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Shewanella are Gram-negative rods and marine pathogens. Here, we report a case of bacterial keratitis caused by Shewanella algae without marine exposure. A 66-year-old man with suspected pneumonia was sent to the emergency department from a nursing hospital. He had been in there for 2 years in a vegetative state and could not close his eyes voluntarily. Neither the patient nor his family had experienced any marine exposure. Keratitis was suspected in his right eye. Gram-negative rods grew from swab culture and identified as S. algae by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 16S rRNA sequencing. The patient was treated with topical tobramycin, moxifloxacin and ofloxacin as well as steroids for 14 days, and the keratitis improved. S. algae is a rare human pathogen, and most human infections involve marine exposure. This is the second report of bacterial keratitis caused by S. algae worldwide and the first in Asia.
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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03642.].
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The objective of the present retrospective comparative cohort study was to compare the impact of wearing glasses versus an orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lens on peripheral optical properties and myopia progression in a population of South Korean children. Participants included children with myopia, between 8 and 12 years of age (n = 22 eyes), and divided into two groups: those who used glasses (Group I, n = 9) and those who used an Ortho-K lens (Group II, n = 13). Myopia progression over one year was quantified by changes in the central axial length of the eye. Keratometry and corneal aberrations on both the anterior and posterior surfaces of the eye were obtained using a Scheimpflug camera. A custom-developed Shack-Hartmann aberrometer was also used to measure peripheral aberrations across the horizontal visual field, up to 30°, and along the nasal-temporal meridian in 10-degree steps. Central axial elongation was larger in Group I (0.59 ± 0.21 mm) than in Group II (0.34 ± 0.18 mm) (P = .01). Relative peripheral spherical refractions at 10 and 20° nasally and at 10° temporally (P = 0.04, 0.049, and 0.042, respectively) relative to the fovea were positively correlated with central axial elongation in Group II. Group II exhibited an increase in peripheral ocular high order aberrations, such as horizontal coma and asymmetric trefoil. The use of Ortho-K lenses was found to slow the rate of central axis elongation in children with myopia. This effect might be related to an increase in both peripheral spherical refraction and peripheral ocular higher order aberrations with Ortho-K lens use.
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Bupleuri Radix (BR), the dried roots of Bupleurum falcatum L., has been used in folk medicine as an antiinflammatory and antioxidative agent. The aqueous extract of BR was evaluated for its possible ameliorative effect in the regulation of hyperthyroidism in l-thyroxine- (LT4-) induced rat model. After oral administration of 300, 150, and 75 mg/kg of BR extracts, once a day for 15 days from 12th LT4 treatments, changes on the body, thyroid gland, liver, and epididymal fat pad weights, serum triiodothyronine, thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, asparte aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase concentrations, hepatic lipid peroxidation, glutathione contents, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities were investigated with thyroid gland, liver, and epididymal fat histopathological changes. The effects of BR extracts were compared with that of propylthiouracil, a standard antithyroid drug 10 mg/kg (intraperitoneally). In this experiment, BR extracts dose dependently reversed LT4-induced hyperthyroidisms, and these effects indicating their potential in the regulation of hyperthyroidism. Further, the BR extract normalized LT4-induced liver oxidative stresses, and also reduced liver and epididymal fat pad changes. BR extracts 150 mg/kg showed comparable effects on the LT4-induced rat hyperthyroidism as compared with PTU 10 mg/kg. These effects of BR may help the improvement of hyperthyroidisms and accompanied various organ damages.
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The effect of DHU001, a mixed herbal formula consisted of 7 types aqueous extracts for various respiratory disorders were evaluated on the formalin-induced paw chronic inflammation in mice after oral administration. Mice were subaponeurotically injected in the left hind paw with 0.02 ml of 3.75% formalin, then subjected to 500, 250 and 125 mg/kg of DHU001 oral administration, once a day for 10 days during which then the hind-paw thickness and volume were measured daily. The paw wet-weight, histological profiles, histomorphometrical analyses and paw tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α contents were conducted at termination. After two formalin treatments, a marked increase in the paw thickness and volume was detected in the formalin-injected control as compared with that in the intact control, plus at the time of sacrifice the paw wet-weights, paw TNF-α contents were also dramatically increased with severe chronic inflammation signs at histopathological observations. However, these formalin-induced chronic inflammatory changes were dramatically decreased by treatment of dexamethasone and all three different dosages of DHU001. DHU001 has favorable effects on formalin-induced chronic inflammation mediated by TNF-α suppression, and DHU001 may represent an alternative approach for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.
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In this research, the genotoxic effect of Picrorrhiza Rhizoma (PR) aqueous extract was evaluated using the mouse micronucleus test. PR extract was administered once a day for 2 continuous days by oral gavage to male ICR mice at doses of 2000, 1000 and 500 mg/kg. Cyclophosphamide was used as a known genotoxic agent in a positive control. The appearance of a micronucleus (MN) in polychromatic erythrocyte (PCE) is used as an index for genotoxic potential, and PCE ratio is used as an index of cytotoxicity. Although significant (p < 0.01) increase of the number of PCE with one or more nuclei (MNPCE) was detected in cyclophosphamide treated groups, no significant increases of MNPCE numbers were observed in all three different dosages of PR extracts treated mice with over 0.39 of the individual polychromatic erythrocyte ratio in all mice used in this study. The results obtained indicated that PR extract shows no genotoxicity effects up to 2000 mg/kg dosing levels.
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BACKGROUND/AIMS: Several risk factors, such as size and location, are related to local recurrence after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The objectives of this study were to clarify factors related to prognosis. METHODS: From October 1999 to December 2002, we performed RFA for 107 consecutive patients with solitary HCC. We evaluated spiral computed tomography and serum alpha-fetoprotein level every 3 months after RFA. Seven possible factors for prognosis were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model: tumor size, tumor location, age, sex, etiology, platelet count, and Child-Pugh classification. Overall survival and disease free survival rate were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between two groups were compared using the log rank test. RESULTS: The Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival after radiofrequency ablation were 90.5% at 12 months, 67.4% at 24 months and 46.4% at 36 months and disease free survival were 71.4%, 46.7% and 20.9%, respectively. Using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, it was shown that with regard to overall survival and disease free survival, Child-Pugh classification (P=0.001, P=0.026) and platelet count (P<0.001, P=0.002) were statistically significant factors. The other factors did not have a statistically significant relationship to overall survival and disease free survival. CONCLUSIONS: The size and location known as local recurrence factors were not statistically significant with regard to survival and disease free survival. The Child-Pugh classification and platelet count, that reflect the liver function at the time of RFA, were significant factors for prognosis.
