Benign renal cysts are fluid-filled sacs that originate from the kidneys. Infected renal cysts are a rare manifestation of benign renal cysts, that can be managed with antibiotic therapy, drainage, and surgery. A 74-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with an infected renal cyst. Initial treatment managed with only broad-spectrum antibiotics, as percutaneous drainage was postponed due to apparent clinical improvement. However, his condition deteriorated, leading to cardiac arrest. Radiological intervention with cyst drainage resulted in rapid improvement. The patient recovered successfully and was discharged 16 days later. A follow-up computed tomography revealed a marked reduction in cyst size, with normal blood and urine tests, and the patient remained asymptomatic.

Benign renal cysts are fluid-filled sacs that originate from the kidneys. Infected renal cysts are a rare manifestation of benign renal cysts, that can be managed with antibiotic therapy, drainage, and surgery. A 74-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with an infected renal cyst. Initial treatment managed with only broad-spectrum antibiotics, as percutaneous drainage was postponed due to apparent clinical improvement. However, his condition deteriorated, leading to cardiac arrest. Radiological intervention with cyst drainage resulted in rapid improvement. The patient recovered successfully and was discharged 16 days later. A follow-up computed tomography revealed a marked reduction in cyst size, with normal blood and urine tests, and the patient remained asymptomatic.

Benign renal cysts are fluid-filled sacs that originate from the kidneys. Infected renal cysts are a rare manifestation of benign renal cysts, that can be managed with antibiotic therapy, drainage, and surgery. A 74-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with an infected renal cyst. Initial treatment managed with only broad-spectrum antibiotics, as percutaneous drainage was postponed due to apparent clinical improvement. However, his condition deteriorated, leading to cardiac arrest. Radiological intervention with cyst drainage resulted in rapid improvement. The patient recovered successfully and was discharged 16 days later. A follow-up computed tomography revealed a marked reduction in cyst size, with normal blood and urine tests, and the patient remained asymptomatic.

Benign renal cysts are fluid-filled sacs that originate from the kidneys. Infected renal cysts are a rare manifestation of benign renal cysts, that can be managed with antibiotic therapy, drainage, and surgery. A 74-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with an infected renal cyst. Initial treatment managed with only broad-spectrum antibiotics, as percutaneous drainage was postponed due to apparent clinical improvement. However, his condition deteriorated, leading to cardiac arrest. Radiological intervention with cyst drainage resulted in rapid improvement. The patient recovered successfully and was discharged 16 days later. A follow-up computed tomography revealed a marked reduction in cyst size, with normal blood and urine tests, and the patient remained asymptomatic.

Excessive microglial activation and subsequent neuroinflammation lead to synaptic loss and dysfunction as well as neuronal cell death, which are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of several neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the regulation of microglial activation has been evaluated as effective therapeutic strategies. Although dieckol (DEK), one of the phlorotannins isolated from marine brown alga Ecklonia cava, has been previously reported to inhibit microglial activation, the molecular mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated here molecular mechanism of DEK via extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Akt and nicotinamide adenine dinuclelotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase-mediated pathways. In addition, the neuroprotective mechanism of DEK was investigated in microglia-mediated neurotoxicity models such as neuron-microglia co-culture and microglial conditioned media system. Our results demonstrated that treatment of anti-oxidant DEK potently suppressed phosphorylation of ERK in lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 microg/ml)-stimulated BV-2 microglia. In addition, DEK markedly attenuated Akt phosphorylation and increased expression of gp91(phox), which is the catalytic component of NADPH oxidase complex responsible for microglial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Finally, DEK significantly attenuated neuronal cell death that is induced by treatment of microglial conditioned media containing neurotoxic secretary molecules. These neuroprotective effects of DEK were also confirmed in a neuron-microglia co-culture system using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-transfected B35 neuroblastoma cell line. Taken together, these results suggest that DEK suppresses excessive microglial activation and microglia-mediated neuronal cell death via downregulation of ERK, Akt and NADPH oxidase-mediated pathways.
Adenine ; Cell Death* ; Cell Line ; Coculture Techniques ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Down-Regulation ; Microglia ; NADP* ; NADPH Oxidase ; Neuroblastoma ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons* ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Niacinamide ; Phosphorylation ; Phosphotransferases ; Reactive Oxygen Species

The polymorphism at codon 129 (M129V) of the human prion protein gene (PRNP) is a known risk factor for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Caucasians. There are few reports of this polymorphism's effect on memory and on the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The M129V genotype distributions among Asians are very different from Caucasians. Another polymorphism, codon 219 (E219K) is not found in Caucasians. We investigated two polymorphisms of PRNP, M129V (rs1799990) and E219K (rs1800014) in 297 Korean AD patients and 217 healthy subjects. The analysis of the genotype and allele distributions showed no significant difference between the AD patients and the controls in both polymorphisms (P=0.19 genotype, P=0.51 allele for M129V; P=0.64 genotype, P=0.50 allele for E219K). Also, the PRNP polymorphisms were not significantly associated with AD when the populations were stratified for the presence or absence of apolipoprotein E-e4 (ApoE-epsilon4) allele. These results suggest that the PRNP genetic variants are not associated with the risk for AD in Korean population.
Prions/*genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic/*genetics ; Male ; Korea/epidemiology ; Humans ; Genotype ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics ; Female ; Codon/genetics ; Apolipoproteins E/genetics ; Alzheimer Disease/*epidemiology/*genetics ; Alleles ; Aged

OBJECTIVES: There are evidences of apoptotic neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies suggested AD pathogenesis in the central nervous system as well as in peripheral lymphocytes. The object of this study is to compare the cell viability and the proliferation activity in AD patients with healthy normal control by using peripheral lymphocytes. METHODS: We analyzed the cell viability and the proliferation activity of phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated lymphocytes from 73 AD patients and 31 normal contols. The cell viability and the proliferation activity were measured at baseline (T0), 24 hours (T24), 48 hours (T48), 72 hours (T72), 96 hours (T96), by the tryphan blue method and the BrdU proliferation activity method, respectively. RESULTS: The cell viability of PHA-activated peripheral lymphocytes in AD patients was significantly decreased at T72, T96 compared with healthy controls (F=8.034, p<0.001). In AD patients, the decline of proliferation activity appeared in earlier than healthy normal controls. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that there is a decreased cell viability and the proliferation activity of peripheral lymphocytes in AD patients. These finding may be related with the increased apoptosis in Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Apoptosis ; Bromodeoxyuridine ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival* ; Central Nervous System ; Humans ; Lymphocytes* ; Neurons

OBJECTIVES: Seoul-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (S-IADL) was developed to assess elderly person's instrumental everyday activities. This study aims to develop standardized IADL assessment scale and to confirm the reliability and validity of the S-IADL. METHODS: The 336 controls were included in standardization study. Reliability and validity of S-IADL were tested by 72 Alzheimer's disease patients and 72 controls matched to age, sex, and education. We also conducted Receiver Operating Characteristics curve for sensitivity and specificity of S-IADL. RESULTS: Because of positively skewed distribution of S-IADL, standardization data were presented using 1SD and 2SD value. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability were statistically significant. Principal axis factoring analysis revealed two factors that accounted for 59.95% of the total variance, and second factor was items sensitive to sex (3.preparing food/cooking, 4.household chores). S-IADL was correlated significantly with other standardized cognitive measures, demonstrating good convergent validity. With a cut-off point of 8, the S-IADL had a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 93.1% in the diagnosis of dementia. Also, with a 2SD standardized data, sensitivity was 81.9% and specificity was 93.1%. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the S-IADL could be a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of functional disabilities of Korean dementia patients. Particularly, S-IADL had higher sensitivity and specificity than other IADL instruments, suggesting that it is useful to early detection of dementia.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVES: Seoul-Activities of Daily Living(S-ADL) was developed to assess elderly person's basic activities of daily living. This study aims to develop standardized ADL assessment scale and confirm the reliability and validity of the S-ADL. METHODS: It was participated in 336 controls and 145 patients diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS: In controls, it was statistically significant to age, but not sex, education, region and presence of spouse. Also, reliability and validity were statistically significant. Principal axis factoring analysis revealed three factors that accounted for 66.67% of the total variance(1.self-care/hygiene, 2.ambulation, 3.toileting). According to each CDR stage, there were significant difference, except for CDR 0.5 and CDR 1 suggesting early dementia. Particularly, it was remarkable for functional impairment in CDR 2 and CDR 3 suggesting moderate to severe dementia. The order of the loss of function was (1) self-care/hygiene, (2) toileting, and (3) ambulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the S-ADL could be a very reliable and valid tool for the assessment of functional disabilities of Korean dementia patients. Particularly, S-ADL would be useful in assessing daily function of moderate to severe AD.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Dementia ; Education ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Spouses ; Walking