• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.131-139
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• 2001

Lamivudine, an oral nucleoside analogue, effectively inhibits hepatitis B virus replication and reduces hepatic necroinflammation in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Although lamivudine has shown a promise in patients with chronic hepatitis B, a long-term data on Korean patients with hepatitis B are lacking. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects and safety of 52-week lamivudine therapy in Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B, A total of twenty-nine patients (27 male and 2 female) who had received 100 mg of oral lamivudine daily for 52 weeks were evaluated, retrospectively. The mean age of 29 patients in the study group was 37.7 $\pm$ 8.9 years (range 19-54). Pretreatment HBV PCR and HBsAg were positive in all 29 patients, and HBeAg were positive in 25 patients (86%). The serum HBV DNA of 28 patients (97%) significantly fell to undetectable levels (<5 pg/ml) within 12 weeks of therapy and it remained undetectable in 24 patients (83%) by the end of 52-week therapy (p<0.001). Mean serum ALT levels of 29 patients declined to the normal range within 12 weeks and remained within the normal range during the evaluative period (p<0.05). The proportions of patients with HBeAg seroconversion (loss of HBeAg, development of antibody to HBeAg, and undetectable HBV DNA) were 42% after 52-week therapy. The differences of response to lamivudine therapy in HBeAg- positive and HBeAg-negative patients were negligible (p>0.05). Furthermore, the study showed that pretreatment serum HBV DNA and ALT levels have no effect to the efficacy of lamivudine therapy (p>0.05). Further comparison of lamivudine's efficacy showed that lamivudine is just as efficacious in patients with cirrhosis as without cirrhosis (p>0.05). In conclusion, lamivudine is an effective and safe therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in Korean patients.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.117-123
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• 1987

Detection of IgG antibody in clonorchiasis has been accomplished through various serodiagnostic procedure including complement fixation test, gel diffusion test, indirect fluorescent antibody test, indirect hemagglutination test etc. In this report enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) and indirect hemagglutination test (IHA) were used to determine IgG serum antibody levels before and after therapy with praziquantel. Briefly, sera from 62 cases of confirmed human clonorchiasis were examined before and after treatment with praziquantel. Among 62 cases treated 25 cases were categorized as completely cured groups by formalin-ether and careful examination of 4 cellophane thick smered slides at 18 months after treatment. The sera of 25 cases of cured groups were examined again by ELISA and IHA, and com-pared to the previous data. The results obtained were as follows; 1) Sensitivity of IHA test was 83.6% when cut-off titer of 1:8 was applied. No sera obtained from 10 normal healthy control showed positive reaction. 2) Twenty cases (80.0%) out of 25 cured one showed negative results by IHA at 18 months after treatment. 3) Although 5 cases showed positive titer even 18 months after treatment 3 cases of them showed decreased antibody titer. However 2 cases did not show any response. 4) Even though almost all cases showed de- creased ELISA value, only 11 cases (44.0%) out of 25 patients showed negative results by ELISA at 18 months after treatment. In conclusion, it is suggested that, while IgG ELISA for detecting long persisting antibody was more sensitive than IHA, IHA results more conclusively indicated effective treatment in clonorchiasis by negative conversion than did the results of ELISA.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.13-18
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• 2012

The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases is not very well understood; it is currently thought to be caused by the interaction between genetic factors, environmental factors, intestinal microbes, and immune factors. Biological agents such as anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) are widely being used as therapeutic agents. Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal IgG1 antibody against tumor necrosis factor, has been demonstrated to have an effect in the induction and maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease in children. The effects of biological agents, typified by anti-TNFs, in inflammatory bowel disease in children; the recent concern on the administration of biological agents in combination with immunomodulators; and 'Top-down' therapy are some of the topics covered in this review.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.133-140
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• 1999

Why does the CNS not regenerate after injury? The failure of axonal regeneration in the CNS after injury is not due to an inherent inability of these neurons to regrowth axon. Recently, an inhibitory substrate effect of CNS has been discovered which could be directly invoked in the lack of regeneration. The failure of axon regrowth in the CNS is crucially influenced by the presence of neurtie growth inhibitor NI35/250 and possibly also by molecules such as myelin associated glycoprotein(MAG) and chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans(CSPGs). The application of the monoclonal antibody IN-1, which efficinetly neutralizes the N135/250 inhibitory molecules. This new finding has a strong impact on the development of, a new neuroscienctific research directed to stimulate axonal regeneration. In this review summarize the current knowledge on the factors and molecules involved in the regeneration failure.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.35-38
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• 2014

Japanese-B viral encephalitis (JE) usually has a monophasic illness pattern. A 45-year-old woman in an altered mentality had improved over 1 month. About 1 week after the initial improvement, the patient became comatose with aggravated EEG and MRI findings. Assays of cerebrospinal fluid and serum were positive for the IgM antibody to Japanese-B virus. After intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusion, the patient recovered. We report a patient with JE who showed a biphasic illness pattern and recovered after IVIG therapy.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.62-66
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• 2022

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-associated adrenal insufficiency is rare but may become a serious adverse event in patients treated with ICIs. The present case report documents two cases of adrenal insufficiency developed during chemotherapy plus tislelizumab (百泽安, Baize'an; BeiGene Ltd.) therapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Adrenal insufficiency developed after 6 and 13 cycles of treatment and was well controlled with hydrocortisone. The patients also developed hypothyroidism, which was managed with levothyroxine. Two patients showed a partial response, and one patient out of two achieved a near-complete response, sustaining over 11 months. Increased awareness of ICI-related adrenal insufficiency is crucial for early detection and prompt management of patients treated with ICIs.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.233-241
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• 2002

Background: Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) of rodent origin are produced with ease by hybridoma fusion technique, and have been successfully used as therapeutic reagents for humans after humanization by genetic engineering. However, utilization of these antibodies for therapeutic purpose has been limited by the fact that they act as immunogens in human body causing undesired side effects. So far, there have been several attempts to produce human mAbs for effective in vivo diagnostic or therapeutic reagents including the use of humanized xenomouse that is generated by mating knockout mice which lost Ig heavy and light chain genes by homologous recombination and transgenic mice having both human Ig heavy and light gene loci in their genome. Methods: Genomic DNA fragments of mouse Ig heavy and light chain were obtained from a mouse brain ${\lambda}$ genomic library by PCR screening and cloned into a targeting vector with ultimate goal of generating Ig knockout mouse. Results: Through PCR screening of the genomic library, three heavy chain and three light chain Ig gene fragments were identified, and restriction map of one of the heavy chain gene fragments was determined. Then heavy chain Ig gene fragments were subcloned into a targeting vector. The resulting construct was introduced into embryonic stem cells. Antibiotic selection of transfected cells is under the progress. Conclusion: Generation of xenomouse is particularly important in medical biotechnology. However, this goal is not easily achieved due to the technical difficulties as well as huge financial expenses. Although we are in the early stage of a long-term project, our results, at least, partially contribute the successful generation of humanized xenomouse in Korea.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.207-223
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• 2023

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Under the standard of care, patients with advanced GC (AGC) have a median survival time of approximately 12-15 months. With the emergence of immunotherapy as a key therapeutic strategy in medical oncology, relevant changes are expected in the systemic treatment of GC. In the phase III ATTRACTION-2 trial, nivolumab, a monoclonal anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibody, as a third- or later-line treatment improved overall survival (OS) compared with placebo in patients with AGC. Furthermore, nivolumab in combination with 5-fluorouracil and platinum as a first-line treatment improved OS in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-negative AGC in the global phase III CheckMate-649 study. Another anti-PD-1 antibody, pembrolizumab, in combination with trastuzumab and cytotoxic chemotherapy as a first-line treatment, significantly improved the overall response rate in patients with HER2-positive AGC. Therefore, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are essential components of the current treatment of GC. Subsequent treatments after ICI combination therapy, such as ICI rechallenge or combination therapy with agents having other modes of action, are being actively investigated to date. On the basis of the success of immunotherapy in the treatment of AGC, various clinical trials are underway to apply this therapeutic strategy in the perioperative and postoperative settings for patients with early GC. This review describes recent progress in immunotherapy and potential immunotherapy biomarkers for GC.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.39.1-39.18
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• 2021

The high virulent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus that emerged in China at the end of 2019 has generated novel coronavirus disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), causing a pandemic worldwide. Every country has made great efforts to struggle against SARS-CoV-2 infection, including massive vaccination, immunological patients' surveillance, and the utilization of convalescence plasma for COVID-19 therapy. These efforts are associated with the attempts to increase the titers of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing Abs (nAbs) generated either after infection or vaccination that represent the body's immune status. As there is no standard therapy for COVID-19 yet, virus eradication will mainly depend on these nAbs contents in the body. Therefore, serological nAbs neutralization assays become a requirement for researchers and clinicians to measure nAbs titers. Different platforms have been developed to evaluate nAbs titers utilizing various epitopes sources, including neutralization assays based on the live virus, pseudovirus, and neutralization assays utilizing recombinant SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein receptor binding site, receptor-binding domain. As a standard neutralization assay, the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) requires isolation and propagation of live pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 virus conducted in a BSL-3 containment. Hence, other surrogate neutralization assays relevant to the PRNT play important alternatives that offer better safety besides facilitating high throughput analyses. This review discusses the current neutralization assay platforms used to evaluate nAbs, their techniques, advantages, and limitations.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.8-17
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• 2009

Purpose: We determined the therapeutic effect of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), cetuximab (Erbitux) on the growth of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) xenografted in athymic nude mice. Experimental Design: We induced subcutaneous tumors by inoculating human tumor cell suspension into the right flank of nude mice. Nude mice with subcutaneous tumors were randomized to receive cetuximab alone, paclitaxel alone, cetuximab plus paclitaxel, or a placebo (control). Antitumor mechanisms of cetuximab were determined by immunohistochemical and apoptosis assays. Results: Cetuximab, paclitaxel, and cetuximab/paclitaxel combined therapy resulted in 50%, 52%, 67% in vivo inhibition of tumor proliferation, respectively. Tumors of mice treated with cetuximab plus paclitaxel demonstrated decreased PCNA-positive tumor cells and increased apoptotic tumor cells, which slowed growth of the murine tumors. Conclusion: These data show that EGFR can be a molecular target for the treatment of OSCC. And combination therapy with cetuximab and paclitaxel warrants further clinical study.