• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.685-696
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• 1999

Background : Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a diffuse inflammatory and fibrosing process that occurs within the interstitium and alveolus of the lung with invariably poor prognosis. The major problem in management of IPF results from the variable rate of disease progression and the difficulties in predicting the response to therapy. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the short-term efficacy of steroid and immunosuppressive therapy for IPF and to identify the pre-treatment determinants of favorable response. Method : Twenty patients of IPF were included. Diagnosis of IPF was proven by thoracoscopic lung biopsy and they were presumed to have active progressive disease. The baseline evaluation in these patients included clinical history, pulmonary function test, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Fourteen patients received oral prednisolone treatment with initial dose of 1mg/kg/day for 8 to 12 weeks and then tapering to low-dose prednisolone (0.25mg/kg/day). Six patients who previously had experienced significant side effects to steroid received 2mg/kg/day of oral cyclophosphamide with or without low-dose prednisolone. Follow-up evaluation was performed after 6 months of therapy. If patients met more than one of followings, they were considered to be responders : (1) improvement of more than one grade in dyspnea index, (2) improvement in FVC or TLC more than 10% or improvement in DLco more than 20% (3) decreased extent of disease in chest HRCT findings. Result : One patient died of extrapulmonary cause after 3 month of therapy, and another patient gave up any further medical therapy due to side effect of steroid. Eventually medical records of 18 patients were analyzed. Nine of 18 patients were classified into responders and the other nine patients into nonresponders. The histopathologic diagnosis of the responders were all nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and that of nonresponders were all usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) (p<0.001). The other significant differences between the two groups were female predominance (p<0.01), smoking history (p<0.001), severe grade of dyspnea (p<0.05), lymphocytosis in BAL fluid ($23.8{\pm}16.3%$ vs $7.8{\pm}3.6%$, p<0.05), and less honeycombing in chest HRCT findings (0% vs $9.2{\pm}2.3%$, p<0.001). Conclusion : Our results suggest that patients with histopathologic diagnosis of NSIP or lymphocytosis in BAL fluid are more likely to respond to steroid or immunosuppressive therapy. Clinical results in large numbers of IPF patients will be required to identify the independent variables.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.579-590
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• 2006

1. 연구배경 교원질 분해작용을 하는 호중구의 세포질 효소인 기질금속단백분해효소-8은 치주질환, 류마티스 관절염, 그리고 궤양결장염과 같은 염증성 질환에서 농도가 증가한다고 알려져 있다. 최근에는 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 leukotoxin이 사람호중구에서 기질금속단백분해효소-8의 분비를 유도하는 것이 보고되었다. 이 연구의 목적은 선천면역 체계에서 세포표면 항원무리14, Toll-like 수용기, 그리고 $NF-{\kappa}$ B경로를 통하여 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 지질다당질로 유도된 기질금속단백분해효소-8의 분비 여부와 세포기전을 알아보고자 하였다. 2. 연구재료 및 방법 건강한 개인 제공자(남자 13명, 여자 3명)로부터 얻은 개개인의 20ml 말초혈액을 제조사의 지침에 따라 호중구를 추출한 후 항세포표면 항원무리14와 함께 $4^{\circ}C$에서 30분간 전배양 한 후, $37^{\circ}C$에서 9시간 동안 배양시켰다. 추출한 호중구에 Toll-like 수용기 억제제 또는 $NF-{\kappa}$ B억제제인 TPCK를 첨가한 후 $37^{\circ}C$에서 1시간 동안 전배양하고 $37^{\circ}C$에서 9시간 동안 배양시켰다. 호중구에 세포뼈대 억제제인 cholchicine, nocodazole, demecolcine, 그리고 cytochalasin B를 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 지질다당질과 함께 $37^{\circ}C$에서 9시간 동안 배양시켰다. 기질금속단백분해효소-8 분비량은 효소면역측정법을 통해 결정하였다. 통계처리는 일원배치 분산분석법을 이용하였다(p<0.05). 3. 결과 A. actinomycetemcomitans 지질다당질은 기질금속단백분해효소-8의 분비를 증가시켰다. 기질금속단백분해효소-8의 분비는 항세포표면 항원무리14에 의해서 억제되었지만, 항 Toll-like 수용기2, 항 Toll-like 수용기4 항체는 억제시키지 못했다. $NF-{\kappa}$ B 억제제는 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 지질다당질로 유도된 $NF-{\kappa}$ B 결합 활성도와 기질금속단백분해효소-8 분비를 억제하였다. 미세섬유 중합반응 억제제는 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 지질다당질로 유도된 기질금속단백분해효소-8의 분비를 억제시켰으나, 미세관 중합반응억제제는 억제시키지 못했다. 4. 결론 위의 연구결과를 종합하여 볼 때, 기질금속단백분해효소-8은 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 지질다당질로 유도되며, 세포표면 항원무리-$NF-{\kappa}$ B 경로를 통하여 분비되고, 이 분비 과정은 미세섬유 계통이 관여하는 것으로 보인다.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.1069-1082
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• 2020

Coverage by National Health Insurance (NHI) was expanded in the abdominal imaging area as follows: upper abdominal ultrasound on April 1, 2018, lower abdominal ultrasound on February 1, 2019, and abdominal MRI on November 1, 2019. Many patients can benefit from the expansion of NHI coverage. Newly included diseases for NHI coverage includes liver cirrhosis, gallbladder polyps, hepatic adenoma/dysplastic nodules, pancreatic cysts, autoimmune pancreatitis and bile duct stone disease. However, the expansion of coverage made each examination more complex, including indications, follow-up strategy, the number of examination per patients, the standard images to be acquired, and the standard forms of the radiological report. Therefore, more careful consideration is mandatory when an abdominal imaging examination is prescribed and conducted.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.2-32
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• 2020

In recent years, significant importance has been given to chitooligosaccharides (COS) due to its potent notable biological applications. COS can be derived from chitosan which is commonly produced by partially hydrolyzed products from crustacean shells. In order to produce COS, there are several approaches including chemical and enzymatic methods which are the two most common choices. In this regard, several new methods were intended to be promoted which use the enzymatic hydrolysis with a lower cost and desired properties. Hence, the dual reactor system has gained more attention than other newly developed technologies. Enzymatic hydrolysis derived COS possesses important biological activities such as anticancer, antioxidant, anti-hypersentive, anti-dementia (Altzheimer's disease), anti-diabeties, anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, etc. Results strongly suggest that properties of COS can be potential materials for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical product development.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.113-116
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• 2011

Purpose: Acetylcholine receptor antibodies cause acetylcholine receptor loss, which is responsible for failure of the neuromuscular junction in the acetylcholine receptor autoantibody. The disease characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, myasthenia gravis(MG) occurs when the body inappropriately produces antibodies against acetylcholine receptors, and thus inhibits proper acetylcholine signal transmission. And this reason, the measurement of acetylcholine receptor antibodies can be of considerable value in disease diagnosis. Methods: From 2010. August to September, we tested orderd AchRAb 19 samples to get the results. 1. Pipette $5{\mu}{\ell}$ undiluted patient sera and kit control and add 125I AChR $50{\mu}{\ell}$ and incubate at R.T for 2 hours. 2. Pipette $50{\mu}{\ell}$ of anti-human IgG into each tube, and incubate at $2{\sim}8^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours. 3. Pipette $25{\mu}{\ell}$ precipitation enhancer into each tube and add 1mL washing solution into all tubes. 4. Centrifuge each tube for 20minutes at $2{\sim}8^{\circ}C$ at 1500g. 5. Aspirate or decant the supernatant. 6. Pipette 1 mL washing solution into all tubes and resuspend the pellet and repeat centrifugation. 7. Aspirate or decant the supernatant and count all tubes on a gamma counter. Results: Cut off value is 0.2 nmol/L and the results taken below 0.2 nmol/L are negative, the results above that identified as being positive values. We assayed the 19 patients samples and got 7 positive results. Of which, 6 patients were diagnosed as MG.(85.7%). Conclusions: Acetylcholine Receptor autoantibody test is intended for use by persons only for the quantitative determination of it in human serum. Even if measurement of the antibodies is not a routine test, it can be of considerable value in disease diagnosis.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.114-119
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• 2002

Takayasu's arteritis(TA) is a chronic idiopathic vasculitis mainly involving the aorta and its main branches, such as brachiocephalic, carotid, subclavian, vertebral and renal arteries, as well as coronary and pulmonary arteries The clinical features usually reflect limb or organ ischemia resulting from gradual stenosis of involved arteries. We experienced a case of idiopathic Takayasu's arteritis with negative tuberculin test involving multiple main branch arteries at active stage without pulse. We treated this patient with combined therapy of steroid and azathioprine, with remission of disease activity. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2002 ;6 : 114-9)

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.215-219
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• 2009

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children, with a peak incidence at 5-14 years. Extrapulmonary manifestations occur in 20-25% of patients with M. pneumoniae infection. Most auto-antibodies that cause immune hemolytic anemia in humans are cold agglutinins. The formation of cold agglutinins is frequently observed during M. pneumoniae infections, and cold agglutinin disease usually occurs during M. pneumoniae infections. Nevertheless, severe hemolysis is exceptional. If a patient has any underlying disease related to hemolysis, it is possible to accelerate hemolysis. Hereditary spherocytosis is a common cause of hereditary hemolytic anemia resulting from red blood cell membrane defects. Hemolysis of red cells may result from corpuscular abnormalities or extracorpuscular abnormalities, such as immune or non-immune mechanisms. We report a case of hereditary spherocytosis associated with severe hemolytic anemia due to Mycoplasma pneumonia.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.211-226
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• 2019

Pig CD45, the leukocyte common antigen, is encoded by the PTPRC gene and CD45 is a T cell-type specific tyrosine phosphatase with alternative splicing of its exons. The CD45 is a coordinated regulator of T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signal transduction achieved by dephosphorylating the phosphotyrosine of its substances, including $CD3{\zeta}$ chain of TCR, Lck, Fyn, and Zap-70 kinase. A dysregulation of CD45 is associated with a multitude of immune disease and has been a target for immuno-drug discovery. To characterize its key structural features with the effects of regulating TCR signaling, this study predicted the unknown structure of pig CD45RO (the smallest isoform) and the complex structure bound to the ITAM (REEpYDV) of $CD3{\zeta}$ chain via homology modeling and docking the peptide, based on the known human CD45 structures. These features were integrated into the structural plasticity of extracellular domains and functional KNRY and PTP signature motifs (the role of a narrow entrance into ITAM binding site) of the tyrosine phosphatase domains in a cytoplasmic region from pig CD45RO. This contributes to the selective recognition of phosphotyrosine from its substrates by adjusting the structural stability and binding affinity of the complex. The characterized features of pigCD45RO can be applied in virtual screening of the T-cell specific immunomodulator.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.290-298
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• 2007

Background: The currently available diagnostic markers for pleural effusion have a limited role. The soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) is a molecule recently reported to play an important role in the myeloid cell mediated inflammatory response, and is up regulated in the body fluid by bacterial or fungal products. This study examined the expression of sTREM-1 in pleural effusion. Methods: Between April 2004 and December 2005, 48 patients with pleural effusions were enrolled in this study. The pleural fluids were taken and analyzed for the total protein, glucose, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and sTREM-1. Bacterial cultures and cytology tests were also performed. Results: The clinical diagnoses were 17 parapneumonic, 14 tuberculous, and 13 malignant effusions. Four patients presented with transudates. The mean ages of the parapneumonic, tuberculous and malignant effusion groups were $57.1{\pm}19.7$, $49.5{\pm}18.6$, $66.9{\pm}15.5$, and $76.0{\pm}18.1$. respectively. The level of sTREM-1 expression was significantly higher in the parapneumonic effusions ($344.0{\pm}488.7$) than in the tuberculous effusions ($81.7{\pm}56.6$) and malignant effusions ($39.3{\pm}19.6$). With a cut-off value of 55.4pg/ml, the sensitivity and specificity for a parapneumonic effusion was 70.6% and 74.1%. Conclusion: sTREM-1 expression is significantly higher in parapneumonic effusions, suggesting its potential role as an additional diagnostic marker for pleural effusions.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2019

Objectives : This clinical trial is performed to investigate the effect of improving the hypersensitivity reaction and the safety of powdered ethanol extract Codonopsis lanceolata (S. et Z.) Trautv. for allergic patients. Methods : This study was randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial. 60 allergic rhinitis subjects were randomly assigned to Treatment group(n=30) and Control group(n=30). They were received the test substance or placebo in their $1^{st}$ and $2^{nd}$ visit, and took it once a day, 1 powder bag per 1 time, for 8 weeks. The freeze dried powder of Codonopsis lanceolata (S. et Z.) Trautv. was mixed with 30% ethanol and the filtrate was collected thrice with constant stirring of the mixture. The placebo was prepared in the same form as the test substance by replacing with corn starch. Total Nasal Symptom Score(TNSS) questionnaires and laboratory tests were performed at the screening and last visit to evaluate the efficacy. And to assess safety, vital signs and adverse events were confirmed at every visit. Statistical analysis about the result was performed using SAS 9.4. Results : In treatment group, there was a significant decrease in B cell after taking the test substance(p<0.005). And there was a statistically significant difference between groups(p<0.005). Changes in nasal symptoms were not statistically significant between groups, and both groups showed statistically significant differences before and after the test(p<0.0001). Also there were no adverse events associated with the clinical trial product. Conclusions : This clinical trial showed that Codonopsis lanceolata (S. et Z.) Trautv. extract was helpful in improving the hypersensitivity reaction in allergic patients without significant side effects.