Lindera obtusiloba Extends Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans

Lindera obtusiloba has been widely used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of lots of diseases, including abdominal pain, bruise, and hepatocirrhosis. Here in this study, we elucidated the lifespan-extending effect of methanolic extract of Lindera obtusiloba (MLO) using Caenorhabditis elegans model system. We found that MLO has potent lifespan extension activities under normal culture condition. Then, we determined the protective effects of MLO on the stress conditions such as osmotic, thermal and oxidative stress. To reveal possible mechanism of MLO-mediated lifespan, we further investigated the effect of MLO on the antioxidant enzyme activities and intracellular ROS levels. Our results demonstrated that superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were significantly up-regulated by MLO treatment, resulted in reduced intracellular ROS levels. In this work, we also tested whether MLO-mediated longevity activity was associated with aging-related factors such as food intake and growth. Our data revealed that both of pharyngeal pumping rate and body length were significantly shifted by MLO treatment, indicating these factors were involved in MLO's lifespan-extension effects. Although MLO induces reduction in food intake, the body movement of MLO-fed aged worms was not decreased, compared to untreated control worms, indicating MLO might extend lifespan without affecting healthspan.

The relation between the preoperative serum level of CA 125 and the stage in endometrial cancer patients / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: The tumor antigen CA 125 is known to be elevated in the some endometrial carcinoma patients. In several reports, the serum levels of CA 125 seem to be increased in the majority of patients with advanced disease, but only in about 10-20% of patients with stage I disease. In other reports, no such correlation between CA 125 levels and extent of disease has been observed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate relevance of CA 125 level and stage of endometrial cancer. METHODS: This is a clinical study of 46 cases of endometrial cancer evaluated at Chun-an Soonchunhyang University Hospital during Jan. 1997 to Jan. 2004. The age of patients distributed from 36 to 76 years old. The concentration of serum CA 125 tumor marker was determined for all patients who were prepared for surgery. Patients of stage I, II was 26 cases and stage III, IV was 20 cases. For the statistical analysis, we employed the Mann-Whitney U test (p0.05). But, by Mann-Whitney U test, mean ranking of stage I, II group was 9.38 and stage III, IV group 15.40. p-value of Mann-Whitney U test is statistically significant (p:0.04<0.05). CONCLUSION: Determination of tumor markers appears to be important in endometrial cancer patients. Concentrations of serum CA 125 in patient sera may indicate the level of malignant potential and thus help in choosing an appropriate therapeutic procedure.

A Case of Persistent Metastatic Gestational Trophoblastic Disease after Partial Hydatidiform Mole / 대한산부인과학회지

Persistent tumor, usually non-metastatic, develops in approximately 4% of patients with a partial mole, and chemotherapy is required to achieve remission. Following evacuation of hydatidiform mole, careful hCG monitoring is mandatory since it is the most reliable and sensitive method for the early detection of gestational trophoblastic disease. In carefully selected patients in whom the risk of developing gestational trophoblastic disease is significant or when the availability of hCG testing is suboptimal, chemoprophylaxis has been shown to decrease the risk of gestational trophoblastic tumor. We report here a case of patient, 23- year-old woman who experienced unusual course after the evacuation of a partial mole and markedly elevated serum beta-hCG levels. The patient developed persistent metastatic gestational trophoblastic disease and was successfully treated with 3 courses of EMA-CO.

A Case of Maternal Diaphragmatic Hernia in Pregnancy / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Diaphragmatic hernias presenting during pregnancy or in the puerperium are very rare. The diagnosis is often delayed because the presenting symptoms of nausea, vomiting and mild abdominal pain are commonly seen in the normal antenatal or postpartum women. The most common etiology of diaphragmatic hernia in pregnancy is trauma and spontaneous diaphragmatic hernia is rare. We report a case of maternal diaphragmatic hernia in pregnancy with a brief review of literatures.

A case of Hyperstimulated Corpus luteal cyst torsion in Pregnancy after In vitro Fertilization / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Ovarian torsion is the fifth most common condition in gynecologic surgical emergencies, with an incidence of 2.7% occuring mainly in women of reproductive age. It is an uncommon but well recognized complication of ovarian stimulation, especially when ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome occurs. Patients with ovarian torsion normally present with an acute abdomen, necessitating an exploratory laparotomy, with removal of the organ when necrosis is evident. Ultrasound may suggest the diagnosis of adnexal torsion. If the ovarian tumor is a luteal cyst, it is also standard to administer progesterone after surgical treatment, although how efficient this treatment is in preventing miscarriage is questionable. A documented case of adnexal torsion associated with in vitro fertilization is hyperstimulated enlarged corpus luteal cyst. Emergency left salpingo-oophorectomy was done and have concluded a successful pregnancy after exogenous progesterone support. We report a case of enlarged corpus luteal cyst torsion in early pregnancy with a brief review of literatures.

A Case Report of Severe Preeclampsia with HELLP Syndrome and Hepatic Infarction / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Liver hematomas, infarction and ruptures complicated with preeclampsia are fatal to pregnant woman and fetus. So, close observation and proper diagnosis are demanded for treatment. Although the incidence of HELLP syndrome in severe preeclampsia and eclampsia woman is about 20%, liver rupture and infarction complicated with HELLP syndrome were reported very rarely in 1/15,000. Of course, liver rupture and infarction could be complicated with normal pregnant women, but the incidence of liver rupture and infarction complicated with HELLP syndrome was higher. Suspicious earliest physical findings of liver rupture and infarction are tenderness and rebound tenderness of right upper quadrant of abdomen. Radiologic evaluations such as liver USG, CT, MRI and angiography would be chosen for proper diagnosis. Treatment of liver rupture and infarction was varied from conservative treatment to surgical treatment like liver transplantation when bleeding was not controlled. The liver infarction complicated with preeclampsia was unusual and fatal to pregnant woman and fetus, so we report a case of liver infarction occured in HELLP syndrome patient with a brief review of literatures.

Development of the Korean Form of Yale Global Tic Severity Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to develop the Korean form of Yale Global Tic Severity Scale(YGTSS)-family & clinical rating version. The severity of motor and phonic tics was rated according to five separate dimensions : number, frequency, intensity, complexity,and interference. METHODS: The Korean form of YGTSS was applied to 100 children who visited psychiatric outpatient clinic with chief complaints of tic symptom. Together with YGTSS, Clinical Global Impression for Tourette's syndrome(CGI-TS), Obsessive-Compulsive disorder(CGI-OCD), At tention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(CGI-ADHD) were administered to all subjects for examining convergent and discriminant validities. RESULTS: We could confirm high internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validities and interrater reliability of YGTSS by analysing data from 100 children with tic disorder. In factor analysis, items were clusterd to 2 factors which were identical motor and phonic tic subscales. CONCLUSION : The results of this study indicate that the Korean form of YGTSS is a reliable and valid rating scale for rating tic symptom severity. It can be used to evaluate tic symptom objectively and to quantify the tic severity in the studies for tic disorder.

Effect of Fibronectin on the Production of Nitric Oxide from Murine Peritoneal Macrophages / 대한산업의학회지

No abstract available.

Isolation and identification of Murine Cerebral Microglial Cells

Even though the brain has been considered to be an immunologically privileged organ, recent reports showed that certain cells of the brain may be involved in immunological process in the brain. For example, some cells of the brain can present antigen to T-lymphocytes, to express class II major histocompativility antigen, and secrete interleukin-1 and -3 molecules. In addition, they are capable to phagocytose particles and possess receptors for the Fc portion on IgG. In this study, the authors tried to isolate the microglial cells from new born mice and characterize them. The isolated cells could produce such reactive oxygen intermediates(ROIs) an superoxide and hydrogen peroxide that were measured by luminometer after amplification by lucigenin and luminol respectively and could secrete reactive nitrogen intermediates(RNIs), when the cells were incubated with r-IFN plus LPS. The cells could also ingest fluorescent particles and raise intracellular calcium after stimulation with agonists when measured by flow cytometer. Our data showed that the microglial cells of the brain may belong to a member of mononuclear phagocytic system(MPS) of the body that are responsible for the host defence against invading microorganisms.