• Journal of the Korean Institute of Oriental Medical Informatics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 2005

Central cord syndrome (CCS) is the most common incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) syndrome, occured by cervical hyperextension injury. It is characterized by disproportionately greater motor impairment in the upper extremities compared to the lower extremities, bladder dysfunction, and variable degrees of sensory loss below the level of injury. Recently 36 year-old male was admitted with upper motor neuron weakness, sensory loss in the upper extremities and stiff neck. We report the improvement of his symptoms through both western medical treatment and oriental medical treatment.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.265-275
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• 2019

Technological advances of mankind, through the development of electrical and communication technologies, have resulted in the exposure to artificial electromagnetic fields (EMF). Technological growth is expected to continue; as such, the amount of EMF exposure will continue to increase steadily. In particular, the use-time of smart phones, that have become a necessity for modern people, is steadily increasing. Social concerns and interest in the impact on the cranial nervous system are increased when considering the area where the mobile phone is used. However, before discussing possible effects of radiofrequency-electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) on the human body, several factors must be investigated about the influence of EMFs at the level of research using in vitro or animal models. Scientific studies on the mechanism of biological effects are also required. It has been found that RF-EMF can induce changes in central nervous system nerve cells, including neuronal cell apoptosis, changes in the function of the nerve myelin and ion channels; furthermore, RF-EMF act as a stress source in living creatures. The possible biological effects of RF-EMF exposure have not yet been proven, and there are insufficient data on biological hazards to provide a clear answer to possible health risks. Therefore, it is necessary to study the biological response to RF-EMF in consideration of the comprehensive exposure with regard to the use of various devices by individuals. In this review, we summarize the possible biological effects of RF-EMF exposure.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.401-412
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• 2013

Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) is an oriental herbal preparation obtained from Panax ginseng Meyer (Araliaceae). To expand our understanding of the action of KRG on central nervous system (CNS) function, we examined the effects of KRG on tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression in rat primary astrocytes. KRG extract was treated in cultured rat primary astrocytes and neuron in a concentration range of 0.1 to 1.0 mg/mL and the expression of functional tPA/PAI-1 was examined by casein zymography, Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. KRG extracts increased PAI-1 expression in rat primary astrocytes in a concentration dependent manner (0.1 to 1.0 mg/mL) without affecting the expression of tPA itself. Treatment of 1.0 mg/mL KRG increased PAI-1 protein expression in rat primary astrocytes to $319.3{\pm}65.9%$ as compared with control. The increased PAI-1 expression mediated the overall decrease in tPA activity in rat primary astrocytes. Due to the lack of PAI-1 expression in neuron, KRG did not affect tPA activity in neuron. KRG treatment induced a concentration dependent activation of PI3K, p38, ERK1/2, and JNK in rat primary astrocytes and treatment of PI3K or MAPK inhibitors such as LY294002, U0126, SB203580, and SP600125 (10 ${\mu}M$ each), significantly inhibited 1.0 mg/mL KRG-induced expression of PAI-1 and down-regulation of tPA activity in rat primary astrocytes. Furthermore, compound K but not other ginsenosides such as Rb1 and Rg1 induced PAI-1 expression. KRG-induced up-regulation of PAI-1 in astrocytes may play important role in the regulation of overall tPA activity in brain, which might underlie some of the beneficial effects of KRG on CNS such as neuroprotection in ischemia and brain damaging condition as well as prevention or recovery from addiction.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.448-462
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• 2020

Dietary nutrition is a critical lifestyle factor that can reduce the risk of future cognitive impairments caused by dementia. Accumulating evidence suggests that dietary supplementation with Sulforaphane may help the prevention of cognitive impairments and dementia. Thus, Sulforaphane-enriched broccoli extract would hold promise to improve cognitive impairments of dementia patients. Here, we have used broccoli extracts, prepared from broccoli cultivated in Magma Seawater, to test if the broccoli extracts can be dietary supplement to improve cognitive impairments. Magma Seawater originated from Jeju Island, Korea is unique in terms of containing high concentrations of usable minerals (Zinc, Vanadium and Germanium etc.). Broccoli, grown in Magma Seawater, would contain Sulforaphane and the extra amount of usable minerals. The chemical compositions of the broccoli extracts were analyzed using LC-Q-orbitrap to detect Sulforaphane and Glucoraphanin. Analysis method based on HPLC was developed for measurement of sulforaphane levels in the broccoli extracts. We have tested if the broccoli extracts have anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects on neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, we examined if the broccoli extracts are able to upregulate expression of synaptic plasticity-associated proteins (BDNF and phospho-CREB) and to inhibit acetylcholine esterase (AchE) activity. We have shown that the broccoli extracts inhibited the apoptotic pathway and inflammatory responses. Finally, we present evidence showing that AchE activity was inhibited by the broccoli extracts, but expression of BDNF and phospho-CREB was upregulated. Taken together, these findings suggest that the broccoli extracts from Magma Seawater-grown broccoli would be a good source of dietary nutrition to improve cognitive impairments in the future.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.43-50
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• 2011

Voltage dependent calcium channel (VDCC), one of the most important regulator of $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in neuron, play an essential role in the central processing of nociceptive information. The present study investigated the antinociceptive effects of L, T or N type VDCC blockers on the formalin-induced orofacial inflammatory pain. Experiments were carried out on adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 220-280 g. Anesthetized rats were individually fixed on a stereotaxic frame and a polyethylene (PE) tube was implanted for intracisternal injection. After 72 hours, 5% formalin ($50 \;{\mu}L$) was applied subcutaneously to the vibrissa pad and nociceptive scratching behavior was recorded for nine successive 5 min intervals. VDCC blockers were administered intracisternally 20 minutes prior to subcutaneous injection of formalin into the orofacial area. The intracisternal administration of 350 or $700{\mu}g$ of verapamil, a blocker of L type VDCC, significantly decreased the number of scratches and duration in the behavioral responses produced by formalin injection. Intracisternal administration of 75 or $150 \;{\mu}g$ of mibefradil, a T type VDCC blocker, or 11 or $22\; {\mu}g$ of cilnidipine, a N type VDCC blocker, also produced significant suppression of the number of scratches and duration of scratching in the first and second phase. Neither intracisternal administration of all VDCC blockers nor vehicle did not affect in motor dysfunction. The present results suggest that central VDCCs play an important role in orofacial nociceptive transmission and a targeted inhibition of the VDCCs is a potentially important treatment approach for inflammatory pain originating in the orofacial area.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.29-45
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• 1999

As the average life span has been lengthened and the rate of senile population has been raised, chronic degenerative diseases incident to aging have been increased rapidly and become a social problem. With this social background, recently, oxygen radicals(OR) have toxic effects on Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System and cause neuropathy such as Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer Disease. The purpose of this study is to examine the toxic effects caused by Xanthine Oxidase(XO) and the effects of herbal extracts such as Jokihaeatang(JHT) on the treatment of the toxic effects. For this purpose, experiments with the cultured cell from the cerebrums of new born mice were done. The results of these experiments were as follows. 1. X0, an oxygen radical, decreased the survival rate of the cultured cells on NR assay, MTT assay and amount of neurofilaments and increased the amount of lipid peroxidation. 2. JHT have efficacy of increasing the amount of neurofilaments.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.271-274
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• 2013

Brain insults, including neurotrauma, infection, and perinatal injuries such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, generate inflammation in the brain. These inflammatory cascades induce a wide spectrum of cytokines, which can cause neuron degeneration, have neurotoxic effects on brain tissue, and lead to the development of seizures, even if they are subclinical and occur at birth. Cytokines are secreted by the glial cells of the central nervous system and they function as immune system mediators. Cytokines can be proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory. Interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ and IL-8 are proinflammatory cytokines that activate additional cytokine cascades and increase seizure susceptibility and organ damage, whereas IL-1 receptor antagonist and IL-10 act as anti-inflammatory cytokines that have protective and anticonvulsant effects. Therefore, the immune system and its associated inflammatory reactions appear to play an important role in brain damage. Whether cytokine release is relevant for the processes of epileptogenesis and antiepileptogenesis, and whether epileptogenesis could be prevented by immunomodulatory treatment should be addressed in future clinical studies. Furthermore, early detection of brain damage and early intervention are essential for the prevention of disease progression and further neurological complications. Therefore, cytokines might be useful as biomarkers for earlier detection of brain damage in high-risk infants.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.05
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• pp.398-401
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• 1997

The EMG signal of spinal cord injured patient is very feeble because that the information from central nervous system is not sufficiently transmitted to molter neuron or muscle fiber. Therefore the observer can not observe contraction and relaxation movement of muscle from the raw EMG signal. In this paper, we propose the muscle contraction and relaxation pattern analysis method of spinal cord injured patient whose EMG signal is composed of the sum of motor unit action potential train with additive white Gaussian noise and impulsive noise. From the EMG model, we denoise impulsive noise using median filter which is a kind of nonlinear filter and the output of median filter is transformed to wavelet transform domain for denoising additive white Gaussian noise using threshold level removal technique. As a result, we can obtain the clear contraction and relaxation pattern.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2007

The decrease of masticatory function caused by tooth loss leads to a decrease of cerebral blood flow volume resulting in impairment of cognitive function and learning memory disorder. However, the reduced mastication-mediated morphological alteration in the central nervous system (CNS) responsible for senile deficit of cognition, learning and memory has not been well documented. In this study, the effect of the loss of the molar teeth (molarless condition) on the hippocampal expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) protein was studied by immunohistochemical techniques. The results were as follows : 1. The molarless mice showed a lower density of pyramidal cells in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) and dentate gyrus (DG) region of the hippocampus than control mice. 2. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the molarless condition enhanced the time-dependent increase in the cell density and hypertrophy of GFAP immunoreactivity in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The molarless condition enhanced an time-dependent decrease in the number of neurons in the hippocampal formation and the time-dependent increase in the number and hypertrophy of GFAP-labeled cells in the same region. The data suggest a possible link between reduced mastication and histological changes in hippocampal formation that may be one risk factor for senile impairment of cognitive function and spatial learning memory.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.219-227
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• 2001

Capsaicin. a vanillyl amide(8-methy1-N-vanilly1-6-nonenamide) with a molecular weight of 305.42, was substance, interrupting the pain conducting pathway Until recently the neurotoxic effects of Capsaicin to adult animals were thought to be limited to the peripheral nervous system. But several reports suggest the possibility of central nervous system changes after Capsaicin administration to the adult rat. Capsaicin desensitization is defined as long lasting, reversible suppression of sensory neuron activity. How fast and for how long the desensitization develops is related to the dose and time of exposure to Capsaicin, and the interval between consecutive dosing. In the long term Capsaicin treatment can lead to morphological degeneration and changes in some small sensory neurons, predominantly unmyelinated C fiber afferent nerve fibers. Clinical interest has recently been roused by evidence that Capsaicin's desensitizing action may be of therapeutic value and that an endogenous Capsaicin-1 ike substance may exist. This study summarizes the fundamental knowledge(mechanism, receptors, et al of Capsaicin) of Capsaicin for physical therapists.