• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1096-1100
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• 2017

The carotid artery is one of the main vessels supplying blood to the brain. Carotid artery stenosis is mostly caused by atherosclerosis, a disease where cholesterol is deposited in the arterial blood vessels. Tremor refers to rhythmic shaking of a body part. Tremor is a symptom of many diseases, including Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, orthostatic tremor, cerebellar disease, peripheral neuropathy, and alcohol withdrawal. Tremors may be classified as postural, rest, and action tremors. Tremor of a patient with stenosis of the left carotid artery decreased with acupuncture treatment. The acupoints were GB20, TE17, GV8 and GV11. This case shows that the acupuncture treatment is effective against tremor.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.337-346
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• 2018

Purpose: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a form of arteriosclerosis that occurs in the extremities and involves ischemia. Previous studies have reported that patients with periodontitis are at high risk for PAD. However, the relationship between these 2 diseases has not yet been fully elucidated. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated this relationship by comparing patients with PAD to those with arrhythmia (ARR) as a control group. Methods: A large-scale survey was conducted of patients with cardiovascular disease who visited Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital. We investigated their oral condition and dental clinical measurements, including probing pocket depth, bleeding on probing, clinical attachment level, and number of missing teeth; we also collected salivary and subgingival plaque samples and peripheral blood samples. All patients with PAD were extracted from the whole population (n=25), and a matching number of patients with ARR were extracted (n=25). Simultaneously, ARR patients were matched to PAD patients in terms of age, gender, prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and the smoking rate (n=25 in both groups). Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the bacterial counts, while the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to measure anti-bacterial antibody titers and proinflammatory cytokine levels in serum. Results: PAD patients had more missing teeth ($18.4{\pm}2.0$) and higher serum levels of C-reactive protein ($1.57{\pm}0.85mg/dL$) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha ($70.3{\pm}5.7pg/mL$) than ARR patients ($12.0{\pm}1.7$, $0.38{\pm}0.21mg/dL$, and $39.3{\pm}4.5pg/mL$, respectively). Meanwhile, no statistically significant differences were found in other dental clinical measurements, bacterial antibody titers, or bacterial counts between the 2 groups. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that PAD patients had poorer oral and periodontal state with enhanced systemic inflammation.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.67-71
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• 2000

It has been demonstrated that the injection of naked DNA expressing vascular endothelial growth factor 165(VEGFl165) to the affected area can provide significant therapeutic effects on peripherol artery occlusive diseases. Success with this type of gene therapy highly depends on the quality of the vector delivering the therapeutic gene, especially in terms of the level and duration of gene expression in the localized area. We have recently developed a vector expressing VEGF165(pCK-VEGF) for the treatment of peripheral artery occulsive diseases and demonstrated high level expression of VEGF165 in mouse skeletal muscle. This study was designed to assess the acute toxicity of intramuscularly injected pCK-VEGF in BALB/c mice and Sprague-Dawely rats. There was no evidence of any changes in clinical signs, body weights, or gross pathological signs. We estimate LD50 values of pCK-VEGF higher than 50mg/kg in mice and 20 mg/kg in rats by intramuscular injection.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.504-509
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• 2017

Ischemia is a serious disease, characterized by an inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of the anti-microbial peptide SR-0379 on the stem cell-mediated therapy of ischemic diseases. The migratory and tube-forming abilities of human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were enhanced by treatment with SR-0379 in vitro. Intramuscular administration of SR-0379 into a murine ischemic hindlimb significantly enhanced blood perfusion, decreased tissue necrosis, and increased the number of blood vessels in the ischemic muscle. Moreover, co-administration of SR-0379 with EPCs stimulated blood perfusion in an ischemic hindlimb more than intramuscular injection with either SR-0379 or EPCs alone. This enhanced blood perfusion was accompanied by a significant increase in the number of CD31- and ${\alpha}$-SMA-positive blood vessels in ischemic hindlimb. These results suggest that SR-0379 is a potential drug candidate for potentiating EPC-mediated therapy of ischemic diseases.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.128-131
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• 2017

Mid-ventricular obstruction (MVO) rarely occurs in patients without hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Increased cardiac contractility may play an important role in causing MVO. We experienced a case of severe chest pain and MVO in a 50-year-old female patient. She had hypertension, diabetes, stroke and peripheral artery disease. Her blood pressure was very high (222/122 mmHg) with severe fluctuation. The transthoracic echocardiography revealed MVO accompanied by hyper-dynamic left ventricular systolic function. We regarded her chest pain and MVO as secondary findings related to other diseases. Coronary angiography and several tests for uncontrolled hypertension were performed, and those evaluations revealed that she had coronary artery disease and hyperthyroidism. We considered that the increase in the myocardial oxygen demand in response to the increase in cardiac contractility and workload associated with hyperthyroidism aggravated her symptoms and MVO. She was treated with methimazole and beta blockers and her symptoms dramatically improved.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.709-715
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of atropine on peripheral vasodilation and the mechanisms involved. The isometric tension of rat mesenteric artery rings was recorded in vitro on a myograph. The results showed that atropine, at concentrations greater than 1$\mu$M, relaxed the noradrenalin (NA)-precontracted rat mesenteric artery in a concentration-dependent manner. Atropine-induced vasodilatation was mediated, in part, by an endothelium-dependent mechanism, to which endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor may contribute. Atropine was able to shift the NA-induced concentration-response curve to the right, in a non-parallel manner, suggesting the mechanism of atropine was not mediated via the ${\alpha}_1$-adrenoreceptor. The $\beta$-adrenoreceptor and ATP sensitive potassium channel, a voltage dependent calcium channel, were not involved in the vasodilatation. However, atropine inhibited the contraction derived from NA and $CaCl_2$ in $Ca^{2+}$-free medium, in a concentration dependent manner, indicating the vasodilatation was related to the inhibition of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ influx through the receptor-operated calcium channels and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release from the $Ca^{2+}$ store. Atropine had no effect on the caffeine-induced contraction in the artery segments, indicating the inhibition of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release as a result of atropine most likely occurs via the IP3 pathway rather than the ryanodine receptors. Our results suggest that atropine-induced vasodilatation is mainly from artery smooth muscle cells due to inhibition of the receptor-mediated $Ca^{2+}$-influx and $Ca^{2+}$-release, and partly from the endothelium mediated by EDHF.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.538-542
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• 1999

Spontaneous hemothorax may be developed as a complication of von Recklinghausen's disease. It is rare but fatal. A 60 year old man with von Recklinghausen's disease was admitted to our hospital because of left chest and shoulder pain. Radiograph of chest showed a massive left pleural effusion. Thoracentesis revealed gross blood. The peripheral angiography was done to determine the source of bleeding and its finding showed intercostal artery aneurysm in left 7th rib. No active bleeding from the aneurysm was seen. The source of the hemothorax was believed to be hemorrhage from rupture of intercostal artery aneurysm. He was inserted chest tube and treated embolization of intercostal artery aneurysm.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.207-211
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• 2019

This study was performed to compare the radiographic and echocardiographic features of cardiovascular changes between small and large dogs with heartworm diseases. Total of 49 dogs from two institutions were included in this study. The dogs were diagnosed with heartworm infestation and underwent thoracic and echocardiography. On thoracic radiographs, vertebral heart scale, reverse D shape, main pulmonary artery dilation, peripheral pulmonary artery dilation, and evidence of right heart failure were evaluated. On echocardiographs, visibility of worms, main pulmonary artery to aortic root (MPA/Ao) ratio, right to left ventricular basal diameter (RVD/LVD) ratio, and pulmonary hypertension were evaluated and analyzed between small and large dogs. The proportion of reverse D shape of the heart and accuracy for right ventricular hypertrophy in small dogs were lower than those of the large dogs. For echocardiographic parameter, the MPA/Ao and RVD/LVD ratio in the small dogs were significantly lower than those of the large dogs. As the results, thoracic radiography have a tendency to underestimate the severity of HWD in small dogs and should be used with echocardiography.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.124-128
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• 2010

Septic pulmonary embolism is the process in which an infected thrombus becomes detached from its site of origin and lodges in a pulmonary artery, and is usually associated with infective endocarditis, especially right-sided, or infection-associated with indwelling catheters, peripheral septic thrombophlebitis, and periodontal diseases, etc. Here, we report a case of septic pulmonary embolism associated with tricuspid valve infective endocarditis. A 23-year-old female was admitted to our hospital, due to fever, sore throat, and myalgia. In her past medical history, she had undergone a surgical operation for closure of a ventricular septal defect, but was informed that the operation resulted in an incomplete closure. The initial chest radiograph demonstrated multiple rounded, parenchymal nodules in various sizes; several nodules had central lucency suggesting cavitations. Echocardiography demonstrated a large vegetation attached to the septal tricuspid valve leaflet, extending from right ventricular inflow tract to outflow tract. Computed tomography of thorax revealed bilateral peripheral nodules and wedge-shaped consolidation at various sizes, mostly accompanied by cavitations.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.371-374
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• 2015

We present a rare case of a patient with aortoiliac occlusive disease on the background of type A crossed renal ectopia, for whom open surgical intervention was required. Aortic exposure in patients with concomitant crossed renal ectopia can present technical challenges to the vascular surgeon. The knowledge of variations in the ectopic renal blood supply is of paramount importance when performing surgery to treat this condition and affects the choice of surgical exposure. We present and discuss the operative details of our patient and outline an approach to this subset of patients.