Efficacy of tocilizumab therapy in Korean patients with adult-onset Still's disease: a multicentre retrospective study of 22 cases.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ), a monoclonal antibody against the interleukin (IL)-6 receptor, for refractory adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) in the Korean population.

Methods: This retrospective study included 22 Korean patients with refractory AOSD who were given TCZ at one of seven university hospital-based clinics for rheumatic disease. Patients were subdivided into groups according to disease course: monocyclic, systemic polycyclic, and chronic articular.

Complete Tumor Resection for a Hepatocellular Carcinoma Secreting Parathyroid Hormone-related Peptide.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in Korea. Diverse paraneoplastic syndromes can occur in patients with HCC, but parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTH-rP)-induced hypercalcemia is uncommon. Hypercalcemia due to PTH or particularly PTH-rP-secreting HCC is associated with poor outcomes.

Seasonality of gout in Korea: a multicenter study.

The object of this study was to evaluate the seasonality of gout in Korea. We retrospectively examined data from 330 patients seen at nine rheumatology clinics, treated with urate lowering therapy (ULT) more than one year after stopping prophylactic medication. Demographic data, clinical and laboratory features, and seasonality of gout onset and flares were collected.

Clinicopathological characteristics of colon cancer diagnosed at primary health care institutions.

Background/aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of colon cancers detected at the SOK Sokpeynhan Internal Medical Network, a nationwide system of primary health care institutions.

Methods: We analyzed 579 colon cancer patients diagnosed using colonoscopy at the SOK network from January 2011 through December 2012. Cancers from the rectum to the splenic flexure were classified as left colon cancer.

[Clinicopathologic characteristics of superficial gastric cancer diagnosed at primary health care institutions in 2011].

Background/aims: Stomach cancer is prevalent in Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of superficial gastric cancers detected at SOK Sokpeynhan Internal Medical Network, the nationwide primary health care institutions.

Methods: We prospectively analysed the clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of 218 superficial gastric cancer patients diagnosed using gastric endoscopy at SOK network from January 2011 through December 2011.

The clinicopathologic characteristics of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's): a retrospective study of 45 patients in Korea.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the clinicopathologic characteristics of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA) in Korean patients.

Methods: The medical records of 45 patients with GPA treated in a single tertiary referral hospital were retrospectively analyzed with respect to clinical manifestations, including histology, ANCA positivity, disease stage, and disease activity. Patients were categorized into granulomatous, vasculitic, or mixed form based on an immunopathologic scoring system of granulomatous-vasculitic activity.

Cost of illness and quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in South Korea.

Objective: To estimate the cost of illness (COI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to four different levels of functional severity.

Methods: A face-to-face interview survey was administered to patients with RA recruited at the Rheumatology Clinic of Seoul National University Hospital. Direct costs (medical costs [treatment, drug, private physiotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, other alternative medicine], nonmedical costs [travel, dietary supplements, auxiliary device, home assistance]), indirect costs (productivity loss due to job loss and sick leave), and deterioration in the HRQOL of patients with RA were measured.

Human cytomegalovirus IE1 protein enhances herpes simplex virus type 1-induced syncytial formation in U373MG cells.

Co-infection of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is not uncommon in immunocompromised hosts. Importantly, organ transplant recipients concurrently infected with HSV-1 and HCMV have a worse clinical outcome than recipients infected with a single virus. However, factors regulating the pathologic response in HSV-1, HCMV co-infected tissues are unclear.

[Clinical, radiological and pathological exploration of focal nodular hyperplasia of liver reported in Korea].

Background/aims: Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is mandatory to be differentiated from other hepatic tumorous conditions such as hepatocellular carcinoma and adenoma. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical, radiological and pathological features of FNH cases reported in Korea.

Methods: We have searched the journals from the web site "http://koreamed.

[Down-regulation of survivin in growth inhibition of hepatoma cells induced by a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor].

Background/aims: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors reportedly inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via caspase-dependent or caspase-independent apoptosis, which is due to COX-2 being associated with hepatocarcinogenesis. Survivin is highly expressed in most human cancers, but the mechanism regulating survivin expression remains unclear. We investigated the regulatory expression of survivin in selective-COX-2-inhibitor-induced growth inhibition of hepatoma cells.

Short term effects of topical cyclosporine and viscoelastic on the ocular surfaces in patients with dry eye.

Purpose: To compare the short term effects of topical 0.05% cyclosporine (CsA) and a mixture of 0.08% chondroitin sulfate and 0.

Enhanced second-harmonic generation by use of the photonic effect in a ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystal.

Special phase matching of second-harmonic generation (SHG) by use of the photonic effect was experimentally confirmed for an obliquely propagating fundamental beam in the helical smectic C>(*) liquid-crystal phase, as suggested by Belyakov [JETP Lett. 70, 811 (1999)]. The enhancement of SHG occurs when the second-harmonic wave is close to a photonic bandgap (half-pitch band) and consequently the fundamental wave is close to another photonic bandgap (full-pitch band).

Clinical significance of anti-filaggrin antibody recognizing uncitrullinated filaggrin in rheumatoid arthritis.

Filaggrin is expressed in the cornified layer of epidermis and known to be one of the antigenic targets in rheumatoid arthritis. Although the citrulline residue in filaggrin is thought to be an antigenic determinant recognized by autoantibodies, the diagnostic sensitivity of synthetic citrullinated peptide is variable. To investigate the implication of anti-filaggrin antibodies recognizing uncitrullinated filaggrin in rheumatoid arthritis, we assayed antibody titers using unmodified recombinant filaggrin in the sera from 73 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 150 patients with other connective tissue diseases and 70 normal controls.

Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus with thrombocytopenia treated with cyclosporine.

Thrombocytopenia is one of the common manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Its treatment consists of corticosteroids and/or other immunosuppressive drug such as azathioprine, vincristine, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate mofetil. Common adverse reactions of immunosuppressive treatment are infections, hematologic and liver function abnormalities, but neurologic complications may also be seen.

Decreased serum level of antibody against human cytomegalovirus in patients with Behçet's disease.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a connective tissue disorder characterized by recurrent orogenital ulcer, uveitis, and skin lesions. Recurrent aphthous ulcer is associated with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). To investigate the possible role of HCMV in BD, we measured the titers of IgG, IgM, and IgA anti-HCMV antibodies in 73 Korean patients with BD, 50 with scleroderma, 70 with systemic lupus erythematosus, and 50 from healthy controls by indirect immunofluorescent staining.

Juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis (JAS) has less severe spinal disease course than adult onset ankylosing spondylitis (AAS): clinical comparison between JAS and AAS in Korea.

Objective: To assess the frequency of juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis (JAS) in Korean patients with AS and to differentiate the clinical characteristics of JAS from adult onset ankylosing spondylitis (AAS).

Methods: We studied 98 consecutive patients with AS who visited the rheumatology clinic of a tertiary referral center and compared clinical and radiographic features of JAS (n = 41) with those of AAS (n = 57).

Results: Median age at onset in JAS was 14 years (range 7-16) and in AAS 22 years (range 17-38) (p < 0.

Detection of JC virus type 1 in peripheral lymphocytes, brain and cerebrospinal fluid from two Korean AIDS patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

The human polyomavirus JC virus (JCV) is the etiologic agent of the fatal demyelinating central nervous system disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), which occurs in 4-7% of AIDS patients. Two Korean AIDS patients with PML were assayed for JCV, and the virus was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Using immunohistochemical analysis, we also examined the distribution of JCV antigen in the brains of the patients.