups. Efforts should be made in cooperation with the community to prevent suicide attempts by intentionally taking poison.

The development of drug-resistant influenza and new pathogenic virus strains underscores the need for antiviral therapeutics. Currently, neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors are commonly used antiviral drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention and treatment of influenza. Here, we show that vitisin B (VB) inhibits NA activity and suppresses H1N1 viral replication in MDCK and A549 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), which frequently occur during viral infection, increase virus replication by activating the NF-κB signaling pathway, downmodulating glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) expression, and decreasing the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) antioxidant response activity. VB decreased virus-induced ROS generation by increasing G6PD expression and Nrf2 activity, and inhibiting NF-κB translocation to the nucleus through IKK dephosphorylation. In addition, VB reduced body weight loss, increased survival, decreased viral replication and the inflammatory response in the lungs of influenza A virus (IAV)-infected mice. Taken together, our results indicate that VB is a promising therapeutic candidate against IAV infection, complements existing drug limitations targeting viral NA. It modulated the intracellular ROS by G6PD, Nrf2 antioxidant response pathway, and NF-κB signaling pathway. These results demonstrate the feasibility of a multi-targeting drug strategy, providing new approaches for drug discovery against IAV infection.