• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제6권6호
• /
• pp.299-304
• /
• 2002

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) expressing neurons are distributed widely throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. Due to its distribution and pharmacological studies, CGRP has been implicated to be involved in anxiety, fear and depression. In this study, ${\alpha}CGRP-knockout$ mice were used to assess the consequences of removing this neuropeptide to the mice behaviors. ${\alpha}CGRP-knockout$ mice performed equally as well as wild type mice in the light-dark transition test and in the elevated plus maze test of anxiety. ${\alpha}CGRP-null$ mice behaved similarly as wild-type mice in the Porsolt swim test of depression. They also exhibited normal learning and memory in the fear conditioning tasks. It is concluded that ${\alpha}CGRP$ is not essential for mice to be able to perform these tests, despite the presence of ${\alpha}CGRP$ in the relevant regions of the brain.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• 제41권4호
• /
• pp.589-594
• /
• 2017

Ginseng effectively regulates the immune response and the hormonal changes due to stress, thus maintaining homeostasis. In addition to suppressing the occurrence of psychological diseases such as anxiety and depression, ginseng also prevents stress-associated physiological diseases. Recent findings have revealed that ginseng is involved in adjusting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and controlling hormones, thus producing beneficial effects on the heart and brain, and in cases of bone diseases, as well as alleviating erectile dysfunction. Recent studies have highlighted the potential use of ginseng in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and allergic asthma. However, the mechanism underlying the effects of ginseng on these stress-related diseases has not been completely established. In this review, we focus on the disease pathways caused by stress in order to determine how ginseng acts to improve health. Central to our discussion is how this effective and stable therapeutic agent alleviates the anxiety and depression caused by stress and ameliorates inflammatory diseases.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.37-68
• /
• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to systematically review thread-embedding treatment studies for depression, anxiety, and dementia and examine the effectiveness and safety of thread-embedding treatment. Methods: Ten domestic and international search databases were used for study selection, including CNKI, PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, PsycArticles, RISS, OASIS, and KCI. We included studies that presented diagnostic or appropriate criteria for depression, anxiety, and dementia, and randomized control studies using thread-embedding therapy. We searched papers published until October 10, 2023. Results: Twenty-one studies were selected, of which 11 studies were conducted on depression, nine on dementia, and one on anxiety disorders. The most commonly used acupoint for depression was Gansu (BL18), whereas zusanli (ST36) and fenglong (ST40) were used for dementia. The most commonly used type of thread was 1-0 United States pharmacopeia (USP) and 1 cm for depression and 2-0 USP and 1 cm for dementia. The treatment period for most of the studies was once every 2 weeks and for 8 weeks. Among the included studies, 17 showed significant improvements in depression scales, such as Hamilton depression rating scale and Self rating depression scale, activities of daily living scales, and cognitive function scales, such as Hasegawa dementia scale and Mini-mental state examination. Six studies reported adverse events, and no studies reported significant adverse events. Two studies reported follow-ups. Conclusions: This study presents limited evidence for the effectiveness and safety of thread-embedding therapy for depression, anxiety, and dementia. Well-designed studies are needed to review the clinical efficacy and safety of thread-embedding therapy in the future.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• 제21권4호
• /
• pp.313-322
• /
• 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.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
• /
• 제20권2호
• /
• pp.217-227
• /
• 2009

Objectives : Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelination disease of central nervous system, presenting a various neurological disorders depending on the lesion. In the view of oriental medicine, MS is similar to Flaccidity-syndrome(痿證). Also, since MS is a chronic disease which repeats the recurrences with periods of remission of the symptoms in between, it may usually be accompanied by depression. However, the etiology, treatment, and cause of recurrence of MS remain unknown, and also, as the recurrences of MS have been repeated, disease burden has been accumulated, which aggravates disorder. This case of MS experienced depression after the patient had been diagnosed as bad consequence based on the past 5 times recurrences of multiple sclerosis. Methods : We saw the causes as vicera and bowels functional disorder which might have come from a poor diet. Thus, we diagnosed this case as dual deficiency of spleen and kidney(脾腎兩虛), stagnant qi transforming into fire(氣鬱化火) and liver-kidney deficiency(肝腎不足) and treated it with Herb medication, acupuncture therapy, and supportive therapy, making the patient better. Results : We have improved the patient's condition to the time before 5th recurrence. Conclusions : This result suggests that our oriental medical treatments was effective on multiple sclerosis with depression.

• 대한약학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 대한약학회 2003년도 Proceedings of the Convention of the Pharmaceutical Society of Korea Vol.2-2
• /
• pp.121.3-122
• /
• 2003

This report describes the fatal case of a 13-year-old middle school girl(MSG) whose cause of death might be attributed to a intoxication involving Venlafaxine(VEN). MSG's mother had the history of depression for 11 years. She and her daughter were found dead in the same room of their apartment, with hanged herself. We analyzed the postmortem of MSG which were requested to our institute for the cause of her death. We couldn't get any blood samples from MSG's postmortem. (omitted)

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
• /
• 제15권2호
• /
• pp.706-716
• /
• 2014

본 연구에서는 노인요양시설의 이용만족도와 일상생활 스트레스가 노인의 우울과 자아존중감에 미치는 영향을 실증적으로 알아보고자 하였다. 연구대상은 서울과 중부권 지역의 노인요양시설 8개소의 입소노인 271명이며. 2013년 3월 10일부터 8월 25일까지 설문조사를 통해 데이터를 수집하였다. 분석 결과, 노인요양시설의 서비스 이용 만족이 우울을 낮추고 의료재활서비스 만족은 우울을 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 시설환경에 대한 만족수준이 높을수록 자아존중감이 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 일상생활 스트레스 중 가족관계와 관련된 스트레스는 우울을 높이고 자아존 중감을 낮추며 주거환경에 관한 스트레스도 자아존중감을 감소시키는 것으로 나타났다. 노인요양시설의 이용만족도보다는 일상생활 스트레스가 노인의 우울과 자아존중감을 더 잘 설명하고 있는 것으로 나타났으며, 우울과 자아존중감의 여러 영향요인 중 본 연구에서는 가족관계와 관련된 스트레스가 가장 강력한 예측인자인 것으로 나타났다.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제37권2호
• /
• pp.107-118
• /
• 2024

Nociplastic pain by the "International Association for the Study of Pain" is defined as pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of nociceptive or neuropathic pain. Augmented central nervous system pain and sensory processing with altered pain modulation are suggested to be the mechanism of nociplastic pain. Clinical criteria for possible nociplastic pain affecting somatic structures include chronic regional pain and evoked pain hypersensitivity including allodynia with after-sensation. In addition to possible nociplastic pain, clinical criteria for probable nociplastic pain are pain hypersensitivity in the region of pain to non-noxious stimuli and presence of comorbidity such as generalized symptoms with sleep disturbance, fatigue, or cognitive problems with hypersensitivity of special senses. Criteria for definitive nociplastic pain is not determined yet. Eight specific disorders related to central sensitization are suggested to be restless leg syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular disorder, migraine or tension headache, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities, and whiplash injury; non-specific emotional disorders related to central sensitization include anxiety or panic attack and depression. These central sensitization pain syndromes are overlapped to previous functional pain syndromes which are unlike organic pain syndromes and have emotional components. Therefore, nociplastic pain can be understood as chronic altered nociception related to central sensitization including both sensory components with nociceptive and/or neuropathic pain and emotional components. Nociplastic pain may be developed to explain unexplained chronic pain beyond tissue damage or pathology regardless of its origin from nociceptive, neuropathic, emotional, or mixed pain components.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• 제26권5호
• /
• pp.425-431
• /
• 2018

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide is a widely distributed neurotransmitter expressed in the central nervous systems. Previously, several reports demonstrated that nucleus accumbal-injected CART peptide positively modulated behavioral sensitization induced by psychostimulants and regulated the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic pathway. It is confirmed that CART peptide exerted inhibitory effect on psychostimulant-enhanced dopamine receptors signaling, $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin-dependent kinase signaling and crucial transcription factors expression. Besides modulation of dopamine receptors-related pathways, CART peptide also exhibited elaborated interactions with other neurotransmitter receptors, such as glutamate receptors and ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid receptors, which further account for attribution of CART peptide to inhibition of psychostimulant-potentiated locomotor activity. Recently, CART peptide has been shown to have anxiolytic functions on the aversive mood and uncontrolled drug-seeking behaviors following drug withdrawal. Moreover, microinjection of CART peptide has been shown to have an antidepressant effect, which suggests its potential utility in the mood regulation and avoidance of depression-like behaviors. In this review, we discuss CART pathways in neural circuits and their interactions with neurotransmitters associated with psychostimulant-induced depression.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제16권6호
• /
• pp.379-386
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether berberine (BER) administration could attenuate depression- and anxiety-like behaviors and increase corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression following chronic morphine withdrawal in rats. Male rats were exposed to chronic, intermittent, escalating morphine (10~50 mg/kg) for 10 days. After the last morphine injection, depression- and anxiety-like beahvior associated with morphine discontinuation persisted for at least three days during withdrawal without any change in ambulatory activity. Daily BER administration significantly decreased immobility in the forced swimming test and increased open-arm exploration in the elevated plus maze test. BER administration also significantly blocked the increase in hypothalamic CRF expression and TH expression in the locus coeruleus (LC) and the decrease in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that BER administration significantly reduced morphine withdrawal-associated behaviors following discontinuation of repeated morphine administration in rats, possibly through modulation of hypothalamic CRF and the central noradrenergic system. BER may be a useful agent for treating or alleviating complex withdrawal symptoms and preventing morphine use relapses.