• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.710-720
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• 2013

Radiotherapy is commonly used in treating many kinds of cancers which cannot be cured by other therapeutic strategies. However, radiotherapy also induces the damages on the normal tissues. Radiation-induced fibrosis is frequently observed in the patients undergoing radiotherapy, and becomes a major obstacle in the treatment of intrahepatic cancer. Hedgehog (Hh) that is an essential in the liver formation during embryogenesis is not detected in the healthy liver, but activated and modulates the repair process in damaged livers in adult. The expression of Hh increases with the degree of liver damage, regulating the proliferation of hepatic progenitors and hepatic stellate cells (HSC). In addition, Hh induces epithelial-to-mesencymal transition (EMT) and activation of myofibroblasts. In the irradiated livers, up-regulated expression of Hh signaling was associated with proliferation of progenitors, EMT induction, and increased fibrosis. Female-specific expression of Hh leaded to the expansion of progenitors and the accumulation of collagen in the irradiated livers of female mice, indicating that gender disparity in Hh expression may be related with radiation-susceptibility in female. Hence, Hh signaling becomes a novel object of studies for fibrogenesis induced by radiation. However, the absence of the established experimental animal models showing the similar physiopathology with human liver diseases and fibrosis-favorable microenvironment hamper the studies for the radiation-induced fibrosis, providing a few descriptive results. Therefore, further research on the association of Hh with radiation-induced fibrosis can identify the cell and tissue-specific effects of Hh and provides the basic knowledge for underlying mechanisms, contributing to developing therapies for preventing the radiation-induced fibrosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.256-262
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• 2003

In order to design and develop a product that can treat the fatty liver, natural complex food with all natural ingredients was developed and supplemented to rats with high fat diet to induce fatty liver. As a result, when the amount of natural complex food was increased in diet of subjects, the activities of the blood serum AST, ALT, ALP, 3-GT and LDH were decreased. The total protein concentration levels of the 30% and the 50% natural complex food groups did not show changes in respect to the control group, but the 100% natural complex food groups showed significant decrease (p<0.05). Likewise, the amount of blood serum albumin in the 30% and the 50% natural complex food groups did not show improvement, but the 100% natural complex food did showed significant changes (p<0.05). The amount of blood serum triglyceride decreased as the amount of natural complex food was increased. In order to investigate the appearances of the accumulated fat in the liver, the animals were dissected. Livers of the control group (no natural complex food) were appeared as a white color, which means serious fat accumulation. However, all the natural complex food groups (30,50 and 100% natural complex food) showed noticeable decrease of fat content. Even the histology showed that livers of the control group had expansion of the fat, but a11 the natural complex food groups had e decreased as the contents and continued to show destroyed fatty cells. By observing the biological numeric data, the physical appearance and the history of the fatty liver, it is highly expected that natural complex food is very effective in treating the liver damaged -by the to fat and the cholesterol.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.562-574
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• 2021

MRI has the advantages of having excellent soft-tissue contrast and providing functional information without any harmful ionizing radiation. Although previous technical limitations restricted the use of chest MRI, recent technological advances and expansion of insurance coverage are increasing the demand for chest MRI. Recognizing the need for guidelines on appropriate use of chest MRI in Korean clinical settings, the Korean Society of Radiology has composed a development committee, working committee, and advisory committee to develop Korean chest MRI justification guidelines. Five key questions were selected and recommendations have been made with the evidence-based clinical imaging guideline adaptation methodology. Recommendations are as follows. Chest MRI can be considered in the following circumstances: for patients with incidentally found anterior mediastinal masses to exclude non-neoplastic conditions, for pneumoconiosis patients with lung masses to differentiate progressive massive fibrosis from lung cancer, and when invasion of the chest wall, vertebrae, diaphragm, or major vessels by malignant pleural mesothelioma or non-small cell lung cancer is suspected. Chest MRI without contrast enhancement or with minimal dose low-risk contrast media can be considered for pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism. Lastly, chest MRI is recommended for patients with pancoast tumors planned for radical surgery.