A Case of Subclinical Hypothyroidism with Lingual and Right Pretracheal Ectopic Thyroid.

Ectopic thyroid tissue is most commonly located in a single location, this being the lingual area. Presentation with two ectopic thyroid foci is quite unusual. A girl patient aged 7 years who presented with complaints of two masses in the right anterior neck and submandibular area is reported. Her growth pattern and development were normal. The masses were detected to be dual ectopic thyroid glands by ultrasonography, computed tomography and 99m-technetium pertechnetate thyroid scan. The patient also had subclinical hypothyroidism. She was treated with oral levothyroxine and the masses slightly decreased in size. The repeated thyroid function tests were within the normal limits. Thyroid function tests and imaging studies need to be conducted in all patients with anterior neck masses.

Serum vitamin D status in children and adolescence with diabetes according to season and age.

PURPOSE: It is known that children with diabetes have more severe vitamin D deficiency than healthy children. This study aimed to investigate serum vitamin D status and analyze the relationships between serum vitamin D levels and clinical parameters in children with diabetes. METHODS: We checked serum vitamin D levels of children with diabetes aged below 18 years who were treated at our Department of Pediatrics between December 2011 and February 2012 (winter) as well as between June 2012 and August 2012 (summer). We retrospectively analyzed relationships between their serum vitamin D levels and clinical parameters. RESULTS: The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in children with diabetes during winter was markedly lower than during summer (10.8±5.1 ng/mL vs. 17.6±5.6 ng/mL); vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent during winter (95% vs. 62%). However, there was no difference between children with diabetes and healthy children. In children with type I diabetes mellitus, among all the clinical parameters, age had the greatest negative correlation with serum vitamin D level. CONCLUSION: In children with diabetes, serum vitamin D levels showed marked seasonal variation. However, no clear relationship was identified between vitamin D deficiency and diabetes. This was because the control group had an equally high vitamin D deficiency rate. Additional studies including other clinical parameters after vitamin D supplementation in children with diabetes should be considered.

Cortex mori extract induces cancer cell apoptosis through inhibition of microtubule assembly.

The water extract from the root bark of Cortex Mori (CM, Morus alba L.: Sangbaikpi), a mulberry tree, has been known in Chinese traditional medicine to have antiphlogistic, diuretic, and expectorant properties. In this study, the cytotoxicity of CM against tumor cells and its mechanism was examined. CM exhibited cytotoxic activity on K-562, B380 human leukemia cells and B16 mouse melanoma cells at concentrations of > 1 mg/ml. A DNA fragmentation, PARP cleavage, and nuclear condensation assay showed that those cells exposed to CM underwent apoptosis. The water extract of Scutellarie Radix (SR) was used as a negative control and showed no cytotoxicity in those cells. The flow cytometric profiles of the CM-treated cells were also indicative of apoptosis. However, they did not appear to exert the G1 arrest, which is observed in other tubulin inhibitor agents such as vincristine, taxol. The protein-binding test using Biacore and a microtubule assembly-disassembly assay provided evidence showing that CM bound to the tubulins resulting in a marked inhibition of the assembly, but not the disassembly of microtubules. The possible nonspecific effect of the CM extract could be excluded due to the results using SR, which did not affect the assembly process. Overall, the water extract of CM induces apoptosis of tumor cells by inhibiting microtubule assembly.