Yonsei medical journal
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Yonsei medical journal · Mar 2014
Effects of stress on mouse β-defensin-3 expression in the upper digestive mucosa.
Gastrointestinal integrity and immune surveillance are affected by stress. Stress also adversely affects mucosal barrier function. β-defensins constitute an integral component of the innate immune system as antimicrobial peptides, serving as the first line of defense against microbial pathogens at the epithelial surfaces of the upper digestive mucosa. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effects of stress on the expression profile of mouse β-defensin-3 in the upper digestive mucosa of mice with diabetes. ⋯ Our novel findings show that stress decreases mouse β-defensin-3 expression in the esophagus of mice with diabetes, possibly due to increased endogenous glucocorticoid production. It appears to be highly likely that stress management may normalize mucosal antimicrobial defenses in patients with diabetes.
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Yonsei medical journal · Mar 2014
Simultaneous robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site partial nephrectomy and standard radical prostatectomy.
Recently, patients with urologic malignancies are treated with robot-assisted surgery and the expanded role of robot-assisted surgery includes even those patients with two concomitant primary urologic malignancies. In an effort to further reduce port site-related morbidity, robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (RLESS) has been developed. Therefore, we present herein our early experience and feasibility of simultaneous RLESS partial nephrectomy and standard robotrobot- assisted laparoendoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) on 3 patients with synchronous renal masses and prostate cancer.