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Biomedical subjects

Dong Kyung Chang

Publications and source records attributed to Dong Kyung Chang.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

[Comparative usefulness of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein in assessing the severity of ulcerative colitis].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is included as a laboratory parameter in Truelove and Witts' classification, C-reactive protein (CRP) is also used for severity assessment in ulcerative colitis (UC). Frequently, the discordance between ESR and CRP is observed in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine which parameter is more related with clinical activity in UC patients. METHODS: A total of 155 patients with UC were identified from January 2004 to March 2005. Their medical records were reviewed within these patients, a total of 541 assessments of disease activity were made. Correlation of clinical activity and laboratory tests were evaluated by Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Pearson's correlation coefficients of ESR and CRP with clinical symptoms were 0.376 and 0.258, respectively. The correlation coefficient between ESR and CRP was 0.403 (p=0.000). A total of 131 (24.2%) assessments revealed discordance between ESR and CRP. When discordance occurred, the correlation coefficients with clinical symptoms were 0.338 for ESR (p=0.000) and 0.034 for CRP (p>0.01). Dividing discordant patients into high ESR/low CRP group and low ESR/high CRP group, the coefficients were 0.420 for ESR and 0.226 for CRP in high ESR/low CRP group, and 0.333 for ESR and 0.068 for CRP in low ESR/high CRP group. CONCLUSIONS: The correlation analysis indicates that ESR appears to be a more reliable laboratory parameter of disease activity than CRP in assessing the severity of UC. In particular, when the level of ESR and CRP is discordant, ESR is more useful in assessing the disease activity in UC patients.

Blood Sedimentation↗

Clinical significance of CT-defined minimal ascites in patients with gastric cancer.

AIM: To study the clinical significance of minimal ascites, which was only defined by the CT and whose nature was not determined preoperatively, in the relationship with the peritoneal carcinomatosis. METHODS: The medical records and the dynamic CT films of 118 patients with gastric cancer were reviewed. Factors associated with peritoneal carcinomatosis were analyzed in 40 patients who had CT-defined ascites of which the nature was surgically confirmed. RESULTS: Only 12.5-25% of the CT-defined minimal ascites, whose volume was estimated to be less than 50 mL, were associated with peritoneal carcinomatosis. When the estimated CT-defined ascitic volume was 50 mL or more, peritoneal carcinomatosis was identified in 75-100%. When CT-defined lymph node enlargements were not found beyond the regional gastric area, perigastric invasions were not suspected, and the size of tumor was less than 3 cm, peritoneal carcinomatosis seemed significantly less accompanied at the univariate analysis. However, except for the minimal volume of CT-defined ascites in comparison with the mild or more, other factors were not confirmed multivariately. CONCLUSION: In the patients with gastric cancer, CT-defined minimal ascites alone is rarely associated with peritoneal carcinomatosis, if it does not accompany other signs suggestive of malignant seeding. Therefore, consideration of active curative resection should not be hesitated, if CT-defined minimal ascites is the only delusive sign.

Ascites↗

[The current status of ulcerative colitis-associated colorectal cancer in Korea: a KASID study].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The number of patients with ulcerative colitis has steadily increased since the mid-1980s. As the risk of colon cancer increases with duration and extents, colitic cancers are expected to increase in number in Korea. We surveyed the current status of colitic cancers and provided the perspectives in Korea. METHODS: Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases (KASID) collected and descriptively analyzed a total of eleven cases of colitic cancers occurred between 1993 and 2003. RESULTS: The mean age at the diagnosis of colitic cancer was 49.3 years, and the mean duration of ulcerative colitis was 12.5 years. Of the diagnosed cases, 91% was associated with pancolitis, 28% had right colon cancers and 18.2% had multiple tumors. Colitic cancers diagnosed at Dukes' stage D were 36.3%. Stages at diagnosis were lower in patients with good compliance. Up to 2003, cumulative incidence ratio of colitic cancer to ulcerative colitis was estimated to be 0.5%, which was much less than the overall prevalence of 3.7% in the Western countries. This incidence was also less than the expected cumulative incidence ratio of 0.9%, which was estimated by adopting the average results of meta-analysis in the Western world. CONCLUSIONS: As the incidence of ulcerative colitis has not reached a plateau, and as the diagnosis of colitic caners are delayed in Korea, the cumulative incidence of colitic cancers might have appeared to be low. Geographic and racial factors, and the effect of preventive measures might have contributed to the lower incidence which remains to be proven. Since colitic cancers are expected to increase steeply in the near future in Korea, the importance of surveillance and prevention cannot be over-emphasized.

Adolescent↗

[Cancer epigenetics].

Knowledge regarding molecular events of cancer development has been rapidly accumulated during the last decade. The discovery of tumor suppressor gene-silencing by aberrant promoter CpG island hypermethylation and histone-directed chromatin remodeling has led epigenetics to its recognition as an important alternative mechanism for carcinogenesis. Epigenetics does not involve changes in nucleotide sequences, but it affects on genetic composition in many ways. Cancer cells integratively co-opt genetic and epigenetic mechanisms to acquire different aspects of carcinogenetic phenotypes. Since epigenetic changes can be reversed with relative ease, the research of cancer epigenetics provides great potential for new therapeutic regimens.

Cell Transformation, Neoplastic↗

Effect of H(2)O(2) on cell cycle and survival in DNA mismatch repair-deficient and -proficient cell lines.

Patients who develop tumors with Lynch syndrome, which is caused by mutational inactivation of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system, have a relatively favorable prognosis compared to patients who develop sporadic tumors. Paradoxically, DNA MMR-deficient cells are resistant to many chemotherapeutic agents, and are capable of bypassing the G2/M checkpoint in vitro. Colon cancers that develop in the setting of Lynch syndrome show an abundant recruitment of immune cells into tumor tissues, which might be expected to increase oxyradical formation, and make the tumor cells more vulnerable to cell death. We examined the chemosensitivity and cell cycle response to oxidative stress in several MMR-deficient (HCT116, SW48, and DLD1) and -proficient (CaCo2, SW480, and HT29) colorectal cancer cell lines. H(2)O(2) induced a G2/M cell cycle arrest in both MMR deficient and proficient cell lines, however MMR-deficient cell lines were more sensitive to H(2)O(2) toxicity, and the response was more prolonged in MMR-deficient cells. Interestingly, human MutL-homologue (hMLH1-)defective HCT116 and hMLH1-restored HCT116+ch3 cell lines responded to H(2)O(2) with the same degree of G2/M arrest. The survival response of HCT116+ch3 was nearly identical to that of hMLH1-defective HCT116+ch2, although better than the response observed in HCT116 cells. In conclusion, greater cellular sensitivity and G2/M arrest in response to oxidative stress in MMR-deficient colorectal cancer cells could be one of the reasons for the more favorable prognosis seen in patients with Lynch syndrome. However, this sensitivity appears not to be a direct result of a deficient MMR function, but is more likely attributable to spectrum of target gene mutations that occurs in MMR-deficient tumors.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Microsatellite instability and suppressed DNA repair enzyme expression in rheumatoid arthritis.

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen are produced by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial tissue and can potentially induce mutations in key genes. Normally, this process is prevented by a DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system that maintains sequence fidelity during DNA replication. Key members of the MMR system include MutSalpha (hMSH2 and hMSH6) and MutSbeta (hMSH2 and hMSH3). To provide evidence of DNA damage in inflamed synovium, we analyzed synovial tissues for microsatellite instability (MSI). MSI was examined by PCR on genomic DNA of paired synovial tissue and peripheral blood cells of RA patients using specific primer sequences for five key microsatellites. Surprisingly, abundant MSI was observed in RA synovium compared with osteoarthritis tissue. Western blot analysis for the expression of MMR proteins demonstrated decreased hMSH6 and increased hMSH3 in RA synovium. To evaluate potential mechanisms of MMR regulation in arthritis, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) were isolated from synovial tissues and incubated with the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine. Western blot analysis demonstrated constitutive expression of hMSH2, 3, and 6 in RA and osteoarthritis FLS. When FLS were cultured with S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine, the pattern of MMR expression in RA synovium was reproduced (high hMSH3, low hMSH6). Therefore, oxidative stress can relax the DNA MMR system in RA by suppressing hMSH6. Decreased hMSH6 can subsequently interfere with repair of single base mutations, which is the type observed in RA. We propose that oxidative stress not only creates DNA adducts that are potentially mutagenic, but also suppresses the mechanisms that limit the DNA damage.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

A novel mechanism for aspirin-mediated growth inhibition of human colon cancer cells.

PURPOSE: The molecular mechanisms by which aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs exert chemopreventative effects in colon cancer are unclear and complex. Current investigations focus on the chemopreventive properties of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, independent of their ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX) activity, and presumably, identification of non-COX pathways will suggest new targets for clinical use. It was demonstrated recently that aspirin results in reduced microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer cells. We hypothesized that aspirin treatment might alter expression of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins, representing another potential non-COX mechanism for its action. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In this study, we have examined the effects of aspirin on the cellular growth rates, MMR protein levels, cell cycle analysis and apoptosis in MMR-deficient (HCT116) and MMR-proficient (HCT116+chr3 and SW480) human colon cancer cell lines. RESULTS: We found that treatment with aspirin inhibited the growth of these three cancer cell lines. In HCT116+chr3 cells, treatment with 1 mM of aspirin increased expression of the hMLH1 and hPMS2 proteins by 2.5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, and increased expression of the hMSH2 and hMSH6 proteins by 2-3-fold. For SW480 cells, treatment with 1 and 5 mM of aspirin increased expression of the hMLH1 and hPMS2 proteins by 2-4-fold and 3-5-fold, respectively, and increased expression of the hMSH2 and hMSH6 proteins by 3-7-fold. For all three of the cell lines, treatment with 1 and 2.5 mM of aspirin induced apoptosis at 48 and 72 h. Aspirin induced G(0)/G(1) cell cycle arrest in HCT116 cells. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that aspirin acts through COX-independent mechanisms by resulting in an increase in MMR protein expression and subsequent apoptosis, which might serve as an additional means of growth inhibition in aspirin-treated human colon cancer cells.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗