• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.111-118
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• 2011

With increasing interest in health promotion and quality of life, growing attention has been focused on the beneficial effects of urban green area. However, very few evidence-based approaches have been conducted on the health-related benefits of urban greenery. Therefore, this study examined the health-related benefits of green areas using physiological and psychological indices to obtain evidence-based data on these benefits. Twenty male university students were selected as subjects. Data were collected when participants viewed landscapes in a green area or an urban area for fifteen minutes. This research was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of School of Medicine, Chungnam National University. Physiological data in the green area revealed significantly decreased heart rates, significantly increased high-frequency value of heart rate variability, an index of parasympathetic activity, and reduced salivary cortisol concentration, a stress hormone, compared to the urban area. Psychological tests showed the green area significantly reduced the negative mood state and psychological symptoms, and significantly increased the positive mood state. Our data provided evidence for the health-related benefits of green areas, and the findings of this study support that green areas can play a critical role in health promotion for urban residents, by positively affecting autonomic nervous and endocrinal activities.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.25-38
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• 2017

Objectives: The study aims were to evaluate the Anti-stress and Sleep-inductive effects of Yunjogyosim-tang (YJGS) in rats induced by Chronic Mild Stress (CMS). Methods: 25 healthy Rats were randomly divided into 5 groups; Normal, CMS (Control), YJGS 50, YJGS 100, and YJGS 200. All rats except the normal group were exposed to random stress conditions like water deprivation, empty bottles, forced runs on the treadmill, etc. according to the timetable of CSM for 3 weeks. After a week starting the experiment, Rats in YJGS 50, YJGS 100, and YJGS 200 groups were fed orally once a day for 2 weeks. Blood samples were taken afterward from each rat for analysis of Complete blood count, AST, ALT, and glucose levels. Corticosterone, serotonin, and melatonin were measured by ELISA kit. BDNF and $TNF-{\alpha}$ were measured by RT-PCT. Results: 1. Corticosterone levels were lower in YJGS 50, and YJGS 200 groups compared to the control group. 2. Serotonin levels were lower in the YJGS 100 and YJGS 200 groups compared to the control group. 3. Melatonin levels were higher in the YJGS 50 group compared to the control group. 4. Activity levels were higher in the BDNF, and YJGS 50 groups compared to the control group. 5. In the Activity of $TNF-{\alpha}$, YJGS 50 group showed a significant decrease compared to the control group. 6. In the Glucose content, YJGS 50, YJGS 100, and YJGS 200 groups showed a significant decrease compared to the control group. 7. When analyzing leukocytes, monocytes were found to be increased in YJGS 100 and YJGS 200 groups compared to the control group. 8. When analyzing red blood cells, more changes occurred to erythrocytes and thrombocytes in the YJGS 50 and YJGS 200 groups than in the control group. Hemoglobin was significantly increased in the YJGS 100 group and platelet levels were significantly increased in all experimental groups compared with the control group. Conclusions: These results suggest that Yunjogyosim-tang has anti-stress and sleep-inductive effects on rats induced by CMS.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.341-355
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to check the therapeutic effect of the Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture for insomnia and cognition caused by psychosocial stress. Methods: We separated Wistar rats (older than age 10 weeks, 300 g) into normal, control, positive control (Zolpidem administered, PC), and Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture experimental groups (DPA). Psychosocial stress such as circadian rhythm change, clammy straw, predator stress, restraint stress, noise bursts, and flashing lights were applied to the control, PC, DPA groups. The Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture group was given 0.5×, 1× and 2× amount concentration of Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture, respectively. The levels of Melatonin, Serotonin, Corticosterone, GABA, BDNF and CREB were measured, and the Y-maze test, weight and blood test were performed. Results: In all of the DPA groups, the Melatonin level showed no noticeable difference. In the DPA-2x group, Serotonin increased significantly. In all the experimental groups, Corticosterone decreased significantly and GABA showed increasing tendency. The DPA-1x and DPA-2x groups showed remarkable increase in BDNF and DPA-0.5x and the DPA-2x groups showed significant increase in CREB. The DPA-2x group showed remarkable increase in the Alternation behavior category of the Y-maze test. In all of the experimental groups the weight change showed increasing tendency, whereas no noticeable differences were found among all experimental groups regarding AST, ALT, BUN, Creatinine and CBC. Conclusions: Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture increases levels of serotonin and GABA, decreases corticosterone, increases levels of BDNF and CREB, and increases the ratio of alternation behavior in the Y-maze test. Thus, I suggest that Dendropanax morbifera Pharmacopuncture has the effect of treating insomnia caused by psychosocial stress, activating the brain, and improving cognition.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

Function of salivary gland and saliva composition can be an indicator of individual's health status. Recently, saliva has been thought to have a high potential for usage in the biomedical field to diagnose, evaluate, and prevent systemic health due to the technological advances in analyzing and detecting small elements such as immunological and metabolic products, viruses, microorganisms, hormones in saliva. As a diagnostic specimen, saliva has some useful advantages compared to serum. Because of simple non-invasive method, saliva sampling is quite comfort for the patient, and it doesn't require specialists to collect samples. The possibility of infection during the collection process is also low. For this reason, proteins, genetic materials, and various biomarkers in saliva are actively being utilized on studying stress, microbiomics, genetics, and epigenetics. For the research on collecting big data related to systemic health, the needs on biobank has been focused. Regeneration of salivary gland based on tissue engineering has been also on advancement. However, there are still many issues to be solved, such as the standardization of sample collection, storage, and usage. This review focuses on the recent trends in the field of saliva research and highlight the future perspectives in biomedical and other applications.

• Mood & Emotion
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2012

Suicide is a complex behavior associated with various neurobiological and psychosocial factors. It is considered that genetic polymorphism combined with environmental stress such as child-adolescent trauma make differences in neurobiological systems, which cause psychiatric disorders or pessimistic personality, impulse-aggressive behaviors, lack of judgment, and finally result in suicidal behavior. Much progress in the neurobiology of suicide has been made over the several decades. There seems to be a hereditary disposition to suicide independent of psychiatric disorder. The changes in neurotransmitters, neurohormones, neurotrophic factors, cytokines, lipid metabolisms related with their genetic polymorphism can contribute to disturbance of signal transductions and neuronal circuits vulnerable to suicide. It is likely that the main factors are dysfunctions of serotonin (5-HT) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Our understanding about the neurobiology of suicide is still limited. However, clinical practice could be assisted by neurobiological findings capable of making the detection of risk populations with higher sensitivity and the development of new treatment interventions. The settlement of biological markers in suicidal behaviors and their relationships is required.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2015

Objectives:Within the normal reproductive cycles of women, dramatic fluctuations of sexual hormones occur in the premenstrual and menopausal periods. In both periods, women are vulnerable to mood disturbances and show several somatic complaints. Based on these common clinical profiles and physiological changes, a relationship between vasomotor symptoms and the premenstrual syndrome has been suggested. However, attempts to establish such a link have yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between histories of premenstrual syndrome and menopausal vasomotor symptoms within different menopausal stages. Methods:This cross-sectional study recruited Korean women aged 45-64 years who were perimenopausal and postmenopausal from 16 branch offices of the Korean Association of Health Promotion. All subjects completed self-report questionnaires that asked about a history of premenstrual syndromes, vasomotor symptoms, and several other variables. Results:A total of 1054 participants(361 perimenopausal women and 693 postmenopausal women) completed the study. Severity of premenstrual symptoms significantly correlated with postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms, only in late perimenopausal(r=0.213, p=0.010) and early postmenopausal women(r=0.246, p<0.001). After adjusting for several factors related to vasomotor symptoms, a history of premenstrual syndrome was a significant predictor of moderate to very severe vasomotor symptoms in late perimenopausal(OR=5.197, p=0.005) and early postmenopausal women(OR=3.017, p=0.010). Conclusions:This study suggests that a history of premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder is differentially associated with vasomotor symptoms in the menopausal stage. Prospective studies with larger population are needed to confirm these findings

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2004

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a kind of acute lung injury characterized by inflammatory disruption of alveolar-capillary barrier and notorious for its high mortality. Neutrophils cause cell damage through the production of free radicals, inflammatory mediators, and proteases in ARDS. $PLA_2$ might serve a primary regulatory role in the activation of neutrophils. This present study was performed to elucidate the effect of rutin known as $PLA_2$ inhibitor on ARDS induced by endotoxin. Endotoxin had increased lung myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, BAL (bronchoalveolar lavage) protein content, numbers of neutrophils in BALF (bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) compared with those of control rat (p<0.001). In addition, histological evidence of lung injury was correlated with neutrophil influx into alveolar space and cerrous perhydroxide granules were found in lining of endothelial cell, alveolar type I, II cells. In contrast, pretreated group of rutin had significantly decreased all of the parameters (p<0.001). These data suggest that inhibition of $PLA_2$ is one step approach that block the process of ARDS. Accordingly, we conclude that rutin can be used as the prophylactic agent for ARDS on the bases of these experimental results.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.235-243
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• 2007

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding rye silage on growth performance, blood and carcass characteristics in finishing pigs. The total of eighteen($Landrace{\times}Yorkshire{\times}Duroc$) pigs($74.22{\pm}0.71kg$) were used for 49-day assay. Dietary treatments included 1) CON(basal diet), 2) S1(1.66% rye silage) and 3) S2(3.32% rye silage). In growth performance, from 4 to 7 weeks, average daily feed intake(ADFI) in pigs fed CON diet was higher than pigs fed S1 and S2 diets. Through the entire experimental period($0{\sim}7$ weeks), a ADFI in CON and S2 treatments was higher than S1 treatment (p<0.05). Serum cortisol concentration of pigs fed rye silage decreased significantly compared to pigs fed basal diet (p<0.05). The Hunter's $L^*$(lightness) value of loin in the pigs fed S2 diet was higher than that of loin in the pigs fed CON diet(p<0.05). The $b^*$(yellowness) value of loin in the pigs fed S1 and S2 diets were higher than CON treatment(p<0.05). Backfat thickness in CON treatment increased significantly compared to S1 and S2 treatments(p<0.05). Among fatty acid contents of lean meat, the contents of palmitic and stearic acids were significantly higher in CON than others(p<0.05), where as eicosenoic and linolenic acids were the highest in S2 treatment among treatments(p<0.05). Total SFA(saturated fatty acid) was the highest in CON(p<0.05) and S1 and S2 treatments were higher USFA/SFA(unsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid) ratio than CON treatment. In fats, linolenic acid was higher in S2 treatment than those of S1 and CON treatments(p<0.05). Digestibility of dry matter in pigs fed S1 and S2 diets was greater than that of pigs fed CON diet(p<0.05) and S1 treatment was higher than others on digestibility of nitrogen(p<0.05). VFA(volatile fatty acid) emission from focal, measured after 1 day, increased significantly in pigs fed S1 and S2 diets(p<0.05). In conclusions, our results showed that feeding rye silage might be beneficial in decrease of cortisol concentration, hunter's $L^*$(lightness) value and $b^*$(yellowness), fatty acid contents, and nutrient digestibility. However, there should be more study on the relationship between feeding rye silagr and finishing pigs.