In order to evaluate the possible roles of secretory proteases in the pathogenesis of amoebic keratitis, we purified and characterized a serine protease secreted by Acanthamoeba lugdunensis KA/E2, isolated from a Korean keratitis patient. The ammonium sulfate-precipitated culture supernatant of the isolate was purified by sequential chromatography on CM-Sepharose, Sephacryl S-200, and mono Q-anion exchange column. The purified 33 kDa protease had a pH optimum of 8.5 and a temperature optimum of 55 degrees C. Phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride and 4- (2- Aminoethyl) -benzenesulfonyl-fluoride, both serine protease specific inhibitors, inhibited almost completely the activity of the 33 kDa protease whereas other classes of inhibitors did not affect its activity. The 33 kDa enzyme degraded various extracellular matrix proteins and serum proteins. Our results strongly suggest that the 33 kDa serine protease secreted from this keratopathogenic Acanthamoeba play important roles in the pathogenesis of amoebic keratitis, such as in corneal tissue invasion, immune evasion and nutrient uptake.
Acanthamoeba/*enzymology/isolation & purification/pathogenicity ; Acanthamoeba Keratitis/*parasitology ; Animals ; Cornea/parasitology ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Korea ; Serine Endopeptidases/chemistry/*isolation & purification/*metabolism ; Substrate Specificity ; Temperature ; Virulence Factors

BACKGROUND: Nutrition label reading is helpful in attaining a healthy diet. Nutrition label use and its related factors have been studied in many Korean articles, but their research samples were the general population and not chronic disease patients. This study aimed to explore the use of nutrition labels and its relation to dietary intake among chronic disease patients in Korea. METHODS: A total of 3160 respondents aged> or =20 years from the 2008-2009 Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-IV) participated in the study. Their chronic medical conditions included hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, diabetes and/or stroke and they were interviewed regarding their use of nutrition labels. Nutrition intake was also estimated by 24-hour dietary recalls. RESULTS: Overall, 10.4% of the chronic disease patients reported to using nutrition labels. The nutrients they looked at first were total calories, fat and cholesterol. Factors related to reading nutrition labels were relatively higher education, high body mass index and lower frequency of alcohol intake in males and relatively younger age and higher education in females. Nutrition label users consumed lower total calories, protein and fat in the male CAD group, lower total calories and carbohydrate in both diabetes and total groups and lower total calories and fiber in the female stroke group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that, in Korea, a significantly lower rate of patients with chronic disease read nutrition labels. Strategies need to be developed to improve clinical application of nutrition labels in this population.
Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Chronic Disease* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diet ; Education ; Female ; Food Labeling ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Stroke

PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility of FLAIR (Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery) MR imaging in cerebral infarction by comparing its results with those of T2-weighted spin-echo imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated fast FLAIR images and conventional spin echo images of 82 patients (47 men and 20 women; median age 60.9 years) with cerebral infarction. MR imaging used a 1.5T MR unit with conventional T2 (TR 3900, TE 90) and fast FLAIR sequence (TR 8000, TE 105, TI 2400). We analysed the size of the main lesion and number of lesions, and discrimination between old and new lesions and between small infarction and perivascular space. RESULTS: When T2-weighted and FLAIR imaging were compared, the latter showed that the main lesion was larger in 38 cases (46%), similar in 38 (46%), and smaller in six (7%). The number of lesions was greater in 23 cases (28%), similar in 52 (63%), and fewer in seven (9%). FLAIR images discriminated between old and new lesions in 31 cases ; perivascular space and small infartion were differentiated in eight cases, and CSF inflowing artifact was observed in 66 (80%). CONCLUSION: In the diagnosis of cerebral infaretion, fast FLAIR provides images that are equal or superior to T2-weighted images. The fast FLAIR sequence may therefore be used as a part of routine MR brain study in the diagnosis of cerebral infarction.
Artifacts ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Diagnosis ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

Among cystic tumors arising in the pancreas, microcystic adenoma is relatively uncommon; it is usually benign, and is comprised of cysts that vary in size from microscopic to 2cm in diameter. It has recently been reported to be associated with other pancreatic tumors with malignant potential; in particular, microcystic adenoma with coexistent islet cell tumor has been reported in von Hippel-Lindau disease. We report a case of microcystic adenoma of the pancreas associated with coexistent surgically-proven islet cell tumor. On spiral CT, the islet cell tumor was seen as a highly enhanced inhomogeneous solid mass in the pancreatic head, and microcystic adenoma as numerous small cysts throughout the pancreas.
Adenoma* ; Adenoma, Islet Cell* ; Head ; Islets of Langerhans* ; Pancreas* ; Tomography, Spiral Computed ; von Hippel-Lindau Disease

PURPOSE: To experimentally investigate the effect for muscle weakness after superior rectus Z-myotomy and histological changes. METHODS: Superior rectus muscle fibers of rabbits (16 rabbits, 32 eyes) were cut transversely with scissors across 75% of the muscle in two different positions on opposite sides. In group 1 (16 eyes), myotomies were performed at 2 and 7 mm from the muscle insertion (5 mm gap) and in group 2, performed at 2 and 5 mm (3 mm gap). The change of mark, eyeball position, and muscle tension after myotomy and 4 weeks postoperatively was evaluated, the location of the mark was examined, and muscle tissue biopsy was performed. RESULTS: After Z-myotomy, the marks of the two groups moved significantly posteriorly from insertion within groups (p<0.05), with no significant differences between groups (p=0.469). Eyeball positions of the two groups moved significantly inferiorly (p<0.05); the amount of position change of group 1 was greater than group 2 (p<0.05). When the globe was pulled in opposite directions for muscle action, the degree of change decreased with significant difference within groups (p<0.05), but there were no significant differences between groups (p=0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Z-myotomy of the superior rectus muscle affected the recession of eyeball position and weakened the muscle action. Muscle weakening affected by the different gaps between myotomies did not show consistent results.
Biopsy ; Muscle Tonus ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscles ; Rabbits

Marfan syndrome is an uncommon congenital disease originally described by Marfan in 1896. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait and can affect the tissues of mesodermal origin, mainly skeletal, ocular, and cardio-vascular systems. We report 4 cases of Marfan syndrome occurring in one family, one of which was found to have an acute attack of glaucoma and underwent extract operation of a right dislocated lens. A brief summary of the literature is submitted.
Glaucoma ; Humans ; Marfan Syndrome ; Mesoderm

OBJECTIVE: Several abbreviated versions of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) have been developed and used widely in clinical settings. This paper provides evidence supporting the use of abbreviated versions of AUDIT by comparing the utility of various abbreviated versions and determining the cut-off values for the population of South Korea. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 4th to 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. After calculating the whole AUDIT score, the cut-off value of at-risk drinking proposed by the World Health Organization was applied and the study sample was divided into normal and at-risk drinking groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn for the AUDIT-3rd question (Q3) alone, AUDIT-quantity and frequency (QF), AUDIT-consumption (C), AUDIT-4, and AUDIT-primary clinic (PC), and the optimal cut-off values were obtained for each group. RESULTS: A total of 46,450 subjects were analyzed. The at-risk drinking group comprised 29.2% of all subjects. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the abbreviated versions of AUDIT increased from 0.954 to 0.991 as the number of questions was increased from one to four. The differences in the AUROC between the abbreviated versions of AUDIT were statistically significant. The most appropriate cut-off values for AUDIT-Q3 alone, AUDIT-QF, AUDIT-C, AUDIT-4, and AUDIT-PC for adults over age 19 were 2, 4, 5, 6, and 4 points, respectively. CONCLUSION: As the number of items analyzed increased from one to four, the AUROC increased to a statistically significant level. The cut-off values for the abbreviated versions of AUDIT were similar in South Korea to other countries.
Adult ; Alcohol-Related Disorders ; Alcoholism ; Drinking ; Humans ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys* ; ROC Curve ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVE: Several abbreviated versions of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) have been developed and are widely used in clinical settings. In this study, we provide evidence supporting the use of abbreviated versions of AUDIT by comparing the utility of various abbreviated versions and determining cut-off values for the population of South Korea. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 4th to 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. After calculating the whole AUDIT score, we applied the cut-off value of at-risk drinking proposed by the World Health Organization and divided the study sample into normal and at-risk drinking groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn for AUDIT-3rd question (Q3) alone, AUDIT-quantity and frequency (QF), AUDIT-consumption (C), AUDIT-4, and AUDIT-primary clinic (PC), and optimal cut-off values were obtained for each group. RESULTS: A total of 46,450 subjects were analyzed. The at-risk drinking group comprised 29.2% of all subjects. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the abbreviated versions of AUDIT increased from 0.954 to 0.991 as the number of questions increased from one to four. The differences in AUROC between the abbreviated versions of AUDIT were statistically significant. The most appropriate cut-off values for AUDIT-Q3 alone, AUDIT-QF, AUDIT-C, AUDIT-4, and AUDIT-PC for adults over age 19 were 2, 4, 5, 6, and 4 points, respectively. CONCLUSION: As the number of items analyzed increased from one to four items, the AUROC increased to a statistically significant level. Cut-off values for abbreviated versions of AUDIT are similar in South Korea to other countries.
Adult ; Alcohol-Related Disorders ; Alcoholism ; Drinking ; Humans ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys* ; ROC Curve ; World Health Organization

PURPOSE: A pelvic organ prolapse (POP) has various pelvic symptoms, including urinary and fecal incontinence. However, the accurate prevalence and problems in South Korea are not well known. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of pelvic floor symptoms in patients with a POP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2003 and March 2004, 74 consecutive patients, with over stage II POP quantification (POP-Q) staging, were enrolled. No abnormal neurological signs were detected in 66 women after evaluation. On physical examination, these 66 patients were divided into 3 groups (A=cystocele only, B=rectocele only and C=cystocele rectocele). RESULTS: The prevalence of urinary incontinence was 28.8%, and with fecal incontinence was 9.1%. The prevalence of fecal incontinence and fecal symptoms, with the exception of fecal incontinence were 28.8 and 74.2%, respectively. With regard to the stage of POP-Q, fecal incontinence (II= 25.0%, III=27.8%, IV=75.0%) and fecal symptoms (II=77.3%, III=66.7%, IV =75.0%) were observed. Each group presented with fecal incontinence (A=38.4%, B=44.4%, C=20%) and fecal symptoms (A=56.3%, B=100%, C=74.3%). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the prevalence of urinary incontinence was 28.8%, that of fecal incontinence was 28.8% and that of both urinary and fecal incontinence was 9.1%. The mixed symptoms may cause a dilemma in relation to the formal treatment. Our study suggests urologists should be aware of coexisting fecal symptoms associated with a pelvic organ prolapse.
Fecal Incontinence ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Pelvic Floor ; Pelvic Organ Prolapse* ; Physical Examination ; Prevalence* ; Prolapse ; Urinary Incontinence

The purpose of this paper was to report a successful treatment of transluminal Nd:YAG laser embolysis (NYE) for branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) with visible emboli. Two patients with acute, severe vision loss secondary to a branch retinal artery occlusion with visible emboli in one eye underwent NYE. A complete ocular examination was performed which included biomicroscopy of the posterior pole of the retina, intraocular pressure measurement, fundus color photographs, and fluorescein angiography (FA). After the NYE, the two patients showed dramatic improvements in best-corrected visual acuity, as well as, immediate and dramatic restorations in flow past the obstructed arteriole in FA. NYE is a treatment modality to be considered in patients with BRAO who present acutely with severe vision loss and a visible embolus.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fundus Oculi ; Humans ; Laser Coagulation/*methods ; Lasers, Solid-State/*therapeutic use ; Microscopy, Acoustic ; Retinal Artery Occlusion/diagnosis/*surgery ; Thrombectomy/*methods ; Visual Acuity