• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2006

Background: Korean ginseng (KG) has been used as a general tonic, and for voiding dysfunction for a long time in oriental society. However, scientific basic studies on the use of KG, have been rare, especially for voiding and erectile dysfunction. This study was performed to investigate the effects of KG on voiding and erectile function by examining the effects of total saponin (TS) on the bladder, urethral and penile cavernosal smooth muscle. Materials and methods: To examine the effects of TS, NewZeland white rabbits were used to obtain tissue strips from the smooth muscle of the bladder, proximal urethra and corpus cavernosum. Adult Sprague Dawley rats were used to examine the changes in urodynamic findings and penile erection after administration of TS. Results: In proximal urethral strips, the rate of relaxation of the proximal urethra was increased from $9.0{\pm}2.9$ to $33.7{\pm}4.8%$ in a dose-dependent manner when the concentration of TS was added accumulatively from 0.25 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). However, no significant response was observed in the bladder strips within these concentration ranges. For the corpus cavernosal strips, the rate of relaxation ranged from $5.8{\pm}2.1$ to $36.7{\pm}5.8%$, increasing in a dose-dependent manner when TS was increased from 1.0 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). After administration of 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) in the rat, the bladder pressure was $37.5{\pm}8.5$ mmHg at $52.1{\pm}7.0$ sec. during isovolumetric bladder contraction, showing no significant differences from $35.7{\pm}7.8mmHg$ and $50.7{\pm}7.2$ sec, respectively, before treatment. However, when 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) was administered, the relative reduction of urethral pressure was $6.9{\pm}0.5mmHg$ at $62{\pm}7.5$ sec, which was significantly higher compared to $4.6{\pm}1.1mmHg$ at $45{\pm}10$ sec before treatment (p<0.05). For the cavernosal injection study, the change in intracavernosal pressure (${\Delta}ICP$) was examined after administering 0.1 ml of TS. The cumulative additions of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml to 32 mg/ml increased ${\Delta}ICP$ from $1.3{\pm}0.5$ to $21.3{\pm}7.8mmHg$ in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). The duration of tumescence was from $0.3{\pm}0.1$ to $5.2{\pm}0.2$ min, showing dose-dependent increase (p<0.05). Furthermore, the cumulative addition of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml upto 32 mg/ml did not cause any significant change in systemic blood pressure. Conclusion: These results suggest that ginseng improves voiding functions, which is mainly achieved by TS relaxing the proximal urethra, the most important part of the bladder outlet function. In addition, ginseng safely induced a penile erection hemodynamically by relaxing the corpus cavernosum.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.633-644
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• 2008

The structural framework design uses high-strength bolts and welding in column splices. However, for the column under high compression, the number of the required high-strength bolts can be excessive and the increase of welding results in difficulty of quality inspection, the transformation of the structural steels, and the increase of erection time. According to the AISC criteria, when columns have bearing plates, or they are finished to bear at splices, there shall be sufficient connections to hold all parts securely in place. The Korean standard sets the maximum 25% of the load as criteria. Using direct contact makes it possible to transfer all compressive force through it. The objective of this study is to examine the generally applied stress path mechanism of welded or bolted columns and to verify the bending moment and compression transfer mechanism of the column splice according to metal touch precision. For this study,22 specimens of various geometric shapes were constructed according to the change in the variables for each column splice type, which includes the splice method, gap width, gap axis, presence or absence of splice material, and connector type. The results show that the application of each splice can be improved through the examination of the stress path mechanism upon metal contact. Moreover, the revision of the relative local code on direct contact needs to be reviewed properly for the economics and efficiency of the splices.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.263-275
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• 1989

Mechanical contractions and electrical activities of the fundic longitudinal and antral circular muscle fibers were investigated in order to elucidate topical differences of gastric motility. K-induced contracture was produced by exposure of muscle strips to high K Tyrode solution. Membrane potential and mechanical contraction were simultaneously recorded by conventional glass microelectrode method and single sucrose-gap technique. All experiments were performed in tris-buffered Tyrode solution which was aerated with $100%\;O_2\;and\;kept\;35^{\circ}C$. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The resting membrane potential of circular muscle cells in the antral region was about 10 mV more negative than that in the fundic region. 2) The membrane potentials decreased almost linearly as the extracellular KCI concentration was increased both in antral circular muscle cells and in fundic longitudinal muscle cells. 3) The thresholdal K concentration of K-contracture was 15 mM (membrane potential, -48 mV) for the antral circular muscle strip and 20 mM for the fundic longitudinal muscle cells. 4) The ratio of membrane permeability coefficient for $Na^+\;and\;K^+,\;P_{Na}/P_K\;({\alpha})$ was 0.065 for antral circular muscle cells and was 0.108 for fundic longitudinal muscle cells. 5) K-contracture of antral and fundic smooth muscle strips showed the contracture composed of phasic and tonic components. The amplitude of the phasic component increased sigmoidally in a dose-dependent manner, whereas that of the tonic component was maximal at a concentration of 40 mM KCI and at the concentrations above or below 40 mM KCI the amplitude was reduced. 6) The inverse relationship between the amplitude of tonic component and extracellular KCI concentration in the range of 40 to 150 mM KCI was more prominent in the antral circular muscle strip than in the fundic longitudinal muscle strip, where the amplitude of the tonic component decreased less steeply and was maintained higher at the same high K concentrations. 7) The tonic component was totally dependent on the external $Ca^{2+}$ and completely abolished by verapamil, while tile phasic component was far less dependent on the external $Ca^{2+}$ and partially suppressed by verapamil. From the above results, the following conclusions could be made. 1) The phasic component of K-contracture is produced both by intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ mobilization and by $Ca^{2+}$-influx from outside, while the tonic component is generated and maintained by the $Ca^{2+}-influx$ through the potential-dependent $Ca^{2+}$ channel. 2) The mechanism of reducing the free $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in the myoplasm seems to be more developed in the antral circular muscle than in the fundic longitudinal muscle. 3) The lower resting membrane potential of the fundic longitudinal muscle cell reflects a relatively high $P_{Na}/P_K$ ratio of about 0.108.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2020

This study was undertaken to examine the effects and to investigate the relevant mechanisms of overexpressing stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) produced by engineered mesenchymal stem cells, in a neurogenic bladder (NB) rat model. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (N=48) were randomly divided into 4 groups comprising 12 rats each: control group, Injury group, Injury+imMSC group, and Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group. Rats in the Injury+imMSC group were treated with imMSCs, whereas the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group were administered SDF-1 eMSCs. After 4-weeks therapy, the bladder and pelvic nerve (PN) tissues were examined by subjecting to Masson's trichrome staining and immunofluorescence. Administration of SDF-1 eMSC resulted in improved smooth muscle content in the bladder tissue, significantly increased β-III tubulin expression of the PN, and enhanced SDF-1 expression (P<0.05). The bladder wall repair can be attributed to the overexpression of SDF-1 by SDF-1 eMSCs. Significantly increased SDF-1 expression was obtained in the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group (P<0.05). The crushed PN also showed significant recovery in the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results indicate that SDF-1 eMSCs express more SDF-1 in vivo, thereby facilitating the repair of injured nerve and recovery of NB in rats.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 1990

The vascular responses to the vasoactive drugs were evaluated using aortic ring preparations obtained from propylthiouracil (PTU)-treated rats. The body weights and the levels of serum thyroxine $(T{_4})$ and triiodothyronine $(T{_3})$ were significantly decreased in propylthiouracil-treated rats as compared with those in age-matched control rats. The contractile responses to norepinephrine and potassium and calcium ions were significantly attenuated in aortic rings of PTU-treated rats 4 weeks after when compared with those from age-matched control animals. By the PTU treatment, however, the sensitivity to norepinephrine but not to calcium was decreased while the maximal responses to norepinephrine and calcium were reduced together. The attenuated contractile responses to the vasoconstrictors in PTU-treated rats are ascribed to the decreased ability of the muscle cells to contract. On the other hand, the relaxation responses induced by acetylcholine and histamine (endothelium-dependent relaxants) and isoproterenol and sodium nitroprusside (endothelium-independent relaxants) had tendencies to be augmented in aortic rings of PTU-treated rats when compared with those of age-matched control animals. However, the sensitivities to the endothelium-independent relaxants were different between PTU-treated and control rats whereas those to the endothelium-dependent relaxants were not. These results suggest that the altered vascular responsiveness in the PTU-treated rats seems to be due to the alteration of smooth muslce cells rather than the Influence of endothelium, and that this change is slowly progressive after hypothyroidism is evident.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.123-131
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• 2008

In Oriental medicine, the status of a tongue is the important indicator to diagnose the condition of one's health like the physiological and the clinicopathological changes of internal organs in a body. A tongue diagnosis is not only convenient but also non-invasive, and therefore widely used in Oriental medicine. However, the tongue diagnosis is affected by examination circumstances like a light source, patient's posture, and doctor's condition a lot. To develop an automatic tongue diagnosis system for an objective and standardized diagnosis, segmenting a tongue region from a facial image captured and classifying tongue coating are inevitable but difficult since the colors of a tongue, lips, and skin in a mouth are similar. The proposed method includes preprocessing, over-segmenting, detecting the edge with a local minimum over a shading area from the structure of a tongue, correcting local minima or detecting the edge with the greatest color difference, selecting one edge to correspond to a tongue shape, and smoothing edges, where preprocessing consists of down-sampling to reduce computation time, histogram equalization, and edge enhancement, which produces the region of a segmented tongue. Finally, the systematic procedure separated only a tongue region from a face image with a tongue, which was obtained from a digital tongue diagnosis system. Oriental medical doctors' evaluation for the results illustrated that the segmented region excluding a non-tongue region provides important information for the accurate diagnosis. The proposed method can be used for an objective and standardized diagnosis and for an u-Healthcare system.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.491-497
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• 2014

Nowadays, starfish is one of problems about interruption of marine ecosystem, so many researchers are focusing on application of the starfish (Asterias amurensis). In this study, we investigated the contractile and relaxant activity of the smooth muscles and the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of six different tissues (muscle, gut, liver, tube feet, gonads, and body) of A. amurensis. Frozen samples were extracted with distilled water containing 1% acetic acid. Extracts from all the tissues, except the body tissue, showed potent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli D31. The dorsal retractor muscles (DRM) of muscle and gut extracts showed strong contraction responses. On the other hand, contractile activity on esophagus of squid Todarodes pacificus could be detected in all tissues tested. The contractile activity of the liver extract was higher than that of the other tissues. The body, tube feet, and liver extracts showed the contractile activity on the intestine of the panther puffer fish (Takifugu pardalis). Relaxation response on the DRM of starfish (A. pectinifera) was observed in all tissues tested. Increased antioxidant activity was observed in the gut, liver, and body extracts. The results suggest that the starfish (A. amurensis) is a potential source of novel bioactive compounds.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1652-1660
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• 2004

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) is essential in atherogenesis, being a factor that modulates its early progression rather than a terminal event in the course of the disease. Various stimuli, including oxide lipoproteins, altered hemodynamic stress and free radical, can induced VSMCs apoptosis in vitro. The protective effects of Sophorae Radix (SR) on apoptotic cell death induced by H₂O₂ were investigated in VSMCs. The viability of VSMCs was markedly decreased by H₂O₂. Sophorae Radix protected the H202-induced apoptotic death of VSMCs, which was characterized as nuclear fragmentation and increase of sub-G0/G1 fraction .. Sophorae Radix decreased the activation of caspase-3 like protease induced by H₂O₂ and recovered control level from H202-induced PARP, Bak, Bcl-XL and mitochondrial membrane potential. These results suggest that Sophorae Radix protected VSMCs apoptotic death induced by H₂O₂ via inactivation of caspase-3 and modulation of mitochondrial function. Also, the expression profile of proteins by using two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis was screened. Future investigations will need to explore the use of an anti atherosclerotic therapy of Sophorae Radix, which relies on inhibition of the proapoptotic activation of the vascular smooth muscle cells.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1055-1060
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• 2004

Apoptosis is the ability of cells to self-destruct by the activation of an intrinsic cellular suicide program when the cells are no longer needed or when they are seriously damaged. Morphologically, apoptosis is characterized by the appearance of membrane blebbing, cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, DNA cleavage, and the fragmentation of the cell membrane-bound apoptotic bodies. Siegesbeckia glabrescens Makino (Siegesbeckiae Herba, SG) has been widely used as treatments for arthritis, and fever, as well as detoxification properties. The present studies were undertaken to evaluate if SG has an anti-apoptotic property. Cell viability was measured by XTT and tryphan blue stain. Morphological characteristic of human aortic smooth muscle cells(HASMC) were visualized with a phase-contrast microscope. SG significantly reduced HASMC, but not human umbilical vein endothelial cell(HUVEC), viability in a dose-dependent manner. Confluent untreated cells at 24hrs showed normal morphology, flat with a uniform polygonal shape. SG-treated cells (0.5㎎/㎖) at 24hrs showed apoptotic morphology. Cells became irregular with elongated lamellipodia, and exhibited condensed chromatin in nuclei with occasional endoucleation. There was an increase in the number of apoptotic cells rounding-up and being detached from the substrate. TUNEL staining of SG-treated cells showed dark-brown stains in nuclei and cytosol. Caspases are central components of the machinery responsible for apoptosis and are generally divided into two categories; the initiator caspases, which include caspases-2,-8,-9, and -10, and the effector caspases, which include caspases-3,-6, and -7. SG decreased anti-caspase-3 protein expression, which means activation of caspases-3 activity. It has been reported that there is a link between NO formation and apoptosis. NO production was accelerated by SG treatment in HASMC. L-NNA, NOS inhibitor, inhibited SG-induced apoptosis. These results, therefore, indicated that both caspases-3 and NO production are involved in apoptosis in smooth muscle cells. According to these results, SG may have a potential effect in the treatment of hypertensive atherosclerosis.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.493-500
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neurotransmitters and the source of $Ca^{2+}$ in the effects of neurotransmitters on the motility of pig oviductal isthmic smooth muscle. The motility of the isolated smooth muscle was recorded by using physiological recording system. The results were summarized as follows; Acetylcholine, norepinephrine, histamine and prostaglandin $F_{2{\alpha}}(PGF_{2{\alpha}})$ caused the contraction and the contractile responses were increased in a dose-dependent manner from the concentration of $10^{-7}$ to $10^{-4}M$. The maximum contractility of acetylcholine, norepinephrine, histamine and $PGF_{2{\alpha}}$ was 65.99, 28.66, 83.99 and 47.33% of 100 mM K contraction, respectively. The contractile response induced by acetylcholine$(10^{-6}M)$ was completely blocked by the pretreatment with cholinergic receptor blocker, atropine$(10^{-6}M)$, the contractile response induced by norepinephrine$(10^{-5}M)$ was blocked by the pretreatment with ${\alpha}$-adrenergic receptor blocker, phentolamine$(10^{-6}M)$ but was not blocked and rather increased by the pretreatment with ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor blocker. propranolol$(10^{-6}M)$, the contractile response induced by histamine$(10^{-6}M)$ was completely blocked by the pretreatment with $H_1$-histaminergic receptor blocker, pyrilamine$(10^{-6}M)$ but was increased by the pretreatment with $H_2$-histaminergic receptor blocker, cimetidine$(10^{-6}M)$. The contractile response induced by acetylcholine$(10^{-6}M)$, norepinephrine$(10^{-5}M)$ and histamine$(10^{-6}M)$ was weakly contracted response in $Ca^{2+}$-free medium, but the contractile response induced by $PGF_{2{\alpha}}(10^{-6}M)$ was disappeared. The contractile response induced by acetylcholine$(10^{-6}M)$, norepinephrine$(10^{-5}M)$ and histamine$(10^{-6}M)$ was powerfully depressed by the pretreatment with $Ca^{2+}$-channel blocker, verapamil$(10^{-5}M)$ but the contractile response induced by $PGF_{2{\alpha}}(10^{-6}M)$ was completely inhibited.