• Title/Summary/Keyword: light therapy

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A Regression of Miller Fisher Syndrome using Photic Feedback: Possibility of a New Complementary Therapy

  • Kamei, Tsutomu;Toriumi, Yoshitaka;Kumano, Hiroaki;Yasushi, Mitsuo
    • Journal of Photoscience
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.530-533
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    • 2002
  • We present a case of The Miller Fisher Syndrome (MFS), showing a remission during a recently developed noninvasive therapy. Two weeks after an appearance of cough and fever, a 35 years old Japanese male developed diplopia, ataxia and numbness of his fingers and toes. He was diagnosed as MFS, and a fixed dose of prednisolone acetate (60mg/day) was administered for 3 months, but little improvement was observed. In addition to this administration, we tried 20 minutes of Photic Feedback (PFB) treatment daily for 40 days. The PFB system detects brain waves from the subject's forehead, and extracts alpha waves by the band-pass filter with a center frequency set at 10.0Hz. It also simultaneously modulates the augmentation of a red light-emitting diode, corresponding with the amplitudes of the extracted alpha waves. In this treatment, this adjusted photic stimulation was given to the subject's closed eyes, resulting in the effective alpha enhancement by photic driving response. The numbness increased during each of PFB treatment, but the symptoms started to improve gradually after 10 days. Other symptoms disappeared after 40 days. CD20 levels increased with this treatment. This case suggests that the PFB treatment may speed the natural remission of MFS. This treatment may be worth considering in patients who suffer polyneuropathy.

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A study on the EGT(Extra Gigong Therapy) with Hypertension (고혈압(高血壓) 환자를 대상으로 시행한 외기발공(外氣發功)의 유효성(有效性) 고찰)

  • Kim, Ju-mee;Park, Jong-woong;Park, Ryung-joon;Pi, Chiem-mei;Sun, Jae-guang
    • Journal of Korean Medical Ki-Gong Academy
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.1-48
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    • 2006
  • This is a paper on the validity of Extra Gigong Therapy(EGT) on Hypertension patients. We've treated hypertension patients EGT, used IEMD for analysis, so that come to these conclusions. 1. Average value of treatment group was 4.215, this is higher than one of control group. They had differences up to the standard. 2. Hypertension patients are divided into EGT treated group(treatment group) and non-treated one(control group). 3. Light stomach meridian has differences in treatment group and no differences in control group before and after EGT. That means EGT is effective. So does Spleen meridian. 4. With 12 meridians' electric potential values, we come to conclusion that EGT is likely to do hypertension patients good, especially on the point of view of liver, kidney, stomach and spleen meridian pathways. And bibliographies back up in this conclusion. 5. We classified hypertension patients into 4 factors: that is a spiritual factor, a physical factor, an eating factor and a circulation factor. Among these, a physical factor was seen of high frequency. There is a close connection between a physical factor and liver, kidney, spleen meridian pathways. The consequence was that subjects are suburban residents in the prime of time who had overworked.

A Study on the Effects of Occlusal Stabilization Splint on Electromyographic Activity (교합안정장치의 장착이 저작근 활성도에 끼치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Min Shin;Kyung-Soo Han
    • Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.67-80
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    • 1989
  • The author studied the changes of muscle activity with Bioelectric processor Model EM2(Myotronics Corp., USA) before and after occlusal stabilization splint therapy. For this study, 15 temporomandibular disorders patients and 15 students without any temporomandibular disorders symptoms were selected, for experimental group and control group, respectively. Experimental group were treated with occlusal stabilization splint and checked about electromyographic activity before and after therapy. Electromyographic levels were measured in both groups at the following mandibular position, i.e., physiologic rest, tapping, light biting, hard open without pain, open with pain, right excursion and ipsilateral biting, left excursion and ipsilateral biting, protrusion, protrusive biting, edge biting and physiologic rest after movement. The obtained results were as follows : 1. In experimental group, post-treatment mean values of muscle activity were lower than pretreatment values. 2. In general, the pre-treatment mean values of muscle activity in experimental group were higher than those of control group. 3. In experimental group, no statistically significant difference appeared between affected and unaffected side. 4. The mean value of muscle activity in physiologic rest position after each movement check was lower than that before each movement check.

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Methods for rapid identification of a functional single-chain variable fragment using alkaline phosphatase fusion

  • Lee, Kyung-Woo;Hur, Byung-Ung;Song, Suk-Yoon;Choi, Hyo-Jung;Shin, Sang-Hoon;Cha, Sang-Hoon
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.42 no.11
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    • pp.731-736
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    • 2009
  • The generation of functional recombinant antibodies from hybridomas is necessary for antibody engineering. However, this is not easily accomplished due to high levels of aberrant heavy and light chain mRNAs, which require a highly selective technology that has proven complicated and difficult to operate. Herein, we attempt to use an alkaline phosphate (AP)-fused form of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) for the simple identification of a hybridoma-derived, functional recombinant antibody. As a representative example, we cloned the scFv gene from a hybridoma-producing mouse IgG against branched-chain keto acid dehydrogenase complex-E2 (BCKD-E2) into an expression vector containing an in-frame phoA gene. Functional recombinant antibodies were easily identified by conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by employing scFv-AP fusion protein, which also readily serves as a valuable immuno-detective reagent.

Neuroimaging in Nuclear Medicine: Drug Addicted Brain (약물 중독 환자의 뇌신경계 핵의학 영상)

  • Chung, Yong-An;Kim, Dae-Jin
    • Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.1-8
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    • 2006
  • Addiction to illicit drugs is one of today's most important social issues. Most addictive drugs lead to irreversible parenchymal changes in the human brain. Neuroimaging data bring to light the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the abused drugs, and demonstrate that addiction is a disease of the brain. Continuous researches better illustrate the neurochemical alterations in brain function, and attempt to discover the links to consequent behavioral changes. Newer hypotheses and theories follow the numerous results, and more rational methods of approaching therapy are being developed. Substance abuse is on the rise in Korea, and social interest in the matter as well. On the other hand, diagnosis and treatment of drug addiction is still very difficult, because how the abused substance acts in the brain, or how it leads to behavioral problems is not widely known. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of drug addiction can improve the process of diagnosing addict patients, planning therapy, and predicting the prognosis. Neuroimaging approaches by nuclear medicine methods are expected to objectively judge behavioral and neurochemical changes, and response to treatment. In audition, as genes associated with addictive behavior are discovered, functional nuclear medicine images will aid in the assessment of individuals. Reviewing published literature on neuroimaging regarding nuclear medicine is expected to be of assistance to the management of drug addict patients. What's more, means of applying nuclear medicine to the care of drug addict patients should be investigated further.

Advances in the Management of Unresectable or Metastatic Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Chemotherapy, Targeted Therapy, Hormonal Treatment, and Future Directions

  • Bilici, Ahmet
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.6
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    • pp.2151-2159
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    • 2015
  • Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are rare and heterogenous tumors and surgery to remove the primary tumor is the mainstay of treatment for resectable disease. However, curative surgery is often not feasible, because half of patients with pNET have metastases at the time of diagnosis. Palliative dubulking surgery and liver-directed therapies are appropriate options for these patients. Streptozocin-based regimens are standard, although temozolamide-based treatments are rapidly gaining wide clinical application. Somatostatin analogs are mainly indicated in hormonally active tumors to ameliorate symptoms. In addition, anti-tumoral activity has been proven in well-differentiated NETs. Recently, there has been tremendous progress in the molecular biology of pNETs; thereby, the efficacy of sunitinib and everolimus in the treatment of patients with metastatic pNETs has been proven by large placebo-controlled phase III trials. Currently, there are no definitively proven predictive biomarkers to evaluate response to medical therapies in patients with pNET. Therefore, further studies are needed to individualize and optimize their management. This article reviews systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and anti-secretory treatments for the management of patients with unresectable or metastatic pNETs, summarized in the light of recent advances.

Identification of a Novel Fusion Gene (HLA-E and HLA-B) by RNA-seq Analysis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

  • Jiang, Yu-Zhang;Li, Qian-Hui;Zhao, Jian-Qiang;Lv, Jun-Ji
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.5
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    • pp.2309-2312
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    • 2014
  • Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common histologic subtype of esophageal cancer and is characterized by a poor prognosis. Determining gene changes in ESCCs should improve understanding of putative risk factors and provide potential targets for therapy. We sequenced about 55 million pair-end reads from a pair of adjacent normal and ESCC samples to identify the gene expression level and gene fusion. Sanger sequencing was used to verify the result. About 17 thousand genes were expressed in the tissues, of which approximately 2400 demonstrated significant differences between tumor and adjacent non tumor tissue. GO and KEGG pathway analysis revealed that many of these genes were associated with cellular adherence and movement, simulation responses and immune responses. Notably we identified and validated one fusion gene, HLA-E and HLA-B, located 1 MB apart. We also identified thousands of remarkably expressed transcripts. In conclusion, a novel fusion gene HLA-E and HLA-B was identified in ESCC via whole transcriptome sequencing, which would be a biomarker for ESCC diagnosis and target for therapy, shedding new light for better understanding of ESCC tumorigenesis.

Glial Mechanisms of Neuropathic Pain and Emerging Interventions

  • Jo, Daehyun;Chapman, C. Richard;Light, Alan R.
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.1-15
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    • 2009
  • Neuropathic pain is often refractory to intervention because of the complex etiology and an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms behind this type of pain. Glial cells, specifically microglia and astrocytes, are powerful modulators of pain and new targets of drug development for neuropathic pain. Glial activation could be the driving force behind chronic pain, maintaining the noxious signal transmission even after the original injury has healed. Glia express chemokine, purinergic, toll-like, glutaminergic and other receptors that enable them to respond to neural signals, and they can modulate neuronal synaptic function and neuronal excitability. Nerve injury upregulates multiple receptors in spinal microglia and astrocytes. Microglia influence neuronal communication by producing inflammatory products at the synapse, as do astrocytes because they completely encapsulate synapses and are in close contact with neuronal somas through gap junctions. Glia are the main source of inflammatory mediators in the central nervous system. New therapeutic strategies for neuropathic pain are emerging such as targeting the glial cells, novel pharmacologic approaches and gene therapy. Drugs targeting microglia and astrocytes, cytokine production, and neural structures including dorsal root ganglion are now under study, as is gene therapy. Isoform-specific inhibition will minimize the side effects produced by blocking all glia with a general inhibitor. Enhancing the anti-inflammatory cytokines could prove more beneficial than administering proinflammatory cytokine antagonists that block glial activation systemically. Research on therapeutic gene transfer to the central nervous system is underway, although obstacles prevent immediate clinical application.

The Rat Myosin Light Chain Promoter-Driven DsRed Reporter System Allows Specific Monitoring of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell- Derived Cardiomyocytes

  • Choi, Seung-Cheol;Lim, Do-Sun
    • Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.21-25
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    • 2008
  • Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into a variety of cell types. They represent an attractive source of cells for gene and cell therapy. The purpose of this study is to direct the specific expression of the DsRed reporter gene in $Sca-1^+$ BMMSCs differentiated into a cardiomyogenic lineage. We constructed the prMLC-2v-DsRed vector expressing DsRed under the control of the 309 tp fragment of the rat MLC-2v 5'-flanking region. The specific expression of the DsRed reporter gene under the transcriptional control of the 309 bp fragment of the rat MLC-2v promoter was tested in 5-azacytidine healed-$Sca-1^+$ BMMSCs over 2 weeks after the prMLC-2v-DsRed transfection. The prMLC-2v-DsRed was specifically expressed in the $Sca-1^+$ BMMSCs with cardiomyogenic lineage differentiation and it demonstrates that the 309 bp sequences of the rat MLC-2v 5'-flanking region is sufficient to confer cardiac specific expression on a DsRed reporter gene. The cardiac-specific promoter-driven reporter vector provides an important tool for the study of stem cell differentiation and cell replacement therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy.

An Experimental Study on the Effects of Hyperthermia and Irradiation on the Rat's Kidney (방사선조사와 온열요법이 백서신에 미치는 조직 변화에 관한 실험적 연구)

  • Yoo, Myung-Hee;Lee, Kyung-Ja;Rhee, Chung-Sik
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.157-169
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    • 1989
  • Radiological and clinical evidences indicate that hyperthermia combined with irradiation produce a significant improvement in therapeutic effect of cancer The experiences obtained from 90 rats' kidney A single dose of irradiation ranged from 6Gy, 8Gy and 10Gy was delivered on the rat's kidney. The combined therapy group had the same irradiation after hyperthermia at $42\~44^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes. Microscopic examination and calculation of thermal enhancement ratio were carried out, and the results were as follows: 1. In the group of hyperthermia alone, there were moderate glomerular congestion and mild tubular degeneration on light microscopic examination. 2. In the group of irradiation alone, tubular degeneration was noted in 6Gy irradiation and its severity was increased along with radiation dose. 3. In the group of hyperthermia combined with irradiation, tubular degeneration and necrosis were appeared in 6Gy and 10Gy irradiation, respectively. 4. On electron microscopic examination, proximal convoluted tubular and glomerular changes in irradiation group were similar to that of combined with hyperthermia, and its severity was increased along with observation periods. 5. Thermal enhancement ratio (TER) was 1.0 after evaluation of histipathologic changes in rat's kidney, with combination therapy.

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