Associations between TBX21 Gene Polymorphisms and Korean Patients with Behcet's Disease / 대한류마티스학회지

OBJECTIVE: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with unknown etiology. A number of clinical and laboratory findings suggest a strongly polarized Th1 immune response in BD. T-bet is a newly identified Th1 specific T-box transcription factor selectively expressed in Th1 cells. However, it is not yet clear whether the T-bet protein is involved in the proposed Th1-mediated pathogenesis of BD at the transcriptional level. Therefore, this study investigated the potential associations of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at positions -99 (C/G) and -1993 (T/C) in the exon and promoter regions of the TBX21 gene with susceptibility to BD in the Korean population. METHODS: 105 patients with BD and 105 healthy controls were studied. All subjects were genotyped using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The genotypes of the two groups were compared with the chi-square or Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: The genotypic and allelic distributions of the two SNPs did not differ significantly between the two groups. Furthermore, no associations between the polymorphisms and clinical manifestations were found, except a central nervous system manifestation and arthritis. Furthermore, no associations between the polymorphisms and severity were identified. CONCLUSION: TBX21 gene polymorphisms were not associated with susceptibility, clinical manifestations, or severity of BD in the Korean population.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia initially presenting with polymyalgia rheumatica / 대한내과학회지

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a clinical syndrome of unknown etiology characterized by aching and stiffness in the shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle, and neck that occurs in people over the age of 50 years. New-onset proximal muscle pain and stiffness in subjects older than 50 are the most common symptoms of PMR, but polymyalgic pain can also be present in patients with malignant neoplasms. The musculoskeletal system may be involved in malignancy either directly or indirectly, particularly in cases involving hematological malignancies. Only a few cases of cancer-associated PMR have been reported worldwide, and this is the first in Korea. We report the case of a 58-year-old man diagnosed with PMR associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Inflammatory Markers as Prognostic Factors for Patients with ARDS / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is ultimately an inflammatory state. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level are inflammatory markers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of the ESR, CRP and APACHE II score as prognostic factors for patient with ARDS. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 87 ARDS patients. The predictors (APACHE II score, ESR and CRP) and outcomes (mortality and length of the total hospital stay, the ICU stay and mechanical ventilator care) were obtained from the patients' records. The patients were grouped according to survival as the Survivor and Non survivor groups. We compared the APACHE II score, the ESR and the CRP level between the survivor group and the nonsurvivor group. We evaluated the correlation between the predictors and the outcomes. The initial ESR, CRP level and APACHE II score were checked at the time of ICU admission and the second ESR and CRP level were checked 3.3+/-1.2 days after ICU admission. RESULTS: Thirty-eight (43.7%) patients remained alive and 49 (56.3%) patients died. The APACHE II score was significantly lower for the survivor group than that for the non survivor group (14.7+/-7.6 vs 19.6+/-9.1, respectively, p=0.006). The initial ESR and CRP level were not different between the survivor and non-survivor groups (ESR 64.0+/-37.8 mm/hr vs 63.3+/-36.7 mm/hr, respectively, p=0.93, CRP 15.5+/-9.6 mg/dl vs 16.3+/-8.5 mg/dl, respectively, p=0.68). The decrement of the CRP level for the survivor group was greater than that for the non survivor group (-8.23+/-10.0 mg/dl vs -1.46+/-10.1 mg/dl, respectively, p=0.003). Correlation analysis revealed the initial ESR was positively correlated with the length of the total hospital stay and the ICU stay (correlation coefficient of the total hospital days: R=0.43, p=0.001, correlation coefficient of the ICU stay: R=0.39, p=0.014). CONCLUSION: The initial APACHE II score can predict the mortality of ARDS patients, and the degree of the early CRP change can be a predictor of mortality for ARDS patients. The initial ESR has positive correlation with the ARDS patients' duration of the total hospital stay and the ICU stay.

Renal Cell Carcinoma Occurred in Native Kidneys before and after Renal Transplantation / 대한신장학회지

One of the major risk factors of renal cell carcinoma is acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD) developed in course of end-stage renal failure (ESRF) and the incidence of ACKD increases with the duration of dialysis. Moreover, the overall incidence of renal cell carcinoma after renal transplantation has been reported to be being more than 8 times higher compared with that of general population. But renal cell carcinomas occurred in native kidneys before and after renal transplantation in ESRF patient with ACKD are very rare. We experienced a case of renal cell carcinoma occurred in native kidneys 14 months before and 5 months after renal transplantation in an ESRF patient with ACKD.

Association between Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Gene Polymorphism and Rheumatoid Arthritis / 대한류마티스학회지

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the interaction of multiple mediators, especially cytokines. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine and has been shown to be involved in RA. This study explored the association of the MIF gene polymorphism with RA in Korean. METHODS: 114 patients with RA, and 114 age and gender matched healthy controls were studied. Patients and controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 5'-flanking region at position -173 of the MIF gene. RESULTS: No significant differences in MIF gene polymorphism were observed in RA compared to healthy controls. No association with disease severity was detected for the MIF gene polymorphism. CONCLUSION: MIF -173 G/C polymorphism did not appear to be associated with genetic susceptibility and disease severity in Korean RA patients.