Acute Chylous Peritonitis Mimicking Ovarian Torsion in a Patient with Advanced Gastric Carcinoma

The extravasation of chyle into the peritoneal space usually does not accompany an abrupt onset of abdominal pain with symptoms and signs of peritonitis. The rarity of this condition fails to reach preoperative diagnosis prior to laparotomy. Here, we introduce a case of chylous ascites that presented with acute abdominal pain mimicking peritonitis caused by ovarian torsion in a 41-yr-old female patient with advanced gastric carcinoma. An emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed but revealed no evidence of ovarian torsion. Only chylous ascites was discovered in the operative field. She underwent a complete abdominal hysterectomy and salphingo-oophorectomy. Only saline irrigation and suction-up were performed for the chylous ascites. The postoperative course was uneventful. Her bowel movement was restored within 1 week. She was allowed only a fat-free diet, and no evidence of re-occurrence of ascites was noted on clinical observation. She now remains under consideration for additional chemotherapy

Systems Biology from Virus to Humans

Natural infection and then recovery are considered to be the most effective means for hosts to build protective immunity. Thus, mimicking natural infection of pathogens, many live attenuated vaccines such as influenza virus, and yellow fever vaccine 17D were developed and have been successfully used to induce protective immunity. However, humans fail to generate long-term protective immunity to some pathogens after natural infection such as influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) even if they survive initial infections. Many vaccines are suboptimal since much mortality is still occurring, which is exampled by influenza and tuberculosis. It is critically important to increase our understanding on protein components of pathogens and vaccines as well as cellular and host responses to infections and vaccinations. Here, we highlight recent advances in gene transcripts and protein analysis results in the systems biology to enhance our understanding of viral pathogens, vaccines, and host cell responses

Variation of quercetin glycoside derivatives in three onion (Allium cepa L.) varieties

AbstractThe aim of this study was to quantify the contents of individual quercetin glycosides in red, yellow and chartreuse onion by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Acid hydrolysis of individual quercetin glycosides using 6M hydrochloric acid guided to identify and separate quercetin 7,4′-diglucoside, quercetin 3-glucoside, quercetin 4′-glucoside, and quercetin. The contents of total quercetin glycosides varied extensively among three varieties (ranged from 16.10 to 103.93mg/g DW). Quercetin was the predominant compound that accounted mean 32.21mg/g DW in red onion (43.6% of the total) and 127.92mg/g DW in chartreuse onion (78.3% of the total) followed by quercetin 3-glucoside (28.83 and 24.16mg/g DW) respectively. Quercetin 3-glucoside levels were much higher in yellow onion (43.85mg/g DW) followed by quercetin 30.08mg/g DW. Quercetin 4′-glucoside documented the lowest amount that documented mean 2.4% of the total glycosides. The varied contents of glycosides present in the different onion varieties were significant

Glucosinolates, Carotenoids, and Vitamins E and K Variation from Selected Kale and Collard Cultivars

Glucosinolates, carotenoids, and fat-soluble vitamins E and K contents were analyzed from various kale and collard cultivars at mature stage. We found a significant difference in these phytonutrients among cultivars. Among kale cultivars, “Beira” and “Olympic Red” were the highest in the total glucosinolate and “Toscano” kale was the highest in total carotenoid content. “Scarlet” kale was highest in tocopherols. For collard, total glucosinolate was the highest in “Top Bunch” while carotenoids were the highest in “Green Glaze.” An accession PI261597 was the highest in phylloquinone. In addition to the total content of each phytonutrient class, their composition differed among cultivars, indicating that each cultivar may have differential regulatory mechanisms for biosynthesis of these phytonutrients. Our result indicates that cultivar selection may play an important role in consumption of kale and collard with greater nutritional benefit. Therefore, the result of this study will provide a more thorough profile of essential and nonessential phytonutrients of kale and collard cultivars for consumers’ choice and for future research on nutritional value of these crops

Influence of 1-Methylcyclopropene Treatment on Postharvest Quality of Four Scab ( Venturia inaequalis

Scab (Venturia inaequalis) is a very serious disease for apples causing up to 80% of loss in yield but there are only a few studies on postharvest quality of scab-resistant cultivars. In this study we evaluated the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on fruit quality, total phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity after storage of four scab-resistant cultivars and compared to a standard cultivar, “Golden Delicious.” In general, ethylene production and respiration rates significantly differed among cultivars, between control and 1-MCP-treated fruits, and between storage duration regimes. 1-MCP treatment retarded fruit softening and lowered juice pH but storage effect on soluble solids and acidity depended on cultivar and 1-MCP treatment. Total phenolic content was significantly affected by storage duration and 1-MCP treatment. Antioxidant capacity of the four scab-resistant cultivars was either similar to or significantly higher than that of “Golden Delicious” with the 1-MCP-treated fruits having significantly higher antioxidant capacity than the nontreated fruits after storage. Our results clearly show that the quality of four scab-resistant cultivars was comparable to that of “Golden Delicious” and 1-MCP effect differed among cultivars. These differences need to be considered in developing storage regime to minimize quality deterioration during long-term storage

The Protein Kinase C Inhibitor Aeb071 (Sotrastaurin) Modulates Migration and Superoxide Anion Production by Human Neutrophils In Vitro

We examined the effect of the protein kinase C-selective inhibitor AEB071 (sotrastaurin) on neutrophil functions in vitro. Pre-incubation with AEB071 at concentrations similar to those reached during in vivo therapy significantly reduced cell capacity to migrate toward three different chemo-attractants and to produce superoxide anions (O2) in response to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or to iV-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). AEB071 also significantly inhibited the O−2 "overproduction induced by fMLP in neutrophils primed with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) or granulocyte/macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). This inhibition was not linked to fMLP-receptor down-regulation since the drug had no effect on either fMLP-receptors or fMLP-induced CD11b membrane expression. When the activity of AEB071 was compared to that of the conventional protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor Gö6850 (which, like sotrastaurin, inhibits classical and novel PKC isoforms), Gö6976 (an inhibitor of α and β PKC isoforms) and rottlerin (a prevailing δ PKC isoform inhibitor), AEB071 at an equimolar concentration of 3 μM (close to the maximum drug concentration reached in patients treated with AEB071) caused significantly more inhibition on both chemotactic response and superoxide production. These in vitro findings suggest that neutrophils may offer a cellular target for AEB071 activity in vivo

The Practice of Korean Medicine: An Overview of Clinical Trials in Acupuncture

Acupuncture, one of the Oriental medical therapeutic techniques that can be traced back at least 2500 years, is growing in popularity all over the world. Korea has continued to develop its own unique tradition of medicine throughout its long history, and has formed different types of acupuncture methods. The purpose of this review is to summarize clinical case studies in acupuncture and related therapies, such as acupressure, electric acupuncture, auricular acupuncture and moxibustion in Korea. A survey of Korean journals revealed that a total of 124 studies were published from 1983 to 2001. Results obtained from the survey showed that most clinical studies using acupuncture, electric acupuncture, moxibustion and other traditional therapies could alleviate a relatively broad range of medical problems. However, it should be emphasized that almost all clinical case studies published in various local journals did not follow the ‘good clinical practice’ with respect to regulatory aspects. Since they were not conducted using the randomized double-blinded controls with a large sample size, all the results should be considered as therapeutic indications. This review is an attempt to show the scope of acupuncture in our country and the kind of diseases, after many years of clinical experience, that were deemed valid targets for clinical trials

Robotic pylorus preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with mini-laparotomy reconstruction in patient with ampullary adenoma

Robotic surgical system provides many unique advantages which might compensate the limitations of usual laparoscopic surgery. By using robotic surgical system, we performed robot-assisted laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). A Sixty-two year old female patient with an ampullary mass underwent robot assisted PD due to imcomplete treatment of endoscopic ampullectomy. The removal of specimen and reconstruction were performed through small upper midline skin incision. Robot working time was about 8 hours, and blood loss was about 800 ml without blood transfusion. She returned to an oral diet on postoperative day 3. Grade B pancreatic leak was noted during the postoperative period, but was successfully managed by conservative management alone. We successfully performed da Vinci-assisted laparoscopic PD, and robot surgical system provided three-dimensional stable visualization and wrist-like motion of instrument facilitated complex operative procedures. More experiences are necessary to address real role of robot in far advanced laparoscopic pancreatic surgery