Viral load and the duration of viral shedding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are important determinants of the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019.In this study, we examined the effects of viral doses on the lung and spleen of K18-hACE2 transgenic mice by temporal histological and transcriptional analyses. Approximately, 1×105 plaque-forming units (PFU) of SARS-CoV-2 induced strong host responses in the lungs from 2 days post inoculation (dpi) which did not recover until the mice died, whereas responses to the virus were obvious at 5 days, recovering to the basal state by 14 dpi at 1×102 PFU. Further, flow cytometry showed that number of CD8+ T cells continuously increased in 1×102 PFU-virusinfected lungs from 2 dpi, but not in 1×105 PFU-virus-infected lungs. In spleens, responses to the virus were prominent from 2 dpi, and number of B cells was significantly decreased at 1×105PFU; however, 1×102 PFU of virus induced very weak responses from 2 dpi which recovered by 10 dpi. Although the defense responses returned to normal and the mice survived, lung histology showed evidence of fibrosis, suggesting sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our findings indicate that specific effectors of the immune response in the lung and spleen were either increased or depleted in response to doses of SARS-CoV-2. This study demonstrated that the response of local and systemic immune effectors to a viral infection varies with viral dose, which either exacerbates the severity of the infection or accelerates its elimination.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Multiple Myeloma ; Plasma Cells ; Plasma ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

Patient education is important for successful management of atopic dermatitis; however, due to limited time and resources, patient education remains insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the current state of education provided by Korean dermatologists, pediatric allergists, and allergists to patients with atopic dermatitis. A questionnaire survey consisting of items regarding educational programs for patients with atopic dermatitis was conducted via e-mail. In total, 153 participants responded to the questionnaires, and 26.8% indicated that they have had separate educational programs. The workforce involved in the educational program included nurses, residents or fellows, dieticians, pharmacists, and clinical psychologists. Most education protocols addressed the characteristics and natural course of atopic dermatitis and environmental management. Overall, 96.7% of the participants replied that an additional charge is needed for education; moreover, additional assistance from an academic society or association, in the form of medical staff, organized data, and advertisement, is required to develop and provide a well-structured educational program. A standardized education protocol will effectively provide appropriate education for patients with atopic dermatitis. Arrangement of education fees, covered by the National Health Insurance Service, will lead to the establishment of a structured educational program and participation of an additional medical workforce.
Dermatitis, Atopic ; Education ; Electronic Mail ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Staff ; National Health Programs ; Nutritionists ; Patient Education as Topic ; Pharmacists ; Psychology

The potential use of urinary nucleic acids as diagnostic markers in prostate cancer (PCa) was evaluated. Ninety-five urine samples and 234 prostate tissue samples from patients with PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were analyzed. Micro-array analysis was used to identify candidate genes, which were verified by the two-gene expression ratio and validated in tissue mRNA and urinary nucleic acid cohorts. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to measure urinary nucleic acid levels and tissue mRNA expression. The TSPAN13-to-S100A9 ratio was selected to determine the diagnostic value of urinary nucleic acids in PCa (P = 0.037) and shown to be significantly higher in PCa than in BPH in the mRNA and nucleic acid cohort analyses (P < 0.001 and P = 0.013, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve was 0.898 and 0.676 in tissue mRNA cohort and urinary nucleic acid cohort, respectively. The TSPAN13-to-S100A9 ratio showed a strong potential as a diagnostic marker for PCa. The present results suggest that the analysis of urine supernatant can be used as a simple diagnostic method for PCa that can be adapted to the clinical setting in the future.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor/*genetics/*urine ; Calgranulin B/*genetics ; Cohort Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nucleic Acids/*genetics/*urine ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Prostate/metabolism ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/diagnosis/genetics/urine ; Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis/*genetics/*urine ; RNA, Messenger/genetics/metabolism ; RNA, Neoplasm/genetics/metabolism ; ROC Curve ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tetraspanins/*genetics

Leuconostoc species are gram-positive cocci and they are rarely pathogenic in human. Leuconostoc infections are commonly associated with immunocompromised status and indwelling medical devices include intravenous catheter, tracheostomy, endotracheal intubation and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Clinical isolates of Leuconostoc were frequently misidentified, usually as viridans streptococci, but they possess inherent resistance to vancomycin despite sensitivity to most other antibiotics. We present a case of Leuconostoc peritonitis in patients receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). A 48-year-old man with hypertensive nephropathy has been treated with peritoneal dialysis, developed peritonitis due to Leuconostoc species. The peritonitis was poorly responded to empirical antibiotics. He was successfully treated with intraperitoneal administration of ampicillin. The dialysis catheter was left in place, and continued to function. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Leuconostoc peritonitis reported in Korea.
Ampicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Catheters ; Dialysis ; Gastrostomy ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Korea ; Leuconostoc* ; Middle Aged ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis* ; Tracheostomy ; Vancomycin ; Viridans Streptococci

Cardiac myxoma is the most common primary cardiac tumor, but ventricular myxoma accounts for only 5% of the cases. We report a case of a 62-year-old woman with a left ventricular myxoma emerging from the ventricular side of the mitral valve that led to left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The patient complained of chest discomfort and dyspnea. A mobile intracardiac mass was seen on echocardiography. The mass was excised and confirmed to be a myxoma by histopathological examination. She was discharged from the hospital without complications and remains asymptomatic.
Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Neoplasms ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve ; Myxoma ; Thorax ; Ventricular Outflow Obstruction

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Regeneration or replacement of damaged hair cells and neurons in the cochlea might be an ideal treatment for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), derived from the bone marrow of rats, could differentiate into auditory hair cells and neurons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The centrifuge gradient method was used to isolate MSCs from the bone marrow of rats. To confirm whether bone marrow-derived MSCs can differentiate into neuronal cells, culture medium with glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 for 14 days. In addition, immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR were performed for characterization of the neurospheres and differentiated cells from 7 and 14 day cultures. RESULTS: The results showed that MSCs could differentiate into neuron-positive and hair cell-positive cells, using different compositions of growth factors. And RT-PCR result was identified high or low of gene expression all these differentiated cells. CONCLUSIONS: Rat bone marrow-derived MSCs differentiated into neuronal progenitor cells. These cells might be useful for the treatment of SNHL.
Animals ; Bone Marrow ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cochlea ; Ear, Inner ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Gene Expression ; Hair ; Hair Cells, Auditory ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Neurons ; Rats ; Regeneration ; Stem Cells

The Clinical Research Center for Dementia of South Korea (CREDOS), a nation-wide clinical dementia research group, has prepared clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for dementia tailored to the Korean population. In this article, a summary of the CREDOS CPG is presented with the Korean and English version of full report included in the appendix. The CREDOS CPG in intended not only for psychiatrists and neurologists, but also internists, family physicians, and other primary care physicians involved in the prevention and early diagnosis of dementia. While our CPG for dementia mainly covers Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD), it also includes mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and vascular MCI, which are currently known to be the preclinical stages of AD or VaD, respectively, with emphasis placed on early diagnosis. The CREDOS CPG aims to achieve the following goals by developing CPG for dementia: to establish evidence-based, objective and clear clinical standards for dementia; to improve the clinical decision-making process for patients with dementia; to provide scientific and systematic scales to aid in the work of dementia specialists; to suggest comprehensive and systematic healthcare services tailored to each dementia subtype. The CREDOS CPG focuses on diagnosis and evaluation of clinical practice available domestically, and provides useful concepts of dementia. Its emphasis is on etiologies and epidemiology, diagnostic criteria and evaluation, neuropsychological tests, behavioral and psychological symptoms, the activities of daily living, laboratory tests, and brain imaging.
Activities of Daily Living ; Alzheimer Disease ; Appendix ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dementia ; Dementia, Vascular ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; Neuroimaging ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Physicians, Family ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Psychiatry ; Republic of Korea ; Weights and Measures

The diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis has been carried out using coprologic techniques in the Republic of Korea. However, antibody responses to Cryptosporidium have rarely been studied. Serum antibodies from HIV-positive/oocyst-positive Korean patients recognized significantly 31 and 27 kDa antigens, and HIV-negative/oocyst-positive individuals clearly reacted to 15/17 kDa antigens. Compared with oocyst-positive cases, 18.7% and 75.8% of sera from HIV-positive patients reacted to 31 and 27 kDa antigens. Only 11.1% of HIV-negative individuals reacted to 15/17 kDa. Based on these findings, serum antibody responses were different between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals infected with Cryptosporidium, and it is suggested that HIV-positive patients are more frequently exposed to C. parvum compared to HIV-negative individuals.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/blood/*immunology ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan/*blood/immunology ; *Antibody Formation ; Antigens, Protozoan/chemistry/*immunology ; Blotting, Western/methods ; Cryptosporidiosis/blood/*immunology ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Protozoan Proteins/chemistry/immunology

BACKGROUND: As the result of renal transplantation improving, also increasing the number of graft failure which will be a candidate for second renal transplantation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors that influence the survival of retransplanted kidney. METHODS: Among 775 renal transplantations that have been performed in Dongsan Medical Center until August 2007, 225 cases were failed their graft function and 59 of them were retransplanted during their follow up period. Graft survival of retransplanted kidney was compared with primary renal transplantation and factors that affecting the survival of kidney retransplantation were evaluated. RESULTS: Main causes of graft failure of first kidney transplantation were chronic rejection, followed by recurrence of original disease of recipient and acute vascular rejection. Mean survival time was 72.6 months (15 days~161 months). One and 5 years graft survivals were 94.6%, 90.7%, and patient survivals were 100.0%, 97.8%, respectively. Among the factors which showed significance in univariate analysis, short interval between failure of first transplantation and retransplantation, and graft failure due to chronic rejection were statistically significant unfavorable factors for survival of retransplanted kidney. CONCLUSIONS: Kidney retransplantation showed similar graft and patient survival compare to the first one. However, retransplantation should be performed after enough time after graft failure and should be cautious in a patient who lost their graft due to chronic rejection.
Follow-Up Studies ; Graft Survival ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Recurrence ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Survival Rate ; Transplants