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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES@#Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) characterized by an enlarged prostate gland is common in elderly men. Corni Fructus (CF) and Schisandrae Fructus (SF) are known to have various pharmacological effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory efficacy of CF, SF, and their mixture (MIX) on the development of BPH using an in vivo model of testosteroneinduced BPH.MATERIALS/METHODS: Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven groups. To induce BPH, testosterone propionate (TP) was injected to rats except for those in the control group. Finasteride, saw palmetto (SP), CF, SF, and MIX were orally administered along with TP injection. At the end of treatment, histological changes in the prostate and the level of various biomarkers related to BPH were evaluated. @*RESULTS@#Our results showed that BPH induced by TP led to prostate weight and histological changes. Treatment with MIX effectively improved TP-induced BPH by reducing prostate index, lumen area, epithelial thickness, and expression of BPH biomarkers such as 5α-reductase type 2, prostate-specific antigen, androgen receptor, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen compared to treatment with CF or SF alone. Moreover, MIX further reduced levels of elevated serum testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and prostate-specific antigen in BPH compared to the SP, a positive control. BPH was also improved more by MIX than by CF or SF alone. @*CONCLUSIONS@#Based on the results, MIX is a potential natural therapeutic candidate for BPH by regulating 5α-reductase and AR signaling pathway.
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Purpose@#AGel amyloidosis is systemic amyloidosis caused by pathogenic variants in the GSN gene. In this study, we sought to characterize the clinical and brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) features of Korean patients with AGel amyloidosis. @*Materials and Methods@#We examined 13 patients with AGel amyloidosis from three unrelated families. Brain MRIs were performed in eight patients and eight age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Therein, we analyzed gray and white matter content using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and FreeSurfer. @*Results@#The median age at examination was 73 (interquartile range: 64–76) years. The median age at onset of cutis laxa was 20 (interquartile range: 15–30) years. All patients over that age of 60 years had dysarthria, cutis laxa, dysphagia, and facial palsy. Two patients in their 30s had only mild cutis laxa. The median age at dysarthria onset was 66 (interquartile range: 63.5–70) years. Ophthalmoparesis was observed in three patients. No patient presented with muscle weakness of the limbs. Axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain showed no significant differences between the patient and control groups. Also, analysis of VBM, TBSS, and FreeSurfer revealed no significant differences in cortical thickness between patients and healthy controls at the corrected significance level. @*Conclusion@#Our study outlines the clinical manifestations of prominent bulbar palsy and early-onset cutis laxa in 13 Korean patients with AGel amyloidosis and confirms that AGel amyloidosis mainly affects the peripheral nervous system rather than the central nervous system.
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Objectives@#This study aimed to identify the factors that influence career withdrawal intention among dental hygienists. @*Methods@#The subjects of this study were 448 dental hygienists working at dental offices in Daegu, Busan, and Ulsan. The contents of the survey were job fitness, job autonomy, career plateau, job challenge, growth opportunity, career satisfaction, career commitment, and career withdrawal intention. The collected data were analyzed using statistical methods such as frequency analysis, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, structural model analysis, and bootstrapping using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 21.0. @*Results@#The groups with low career withdrawal intention were those who were over 30 years old, married, had a master’s degree or higher, and had more than 8 years of clinical experience. The group with low career withdrawal intention generally showed high job autonomy. It was found that job autonomy, growth opportunity, and career plateau indirectly affected career withdrawal intention by mediating career satisfaction and career commitment. The higher the job autonomy and growth opportunity, the lower the career withdrawal intention, and the higher the career plateau, the higher the career withdrawal intention. The factor that had a direct effect on career withdrawal intention was career commitment; the higher the career commitment, the lower the career withdrawal intention. @*Conclusions@#To reduce dental hygienists’ career withdrawal intention, we propose expanding their job autonomy within the legal scope, developing a career development model, and finding ways to improve their career commitment.
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Purpose@#AGel amyloidosis is systemic amyloidosis caused by pathogenic variants in the GSN gene. In this study, we sought to characterize the clinical and brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) features of Korean patients with AGel amyloidosis. @*Materials and Methods@#We examined 13 patients with AGel amyloidosis from three unrelated families. Brain MRIs were performed in eight patients and eight age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Therein, we analyzed gray and white matter content using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and FreeSurfer. @*Results@#The median age at examination was 73 (interquartile range: 64–76) years. The median age at onset of cutis laxa was 20 (interquartile range: 15–30) years. All patients over that age of 60 years had dysarthria, cutis laxa, dysphagia, and facial palsy. Two patients in their 30s had only mild cutis laxa. The median age at dysarthria onset was 66 (interquartile range: 63.5–70) years. Ophthalmoparesis was observed in three patients. No patient presented with muscle weakness of the limbs. Axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain showed no significant differences between the patient and control groups. Also, analysis of VBM, TBSS, and FreeSurfer revealed no significant differences in cortical thickness between patients and healthy controls at the corrected significance level. @*Conclusion@#Our study outlines the clinical manifestations of prominent bulbar palsy and early-onset cutis laxa in 13 Korean patients with AGel amyloidosis and confirms that AGel amyloidosis mainly affects the peripheral nervous system rather than the central nervous system.
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Objectives@#This study aimed to identify the factors that influence career withdrawal intention among dental hygienists. @*Methods@#The subjects of this study were 448 dental hygienists working at dental offices in Daegu, Busan, and Ulsan. The contents of the survey were job fitness, job autonomy, career plateau, job challenge, growth opportunity, career satisfaction, career commitment, and career withdrawal intention. The collected data were analyzed using statistical methods such as frequency analysis, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, structural model analysis, and bootstrapping using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 21.0. @*Results@#The groups with low career withdrawal intention were those who were over 30 years old, married, had a master’s degree or higher, and had more than 8 years of clinical experience. The group with low career withdrawal intention generally showed high job autonomy. It was found that job autonomy, growth opportunity, and career plateau indirectly affected career withdrawal intention by mediating career satisfaction and career commitment. The higher the job autonomy and growth opportunity, the lower the career withdrawal intention, and the higher the career plateau, the higher the career withdrawal intention. The factor that had a direct effect on career withdrawal intention was career commitment; the higher the career commitment, the lower the career withdrawal intention. @*Conclusions@#To reduce dental hygienists’ career withdrawal intention, we propose expanding their job autonomy within the legal scope, developing a career development model, and finding ways to improve their career commitment.
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Purpose@#This study aimed to identify useful shear wave elastography (SWE) parameters for differentiating breast cancer and predicting associated immunohistochemical factors and subtypes. @*Methods@#From November 2018 to February 2019, a total of 211 breast lesions from 190 patients who underwent conventional breast ultrasonography and SWE were included. The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System categories and qualitative and quantitative SWE parameters for each lesion were obtained. Pathologic results including immunohistochemical factors were evaluated. The diagnostic performance of each parameter and its correlation with histological characteristics, immunohistochemical factors, and subtypes of breast cancer were analyzed using analysis of variance, the independent t test, the Fisher exact test, logistic regression analysis, and the DeLong method. @*Results@#Among 211 breast lesions, 82 were malignant, and 129 were benign. Of the SWE parameters, Emax showed the highest area under the curve (AUC) for differentiating malignant from benign lesions (AUC, 0.891; cut-off>50.85). Poor tumor differentiation and progesterone receptor-negativity were correlated with higher SDmean and Emax (P<0.05). Ki-67-positive breast cancer showed higher SDmean and a heterogeneous color distribution (P<0.05). Ki-67 and cytokeratin 5/6-positive breast cancers showed higher Emax/Efat ratios (P<0.05). Luminal B, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-enriched, and triple-negative (non-basal) subtypes showed somewhat higher SDmean values than the luminal A and triple-negative (basal) subtypes (P=0.028). @*Conclusion@#Emax is a reliable parameter for differentiating malignancies from benign breast lesions. In addition, high stiffness and SDmean values in tumors measured on SWE could be used to predict poorly differentiated, progesterone receptor-negative, or Ki-67-positive breast cancer.
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BACKGROUND: For creatinine measurement, the enzymatic method is known to be more accurate than the Jaffe method; however, the latter is still widely used. We evaluated the performance of the CRE2 reagent (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., USA), which uses a modified Jaffe method. METHODS: Three quality control standards were used for precision evaluations of CRE2 on Dimension VISTA 500 instrument (Siemens). Moreover, the linearity and carryover characteristics were assessed. Sixty-eight creatinine results obtained using the CRE2 and ECREA (enzymatic) reagents (Siemens) were compared with those obtained using the L-CRE (enzymatic) reagent (Shinyang Diagnostics, Korea). The accuracy of CRE2, ECREA, and L-CRE was evaluated using a standard reference material. RESULTS: The CV of within-run (0.7–2.4%), between-run (0.4–1.7%), between-day precision (0.7–0.9%) for three standards, and total CV for medium (1.6%) and high levels (1.3%) satisfied the analytical goal. The linearity for CRE2 was excellent (R2=0.999). Comparisons of CRE2 and ECREA to L-CRE were well correlated (r=0.996 and 0.997, respectively). In comparison with L-CRE, 5 CRE2 results and 15 ECREA results exceeded minimum bias goal (5.1%) in samples with creatinine levels of >1 mg/dL. The carryover rate was −0.04%. In terms of accuracy, the percent bias values of CRE2, ECREA, and L-CRE were 7.4, −6.4, and −3.4, respectively, for low level; and 3.9, −1.5, and 0.7, respectively, for high level. CONCLUSIONS: For creatinine measurements, the CRE2 reagent showed good performance. It can be used in the diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and risk assessment of kidney diseases.
Subject(s)
Bias , Creatinine , Delivery of Health Care , Diagnosis , Indicators and Reagents , Kidney Diseases , Methods , Quality Control , Risk AssessmentABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Female breast cancer patients generally have limited knowledge regarding issues related to preservation of ovarian function and fertility. The present study aimed to explore the change in the understanding of these issues when female breast cancer patients are educated and counseled about ovarian function and fertility after anticancer treatment.METHODS: One hundred nine young female breast cancer patients completed a questionnaire, which revealed their thoughts and opinions before and after receiving the education about ovarian function and fertility. Their responses were analyzed to determine the impact of the education on their perception and understanding of the aforementioned issues.RESULTS: The objective survey had four main themes: planning and desire for children, degree of baseline understanding of the effects of anticancer therapy on fertility and ovarian function, resultant change in cognition after education about cancer treatment and its relationship with fertility, and need for education regarding the types of therapies received and their effects on subsequent ovarian function and fertility before treatment.CONCLUSIONS: The preservation of ovarian function and fertility is an important factor that must be included in the discussion prior to initiation of anticancer therapy. Although the study results do not have high educational effectiveness or a high satisfaction with education, there is a need for information and education regarding the impact of anticancer treatment on preservation of ovarian function and fertility.
Subject(s)
Child , Female , Humans , Breast Neoplasms , Breast , Cognition , Education , FertilityABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Thyroid hormones are one of the key factors involved in energy, lipid, and glucose metabolisms. Many studies have been conducted to establish the association between thyroid function and metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to identify the association between thyroid hormone and metabolic syndrome in euthyroid Korean male adults.METHODS: Using data from the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2015, this cross-sectional study of 2,285 male adults was conducted. Subjects who had thyroid diseases and were not euthyroid were excluded. The included subjects were divided into four groups according to free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels. We analyzed the prevalence and adjusted odds ratio of metabolic syndrome according to thyroid hormone levels.RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components decreased constantly from the lowest fT4 quartile to the highest fT4 quartile. Compared with that in the lowest fT4 quartile, the adjusted odds ratio of hypertriglyceridemia in the highest fT4 quartile was 0.651.CONCLUSION: In euthyroid subjects, fT4 levels are associated with metabolic syndrome and all its components.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Cross-Sectional Studies , Glucose , Hypertriglyceridemia , Korea , Nutrition Surveys , Odds Ratio , Prevalence , Thyroid Diseases , Thyroid Gland , Thyroid Hormones , Thyrotropin , ThyroxineABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) using cell-free fetal DNA from maternal plasma for fetal aneuploidy identification is expanding worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of NIPT for the detection of trisomies 21, 18, and 13 of high-risk fetus in a large Korean population. METHODS: This study was performed retrospectively, using stored maternal plasma from 1,055 pregnant women with singleton pregnancies who underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis because of a high-risk indication for chromosomal abnormalities. The NIPT results were confirmed by karyotype analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,055 cases, 108 cases of fetal aneuploidy, including trisomy 21 (n = 57), trisomy 18 (n = 42), and trisomy 13 (n = 9), were identified by NIPT. In this study, NIPT showed 100% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity for trisomy 21, and 92.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity for trisomy 18, and 100% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity for trisomy 13. The overall positive predictive value (PPV) was 98.1%. PPVs for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 ranged from 90.0% to 100%. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that our NIPT technology is reliable and accurate when applied to maternal DNA samples collected from pregnant women. Further large prospective studies are needed to adequately assess the performance of NIPT.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Aneuploidy , Chromosome Aberrations , DNA , Down Syndrome , Fetus , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing , Karyotype , Plasma , Pregnant Women , Prenatal Diagnosis , Prospective Studies , Retrospective Studies , Sensitivity and Specificity , TrisomyABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between smoking attitude and coping skills toward secondhand e-cigarette smoking among nonsmoking college students. METHODS: This study was conducted with 148 students from a University in Seoul, Korea. Participants completed questionnaires and the data were analyzed using a T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The mean score of smoking attitude is 51.35±4.73. The mean score of coping skills is 13.89±2.53 in verbal skills, 10.16±2.37 in behavioral skills, and 8.32±2.30 in assertive skills. Coping skills toward secondhand smoking are noted as being different by current cohabitation smoker. A significant relationship between smoking attitude and behavioral coping skills(r=.23, p=.004) was found, which means that a better smoking attitude was correlated with more active behavioral coping skills. CONCLUSION: The results showed that nonsmoking college students with better smoking attitude react to the E-cigarette smoking with more active behaviors. Therefore, interventions are needed to be developed to encourage better smoking attitude and coping skills toward secondhand E-cigarette smoking.
Subject(s)
Humans , Adaptation, Psychological , Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems , Korea , Seoul , Smoke , Smoking , Tobacco Smoke PollutionABSTRACT
Perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) is a very rare mesenchymal tumor with a distinctive morphology and immunophenotype. PEComas usually harbor TSC2 alterations, although TFE3 translocations, which occur in MiT family translocation renal cell carcinoma and alveolar soft part sarcoma, are also possible. We recently experienced a case of PEComa with TFE3 expression arising in the breast. An 18-year-old female patient presented with a right breast mass. Histologically, the tumor consisted of epithelioid cells with alveolar structure and showed a diffuse strong expression of HMB45 and TFE3. TSC2 was preserved. Melan A and smooth muscle actin were negative. To our knowledge, this is the first Korean case of PEComa of the breast that intriguingly presented with TFE3 expression.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Female , Humans , Actins , Breast , Carcinoma, Renal Cell , Epithelioid Cells , MART-1 Antigen , Muscle, Smooth , Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasms , Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft PartABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To identify the characteristics and health-care needs of high-risk pregnant women in maternal-fetal intensive care units (MFICU). METHODS: mixed-methods design was adopted. Data were collected from 78 high-risk pregnant women admitted to the MFICU. Qualitative data included ten participants' experiences with hospitalization and childbirth, which were analyzed using mixed content analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using at-test and one-way ANOVA testing. RESULTS: The average score for pregnancy and childbirth health-care needs was 3.54 points. Average score by area was before-admission health care (3.70), health care of baby (3.67), health of childbirth (3.61), postpartum health (3.51), and pregnancy health care during hospitalization (3.48). Qualitative results showed diverse feelings and experiences of high-risk pregnant women and their need for health care, which was expressed in three themes and 11 sub-themes. CONCLUSION: Nurses should recognize high-risk mothers' feelings and needs for pregnancy and childbirth-focused health care to help patients accept their vulnerability and cope positively.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Critical Care , Delivery of Health Care , Hospitalization , Intensive Care Units , Needs Assessment , Parturition , Postpartum Period , Pregnant Women , Prenatal CareABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK-TKIs) are usually effective in lung adenocarcinoma patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement. However, even after a good response to ALK-TKI therapy, most patients acquire resistance to these agents. Histological transformation is one of several suggested mechanisms of acquired resistance to ALK-TKIs. The clinicopathologic features of four patients with ALK-expressing adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine features were analyzed. METHODS: We selected combined neuroendocrine differentiation in pulmonary adenocarcinoma cases with positive ALK immunostaining. Neuroendocrine differentiation was confirmed by CD56 immunohistochemical stain. Additional ALK fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) study and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation tests were also performed. RESULTS: All four cases were positive for ALK immunohistochemistry and no EGFR mutations were detected. Interestingly, the results of ALK FISH assays showed rearrangement in only two cases. Three cases showed combined adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine component without history of ALK-TKI administration; one of them was treated with crizotinib and experienced partial tumor regression. The remaining case had an adenocarcinoma at initial biopsy and she showed a partial response to crizotinib, and neuroendocrine changes were visible on second biopsy. Then she was treated with ceritinib and achieved a partial response. CONCLUSION: We suggest that ALK-rearranged adenocarcinoma with combined neuroendocrine component is responsive to ALK-TKIs. Moreover, even after neuroendocrine transformation as a result of resistance to ALK-TKIs, the tumor may have partial response to second generation ALK-TKIs.
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We describe a 44-year-old woman with paresthesia, fatigue, and palpitation, 10 days after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. The quantitative sensory test showed abnormal detection threshold in her foot. Tilt test result indicated postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Symptoms were improved after immunomodulating therapy, pain control drug, and oral beta blocker medication. This is first case report for small fiber neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction after HPV vaccination in Korea.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Erythromelalgia , Fatigue , Foot , Korea , Papillomavirus Vaccines , Paresthesia , Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome , VaccinationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Transfusion is one of the most important treatments in patient care. It has been known that there is a lack of transfusion medicine knowledge of doctors in other countries, however it has not been investigated yet in Korea. In this study, we assessed the educational need and the knowledge on transfusion medicine for trainees to provide basic raw data for future education in transfusion medicine. METHODS: Transfusion is one of the most important treatments in patient care. It has been known that there is a lack of transfusion medicine knowledge of doctors in other countries, however it has not been investigated yet in Korea. In this study, we assessed the educational need and the knowledge on transfusion medicine for trainees to provide basic raw data for future education in transfusion medicine. RESULTS: Among trainees, 89.9% said they received more than one hour of transfusion medicine education at medical schools, but 57.3% did not receive transfusion medicine education after finishing medical school. Moreover, 76.4% and 86.5% of respondents stated that additional transfusion medicine education was needed during and after medical school respectively. Among respondents, 43.5%, 53.9%, and 28.1% reported their knowledge on blood products, pretransfusion testing, and transfusion reactions as low or very low. In the assessment of knowledge of transfusion medicine, the mean percentage of correct answers was 65.2%. The rates of correct answers (average) ranged from 25.8% to 80.9% (58.2%), 49.4% to 94.4% (75.7%) 70.8% to 89.9% (80.2%) in case of blood products, pretransfusion testing, and transfusion reactions respectively. CONCLUSION: Transfusion medicine education among trainees after finishing medical school was found to be insufficient, and additional education for transfusion medicine is demanded by trainees.
Subject(s)
Education , Korea , Patient Care , Schools, Medical , Surveys and Questionnaires , Transfusion Medicine , Transfusion ReactionABSTRACT
We describe a patient with sensory polyneuropathy and cobalt intoxication. The cause of cobalt intoxication was metallosis of a metal-on-metal hip joint composed of cobalt-chrome alloy. A nerve conduction study revealed axonal sensory polyneuropathy, which improved slightly after chelation therapy and revision surgery. This case implies that a history of arthroplasty should not be neglected in the context of sensory polyneuropathy.
Subject(s)
Humans , Alloys , Arthroplasty , Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip , Axons , Chelation Therapy , Cobalt , Hip Joint , Neural Conduction , PolyneuropathiesABSTRACT
In the article, Methods of Hematoxylin and Erosin Image Information Acquisition and Optimization in Confocal Microscopy, there was a typographical error in the title.
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OBJECTIVES: We produced hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining-like color images by using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), which can obtain the same or more information in comparison to conventional tissue staining. METHODS: We improved images by using several image converting techniques, including morphological methods, color space conversion methods, and segmentation methods. RESULTS: An image obtained after image processing showed coloring very similar to that in images produced by H&E staining, and it is advantageous to conduct analysis through fluorescent dye imaging and microscopy rather than analysis based on single microscopic imaging. CONCLUSIONS: The colors used in CLSM are different from those seen in H&E staining, which is the method most widely used for pathologic diagnosis and is familiar to pathologists. Computer technology can facilitate the conversion of images by CLSM to be very similar to H&E staining images. We believe that the technique used in this study has great potential for application in clinical tissue analysis.