Aging with HIV: The Burden of Comorbidities, Polypharmacy, and Drug Interactions in Korean People Living with HIV Aged ≥50 Years.

Background: The life expectancy of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) has significantly improved with advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, aging PLWH face a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), polypharmacy, and drug-drug interactions (DDIs), which pose challenges in their management. This study investigates the prevalence of NCDs, polypharmacy, and DDIs among PLWH aged ≥50 years in Korea and their impact on quality of life (QOL).

Predictive Value of Procalcitonin for Bacterial Infection after Transarterial Chemoembolization or Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

This prospective observational study aimed at investigating the role of procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosing bacterial infection and guiding antibiotic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with fever after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and/or radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Ninety-seven cases (84 patients) were enrolled. Serum PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cell (WBC) counts were measured on the day of fever onset (day 0) and days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of fever.

Plant cell culture strategies for the production of natural products.

Plants have evolved a vast chemical cornucopia to support their sessile lifestyles. Man has exploited this natural resource since Neolithic times and currently plant-derived chemicals are exploited for a myriad of applications. However, plant sources of most high-value natural products (NPs) are not domesticated and therefore their production cannot be undertaken on an agricultural scale.

Clinical impact of prophylactic antibiotic treatment for self-expandable metallic stent insertion in patients with malignant colorectal obstruction.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics (PA) for reducing the infectious complications and the potential risk factors responsible for the infectious complications after stent insertion for malignant colorectal obstruction. Methods.

Treatment of BK virus-associated hemorrhagic cystitis with low-dose intravenous cidofovir in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Background/aims: BK virus (BKV) has been associated with late-onset hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) in recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Cidofovir has been used at higher doses (3 to 5 mg/kg/wk) with probenecid prophylaxis; however, cidofovir may result in nephrotoxicity or cytopenia at high doses.

Methods: Allogeneic HSCT recipients with BKV-associated HC are treated with 1 mg/kg intravenous cidofovir weekly at our institution.

Refractory Clostridium difficile Infection Cured With Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Colonized Patient.

The rates and severity of Clostridium difficile infections, including pseudomembranous colitis, have increased markedly. However, there are few effective treatments for refractory or recurrent C. difficile infections and the outcomes are poor.

Cambial meristematic cells: a platform for the production of plant natural products.

Plant cell culture constitutes a sustainable, controllable and environmentally friendly tool to produce natural products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and industrial biotechnology industries. However, there are significant obstacles to the commercial synthesis of high value chemicals from plant culture including low yields, performance instability, slow plant cell growth, industrial scale-up and downstream processing. Cambial meristematic cells constitute a platform to ameliorate many of these potential problems enabling the commercial production of high value chemicals.

Active surveillance of the trachea or throat for MRSA is more sensitive than nasal surveillance and a better predictor of MRSA infections among patients in intensive care.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most common causes of infection in the intensive care unit (ICU). Although surveillance culture for MRSA is recommended for ICU patients, no comparative study investigating the optimal sites and frequency of culture has been performed in this population.

Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was performed in an 18-bed emergency intensive care unit (EICU) in a tertiary teaching hospital.

Outcome of intravenous azithromycin therapy in patients with complicated scrub typhus compared with that of doxycycline therapy using propensity-matched analysis.

There are no well-matched, controlled studies comparing azithromycin with doxycycline for the treatment of complicated scrub typhus. A retrospective propensity score-matched case-control study was performed for patients who presented with complicated scrub typhus and were treated with doxycycline or azithromycin between 2001 and 2011. Data on comorbidities, clinical manifestations, laboratory studies, treatments, and outcomes were extracted for analysis.

Differences in the clinical presentation and the frequency of complications between elderly and non-elderly scrub typhus patients.

Age can affect the clinical features and severity of infectious disorders, such as scrub typhus. We performed this study to examine differences between elderly and non-elderly scrub typhus patients, and to identify risk factors predictive of disease outcomes. This retrospective study included patients admitted to a tertiary hospital with scrub typhus between 2001 and 2011.

Was 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Mild Among Pregnant Korean Women?

Clinical and laboratory data from Western countries suggest that pregnant women are at an increased risk for severe illness and complications associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1). However, previous data among Korean women suggested a less severe outcome. In this study performed at a single referral center in Korea, rates of admission, pneumonia, intensive care unit admission, and death related to 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) were significantly higher in 33 pregnant women than in 723 nonpregnant women of reproductive age (p<0.

Clinical experience of raltegravir with abacavir/lamivudine or zidovudine/lamivudine in HIV-infected Korean adults.

The efficacy and safety of raltegravir (RAL) with tenofovir (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC) have been well studied in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. However, limited clinical data are available on the use of RAL with abacavir (ABC)/lamivudine (3TC) or zidovudine (ZDV)/3TC. We investigated HIV-1-infected Korean adults, including 13 antiretroviral-naïve patients and 15 antiretroviral-experienced patients, treated with RAL plus ABC/3TC or ZDV/3TC.

The clinical characteristics, carbapenem resistance, and outcome of Acinetobacter bacteremia according to genospecies.

Background: Few clinical data are available on the relationship between genospecies and outcome of Acinetobacter bacteremia, and the results are inconsistent. We performed this study to evaluate the relationship between genospecies and the outcome of Acinetobacter bacteremia.

Methods: Clinical data from 180 patients who had Acinetobacter bacteremia from 2003 to 2010 were reviewed retrospectively.

Inappropriateness of quinolone in scrub typhus treatment due to gyrA mutation in Orientia tsutsugamushi Boryong strain.

The use of quinolone for treatment of rickettsial diseases remains controversial. Recent clinical studies suggest that quinolone is not as effective as others in patients with rickettsial diseases including scrub typhus, although the mechanism is not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the mutation in gyrA associated with quinolone resistance.

Diagnostic use of serum ferritin levels to differentiate infectious and noninfectious diseases in patients with fever of unknown origin.

Introduction: In this study, we determined whether serum ferritin levels could be used to differentiate between fever of unknown origin (FUO) caused by infectious and noninfectious diseases.

Methods: FUO patients were hospitalized at Chonnam National University Hospital between January, 2005 and December, 2011. According to the final diagnoses, five causes were identified, including infectious diseases, hematologic diseases, noninfectious inflammatory diseases, miscellaneous and undiagnosed.

Lemierre Syndrome Caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum Alone in a Healthy Man.

Arcanobacterium haemolyticum was isolated from the blood cultures of a previously healthy 37-year-old man who met all the criteria of Lemierre syndrome, including a primary oropharyngeal infection, evidence of thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein, and metastatic infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of Lemierre syndrome caused by A. haemolyticum in Korea and shows that A.

Endovascular stent in traumatic thoracic aortic dissection.

Traumatic thoracic aortic injury is typically fatal. However, recent improvements in pre-hospital care and diagnostic modalities have resulted in an increased number of patients with traumatic aortic injury arriving alive at the hospital. Also, the morbidity and mortality associated with endovascular repair are significantly lower than with conventional open surgery in traumatic thoracic aorta injury.

Enhanced expression of B-subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin in tobacco by optimization of coding sequence.

Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin (LT) is a potent mucosal immunogen and immunoadjuvant for coadministered antigens. We synthesized a gene encoding the B-subunit of LT (LTB) adapted to the coding sequence of tobacco plants and fused to the endoplasmic reticulum retention signal SEKDEL to enhance its level of expression in plants. The synthetic LTB gene was cloned into a plant expression vector adjacent to the CaMV 35S promoter and was introduced into tobacco by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Expression of the B subunit of E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin in the chloroplasts of plants and its characterization.

Transgenic chloroplasts have become attractive systems for heterologous gene expressions because of unique advantages. Here, we report a feasibility study for producing the nontoxic B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LTB) via chloroplast transformation of tobacco. Stable site-specific integration of the LTB gene into chloroplast genome was confirmed by PCR and genomic Southern blot analysis in transformed plants.