Dae Keun Kim

Chromosomal aneuploidy is considerably frequent and may involve either autosomes or sex chromosomes. While double aneuploidy involving both autosomal and sex chromosomes is rare, several reports described the cases of sex chromosomal aneuploidies in combination with trisomy 21, such as Down-Klinefelter and Down-Turner syndrome. However, trisomy 8-Turner syndrome has been rarely described to date. Here we report a case of a 28-year-old female with mosaic trisomy 8-Turner syndrome. The patient was referred to our hospital for aortic dissection. On physical evaluation, features of her phenotype, which included short stature, webbed neck and cubitus valgus, suggested congenital anomalies such as Turner syndrome. Chest CT revealed aortic dissection with bicuspid aortic valve and coarctation. G-banding cytogenetic analysis of peripheral blood showed mosaicism with two cell lines (45,X[17]/47,XX,+8[33]). FISH analysis indicated that 15% of the cells were of monosomy X karyotype and 85% of the cells were with XX karyotype and trisomy 8 was detected only in XX cells. Though the patient exhibited clinical features of Turner syndrome, somatic stigmas present were not clearly distinguishable from those of trisomy 8, such as short stature, skeletal and cardiac abnormalities. Observations from most of the double aneuploidy cases indicated that the patient's phenotype was not necessarily in correlation to the ratio of autosomal and sex chromosomal aberrations. Mosaicism in trisomy 8-Turner syndrome was rarely documented and we believe this is the first reported case of mosaicism in trisomy 8-Turner syndrome presenting with aortic dissection and surviving into adulthood.

The effects of ulinastatin, urinary trypsin inhibitor, on coagulation are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the in vitro effects of ulinastatin on coagulation using modified computerised thromboelastography (ROTEM®) with InTEM®. A venous blood sample was obtained from the antecubital vein without stasis from 12 healthy adult men. A 290 µL aliquot of blood was combined with either 10 µL of ulinastatin (100 [U100], 200 [U200] or 1000 [U1000] U/mL) or 10 µL of normal saline. The samples were analysed simultaneously at 37 ºC on a four channel ROTEM® with InTEM®. Clotting time was significantly increased in the U200 (155.8±9.3 s) and U 1000 (173.6±14.5 s) groups, compared with the control group (136.1±12.6 s). The U 1000 group significantly increased clot formation time (77.6±16.2 s; control group, 63.8±13.4 s) and significantly decreased α angle (74.6±3.3º; control group, 77.4±2.4º). No significant difference in maximum clot firmness or maximum lysis was found between the control and ulinastatin groups. In-vitro ulinastatin had a direct anticoagulant effects, as assessed by ROTEM® with InTEM®, and the results were within the normal ranges.

All ten compounds were isolated from the methanolic extract of the whole plants ofDiodia teres through repeated silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Their chemical structures were elucidated as three iridoid glycosides, asperuloside, geniposidic acid and asperulosidic acid, a coumarin glycoside, scopolin, and six flavonoids, rutin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, quercitrin, astragalin, isoquercitrin and quercetin by spectroscopic analysis.

The antioxidant activity ofJuniperus chinensis (Cupressaceae) was determined by measuring the radical scavenging effect on DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl). The methanolic extract ofJ. chinensis heartwood showed the strong antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity ofn-BuOH soluble fraction was stronger than that of the others, and the fraction was subjected to purification by repeated silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Quercetin, naringenin, taxifolin, aromadendrin and isoquercitrin were isolated from then-BuOH fraction. Their structures were elucidated by physico-chemical and spectroscopic studies.

The antioxidant activity ofLactuca scariola (Compositae) was investigated by measuring the radical scavenging effect on DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical. The methanolic extract of the aerial parts ofLactuca scariola showed strong radical scavenging activity. The EtOAc soluble fraction exhibited a stronger activity than the others, and was purified by silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Quercetin-3-O-P-D-glucopyranoside, luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, luteolin, quercetin and kaempferol, together with 11β,13-dihydrolactucin were isolated from the EtOAc soluble fraction as active ingredients.