• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2000

There is nothing that is harmless ; the dose alone decides that something is no poison(Paracelsus, 1493-1541). So, in a point of view to maximize the therapeutic efficacy of drug therapy in a way that minimize the drug toxicity, the knowledges of the drug-ineractions as well as the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles of every therapeutic drug used in the medical clinic cannot be emphasized too much. Many drug interactions can be predicted if the pharmacokinetic properties, pharmacodynamic mechanisms of action of the interacting drugs are known, and most adverse interactions can be avoided. In this paper, the clinical importance, classification, and general principles of clinical drug-interactions are presentated with a few explanatory examples.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.98-104
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• 1998

A 12-year-old girl with a 6 year history of childhood-onset schizophrenia required 2 hospitalizations and long-term clozapine trial due to inadequate responses to combinations of typical neuroleptics and traditional treatments of schizophrenic disorder. On admission, she had continuous auditory and visual hallucinations, persecutory delusion, emotional instability, regression of behaviors including temper tantrums as well as specific developmental delays in learning, language, and motor coordination. The clozapine trial significantly reduced most of the positive symptoms, and facilitated in successful discharge from the hospital. During the 4 year clozapine treatment, no significant adverse reactions were noted, and she returned to a structured school setting with minimal degrees of schizophrenic symptoms. From this clinical experience, we suggest that clozapine might be safe and effective in treating treatment-refractory schizophrenic children.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2002

5-Hydroxytryptamine(5-HT; serotonin) system has been implicated in the modulation of male sexual behaviors and the secretion of reproductive hormones. In human males, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors(SSRIs) are known to improve the major male sexual dysfunction, premature ejaculation, through the central nervous system-mediated pathways. As numerous hormone and local factors, 5-HT may have peripheral role in the regulation of male sexual function. The expression of 5-HT receptor subtypes in the target tissue, however, has not been explored yet. The present study was undertaken to test whether the 5-HT receptor subtypes are expressed in the reproductive tissues of male rat, especially in ejaculatory machinery such as seminal vesicle and vas deferens. To do this, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Southern blot analysis were employed. The transcripts for the 1A, 1B and 2C subtypes of 5-HT receptor were amplified in all the tested tissues. The present study demonstrated the expression of 5-HT receptor in the rat ejaculatory machinery, suggesting that 5-HT may play a pivotal role in the male sexual function via not only central pathway but also peripheral route. Further study on the receptor subtype-specific effect and their harmonized mode of action will be needed to establish the understanding of ejaculation mechanism and drug design.

• THE JOURNAL OF KOREAN ORIENTAL ONCOLOGY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.37-53
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• 1998

The sprig of Jinryungtang Gagambang has been used for curing as a traditional medicine without any experimental evidence to support the rational basis for their clinical use. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the possible therapeutic or antitumoral effects of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract against cancer, and to study some mechanisms responsible for its effect. The cytotoxic and antitumor effects were evaluated on human cell liens (A549, hep3B, Caki-1, Sarcoma 180) after exposure to Jinryungtang Gagambang extract using in ILS, colony forming efficency and SRB assay which were regarded as a valuable method for cytotoxic and antitumor effects of unknown compound on tumor cell lines. The results obtained in this studies were as follows. 1. As a result of exposure to Jinryungtang Gagambang extract, the proliferation of A549, hep3B, Caki-1, good correlations were shown from the results of SRB assay and those of clogenetic assay. 2. The oral administration of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract showed significant effects of increase of MST(mean survival time) and ILS(increased life span) depending on the increasing concentration. 3. Against squamous cell carcinoma induced by MCA, Jinryungtang Gagambang decreased not only the frequency of tumor production but also the number and weight of tumors per tumor bearing mice(TBM). Jinryungtang Gagambang also significantly suppressed the development of 3LL cell-implanted tumors by frequency and their size, and some developed tumors were regressed by the continuous treatment of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract into TBM. 4. Jinryungtang Gagambang extract also increased NK cell activities. According to the above results, it could be suggested that Jinryungtang Gagambang extract has prominent antiutmor effect.