Primula obconica which contains the potcnt sensitizer, primin, is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis among gardeners and florists, yet a case of primula dermatitis has not been reported in current Korean dermatologic literature to our knowledge. We report a case of a 60-year-old female patient presented with features of allergic contact dermatitis due to P. obconica. A patch test revealed positive reactions to crushed extracts of flowers of P. obconica.
Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Female ; Flowers ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Patch Tests ; Primula*

No abstract available.
Candidiasis* ; Chickenpox* ; Skin Manifestations* ; Skin*

Barts syndrome was desrribed by Bart(Bart et al, 1966) with hereditary congenital localized absence of skin from the lovrer legs associated with blistering of the sun and mouth and nail abnormalities. A newborn girl presented with a congenital localized absence of skn over both shins & dorsa of both feet which were covered with the thin, translucent, brown red glistening membranes. A number of blisters were seen on the back, thighs upper extremities, and both 2rd toe nails were absent. Electron microscopic examination of defected skin revealed dermo-epidermal . paration with focal disruption of basal lamina.
Basement Membrane ; Blister ; Female ; Foot ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Leg ; Membranes ; Mouth ; Nails, Malformed ; Skin ; Solar System ; Thigh ; Toes ; Upper Extremity

No abstract available.
Arthritis*

No abstract available.
Neurofibromatoses*

No abstract available.
Mucinoses*

No abstract available.
Granuloma Annulare ; Rheumatoid Nodule

No abstract available.
Granuloma Annulare ; Rheumatoid Nodule

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Therapies involving bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) have considerable potential in the management of hepatic disease. BM-MSCs have been investigated in regenerative medicine due to their ability to secrete various growth factors and cytokines that regress hepatic fibrosis and enhance hepatocyte functionality. The aim of this study was to determine the antifibrosis effect of BM-MSCs on activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and the mechanism underlying how BM-MSCs modulate the function of activated HSCs. METHODS: We used HSCs in both direct and indirect co-culture systems with BM-MSCs to evaluate the antifibrosis effect of BM-MSCs. The cell viability and apoptosis were evaluated by a direct co-culture system of activated HSCs with BM-MSCs. The activations of both HSCs alone and HSCs with BM-MSCs in the direct co-culture system were observed by immunocytochemistry for alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). The levels of growth factors and cytokines were evaluated by an indirect co-culture system of activated HSCs with BM-MSCs. RESULTS: The BM-MSCs in the direct co-culture system significantly decreased the production of alpha-SMA and the viability of activated HSCs, whereas they induced the apoptosis of activated HSCs. The BM-MSCs in the indirect co-culture system decreased the production of transforming growth factor-beta1 and interleukin (IL)-6, whereas they increased the production of hepatocyte growth factor and IL-10. These results confirmed that the juxtacrine and paracrine effects of BM-MSCs can inhibit the proliferative, fibrogenic function of activated HSCs and have the potential to reverse the fibrotic process by inhibiting the production of alpha-SMA and inducing the apoptosis of HSCs. CONCLUSIONS: These results have demonstrated that BM-MSCs may exert an antifibrosis effect by modulating the function of activated HSCs.
Apoptosis ; Bone Marrow Cells/*cytology ; Cell Differentiation ; Coculture Techniques ; Hepatic Stellate Cells/*cytology/metabolism ; Hepatocyte Growth Factor/metabolism ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Interleukin-10/metabolism ; Interleukin-6/metabolism ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells/*cytology/metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/metabolism

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis is most common sexually transmitted pathogen in the world, and a common cause of urethritis and cervicitis. Also it is common cause of preterm premature rupture of membranes and premature labor in pregnant women, and pneumonitis and conjunctivitis in neonate. A rapid and sensitive polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-based assay for detection of C. trachomatis is recently introduced. OBJECTIVES: We studied to determine whether a PCR assay is useful to detect Chlamydial infection in pregnant women. We also studied to compare its prevalence rate according to maternal age, trimester and parity, respectively. Study Design: Specimens were collected from 149 pregnant women by transcervical swab or endocervical lavage. If a specific band was detected in PCR assay, we considered as Chlamydial infection. RESULTS: In general, the positive bands were detected in the 45 of 149 pregnant women(30.2%). The positive bands were detected the 6 of 55(10.9%), 16 of 49(32.7%), and 23 of 45(51.1%) pregnant women in each trimester, respectively. Therefore, there was significantly increased according to the gestational age(p<0.05). However, there were not significantly different according to maternal age and parity(p> 0.05). CONCLUSION: We concluded that the PCR assay is a fast and useful test for the detection of C. trachomatis in transcevical cells from the pregnant women. This study suggested that Chlamydial infection seems to be increased according to the gestational age.
Chlamydia trachomatis* ; Chlamydia* ; Conjunctivitis ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal Age ; Membranes ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Parity ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women* ; Prevalence ; Rupture ; Therapeutic Irrigation ; Urethritis ; Uterine Cervicitis