• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2008

Saururus chinensis is a commonly used folk herb for the treatment of edema and liver diseases in Korea. To study the biological activity of Saururus chinensis in bone metabolism, we evaluated the effect of its extracts on osteoclast differentiation in vitro using primary mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages. Methanol extract (ME) from dried roots of Saururus chinensis was partitioned into methylene chloride (MF), ethyl acetate (EF), n-butanol (BF) and water fractions (WF). Tartrate-resistance acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity assay and western blot analysis were performed to determine the effect on osteoclast differentiation and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases activation. ME, MF and EF dramatically inhibited receptor activator of ${NF-kB}$ ligand (RANKL)-induced formation of multinucleated osteoclasts and activation of MAP kinases. This study firstly demonstrated that ME, MF and EF of Saururus chinensis have the potential to inhibit the osteoclast differentiation, which results from the inhibition of MAP kinases activations in part.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.135-139
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• 2018

Most capitate fractures occur in association with additional carpal injuries, particularly scaphoid fractures. Isolated fractures of the capitate account for only 0.3% of carpal injuries, and stress fractures are one form of this fracture. We report the case of a 20-year-old male who had a stress fracture of the capitate after serving as an honor guard in the military. Conventional radiographs and computed tomography of the right wrist revealed a minimally displaced fracture line located at the midcarpal aspect of the right capitate. A magnetic resonance imaging scan demonstrates a subarticular capitate fracture with diffuse bone marrow edema, small osteophytes, and irregularity of the midcarpal articular cartilage. We also review the carpal kinematics which possibly caused the stress fracture. Although stress fractures of the capitate are rare, they should also be accounted for with patients who perform repetitive motions of the wrist to a considerable extent.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.166-173
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• 2002

Transient peripheral eosinophilia occurs in several disorders, such as allergic diseases, cancer, and parasitic infections. However, in most cases, their presence is not accompanied by tissue destruction or organ dysfunction. In certain disease states, eosinophils can accumulate in any organ in the body and cause tissue destruction as a result of the eosinophil infiltration or the toxic effects of the degranulated proinflammatory products. Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by persistent eosinophilia of an unknown origin, usually associated with a dysfunction of organs such as the heart, lung, skin, and nervous system. Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome usually has an indolent course over a period of several months. However, in some cases, they have grave symptoms if vital organs such as heart and lung are infiltrated. Here we report a case of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome presenting acute pulmonary edema involving the heart, bone marrow, and lung with a review of the relevant literatures.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2017

Schwannomas are benign nerve sheath tumors that are typically located in soft tissue. Occasionally, schwannomas involve osseous structures. These intraosseous schwannomas are generally benign neoplasms that account for less than 0.2% of primary bone tumors. Schwannomas are very rarely observed in long bones. We present a case of a schwannoma affecting the proximal femur with a coincident subchondral fracture of the femoral head. A 38-year-old-male presented with left hip pain without deteriorating locomotor function. Plain film radiographs displayed a lobulating contoured lesion within the intertrochanteric portion of the femur. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showed a tumor occupying the intertrochanteric region. Diffuse bone marrow edema, especially in the subchondral and head portions of the femur that was possibly due to the subchondral insufficiency fracture was also noted. The lesion was surgically excised and bone grafting was performed. Histologically, there was diffuse infiltrative growth of the elongated, wavy, and tapered cells with collagen fibers, which are findings that are characteristic of intraosseous schwannoma. Although very rare, intraosseous schwannoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of radiographically benign-appearing, non-aggressive lesions arising in the femur. The concomitant subchondral fracture of the femoral head confounded the correct diagnosis of intraosseous schwannoma in this case.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.848-853
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• 2005

Synurus deltoides was previously found to possess significant anti-inflammatory activity especially against chronic inflammation, and strong analgesic activity in vivo. In this study, new anti-inflammatory formulation containing S. deltoides extract as a major ingredient was prepared and in vivo activity was evaluated. The plausible action mechanism was also investigated. The new formulation (SAG) contains 1 part of S. deltoides extract, 0.9 part of Angelica gigas extract and 0.9 part of glucosamine sulfate (w/w). SAG inhibited dose-dependently edematic response of arachidonic acid (AA)- and 12-O-tetradecanoyl 13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear edema in mice, which is an animal model of acute inflammation. SAG showed 44.1 % inhibition of AA-induced ear edema at an oral dose of 50 mg/kg. In an animal model of chronic inflammation, SAG clearly reduced the edematic response of 7 -day model of multiple treatment of TPA (38.1 % inhibition at 200 mg/kg/day). Furthermore, SAG (50-800 mg/kg/day) as well as S. deltoides extract (285 mg/kg/day) significantly inhibited prostaglandin $E_2$ production from the skin lesion of the animals of 7-day model. These results were well correlated with in vitro finding that SAG as well as S. deltoides extract reduced cyclooxygenase (COX)-1- and COX-2-induced prostanoid production, measured in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells. Therefore, these results suggest that SAG possesses anti-inflammatory activity in vivo against acute as well as chronic inflammatory animal models at least in part by inhibition of prostaglandin production through COX-1/COX-2 inhibition. And COX inhibition of SAG is possibly contributed by S. deltoides extract among the ingredients. Although the anti-inflammatory potencies of SAG were less than those of currently used anti-inflammatory drugs, this formulation may have beneficial effect on inflammatory disorders as a neutraceutical.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.327-335
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• 2013

For those of us who have read the 2 recently published articles by a Danish - British research group, it might appear that we are observing an impending paradigm shift on the origins of chronic low back pain. The results of this research indicate, that chronic low back pain associated with bone marrow edema in vertebral endplates that are adjacent to herniated intervertebral discs may be caused by infections with anaerobic bacteria of low virulence. According to these articles, treatment with certain antibiotics is significantly more effective than placebo against this low back pain. If these findings are to hold true in repeat studies by other researchers, they stand to fundamentally change our concepts of low back pain, degenerative disc disease and in consequence the suitable therapies for these entities. It may in fact require pain specialists to become familiarized with the details of antibiotic treatments and their specific risks in order to be able to properly counsel their patients. While this seems hard to believe at first glance, bacteria have been implicated in the pathogenesis of other conditions that do not primarily impose as infectious diseases such as gastric ulcers. While the authors refer to a few previous studies pointing into the same direction, the relevant research is really only from one group of collaborating scientists. Therefore, before we start prescribing antibiotics for chronic low back pain, it is imperative that other researchers in different institutions confirm these results.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2015

Complete radial tears of the lateral meniscus are relatively rare. Once torn, the injury can be debilitating due to disruption of the circumferential fibers of the meniscus. We experienced a case of a lateral meniscus with a complete radial tear at the midbody, where the two torn ends were displaced more than 1 cm and could not be approximated during arthroscopy. Thirteen months after surgery, follow-up MRI and second-look arthroscopic findings showed that the complete radial tear has healed spontaneously. However, twenty nine months after the second-look arthroscopy, the patient complained of severe knee pain during exercise. On follow-up MRI, increased sclerosis and newly developed bone marrow edema were observed in the lateral femoral condyle, compared with previous MR images. Finally, we performed meniscal allograft transplantation due to the defective properties of the completely healed lateral meniscus.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2005

Periodontitis is a chronic infectious disease that leads to the destruction, one of the major cause of tooth loss in human. Osteoclast Differentiation Factor(ODF), also called as Receptor activator of NF-${\kappa}B$ ligand(RANKL), a surface-associated ligand on bone marrow stromal cells and osteoblasts, activates its cognate receptor RANK on osteoclast progenitor cells, which leads to differentiation of these mononucleated precursor cells. Osteoprotegerin(OPG), a decoy receptor, is released from stromal cells and osteoblasts to inhibit the interaction between RANKL and RANK. The experiment for the effect of pregnancy on gingival health showed greater gingival inflammation and edema during pregnancy, despite similar plaque index. There should be many factors affecting the periodontal health in pregnancy. In this experiment, we examined the direct effects of sex hormones(estrogen and progesterone) on the ODF/OPG expression in human gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells at the serum concentration of pregnancy. The ratio was high in the 1st trimester of pregnancy by estrogen and in the late 2nd trimester by progesterone. Therefore, the local periodontal destruction might be accelerated by these hormonal effect on the periodontal cells.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.207-216
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• 2000

Background : The occurrence of lung complications after allogenic bone marrow transplantation(BMT) has been reported as 40-60 percent. The risk factors for lung complications are whole body irradiation, high dose chemotherapy, graft versus host disease, old age and CMV infection. The prevalence of graft versus host disease is less in Korea than in Western countries, but frequency of CMV infection is higher. Therefore, the pattern of lung complications may be different in Korea from those in Western countries. Methods : A retrospective cohort study was performed on one hundred consecutive adult patients who underwent allogenic bone marrow transplantation from December, 1993 to May, 1999 at Asan Medical Center. Lung complications were divided into two groups by the time of development, within 30days (pre-engraftment) and beyond 30 days (post-engraftment), and then subdivided into infectious and non-infectious complication. Infectious complications were defined as having the organism in blood, BAL fluid, pleural fluid or sputum, or compatible clinical findings in patients, which improved with antibiotics or an anti-fungal therapy. Result: 1) Eighty three episodes of lung complications had occurred in 54 patients. 2) Within thirty days after BMT, non-infectious complications were more common than infections, but this pattern was reversed after 30 days. After one year post-BMT, there was no infectious complication except in cases of recurrence of underlying disease or development of chronic GVHD. 3) Among the non-infectious complications, pleural effusion (27 episodes) was most common, followed by pulmonary edema (8 episodes), bronchiolitis obliterans(2 episodes), diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (1 episode) and bronchiloitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia (1 episode). 4) The infectious complications were pneumonia (bacterial: 9 episodes, viral: 4 episodes, fungal : 5 episodes, pneumocystis carinii : 1 episode), pulmonary tuberculosis(3 episodes) and tuberculous pleurisy (3 episodes). 5) Lung complications were more frequent in CMV positive patients and in patients with delayed recovery of neutrophil count. 6) The mortality was higher in the patients with lung complications. Conclusion : Lung complications developed in 54% after allogenic BMT and were associated with higher mortality.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.148-152
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• 2008

Purpose : To find the MR findings and evaluate the usefulness of MR in flexor hallucis longus(FHL) dysfunction. Materials and Methods : From 1992 to 2003, fourty patients were found to have surgically confirmed FHL dysfunction. 24 cases of 22 patients who had performed MR were included in this study. We analyzed the signal intensity of FHL tendon and muscle, tendon sheath, sheath effusion, and bone lesions, retrospectively. Results : Non-specific, increased sheath effusion of FHL tendon was seen in 12 cases (50%). Large amount of sheath effusion(grade 3) was observed in 5 cases (21%). The signal intensity of FHL tendon was normal in all cases. High signal intensity at the FHL muscle, proximal to musculotendinous junction was seen in 1 case (4%). One case (4%) of marrow edema of the talus and another one case (4%) of osteochondritis dissecans of the talus was seen. Conclusion : Non-specific, increased sheath effusion of FHL tendon was observed on MR in FHL dysfunction patients. Therefore, MR has a limited role in diagnosis of FHL dysfunction and is useful to exclude other bone and tendon diseases causing medial ankle pain.