• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.34-44
• /
• 1999

Ischemic damage in the selectively vulnerable populations of neurons is thought to be caused by an abnormal accumulation of intracellular calcium. It has been reported that the neurons, expressing specific calcium binding proteins, might effectively control intracellular calcium concentrations because of a high capacity to buffer intracellular calcium in the brain ischemic condition. It is uncertain that parvalbumin, one of the calcium binding proteins, can protect the neurons from the cerebral ischemic damage. Recently, treatment of kappa opioid agonists increased survival rate, improved neurological function, and decreased tissue damage under the cerebral ischemic condition. Many evidences indicate that these therapeutic effects might result from regulation of calcium concentration. This study was designed to analyze the changes of number in parvalbumin-positive neurons after cerebral ischemic damage according to timepoints after cerebral ischemic induction. In addition, we evaluated the effect of GR89696 (kappa opioid agonist) or naltrexone(non selective opioid antagonist) on the changes of number in parvalbumin expressing neurons under ischemic condition. Cerebral ischemia was induced by occluding the common carotid artery of experimental animals. The hippocampal areas were morphometrically analyzed at different time point after ischemic induction(1, 3, 5 days) by using immuno-histochemical technique and imaging analysis system. The number of parvalbumin-positive neurons in hippocampus was significantly reduced at 1 day after ischemia(p<0.05). Furthermore, the number of parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons was dramatically reduced at 3 and 5 days after cerebral ischemic induction(p<0.05) as compared to 1 day group after ischemia, as well as sham control group. Significant reduction of parvalbumin positive neurons in CA1 region of hippocampus was observed at 1 day after cerebral ischemic induction. However, significant loss of MAP2 immunoreactivity was observed at 3 day after cerebral ischemia. The loss of parvalbumin-positive neurons and MAP2 immunoreactivity in CA1 region was prevented by pre-administration of GR89696 compared to that of saline-treated ischemic group. Furthermore, protective effect of GR89696 partially reversed by pre-treatment of naltrexone. These data indicate that parvalbumin-positive neurons more sensitively responded to cerebral ischemic damage than MAP2 protein. Moreover, this loss of parvalbumin-positive neurons was effectively prevented by the pretreatment of kappa opioid agonist. It was also suggested that the changes of number in parvalbumin-positive neurons could be used as the specific marker to analyze the degree of ischemic neuronal damage.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2006

Temperature signaling can be initiated by members of transient receptor potential (thermo-TRP) channels. Hot and cold substances applied to teeth usually elicit pain sensation. Since odontoblasts constitute a well-defined layer between the pulp and the mineralized dentin, being first to encounter thermal stimulation from oral cavity, they may be involved in sensory transduction process, in addition to their primary function as formation of dentin. We investigated whether thermo-TRP channels are expressed in a odontoblast cell line, MDPC-23. The expressions of thermo-TRP channels were examined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunohistochemistry, fluorometric calcium imaging. Analysis of RT-PCR revealed mRNA expression of TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV4 and TRPM8, but no TRPV3, TRPA1. Immunohistochemical approach failed to detect TRPV1 expression. Whereas the application of 4-phorbol-12,13-didecanoate($10\;{\mu}M$, a TRPV4 agonist), menthol(1 mM, a TRPM8 agonist) and icilin($10\;{\mu}M$, a TRPM8 agonist) produced the enhancement of intracellular calcium concentration, capsaicin($1\;{\mu}M$, a TRPV1 agonist) did not. Our results suggest that subfamily of thermo-TRP channels expressed in odontoblasts may serve as thermal or mechanical transducer in teeth.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.176-179
• /
• 2019

A giant prostatic urethral calculus has not been previously reported in dogs and should be distinguished from prostatic calculus. A 7-year-old castrated male Maltese dog with a 2-month history of relapsing hematuria and urinary incontinence with slowly progressing paraphimosis was referred. On abdominal radiography and ultrasonography, there was a giant calculus in the region of prostate or urethra, one left ureteral calculus, one urinary bladder calculus, and two penile urethral calculi. On computed tomography for evaluating the accurate location and planning the surgical approach, the giant calculus was located at the prostatic urethra. The calculi in urinary bladder, prostatic and penile urethra were surgically removed. These calculi were mixed-type of calcium oxalate monohydrate, struvite and calcium phosphate carbonate. On the basis of the urolith analysis and urine bacterial culture results, antibiotics and prescription diet were adjusted. At the 3-month follow-up, there were no clinical sings but paraphimosis was still remained, and ultrasonography revealed newly-formed, small urethral calculi at the prostatic urethra. This is the first report to describe the case of a canine giant prostatic urethral calculus and its clinical signs, diagnostic imaging findings, treatment, and outcome. CT may be useful to assess the accurate location and surgical approach for such calculi.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.137-141
• /
• 2021

Genetic causes of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) have been rapidly uncovered from mid-2010s. The mutations of gene enconding calcium channel, voltage-dependent, P/Q type, alpha 1A subunit (CACNA1A) are recently detected in DEE, which gene is already known well in familial hemiplegic migrine type 1 or episodic ataxia type 2. Ketogenic diet therapy (KDT) is effective in some DEE, which data is short in CACNA1A encephalopathy. A 3-month-old male with global developmental delay and multidrug-resistant focal seizures was diagnosed as epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS). Brain magnetic resonance imaging and metabolic screening were all normal. Whole exome sequencing revealed two variants of CACNA1A: c.899A>C, and c.2808del that is from his mother. His seizures disappeared within 3 days whenever on KDT, which recurred without it. To our knowledge, this rare case of EIMFS with novel mutations of CACNA1A, is the first report in CACNA1A encephalopathy becoming seizure-free on KDT.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
• /
• v.32 no.2 s.91
• /
• pp.129-142
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of caffeine and calcium on the activities of the osteoblastic cell from mouse calvaria. The author cultured osteoblastic cells obtained from the mouse calvaria and were divided into three groups : the caffeine-treated, the calcium-treated and the combine-treated group. In caffeine-treated group, the cell toxicity was measured by MTT assay at 1, 2 and 4 days after treatment of caffeine. In all groups, the densities of the mineralized bone nodules were measured by imaging analyzer after Von Kossa staining. The alkaline phosphotase (ALP) activities were measured at 2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days and the interleukin-1 ${\beta}$ activities at 48 hours after treatment of caffeine and calcium. The measurements were statistically executed with ANOVA test and the results were as follows. 1. The cellular toxicity of the caffeine increased with the concentration of caffeine during the incubation period. 2. The maximum densities of mineralization were observed at 0.2 mM caffeine-treated group, 1.2 mM calcium-treated group, 0.1 mM caffeine and 1.8 mM calcium-treated group. 3. The activities of ALP were peaked at 14 days at calcium-treated group as no-treated. But, the activities of ALP increased with concentrations of caffeine at caffeine-treated group. At combine-treated group, the act of ALP were peaked at 24 days at 1.2 mM, 1.8 mM calcium-treated group, But decreased at 2.5 mM calcium-treated group. 4. The activites of the IL-1 ${\beta}$ were increased significantly at 0.2 mM caffeine-treated group, 1.8 mM calcium-treated group and 0.1 mM caffeine and 1.8 mM calcium-treated group. But, they were decreased at all groups of high concentration.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.290-300
• /
• 2017

Objectives: This study investigated the removal efficacy and cytotoxicity of a newly developed calcium hydroxide paste (cleaniCal, Maruchi) using N-2-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a vehicle in comparison with ApexCal (Ivoclar Vivadent) and Calcipex II (Nishika), which use different vehicles such as polyethylene glycol and propylene glycol, respectively. Materials and Methods: Thirty maxillary premolars with oval-shaped canals were divided into 3 groups and the teeth were filled with one of the pastes. After removal of the paste, micro-computed tomographic (${\mu}$-CT) imaging was obtained to assess the volume of residual paste in the root canal of each tooth. The teeth were then split longitudinally and the area of the paste-coated surface was evaluated by stereomicroscopy. The cytotoxicity of each product was assessed using an agar overlay assay. The effect of each vehicle on cell viability was evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's tests to detect any significance (p < 0.05). Results: In the ${\mu}$-CT and stereomicroscopic analysis, cleaniCal exhibited less remnants of medicament than ApexCal and Calcipex. cleaniCal showed a higher cytotoxicity than the other pastes in the agar overlay assay. Furthermore, NMP exhibited lower cell viability compared to the other vehicles. Conclusions: cleaniCal showed better removal efficacy compared to the other products. However, clinicians should be aware of the higher cytotoxicity of the NMP-based material and consider its possible adverse effects on periradicular tissue when it is overfilled.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.44-49
• /
• 2015

Objectives: This study compared the ability of several techniques to remove calcium hydroxide (CH) from the root canal and determined the influence of CH residues on the accuracy of the electronic apex locator. Materials and Methods: Root canals of 90 human maxillary lateral incisors with confirmed true working length (TWL) were prepared and filled with CH. The teeth were randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups according to the CH removal technique (n = 14): 0.9% saline; 0.9% saline + master apical file (MAF); 17% ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA); 17% EDTA + MAF; 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl); 5.25% NaOCl + MAF. Six teeth were used as negative control. After CH removal, the electronic working length was measured using Root-ZX (Morita Corp.) and compared with TWL to evaluate Root-ZX accuracy. All specimens were sectioned longitudinally, and the area of remaining CH (CH) and total canal area were measured using imaging software. Results: The EDTA + MAF and NaOCl + MAF groups showed better CH removal than other groups (p < 0.05). Root-ZX reliability to prevent overestimated working length to be > 85% within a tolerance of ${\pm}1.0mm$ (p < 0.05). There was strong negative correlation between amount of CH residues and EAL accuracy (r = -0.800 for ${\pm}0.5mm$; r = -0.940 for ${\pm}1.0mm$). Conclusions: The mechanical instrumentation improves the CH removal of irrigation solutions although none of the techniques removed the dressing completely. Residues of CH medication in root canals affected the accuracy of Root-ZX adversely.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.177-182
• /
• 2008

A 27-year-old female was referred to our hospital postpartum due to rapid aggravation of facial swelling. She was diagnosed with osteomyelitis on clinical, radiological, and histopathological examinations, but the possibility of malignancy was not excluded. Clinical signs and symptoms such as facial swelling and discomfort were improved with four months of antibiotics treatment. This is as case of an osteomyelitis progressed from infected extraction socket in a woman with physiological changes of pregnancy. Decreased immunological response, increased sex hormone and calcium regulatory hormones regulate the response of the bone infection. We report this case for helping the diagnosis of unusual from of osteomyelities in pregnancy and postpartum.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.63-67
• /
• 2012

Calcium density in human bones decreases as people are getting older due to the interior or exterior environmental factors. Bone aging forms osteoporosis. And this can bring out various spine fractures which develops a complications. Thus the prediction of seniliy is one of the important factors in spine diseases. Once spine aged, diverse fractures occur such as compression fracture and micro fracture. Side images of the spine by the digital radiography (DR) were prepared, and pixel arbitrary unit with Image J was measured from one spot in the lumbar bone part. By calculating pixel arbitrary unit of the simple contrast, it was obtained that the value of pixel arbitrary unit decreased as seniliy of bones increased. By simply applying Image J to the seniliy of patient's spine, the seniliy of bones predicts the level of danger with only digital radiography(2D) image. consequently we show that Image J value of pixel arbitrary unit index for predicts the level of precaution of osteoporosis patient.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.43-49
• /
• 2008

Flavonoids have been shown to affect calcium signaling in neurons. However, there are no reports on the effect of apigenin on glutamate-induced calcium signaling in neurons. We investigated whether apigenin affects glutamate-induced increase of free intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons, using fura-2-based digital calcium imaging and microfluorimetry. The hippocampal neurons were used between 10 and 13 days in culture from embryonic day 18 rats. Pretreatment of the cells with apigenin ($1{\mu}M$ to $100{\mu}M$) for 5 min inhibited glutamate ($100{\mu}M$, 1 min) induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase, concentration-dependently. Pretreatment with apigenin ($30{\mu}M$) for 5 min significantly decreased the $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ responses induced by two ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists, alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic (AMPA, $10{\mu}M$, 1 min) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA, $100{\mu}M$, 1 min), and significantly inhibited the AMPA-induced peak currents. Treatment with apigenin also significantly inhibited the $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ response induced by 50 mM KCl solution, decreased the $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ responses induced by the metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist, (S)-3,5-dihydroxy-phenylglycine (DHPG, 100 $[Ca^{2+}]_i$, 90 s), and inhibited the caffeine (10 mM, 2 min)-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ responses. Furthermore, treatment with apigenin ($30{\mu}M$) significantly inhibited the amplitude and frequency of 0.1 mM $[Mg^{2+}]_o$-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ spikes. These data together suggest that apigenin inhibits glutamate-induced calcium signaling in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.