Refractory Duodenal Crohn's Disease Successfully Treated with Infliximab

Crohn's disease (CD) may involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus. Approximately >90% of cases occur in the small bowel and colon. Upper gastrointestinal involvement, especially duodenal manifestation, is relatively rare. Therefore, adequate medical treatment for duodenal CD has not yet been established. We report a case of CD with duodenal involvement. A 46-year-old man with Crohn's ileocolitis presented to our hospital with right upper quadrant pain. An endoscopy showed a deep excavated ulcer with deformity at the duodenal bulb, and he was initially treated with azathioprine (1 mg/kg), Pentasa (3.0 g/day), and a proton pump inhibitor for 1 year. However, the deep ulcer did not heal. Therefore, infliximab infusion therapy was initiated, and the duodenal lesion completely resolved on follow-up esophagogastroduodenoscopy. We report a case of duodenal CD that completely resolved following infliximab infusion, with a review of the literature

Suppressive Effect on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Proinflammatory Mediators by Citrus aurantium L. in Macrophage RAW 264.7 Cells via NF-κB Signal Pathway

Citrus fruits have been used as an edible fruit and a traditional medicine since ancient times. In particular, the peels of immature citrus fruits are used widely in traditional herbal medicine in Korea, as they are believed to contain bioactive components exerting anti-inflammatory activity. This study examined whether the crude methanol extract of Citrus aurantium L. (CME) has a suppressive effect on inducible enzymes and proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway in LPS-stimulated macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The cells were pretreated with the indicated concentrations of CME (5, 10, 20, and 50 μg/mL) and then treated with LPS (1 μg/mL). The results showed that CME (10, 20, and 50 μg/mL) inhibited the LPS- (1 μg/mL) induced mRNA and protein expression of iNOS in macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. In addition, the expression of COX-2 was inhibited at the mRNA and protein levels by CME in a dose-dependent manner. The mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6, were markedly reduced by CME (10, 20, and 50 μg/mL). Moreover, CME clearly suppressed the nuclear translocation of the NF-κB p65 subunits, which was correlated with its inhibitory effect on I-κB phosphorylation. These results suggest that CME has anti-inflammatory properties by modulating the expression of COX-2, iNOS, and proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6, in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells via the NF-κB pathway

Cancer-Associated Splicing Variant of Tumor Suppressor AIMP2/p38: Pathological Implication in Tumorigenesis

Although ARS-interacting multifunctional protein 2 (AIMP2, also named as MSC p38) was first found as a component for a macromolecular tRNA synthetase complex, it was recently discovered to dissociate from the complex and work as a potent tumor suppressor. Upon DNA damage, AIMP2 promotes apoptosis through the protective interaction with p53. However, it was not demonstrated whether AIMP2 was indeed pathologically linked to human cancer. In this work, we found that a splicing variant of AIMP2 lacking exon 2 (AIMP2-DX2) is highly expressed by alternative splicing in human lung cancer cells and patient's tissues. AIMP2-DX2 compromised pro-apoptotic activity of normal AIMP2 through the competitive binding to p53. The cells with higher level of AIMP2-DX2 showed higher propensity to form anchorage-independent colonies and increased resistance to cell death. Mice constitutively expressing this variant showed increased susceptibility to carcinogen-induced lung tumorigenesis. The expression ratio of AIMP2-DX2 to normal AIMP2 was increased according to lung cancer stage and showed a positive correlation with the survival of patients. Thus, this work identified an oncogenic splicing variant of a tumor suppressor, AIMP2/p38, and suggests its potential for anti-cancer target

Complete genome sequence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus KOR/KNIH/002_05_2015, isolated in South Korea

The full genome sequence of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified from cultured and isolated in Vero cells. The viral genome sequence has high similarity to 53 human MERS-CoVs, ranging from 99.5% to 99.8% at the nucleotide level. © 2015 Kim et al.

Developmental Transcriptomic Features of the Carcinogenic Liver Fluke, Clonorchis sinensis

Clonorchis sinensis is the causative agent of the life-threatening disease endemic to China, Korea, and Vietnam. It is estimated that about 15 million people are infected with this fluke. C. sinensis provokes inflammation, epithelial hyperplasia, and periductal fibrosis in bile ducts, and may cause cholangiocarcinoma in chronically infected individuals. Accumulation of a large amount of biological information about the adult stage of this liver fluke in recent years has advanced our understanding of the pathological interplay between this parasite and its hosts. However, no developmental gene expression profiles of C. sinensis have been published. In this study, we generated gene expression profiles of three developmental stages of C. sinensis by analyzing expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Complementary DNA libraries were constructed from the adult, metacercaria, and egg developmental stages of C. sinensis. A total of 52,745 ESTs were generated and assembled into 12,830 C. sinensis assembled EST sequences, and then these assemblies were further categorized into groups according to biological functions and developmental stages. Most of the genes that were differentially expressed in the different stages were consistent with the biological and physical features of the particular developmental stage; high energy metabolism, motility and reproduction genes were differentially expressed in adults, minimal metabolism and final host adaptation genes were differentially expressed in metacercariae, and embryonic genes were differentially expressed in eggs. The higher expression of glucose transporters, proteases, and antioxidant enzymes in the adults accounts for active uptake of nutrients and defense against host immune attacks. The types of ion channels present in C. sinensis are consistent with its parasitic nature and phylogenetic placement in the tree of life. We anticipate that the transcriptomic information on essential regulators of development, bile chemotaxis, and physico-metabolic pathways in C. sinensis that presented in this study will guide further studies to identify novel drug targets and diagnostic antigens

Efficacy and safety of entecavir plus carnitine complex (GODEX®) compared to entecavir monotherapy in patient with ALT elevated chronic hepatitis B: randomized, multicenter open-label trials. The GOAL study

Background/AimsCarnitine and vitamin complex (Godex®) is widely used in patients with chronic liver disease who show elevated liver enzyme in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to identify the efficacy and safety of carnitine from entecavir combination therapy in Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevated Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) patients.Methods130 treatment-naïve patients with CHB were enrolled from 13 sites. The patients were randomly selected to the entecavir and the complex of entecavir and carnitine. The primary endpoint of the study is ALT normalization level after 12 months.ResultsAmong the 130 patients, 119 patients completed the study treatment. The ALT normalization at 3 months was 58.9% for the monotherapy and 95.2% for the combination therapy (P<0.0001). ALT normalization rate at 12 months was 85.7% for the monotherapy and 100% for the combination group (P=0.0019). The rate of less than HBV DNA 300 copies/mL at 12 months was not statistically significant (P=0.5318) 75.9% for the monotherapy, 70.7% for the combination and it was. Quantification of HBsAg level was not different from the monotherapy to combination at 12 months. Changes of ELISPOT value to evaluate the INF-γ secretion by HBsAg showed the increasing trend of combination therapy compare to mono-treatment.ConclusionsALT normalization rate was higher in carnitine complex combination group than entecavir group in CHB. Combination group was faster than entecavir mono-treatment group on ALT normalization rate. HBV DNA normalization rate and the serum HBV-DNA level were not changed by carnitine complex treatment

PPS/PPSS ??????????????? ?????? ??? ?????? ??????

p-Dichlobenzene(DCB), p-dibromobenzene(DBB), p-diiodobenzene(DIB) ??? 4-chlorophenyl sulfone(CPS)??? ???????????????, ????????? N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone(NMP)??? ????????? ???????????? ??????, ??????????????? poly(phenylene sulfide-co-phenylene sulfide sulfone), PPS/PPSS ??????????????? ???????????? ????????? ?????? ????????? ????????? ?????????????????? ?????? ??? ??????????????? ?????? ???????????????. PPS/PPSS ??????????????? ????????? [DBB]/[CPS] ??? [DIB]/[CPS] ???????????? ????????? ?????? [DCB]/[CPS] ???????????? ???????????? ?????? ????????? 190????????? ?????? ????????? ?????????????????? [DCB]/[CPS] ???????????? ????????? ????????? ????????? ?????? ????????? 230????????? ?????? ????????? ???????????? leaving group??? I > Br > Cl??? ????????? ????????? ????????? ??? ?????????????????? ?????????????????? ????????? ????????? nucleophilic aromatic substitution(SNAr) ????????? ???????????? ??? ??? ?????????. [DBB]/[CPS] ???????????? ??????????????? CPS??? ???????????? 10 mol%??? ??? ????????? PPS/PPSS ??????????????? ???????????? 8,330g/mol??? ?????? ?????? ????????????. CPS ???????????? ???????????? 30 mol% ????????? ?????? ???????????? PPS/PPSS ??????????????? Tm??? ???????????? ????????????, CPS??? ???????????? 10 mol%??? PPS/PPSS ???????????? ????????? ?????? Tg??? ??? 15??? ??????????????? Tm??? ??? 15??? ???????????? ?????? ????????? ???????????? ?????? ??? ??? ?????????. ??? ?????? ????????? 240?????? ???????????? [DBB]/[CPS]??? ???????????? 95/5 mol%??? ?????? ????????? PPS/PPSS ??????????????? PPS ?????? ??????????????? ???????????? ?????? ????????? PPS ?????? ???????????? ???????????? ??? ???????????? ???????????? PPS ?????? ???????????? ????????? ????????? ???????????? ???????????? ??? ?????? ???????????? ????????? ??? ????????? ???????????????. Poly(phenylene sulfide-co-phenylene sulfide sulfone), PPS/PPSS copolymers were synthesized from p-dichlobenzene(DCB), p-dibromobenzene(DBB), p-diiodobenzene(DIB), 4-chlorophenyl sulfone(CPS) and sodium sulfide as comonomers under high temperature and pressure utilizing N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone(NMP) as solvent. The yield of PPS/PPSS copolymer shoed maximum at 190??? with [DBB]/[CPS] and [DIB]/[CPS] comonomer pair, while [DCB]/[CPS] pair exhibited maximum yield at 230???. The change of yield is in the order of I > Br > Cl as leaving groups were in accordance with nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction mechanism suggested for the synthesis of PPS type polymers. The molecular weight of PPS/PPSS copolymer was the highest(Mw=8,330g/mol) with [DBB]/[CPS] comonomers in which [CPS] was 10 mole%. The PPS/PPSS copolymer made with 10 mole% of [CPS] showed about 15??? higher Tg and 15??? lower Tm than those of PPS homopolymer, which may be useful from the processing and thermal property point of view. The PPS/PPSS copolymer with 30 mole% of CPS or above did not exhibit Tm. The PPS/PPSS copolymer obtained with comonomer feed ratio of [DBB]/[CPS] = 95/5 mole% under 240??? showed even higher molecular weight(Mw=10,300g/mole) than PPS homopolymer made under similar reaction condition, retaining high crystallinity and thermal stability.clos