• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.56.1-56.1
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• 1998

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.287-296
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• 1991

Colonial morphology of the various yeasts often encountered in sputum or other clinical specimens was investigated on the corn meal-potato-yeast extract agar medium (GJCPY) containing orange-yellow pigments extracted from Gardenia jasminoides fruits in hopes of differential identification on primary cultures. The results obtained are as follows. 1) Cryptococcus neoformans which is a medically important yeast and whose colony showed brown to purple brown on GJCPY medium was distinguishable not only from buff colored Cr. laurentii after one week incubation but also from Candida spp. 2) Colony color of Candida albicans, a most common species in sputum specimens and of Ca. parapsilosis, a rare isolate, remained unchanged even after 15 days incubation. 3) Ca. tropicalis, second common isolate from sputums and Ca. krusei, a rare isolate, formed a characteristic rough and wrinkled colonies that permit to differentiate them from others. 4) Rare isolates, Ca. guilliermondii and Ca. lusitaniae, turned to prussian blue within three days of incubation. 5) Torulopsis sp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed glossy grayish blue or light blue after one week incubation. The findings clearly showed that Ga. jasminoides pigments medium was useful to the morphological differentiation of medically important yeasts that were often encountered in sputum or other clinical specimens.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 1975

Anaerobic bacteria are the major residents of human skin and mucous membrane. The importance, as opportunistic pathogens, of anaerobic bacteria are well recognized because of more population. with decreased defense against bacterial invasion due to chemotherapy, rediation therapy, extensive surgical operation etc. are dealt at hospitals. An analysis of the anaerobe isolation results at Yonsei University Medical Center during the January 1974-May 1975 period was made and the following results were obtained. 1) From 118 patients 146 strains of anaerobes were isolated. Among these 81.3% were nonsporforming anaerobes. Most frequently isolated anaerobes were Pc. asaccharolyticus, Ps. anaerobius, Ps. intermedius, B. fragilis and Cl. perfringens. 2) Anaerobes were frequently isolated from wound, female genital, intraabdominal, and pleuropulmonary specimens. Fewer anaerobes were isolated from blood, spinal fluid and liver specimens. 3) The ratio of anaerobe isolation to total bacteria isolation were; liver 66.7%, intraabdominal 33.3%, pleuropulmonary 28.9%, spinal fluid 5.0% and blood 4.2%. 4) Among the 118 anaerobe isolated patients, 48.3% yielded anaerobes only and rest of them yielded anaerobes together with aerobes. 5) Most of the gram-positive anaerobes were susceptible to the antibiotics tested. Exception was to tetracycline to which appreciable number showed resistance. It was noteworthy that only 48% of B. fragilis was susceptible to tetracycline.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.463-468
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• 2023

The carotid sinus nerve (CSN) is well known as mediating baroreflexes. However, studies of its detailed histological analysis are scant in the literature. Therefore, the current anatomical study sought to better elucidate the microanatomy of the CSN. Ten fresh frozen adult cadavers underwent dissection of the CSN. Then, it was harvested and submitted for histological and immunohistochemical staining. Specimens were all shown to be nerve fibers on histology and immunohistochemistry. We identified tyrosine hydroxylase positive fibers in all CSN specimens. These fibers were always found to be within the CSN and not on its surface i.e., epineurium. Based on our findings, the majority of fibers contained in the CSN are tyrosine positive in nature. Further studies are necessary to understand the true function of this autonomic nerve fibers.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 1980

Exoenzymes, protease(P) and elastase(E) produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa are reported to have close relationship with pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Productibility of exoenzymes P and E were studied and compared in environmental isolates from hospital environments and clinical isolates from various clinical specimens, also, the relationship between their enzyme production and serotype were reviewed. 1. Clinical isolates were typed into nine serotypes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I. Serotype E had the highest incidence of 24%, followed by B with 16.8%, G, 15.1% and C, 9.3%. 2. Environmental isolates were, typed as serotype B, C, E, F, G, H, I, K and M. Serotype I had the highest incidence of 26.6%, followed by C, F and M each incidence of 14.3%. 3. In the typing of the above two groups, serotypes A and D were found only in the clinical isolates and serotypes K, and M were found only in the environmental isolates. Serotypes J and L were found in neither clinical isolates nor environmental isolates. 4. In the distribution of serotypes from various clinical specimens, serotype G among isolates from pus showed incidence of 20.4%, and serotypes E and B were 19.5% separately. Serotype E had incidence of 22.6% and 20.0% in urine and sputa respectively, showing a high rate compared to the other serotypes. 5. The incidence of strains producing both exoenzymes P and E was 77.8% in the preserved strains of clinical isolates and 76.2% in the environmental isolates. There were no significant difference between the two groups. 6. Serotypes A and H, which are preserved strains from clinical isolates showed productibility of both exoenzymes P and E, the other serotypes showed productibility of various combination of exoenzymes. Among the environmental isoaltes, production of both exoenzymes P and E were seen in serotypes E, F, G, H, I and K and no serotype produced only P or E. 7. In ability to produce exoenzymes of isolates from sources of various clinical specimens, strains producing both exoenzymes P and E were found most frequently in pus with incidence rate of 82.0%, followed by 80.0% in sputum and urine. 8. Almost all the fresh strains of clinical isolates were producers of both exoenzymes P and E.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.289-300
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• 2001

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that synthesizes telomere repeats. It has been reported that activation of telomerase was associtated with immortalization, proliferative activity and carcinogenesis. Recently, telomerase activity has been extensively studied in many kinds of malignant tumors for clinical diagnostic and/or prognostic utilities. In neuroblastoma, breast carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, close relationship has been reported between high telomerase activity and lymph node metastasis, tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical implication of telomerase activity assay as an adjunctive factor in decision-making on neck node management, speedy pre-operative judging on histologic malignancy grading. Thus we performed semi-quantitative assay of telomerase activity using Telomerase PCR ELISA $kit^{(R)}$(Boeringer Manheim, Germany) and evaluated correlation between telomerase activity and tumor size, neck node metastasis, Anneroth malignancy score and influence of pre-operative chemotherapy on its activity in 27 cases of oral squamous cell carcinomas and 18 cases of normal oral epithelium. Also, correlation between telomerase activities and PCNA indices was evaluated. The results were obtained as follows: 1. The telomerase activities were detected in 24 specimens out of 27 oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens (88.9%) and in 5 specimens out of 18 normal oral epithelium specimens (27.8%). The mean value of telomerase activities was $0.9793{\pm}0.3428$ in 24 oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens and $0.4855{\pm}0.1117$ in 5 normal oral epithelium specimens. The positivity rate and mean value of telomerase activities in oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens were significantly higher than those of normal oral epithelium specimens (p<0.05). 2. There was no significant correlation between total Anneroth malignancy score and telomerase activity (p>0.05), but points of mitosis index and depth of invasion were significantly correlated with telomerase activities (p<0.05). 3. The positive immunohistochemical staining for PCNA(proliferating cell nuclear antigen) was observed in 26 specimens out of 27 oral squamous cell carcinoma specimens and mean value of PCNA indices of 26 specimens was $53.67{\pm}26.46$. PCNA indices were significantly correlated with telomerase activities (p<0.05). 4. The mean value of telomerase activities was significantly higher in pathologic T3/T4 group than in T1/T2 group (p<0.01). There was no significant difference of mean value of telomerase activities between pathologic neck node positive group and negative group (p> 0.05). Pre-operative chemotherapy significantly lowered the telomerase activities (p<0.05). The above results suggested telomerase activity could be used as diagnostic marker and adjunctive parameter for judging on histologic malignancy in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2017

Fungal infections by human pathogenic fungi are increasing globally in elderly, children and immune suppressed or deficient patients. Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the well-known pathogenic fungi and causes aspergilloses in human world widely. However, current identification and classification methods based on its phenotypic characteristics still have limitations. Therefore, currently, molecular biological tools using their DNA sequences are used for genotype identification and classification. In the present study, in order to analyze genetic variations of A. fumigatus clinical isolates, a total of six housekeeping genes were amplified by PCR using specific primer pairs and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) assay. Results from phylogenetic tree analysis showed that most A. fumigatus strains (88.9%) from respiratory specimens were classified into cluster A and B, and approximately half of A. fumigatus strains (46%) from non-respiratory specimens were classified into cluster C and D. Although the sample size was limited, genetic characteristics of A. fumigatus clinical isolates according to their origins were very similar and well-correlated with other clinical data.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.189-195
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• 2009

Lung cancer is a type of cancer with high mortality; its 5-year survival rate is at a low 14%. Related cytological tests include sputum, bronchial brushing, bronchial washing and fine needle aspiration cytology test etc. From the test specimens in which sputum, bronchial brushing, bronchial washing, and fine needle aspiration cytology were performed, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy between cytology test and histology test. In the sputum test, sensitivity was 27.71% and specificity was 98.02%, and the bronchial brushing test showed sensitivity of 93.33% and a specificity of 91.3%. The bronchial washing test was a sensitivity of 53.7% and its specificity was 98.9%, and the fine needle aspiration cytology test showed sensitivity and specificity were 88.46% and 72.97%, respectively. In the specimens diagnosed as normal at the sputum test, malignant diagnosis was found in 21 specimens of bronchial brushing, 30 cases of bronchial washings and 37 cases of fine needle aspiration cytology specimens. In the specimens diagnosed as normal at the bronchial washing test, malignant diagnosis was found in 5 specimens of sputum, 7 specimens of bronchial brushin and 1 cases of fine needle aspiration cytology. One specimens found to be normal in fine needle aspiration cytology turned out to maligant in sputum test. The result of this research shows that, in diagnosis lung cancer, a test method of high sensitivity and specificity should be pursued. However, depending on the location and malignancy of the illness, diagnosis may not be obtained in some cases. Therefore, we conclude that the cytological tests performed for lung cancer testing such as sputum, bronchial brushing, bronchial washing, and fine needle aspiration cytology should be carried out in a mutually complementary manner.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.707-716
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• 2020

Objective : The function of B7H3, a member of the B7 family of proteins, in neuroblastoma (NB) remains poorly characterized. Here we examine the expression pattern of B7H3 in clinical NB specimens and characterize the phenotype of B7H3 knock-down in NB cell line. Methods : Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was carried out to assess the expression of B7H3 in clinical NB specimens. Survival association was analyzed using five Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE85047, GSE45480, GSE62564, GSE16476, GSE49710). Clonogenic survival and flow cytometry were performed after B7H3 knockdown to assess the cellular proliferation and cell survival in vitro. Impact of B7H3 silencing on NB growth was examined in vivo using the SH-SY5Y xenograft model. Results : On IHC staining, B7H3 was widely expressed in clinical NB specimens. Analysis of the transcriptional profiles of five GEO datasets clinically annotated NB specimens revealed that decreased B7H3 expression was associated with improved overall survival. B7H3 knockdown suppressed the proliferation of the SH-SY5Y NB model in vitro and in vivo. Cell cycle analysis revealed that B7H3 silencing induced G1/S arrest. This arrest was associated with the suppression of E2F1 expression and induction of Rb expression. Conclusion : Our results demonstrate that B7H3 expression correlate with clinical survival in NB patients. Preliminary studies suggest that B7H3 may mediate the G1/S transition.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.211-215
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• 2004

Toxoplasmosis has been well known as an important human infection to consider especially in pregnant women. Although many serologic methods are available, the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis can be extremely difficult. The presence of increased levels of Toxoplasma-specific IgG antibodies indicates an infection, but it does not differentiate between a recent and past infection. The purpose of our study was to compare the performance of the ELISA T. gondii IgG/IgM test, a widely used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, to the ELISA IgG avidity method. One hundred and four serum samples (from 38 males and 66 females) were tested and evaluated from symptomatic patients (chorioretinitis, lymphadenopathy), and from women in their first trimester of pregnancy who were suspected of having toxoplasmosis, The high IgG avidity and ELISA IgG antibody levels were in agreement for 51 of the specimens (49.0％). Thirty-eight discrepant (borderline) results from the IgG avidity method were positive for IgM (3 specimens) and IgG (37 specimens). Interestingly, out of the eight serum samples that were positive for both IgG and IgM antibodies, two samples were low IgG avidity, and three samples were borderline. There was no statistically significant relation observed between the results of the IgG avidity method and the ELISA IgG test, and the IgG avidity method and ELISA IgM test (X$^2$=1.987; p=0.370 and X$^2$=2.152; p=0.341, respectively). The IgG avidity method was considered easy to perform and an acceptable approach for the differentiation of discrepant results (recent/chronic) and for the current detection of T. gondii antibodies. We concluded that the determination of IgG avidity is a helpful tool for the diagnosis of the ocular form of toxoplasmosis and it is a safe method for screening this disease in the first trimester of pregnancy.