• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.63 no.1
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2007

Background: Many diagnostic approaches for defining the definitive cause of pleurisy should be included due to the large variety of diseases resulting in pleural effusion. Although ADA is a useful diagnostic tool for making a differential diagnosis of pleural effusion, particularly for tuberculous pleural effusion, a definitive diagnostic cut-off value remains problematic in Korea. It was hypothesized that ADA multiplied by the Lymphocyte/Neutrophil ratio(L/N ratio) might be more powerful for making a differential diagnosis of pleural effusion. Methods: One hundred and ninety patients, who underwent thoracentesis and treatment in Chung-Ang University Hospital from January, 2005 through to February 2006, were evaluated. The clinical characteristics, radiologic data and the examination of the pleural effusion were analyzed retrospectively. Results: 1. Among the 190 patients, 59 patients (31.1%) were diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy, 45 patients(23.7%) with parapneumonic effusion, 42 patients(22.1%) with malignant effusions, 36 patients(18.9%) with transudate, and 8 patients(4.2%) with empyema. One hundred and twenty one patients were found to have an ADA activity of 1 to 39 IU/L(63.7%). Twenty-nine were found to have an ADA activity of 40 to 75 IU/L(15.3%) and 40 were found to have an ADA activity of 75 IU/L or greater(21.0%). 2. Among the patients with tuberculous pleurisy, 5(8%), 18(30%) and 36 patients(60%) had an ADA activity ranging from 1 to 39 IU/L, 40 to 75 IU/L, and 75 IU/L or greater, respectively. In those with an ADA activitiy 40 to 75 IU/L, 18 patients(62%) had tuberculous pleurisy, 9(31%) had parapneumonic effusion and empyema, and 1(3.4%) had a malignant effusion. 3. In those with an ADA activity of 40 to 75 IU/L, there was no significant difference between tuberculous pleurisy and non-tuberculous pleural effusion(tuberculous pleurisy : 61.3 ${\pm}$ 9.2 IU/L, non-tuberculous pleural effusion : 53.3${\pm}$10.5 IU/L). 4. The mean L/N ratio of those with tuberculous pleurisy was 39.1 ${\pm}$ 44.6, which was significantly higher than nontuberculous pleural effusion patients (p<0.05). The mean ADA x L/N ratio of the tuberculous pleurisy patients was 2,445.7 ${\pm}$ 2,818.5, which was significantly higher than the non-tuberculous pleural effusion patients (level p<0.05). 5. ROC analysis showed that the ADA x L/N ratio had a higher diagnostic value than the ADA alone in the group with an ADA between 40-75 IU/L. Conclusion: The ADA multiplied by the lymphocyte-to-neutrophil ratio might provide a more definitive diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.35-42
• /
• 1993

Background: In order to establish the etiology of the pleural effusion, routine analysis of the fluid, bacteriologic studies, cytologic tests and pleural biopsies are currently being employed. However, even with the above mentioned tests, the exact causes cannot be determined in approximately 10-20% of cases. The purpose of our study is to determine the diagnostic value of measuring ADA activity and CEA simultaneously in various pleural fluids which their etiologies have confirmed Methods: We have studied 61 cases of tuberculous pleural effusions, 17 cases of suspected tuberculous pleural effusions, 17 cases of malignant pleural effusions, 22 cases of suspected malignant pleural effusions, and 7 cases of parapneumonic pleural effusions. We have measured the ADA activity and CEA level simultaneously in pleural fluid samples in each cases. Results: 1) The ADA activity in tuberculous pleural effusion was significantly higher than that in malignant effusion. 2) The CEA level in malignant pleural effusion was significantly higher than that in tuberculous effusion. 3) With the cut-off values of the pleural fluid ADA activity more than 40 U/L and the CEA level less than 12 ng/mL, the sensitivity was 86.9%, and the specificity was 100% in the diagnosis of tuberculous effusion. With the cut-off values of the pleural fluid CEA level more than 12 g/mL and the ADA activity less than 40 U/L, the sensitivity was 76.5%, and the specificity was 100% in the diagnosis of malignant effusion. Conclusion: It is suggested that the combined assay of pleural fluid ADA activity and CEA level is very useful in the differential diagnosis of tuberculous and malignant pleural effusion.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.631-636
• /
• 2008

Acanthopanax divaricatus var. albeofructus (ADA) have been shown to have various levels of activity such as antioxidant, anticancer, antivirus, and immunostimulatory effects. However, little is known about its mechanism related to the modulation of immune activities. In this study, a water extract of ADA leaves were used to treat human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMC) to determine the underlying mechanisms for the immunostimulatory effects. To characterize its immunomodulatory activity, the secretion level of various cytokines including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-$\gamma$, and TNF-$\alpha$ were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Treatment of hPBMC with ADA leaf extract in an in vitro experiment induced various Th1 cytokines in a dose-dependent manner. A significant increase of IL-2, IL-12, IFN-$\gamma$, and TNF-$\alpha$ secretion was observed in the presence of ADA leaf extract. In contrast, Th2 cytokines including IL-4 and IL-6 were suppressed. There was no significant change in IL-10 release. Our results showed an increase in Th1 and a decrease in Th2 cytokine secretion which suggests that ADA may influence the immune response towards a predominance of Th1 cytokines in the immune system.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.37-41
• /
• 1997

The in vitro regeneration and genetic transformation systems in hot pepper(Capsicum annuum L.) have not been routinely available, which has been a major limiting factor in the application of new genetic manipulations. An efficient procedure to regenerate whole pepper plants and to generate transgenic plants expressing a foreign gene was established. A relatively high frequency of plant regeneration was observed when hypocotyl and cotyledon explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with NAA 0.1 mg/L plus zeatin 2.0 mg/L or IBA 10.0 mg/L plus BAP 1.0 mg/L. Addition of AgNO$_3$5 $\mu$M to these media improved the regeneration frequency up to 8%. For plant transformation, hypocotyl and cotyledon explants of hot pepper were precultured on shoot induction media without kanamycin added for 2 days, and then cocultured with Agrobacterium tumefaciens pDY183 for 2 days. Putative transformants were obtained from selection media containing 100 mg/L kanamycin sulfate and 500 mg/L carbenicillin. Putatively selected transformants were confirmed by amplification of selectable marker genes (ADA and NPT II) by polymerase chain reacion. Successful transcripts of ADA gene were detected by Northern blot analysis. Enzyme activity of ADA was also examined by spectrophotometric analysis, and expression of ADA gene in hot pepper suggests the potential application of ADA gene as a selectable marker in plants.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.70-75
• /
• 2002

Mycoplasma pneumioniae has a unique genomic composition, cellular biology, and a fastidious nature as the smallest cell-free living organism that lacks a cell wall. Previous studies have suggested that a clinical manifestation of a M. pneumoniae infection is a consequence of a host immune response, particularly involving cellular immunity. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is the main T-lymphocyte enzyme, and its activity is high in diseases where cellular immunity is stimulated. Therefore, its activity is useful for diagnosing a tuberculous pleural effusion. A pleural effusion is found in 5-20% of Mycoplasma pneumonia patients. However, there are few reports of high ADA activity in a mycoplasmal pleural effusion. Here we report a case of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection established by a polymerase chain reaction and serologic tests, accompanying high ADA activity in a pleural effusion.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.232-236
• /
• 2014

Acanthopanax divaricatus var. albeofructus (ADA) is commonly ingested as a traditional medicine or as a component of a health drink in Korea. In this phytochemical study, nine phenolics (1 - 9) and three lignans (10 - 12) were isolated from the MeOH extract of the stems of ADA. Chemical structures were elucidated by comparing spectroscopic data with reported values. Nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) inhibitory activity of the isolated compounds was evaluated using an $NF-{\kappa}B$ luciferase assay in HepG2 cells. Among them, compounds 1, 3 - 8, and 11 showed significant inhibitory effects on $TNF{\alpha}$-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ transcriptional activity in a dosedependent manner, with $IC_{50}$ values ranging from 13.25 to $37.36{\mu}M$. Further studies on potential anti-inflammatory effects and the benefits of phenolic and lignan components from ADA are warranted.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.54-62
• /
• 1993

Intracellular adenosine deaminase (ADA) from Aspergillus oryzae was purified using ammonium sulfate fractionation, a DEAE-Sephadex A-50 anion exchange chromatography, an ultrafiltration using a PM 10 membrane and two times of Sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatography. The enzyme was purified 151 fold with a 9% recovery. Purified enzyme gave a single protein band with a molecular weight of 105,000 delton. The enzyme was reasonably stable. The enzyme activity was kept even after 1 hr incubation at 55.deg.C, but decreased significantly at 60.deg.C. The pH optimum was found to be from 6.5 to 7.5. Among tested compounds, the substrate activity was found with adenosine, adenine arainofuranoside, formymcin A, 2'-deoxyadenosine, 3'-deoxyadenosine, 2', 3'-isopropylidene adenosine, 2,6-diaminopurine deoxyriboside, .betha.-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced form), 6-chloropurine riboside, 2'-adenine monophosphate (AMP), 3'-AMP and 5'-AMP. The values of Km of adenosine and 2'-deoxyadenosine were calculated to be 500 and .$710\mu$m, respectively. ADA was sensitivite to $Zn^{2+}$, $^Cu{2+}$ and $Fe^{3+}$, p-chloromercuribenzoate and mersalyl acid inactivated the enzyme. The activity of enzyme was not changed when ADA was incubated with dithiothreititol, 2-mercaptoethanol, N-ethylmaleimide, iodoacetic acid and iodoacetamide.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.280-289
• /
• 1998

Background: It is sometimes difficult to differentiate tuberculous pleural effusion from malignant pleural effusion by clinical symptoms, signs, by routine tests of pleural fluid, and by pathologic studies. And recently, it was discovered that cytokines such as IL-2, IFN-$\gamma$, TNF-$\alpha$ are elevated in tuberculous pleural fluid, and there have been several attempts to diagnose tuberculous pleural effusion by using these immunological mediators. There are several studies regarding the diagnostic value of IFN-$\gamma$, and there are two studies in Korea. But the diagnostic values of IFN-$\gamma$ in these studies were slightly lower than those in other countries. To compare the diagnostic value of IFN-$\gamma$ with those of CEA and ADA, and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of IFN-$\gamma$ in Korean, we mesured IFN-$\gamma$, CEA level and ADA activity in pleural effusions. Methods: ADA activity, IFN-$\gamma$ level and CEA level as well as cell count, differential count, and biochemical assays such as protein content and lactate dehydrogenase were measured in 40 cases of tuberculous pleuritis and 42 cases of malignant pleural effusion. Results: Tuberculous pleural fluid showed higher levels of IFN-$\gamma$ and ADA ($832.6{\pm}357.2$ pg/ml and $82.5{\pm}25.9$ U/L, respectively) than those of malignant pleural effusion ($2.6{\pm}8.0$ pg/ml and $19.2{\pm}10.9$ U/L, respectively) (p<0.01). Malignant pleural effusions showed higher median value (102.2 ng/ml) than tubercalous pleural effusions (1.8 ng/ml) (p<0.01). The sensitivities of IFN-$\gamma$, ADA, CEA were 0.97, 0.87, 0.67 and the specificities of IFN-$\gamma$, ADA, CEA were 1.0, 0.97, 1.0, respectively. There was no significant correlation between ADA activity and IFN-$\gamma$ level. Conclusion: This study showed that IFN-$\gamma$ test would be a very useful clinical test for differential diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis and malignant pleural effusion because it is very sensitive and specific, although it is an expensive test.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.3E
• /
• pp.124-132
• /
• 2003

We propose a new method for speech/non-speech classifiers based on concepts of the adaptive boosting (AdaBoost) algorithm in order to detect speech for robust speech recognition. The method uses a combination of simple base classifiers through the AdaBoost algorithm and a set of optimized speech features combined with spectral subtraction. The key benefits of this method are the simple implementation, low computational complexity and the avoidance of the over-fitting problem. We checked the validity of the method by comparing its performance with the speech/non-speech classifier used in a standard voice activity detector. For speech recognition purpose, additional performance improvements were achieved by the adoption of new features including speech band energies and MFCC-based spectral distortion. For the same false alarm rate, the method reduced 20-50% of miss errors.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.386-390
• /
• 2014

BACKGROUND: Acanthopanax divaricatus var. albeofructus (ADA) extract has been reported to have anti-oxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-mutagenic activity. MATERIALS/METHODS: We investigated the effects of ADA extract on two mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD); intracerebroventricular injection of ${\beta}$-amyloid peptide ($A{\beta}$) and amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1)-transgenic mice. RESULTS: Intra-gastric administration of ADA stem extract (0.25 g/kg, every 12 hrs started from one day prior to injection of $A{\beta}1$-42 until evaluation) effectively blocked $A{\beta}1$-42-induced impairment in passive avoidance performance, and $A{\beta}1$-42-induced increase in immunoreactivities of glial fibrillary acidic protein and interleukin (IL)-$1{\alpha}$ in the hippocampus. In addition, it alleviated the $A{\beta}1$-42-induced decrease in acetylcholine and increase in malondialdehyde levels in the cortex. In APP/PS1-transgenic mice, chronic oral administration of ADA stem extract (0.1 or 0.5 g/kg/day for six months from the age of six to 12 months) resulted in significantly enhanced performance of the novel-object recognition task, and reduced amyloid deposition and IL-$1{\beta}$ in the brain. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that ADA stem extract may be useful for prevention and treatment of AD.