• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.114-120
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A pivotal role of oxidative stress has been emphasized in the pathogenesis as well as in the disease progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed at investigating serum levels of antioxidant vitamins and elucidating whether they could be associated with the pathogenesis and progression of PD. MATERIALS/METHODS: Serum levels of retinol, ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-tocopherols, ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-carotenes, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin and ${\beta}$-cryptoxanthin were measured and compared between 104 patients with idiopathic PD and 52 healthy controls matched for age and gender. In order to examine the relationship between antioxidant vitamins and the disease progression, multiple group comparisons were performed among the early PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage I and II, N = 47), advanced PD (stage III and IV, N = 57) and control groups. Separate correlation analyses were performed between the measured antioxidant vitamins and clinical variables, such as Hoehn and Yahr stage and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score. RESULTS: Compared to controls, PD patients had lower levels of ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-carotenes and lycopene. ${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene and lycopene levels were significantly reduced in advanced PD patients relative to early PD patients and were negatively correlated with Hoehn and Yahr stage and UPDRS motor score in PD patients. No significant differences were found in serum levels of retinol, ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-tocopherols, and other carotenoids between PD patients and controls. No significant correlations were found between these vitamin levels and clinical variables in PD patients. CONCLUSTIONS: We found that serum levels of some carotenoids, ${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene and lycopene, were lower in PD patients, and that these carotenoids inversely correlated with clinical variables representing disease progression. Our findings suggest that decreases in serum ${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene and lycopene may be associated with the pathogenesis as well as progression of PD.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.3 no.10
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• pp.421-428
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• 2014

Like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's Disease(PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative brain disorders. PD results from the deterioration of dopaminergic neurons in the brain region called the substantia nigra. Currently there is no cure for PD, but diagnosing in its early stage is important to provide treatments for relieving the symptoms and maintaining quality of life. Unlike many diagnosis methods of PD which use a single biomarker, we developed a diagnosis method that uses both biochemical biomarkers and imaging biomarkers. Our method uses ${\alpha}$-synuclein protein levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and diffusion tensor images(DTI). It achieved an accuracy over 91.3% in the 10-fold cross validation, and the best accuracy of 72% in an independent testing, which suggests a possibility for early detection of PD. We also analyzed the characteristics of the brain fiber pathways of Parkinson's disease patients and normal elderly people.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.6.1-6.12
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• 2012

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complicated neurodegenerative disorder although it is oftentimes defined by clinical motor symptoms originated from age dependent and progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. The pathogenesis of PD involves dopaminergic and nondopaminergic neurons in many brain regions and the molecular mechanisms underlying the death of different cell types still remain to be elucidated. There are indications that PD causing disease processes occur in a global scale ranging from DNA to RNA, and proteins. Several PD-associated genes have been reported to play diverse roles in controlling cellular functions in different levels, such as chromatin structure, transcription, processing of mRNA, translational modulation, and posttranslational modification of proteins. The advent of quantitative high throughput screening (HTS) tools makes it possible to monitor systemic changes in DNA, RNA and proteins in PD models. Combined with dopamine neuron isolation or derivation of dopamine neurons from PD patient specific induced pluripotent stem cells (PD iPSCs), HTS techonologies will provide opportunities to draw PD causing sequences of molecular events in pathologically relevant PD samples. Here I discuss previous studies that identified molecular functions in which PD genes are involved, especially those signaling pathways that can be efficiently studied using HTS methodologies. Brief descriptions of quantitative and systemic tools looking at DNA, RNA and proteins will be followed. Finally, I will emphasize the use and potential benefits of PD iPSCs-derived dopaminergic neurons to screen signaling pathways that are initiated by PD linked gene mutations and thus causative for dopaminergic neurodegneration in PD.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.48-55
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine correlations among UPDRS, respiratory function, and senior fitness and to investigate the effects of restrictive respiratory function on these factors in Parkinson's disease patients. Methods: Subjects (n=25, Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage: 2-3, $69.3{\pm}5.9$ yrs) from D Hospital Parkinson's Disease Center at Busan metropolitan area in the Republic of Korea volunteered for this study. They performed the pulmonary function test, UPDRS, and the senior fitness test. SPSS 18.0 was used for analysis of data, and the collected data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient (n=25). In addition, Independent t-test was used for determination of differences between two groups (between the normal pulmonary function group (n=10) and the restrictive pulmonary function group (n=10)). Results: Forced vital capacity (FVC (L)) showed significant negative correlation (r=-0.44, p<0.05) with H&Y stage in Parkinson's disease patients, and chair stand showed significant negative correlations (r=0.41, 0.43, 0.42, p<0.05) with FVC (L), FVC (%), and FEV1 (L). FVC (%) showed significant positive correlations (r=0.44, r=0.44, p<0.05) with right and left back scratch. In addition, the restrictive respiratory function group showed significantly lower FVC (%) (p<0.01) and was significantly slower (p<0.05) in the 8-foot up-and-go test than the normal respiratory function group. Conclusion: In conclusion, these results suggest that restrictive respiratory function in PD was related to H&Y stage. In addition, agility of PD patients was lower in the restrictive respiratory function group than in the normal function group.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.71-78
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• 2022

Parkinson's disease (PD) is clinically characterized by a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms, including cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Integrating a large variety of symptoms into a small number of clinical subtypes could be valuable for appropriate and early therapeutic intervention. As a first step toward this aim, this study attempted to identify correlation patterns among motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in PD without dementia. One hundred four non-demented patients with PD underwent a comprehensive motor, neuropsychological, and neuropsychiatric assessments. Factor analysis was performed to identify correlation patterns among demographic, motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric variables. The eight factors were extracted: 1 motor-related, 3 cognitive-related and 4 neuropsychiatric factors. We indentified that characteristics of correlation can have associated symptom pattern in the disease process of Parkinson's disease. The current results suggest that a broad range of motor and non-motor symptoms in PD may be reducible to a small number of clinical parameters, which may be useful for identifying clinical subtypes of PD for individual patients.

• Journal of TMJ Balancing Medicine
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• v.13 no.sup
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is currently the most rapidly increasing degenerative brain disease due to population aging and westernization of lifestyle. Levodopa is the most commonly used drug to manage PD symptoms. However, levodopa has a problem in that the wearing-off phenomenon occurs as the duration and dose of administration increase. In order to investigate the wearing-off phenomenon in PD patients and devise countermeasures, we conducted a questionnaire survey in Korea. Methods: For the study, a questionnaire with a total of seven items was prepared. Part IV of the MDS-UPDRS (Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) and the WOQ-9 (9-symptom Wearing-off Questionnaire) were used as references. Results: Of the 48 patients who completed the questionnaire, all 47 patients who completed the questionnaire experienced the wearing-off phenomenon. Only one of the patients diagnosed with PD a year ago did not experience the wearing-off phenomenon. Patients frequently mentioned a lack of sleep and stress as aggravating factors for wearing-off. They also stated that in order to resolve the off-state, they walked, massaged, warmed up the body, stretched and exercised. Conclusions: Because wearing-off is such a common occurrence, it is thought necessary to develop wearing-off prevention and resolution measures that PD patients can use in their daily lives.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.993-1014
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• 2020

Objective: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Antioxidant stress and inflammatory reactions are important causes of neurodegenerative diseases and are major causes of PD. Many animal experiments have been aimed at treating PD using the antioxidant effects of various traditional medicines and dietary supplements. This review reports the research investigating the antioxidant effects of herbs in in vivo PD models. Methods: The study consisted of a database search for articles related to PD and herbal treatments using the OASIS, NDSL, KTKP, Korean KISS, PubMed, Science Direct, CNKI, Wanfang, and J-STAGE databases. The search period was limited from the start of the search engine application to November 14, 2019. Studies were selected to confirm the antioxidant effects of herbal medicines in an in vivo PD model. Results: Eighty-two studies were summarized for plant species, extracts (or compounds), animal models, neurotoxins, and functional results. The most frequently used herbal materials were Bacopa monnieri, Camellia sinensis, Centella asiatica, and Withania somnifera. MPTP and 6-OHDA were the most commonly used neurotoxins for inducing PD. Most studies confirmed an increased expression and activation of antioxidant enzymes and a decrease in oxidative stress. Herbal materials showed their antioxidant effects regardless of the order of treatment and confirmed their possible use as treatments for the prevention and treatment of neurodegeneration. Conclusion: Many herbal medicines have antioxidant effects and are likely to be effective in delaying neurodegenerative damage by inhibiting or reducing oxidative stress by expression of antioxidant enzymes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.782-792
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• 2016

As the most common neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are two of the main health concerns for the elderly population. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been used as biomarkers of infectious, genetic, and metabolic diseases in humans but they have not been well studied in domestic animals. Here we describe a computational biology study in which human AD- and PD-associated miRNAs (ADM and PDM) were utilized to predict orthologous miRNAs in the following domestic animal species: dog, cow, pig, horse, and chicken. In this study, a total of 121 and 70 published human ADM and PDM were identified, respectively. Thirty-seven miRNAs were co-regulated in AD and PD. We identified a total of 105 unrepeated human ADM and PDM that had at least one 100% identical animal homolog, among which 81 and 54 showed 100% sequence identity with 241 and 161 domestic animal miRNAs, respectively. Over 20% of the total mature horse miRNAs (92) showed perfect matches to AD/PD-associated miRNAs. Pigs, dogs, and cows have similar numbers of AD/PD-associated miRNAs (63, 62, and 59). Chickens had the least number of perfect matches (34). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses suggested that humans and dogs are relatively similar in the functional pathways of the five selected highly conserved miRNAs. Taken together, our study provides the first evidence for better understanding the miRNA-AD/PD associations in domestic animals, and provides guidance to generate domestic animal models of AD/PD to replace the current rodent models.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.165-179
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• 2014

Objectives To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of Hyangsayangwi-tang (HY), a Korean traditional medicinal prescription in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. Methods Four groups(each of 10 mouse per group) were used in this study. The neuroprotective effect of HY was examined in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. C57BL/6 mouse treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 30mg/kg/day), intraperitoneal (i.p.) for 5 days. Slow behavioral responses and memory disorder is the major clinical symptoms of PD. In order to investigate the effect of HY on recovery of behavioral deficits and memory, we examined the motor function and memory by using Morris water maze and Forced swimming test. Ischemic mouse brain stained with TTC(2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) in the MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease to find out ischemia and tissue damage in mouse. The convenient, simple, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was established for simultaneous determination of neurotransmitters in MPTP-HY group. To measure the amount of dopamine in mice brain, striatum-substantia nigra, was examined by Bradford assay. Immunohistochemistry was examined in the MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease (PD) mouse to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of Hyangsayangwi-tang on hippocampal lesion, ST and SNpc. Results and Conclusions Hyangsayangwi-tang (HY) prevents MPTP-induced loss of serotonin, hippocampus and TH-ir cell.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.95-107
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• 2023

Objectives The purpose of this study is to help find the future prospects by analyzing the trends of scalp acupuncture treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) by searching the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed. Methods We searched clinical studies adopting scalp acupuncture treatment as a main intervention for PD through the searching the database of CNKI and PubMed. We analyzed the characteristics of selected studies especially according to study design, publication year, sample size, treatment period, treatment methods, outcomes criteria and adverse events. Results Twelve randomized controlled trials studies published from January 1, 2012 to July 1, 2023 were selected. In these studies, two types of scalp acupuncture treatments were performed and the most common treatment was Jiao shunfa's scalp acupuncture with fine needles. The most commonly used acupoints were "Chorea tremor control area", 風池 (GB20), 四神聰 (EX-HN1) and 百會 (GV20). The most commonly used outcome measures were effective rate, unified Parkinson disease rating scale (UPDRS) and UPDRS-III. Conclusions Through these results, we found that the Chinese review literature positively reported the effects of scalp acupuncture on PD. However, more high-quality evaluation using the well-designed studies including more objective outcomes should be required.