Acute eosinophilic pneumonia(AEP) was first described in 1989 and represents a clinical entity distinct from chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. AEP is characterized by acute respiratory insufficiency, hypoxemia, fever, diffuse radiographic infiltrates, and eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid or lung biopsies in the absence of infection, atopy, or asthma. Rapid response to corticosteroids is characteristic. We experienced a 47-year-old metal driller presenting typical clinical and radiological characteristics of AEP. We confirmed eosinophilic pneumonia with brochoalveolar lavage analysis and transbronchial lung biopsy. We report a case of AEP diagnosed by clinical, radiographic, and histologic findings with a brief review of the literature.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Anoxia ; Asthma ; Biopsy ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Eosinophilia* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Therapeutic Irrigation

Vibrio fluvialis is one of the non-cholera, halophilic, gram-negative bacterium that causes gastroenteritis. There have been a few reports of V. fluvialis infections worldwide. In the present report, one case of gastroenteritis caused by V. fluvialis which occurred in chronic liver disease patient in Korea is presented. This was a rare case of gastroenteritis caused by V. fluvialis in 39-years old man who had no history of seafood ingestion. He was admitted because of severe watery diarrhea and abdominal pain, and developed acute renal failure. The patient was improved after fluid and antibiotic therapy for 2 weeks.
Abdominal Pain ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Adult ; Diarrhea ; Eating ; Gastroenteritis* ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Seafood ; Vibrio*

Vibrio fluvialis is one of the non-cholera, halophilic, gram-negative bacterium that causes gastroenteritis. There have been a few reports of V. fluvialis infections worldwide. In the present report, one case of gastroenteritis caused by V. fluvialis which occurred in chronic liver disease patient in Korea is presented. This was a rare case of gastroenteritis caused by V. fluvialis in 39-years old man who had no history of seafood ingestion. He was admitted because of severe watery diarrhea and abdominal pain, and developed acute renal failure. The patient was improved after fluid and antibiotic therapy for 2 weeks.
Abdominal Pain ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Adult ; Diarrhea ; Eating ; Gastroenteritis* ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Seafood ; Vibrio*

OBJECTIVE: Promoter methylation of Bcl-2 family genes in cancer cells were studied to verify possible correlation between DNA methylation pattern of Bcl-2 family members and cancer. METHODS: The genomic DNAs were extracted from different cancer cell lines, HeLa, CaSki and K562, and ovarian cancer tissue from patients. The cytosine residues were converted to uracil by sodium bisulfite treatment. MSP (methylation specific PCR) was performed to determine the methylation status of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Noxa, and Harakiri promoters. Using primers that distinguish methylated DNA from unmethylated DNA after bisulfite modification of DNA, MSP was conducted to observe the methylation pattern of Bcl-2 family genes in different cancer cells. RESULTS: The promoter regions of Bcl-2 family genes including Mcl-1, Bcl-2, and Noxa were not methylated in cancer cells, whereas the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family gene Harakiri was detected as methylated in the cancer cell lines and hypomethylated in the ovarian cancer tissue. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the differential methylation profiles of Bcl-2 family genes in cancerous cells, which suggests a possible connection between the methylation pattern of some of Bcl-2 family genes and ovarian cancer.
Cell Line ; Cytosine ; DNA Methylation* ; DNA* ; Humans ; Methylation ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Sodium ; Uracil

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) may play an important role in emphysematous change in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. We previously reported that simvastatin, an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, attenuates emphysematous change and MMP-9 induction in the lungs of rats exposed to cigarette smoke. However, it remained uncertain how cigarette smoke induced MMP-9 and how simvastatin inhibited cigarette smoke-induced MMP-9 expression in alveolar macrophages (AMs), a major source of MMP-9 in the lungs of COPD patients. Presently, we examined the related signaling for MMP-9 induction and the inhibitory mechanism of simvastatin on MMP-9 induction in AMs exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE). In isolated rat AMs, CSE induced MMP-9 expression and phosphorylation of ERK and Akt. A chemical inhibitor of MEK1/2 or PI3K reduced phosphorylation of ERK or Akt, respectively, and also inhibited CSE-mediated MMP-9 induction. Simvastatin reduced CSE-mediated MMP-9 induction, and simvastatin-mediated inhibition was reversed by farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). Similar to simvastatin, inhibition of FPP transferase or GGPP transferase suppressed CSE-mediated MMP-9 induction. Simvastatin attenuated CSE-mediated activation of RAS and phosphorylation of ERK, Akt, p65, IkappaB, and nuclear AP-1 or NF-kappaB activity. Taken together, these results suggest that simvastatin may inhibit CSE-mediated MMP-9 induction, primarily by blocking prenylation of RAS in the signaling pathways, in which Raf-MEK-ERK, PI3K/Akt, AP-1, and IkappaB-NF-kappaB are involved.
1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism ; Alkyl and Aryl Transferases/metabolism ; Animals ; Anticholesteremic Agents/pharmacology ; Cells, Cultured ; Enzyme Inhibitors/metabolism/pharmacology ; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases/metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic/*drug effects ; I-kappa B Kinase/antagonists & inhibitors/metabolism ; Macrophages, Alveolar/cytology/*drug effects/*enzymology ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9/genetics/*metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases/metabolism ; Polyisoprenyl Phosphates/metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism ; Rats ; Sesquiterpenes/metabolism ; Signal Transduction/physiology ; Simvastatin/*pharmacology ; Smoke/*adverse effects ; *Tobacco/adverse effects/chemistry

BACKGROUND: Compared with classic achalasia, vigorous achalasia has been defined as achalasia with relatively high esophageal contraction amplitudes, often with minimal esophageal dilation and prominent tertiary contractions on radiographs and the presence of chest pain. The lesser success of pneumatic balloon dilation, also, has been reported for the subset with vigorous achalasia. Nevertheless, some authors have questioned the usefulness of making this distinction. We evaluated the difference of clinical manifestations and response to pneumatic balloon dilation between classic and vigorous achalaisia. METHODS: 28 cases involving patients with achalasia who underwent balloon dilation treatment were available for the review of their clinical findings, radiographic, manometric, esophageal scintigraphic parameters. Patients with vigorous achalasia [n=10] were defined by contraction amplitude >or=37 mmHg on esophageal manometry and patients with classic achalasia [n=18] as contraction amplitude <37 mmHg. RESULTS: Both groups of patients had substantial overlap in clinical findings, radiographic, manometric and esophageal scintigraphic parameters. The success rates of balloon dilation, also, were similar for both groups (classic vs vigorous, 78% vs 70%). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the distiction of achalasia as classic and vigorous by an amplitude criterion is arbitrary and not useful.
Chest Pain ; Dilatation* ; Esophageal Achalasia* ; Humans ; Manometry