• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.110-117
• /
• 1998

Purpose : Henoch-$Sch{\ddot{o}}nlein$ purpura nephritis(HSPN) accompanied by nephrotic syndrome(NS) is known to have a poor prognosis and effective treatment is still controversial, even though both corticosteroids and immunosuppresant have been used for therapy. Cyclosporine A(CsA) is a well known immunosuppresant and widely used in renal transplantation and glomerular diseases especially steroid resistant. The aims of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of CsA and to compare CsA with previously reported our data of rifampin(RFP) and azathioprine(AZA) in children with HSPN accompanied by NS. Methods : 37 HSPN patients with NS confirmed by renal biopsy were selected. Of these, 17 patients were treated with CsA(5 mg/kg/day) fur 6-8 months, 7 children were treated with RFP(10-20 mg/kg/day) for 9-12 months and 13 patients were treated with AZA(2 mg/kg/day) fur 8 months. Along with these regimens, low dose oral prednisolone(0.5-1 mg/kg, qod) was also used. Sequential renal biopsy was done in all patients 1 month after termination of treatment. Results : Complete remission rate of nephrotic syndrome was $58.8\%$ in CsA, $57.1\%$ in RFP and $38.4\%$ in AZA group after 17, 22, 11 months of mean follow-up period. Overall remission rate including partial remission was $88.2\%$ in CsA, $85.7\%$ in RFP and $84.6\%$ in AZA group. Disappearance rate of hematuria was $58.8\%$ in CsA, $57.1\%$ in RFP and $46.2\%$ in AZA group. Improvement of grade of clinical status was observed in 17 out of 17 CsA, 7 out of 7 RFP and 10 out of 13 AZA group. Improvement of pathologic class on sequencial renal biopsy was shown in 5 CsA($29.4\%$), none RFP($0\%$) and 2 AZA group($12.4\%$). Improvement on histologic immune-deposition was seen in 15 CsA($88.2\%$), 6 RFP($85.9\%$) and 4 AZA group($30.8\%$). Conclusion : In conclusion, Both CsA and RFP treated groups showed better result in complete remission rate of nephrotic syndrome and significant improvement of histologic immune-deposition compared with AZA treated group(p=0.004). So, we recommend CsA and REP rather than AZA for immunosuppresant treatment in HSPN with nephrotic syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.28-33
• /
• 2004

This study was conducted to how the effect of lime and humic acid on cadmium availability and ie uptake by plant grown in contaminated paddy soils with heavy metal. The treatment levels of lime were 2.5 and 5.0 ton/ha and that of humic acid were 1 and 2%. The contents of 0.1N HCl extractable Cd were reduced with lime and humic acid and were negatively correlated with CEC as well as soil pH. The sequential extraction procedure was used to fractionate the heavy metals in soils into the designated from exchangeable (0.5 M $KNO_3$) water soluble ($H_2O$), organically bound (0.5 M NaOH), carbonate (0.05 M $Na_{2-}$ EDTA) and sulfide/residual (4 M $HNO_3$). In soil amended with 2.5 ton/ha lime and 1% humic acia che- mical forms of Cd at tillering stage were predominant exchangeable + water soluble extractable Cd, whereas that at harvesting stage were predominant carbonate + sulfide/residual extractable Cd. The exchangeable forms of Cd in soil with lime and humic acid were negatively correlated with soil pH during the harvesting period. Total absorbed Cd of paddy rice tended to occur in the order of root > stem > leaf > brown rice. Cd contents of brown rice with lime and humic acid treatment were 0.09 and 0.08 mg/kg, respectively. That were lower than control, 0.20 mg/kg. It could be that treatment of lime and humic acid in polluted soil by heavy metals would reduce the uptake of heavy metals by piano and be a temporary method of reclamation at the highly heavy Metal contaminated soils.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.85-93
• /
• 1990

A series of 25 patients with residual, recurrent, and unresectable gastric cancer received various combination of surgery, radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy (CT), and hyperthermia (HT). They were placed into 7 categories; 1) CT and HT-14 patients; 2) RT and HT-15 patients; 3) surgery, RT and HT-2 patients; 4) surgery, RT, HT and CT-1 patient; 5) RT, HT and CT -1 patient; 6) RT and CT-1 patient; 7) RT alone-1 patient. Three patients had curative resection. 21 patients received irradiation with tightly contoured portals to spare as much small bowel, kidney and marrow as possible. Hyperthermia was applied regionally once or twice a week for 23 patients using 8 MHz radiofrequency capacitive heating device (Thermotron RF-8). HT was given approximately 30 min after RT 7 patients were treated with CT: 4 patients received HT and concomitant Mitomycin-C; 3 patients received HT and sequential 5-FU+Adriamycin+Mitomycin-C. There was not any treatment related deaths. There was also no evidence of treatment related problems with liver, kidney, stomach, or spinal cord except only one case of transient diabetic ketoacidosis. The tumor response was evaluable in 22 patients. None achieved complete remission.11 ($50\%$) achieved partial remission. The response rate was correlated with total radiation dose and achieved maximum temperature. 9 of 14 ($64\%$) received more than 4000 cGy showed partial remission; especially, all 3 patients received more than 5500 cGy achieved partial response.8 of the 12 patients ($67\%$) who achieved maximal temperature more than $41^{\circ}C$ showed partial response in comparing with $25\%$ (2 of 8 patients, below $41^{\circ}C$). The numbers of HT, however, was not correlated with the response. 3 of the 25 patients ($12\%$) remain alive. The one who was surgically unresectable and underwent irradiation alone is in progression of the disease with distant metastases. The remaining two patients with curative resection are alive with free of disease, 24 and 35 months, respectively. The median survival by response are 11.5 months in responders and 4.6 months in non-responders.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.101-108
• /
• 2007

[ $\underline{Purpose}$ ]: To compare radiation therapy alone to combined modality therapy about survival rate and tolerance of elderly patients ($70=or{\geq}$) with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: Between 1998 and 2002, 57 patients given radiation therapy due to NSCLC (Stage III) were analysed retrospectively. Radiation therapy alone (RT), concurrent chemoradiation (CRT), and sequential chemoradiation (SCRT) was done to 33, 16 and 8 patients, respectively. Patients' median age was 74 (range $70{\sim}85$). Male and female are 51 patients and 6 patients, respectively. 23 patients were stage IIIa and 34 were stage IIIb. Patients' characteristic distribution of RT and CRT was not significantly different except mass size that RT has a bigger than CRT. The fraction size of radiation therapy was 1.8 Gy in CRT and $1.8{\sim}3\;Gy$ in other groups. Total radiation dose was $51{\sim}63\;Gy$ according to the fraction size. If the prescribed total radiation dose was successfully irradiated, we stated that it was completion of radiation therapy. $\underline{Results}$: 52 patients were dead. Median period of radiation therapy was as follow: RT, 35 days, CRT, 60.5 days and SCRT, 35 days. Overall median survival time (MST) was 10.1 months. The 1 yr- and 2 yr-overall survival rate was 39.8% and 17.6%, respectively. MST of RT, CRT and SCRT was 8.9, 8.2 and 11.7 months, respectively. The 1 yr survival rate of RT, CRT and SCRT was 38.4%, 37.5% and 50% (not significant). Patients given incomplete radiation therapy were 12 (RT, 5 CRT, 6 SCRT, 1). N stage (p=0.081) and the difference of treatment methods (p=0.079) were the factors affecting incompletion of radiation therapy, but it was not significant. In case of combined-agents chemotherapy, 4 of 8 ceased radiation therapy. T stage ($T{\geq}3$), mass size (${\geq}5\;cm$), Karnofsky performance scale (${\leq}70$) and completion of radiation therapy were the prognostic factors in uni- and multi-variate analysis. $\underline{Conclusion}$: In elderly patients with NSCLC, radiation therapy alone was a treatment method with similar survival period compared with other methods. Generally, patients given radiation therapy alone was tolerable to a treatment. Before planning concurrent chemoirradiation in elderly patients with NSCLC, physicians pay attention to a selection of patients and chemotherapy agents considering general condition and toxicity.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.325-331
• /
• 2015

Skin is exposed to sunlight or artificial indoor light on a daily. The reached solar light on the earth surface consist of 50% visible light and 45% infrared (IR) except for ultra violet (UV). The negative effects of UV including UVB and UVA have been steadily investigated within the last decades. However, little is known about the effects of visible or IR light. In this study, we irradiated human dermal fibroblasts using light emitting diode (LED) to investigate the optimal parameter for enhancing cell growth and collagen synthesis. We found that red of 630 nm and green of 520 nm enhance the cell proliferation, but irradiation with purple and blue light exerts toxic effects. To examine the response of irradiation time and light intensity on the fibroblasts, cells were exposed to red or green light with intensities from 0.05 to $0.75mW/cm^2$. Procollagen secretion was increased of 1.4 fold by 10 min irradiation, while 30 min treatment decreased the collagen synthesis of dermal fibroblasts. Treatment with red of $0.3mW/cm^2$ and green of 0.15 and $0.3mW/cm^2$ resulted in enhancement of collagen mRNA. Lastly, we investigated the combinatorial effect of red and green light on dermal fibroblasts. The sequential irradiation of red and green light is an efficient way for the purpose of the increase in the number of fibroblasts than single light treatment. On the other hand, the exposure of red light alone was more effective method for enhancing of collagen secretion. Our study showed that specific light parameters accelerated cell proliferation, gene expression and collagen secretion on human dermal fibroblasts. In conclusion, we demonstrate that light exposure with specific parameter has beneficial effects on the function of dermal fibroblasts, and suggests the possibility of its cosmetically and clinical application.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 1999

The enzyme steroid $5{\alpha}-reductase$ is responsible for the conversion of testosterone into the most potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In man, this steroid acts on a variety of androgen-responsive target tissues to mediate such diverse endocrine processes as male sexual differentiation in the fetus and prostatic growth in men. Androgen levels in the prostate may influence carcinogenesis in this organ. The use of a $5{\alpha}-reductase$ inhibitor, finasteride, in the chemoprevention of prostate cancer is being evaluated in a clinical trial and have been used successfully for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Therefore, for the discovery of $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 inhibitors, we have evaluated the inhibitory effects of solvent fractionated extracts of natural products on $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 activity. We have tested approximately 80 kinds of natural products after partition into n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layers from 100% methanol extracts of plants. The ethyl acetate fractions of Perilla sikokiana $(seed,\;IC_{50}\;:\;6.2\;ug/ml)$, Sophora flavescens $(root,\;IC_{50}\;:\;8.9\;ug/ml)$, and Angelica tenuissima $(root,\;IC_{50}\;:\;11.7\;ug/ml)$ revealed inhibitory effects on $5{\alpha}-reductase$ 2 activity in LNCaP cells. The effective ethyl acetate fractions of Perilla sikokiana, Sophora flavescens, Hydnocarpus anthelmintica, and Angelica tenuissima were subfractionated by column chromatography and tested. The subfractions $F4\;(IC_{50}\;:\;1.1\;ug/ml),\;F5\;(IC_{50}\;:\;2.0\;ug/ml),\;and\;F6\;(IC_{50}\;:\;5.8\;ug/ml)$ of the ethyl acetate fraction of Perilla sikokiana and the subfraction $F8\;(IC_{50}\;:\;5.3\;ug/ml)$ of the ethyl acetate fraction of Sophora flavescens displayed greater inhibition of $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 than did finasteride in LNCaP cells. These active fractions are under the process of further sequential fractionation to find the effective pure compounds against $5{\alpha}-reductase$ 2 activity.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.24 no.9
• /
• pp.843-852
• /
• 1991

We prospectively studied postoperative cardiac arrhythmia after open heart surgery to analyze the types and incidence of cardiac arrhythmia and to predict preoperative risk factors. And also we evaluated the effectiveness of atrial and ventricular epicardial electrodes which were placed during operation Between March 1990 and August 1990, We had operated on in 211 patients and we studied 201 consecutive patients excluding 10 patients. The study group included 99 males and 102 female patients, ages 1 month to 75 years[Mean$\pm$SD=28.0$\pm$21.7 years]. Postoperatively, all patients were regularly seen by the cardiac surgeon and cardiologist, They had continuous electrocardiographic monitoring for the first 3 days, initially in the intensive care unit and were checked routine electrocardiography on the postoperative 7 days, The postoperative cardiac arrhythmia were analyzed and possible associations of this arrhythmia with various pre, intra, and postoperative factors were studied by univariate and multivariate discriminant analysis, The overall incidence of postoperative cardiac arrhythmia except relative sinus bradycardia was 36.8%;[74/201], The incidence of postoperative cardiac arrhythmia in acyanotic congenital heart disease: 19.4%, cyanotic congenital heart disease: 20.8%, cardiac arrhythmia surgery: 33.3%, acquired valvular heart disease: 60.9% and coronary artery occlusive disease: 38.9%. Both univariate and multivariate studies indicated the pre operative symptom duration[p = 0013], the duration of medication[p=0.003], presence of preoperative arrhythmia[p<0.001] and pre-operative left atrial dimension in echocardiography to be the factor promoting postoperative cardiac arrhythmia. Multivariate discriminant analysis showed that the presence of preoperative cardiac arrhythmia, bypass time and the duration of preoperative symptom duration conveyed considerable risk factor on post-operative arrhythmia. The atrial wire electrodes were used diagnostically in 36 and were used therapeutically in 89 among 201 patients. Atrial pacing were used to treat relative sinus bradycardia, accelerated junctional tachycardia or premature atrial or ventricular contractions in 51 patients. Atrioventricular sequential pacing were used in 16 patients and ventricular pacing were used in 20 patients. Hemodynamics were evaluated in 2 patients of relative sinus bradycardia before and after atrial pacing. The atrial pacing increased the amount of cardiac output to 15% more. Because of their great utility in the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias, we conclude that routine placement of atrial and ventricular electrodes at the time of operation is indicated regardless of the nature of the open-heart procedure.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.195-200
• /
• 2008

Saxifraga stolonifera (Saxifragaceae) is a perennial herbaceous plant growing in Korea, China, Japan and Russia. The aerial part has been used as herbal medicine for treatment of pneumonia, frostbite, inflammation and microbial infection. In this study, fresh juice and methanol extract were prepared from the aerial part of S. stolonifera, and their antimicrobial, antithrombin, and antioxidant activity were evaluated, respectively. The fresh juice showed weak antimicrobial activity against Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Candida albicans with ignorable DPPH scavenging activity. But, the methanol extract showed strong antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ of $37.5{\mu}g/mL$) with minor, broad-range antimicrobial activity. Antithrombin activities were not observed in fresh juice and extract, up to 1.5 mg/mL. Sequential organic solvent fractionation of methanol extract showed that $IC_{50}s$ of ethylacetate and the butanol fraction were 6.9 and $7.8{\mu}g/mL$, respectively, that is comparable with vitamin C or butylated hydroxytoluene. Analysis of component in extract and fractionates suggested that the antioxidants in fractions are diverse and the active substances have glycosylated phenolic structure. Our results suggest that the aerial part of S. stolonifera could be used as the natural source of potential antioxidant.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.188-195
• /
• 1993

In order to understand the machanism of action and regulation of ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor in terms of molecular level, the purification of receptor protein has a fundamental importance. Moreover, species differences among avian, amphibian and mammalian ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptors make it more important to purify mammalian ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor. Because ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor is an integral membrane protein, it must be solubilized from the membrane for the purification. The purpose of the present study was to solubilize and characterize the mammalian $\beta$-adrenergic receptor from guinea pig lung in quantities by more efficient and practical method eventually to purify receptor. Guinea pig lung membrane preparation was solubilized by sequential treatment of buffers containing low and high concentration of digitonin which are 0.2 and 1.2% respectively. About 50% of the total receptor pool was released by this double extraction procedure. The $\beta$-adrenoceptors in the digitonin extract were identified using the ${\beta}$-adrenergic antagonist, (-)-[$^3H$]-dihydroalprenolol ([$^3H$]DHA). The solubilized receptor retained all of the essential characteristics of membrane-bound receptor, namely saturability; stereoselectivity; high affinity to ${\beta}$-adrenergic drugs. For the measurement of soluble receptor activity, Sephadex G-50 chromatography method has been widely used. Inspite of its accuracy and wide acceptance, this technique employed troublesome column work which required long time to assay the activity of receptor. We employed another methods to measure receptor activity. When using 0.5% polyethylenimine pretreated GF/B glass fiber filter, filtration technique could be used to measure soluble receptor activity. This technique enabled us to reduce the total amount of time to assay by a factor of 4 as well as to detect soluble receptor. In the present study, we could establish more efficient and practical solubilization method of mammalian $\beta$-adrenergic receptor. The rapidity and high yield of this solubilization scheme, together with the favorable recovery of the receptor activity, are significant steps toward the ultimate purification of the mammalian $\beta$-adrenergic receptor. The result of this study together with more convenient purification method could provide large amount of purified receptor with ease for various research purposes.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.25 no.9
• /
• pp.1021-1026
• /
• 2015

Invertase (β-D-fructosfuranosidase, EC 3.2.1.26) catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose into D-glucose and D-fructose. Three biochemical subgroups of invertases have been investigated in plants: vacuolar (soluble acid), cytoplasmic (soluble alkaline), and cell wall-bound (insoluble acid) invertases. An isoform of neutral invertase was purified from pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L.) and treated with gibberellic acid (GA) by sequential procedures consisting of ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, absorption chromatography, and reactive green-19 affinity chromatography. The results of the overall insoluble invertase purification were a 430-fold increase. The purified neutral invertase was not glycosylated and had an optimum pH between neutral and alkaline (pH 6.8-7.5). It was inhibited by Tris, as well as by heavy metals, such as Hg²⁺ and Cu²⁺. Typical Michaelis–Menten kinetics were observed when the activity of the purified invertase was measured, with sucrose concentrations up to 100 mM. The K_m and V_max values were 12.95 mM and 2.98 U/min, respectively. The molecular mass was around 20 kDa. The sucrose-cleaving enzyme activity of this enzyme is similar to that of sucrose synthase and fructosyltransferase, but its biochemical characteristics are different from those of sucrose synthase and fructosyltransferase. Based on this biochemical characterization and existing knowledge, neutral INV is an invertase isoform in plants.