• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.218-223
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• 2013

Purpose: Early diagnosis and treatment of acute pyelonephritis in children is of special importance in order to prevent serious complications. This study was conducted to determine the diagnostic value of serum interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 in children with acute pyelonephritis. Methods: Eighty-seven patients between 1 month to 12 years old with urinary tract infection (UTI) were divided into 2 groups based on the result of 99m-technetium dimercapto-succinic acid renal scan: acute pyelonephritis (n=37) and lower UTI (n=50) groups. White blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil (Neutl) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, platelet count, and serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations of both groups were measured and compared. Results: There was a significant difference between two groups regarding WBC count, Neutl count, ESR, and CRP concentration (P<0.05). In addition, the difference between the two groups regarding serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations was not significant (IL-6, 60 and 35.4 pg/mL and IL-8, 404 and 617 pg/mL, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of serum IL-6 and IL-8 for diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis were 73%, 42% and 78%, 32%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values of serum IL-6 and IL-8 were less than those of acute phase serum reactants such as CRP. Conclusion: This study showed that there was no significant difference between acute pyelonephritis and lower UTI groups regarding serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels. Therefore, despite confirming results of previous studies, it seems that IL-6 and IL-8 are not suitable markers for differentiating between acute pyelonephritis and lower UTI.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 1999

To determine molecular mechanisms of Aquaporin-CD (AQP2) gene regulation, the promoter region of the AQP2 gene was examined by transiently transfecting a promoter-luciferase reporter fusion gene into mouse renal collecting duct cell lines such as mIMCD-3, mIMCD-K2, and M-1 cells, and NIH3T3 mouse embryo fibroblast cells. PCR-Southern analysis reveals that mIMCD-3 and mIMCD-K2 cells express AQP2, but M-1 and NIH3T3 cells do not, and that the treatment with cpt-cAMP $(400\;{\mu}M)$) or forskolin/isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX) increased the AQP2 expression in IMCD cells. In both IMCD and NIH3T3 cells, the constructs containing the promoter of AQP2 gene showed promoter activities, indicating lack of tissue-specific element in the 1.4 kb 5'-flanking region of the mouse AQP2 gene. Luciferase activity in the IMCD cells transfected with the construct containing 5-flanking region showed responsiveness to cpt-cAMP, indicating that the 1.4 kb 5'-flanking region contains the element necessary for the regulatory mechanism by cAMP. The promoter-luciferase constructs which do not have a cAMP-responsible element (CRE) still showed the cAMP responsiveness in IMCD cells, but not in NIH3T3 cells. Increase in medium osmolarity did not affect AQP2 promoter activity in mIMCD-K2 cells. These results demonstrate that AQP2 gene transcription is increased with cAMP treatment through multiple motifs including CRE in the 5'-flanking region of the gene in vitro, and the regulatory mechanism may be important for in vivo regulation of AQP2 expression.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.84-87
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• 2011

Branchio-otic syndrome(BOS) is a relatively uncommon genetic malformation associated with dysmorphogenesis of the first and second branchial arches and is characterized by branchial fistulae, congenital preauricular fistulae, and anomalies of the pinnae, external, middle, and inner ears, accompanied by hearing loss. Recently, we experienced a case of BOS in a 10 years old female patient and report this case with a review of literature. 10-year-old girl presented with hearing impairment, bilateral preauricular fistula and cervical fistula. The pure tone audiometry revealed that she had 60dB sensorineural hearing loss on right side and 90dB mixed hearing loss on left. Bilateral branchial fistula was found on the neck CT scan and bilateral ossicular and cochlear abnormality combined with enlarged internal auditory canal was noted on the temporal bone CT scan. To investigate the association with EYA1 gene, we performed DNA sequncing with peripheral white blood cell and found the point mutations on Exon 7, 12 and 16 of EYA1 gene. The preauricular fistula and branchial fistula was excised surgically and hearing aid was applied on her left side. There was no sign of fistula recurrence for seven years after the surgery.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.251-259
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• 1986

This study was performed to assess the effect of inosiplex(ISP) on the resistance of mice Candida albicans infection, the migration of chicken leukocytes, the production of leukocyte migration inhibitory factor(LIF), and the cell-mediated immunity(CMI) to lepomin in multibacillary lepromatous leprosy patients. The treatment with ISP before or on the time of infection with C. albicans had no or deliterious effect, and treatment with ISP after infection had no effect on the recovery of C. albicans from the kidneys of mice. The migratory ability of chicken leukocytes and the production of LIF from splenocytes of mice were not affected by ISP treatment. However, ISP decreased the migration of chicken leukocytes in vitro, and this decrease was dose-dependent. The therapy of lepromatous leprosy patients with ISP for 10 or 30 days clearly showed the increase of the significant positive rate of Mitsuda skin test to lepromin. The immune recovery as a result of the therapy was found to be the best in the group of patients treated for 30 days. This results suggest that (1) the effect of ISP in renal candidiasis can vary depending on the time of treatment relative to infection, (2) ISP can primarily change the migratory ability of chicken leukocytes but does not affect the production of LIF in mice, and (3) the classical therapy combined with ISP can reinforce or restore the defences of lepromatous leprosy patients against Mycobacterium leprae.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.290-295
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• 2008

The cytotoxic characteristics of Vitsin A isolated from Vitis amurensis L. were examined in human colorectal, breast, uterine and renal cancer cells. Vitsin A showed good cytotoxicity against various cancer cells with $IC_{50}$ of $1\;{\sim}\;30\;{\mu}M$. Among them, Vitisin A exhibited strongest cytotoxic effect against MES-SA cells with $IC_{50}$ of 1.11 ${\mu}M$ by SRB assay. To verify whether the cytotoxicity of Vitisin A may be associated with apoptosis, TdT-mediated-dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay and cell cycle analysis were performed in MES-SA cells. Apoptotic bodies were observed in Vitisin A treated MES-SA cells by TUNEL assay. Also, Vitisin A effectively increased the portion of $sub-G_1$ DNA content by flow cytometric analysis. Taken together, these findings suggest that the cytotoxicity of Vitisin A against MES-SA cells is chiefly mediated by apoptosis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.626-631
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• 1996

The forty patients with carcirLoma of the esophagus or cardia seen at National Medical Center between November 1983 and April 1994 underwent surgical exploration. The esophagogastrectomy was carried out in 29 of 40 patients, one case through right thoracotomy, the others through left thoracotomy. Two patients underwent colon bypass surgeries due to upper esophageal cancer Transhiatal esop agectomy was performed In one case. Feeding gastrostomy or feeding jejunostomy were performed in 8 patients due to the advanced stage or malnutrition. In this report, we evaluated the long-term results in the 28 patients who underwent esophagogastrectomy for palliation through the left thoracotomy. There were 25 men(89%) and 3 women(11 %), and the mean age was 58.65$\pm$7.15 years(range, 46 to 73 years). The most frequent preoperative symptoms included dysphagia (22), weight loss (15), chest pain (6), vomiting (1), and hoarsness (1). Twenty-three patients had sqamous cell cancers of mid-and lower esophagus and five adenocarcionomas of cardia. One patient died in the hospital within 30 days of the op- eration for a hospital mortality rate of ).7%, Cause of death was sepsis due to anastomotic leakage. There were five additional complications in five patients; acute respiratory distress syndrome (1), post-op- erative bleeding (1), diaphragmatic hernia (1), acute renal failure (1) and late raft stenosis (1). The one year, 1틴o years, and three years acturial survival rate were 75.6$\pm$9.5%, 43.2$\pm$ 11.6%, 21.6: 10.5$\circledcirc$ re- spectively. The average survival was 21.8 months. The data from this study suggest that esophagogastrectomy through the left thoracotomy can achieve resonable long-term palliation for carci- noma of the esophagus. The operation can be performed with a low operative mortality and few serious postoperative complications.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 1996

In an attempt to dofine the early biochemical determinants that participate in the pathogenesis of glycerol-induced nephrotoxicity, especially focusing on oxygen free radicals and $N-acetyl-{\beta}-D-glucosaminidase$ (NAG) activity, we studied 24-hours urine outflow, 24-hours urinary protein excretion and urinary NAG activity after the injection of glycerol and also we studied malondialdehyde(MDA) level and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in the kidney of rats at 24hr after the injection of glycerol. Sprague-Dawley albino rats weighing 240 to 260 gm were injected intramuscularly with a 50% solution of glycerol(2ml/kg, 4ml/kg and 8ml/kg). The group treated with glycerol showed significantly lower urine outflow level and urinary protein excretion level and higher urinary NAG activity after the injection as compared to those of control group. Also the group treated with glycerol showed significantly higher MDA level and lower SOD activity at 24hr after the injection as compared to those of control group. These results suggest that the excessive oxygen free radicals resulting from the depression of SOD activity is an important determinant in the pathogenesis of glycerol-induced nephrotoxicity and higher urinary NAG activity is an index of renal tubular cell damage in the glycerol-induced nephrotoxicity.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.652-657
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• 2013

In the present study, anti-oxidative and the RMC proliferation inhibitory propeties of 80% ethanol extracts from 63 kinds of traditional medicines were investigated. Inhibitory effects of RMC proliferation were showed that Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen., Melia azedarach Linn$\acute{e}$ and Hydnocarpus anthelmintica Pierre. Among them Hydnocarpus anthelmintica Pierre had the highest anti-oxidative activity ($ORAC_{PE\;value}=1.6$, DPPH = 81.1), but Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen. and Melia azedarach Linn$\acute{e}$ had no effects. These results suggest that the Hydnocarpus anthelmintica Pierre could prevent or protect from kidney disease as antioxidant and anti-proliferative agent for RMC.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.11
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• pp.422-427
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• 2019

Background: Polyomavirus BK (BKV) infection is an important cause of graft loss in kidney transplant patients. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical findings and risk factors for BKV in pediatric patients after kidney transplantation. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included 31 pediatric kidney transplant recipients from January 2002 to December 2017. Two patients received 2 transplantations during the study period, and each transplant was analyzed independently. Total number of cases is 33 cases with 31 patients. BKV infection was confirmed from blood samples via periodic quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The mean age at kidney transplantation was 11.0±4.7 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 2.7:1. Three patients had a past medical history of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem-cell transplantation for solid tumors. Nine patients (27.3%) developed BKV infection. The median period from kidney transplantation to BKV detection in blood was 5.6 months. There was no statistically significant difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate between patients with and those without BKV infection. Among 9 patients with BKV viremia, 7 were treated by reducing their immunosuppressant dose, and BKV was cleared in 6 of these 7 patients. In the other 2 BKV-positive patients, viremia improved without immunosuppressant reduction. Conclusion: BKV infection is common in children with kidney transplantation and might not have affected short-term renal function in our patient sample due to early immunosuppressant reduction at the time of BKV detection.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-144
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• 2000

Objective: Several water channels (aquaporins; AQP) that belong to the MIP (major intrinsic protein) family have identified. In the selected tissues including red blood cells or renal tubules, water movements are abundant and/or physiologically important. Unexpectedly, a high water permeability of human and ram sperm has been reported. Recent studies showed that AQP7 and AQP8 are present in testes, so that the high water permeability of human sperm suggested to be mediated by AQPs. Method: To identify the identity of aquaporins expressed in testes, RT-PCR was performed using degenerative primers, which were designed to correspond to highly conserved sequences surrounding the Asn-Pro-Ala (NPA) motifs in the aquaporins. New expressed AQP series were reconfirmed by immunohistochemical study using rabbit polyclonal antibodies. Results: DNA sequencing of PCR products revealed that AQP2 and AQP3 mRNA as well as AQP7 and AQP8 are expressed in human and rat testes. In human and rat testes, AQP2 are expressed in spermatozoa, interstitial cells and myofibroblasts and AQP3 are expressed in myofibroblasts of semineferous tubules on immunocytochemical stain. Conclusion: These results indicate that multiple aquaporins are expressed in testes, and that they may have important roles in the spermatogenesis and the germ cell function of testis.