Biomedical subjects

G W Noh

Publications and source records attributed to G W Noh.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Clinical application of histamine prick test for food challenge in atopic dermatitis.

Determining positive food challenges are not easy as there is an absence of simple and objective tests. Histamine, an essential mediator for allergic reactions, is involved in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD) and food challenges can change histamine levels. The significances of a prick test with histamine (histamine prick test, HPT) relating to the interpretation of food challenges in AD were evaluated. A total of 467 AD patients participated in this study. Skin prick tests, identification of specific IgE and open food challenge were conducted for the identification of food allergy. Elimination diet was performed with HPT. HPTs were conducted before and after food challenges. The wheal sizes by HPT were significantly decreased after an elimination diet. The relative changes of wheal sizes significantly correlated with those of clinical severity scores in AD patients (p<0.001). The wheal sizes in HPT were increased with a positive provocation in open food challenges. In conclusion, HPT may be a simple and objective test to interprete the results of food challenges in patients with AD. The exact mechanisms of the changes in skin reactivity by HPT need further investigation.

Child↗

PubMed1998

Circulating soluble CD5 in atopic dermatitis.

The CD5/Leu-1 is involved in the activation of the T-cell helper function through T/B-cell collaboration by CD5/CD72 interaction. T-cell function is known to be dysregulated in atopic dermatitis. However, to date, the role of CD5 has not been investigated in atopic dermatitis, nor has the presence of circulating soluble CD5 been reported in atopic dermatitis. Five patients with atopic dermatitis who showed typical symptoms, 5 acute febrile patients and 5 normal subjects were tested. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma were separated. The T- and B-cells were separated using immunomagnetic beads. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed using CD5 specific primers. Immunoblotting with the mouse antiCD5 monoclonal antibody was done. Circulating soluble CD5 was present only in 4 out of 5 atopic patients. However, it was not detected in acute febrile patients nor in normal subjects. CD5 mRNA expression was detected in all atopic patients and acute febrile patients. CD5 mRNA expression in T- and B-cells was tested in patients with atopic dermatitis and was detected only in the T-cells. In this study, circulating soluble CD5 was detected in atopic patients and soluble CD5 was suspected to participate in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. CD5 mRNA expression was detected only in T-cells, which suggests that circulating soluble CD5 might be produced from T-cells.

B-Lymphocytes↗

PubMed1998

Effects of intravenous immunoglobulin on plasma interleukin-10 levels in Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile disease in children and many inflammatory cytokines are known to be involved in its pathogenesis. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine and previous reports have shown blood IL-10 levels were elevated during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease. In this study, we endeavoured to clarify the effects of i.v.IG on plasma IL-10 levels and to verify by RT-PCR, using specific primers, whether viral IL-10 or human IL-10 was responsible for high plasma IL-10. T-cells and B-cells were separated using magnetic beads, and IL-10 mRNA expressions were tested in both cell types. The mean plasma IL-10 levels were significantly decreased from 125.037 +/- 111.161 pg/ml, before i.v.IG treatment, to 32.437 +/- 54.716 pg/ml, after i.v.IG treatment, in subjects with Kawasaki disease. The levels of patients before i.v.IG treatment were significantly higher than those of the acute febrile patients (mean 26.956 +/- 13.316 pg/ml) and the normal controls (mean 16.042 +/- 5.088 pg/ml). RT-PCR was performed using specific primers to distinguish whether viral IL-10 (BCRF-1) or human IL-10 was produced in Kawasaki disease. Viral IL-10 (BCRF-1) mRNA expression was not detected in any groups and only human IL-10 mRNA transcripts were detected in PBMCs of Kawasaki patients as well as in those of acute febrile patients and normal controls. Human IL-10 mRNA transcripts were detected in both CD3+ T-cells and CD19+ B-cells. Elevated IL-10 levels during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease decreased immediately after i.v.IG administration, coincidentally with rapid improvement of inflammatory symptoms. Elevated plasma IL-10 in Kawasaki disease was transcripted from the human IL-10 gene and IL-10 mRNA expressions were detected in both T- and B-cells. Therefore, this study suggests that plasma IL-10 levels may be useful in the early identification and discrimination of the acute phase of Kawasaki disease from other febrile diseases. However, i.v.IG effects on IL-10 production still needs further investigation.

B-Lymphocytes↗

PubMed1998

Blood eosinophils and serum IgE as predictors for prognosis of interferon-gamma therapy in atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND: Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) therapy has been reported to be effective in atopic dermatitis. However, IFN-gamma therapy in atopic dermatitis has not yet been well established. In this study, immunologic variables were evaluated as predictors for the prognosis of IFN-gamma therapy in atopic dermatitis. METHODS: Sixty-eight atopic dermatitis patients were each treated 18 times with 2 x 10(6) units/m2 IFN-gamma. Blood IgE level, eosinophil percentage, eosinophil count, and levels of IFN-gamma, interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and IL-10 were investigated. According to clinical responses, patients were classified into three groups: patients with improved clinical severity scores of over 20% were included in group A; those with improved scores of 20% or less in group B; and those with no improvement in group C. RESULTS: Serum IgE levels and blood eosinophil percentages were the lowest in group A. Most atopic dermatitis patients with an eosinophil percentage over 9% and IgE level over 1500 IU/ml did not respond to IFN-gamma therapy. Initial IL-10 levels were the highest in group A. IL-4 levels in group A, and IL-5 and IL-10 levels in all groups were significantly decreased by IFN-gamma therapy. CONCLUSIONS: IFN-gamma therapy may be recommended for atopic dermatitis patients with blood eosinophil percentages less than 9% and serum IgE levels less than 1500 IU/ml.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Decreased CD5+ B cells during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease.

We investigated the changes of CD5+ B cells in the peripheral blood of 20 Kawasaki disease (KD) patients. The percentage of CD5+ B cells in the total lymphocytes and in the total B cells significantly decreased during the acute phase of KD(p < 0.01), compared to that in the age-matched normal control subjects. After intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG) treatment, the percentage of CD5+ B cells increased, but was still lower than that in the normal controls(p < 0.01). During the convalescent phase of the disease, the percentage of CD5+ B cells was restored to the normal levels. The levels of CD5+ B cell percentage in the total B cells of the patients with acute febrile disease showed similar levels to age-matched normal controls. The decreased CD5+ B cells in the patients with KD provides an additional abnormal immunological finding during the acute phase of the disease.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1996

Increased serum interleukin-10 level in Kawasaki disease.

Serum IL-10 level in Kawasaki disease(KD) was tested. In the KD patients' sera during the acute phase, the levels of IL-10 were markedly elevated (122.0 +/- 39.1 pg/ml) compared to 3.7 +/- 1.7 pg/ml in the control subjects (p < 0.001). The serum IL-10 levels remained elevated in the subacute phase (16. 7 +/- 9.7 pg/ml, p < 0.001) and were restored to the normal levels(7.9 +/- 3.9 pg/ml) during the convalescent phase. In the patients with acute febrile disease, the serum IL-10 level increased significantly (34.4 +/- 14.1 pg/ml, p < 0.001) compared to that of the age-matched control subjects, but were not as high as in acute phase of KD(p < 0.005). This increase in serum IL-10 levels in KD may contribute to the up-regulation of humoral immunity and to the down-regulation of acute inflammation due to an increase in proinflammatory cytokines.

Child↗

PubMed1996

Effects of intravenous immune globulin on the peripheral lymphocyte phenotypes in Kawasaki disease.

The effect of intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) on the lymphocyte phenotypes in acute Kawasaki disease (KD) was studied in a random trial of IVIG-and-aspirin versus aspirin-alone. Before therapy, patients in each treatment group had an increased percentage of B cells, and a decreased percentage of T cells, CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells and CD5+ B cells. There was no significant difference in immunologic parameters between the two groups measured before therapy. Patients treated with IVIG-and-aspirin had by the fourth day developed a highly-significant increase in T cells, CD4 T cells and CD8 T cells and a decrease in B cells. Despite the decrease of B cells, there were significant increases in CD5+ B cells in both treatment groups. However, the degree of increase in the IVIG-and-aspirin treated group was significantly more noticeable than that in the aspirin-alone treated group. These findings indicate that treatment with IVIG restores the T- and B- cell abnormalities, especially CD5+ B-cell abnormalities found in patients with acute KD.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1990

Antibody response of mouse splenocytes using mixture of supernatants of thymocytes, adherent and non-adherent splenocytes: in-vitro immunization-II.

We adapted one of the in-vitro immunization methods to induce antibody responses and confirmed the success of the immunization by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) without hybridization. We have previously reported several methods of in-vitro immunization using different conditioned media. Here we introduce another method of in-vitro immunization using a mixture of three types of supernatant (thymocytes, and adherent and non-adherent splenocytes of mouse). Splenocytes were immunized in-vitro by a recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) with the above conditioned media, and the results by ELISA showed a much higher optical density than the other in-vitro immunization methods that we had previously reported. Humoral responses as a result of in-vitro immunization to soluble antigens were easily confirmed by ELISA using the above-conditioned media. This finding indicates that any other conditions thought to be critical by other researches may not be essential for in-vitro immunization.

Animals↗