The regulation of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor in human placenta according to gestational age.

Oxytocin (OXT) is a peptide hormone that plays a central role in the regulation of parturition and lactation. OXT signaling is mediated by OXT receptor (OXTR), which shows species- and tissue-specific expressions and gene regulation. In the present study, we examined the synthesis of OXT and OXTR in human placenta tissue according to gestational age.

Expression of reproductive hormone receptors and contraction‑associated genes in porcine uterus during the estrous cycle.

Contraction of uterus tissue frequently occurs throughout the estrous cycle and is regulated by several endogenous factors, including estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle‑stimulating hormone, oxytocin (OXT) and contraction‑associated proteins (CAPs). Contraction activity of uterus tissue according to the estrous cycle is important, due to the fact that it is directly associated with balanced implantation and stable pregnancy. However, few studies have examined the mechanism of uterus contraction activity in a porcine model.

Ovarian Cavernous Hemangioma Presenting as a Large Growing Mass in a Postmenopausal Woman: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Ovarian hemangiomas are usually of the cavernous type, and are rarely encountered. A 73-year-old woman presented with lower abdominal discomfort. Subsequent physical examination depicted a palpable mass in the lower abdomen.

Clinical outcomes of three- or five-day treatment with clomiphene citrate combined with gonadotropins and a timed intercourse cycle in polycystic ovary syndrome patients.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a new clomiphene citrate (CC) regimen on preventing thin endometrial lining in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients receiving CC plus gonadotropin treatment with a timed intercourse cycle.

Methods: A total of 114 women with PCOS were included in this trial. Patients were divided into two groups and treated in accordance with the controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) protocol.

Clinicopathological significance of atypical glandular cells on Pap smear.

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of atypical glandular cells (AGC) by analyzing the prevalence and histologic outcomes of patients with AGC according to Pap smear.

Methods: The medical records of 83 patients who were diagnosed AGC on Pap tests at the Pusan National University Hospital outpatient department and health care center from January 1998 to March 2006 were reviewed.

Results: The prevalence of AGC was 55 of 54,160 (0.

A functional genomic screen identifies cellular cofactors of hepatitis C virus replication.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronically infects 3% of the world's population, and complications from HCV are the leading indication for liver transplantation. Given the need for better anti-HCV therapies, one strategy is to identify and target cellular cofactors of the virus lifecycle. Using a genome-wide siRNA library, we identified 96 human genes that support HCV replication, with a significant number of them being involved in vesicle organization and biogenesis.

HIV increases HCV replication in a TGF-beta1-dependent manner.

Background & Aims: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection increases hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related progression of hepatic fibrosis, increases HCV persistence, and decreases response rates to interferon-based anti-HCV therapy. It has remained unclear how HIV, a nonhepatotropic virus, accelerates the progression of liver disease by HCV.

Methods: We explored the possibility that circulating HIV and/or its proteins contribute to the pathogenesis of HCV through engagement of extracellular coreceptors on hepatocytes.

Identification of novel epoxide inhibitors of hepatitis C virus replication using a high-throughput screen.

Using our high-throughput hepatitis C replicon assay to screen a library of over 8,000 novel diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) compounds, we identified several novel compounds that regulate hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication, including two libraries of epoxides that inhibit HCV replication (best 50% effective concentration, < 0.5 microM). We then synthesized an analog of these compounds with optimized activity.

Thalidomide for treating metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma: a pilot study.

Background: Thalidomide has been reported to have antitumor activity for treating metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated the safety and efficacy of using thalidomide for treating selected patients with unresectable or metastatic HCC, and their disease was refractory to systemic chemotherapy.

Methods: Eight patients with measurable and metastatic HCC that had progressed with prior systemic chemotherapy and who desired further active therapy were enrolled in this study.

A cell-based, high-throughput screen for small molecule regulators of hepatitis C virus replication.

Background & Aims: Only half of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection experience sustained virologic response to pegylated-interferon and ribavirin, which cause numerous side effects. Thus, the identification of more effective and better tolerated agents is a high priority. We applied chemical biology to screen small molecules that regulate HCV.

Hepatitis C virus core protein blocks interferon signaling by interaction with the STAT1 SH2 domain.

Emerging data have indicated that hepatitis C virus (HCV) subverts the host antiviral response to ensure its persistence. We previously demonstrated that HCV protein expression suppresses type I interferon (IFN) signaling by leading to the reduction of phosphorylated STAT1 (P-STAT1). We also demonstrated that HCV core protein directly bound to STAT1.

Systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Although numerous chemotherapeutic agents have been tested, the role of systemic chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been clarified. New therapeutic strategies are thus needed to improve outcomes, and we designed this study with new effective drug combination.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with histologically-confirmed, metastatic HCC received a combination chemotherapy with doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on day 1, plus capecitabine 2000 mg/m2/day as an intermittent regimen of 2 weeks of treatment followed by a 1-week rest.

[A case of colon obstruction developed during the recovery period of acute pancreatitis].

Complications of acute pancreatitis usually occur in pancreas and its contiguous organs. The prevalence of colonic invasion is rare, however, the consequence is fatal, with mortality above 50%. The initial symptoms and onset times are variable and major affected sites are transverse colon and splenic flexure.

Acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B during thalidomide therapy for multiple myeloma: a case report.

We report a case of acute fatal exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B in a 50-year-old man with multiple myeloma being treated with thalidomide. The patient had a medical history of chronic hepatitis B and was diagnosed with stage IIIA multiple myeloma. He suffered two episodes of transient transaminitis of unknown origin after successive autologous stem cell transplantations.

Styrylquinazolines: a new class of inhibitors on prostaglandin E2 production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophage cells.

A series of styrylquinazoline derivatives (2a-k) were prepared and evaluated for their inhibiton of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The latter was induced by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophage cells RAW264.7.

[Polymorphism in codons 10 and 25 of the transforming growth factor-beta1 gene in Korean population and in patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma].

Background/aims: The genetic polymorphism of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) at codons 10 and 25 which influences the production of TGF-beta1 is related to fibrogenesis in the lung and liver. We evaluated the genetic polymorphism at codons 10 and 25 in controls and in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Blood samples were collected from controls (n=35), patients with LC (n=64), and HCC (n=49).

[Helicobacter pylori infection in the remnant stomach after radical subtotal gastrectomy].

Background/aims: It was reported that the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection decreased after gastrectomy, but persistent H. pylori infection may cause residual gastritis or stump cancer.

[Clinical usefulness of plasma activities of gelatinase (matrix metalloproteinase-2 and 9) in chronic liver disease].

Background/aims: Gelatinase (matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -2 and 9) has an important role in the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we evaluated the relationship of gelatinase to chronic liver disease.

Methods: Four groups of subjects were examined; healthy control (10 cases), chronic hepatitis (18 cases), LC (15 cases), and HCC (28 cases).

Eugenol suppresses cyclooxygenase-2 expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells.

Inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) has been implicated in the processes of inflammation and carcinogenesis. Thus, the potential COX-2 inhibitors have been considered as anti-inflammatory or cancer chemopreventive agents. In this study, the methanolic extract of the cortex of Eugenia caryophyllata Thunberg (Myrtaceae) was found to potently inhibit the prostaglandin E(2) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated mouse macrophage RAW264.

[Clinical and virologic characteristics of lamivudine resistance in HBV-associated chronic liver disease].

Background/aims: Lamivudine therapy in chronic hepatitis B has been shown to be effective in inhibiting HBV replication. However, lamivudine resistance has been developed with prolonged use. We studied to determine the prevalence, predictive factors, and clinical outcomes of lamivudine resistance.

[Viral breakthrough in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients receiving lamivudine therapy].

Background/aims: Long-term efficacy and the rate of viral breakthrough in patients with HBeAg- negative chronic hepatitis B receiving lamivudine therapy is uncertain. This study was conducted to determine the rate of viral breakthrough according to the HBeAg status and the relation of viral breakthrough with YMDD mutants.

Methods: Two hundred and five patients with HBeAg-positive and 49 patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B, who had received lamivudine for at least 9 months, were included.

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.

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.