Usefulness of interferon-γ release assay for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in young children.

Purpose: Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in young children may progress to severe active tuberculosis (TB) disease and serve as a reservoir for future transmission of TB disease. There are limited data on interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) performance in young children, which our research aims to address by investigating the usefulness of IGRA for the diagnosis of LTBI.

Methods: We performed a tuberculin skin test (TST) and IGRA on children who were younger than 18 years and were admitted to Chung-Ang University Hospital during May 2011-June 2015.

Genetic study in a case of birt-hogg-dubé syndrome.

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS) is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder characterized by multiple trichodiscomas, fibrofolliculomas, and acrocordons. There is also an increased risk of developing renal neoplasms and lung cysts/spontaneous pneumothorax. We present a 43-year-old man with multiple, 2~4 mm sized, dome-shaped, and skin-colored papules on his cheek and neck.

Senescence-associated genes in normal human oral keratinocytes.

The current study was undertaken to identify senescence-associated (SA) genes in cultured normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOK). Primary NHOK were serially subcultured in vitro as dispersed cells in low (0.15 mM) Ca(2+) medium until senescence.