Different Types of Maculopathy in Eyes after a High-Voltage Electrical Shock Injury

Background: We report a case of different types of maculopathy in eyes after a high-voltage electrical shock injury. Case Report: A 43-year-old male suffered high-voltage electrical injury through his left arm. He underwent cataract surgery in both eyes 3 months after the injury, but there was no vision improvement. Ocular examination, including spectral domain optical coherence tomography, revealed diffuse retinal atrophy in the left eye which did not change until the final visit. In the right eye, an impending macular hole was observed but regressed spontaneously 9 months after the injury, and the visual acuity improved to 20/32 at the final visit. Conclusion: Two different types of maculopathy can occur in each eye after high-voltage electrical shock injury, and this might be due to asymmetric pathogenesis of the eyes according to the proximity to the route of electrical current

Ability of Stratus OCT to identify localized retinal nerve fiber layer defects in patients with normal standard automated perimetry results

PURPOSE: To evaluate the ability of Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) with its internal normative database to discriminate between healthy eyes and eyes with a localized retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) defect not accompanied by a perimetric defect according to standard automated perimetry (SAP) (i.e., a preperimetric localized RNFL defect). METHODS: Data were retrospectively reviewed from 49 eyes of 49 subjects with preperimetric localized RNFL defects, and 49 healthy control eyes of 49 age-matched subjects, with classification into each group based primarily on red-free fundus photography RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of various OCT RNFL thickness parameters for identifying subjects with preperimetric localized RNFL defects was determined. In addition, the topographic relationship between the OCT-measured RNFL thickness and the localized RNFL defect location according to red-free fundus photography (i.e., the red-free RNFL defect) was examined. results. The sensitivity of the Stratus OCT RNFL thickness parameters ranged from 2.0% to 40.8%. The highest sensitivity was yielded using a criterion of > or =1 clock hour that were abnormal at the 5% level, which had a specificity of 85.7%. The OCT-measured RNFL thickness showed excellent topographic agreement with the red-free RNFL defect location. CONCLUSIONS: Although the sensitivity of current Stratus OCT RNFL thickness parameters is low for preperimetric localized RNFL defects, it appears that OCT has the potential to recognize such defects. Further study is needed to develop new analytical methods that will increase OCT sensitivity for identifying preperimetric localized RNFL damage

Performance Evaluation of the GlucoDr Plus Glucometer

Background: Because strict glucose control is important for reducing the complications of diabetes, the self-monitoring of blood glucose is one of the fundamental treatment modalities. Many glucometers have been developed. In the present study, we evaluated a new glucometer: GlucoDr (TM) Plus (Allmedicus, Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea). Methods: The evaluation was performed based on Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Interferences by ascorbic acid, uric acid, maltose, and acetaminophen were examined, and the performance of the unit was compared to those of six other glucometers. The effects of hematocrit, of oxygen partial pressure (PaO(2)), and of multiple users were also evaluated. Results: Within-run, between-run, between- day, and total imprecision (coefficients of variation) were 0.99-4.98%. Satisfactory linearity was found for glucose concentrations of 32.5-786.5 mg/dL (R(2) = 0.9985). A comparison with the reference laboratory method showed close concordance over the entire range of concentrations evaluated (R(2) = 0.9869). No significant effects were noted due to added interferents, hematocrit, and PaO(2). Conclusions: The GlucoDr Plus showed acceptable performance in terms of precision and linearity. It was minimally affected by various interferents. GlucoDr Plus is suitable for the self-monitoring of blood glucose by patients with diabetes.Schleis TG, 2007, PHARMACOTHERAPY, V27, P1313Tsujimura S, 2006, BIOSCI BIOTECH BIOCH, V70, P654D`Orazio P, 2006, CLIN CHEM LAB MED, V44, P1486, DOI 10.1515/CCLM.2006.275Nathan DM, 2005, NEW ENGL J MED, V353, P2643Wild S, 2004, DIABETES CARE, V27, P1047*CLIN LAB STAND I, 2004, EP5A2 CLSI*CLIN LAB STAND I, 2003, EP6A CLSI*INT ORG STAND, 2003, 151972003E ISO*CLIN LAB STAND I, 2002, EP7A CLISTang ZP, 2001, CRIT CARE MED, V29, P1062Tang ZP, 2000, AM J CLIN PATHOL, V113, P75Turner RC, 1998, LANCET, V352, P837*CLIN LAB STAND I, 1995, EP9A CLSI1994, DIABETES CARE, V17, P81MERENSTEIN GB, 1993, PEDIATRICS, V92, P4741993, N ENGL J MED, V329, P977BARRETT AE, 1979, J CLIN PATHOL, V32, P893

Comparative transcriptional analysis of caffeoyl-coenzyme A 3-O-methyltransferase from Hibiscus cannabinus L., during developmental stages in various tissues and stress regulation,”

Abstract We have cloned a full-length gene, putatively encoding for caffeoyl-coenzyme A 3-O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT), an important enzyme involved in lignin biosynthesis, from kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.). Herein, we investigated the expression pattern of a CCoAOMT orthologue from various tissues and organs during development, and in response to different environmental cues. The full-length CCoAOMT orthologue of kenaf consists of a 744 bp open reading frame (ORF), encoding for 247 amino acids of 27.91 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 5.43. The deduced amino acids of CCoAOMT evidenced a high degree of identity (up to 84%) with other plant CCoAOMT sequences. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated its close relationship with the CCoAOMT of Gossypium hirsutum (ACQ59096). Kenaf CCoAOMT harbors eight highly conserved motifs: A, B, and C are putative S-adenosylmethioine (SAM)-binding motifs and D, E, F, G, and H are CCoAOMT signature motifs. According to quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) analysis, the kenaf CCoAOMT transcript was detected in all plant tissues and organs, whereas the highest expression was noted in mature flower tissues, which indicates that it might be involved in the flower development or in the biosynthesis of flower specific compound. All the treatments highly induced the expression of CCoAOMT transcripts in the stems of 3-week-old kenaf, which indicates that it might have a role in stress regulatory pathway. Among the treatments, the cold and H 2 O 2 -treated samples evidenced the highest levels of expression at 6 and 24 h after treatment, respectively, whereas the wounded and NaCl-treated samples evidenced lower expression levels, which suggest that different signaling networks are involved for stress mediated up regulation of HcCCoAOMT transcripts. The highest transcript level of CCoAOMT was detected at either early (within 12 h of treatments) or intermediate (24 h after treatments) time points of treatments, except drought treated sample. Early induction was observed in the case of H 2 O 2 and SA (salicylic acid), and intermediate induction occurring as the result of wounding, NaCl, cold and ABA (abscisic acid). Whereas drought treated sample showed highest expression at seven days after treatment. MeJA (methyl jasmonic acid) treatment showed a complex biphasic expression which is different from others. In summary, we have cloned and characterized a full-length gene putatively encoding for CCoAOMT, which also showed stress responsive differential expression

Genetic Alterations in Primary Gastric Carcinomas Correlated with Clinicopathological Variables by Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization

Genetic alterations have been recognized as an important event in the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer (GC). We conducted high resolution bacterial artificial chromosome array-comparative genomic hybridization, to elucidate in more detail the genomic alterations, and to establish a pattern of DNA copy number changes with distinct clinical variables in GC. Our results showed some correlations between novel amplified or deleted regions and clinical status. Copy-number gains were frequently detected at 1p, 5p, 7q, 8q, 11p, 16p, 20p and 20q, and losses at 1p, 2q, 4q, 5q, 7q, 9p, 14q, and 18q. Losses at 4q23, 9p23, 14q31.1, or 18q21.1 as well as a gain at 20q12 were correlated with tumor-node-metastasis tumor stage. Losses at 9p23 or 14q31.1 were associated with lymph node status. Metastasis was determined to be related to losses at 4q23 or 4q28.2, as well as losses at 4q15.2, 4q21.21, 4q 28.2, or 14q31.1, with differentiation. One of the notable aspects of this study was that the losses at 4q or 14q could be employed in the evaluation of the metastatic status of GC. Our results should provide a potential resource for the molecular cytogenetic events in GC, and should also provide clues in the hunt for genes associated with GC

Association of Angiotensin II Type 2 Receptor Gene A1818T Polymorphism with Progression of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy in Korean Patients

We determined the relationship between the progression of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) and the A1818T polymorphism in intron 2 of Angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) gene, which might play protective roles in the pathogenesis of IgAN. Patients with biopsy-proven IgAN were recruited from the registry of the Progressive REnal disease and Medical Informatics and gEnomics Research (PREMIER) which was sponsored by the Korean Society of Nephrology. A1818T polymorphism of AT2R gene was analyzed with PCR-RFLP method and the association with the progression of IgAN, which was defined as over 50% increase in baseline serum creatinine level, was analyzed with survival analysis. Among the 480 patients followed for more than 10 months, the group without T allele had significantly higher rates of progression of IgAN than the group with T allele (11.4% vs. 3.9%, p=0.024), although there were no significant differences in the baseline variables such as initial serum creatinine level, the degree of proteinuria, and blood pressure. In the Cox's proportional hazard model, the hazard ratio of disease progression in the patients with T allele was 0.221 (95% confidence interval for Exp(B): 0.052-0.940, p=0.041) compared to that of without T allele. In conclusion, A1818T polymorphism of AT2R gene was associated with the progression of IgAN