Elemental analysis of the liver, kidney, and intestine tissues from a Hodgson's bat (Myotis formosus tsuensis)

Hodgson's bats are critically endangered in South Korea. This study analyzed the concentrations of elements in liver, kidney, and intestine tissues from a Hodgson's bat found dead in the wild. The concentrations of essential elements followed the order Fe > Zn > Cu >Mn > Se in the three tissues. Hg was detected at the highest concentrations among the non-essential elements analyzed in the liver and kidney tissues, while As was the most highly concentrated non-essential element in the intestine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of tissue element concentrations in Hodgson's bats.

Clinical Analysis of Placental Abruption / 대한주산의학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: Placental abruption is one of the obstetric hemorrhage diseases that needs emergent treatment. But there is no predictable tool for placental abruption at present, we clinically analyzed its incidence, etiological factors, signs and symptom and neonatal outcome for reducing complications of this disease. METHODS: The data presented here were based on 80 cases of placental abruption among 20,483 deliveries during 13 years of period from January, 1991 to December, 2003. RESULTS: The incidence of placental abruption was 0.4%. Most of cases (97.5%) occurred over 28 weeks of gestational age. The incidence of unknown etiological factor was 67.5% and pregnancy-induced hypertension was related in 22.5% of cases. The most common signs and symptom was vaginal bleeding (46.3%). Lower abdominal pain (33.8%), fetal distress (10%), premature labor (5%) were also noted. The half of the patients was diagnosed before delivery and the mode of delivery was cesarean section in 93.8%. The survival rate of newborns in severe degree group (14.3%) of placental abruption was lower than that of mild degree group (94.1%) or moderate degree group (84.6%). Additionally, Apgar scores at 1min and 5min of newborns in severe degree group (1.3+/-2.4/1.3+/-3.0) were significantly lower than that of mild degree group (5.9+/-2.5/7.5+/-2.2) or moderate degree group (5.5+/-2.7/7+/-2.8) (p<0.01). There was no maternal death in our study. CONCLUSION: Because the etiological factor of this disease was uncertain in two thirds of cases, comprehension of etiological factor such as pregnancy-induced hypertension and signs and symptom is emphasized. Bleeding and uteroplacental insufficiency caused by placental abruption affect fetal jeopardy in severe cases. Accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment including management of premature baby should be conducted in suspicious case of placental abruption for prevention of progression of this disease.

Genomic gain and loss of cervical cancer using BAC Chip / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: Cervical cancer has long been linked to the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), and the oncoproteins E6 and E7 disrupt the functions of tumour suppressor genes, resulting in genetic alteration. It was shown that loss of heterozygosity at 6p is a common genetic alteration in cervical cancer. However, the molecular genetics of cancer have only recently been understood, and for the development of cervical cancer additional genetic alterations in host cell genes are required. The present study has identified the differential changes of the cervical cancer-associated genetic alterations by a genome-wide array based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH). METHODS: We analyzed 15 cases of cervical cancer from St. Mary's hospital of The paraffin-fixed tissue samples were microdissected under microscope and DNA was extracted by the procedures of proteinase K digestion and chloroform extraction. Array-based CGH and genomic PCR were carried out with statistical analyses such as hierarchical clustering and Gene Ontology. The BAC array used in this study consisted of 1,440 human BACs, the space among the clones were approximately 2.08 megabase (Macrogen, Seoul, Korea). RESULTS: All of 15 cases of cervical cancer showed specific gains and losses. The analysis limit of average gains and losses was 53%. A significant positive correlation was found between 1p36.32, 3p14.2, 3q27.1, 7p21.1, 8q24.3 and 11q13.1 changes through the cervical carcinogenesis. The high-level of gain regions, BAC clones encoded GSDMDC1, RECQL4, TP73, ABCF3, ALG3, HDAC9, ESRRA and RPS6KA4 genes. Frequently gained BAC clones encoded genes were PRSS8, FUS, COL18A1, PCOLN3, MAFG and ASPSCR1. The genes encoded by frequently lost BAC clones were PTPRG, GRM7, ZDHHC3, EXOSC7, LRP1B and NR3C2. Also, hierarchical clustering of the expression data readily distinguished genomic alterations in cervical cancer. A subset of cellular processes from each gene was clustered by Gene Ontology database. CONCLUSION: Using Array-CGH, genomic alterations related to cervical cancer were identified to determine whether induction of chromosomal imbalances occurs prior to carcinogenesis. The high resolution of array-CGH combined with human genome database would give a chance to find out possible target genes present in the gained or lost clones.

Search for Gene Expression in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma using GeneFishing(TM) DEG PCR Technique / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression profiles using GeneFishing(TM) DEG kit in Korean women with cervical squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: Cervical cancer biopsies were obtained from patients at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Mary's hodpital. In this study, we used a common reference that was mixed with an equal amount of RNA extracted from non-cervical cancer patients. The profiles of expression genes between cervical normal and squamous cell carcinoma tissue were identified using GeneFishing(TM) DEG Kit and screened by BLAST search. RESULTS: Almost 100 differential expressed genes were identified in universal control and cervical squamous cell carcinoma, 53 of differential expressed genes, up-regulated expression of 32 and 21 down-regulated expression was sequenced. Up-regulated genes were calcylin, calgranulin A, TRK oncogene, HLC5, fibrillarin, collagene type I alpha1 etc. and down-regulated genes were galectin 1, PRP8 pre-mRNA precessing factor 8 homology, clusterin etc. CONCLUSION: We identified gene expression profile in cervical squamous cell carcinoma using GeneFishing(TM) Kit in Korean women. The functional genomics of these genes should be further studied.

The Safety of Incidental Appendectomy during Total Abdominal Hysterectomy / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of the incidental appendectomies in women who undergo total abdominal hysterectomies for benign diseases. METHODS: This was a retrospective case-controlled study of patients who did (n=54) or did not (n=70) undergo incidental appendectomies at the time of an total abdominal hysterectomy between January 2002 and December 2003. Data were obtained about operation time, the number of days with nothing by mouth, the length of hospital stay (LOS), postoperative complications and pathology of appendix. Data were analyzed using student t-test. RESULTS: 1) There was no significant difference between two groups in operation time. The mean time was 120.0+/-23.8 in incidental appendectomy group and 112.5+/-23.9 minutes in control group. 2) There was no significant difference between two groups in the days with nothing by mouth. The mean was 1.06+/-0.23 in incidental appendectomy group and 1.03+/-0.17 days in control group. 3) There was no significant difference between two groups in the length of hospital stays. The mean was 7.34+/-0.68 in incidental appendectomy group and 7.14+/-1.15 days in control group. 4) There were no significant differences between two groups with respect to the post operative complications; fever, wound infection, stump disruption, and postoperative bleeding. 5) Seventy-six percent of the histologic specimens were abnormal, with fecalith being most common, and there were three cases of acute appendicitis. CONCLUSION: An incidental appendectomy at the time of hysterectomy does not increase operation time, the days with nothing by mouth, LOS, and postoperative complication rates. The incidental appendectomies during total abdominal hysterectomy may be safe procedures.

A Case of Leiomyoma of the Ovary / 대한산부인과학회지

Leiomyoma arising primarily in the ovary is a rare tumor, accounting for only 1% of benign ovarian neoplasms. About 50 cases have been reported in the literature to date. Most cases are asymptomatic and this benign neoplasm is usually found incidentally on routine pelvic examination, at surgery, or at autopsy. We present a case of ovarian leiomyoma in 39-year-old woman which has been experienced in our hospital with brief review of literature.

Reliability and Validity of Korean Version of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale: Multi-center study

OBJECTIVE: To assess the inter-tester and test-retest reliability and validity after developing of Korean version of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). METHOD: This research was conducted on 27 patents with stroke with less than 12 months since the onset of disease. Five physiatrists translated NIHSS into Korean. Video taping were used for objective scorings. Four physiatrists conducted scorings in order to seek for inter-tester reliability and one conducted scorings three weeks interval for test-retest reliability. Six physiatrists conducted scorings in order to seek for concurrent validity with the original NIHSS and four conducted scorings for validity with other impairment scale. Each score was analyzed based on Spear-man correlation coefficient. RESULTS: According to inter-tester reliability for Korean version of NIHSS, rho value reached over 0.70, with over 0.72 concerning test-retest reliability. The test on concurrent validity with the original NIHSS reached over 0.70 at rho value, with over 0.653 for MMSE, Motricity index, Brunnstrom stage. CONCLUSION: Newly developed Korean version of NIHSS showed high inter-tester and test-retest reliabilities, together with high concurrent validity with the original and other impairment scales, to be regarded to be used as primary impairment scale for patients with stroke.