A Case of Pulmonary Paragonimiasis with Involvement of the Abdominal Muscle in a 9-Year-Old Girl

In Korea, many people enjoy eating raw or underkooked freshwater crayfish and crabs which unfortunately may cause paragonimiasis. Here, we describe a case of pulmonary and abdominal paragonimiasis in a 9-year-old girl, who presented with a 1-month history of abdominal pain, especially in the right flank and the right inguinal area, with anorexia. A chest radiograph revealed pleural effusion in both lungs, and her abdominal sonography indicated an inflammatory lesion in the right psoas muscle. Peripheral blood analysis of the patient showed hypereosinophilia (66.0%) and an elevated total serum IgE level (>2,500 IU/ml). The pleural effusion tested by ELISA were also positive for antibodies against paragonimiasis. Her dietary history stated that she had ingested raw freshwater crab, 4 months previously. The diagnosis was pulmonary paragonimiasis accompanied by abdominal muscle involvement. She was improved after 5 cycles of praziquantel treatment and 2 times of pleural effusion drainage. In conclusion, herein, we report a case of pulmonary and abdominal paragonimiasis in a girl who presented with abdominal pain and tenderness in the inguinal area

Transplantation of Neural Stem Cells in Anosmic Mice

ObjectivesTreating olfactory dysfunction is a challenge for physicians. One of the therapeutic options could be transplantation of stem cells. In this study, neural stem cells were transplanted into anosmic mice.MethodsNeural stem cells were generated from the olfactory bulb of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transgenic C57BL6 mice. Anosmia were induced by injection of intraperitoneal 3-methylindole. The neural stem cells were transplanted transnasally on the next day. The olfactory function was evaluated by a food-finding test once a week. The olfactory neuroepithelium was harvested for histologic examination and protein analysis at 4 weeks.ResultsTwenty-five percent (6/24) of the control mice that were not transplanted with neural stem cells survived at 4 weeks while 67% (8/12) of the transplanted mice survived (P=0.029). The food finding test showed that the transplanted mice resumed finding food at 3 weeks while the control mice resumed finding food at 4 weeks. GFP-positive cells were observed in the olfactory neuroepithelium of the transplanted mice. Western blotting revealed that the olfactory marker protein expression was significantly lower in the control mice than that in the transplanted mice.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that improvement of mouse survival was achieved and recovery of olfactory function was promoted by transnasal transplantation of neural stem cells in the anosmic mouse model. These results indicate that stem cells might be one of the future modalities for treating olfactory impairment

Evaluation of the Suitability of Establishing Biological Exposure Indices of Styrene

Background: This study was designed to provide logical backgrounds for the revision of biological exposure indices (BEIs) for styrene exposure in Korea. In order to investigate the correlation between airborne styrene and biological exposure indices, we measured urinary mandelic acid (MA) and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA) in workers exposed to styrene occupationally, as well as airborne styrene at workplaces. Methods: Surveys were conducted for 56 subjects. The concentrations of airborne styrene and urinary metabolites of styrene were measured in 36 workers who were occupationally exposed to styrene, and in 20 controls. Air samples were collected using personal air samplers and analyzed by gas chromatography. Urine samples were collected at the end of the shift and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results: The geometric mean concentration of airborne styrene was 9.6 ppm. The concentrations of urinary MA, PGA, and MA+PGA in the exposure group were 267.7, 143.3, and 416.8 mg/g creatinine, respectively. The correlation coefficients for correlation between airborne styrene and MA, PGA, and MA+PGA were 0.714, 0.604, and 0.769, respectively. The sum of urinary MA and PGA corresponding to an exposure of 20 ppm styrene was 603 mg/g creatinine. Conclusion: The correlation of the sum of urinary MA and PGA with airborne styrene was better than the correlation of each individual urinary determinant. It is considered appropriate to amend the concentration of urinary MA+PGA to 600 mg/g creatinine as a BEI, which corresponds to an airborne styrene concentration of 20 ppm in Korea. Keywords: Biological exposure indices, Correlation, Styrene, Urinary mandelic acid, Urinary phenylglyoxylic aci

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Conjugated with Gadolinium (III) Complex as an Anti-Inflammatory MRI Agent

Studies have been actively conducted to ensure that gadolinium-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are accompanied by various biological functions. A new example is the anti-inflammatory theragnostic MRI agent to target inflammatory mediators for imaging diagnosis and to treat inflammatory diseases simultaneously. We designed, synthesized, and characterized a Gd complex of 1,4,7-tris(carboxymethylaza) cyclododecane-10-azaacetylamide (DO3A) conjugated with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that exerts the innate therapeutic effect of NSAIDs and is also applicable in MRI diagnostics. Gd-DO3A-fen (0.1 mmol/kg) was intravenously injected into the turpentine oil-induced mouse model, with Gd-DO3A-BT as a control group. In the in vivo MRI experiment, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was higher and persisted longer than that with Gd-DO3A-BT; specifically, the CNR difference was almost five times at 2 h after injection. Gd-DO3A-fen had a binding affinity (Ka) of 6.68 × 106 M−1 for the COX-2 enzyme, which was 2.1-fold higher than that of fenbufen, the original NSAID. In vivo evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity was performed in two animal models. In the turpentine oil-induced model, the mRNA expression levels of inflammatory parameters such as COX-2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were reduced, and in the carrageenan-induced edema model, swelling was suppressed by 72% and there was a 2.88-fold inhibition compared with the saline group. Correlation analysis between in vitro, in silico, and in vivo studies revealed that Gd-DO3A-fen acts as an anti-inflammatory theragnostic agent by directly binding to COX-2

Annual Endovascular Thrombectomy Case Volume and Thrombectomy-capable Hospitals of Korea in Acute Stroke Care

Objectives Although it is difficult to define the quality of stroke care, acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with moderate-to-severe neurological deficits may benefit from thrombectomy-capable hospitals (TCHs) that have a stroke unit, stroke specialists, and a substantial endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) case volume. Methods From national audit data collected between 2013 and 2016, potential EVT candidates arriving within 24 hours with a baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≥6 were identified. Hospitals were classified as TCHs (≥15 EVT case/y, stroke unit, and stroke specialists), primary stroke hospitals (PSHs) without EVT (PSHs-without-EVT, 0 case/y), and PSHs-with-EVT. Thirty-day and 1-year case-fatality rates (CFRs) were analyzed using random intercept multilevel logistic regression. Results Out of 35 004 AIS patients, 7954 (22.7%) EVT candidates were included in this study. The average 30-day CFR was 16.3% in PSHs-without-EVT, 14.8% in PSHs-with-EVT, and 11.0% in TCHs. The average 1-year CFR was 37.5% in PSHs-without-EVT, 31.3% in PSHs-with-EVT, and 26.2% in TCHs. In TCHs, a significant reduction was not found in the 30-day CFR (odds ratio [OR], 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 1.12), but was found in the 1-year CFR (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.96). Conclusions The 1-year CFR was significantly reduced when EVT candidates were treated at TCHs. TCHs are not defined based solely on the number of EVTs, but also based on the presence of a stroke unit and stroke specialists. This supports the need for TCH certification in Korea and suggests that annual EVT case volume could be used to qualify TCHs

Role of Prox1 in the Transforming Ascending Thin Limb of Henle's Loop during Mouse Kidney Development

<div><p>The homeobox transcription factor Prox1 is critical to the development of many embryonic organs and tissues, although current understanding of its expression in the developing renal medulla is limited. We examined the functional role of Prox1 during mouse kidney development with particular emphasis on the developing loop of Henle. Our data show that Prox1 is expressed in the transdifferentiating region from the NKCC2-positive thick ascending limb, into the CLC-K1-positive ascending thin limb of Henle’s loop beginning at embryonic day 18. From 1 to 14 days of age, Prox1-positive cells gradually disappeared from the papillary tip, and remained in the initial part of inner medulla after 21 days. In this transforming area, no Prox1 was observed in cells undergoing apoptosis but was expressed strongly in the remaining cells, which differentiated into ascending thin limb epithelial cells. <i>In vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> approaches showed that Prox1 expression increases where the osmolality is near optimal range, but decreases at below- or above-optimal ranges. Renal hypoosmolality induced by furosemide (NKCC2 inhibitor) inhibited Prox1 expression and delayed maturation of the ascending limb of Henle’s loop. Together, these studies suggest that Prox1 appears to be a critical stage specific regulator of specifying ascending thin limb cell fate and that its expression is regulated by osmolality.</p></div