Differences in p53 gene polymorphisms between Korean schizophrenia and lung cancer patients.

The reduced incidence of cancer observed in schizophrenia patients may be related to differences in genetic background. It has been suggested that genetic predisposition towards schizophrenia is associated with reduced vulnerability to lung cancer, and p53 gene is one of the candidate genes. We tested the genetic association between schizophrenia and lung cancer by analyzing polymorphic sites in the p53 gene.

Proton MR spectroscopic changes in Parkinson's diseases after thalamotomy.

To investigate whether there are significant changes in regional brain metabolism in patients with Parkinson's disease before and after thalamotomy using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS). Fifteen patients underwent 15 stereotactic thalamotomies for control of medically refractory parkinsonian tremor. Single-voxel 1H MRS was carried out on a 1.

Non-linear registration for brain images by maximising feature and intensity similarities with a Bayesian framework.

The objective of this work was to provide a new, precise registration of the cortical mantle with a non-linear transformation. Image registration is broadly classified into two types, using intensity similarity and feature similarity. Whereas the former approach has merit in global brain matching, the latter provides a fast registration centred on a region of interest.

Angiotensin converting enzyme gene polymorphism in Korean patients with primary knee osteoarthritis.

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) plays an important role in the physiology of vasculature, blood pressure and inflammation. ACE gene, known to have insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism, has been widely investigated in its relation with cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and longevity. ACE gene polymorphism in an inflammation associated osteoarthritis (OA) patients is not known.

Interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha are increased in minimal change disease but do not alter albumin permeability.

Aims: Minimal change disease (MCD) is the most common primary nephrotic syndrome in children. Some suggested that interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are involved in the pathogenesis of MCD. This study was done to see changes of plasma and urinary IL-8, TNF-alpha, and their effects on determination of permeability of glomerular basement membrane (BM) contributed by heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG).

The pattern of differentially expressed genes in biliary atresia.

Biliary atresia is a progressive obliterative cholangiopathy, but the etiology of this disorder remains uncertain. Identifying genes specifically expressed in biliary atresia and analyzing the pattern of expression may lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis. Liver tissues were taken from a recipient with biliary atresia and a normal donor during liver transplantation.

Determination of N(pp)(gas) and N(pp)(D) for a plane-parallel chamber.

The purpose of this work is to investigate the consistency of determining N(pp)(gas) and N(pp)(D) by using three independent calibration methods from the AAPM TG 39 and IAEA TRS 381 protocols: 1) calibration with a high-energy electron beam in a phantom; 2) in-phantom calibration in a (60)Co beam; and 3) in-air calibration in a (60)Co beam. The plane-parallel chamber considered was the PTW-Markus and the comparisons were made against a calibrated PTW cylindrical Farmer-type chamber 30001. The phantom material used for the electron beam and (60)Co in-phantom methods was a solid water phantom (RW3).

Feasibility of proton chemical shift imaging with a stereotactic headframe.

To prove feasibility of proton chemical shift imaging ((1)H CSI) during stereotactic procedure, authors performed (1)H CSI in combination with a stereotactic headframe and selected targets according to local metabolic information, evaluated the pathologic results. The (1)H CSI directed stereotactic biopsy was performed in four patients. (1)H CSI and conventional Gd-enhancement stereotactic MRI were performed simultaneously after the fitting of a stereotactic headframe.

Parental concerns on the circumcision for elementary school boys: a questionnaire study.

To evaluate the parental concerns for elementary school boys (7-12 yr) on the circumcision, a randomly selected cross-sectional survey was performed in each elementary school from 16 urban wards in Busan. We asked 10,861 parents to answer the questionnaires on the circumcision such as the benefits and fallbacks of circumcision, proper time and knowledge of the surgery, and neonatal circumcision. The overall response rate to the questionnaire was 38.

Cloning and characterization of rat neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein cDNA.

The human neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP) gene was originally discovered because of its deletion in infantile spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a childhood genetic disorder characterized by motor neuron loss and progressive paralysis with muscular atrophy. Although SMA is now known to be caused by deletions of survival motor neuron (SMN), the fact that NAIP is an anti-apoptotic protein is consistent with the NAIP gene modifying SMA severity. Here we report the cloning of a 1.

Evaluation of a Apo-1/Fas promoter polymorphism in Korean stroke patients.

Apoptosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Apo-1/Fas gene is one of the mediators of apoptosis in stroke. Mval polymorphism is the first polymorphic marker identified in the Apo-1/Fas gene promoter, which was typed by PCR and followed by Mval digestion and gel electrophoresis.

l-myc Polymorphism in Gastric Cancer, Lung Cancer, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Purpose: This study was performed to see if a particular polymorphism in the l-myc, a nuclear oncogene at the 1p32 locus, might be associated with greater risk of gastric cancer, lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) in Korean patients.

Materials And Methods: Genomic DNA, derived from patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (n=57), lung cancer (n=39), HCC (n=35) and healthy individuals (n= 176), was examined. The l-myc polymorphism under study was visualized by PCR followed by EcoRI digestion.

Metabolic alterations in Parkinson's disease after thalamotomy, as revealed by 1H MR spectroscopy.

Objective: To determine, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) whether thalamotomy in patients with Parkinson's disease gives rise to significant changes in regional brain metabolism.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients each underwent stereotactic thalamotomy for the control of medically refractory parkinsonian tremor. Single-voxel 1H MRS was performed on a 1.

A new strategy for the diagnosis of MAGE-expressing cancers.

The expression of melanoma antigen gene (MAGE), coding for tumor antigens recognized by cytotoxic T cell, is highly specific to cancer cells, but their use in the detection of a few cancer cells by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been limited by the low frequency of expression of individual MAGE genes. In order to increase MAGE detection rate in RT-PCR assay, here, we designed multiple MAGEs recognizing primers (MMRPs) that can bind to the sequences of cDNA of MAGE-1, -2, -3, -4a, -4b, -5a, -5b and-6 (MAGE 1-6) together. The nested RT-PCR assay using MMRPs, MAGE 1-6 assay, detected MAGE messages of 1 to 5 SNU484 cells in a background of 10(7) SNU638 cells.

Pelvic organ prolapse and connective tissue abnormalities in Korean women.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between pelvic organ prolapse in Korean women and joint hypermobility, which suggests a metabolic collagen fiber abnormality.

Study Design: Between March 1998 and March 2000, we investigated 55 patients with prolapse. The prevalence of joint hypermobility, by measuring finger extension angle, and the proportion of patients with joint hypermobility were measured in patients with pelvic organ prolapse and benign gynecologic patients (control group).

FKBP-12 exhibits an inhibitory activity on calcium oxalate crystal growth in vitro.

Urolithiasis and calcium oxalate crystal deposition diseases are still significant medical problems. In the course of nephrocalcin cDNA cloning, we have identified FKBP-12 as an inhibitory molecule of calcium oxalate crystal growth. lambdagt 11 cDNA libraries were constructed from renal carcinoma tissues and screened for nephrocalcin cDNA clones using anti-nephrocalcin antibody as a probe.

Immune response induced by immunization with Hepatitis B virus core DNA isolated from chronic active hepatitis patients.

There are many mutations in the gene encoding Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core antigen of chronic active hepatitis patients, and such mutations are most likely to be related to the severity of disease. Here, we constructed plasmids containing wild-type and deletion type of HBV core gene (HBc) to develop an experimental DNA vaccine and to compare immunogenicity of two types of HBc vaccine. Twenty-nine wild-types and seven deletion types of HBc were detected in sera of 32 Korean patients with chronic active hepatitis.

Metabolic changes in pericontusional oedematous areas in mild head injury evaluated by 1H MRS.

In order to define metabolic brain changes associated with mild traumatic brain injury, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was performed in patients with regional brain contusion and 13-15 of initial GCS score. The authors measured N-acetylaspartate(NAA)/creatine(Cr) ratio and lactate signal on in vivo proton MRS, which indicated cell loss and ischaemic dAmage respectively, in pericontusional oedematous areas (region of interest; ROI) adjacent to traumatic brain contusion on brain MRI to determine possible metabolic changes. The metabolic ratio of NAA/Cr and lactate/Cr peaks was measured both in the ROI and a corresponding region of the contralateral hemisphere (ROC) in seven patients and twenty-five normal control.

Proton magnetic resonance chemical shift imaging (1H CSI)-directed stereotactic biopsy.

Introduction: To add metabolic information during stereotactic biopsy target selection, the authors adopted proton chemical shift imaging (1H CSI)-directed stereotactic biopsy. Currently, proton single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) technique has been reported in stereotactic biopsy. We performed 1H CSI in combination with a stereotactic headframe and selected targets according to local metabolic information, and evaluated the pathological results.

Increases in cell proliferation and apoptosis in dentate gyrus of anorexia (anx/anx) mice.

The homozygous anorexia mutant (anx/anx) mice present with premature death during the third or fourth postnatal week: this phenotype is caused by a lethal mutation, anx, on chromosome 2, which has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. These animals also present phenotypically with decreased food intake, weight loss, and neurological deficits such as hyperactivity, body tremors, uncoordinated gait, and head weaving. In order to investigate changes in the occurrence of cell proliferation and apoptosis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of anx/anx mice, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay were performed in this study.

Differential expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase in hypothalamic areas of obese Zucker rats.

Several studies have suggested that the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) may be involved in the regulation of food intake in the genetically obese Zucker rats. In the present study, we investigated the expression of NOS in various hypothalamic regions of obese and lean Zucker rats using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase histochemistry. Obese Zucker rats showed significantly lower staining intensities of NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) than lean Zucker rats did.

A systemic administration of NMDA induces immediate early gene pip92 in the hippocampus.

In the mammalian CNS, aspartate and glutamate are major excitatory amino acids, and their receptors are believed to mediate a wide range of physiological and pathological processes, including neurotransmission, plasticity, excitotoxicity, and various forms of neurodegeneration. The immediate early gene pip92 has been identified in serum-stimulated BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts, activated T lymphocytes treated with cycloheximide, and fibroblast growth factor-stimulated hippocampal cells during neuronal differentiation. In this study we have demonstrated that pip92 is expressed in the mouse brain after a single intraperitoneal injection of NMDA.

A case of huge ovarian cyst of 21-year-old young woman.

Huge ovarian tumors are rarely seen in modern surgical practice. As health care education and access to hospitals have improved over the past 30 years, the number of these reports have become almost negligible. However, these huge ovarian tumors still present many challenge, even life-threatening risks due to severe cardiovascular, pulmonary, and circulatory problems, including technical difficulties of surgery, massive hemorrhage, and postoperative complications.

Expression of neuropeptide Y by glutamatergic stimulation in rat C6 glioma cells.

We have investigated the expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in C6 glioma cells after the glutamatergic stimulation by the in situ RT-PCR and immunocytochemical techniques. The expression of NPY mRNA correlated well with immunocytological findings in each series of experiments. NPY protein expression was enhanced by glutamate (1, 10, 50, 100 microM, and 1 mM) dose-dependently, and its expression was slightly increased by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 1, 10, 100, 500 microM, and 1 mM) and kainic acid (1, 10, 100, 300 microM, and 1 mM).