• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2011

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics of late-onset epilepsy combined with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the relationship between certain types of electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities in ASD and associated neuropsychological problems. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with ASD in early childhood and later developed clinical seizures were reviewed retrospectively. First, the clinical characteristics, language and behavioral regression, and EEG findings of these late-onset epilepsy patients with ASD were investigated. The patients were then classified into 2 groups according to the severity of the EEG abnormalities in the background rhythm and paroxysmal discharges. In the severe group, EEG showed persistent asymmetry, slow and disorganized background rhythms, and continuous sharp and slow waves during slow sleep (CSWS). Results: Between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in mean age (P=0.259), age of epilepsy diagnosis (P=0.237), associated family history (P=0.074), and positive abnormal magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings (P=0.084). The severe EEG group tended to have more neuropsychological problems (P=0.074). The severe group statistically showed more electrographic seizures in EEG (P=0.000). Rett syndrome was correlated with more severe EEG abnormalities (P=0.002). Although formal cognitive function tests were not performed, the parents reported an improvement in neuropsychological function on the follow up checkup according to a parent's questionnaire. Conclusion: Although some ASD patients with late-onset epilepsy showed severe EEG abnormalities, including CSWS, they generally showed an improvement in EEG and clinical symptoms in the longterm follow up. In addition, severe EEG abnormalities tended to be related to the neuropsychological function.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.60 no.11
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• pp.337-343
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• 2017

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood. This disorder, in addition to its main symptoms, creates significant difficulties in education, social performance, and personal relationships. Given the importance of rehabilitation for these patients to combat the above issues, the use of virtual reality (VR) technology is helpful. The aim of this study was to highlight the opportunities for VR in the rehabilitation of children with ADHD. This narrative review was conducted by searching for articles in scientific databases and e-Journals, using keywords including VR, children, and ADHD. Various studies have shown that VR capabilities in the rehabilitation of children with ADHD include providing flexibility in accordance with the patients' requirements; removing distractions and creating an effective and safe environment away from real-life dangers; saving time and money; increasing patients' incentives based on their interests; providing suitable tools to perform different behavioral tests and increase ecological validity; facilitating better understanding of individuals' cognitive deficits and improving them; helping therapists with accurate diagnosis, assessment, and rehabilitation; and improving working memory, executive function, and cognitive processes such as attention in these children. Rehabilitation of children with ADHD is based on behavior and physical patterns and is thus suitable for VR interventions. This technology, by simulating and providing a virtual environment for diagnosis, training, monitoring, assessment and treatment, is effective in providing optimal rehabilitation of children with ADHD.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.525-538
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• 2018

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-induced psychiatric disorder characterized by impaired fear extermination, hyperarousal, and anxiety that may involve the release of monoamines in the fear circuit. The reported pharmacological properties of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) include anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, and neuropsychiatric activities. However, the anxiolytic-like effects of TMP and its mechanism of action in PTSD are unclear. This study measured several anxiety-related behavioral responses to examine the effects of TMP on symptoms of anxiety in rats after single prolonged stress (SPS) exposure by reversing the serotonin (5-HT) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction. Rats were given TMP (10, 20, or 40 mg/kg, i.p.) for 14 days after SPS exposure. Administration of TMP significantly reduced grooming behavior, increased the time spent and number of visits to the open arm in the elevated plus maze test, and significantly increased the number of central zone crossings in the open field test. TMP administration significantly reduced the freezing response to contextual fear conditioning and significantly restored the neurochemical abnormalities and the SPS-induced decrease in 5-HT tissue levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The increased 5-HT concentration during TMP treatment might be partially attribute to the tryptophan and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid mRNA level expression in the hippocampus of rats with PTSD. These findings support a role for reducing the altered serotonergic transmission in rats with PTSD. TMP simultaneously attenuated the HPA axis dysfunction. Therefore, TMP may be useful for developing an agent for treating psychiatric disorders, such those observed in patients with PTSD.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.313-322
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• 2013

Previous studies have demonstrated that repeated administration of the exogenous stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) induces dysregulation in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and results in depression and anxiety. The current study sought to verify the impact of catechin (CTN) administration on chronic CORT-induced behavioral alterations using the forced swimming test (FST) and the elevated plus maze (EPM) test. Additionally, the effects of CTN on central noradrenergic systems were examined by observing changes in neuronal tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity in rat brains. Male rats received 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg CTN (i.p.) 1 h prior to a daily injection of CORT for 21 consecutive days. The activation of the HPA axis in response to the repeated CORT injections was confirmed by measuring serum levels of CORT and the expression of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) in the hypothalamus. Daily CTN administration significantly decreased immobility in the FST, increased open-arm exploration in the EPM test, and significantly blocked increases of TH expression in the locus coeruleus (LC). It also significantly enhanced the total number of line crossing in the open-field test (OFT), while individual differences in locomotor activities between experimental groups were not observed in the OFT. Taken together, these findings indicate that the administration of CTN prior to high-dose exogenous CORT significantly improves helpless behaviors, possibly by modulating the central noradrenergic system in rats. Therefore, CTN may be a useful agent for the treatment or alleviation of the complex symptoms associated with depression and anxiety disorders.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 1996

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a parkinson-plus syndrome characterized clinically by supranuclear ephthalmoplegia, pseudobulbar palsy, axial rigidity, bradykinesia, postural instability and dementia. Presence of dementia and lack of cortical histopathology suggest the derangement of cortical function by pathological changes in subcortical structures in PSP, which is supported by the pattern of behavioral changes and measurement of brain metabolism using positron emission tomography. This study was done to examine whether there are specific changes of regional cerebral perfusion in PSP and whether there is a correlation between severity of motor abnormality and degree of changes in cerebral perfusion. We measured regional cerebral perfusion indices in 5 cortical and 2 subcortical areas in 6 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PSP and 6 healthy age and sex matched controls using $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO SPECT. Compared with age and sex matched controls, only superior frontal regional perfusion index was significantly decreased in PSP (p<0.05). There was no correlation between the severity of the motor abnormality and any of the regional cerebral perfusion indices (p>0.05). We affirm the previous reports that perfusion in superior frontal cortex is decreased in PSP. Based on our results that there was no correlation between severity of motor abnormality and cerebral perfusion in the superior frontal cortex, nonmotoric symptoms including dementia needs to be looked at whether there is a correlation with the perfusion abnormality in superior frontal cortex.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.61-70
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• 2016

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a hospital-based smoking cessation intervention for increasing continuous abstinence rate from smoking in patients with cerebral infarction. Methods: One-hundred and two smokers with cerebral infarction who decided to quit smoking were enrolled in the smoking cessation intervention from December 2012 to February 2015. The smokers underwent six consecutive times of individual intervention with nurse specialist on smoking cessation including education on behavioral modification, counseling for withdrawal symptoms, and anti-smoking advice over a 12-month period. Results: Among the total participants, the continuous abstinence rate from smoking changed from 79.4% at 1 month to 60.8% at 12 months after discharge. The continuous abstinence rate from smoking after 12 months was 88.5% in participants who completed the entire program (6 times), while 51.3% in participants who did not complete the entire program (${\leq}5$ times) (P=0.001). After adjustment for general and smoking-related characteristics, complete implementation of hospital-based smoking cessation intervention was significantly associated with continuous abstinence from smoking after 12 months (odds ratio: 5.93; 95% confidence interval: 1.45-24.22). Conclusions: The hospital-based smoking cessation intervention might be effective for smoking cessation in patients with cerebral infarction, especially when the intervention was implemented thoroughly.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2006

Objectives: Pharmacopuncture which is a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine helps to prevent and treat the diseases and symptoms including various pains. However, little was known about the therapeutic effects and its mechanisms on acute pain, although pharmacopuncture has been used frequently in acupuncture clinics. Acupuncture is known for producing analgesia for persistent ankle sprain pain in human. Furthermore, it also produces analgesia in a rat model of ankle sprain pain. Methods: To illuminate the underlying mechanisms of capsaicin pharmacopuncture-induced analgesia, weight bearing force (WBF) was observed on the acute ankle sprained rat model. Ankle sprain was induced in the rat by manually hyper-extending ligaments of the right ankle. Capsaicin pharmacopuncture was applied to SI6 (Yanglo) on the left forelimb (contralateral to the sprained ankle). Results: In behavioral test, capsaicin pharmacopuncture produced marked analgesic effects on acute ankle sprained animals as measured by WBF of the affected limb similar to manual acupuncture. Capsaicin pharmacopuncture was also suppressed by serotonin (5-HT) receptor antagonist methysergide (2 mg/kg, Lp.), but not by opioids receptor antagonist naltrexone (10 mg/kg, Lp.) and alpha adrenoceptor antagonist phentolamine (5 mg/kg, Lp.). Conclusion: The data suggest that capsaicin pharmacopuncture-induced analgesia is accomplished by activating the descending serotonergic inhibitory systems.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of taping therapy on recovery of behavioral symptoms and neural excitability of the lumbar spinal cord in rat model for ankle sprain. Methods : Adult Sprague-Dawley rats was used and divided into 3 experimental groups: normal group(n=6), ankle sprain(n=6), and ankle sprain with taping treatment(n=6). In order to induce ankle sprain the right ankle joint was injured with 4~5 repetitive over-flexions and over-extensions manually. The severity of joint pain was evaluated by measuring foot weight bearing force ratio(FWBRF) of the hind limb and the injury-induced edema formation by diameter of the joint following ankle sprain. The changes of neural excitability in the lumbar spinal cord was tested by observation of cFos protein expression, a metabolic marker for neural excitation. Results : Severity of ankle injury induced in this experiment coincided with Grade 1 ankle sprain. Compared with ankle sprain group, ankle sprain＋taping showed a significant reductions of joint pain as well as of edema formation at the ankle joint following ankle sprain. There was significant upregulation of cFos-immunoreactive neurons in the lumbar spinal cord 24 hours after ankle sprain. In contrast, taping therapy resulted in significant inhibition of cFos-immunoreactive neurons in the lumbar spinal cord. Conclusions : Collectively, these results suggest that taping therapy may be an alternative therapeutic intervention for symptom recovery of the mild ankle sprain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2014

Background: A lipo-prostaglandin E1 agonist is effective for the treatment of neurological symptoms of spinal stenosis when administered by an oral or intravenous route. we would like to reveal the therapeutic effect of an epidural injection of lipo-prostaglandin E1 on hyperalgesia in foraminal stenosis. Methods: A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were included. A small stainless steel rod was inserted into the L5/L6 intervertebral foramen to produce intervertebral foraminal stenosis and chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). The rats were divided into three groups: epidural PGE1 (EP) (n = 15), saline (n = 15), and control (n = 10). In the EP group, $0.15{\mu}g{\cdot}kg-1$ of a lipo-PGE1 agonist was injected daily via an epidural catheter for 10 days from postoperative day 3. In the saline group, saline was injected. Behavioral tests for mechanical hyperalgesia were performed for 3 weeks. Then, the target DRG was analyzed for the degree of chromatolysis, chronic inflammation, and fibrosis in light microscopic images. Results: From the fifth day after lipo-PGE1 agonist injection, the EP group showed significant recovery from mechanical hyperalgesia, which was maintained for 3 weeks (P < 0.05). Microscopic analysis showed much less chromatolysis in the EP group than in the saline or control groups. Conclusions: An epidurally administered lipo-PGE1 agonist relieved neuropathic pain, such as mechanical hyperalgesia, in a rat foraminal stenosis model, with decreasing chromatolysis in target DRG. We suggest that epidurally administered lipo-PGE1 may be a useful therapeutic candidate for patients with spinal stenosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2013

At present, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are the first group of drugs to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although beneficial in improving cognitive and behavioral symptoms, the effectiveness of AChE inhibitors has been questioned since they do not delay or prevent neurodegeneration in AD patients. Therefore, in the present study, in order to develop new and effective anti-AD agents from lichen products, both the AChE inhibitory and the neuroprotective effects were evaluated. The AChE inhibitory assay was performed based on Ellman's reaction, and the neuroprotective effect was evaluated by using the MTT method on injured PC12 cells. One AChE inhibitor ($IC_{50}$ = 27.1 ${\mu}g/ml$) was isolated by means of bioactivity-guided isolation from the extract of lichen-forming fungus Cladonia macilenta, which showed the most potent AChE inhibitory activity in previous screening experiment. It was then identified as biruloquinone by MS, and $^1H$- and $^{13}C$-NMR analyses. The inhibitory kinetic assay suggested that biruloquinone is a mixed-II inhibitor on AChE. Meanwhile, biruloquinone improved the viability of the $H_2O_2$- and ${\beta}$-amyloid-injured PC12 cells at 1 to 25 ${\mu}g/ml$. The protective effects are proposed to be related to the potent antioxidant activities of biruloquinone. These results imply that biruloquinone has the potential to be developed as a multifunctional anti- AD agent.