• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.64-67
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• 2009

Paratracheal air cysts are rare lesions and detected incidentally during CT scan or autopsy. Histopathologic diagnoses of paratracheal air cysts include trachocele, tracheal diverticulum and lymphoepithelial cyst. The cysts are lined by ciliated columnar epithelium and have communication with trachea. Previous reports suggested an association with obstructive lung disease because of increased expiratory pressures in these patients. Most of these cysts are asymptomatic but rarely cause productive cough, wheezing, recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis and difficult intubation. We report a case of paratracheal air cyst causing dyspnea with a review of literature.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2021

Asthma is a chronic obstructive lung disease characterized by recurrent episodes of bronchoconstriction and wheezing. Conventional asthma treatment involves the suppression of airway inflammation or improving airway flow. Rosmarinus officialis, also known as rosemary, is a Mediterranean plant that is used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Carnosol, a diterpenoid found in rosemary extracts, has been known to exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-oxidant effects. The effect of carnosol on allergic responses has not been tested yet. The effect of carnosol on a murine allergic asthma model were investigated. Carnosol inhibited the degranulation of RBL-2H3 mast cells. Carnosol treatment inhibited the increase in the number of eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) of mice treated with ovalbumin. Carnosol treatment also inhibited inflammatory responses and mucin production in histologic studies. Carnosol treatment inhibited the increases of IL-4 and IL-13 cytokines expression in both BALF and the lungs. These results suggest that carnosol may have a potential for allergic asthma therapy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.87 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2024

The management of severe asthma presents a significant challenge in asthma treatment. Over the past few decades, remarkable progress has been made in developing new treatments for severe asthma, primarily in the form of biological agents. These advances have been made possible through a deeper understanding of the underlying pathogenesis of asthma. Most biological agents focus on targeting specific inflammatory pathways known as type 2 inflammation. However, recent developments have introduced a new agent targeting upstream alarmin signaling pathways. This opens up new possibilities, and it is anticipated that additional therapeutic agents targeting various pathways will be developed in the future. Despite this recent progress, the mainstay of asthma treatment has long been inhalers. As a result, the guidelines for the appropriate use of biological agents are not yet firmly established. In this review, we aim to emphasize the current state of biological therapy for severe asthma and provide insights into its future prospects.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2015

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and small airway remodeling. The alveolar destruction associated with emphysema cannot be repaired by current clinical practices. Stem cell therapy has been successfully used in animal models of cigarette smoke- and elastase-induced emphysema. However, the optimal dose of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the most effective therapy has not yet been determined. It is vital to determine the optimal dose of MSCs for clinical application in emphysema cases. Methods: In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of various doses of MSCs on elastase-induced emphysema in mice. When 3 different doses of MSCs were intravenously injected into mice treated with elastase, only $5{\times}10^4$ MSCs showed a significant effect on the emphysematous mouse lung. We also identified action mechanisms of MSCs based on apoptosis, lung regeneration, and protease/antiprotease imbalance. Results: The MSCs were not related with caspase-3/7 dependent apoptosis. But activity of matrix metalloproteinase 9 increased by emphysematous lung was decreased by intravenously injected MSCs. Vascular endothelial growth factor were also increased in lung from MSC injected mice, as compared to un-injected mice. Conclusion: This is the first study on the optimal dose of MSCs as a therapeutic candidate. This data may provide important basic data for determining dosage in clinical application of MSCs in emphysema patients.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.171-187
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• 2015

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Sagan-tang (SGT) on COPD mouse model. Methods The study was carried out by two ways (in vitro, in vivo). In vitro RAW264.7 cells (mouse macrophage) were used and analysed by flow cytometry, ELISA, Western blot. In vivo LPS and CSS challenged mice were used and its BALF had been analysed by cytospin image, FACS, ELISA, lung tissue by real-time PCR. Results In vitro, SGT maintained 80-100% rate of viablilty on 10 ~ 500 ㎍/㎖ concentration. In ELISA analysis with RAW264.7 cells, SGT significantly decreased NO over 30 ㎍/㎖. In flow cytometry, SGT 100 ㎍/㎖ dosage group displayed a tendency for decrease ROS. In Western blot analysis, SGT 100 ㎍/㎖ dosage group decreased NF-κB. In ELISA analysis, SGT significantly decreased TNF-α, IL-6 over 200 ㎍/㎖. In vivo SGT 200 ㎎/㎏ dosage group, application of SGT significantly decreased increase of neutrophils, TNF-α, IL-6 in BALF, muc5AC, TGF-β, TNF-α, expression of mRNA in lung tissue and histological lung injury. Conclusion This Study suggests usability of SGT for COPD patients by controlling lung tissue injury.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.285-290
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• 1996

Diffuse panbronchiolitis is a chronic inflammatory lung disease of unknown etiology which is characterized by chronic airflow limitation and airway inflammation, predominantly localized in the respiratory bronchioles with infiltration of inflammatory cells, and has typical clinical, radiological and pathological features. Obstructive respiratory functional impairment, occasional symptoms of wheezing, and also cough and sputum resemble the feature of emphysema, bronchial asthma, or chronic bronchitis, respectively. We experienced a case of pathologically proven advanced diffuse panbronchiolitis in a 55-year-old man with productive cough and exertional dyspnea. The chest radiography showed multiple tiny nodular densities on whole lung fields. It was confirmed by thoracoscopy-guided lung biopsy and the patient was improved after initiation of treatment with low-dose erythromycin.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.191-197
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• 2008

Background: Due to the irreversible nature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the treatment aim in patients with COPD is not to cure but to reduce the symptoms, increase lung function, and improve the quality of life. It has been suggested that depression is a common emotional disturbance in patients with COPD who are faced with a major physical impairment and embarrassing symptoms. This study evaluated the prevalence and risk factors of depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: A total of 59 patients with a registered diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were selected. Depression was assessed using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. The quality of life was assessed using the Korean version of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of depression was 17.0%. In the correlation model, the interaction of the $FEV_1%$ over predicted value and SGRQ score(symptom, activity, impact, overall score) was statistically significant. The interaction of the $FEV_1%$ over predicted value and depression scale(CES-D) was also statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between the SGRQ scores(symptom, activity, impact, overall score) and the depression scale. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is relatively high. The pulmonary function and the living standards were found to be significant risk factors for depression.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 1997

Cigarette is the risk factor of Lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and ischemic heart disease. So I have studied the effect of Macmoondongtang in rat exposed to cigarette smoke. Thirty-six healthy rat subjects were divided into 6 groups-the control group(sample I), the groups of administration of Platycodi Radix(sampleII), Adenophorae Radix(sampleIII), Liriopsis Tuber(sampleIV), Maximowicziae Fructus(sample V) and Macmoondongtang(sample VI), and expose to cigarette per day for 12 days. 1. On level of leckocyte are significant all the group of sampleII, sampleIII, sample IV, sample V, sample VI on 6th day and singificant the groups of sampleIV, sample V on 12th day. 2. On level of hemoglobin are singificant the groups of sample IV, sample V, sample VI, on 6th day, and significant sample II, sample III, sample IV, sample V, sample VI on 12th day. 3. On platelet level are significant all the group of sampleII, sample III, sample IV, sample V, sample VI on 12th day. 4. On SOD activity are significant all the groups of sample IV, sample VI, on 6th day, and significant sampleII, sample III, sample VI on 12th day. According to the results, Macmoondogtang is effective to risk of cigarette smoke.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.576-590
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• 2023

Machine learning is widely used in various academic fields, and recently it has been actively applied in the medical research. In the medical field, machine learning is used in a variety of ways, such as speeding up diagnosis, discovering new biomarkers, or discovering latent traits of a disease. In the respiratory field, a relative regional air volume change (RRAVC) map based on quantitative inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography (CT) imaging can be used as a useful functional imaging biomarker for characterizing regional ventilation. In this study, we seek to predict RRAVC using various regular machine learning models such as extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM), and multi-layer perceptron (MLP). We experimentally show that MLP performs best, followed by XGBoost. We also propose several relative coordinate systems to minimize intersubjective variability. We confirm a significant experimental performance improvement when we apply a subject's relative proportion coordinates over conventional absolute coordinates.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.26.1-26.15
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• 2023

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the differences in incidence rates of targeted diseases by classification of occupations among construction workers in Korea. Methods: In a subject-based cohort of the Korean Construction Worker's Cohort, we surveyed a total of 1,027 construction workers. As occupational exposure, the classification of occupations was developed using two axes: construction business and job type. To analyze disease incidence, we linked survey data with National Health Insurance Service data. Eleven target disease categories with high prevalence or estimated work-relatedness among construction workers were evaluated in our study. The average incidence rates were calculated as cases per 1,000 person-years (PY). Results: Injury, poisoning, and certain other consequences of external causes had the highest incidence rate of 344.08 per 1,000 PY, followed by disease of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue for 208.64 and diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue for 197.87 in our cohort. We especially found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was more common in construction painters, civil engineering welders, and civil engineering frame mold carpenters, asthma in construction painters, landscape, and construction water proofers, interstitial lung diseases in construction water proofers. Conclusions: This is the first study to systematically classify complex construction occupations in order to analyze occupational diseases in Korean construction workers. There were differences in disease incidences among construction workers based on the classification of occupations. It is necessary to develop customized occupational safety and health policies for high-risk occupations for each disease in the construction industry.