• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.223-226
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• 2014

In the fermented soybean product known as "chungkookjang", diverse bioactive compounds are produced when the soybean proteins are degraded during fermentation. Vascular endothelial cells (EC) are crucial in vein function and the formation of new vessels. A treatment to stimulate formation of new blood vessels is needed in cerebrovascular diseases that lead to ischaemic stroke and heart attack, as well as for diabetic ulcers. VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) simulates EC formation. The effect of Chungkookjang ethanol extract (CEE) on the proliferation of EC was studied. CEE (100, $1000{\mu}g/ml$) and boiled CEE were as effective as VEGF (10 ng/ml) for the proliferation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC). The effect of CEE on the migration of HUVEC was investigated using sprout analysis. CEE ($100{\mu}g/ml$) was as effective as VEGF (10 ng/ml) for the migration of HUVEC. Isolation of specific peptides influencing the growth and migration of EC is needed.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.294-298
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• 2007

Moyamoya disease is a progressive cerebrovascular disorder with stenosis or occlusion of the bilateral internal carotid arteries with abnormal vascular networks at the base of the brain. Previous reports have shown that there are extracranial vascular involvements in Moyamoya disease, especially in the renal artery. We report a 7-year-old patient with Moyamoya disease associated with renovascular hyper tension, who presented in infancy with seizures and hemiparesis. Renal angiography showed multiple stenoses of the right renal artery. Although renal artery stenosis in Moyamoya disease has been effectively treated with balloon angioplasty, stent implantation, or surgery, bat-loon angioplasty could not be done in this patient due to multiple stenoses. His blood pressure was successfully controlled with medical treatment, and remained normotensive during the follow up period of 6 months.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.223-231
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• 2014

In this study, we prepared cordycepin-enriched (CE)-WIB801C, a n-butanol extract of Cordyceps militaris-hypha, and investigated the effect of CE-WIB801C on collagen-induced human platelet aggregation. CE-WIB801C dose-dependently inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation, and its $IC_{50}$ value was $175{\mu}g/ml$. CE-WIB801C increased cAMP level more than cGMP level, but inhibited collagen-elevated $[CA^{2+}]_i$ mobilization and thromboxane $A_2$ ($TXA_2$) production. cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) inhibitor Rp-8-Br-cAMPS increased the CE-WIB801C-downregulated $[CA^{2+}]_i$ level in a dose dependent manner, and strongly inhibited CE-WIB801C-induced inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptor ($IP_3R$) phosphorylation. These results suggest that the inhibition of $[CA^{2+}]_i$ mobilization by CE-WIB801C is resulted from the cAMP/A-kinase-dependent phosphorylation of $IP_3R$. CE-WIB801C suppressed $TXA_2$ production, but did not inhibit the activities of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and $TXA_2$ synthase (TXAS). These results suggest that the inhibition of $TXA_2$ production by WIB801C is not resulted from the direct inhibition of COX-1 and TXAS. In this study, we demonstrate that CE-WIB801C with cAMP-dependent $CA^{2+}$-antagonistic antiplatelet effects may have preventive or therapeutic potential for platelet aggregation-mediated diseases, such as thrombosis, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, and ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.99-106
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• 2016

Objectives : Salvianolic acid B (SAB) is an active ingredient in Salvia miltiorrhiza frequently used for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The present study investigated the antioxidant effects of SAB on the skeletal muscle and the brain tissue of rats following exhaustive exercise.Methods : The rats were treated with oral administration of SAB (30 mg/kg) daily for 5 days prior to the exhaustive exercise. The exhaustive exercise was performed as swimming for 150 min with 5% body weight attached to the tail on the 5th day. The antioxidant effects of SAB was evaluated by measuring the superoxide generation in the gastrocnemius and the 4-HNE expression in the hippocampal tissue. In addition, c-Fos-expressing cells in the brain tissue was observed using immunohistochemistry.Results : Histological features and muscle fiber type composition were not different between the SAB group and the exhaustive exercise group. SAB significantly reduced the upregulation of superoxide generation in the muscle tissue. SAB significantly reduced the increase of c-Fos-expressing cells in the cerebral cortex, paraventricular thalamic nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, the CA1, CA3, and DG regions of hippocampus. SAB significantly reduced the upregulation of 4-HNE expression in the CA1 and DG regions of hippocampus caused by the exhaustive exercise.Conclusions : The results suggest that SAB exerts antioxidative effect against oxidative stress in the skeletal muscle and the brain tissue following exhaustive exercise, while SAB may has an anti-stress effect on stress responses in the brain.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.210-228
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• 2002

Background: The purpose of this research was to examine the fall incidence rate and its related factors of fall in inpatients. Methods: The data were collected from the 138 fall incident reports in one tertiary hospital in Seoul from April 1st 1999 to September 30th 2001. The Fall Incident Report Form was originally developed based on that of Massachusetts General Hospital revised in 1995. And this was modified for this survey by the collaborating work of QI team including researcher and department of nursing service of this particular hospital. The contents of Fall Incident Form were general characteristics of patient. factors related to fall. types and places of fall. circumstances, nursing interventions. and outcome. Results: 1) The incidence rate of fall was 0.08% of total discharged patients and 0.081 per 1000 patient-day. This incidence rate is much lower than that of several hospitals in USA. This finding might result from the different incidence report system of each hospital. 2) The characteristics of fall-prone patient were found as follows. They were mostly over 60 years old, in alert mental status, ambulatory with some assistance, and dependent on ambulatory device. The types of diseases related high incidence rate were cerebrovascular disease(3.2), hypertension(1.6), cardiovascular disease(1.4), diabetes(1.3) and liver disease(0.6). 3) The majority of fall events usually occurred m bed. bedside(walking or standing) and bathroom in patient room. Usually they were up on their own when they fell. And there were more falls of elderly occurred during night time than day or evening. 4) 63.8% of fall events resulted in physical injuries such as fracture and usually the patients had diagnostic procedures and some treatment(ex. suture) which caused additional cost to the patients and their families. 5) The found risk factors of fall were drugs(antihypertensive drug, diuretics) and environmental factors like too high bed height, long distance of bedside table and lamp switch, and slippery tile of bathroom floor. Conclusion: Considering these results, every medical and nursing staff should be aware of the risk factors of patients in hospital, and should intervene more actively the preventive managements, specially for the elderly patients during night. Therefore, it is recommended that the development of Fall Prevention Programs based on these results.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-17
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• 2008

Objectives : Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san) has been used for many years as a treatment for cerebrovascular diseases in Oriental medicine. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san) on cognition and motor function recovery after ischemic brain injury, and also the expression of BDNF in hippocampus. Methods : This study was designed with 4 subgroups to evaluate the effects of Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san). As control groups, group I has no treatment during 1 week after ischemic brain injury and group II has no treatment during 2 weeks after ischemic brain injury. As experimental groups, group III has been treated with Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san) during 1 week after ischemic brain injury and group IV have treated with Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san) during 2 week after ischemic brain injury. Each group has been examined by tests as follows, neurological motor behavioral tests, cognitive motor behavior test and histological test. Neurological motor behavior tests consisted of limb placement test, beam-walking test and horizontal wire test. Cognitive motor behavior test was performed by using Morris water maze. In the histological test, TTC(2,3,5-triphenylteterazolium chloride) staining, hematoxylin & eosin staining, and immunohistochemical staining were used. Results : 1. The tests for motor function recovery change had significantly good result in the experimental groups as compared with control groups(p<.05). 2. The Morris water maze test on cognition also had significantly good result in the experimental groups as compared with control groups(p<.05). 3. In the immunohistochemical staining for the expression of BDNF in hippocampus, more immune reaction was investigated in the experimental groups as compared with control groups. Especially group IV has the greatest immune reaction. Conclusions : Ohyaksungi-san(Wuyaoshunqi-san) has good effects on cognition and motor function recovery after ischemic brain injury, and also the expression of BDNF in hippocampus.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2016

Purpose: Susceptibility vessel sign (SVS) on gradient echo image, which is caused by MR signal loss due to arterial thrombosis, has been reported in acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction. However, the reported sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of SVS have been variable. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a newly developed MR sequence. Recent studies have found that SWI may be useful in the field of cerebrovascular diseases, especially for detecting the presence of prominent veins, microbleeds and the SVS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic values of SWI for the detection of hyperacute MCA occlusion. Materials and Methods: Sixty-nine patients (37 males, 32 females; 46-89 years old [mean, 69.1]) with acute stroke involving the MCA territory underwent MR imaging within 6 hours after the symptom onset. MR examination included T2, FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery), DWI, SWI, PWI (perfusion-weighted imaging), contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA) and contrast-enhanced T1. Of these patients, 28 patients also underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) within 2 hours after MR examination. Presence or absence of SVS on SWI was assessed without knowledge of clinical, DSA and other MR imaging findings. Results: On MRA or DSA, 34 patients (49.3%) showed MCA occlusion. Of these patients, SVS was detected in 30 (88.2%) on SWI. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of SWI were 88.2%, 97.1%, 96.8%, 89.5% and 92.8%, respectively. Conclusion: SWI was sensitive, specific and accurate for the detection of hyperacute MCA occlusion.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.880-890
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• 2010

The intrasvascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging technique is used to diagnose cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke. Recently, elasticity imaging methods have been investigated to diagnose blood clots attached to blood vessel intima. However, the IVUS imaging technique is an invasive method that requires a transducer to be inserted into blood vessel. In this paper, strain images are obtained of blood clots attached to blood vessel intima with data acquired from outside the blood vessel using a linear array transducer. In order to measure the displacement of blood vessel accurately, experimental data are acquired by steering ultrasound beams so that they can intersect the blood vessel wall at right angles. The acquired rf data are demodulated to the baseband. The resulting complex baseband signals are then processed by an autocorrelation algorithm to compute the blood vessel movement and thereby produce strain image. This proposed method is verified by experiments on a plastic blood vessel mimicking phantom. The efficacy of the proposed method was verified using a home-made blood vessel mimicking phantom. The blood vessel mimicking phantom was constructed by making a 6 mm diameter hollow cylinder inside it to simulate a blood vessel and adhering 2 mm thick soft plaque to the inner wall of the hollow cylinder. The RF data were acquired using a clinical ultrasound scanner (Accuvix XQ, Medison, Seoul. Korea) with a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer by steering ultrasound beams in steps of $1^{\circ}$ from $-40^{\circ}$ to $40^{\circ}$ for a total of 81 angles. Experimental results show that the plaque region near the blood vessel wall is softer than background tissue. Although the imaging region is restricted due to the limited range of angles for which scan lines are perpendicular to the wall, the feasibility of strain imaging is demonstrated.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1044-1050
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• 2006

The Korean genuine medicine, 'Gigukjihwangtanggami (GJT)' has long been used clinically for hypertension and various cerebrovascular diseases. However, experimental study has been carried out very little. Recently cytokines involved in the regulation of inflammatory reactions and immune responses may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral infarction (CI). The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of GJT on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCS) stimulated with lipopolysaccaride (LPS) from Cl patients. The amount of tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}\;(TNF-{\alpha}),\;interleukin-1{\beta}\;(IL-1{\beta})$, IL-6, IL-8, IL-4 and IL-10 in PBMC culture supernatant was significantly increased in the LPS treated cells compared to unstimulated cells. GJT inhibited the production of $TNF-{\alpha},\;IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and IL-8 induced by LPS. The maximal inhibition rate of the $TNF-{\alpha},\;IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and IL-8 production by pretreatment of GJT (1 mg/ml) was $57.32{\pm}2.5%$ (p.0.05), $42.02{\pm}3.5%$ (p.0.05), $40.02{\pm}2.3%$ (p.0.05) and $48.02{\pm}3.1$, (p.0.05), respectively. In the Other hand, GJT increased the production of IL-4 and IL-10. The maximal increase rate of the IL-4 and IL-10 production by pretreatment of GJT (1 mg/ml) was $42.4{\pm}3.3%$ (p.0.05) End $56.4{\pm}2.9%$ (p.0.05), respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that GJT Ray have regulatory effects on the cytokine production and suggest that GJT might use clinically for the treatment of CI.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.873-878
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• 2019

Cerebrovascular disease is one of the three major causes of death in Korea. Since these diseases are associated with atherosclerosis, the diagnosis of atherosclerotic factors should be presented. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between brachial-ankle arterial pulse wave velocity, cerebral artery vascular stenosis, blood pressure, obesity, and abdominal obesity by age group. The significance of cerebral artery stenosis and age group. The risk factors of atherosclerosis, such as blood pressure, obesity, and abdominal obesity, were significant in all age groups. When the pulse wave velocity of the brachial-ankle artery was increased, the cerebral artery stenosis was distributed in 57.3% of the total test subjects. If the arterial stiffness is suspected during the measurement of the pulse wave velocity of the brachial ankle artery, We recommend suspected vascular stenosis and perform a cerebral artery angiography. It is suggested that the data will be used as a baseline data for similar studies after evaluating the significance of blood pressure, obesity, and abdominal obesity as risk factors of atherosclerosis.