We investigated a total of 335 samples of Korean native mushroom extracts as part of our lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitor screening program. Among the mushroom-methanolic extracts we investigated, 35 exhibited an inhibitory activity greater than 30% against LOX at a concentration of 100 microg/mL. Especially, Collybia maculata, Tylopilus neofelleus, Strobilomyces confusus, Phellinus gilvus, P. linteus, P. baumii, and Inonotus mikadoi exhibited relatively potent LOX inhibitory activities of 73.3%, 51.6%, 52.4%, 66.7%, 59.5%, 100.0%, and 85.2%, respectively. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of inoscavin A from the methanolic extract of P. baumii, which showed the most potent activity and was identified by spectroscopic methods. Specifically, inoscavin A exhibited potent LOX inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 6.8 microM.
Agaricales* ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Lipoxygenase* ; Mass Screening ; Methanol

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a monophasic autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, which typically follows acute viral or bacterial infection or vaccination. We report a case of ADEM associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with positive serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) anti-HCV antibody. After steroid treatment, neurologic symptoms were improved. Virus triggers autoimmunity or direct viral invasion plays a part in the genesis of ADEM. This is the first reported case of ADEM with anti-HCV antibody in the CSF.
Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated/*diagnosis/drug therapy/etiology/virology ; Female ; Hepacivirus/pathogenicity ; Hepatitis C/*complications ; Humans ; Methylprednisolone/therapeutic use ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND: Doxapram hydrochloride is a respiratory stimulant that produces arousal effects in patients under anesthesia. We investigated the effects of doxapram on the recovery time and BIS index of patients administered desflurane inhalational anesthesia. METHODS: 40 patients who underwent general anesthesia using desflurane that had an ASA physical status of I or II received either 1 mg/kg of doxapram hydrochloride (doxapram group, n = 20) or normal saline (control group, n = 20) IV at end of surgery. Anesthetic recovery after the injection of doxapram was then determined based on the time to eye opening in response to verbal command, hand squeezing on command, time to extubation, and Aldrete recovery score. BIS index, systolic blood pressure, tidal volume and heart rate were recorded every minute for up to thirteen minutes. RESULTS: The doxapram group showed significantly shorter times to emergence based on eye opening in response verbal command (sec) (409 +/- 114 vs 320 +/- 116), hand squeezing on command (sec) (458 +/- 119 vs 351 +/- 114) and extubation (sec) (491 +/- 103 vs 418 +/- 79) compared to control group. The BIS score was not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The Bis index was not significant higher in the doxapram group, with the exception of the measurement recorded at 2 minutes, however the recovery time from desflurane inhalational anesthesia was faster in the doxapram group than the control group.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Arousal ; Blood Pressure ; Doxapram ; Eye ; Hand ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Isoflurane ; Tidal Volume

BACKGROUND: Although several hospital-based stroke studies were published, there has not been any reliable data representing the clinical characteristics of stroke in Korea. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients with ischemic stroke registered in the Korean Stroke Registry (KSR), which is the largest prospective hospital-based nation-wide stroke registry in Korea. METHODS: The KSR provided standardized protocols for collecting data, which includes the data of demographics, subtypes of stroke, risk factors, and neurological outcome at discharge. The brain imaging studies, including CT or MRI, were performed in all cases. RESULTS: KSR registered 10,811 patients of acute ischemic stroke between Nov. 2002 and Jun. 2004. The large-artery atherosclerosis was the most common subtype (37.3%), followed by small vessel occlusion (30.8%). Hypertension (65.4%) was the most common risk factor, followed by smoking (34.5%) and diabetes (28.3%). Although most of the hypertensive and diabetic patients had been diagnosed before the stroke, less than 45.4% and 32.5% of them were under regular control. The steno-occlusive lesion of extracranial carotid artery was only 29.3% and the ratio of intra- to extracranial artery disease was more than 2 in KSR. Only 20.5% of patients were admitted within 3 hours after stroke onset and 2.1% were treated with intravenous thrombolysis. In-hospital case-fatality was 5.2%, which is relatively comparable to those of previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: The KSR provided informative data in understanding the clinical characteristics of ischemic stroke in Korea. Further analysis of KSR will facilitate clinical trials and development of guidelines for the management of stroke patients.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Demography ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroimaging ; Prospective Studies* ; Registries ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke*

Significant surgical complications occur in about half of patients after simultaneous pancreas kidney transplantation (SPK) with bladder drainage. Urologic complications are very common in bladder-drained pancreas transplants. Urinary obstruction occurs in either the early or the late period following transplantation. Predictors of urological complications after transplantation have not been well established. Early obstruction is usually diagnosed by an increment of serum creatinine or through imaging studies, such as ultrasound and antegrade pyelogram. Surgical management is inevitable when conservative managements fails. If the length of the donor ureter is sufficient, it is possible to redo the ureteroneocystostomy. However, if this is not the case or the stricture is at a high level, a native ureterotransplant ureterostomy may be the procedure of choice. SPK was performed on a 36 year old male patient with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy. The pancreatic exocrine secretion was drained by duodenocystostomy. The patient developed an obstruction in upper ureter on the postoperative 16th day. On the postoperative 32nd day, a native ureterotransplant ureterostomy with a double J stent was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. The double J stent was removed on postoperative 112nd day by cystoscope. A subsequent follow up showed excellent pancreatic and renal function.
Adult ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Creatinine ; Cystoscopes ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Drainage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Insulin ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Male ; Pancreas* ; Stents ; Tissue Donors ; Ultrasonography ; Ureter* ; Ureteral Obstruction* ; Ureterostomy* ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE: We studied 278 men who are over 40 years of age to educate BPH and to evaluate the prevalence of BPH in Busan city of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between December 1997 and February 1998, 278 men in Busan city were investigated. The screening tests included urinary symptom questionnaire (IPSS), digital rectal examination (DRE), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and uroflometry. RESULTS: Based on the IPSS, 36.3%, 49.7% and 14.0% of the men were mild (1-7), moderately (8-19) and severely (20-35) symptomatic. The mean maximal flow rate and PSA for men 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 50 to 69 and over 70 years old were 18.4 ml/sec, 14.2 ml/sec, 12.9 ml/sec, 10.6 ml/sec and 1.081 ng/ml, 1.195 ng/ml, 1.527 ng/ml, 2.352 ng/ml respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rate of clinical BPH(IPSS>7 and peak urinary flow rate<10 ml/sec) in community-based study of 278 men was 25.5%.
Aged ; Busan* ; Digital Rectal Examination ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Prevalence* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Corneal and conjunctival squamous epithelial cells have been known to express the mucin MUC1. We attempted to reveal the expression and localizational characteristics of the membrane-spanning mucin MUC1 as a component of the mucous layer in the human corneal epithelium. An antibody to the MUC1 was used to detect the MUC1 on the corneal epithelium by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent staining. In situ hybridization was performed to determine the distribution of MUC1 mRNA in the ocular surface. Immunohistochemically, the MUC1 mucin was observed along the apical membranes of the corneal epithelium. According to immunofluorescent staining, cells varied in the amount of mucin MUC1. Expression of MUC1 mRNA was observed in all layers of the corneal epithelium. The MUC1 mucin synthesized by the corneal epithelia exists on the apical membrane of the superficial cells. The amount of MUC1 may vary with the vertical migration and the activity of the cells.
Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium, Corneal* ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Hybridization ; Membranes ; Mucin-1 ; Mucins ; RNA, Messenger

OBJECTIVES: The prognosis of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage often depends on initial neurologic condition, size and location of hemorrhage and associated intraventricular hemorrhage. However, age of patient, coagulation state and other associated vascular diseases may also play a role when present. In recent years, the geriatric population has been increasing. The age distribution of the patients with intracerebral hemorrhages also has been increased, accordingly. However, such patients, especially when associated with poor initial conditions often tend to be managed rather conservatively. The authors analyzed retrospectively on forty-five patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage over the seventies with poor initial condition to find out whether there exists a difference of outcome between surgery and non-surgery group. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A total of 45 patients over seventies with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage with Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS) 4-8 treated over last six years were included. The validity of surgical management for these patients as well as clinical variables which might have been operated on the outcome of these patients were evaluated. The Glasgow Outcome Scale(GOS) after three months was used for comparison of outcome. RESULTS: In surgical group(19 cases), mean age was 74.5 years old, mean hematoma volume 67.2ml and mean GCS score 5.7 points. In nonsurgical group(26 cases), mean age was 79.3 years old, mean hematoma volume 32.1ml, and mean GCS score 6.8 points. Mortality rate in surgical group was 47.4%(9 patients), including 2 cases of post-operative rebleeding, while that in nonsurgical group was 46.2%. However, when patients with initial GCS 4-6 points and over 30ml in hematoma volume were regrouped, mortality rate in surgical group was 46.2%, whereas mortality rate in nonsurgical group was 66.7%. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the mortality rate is much low in surgery group with initial GCS less than 6 points and hematoma volume over 30cc. There was no significant difference of outcome in patients with basal ganglia and thalamic hemorrhage. However, surgical treatment lowered the mortality and morbidity rate in patients with subcortical and cerebellar hemorrhage.
Age Distribution ; Basal Ganglia ; Cerebral Hemorrhage* ; Coma ; Geriatrics ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mortality ; Prognosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Vascular Diseases

Intensive insulin therapy effectively delays the onset and slows the progression of nephropathy in patients with IDDM. TGF- 0 has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. We evaluated the effects of different level of glucose control with insulin therapy on the progression of diabetic nephropathy in age-matched control rats(C) and 3 groups of streptozotocininduced diabetic rats', high blood glucose diabetic rats without insulin therapy(HG), rnoderate glucose diabetic rats with insulin therapy(MG), and normal glucose diabetic rats with intensive insulin treatment (NG). Glomerular volume(VG) was measured using Image-Pro morphometric software, glomerular TGF- Bl mRNA expression by in situ hybridization, and glomerular expression of TGF-8 and type IV collagen proteins by immunohistochemical staining. VG was significantly higher in HG than in other groups in 12 weeks. Kidney weight(KW) was the highest while the body weight the lowest in HG of all groups in 12 weeks. Daily urine albumin excretion (UAE) increased with time in all groups but was significantly larger in HG than in all other groups in 12 weeks. MG also had significantly larger UAE than C in 12 weeks. There was no difference in VG, KW, and UAE between NG and C. Glomerular TGF-Bl mRNA expression was significantly higher in HG than in all the rest of the groups in 4 and 12 weeks. Glomerular expression of TGF-B and type IV collagen proteins was proportional to the levels of blood glucose, being the highest in HG in 12 weeks. There was little or no expression of TGF-0 1 mRNA and protein or type IV collagen protein in NG. Thus these results support the view that high blood glucose is the prerequisite for glomerular injury in diabetes mellitus and that the glomerular injury in diabetes mellitus is mediated, in part, by TGF-01 and suppressed by glucose control.
Animals ; Blood Glucose* ; Body Weight ; Collagen Type IV ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Diabetic Nephropathies* ; Glucose ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Insulin* ; Kidney ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is an uncommon, but life-threatening necrotizing inflammation of renal parenchyme and perinephric tissue by gas-forming organisms. This disease is encountered mainly in patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and/or urinary tract obstruction etc. Though the pathogenesis of this diseases is still poorly understood, radiographic demonstration of gas shadow in renal parenchyme and peri-nephric tissue establishes the diagnosis of emphysematous pyelonephritis. The identification of this finding has been believed to consider incision and drainage or nephrectomy in addition to medical treatment, because of high mortality rate of this disease in spite of vigorous medical management. We report two cases of emphysematous pyelonephritis complicated in 62-year-old female and 48- year-old male patients with diabetes mellitus. Nephrectomies were not performed because of bilateral emphysematous pyelonephritis in one patient and of refusal of nephrectomy by the other patient. But patients were recovered completely on medical management.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Disulfiram ; Drainage ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Nephrectomy ; Pyelonephritis* ; Urinary Tract