Clinical significance of variceal hemorrhage in recent years in patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices.

Background And Aims: Recent progress in the treatment of variceal bleeding might have reduced the impact of variceal bleeding on survival in patients with esophageal varices. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in an attempt to re-evaluate the clinical significance of variceal bleeding.

Methods: A cohort of 304 patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices, who had no previous history of variceal bleeding and no prophylactic therapy, was studied.

Cyanidin and Malvidin from Oryza sativa cv. Heugjinjubyeo mediate cytotoxicity against human monocytic leukemia cells by arrest of G(2)/M phase and induction of apoptosis.

Oryza sativa cv. Heugjinjubyeo (Gramineae), anthocyanin-pigmented rice, having dark purple grains, is known broadly as enriched rice with an improved taste. Two bioactive compounds were isolated from the 0.

[A case of chronic gastrointestinal bleeding from a Meckel's diverticulum detected by wireless capsule endoscopy].

Meckel's diverticulum is an embryonic derivative of the omphalomesenteric duct and the most commonly encountered congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract. Its incidence records about 2%. Among them, only 5% are symptomatic with complications-bleeding, intestinal obstruction, inflammation, and perforation.

Improved effector activity and memory CD8 T cell development by IL-2 expression during experimental respiratory syncytial virus infection.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory infection in young children and the elderly. Studies of mice suggest that RSV suppresses the effector activity of CD8 T cells and the development of pulmonary CD8 T cell memory, in which the impaired effector activity could be recovered by in vitro IL-2 treatment. To investigate the effect of in vivo IL-2 expression on RSV immunity, mice were infected with RSV followed by administration of replication-defective adenovirus expressing IL-2.

The prognosis of liver cirrhosis in recent years in Korea.

The survival of a recent series of 823 cirrhosis patients who were followed up for a mean of 48 months was analyzed. Cirrhosis was ascribed to alcohol (26%), hepatitis virus B (58%), hepatitis virus C (11%) or both (2%), or was cryptogenic (3%). Features of decompensation were observed in 51% of the patients at entry, and newly developed in 44% of compensated patients within 5 yr.

Ginsenoside Rb1: the anti-ulcer constituent from the head of Panax ginseng.

We previously reported that the butanol (BuOH) fraction of the head of Panax ginseng exhibited gastroprotective activity in peptic and chronic ulcer models. In order to identify the active constituent, an activity-guided isolation of the BuOH faction was conducted with a HCl x ethanol-induced gastric lesion model. The BuOH fraction was passed through a silica-gel column using a chloroform-methanol gradient solvent system, and six fractions (frs.

[An analysis of extravariceal collaterals of gastric varices using magnetic resonance angiography in portal hypertensive patients].

Background/aims: This study was aimed to analyze the relationship between gastric varices and its collaterals using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and to assess the usefulness of MRA in studies of portosystemic circulation.

Methods: Eighty-one patients who had portal hypertension with gastric varices took MRA before the therapy for gastric varices.

Results: The types of collaterals observed by MRA were left gastric vein in 67 patients (83%), short gastric vein in 28 (35%), gastrorenal shunt in 25 (31%), and splenorenal shunt in 14 (17%).

The role of nitric oxide in experimental cerulein induced pancreatitis.

An enhanced formation of nitric oxide (NO), due to the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), has been implicated in the pathogenesis of shock and inflammation, but its role in acute pancreatitis still remains controversial. To clarify the role of NO in acute pancreatitis, the present experiment investigated the expression of iNOS and the effect of NOS inhibition on cerulein-induced pancreatitis in rats. Group I received intraperitoneal (ip) injection of normal saline.

Induction of the differentiation of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells by L-ascorbic acid.

The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of L-ascorbic acid (LAA) on the growth of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells, besides induction of apoptosis. LAA (> or = 10(-4) M) was found to markedly inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 in liquid culture and clonogenicity in semisolid culture. Moreover, LAA-treated HL-60 showed activity to produce chemiluminescence and expressed CD 66b cell surface antigens, indicating that LAA induces the differentiation of HL-60 mainly into granulocytes.

Immune reactivity of recombinant group 2 allergens of house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, and Dermatophagoides farinae.

The group 2 allergens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p) and Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f) are the major source of allergens for patients allergic to house dust mites (HDMs). Previous studies have reported the existence of several polymorphic residues of Der p 2 and Der f 2. In this study, recombinant group 2 allergens of Der p (rDer p 2) and Der f (rDer f 2) were produced in E.

Antiinflammatory activity of alpha-hederin methyl ester from the alkaline hydrolysate of the butanol fraction of Kalopanax pictus bark extract.

Three antiinflammatory saponin components were isolated from the alkaline hydrolysate of a butanol-soluble portion of Kalopanax pictus bark extract through an in vivo activity-guided fractionation procedure. The hydrolysate showed inhibition of adjuvant induced arthritis in rats. After further fractionation, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited antiarthritic activity, which resulted in the isolation of alpha-hederin, alpha-hederin methyl ester, and kalopanaxsaponin I.

[A case of auto-immune hepatitis associated with primary Sjogren's syndrome].

Auto-immune hepatitis is a chronic necroinflammatory liver disorder that is characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, auto-antibodies in serum, and, on histological examination, the presence of periportal hepatitis. Although it can be associated with a number of other auto-immune diseases, Sjogren's syndrome is rarely associated with auto-immune hepatitis. We herein report an unusual case of auto-immune hepatitis associated with primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Distribution and characterization of class 1 integrons in Salmonella enterica serotype Gallinarum biotype Gallinarum.

Fowl typhoid caused by Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Gallinarum biotype Gallinarum is the most important chicken disease in Korea. Due to appearance of new or multiple antibiotics resistances in the recently isolated strains, it was difficult to control the disease using antibiotics in our country.

Expression and characterization of a mutant recombinant blood coagulation factor VIII (rFVIII (m)).

In an earlier study, a site directed mutant rFVIII (rFVIII(m), Arg(336) --> Gln(336)) expressed in baculovirus-insect cell (Sf9) system was found to sustain high level activity during incubation at 37 degrees celsius for 24 h while the cofactor activity of normal plasma was declined steadily. In this study, a mutant B-domain deleted rFVIII(m), Arg(336) --> Gln(336) expressed in baculovirus-insect cell (Sf9) system was characterized for its enzymatic and chemical properties. The expressed rFVIII(m) and plasma FVIII (pFVIII) were purified by immunoaffinity column chromatography and identified by Western blot analysis.

Activity-guided isolation of saponins from Kalopanax pictus with anti-inflammatory activity.

By bioassay-guided separation, a known saponin, kalopanaxsaponin A (1) and a new saponin, pictoside A (2) were isolated from the stem bark of Kalopanax pictus as anti-inflammatory components when evaluated by vascular permeability test. Another novel saponin, pictoside B (3) was also isolated but was inactive in the test system used. The structures of pictosides A and B were elucidated as caulophyllogenin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (2) and pictogenin (3beta,6beta,16alpha,23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-ene-28-oic acid) 3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (3), respectively, by spectral analysis and by chemical degradation.

Effects of combinations of 7beta-hydroxycholesterol and anticancer drugs or ionizing radiation on the proliferation of cultured tumor cells.

Oxysterols compose a large class of natural substances endowed in a number of cases with marked antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities. The consequences of treatments combining 7beta-hydroxycholesterol (7beta-OHC) or XG-142 (a galactose-linked hydrosoluble derivative of 7beta-OHC) with drugs used in cancer chemotherapy or gamma radiation has been evaluated upon a variety of tumor cell lines: Hep-G2, U937, K562 cells, its adriamycin-resistant variant K562 Adr+ and RDM4. Proliferation was assessed by the Uptiblue assay and the [3H]Thymidine incorporation test.

Electron microscopic evaluation of adhesion of Helicobacter pylori to the gastric epithelial cells in chronic gastritis.

Background: The adhesion of H. pylori to the gastric epithelial cells may be an essential step for the pathophysiology of various H. pylori-induced gastrointestinal diseases.

Biliary drainage by endoscopic choledochoduodenal fistulotomy in patients with papillary carcinoma.

Background: There are few reports of endoscopic choledochoduodenal fistulotomy (endoscopic fistulotomy) in patients with papillary carcinoma by using a needle-knife.

Methods: Among 35 patients with papillary carcinoma requiring biliary drainage, 14 with a suprapapillary bulge underwent endoscopic fistulotomy alone or with widening of the fistula by using a standard sphincterotome or dilation balloon catheter.

Observations: Transfistula bile duct cannulation was successful on the first attempt in 13 of 14 patients (93%) and temporary biliary drainage through the fistula was successfully established in all 13 patients.

Engineering N-glycosylation mutations in IL-12 enhances sustained cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses for DNA immunization.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12), consisting of p40 and p35 subunits, produces both p70 heterodimer and free p40. p70 is essential for the induction of T-helper 1 (Th1) and cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) immunity, whereas p40 inhibits p70-mediated function. Here, we found that mutations introduced into N-glycosylation sites (N220 of murine p40 and N222 of human p40) reduced secretion of p40 but not p70.

Effects of Opuntia ficus-indica var. Saboten stem on gastric damages in rats.

The effects of the dried stem powder of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten (OF-s) were investigated on gastric lesion and ulcer models in rats. It showed significant inhibition in HCl ethanol-induced gastric lesion at the doses of 200 and 600 mg/kg p.

Definitive treatment of pancreatic abscess by endoscopic transmural drainage.

Background: Experience with endoscopic transmural drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts prompted the use of a similar technique for the primary treatment of pancreatic abscess. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of endoscopic transmural drainage for the treatment of pancreatic abscesses compressing the gut lumen.

Methods: In 9 patients, a total of 11 pancreatic abscesses compressing the stomach, duodenum, or both organs were drained endoscopically by means of endoscopic fistulization followed by saline solution irrigation and subsequent stent(s) placement.