• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.1000-1006
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• 2002

Purpose : In the course of treatment, patients with hematological or oncological disorders often develop pulmonary complication. The patients who develop a severe pulmonary complication have a poor outlook. The causes of pulmonary complication are either infectious or non-infectious in origin. We have analyzed the etiology and outcome of these patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit of Asan Medical Center. Methods : Medical records of 95 patients on Pediatric oncology service who were admitted to pediatric intensive care unit(PICU) of Asan Medical Center from Jan 1997 to May 2000 were retrospectively reviewed. Results : The mean age of the patients was 8.5 years(2 months-18 years). The underlying malignancies of these 95 patients were as following; acute lymphoblastic leukemia(31 cases), lymphoma (11 cases), acute myeloid leukemia(nine cases), brain tumor(eight cases) and other solid tumors(25 cases). Pulmonary complications included pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, pneumothorax and pleural effusion. The most common cause of pulmonary complication was infection(88%) in etiology. The overall mortality rate was 56.8%. Pulmonary complications in these patients carried high rates of mortality regardless of whether they were immune compromised(76%) or not(69%). Even without pulmonary complications, the hematological or oncological patients admitted to PICU had high mortality rates of 43%. Conclusion : Pulmonary complications are frequent finding in the hematological or oncological patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit. The main etiology of these pulmonary complications was infection, which carried a high mortality rate regardless of their immune status at the time when they were admitted to PICU.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.538-547
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• 2010

Purpose : This study aims to compare the outcome of total body irradiation (TBI)- or non-TBI-containing conditioning regimens for leukemia in children. Methods : We retrospectively evaluated 77 children conditioned with TBI (n=40) or non-TBI (n=37) regimens, transplanted at Chonnam National University Hospital between January 1996 and December 2007. The type of transplantation, disease status at the time of transplant, conditioning regimen, engraftment kinetics, development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), complications, cause of deaths, overall survival (OS), and event-free survival (EFS) were compared between the 2 groups. Results : Among 34 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 28 (82.4%) were in the TBI group, while 72.7% (24/33) of patients with myeloid leukemia were in the non-TBI group. Although the 5-year EFS of the 2 groups was similar for all patients (62% vs 63%), the TBI group showed a better 5-year EFS than the non-TBI group when only ALL patients were analyzed (65% vs 17%; $P$=0.005). In acute myelogenous leukemia patients, the non-TBI group had better survival tendency (73% vs 38%; $P$=0.089). The incidence of GVHD, engraftment, survival, cause of death, and late complications was not different between the 2 groups. Conclusion : The TBI and non-TBI groups showed comparable results, but the TBI group showed a significantly higher 5-year EFS than the non-TBI group in ALL patients. Further prospective, randomized controlled studies involving larger number of patients are needed to assess the late-onset complications and to compare the socioeconomic quality of life.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2017

Background: We evaluated a sensitive and quantitative method utilizing fragment analysis of the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD), simultaneously measuring mutant allele burden and length, and verified the analytical performance. Methods: The number and allelic burden of FLT3-ITD mutations was determined by fragment analysis. Serial mixtures of mutant and wild-type plasmid DNA were used to calculate the limit of detection of fragment analysis, conventional PCR, and Sanger sequencing. Specificity was evaluated using DNA samples derived from 50 normal donors. Results of fragment analysis were compared to those of conventional PCR, using 481 AML specimens. Results: Defined mixtures were consistently and accurately identified by fragment analysis at a 5% relative concentration of mutant to wild-type, and at 10% and 20% ratios by conventional PCR and direct sequencing, respectively. No false positivity was identified. Among 481 AML specimens, 40.1% (193/481) had FLT3-ITD mutations. The mutant allele burden (1.7-94.1%; median, 28.2%) and repeated length of the mutation (14-153 bp; median, 49 bp) were variable. The concordance rate between fragment analysis and conventional PCR was 97.7% (470/481). Fragment analysis was more sensitive than conventional PCR and detected 11 additional cases: seven had mutations below 10%, three cases represented conventional PCR failure, and one case showed false negativity because of short ITD length (14 bp). Conclusions: The new fragment analysis method proved to be sensitive and reliable for the detection and monitoring of FLT3-ITD in patients with AML. This could be used to simultaneously assess ITD mutant allele burden and length.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.565-573
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• 2022

Gingival inflammation is one of the main causes that can be related to various periodontal diseases. Human gingival fibroblast (HGF) is the major constituent in periodontal connective tissue and secretes various inflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), upon lipopolysaccharide stimulation. This study is aimed at investigating the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities of Lotus Root extract (LRE) in Porphyromonas gingivalis derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS-PG)-stimulated HGF-1 cells. The concentration of NO and PGE₂, as well as their responsible enzymes, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), was analyzed by Griess reaction, ELISA, and western blot analysis. LPS-PG sharply elevated the production and protein expression of inflammatory mediators, which were significantly attenuated by LRE treatment in a dose-dependent manner. LRE treatment also suppressed activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in LPS-PG-stimulated HGF-1 cells. In addition, one of phase II enzyme, NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase (NQO)-1, and its transcription factor, Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), were significantly induced by LRE treatment. Consequently, these results suggest that LRE ameliorates LPS-PG-induced inflammatory responses by attenuating TLR4/MyD88-mediated NF-κB, and activating NQO-1/Nrf2 antioxidant response element signaling pathways in HGF-1 cells.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2023

Myriophyllum spicatum L. has been used as an ornamental in ponds and aquariums, and as a folk remedy for inflammation and pus. Nevertheless, the biological activity and underlying mechanisms of anti-inflammatory effects are unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extract of Myriophyllum spicatum L. (EMS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Antioxidant activity of EMS was assessed by radical-scavenging effects on ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals. As inflammatory response parameters produced by LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells were quantified to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of EMS. Our results showed that EMS increased FRAP and DPPH radical-scavenging activity. In EMS-treated RAW 264.7 cells, the production of NO, PGE₂, TNF-α and IL-1β was significantly inhibited at the non-cytotoxic concentration. In addition, EMS significantly attenuated LPS-stimulated the toll-like receptor (TLR) 4/myeloid differentiation protein (MyD) 88 signaling pathway, and inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB). Positive correlations were noted between anti-inflammatory activity and antioxidant activity. In conclusion, it was indicated that EMS suppresses the transcription of inflammatory factors by inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby suppressing LPS-stimulated inflammation in RAW 264.7 cells. This study highlights the potential role of EMS against inflammation and associated diseases.