• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.25-45
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• 1992

Many phychiatrists have reported that the change of serotonin concentration would cause mental disorder and affect the pathological conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and eating behabior. The end product of serotonin metabolism was excreted as 5-HIAA in urine. Serum lipids, according to the report, were concerned with obesity, said it was. This study aims to observe the changes of plasma serotonin, urinary 5-HIAA and serum lipids, making use of Fat Cell Mass rate of 27 normal persons and 42 psychosomatic patients. For this, I also observed the change of serotonin, 5-HIAA and lipids of the psychosomatic patients by the use of 3 kinds of herbs as treatment medication on the basis of physical symptoms and the results were obtained as follows; 1. Urinary 5-HIAA is correlated with the body water rate(r=0.381), while reversely correlated with the Fat Cell Mass rate(r=-0.330). 2. Compared the control group with the patients group for the serum lipids value, they showed the significant results ; $146.4{\pm}5.71$ mg/dl and $166.9{\pm}6.56$ mg/dl in the total cholestrol value over- weights, $471.2{\pm}42.99$ mg/dl in the total lipid value, and $158.1{\pm}6.50$ mg/dl and $181.1{\pm}6.30$ mg/dl in the phospholipid of the obesity, respectively. 3. With comparison of each group to other group to the others for Fat Cell Mass rate, the total cholesterol showed the significant differences when the Fat Cell Mass rate was 20% or more, HDL-cholesterol value when 30% or more, and triglyceride when 30% or more, respectively. 4. there was significant variations in the relations between Fat Cell Mass rate and body water, which body mass index was increased as the body water was decreased. 5. Fat Cell Mass rate was correlated with Cholesterol(r = 0.420), triglyceride (r = 0.443), and $\beta$-lipoprotein(r = 0.450) of serum lipids, while reversely correlated with HDL -Cholesterol(r = -0.354) and urinary 5- HIAA had the correlation coefficient of -0.330. 6. What related with body water rate urinary 5-HIAA (r = 0.381) and $\beta$-lipoprotein(r = -0.405). 7. there were significant changes in the total cholesterol value and HDL-Cholesterol Value of serum lipids after dose of Ondamtang, significant increase in the 5-HIAA value after dose of Samulansintang, and significant devrease in the Trigylceride value of serum lipids after dose of Shihosogansan. As a result, it was seen that there was direct correlations among the Fat Cell Mass, urinary 5-HIAA, and serum lipids and stress from the mental conditions was not correlated directly to Serotonin, 5-HIAA, and serum lipids. I would like to conclude, therefore, that the detailed study should be performed on the function of serotonin of hypothalamus.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.118-123
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• 2012

Background : An area of the skull exposed by burn injury has been covered by various methods including local flap, skin graft, or free flap surgery. Each method has disadvantages, such as postoperative alopecia or donor site morbidities. Due to the risk of osteomyelitis in the injured skull during the expansion period, tissue expansion was excluded from primary reconstruction. However, successful primary reconstruction was possible in burned skull by tissue expansion. Methods : From January 2000 to 2011, tissue expansion surgery was performed on 10 patients who had sustained electrical burn injuries. In the 3 initial cases, removal of the injured part of the skull and a bone graft was performed. In the latter 7 cases, the injured skull tissue was preserved and covered with a scalp flap directly to obtain natural bone healing and bone remodeling. Results : The mean age of patients was $49.9{\pm}12.2$ years, with 8 male and 2 female. The size of the burn wound was an average of $119.6{\pm}36.7cm^2$. The mean expansion duration was $65.5{\pm}5.6$ days, and the inflation volume was an average of $615{\pm}197.6mL$. Mean defect size was $122.2{\pm}34.9cm^2$. The complications including infection, hematoma, and the exposure of the expander were observed in 4 cases. Nonetheless, only 1 case required revision. Conclusions : Successful coverage was performed by tissue expansion surgery in burned skull primarily and no secondary reconstruction was needed. Although the risks of osteomyelitis during the expansion period were present, constant coverage of the injured skull and active wound treatment helped successful primary reconstruction of burned skull by tissue expansion.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.978-984
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• 2004

In the course of screening for a novel inhibitor of CDC2, HY558-1 was isolated from a culture broth of Penicillium minioluteum F558. Moreover, it was found that HY558-1 had an effect on both the cell cycle regulation and apoptosis of human cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa cells. A flow cytometric analysis of HeLa cells revealed appreciable cell cycle arrest at the G1 and G2/M phases following treatment with HY558-1. Furthermore, DNA fragmentation due to apoptosis was observed in HeLa cells treated with HY558-1. To obtain further information on the cell cycle arrest and apoptotic induction induced by HY558-1, the expression of certain cell cycle and apoptosis-associated proteins was examined using a Western blot analysis. The results revealed that HY558-1 inhibited the phosphorylation of pRb and decreased the expression levels of CDK2, CDC2, and cyclin A in the cell cycle progression. It was also shown that the level of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ was increased in HeLa cells treated with 0.52 mM of HY558-1. Accordingly, HY558-1 was found to inhibit the proliferation of HeLa cells through the induction of G1 phase arrest by inhibiting pRb phosphorylation via an upregulation of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$, and G2/M phase arrest by directly inhibiting CDC2 and cyclin A. Moreover, HeLa cells treated with 0.52 mM of HY558-1 exhibited apoptotic induction associated with the cleavage of Bid and release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol. Subsequent investigation of the activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) suggested that the mitochondrial pathway was primarily involved in the HY558-1-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2001

Whether the pretreatment of sublethal arsenic or cadmium may prevent from lethality of arsenic or cadmium to mice, respectively, and also the protection against to lethality of arsenic or cadmium which might be induced by pretreatment of arsenic or cadmium may be related with their hepatic glutathione contents were investigated. When sodium arsenite or cadmium chloride was subcutaneously injected to mice (ICR strain) using lethal doses, all mice of both group were killed. The mortality of mice which were subsequently injected with lethal arsenic 24 hours after pretreatment of sublethal arsenic was decreased, and the same result was obtained in the case of cadmium. Sublethal pretreatment of arsenic or cadmium prior to lethal arsenic or cadmium treatment to mice, respectively, didn't decrease hepatic glutathione contents of the survived mice, while decreases of that contents in liver were observed in the mice just after they died. Cadmium pretreatment decreased mortality of mice which subsequently injected with lethal arsenic, while arsenic pretreatment didn't protect against cadmium lethality. These results indicate that protection against arsenic or cadmium lethality to mice induced by pretreatment of sublethal arsenic or cadmium may be directly related to other factors induced by sublethal camium pretreatment, not to hepatic glutathione contents.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1412-1421
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• 2002

To examine the feasibility of using a sperm vector system for gene transfer, we have investigated the binding and the uptaking of foreign DNA into the sperm nucleus by PCR, in situ hybridization and LSC. We have also examined the transportation of exogenous DNA into oocytes by immunofluorescene via PCR. Sperm cells were incubated with DNA/liposome complexes (1:4 ratio) in fertilization medium with BSA or without BSA. In situ hybridization demonstrated that the transfection rate of sperm cells with and without BSA was 41 and 68% respectively, when the cells were treated with liposome/DNA complexes and 13% for DNA alone. LSC analysis showed that the binding of exogenous DNA was greatly reduced by DNase I treatment which digests DNA bound onto spermatozoa, suggesting that some of the DNA was internalized into the sperm membrane. To find out whether transfected DNA was internalized into sperm intracytomembrane, sperm DNA was amplified by inverse PCR. No PCR products were detected from sperm cells, indicating that the foreign DNA was simply bound onto the sperm membrane. To investigate transfer rates of exogenous DNA into oocytes via sperm cells, we used immunofluorescene method to follow the distribution of foreign DNA via spermatozoa: a few exogenous DNA was located in the cytoplasm of early embryos (13/60, 21.7% for DNA+/liposome+/BSA) and was not located in the pronucleus and/or nucleus. These results suggest that most of the transfected sperm cells could carry the foreign DNA into the egg by in vitro fertilization, but that the transferred DNA is degraded in the developing embryos without stable integration into the zygote genome. Therefore, we have directly injected with transfected sperm cell into oocyte cytoplasm and observed that some of the exogenous DNA was detected in preimplantation embryonic cytoplasm and expressed at preimplantation stages, suggesting that exogenous DNA in early zygote has their integrity. In this study, we have not identified a noble mechanism that interfering transportation of foreign DNA into zygote genome via spermatozoa. Our data, however, demonstrated that inverse PCR and immunofluorescene methods would be used as a new tool for follow-up of gene distribution in oocyte via sperm cells.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.577-585
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• 1996

Effects of various factors on the phenol degradation by activated sludge immobilized with the photo-crosslinked resin were investigated. The optimum pH on the degradation of phenol in both free and immobilized activated sludge was 7. When the pH of the reaction was varied from 5 to 10, the relative activity of the phenol degradation by the immobilized activated sludge was higher than that by the free activated sludge. A higher rate of phenol degradation was observed when a bead size was smaller. The phenol degradation in the free activated sludge was inhibited at the 3000 mg/L of phenol, while that in the immobilized activated sludge was maintained at the same concentration for 28 hrs without an inhibition. The degradation rates of phenol were not directly proportional to the increasing amount of immobilized beads dosage, but the phenol degradation was made in a rather short time than that for a free sludge system. The relative activities of the immobilized activated sludge after 7 runs of repeated reactions increased about 8 times as that of the first reaction. The activities for the phenol degradation remained stable for at least 80 days when the immobilized activated sludge was stored at an aerobic condition in the wastewater containing phenol. The loading rate as high as 5.59 kg-pheno1/㎥.d could have been achieved during the continuous treatment of phenol by the immobilized activated sludge.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3223-3228
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• 2012

HMGN5 is a typical member of the HMGN (high mobility group nucleosome-binding protein) family which may function as a nucleosomal binding and transcriptional activating protein. Overexpression of HMGN5 has been observed in several human tumors but its role in tumorigenesis has not been fully clarified. To investigate its significance for human lung cancer progression, we successfully constructed a shRNA expression lentiviral vector in which sense and antisense sequences targeting the human HMGN5 were linked with a 9-nucleotide loop. Inhibitory effects of siRNA on endogenous HMGN5 gene expression and protein synthesis were demonstrated via real-time RT-PCR and western blotting. We found HMGN5 silencing to significantly inhibit A549 and H1299 cell proliferation assessed by MTT, BrdU incorporation and colony formation assays. Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis showed that specific knockdown of HMGN5 slowed down the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase and decreased the populations of A549 and H1299 cells at the S and G2/M phases. Taken together, these results suggest that HMGN5 is directly involved in regulation cell proliferation in A549 and H1299 cells by influencing signaling pathways involved in cell cycle progression. Thus, our finding suggests that targeting HMGN5 may be an effective strategy for human lung cancer treatment.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.235-244
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• 1995

The present study was designed to demonstrate that ES cell lines efficiently could be isolated from explanted blastocysts of hybrid BCF1 mouse when grown on STO feeder layer derived from mouse fibroblasts in culture medium supplemented with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). The expanded blastocysts were attached to mitomycin C-inactivated STO feeder layer and were cultured for 4 days. Four days later the ICM was disaggregated by a short term trypsin treatment (0.25% trypsin / 0.04% EDT A for 2-3 min). The resulting cell suspension was seeded on a new STO feeder layer and covered with DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acid, 0.1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM mercaptoethanol and 1,000 U/ml LIF. Colonies of ES-like cells were observed after the second passage. These colonies were repeatedly passaged at approximately 5 day intervals. In this study, five ES-like celllines were isolated by directly explanting blastocysts, but three lines were lost after the 5th passage, possibly due to toxic effects of a new FCS batch. The characterization of developmental potential of isolated cell lines was performed with respect to in vitro differentiation and specific activity of alkaline phosphatase (AP). When cells were cultured in suspension, the aggregates of cell lines were capable of forming simple embryoid bodies (EB), and showed the capacity for forming cystic multilayer EBs. In addition, the cell lines were positive for AP staining, a biochemical marker characteristic of mouse ES cells.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.475-481
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• 2010

Lots of pollutants typically originating from urban transportation are accumulating on the paved surfaces during dry periods and are washed-off directly to the river during a storm. Also, paved surfaces are contributing to increase in peak flows and volume of stormwater flows. These are the main reasons why the water quality of rivers and lakes remain polluted and still below standards. Currently, several management practices are being applied in developed countries but the design standards are still lacking. This research was conducted to develop a treatment technology that can be useful to address the problems concerning runoff quality and quantity. A lab scale infiltration device consisting of a pretreatment tank and media zone was designed and tested for various flow regimes characterizing the low, average and high intensity rainfall. Based on the experiments, the high intensity flow resulted to increase in outflow event mean concentration (EMC) of pollutants, about twice as much as the average outflow EMC. However, 78 to 88% of the total suspended solids were captured and retained in the pretreatment tank because of sedimentation. The removal of heavy metals such as zinc and lead was greatly affected by the vertical placement of woodchip layer prior to the media zone. It was observed that the high carbon content (almost 50%) in the woodchip provided opportunity for enhancing its uptake of metal by adsorption. The findings implied that the reduction of pollutants can be greatly achieved by means of proper pretreatment to allow for settling of particles with a combination of using high carbon source media like woodchip and a geotextile mat to reduce the flow before filtering into the media zone and finally discharging to the drainage system.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.269-277
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• 2013

Amoebic keratitis (AK) caused by Acanthamoeba is one of the most serious corneal infections. AK is frequently misdiagnosed initially as viral, bacterial, or fungal keratitis, thus ensuring treatment delays. Accordingly, the early detection of Acanthamoeba would contribute significantly to disease management and selection of an appropriate anti-amoebic therapy. Recently, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method has been applied to the clinical diagnosis of a range of infectious diseases. Here, we describe a rapid and efficient LAMP-based method targeting Acanthamoeba 18S rDNA gene for the detection of Acanthamoeba using clinical ocular specimens in the diagnosis of AK. Acanthamoeba LAMP assays detected 11 different strains including all AK-associated species. The copy number detection limit for a positive signal was 10 DNA copies of 18S rDNA per reaction. No cross-reactivity with the DNA of fungi or other protozoa was observed. The sensitivity of LAMP assay was higher than those of Nelson primer PCR and JDP primer PCR. In the present study, LAMP assay based on directly heat-treated samples was found to be as efficient at detecting Acanthamoeba as DNA extracted using a commercial kit, whereas PCR was only effective when commercial kit-extracted DNA was used. This study showed that the devised Acanthamoeba LAMP assay could be used to diagnose AK in a simple, sensitive, and specific manner.