• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.480-483
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• 2012

Schwannoma is a benign, slow-growing, tumor of the peripheral nerves without specific symptoms, so that early diagnosis may be difficult. Though approximately 25~40% of all schwannomas occur extracranially in the head and neck region, only 1% of schwannomas are reported in the oral cavity. An 18-years-old female patient visited our clinic with a mass on the middle-right-dorsal surface of the tongue slowly growing for 1.5 years. The patient underwent the surgical removal of the neoplasia under general anesthesia. The mass was well capsulated and a cleavage plane was easily found. There was no recidivation during the course of a one-year follow-up. The treatment for schwannoma is surgical excision of the lesion and recurrence after excision of schwannoma is rare. The final diagnosis is made after a histological examination. Differential diagnoses must be made in relation to malignant tumors and in relation to numerous benign neoformations based on epithelial and connective tissues.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2009

Equisetum hyemale Linne. (EH) (Equisetaceae) has been used for the treatment of eye and skin disease, chronic eczema, pneumoconiosis and asthma in Korea and China. Human leukemic mast cells are widely distributed in the connective tissues of mammals and other vertebrates. Phorbol 12-myristrate 13-acetate (PMA) and calcium ionophore A23187 stimulated Human leukaemic mast cell line-1 (HMC-1) can produce a variety of inflammatory mediators and several pro-inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines such as TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 and IL-8. Since TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 and IL-8 are major factors during the inflammatory process, we studied the effects of EH on TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 and IL-8 release in HMC-1 stimulated with PMA and A23187. The result of this study indicate that EH inhibits TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6 and IL-8 in activated HMC-1 cells via $I{\kappa}B$/Nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ pathway. Therefore, EH might contribute significantly to the prevention or treatment of mast-cell mediated inflammatory diseases and EH has potential use in the therapy of chronic allergic inflammation.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.589-592
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• 2005

Since G.N. Hounsfield's clinical use of computed tomography in 1971, digital imaging technique using computers has shown an eye opening progress. Progress has made 3-dimensional understanding of not only facial bones but muscles and other connective tissues possible through 3-dimensional reconstruction of preexisting tomographical images. Also, quantitative analysis of density, distance, volume has become possible, allowing objective analysis of preoperative and postoperative states through imaging. The authors measured the masseter muscle volume of 20 normal individuals and 8 female patients through 3-D reconstructive CT imaging and made a statistical analysis of the measurements. The method used in our study may be applied to the diagnosis of disease causing the change of the facial volume and presurgical design as a useful tool to provide objective information on the evaluation of surgery outcome.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.980-990
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• 2003

The effect of Gamigyuibi-tang on the penile erection induced by apomorphine HCI and on the erectile dysfunction induced by p,p-DDE, an environmental hormone derivate of DOT, were monitored using male cats. The changes of penile length, diameter, erectic periods and histological profiles of corpus cavernosum and corpus spongiosum were observed with blood testosterone levels. In conclusion, dose-dependent and significant increase of penile length, diameter, erectic periods and blood testosterone levels were detected in the Gamigyuibitang-dosing groups compared to other groups. In addition, it is also demonstrated that the increasement of congestion of blood vessels and dilation of connective tissues, and decreasement of adipocytes in the corpus cavernosum and/or corpus spongiosum of the Gamigyuibitang-dosing groups. According to these results, it is considered that Gamigyuibitang has some augmentation effect against to apomorphine HCI inducing penile erection and it also suggested that Gamigyuibitang has favorable effect to treatment of erectic dysfunctions induced by p,p-DDE.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.205-210
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• 2007

Collagen is the major structural protein of connective tissues. It can be used as a prosthetic biomaterial applicable to artificial skin, tendon, ligaments, and collagen implants. The objective of this study is to investigate the possibility of realizing wound dressing medical products by the synthesis of composite materials with collagen and a biodegradable polymer, PLLA, via a surface modification process. Type I collagen was obtained from pig skin by a separation process. The structural characteristics of the extracted collagen were confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide (PAcr) gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and FTIR. Also, PLLA-g-PAcr was synthesized by the radical polymerization of acrylamide initiated by AIBN in the presence of PLLA. The surface of PLLA was modified by the presence of the acrylamide residues. The structural characteristics of the copolymer were analyzed by FTIR, $^1H-NMR$ and contact angle measurements. The water uptake and WVTR of the collagen/PLLA-g-PAcr composite tended to increase with increasing collagen concentration and with decreasing EDC concentration.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2021

Decorin (DCN) is a proteoglycan belonging to the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family. It is composed of a protein core containing leucine repeats with a glycosaminoglycan chain consisting of either chondroitin sulfate or dermatan sulfate. DCN is a structural component of connective tissues that can bind to type I collagen. It plays a role in the assembly of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and it is related to fibrillogenesis. It can interact with fibronectin, thrombospondin, complement component C1, transforming growth factor (TGF), and epidermal growth factor receptor. Normal DCN expression regulates a wide range of cellular processes, including proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and autophagy, through interactions with various molecules. However, its aberrant expression is associated with oocyte maturation, oocyte quality, and poor extravillous trophoblast invasion of the uterus, which underlies the occurrence of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Spatiotemporal hormonal control of successful pregnancy should regulate the concentration and activity of specific proteins such as proteoglycan participating in the ECM remodeling of trophoblastic and uterine cells in fetal membranes and uterus. At the human feto-maternal interface, TGF-β and DCN play crucial roles in the regulation of trophoblast invasion of the uterus. This review summarizes the role of the proteoglycan DCN as an important and multifunctional molecule in the physiological regulation of oocyte maturation and trophoblast migration. This review also shows that recombinant DCN proteins might be useful for substantiating diverse functions in both animal and in vitro models of oogenesis and implantation.

• The Korean Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.155-162
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• 2017

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF, CCN2) is one of the multi-functional secreted proteins which belong to CCN family of cysteine-rich growth factors. CTGF is known to have pivotal roles in embryonic endochondral ossification but its role in relevance to periodontitis is never been determined. To identify new molecular mediators associated with periodontitis-induced bone resorption, we have analyzed publicly available GEO database and found the markedly augmented CTGF mRNA expression in periodontitis gingival tissues. The existence of CTGF significantly enhanced mature osteoclasts survival which accompanied by reduction in TUNEL-positive nuclei and PARP cleavage. These results may provide another line of evidence the CTGF mediated prolonged osteoclast survival and subsequent increased bone resorption in the periodontitis patients.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.128-143
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and the mechanisms of dietary supplements in cellulite treatment, and then to provide the theoretical and clinical basis for the cellulite treatment in Korean Medicine. Methods: We searched for articles from Korea, China, and English electronic database (Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS], National Digital Science Library [NDSL], KMbase, Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], National Assembly Library, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, Google scholar, PubMed, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI]) until April 2018. We chose clinical trial studies by inclusion criteria through titles, abstracts and articles. Results: A total of 10 studies were selected through search. The experimental group had shown more effective cellulite improvement in 90% of studies. Also, improvement of symptoms related with cellulite like pain, edema, heaviness and increase of skin surface temperature were observed in experimental group. In addition, the density of connective tissues of the dermal layer was increased in experimental group. Conclusions: The use of dietary supplements in cellulite treatment is thought to be effective through mechanisms that antioxidant efficacy, microcirculation improvement, interstitial matrix improvement, diuretic effect, and skin metabolic activity effect.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2022

Performing a skin graft is not feasible for tendon-exposed defect reconstruction because tendons are fibrous connective tissues with relatively poor blood supply. This study proposes a method to effectively perform skin graft surgery in tendon-exposed wounds. A 48-year-old male patient with diabetes mellitus had a very large left dorsal foot defect (8×8 cm). The wound bed had healthy granular tissue, with tendon exposure. The tendons were turned over so that the posterior side would behave as the anterior side. The edge of the paratenon was then fixed together to the surrounding granulation tissue or dense remnant fascia using absorbable sutures, and the close granulation tissue was approximated and buried. A split-thickness skin graft was performed after 1 week. The graft site was stably taken on postoperative day 3. A small disruption was then observed at the graft site within 1 week postoperatively, but conservative treatment was continued for 1 month, after which the defect site was completely restored. This technique can increase the success rate of skin grafts for defects with tendon exposure.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.723-743
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• 2022

Beef muscles from mature cows and bulls, especially those originating from the extremities of the carcass, are considered as underutilized due to unsatisfactory palatability. However, beef from culled animals comprises a substantial proportion of the total slaughter in the US and globally. Modern consumers typically favor cuts suitable for fast, dry-heat cookery, thereby creating challenges for the industry to market inherently tough muscles. In general, cull cow beef would be categorized as having a lower extent of postmortem proteolysis compared to youthful carcasses, coupled with a high amount of background toughness. The extent of cross-linking and resulting insolubility of intramuscular connective tissues typically serves as the limiting factor for tenderness development of mature beef. Thus, numerous post-harvest strategies have been developed to improve the quality and palatability attributes, often aimed at overcoming deficiencies in tenderness through enhancing the degradation of myofibrillar and stromal proteins or physically disrupting the tissue structure. The aim of this review is to highlight existing and recent innovations in the field that have been demonstrated as effective to enhance the tenderness and palatability traits of mature beef during the chilling and postmortem aging processes, as well as the use of physical interventions and enhancement.