• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2015

Excess manganese (Mn) is neurotoxic. Increased manganese stores in the brain are associated with a number of behavioral problems, including motor dysfunction, memory loss and psychiatric disorders. We previously showed that the transport and neurotoxicity of manganese after intranasal instillation of the metal are altered in Hfe-deficient mice, a mouse model of the iron overload disorder hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). However, it is not fully understood whether loss of Hfe function modifies Mn neurotoxicity after ingestion. To investigate the role of Hfe in oral Mn toxicity, we exposed Hfe-knockout ($Hfe^{-/-}$) and their control wild-type ($Hfe^{+/+}$) mice to $MnCl_2$ in drinking water (5 mg/mL) for 5 weeks. Motor coordination and spatial memory capacity were determined by the rotarod test and the Barnes maze test, respectively. Brain and liver metal levels were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Compared with the water-drinking group, mice drinking Mn significantly increased Mn concentrations in the liver and brain of both genotypes. Mn exposure decreased iron levels in the liver, but not in the brain. Neither Mn nor Hfe deficiency altered tissue concentrations of copper or zinc. The rotarod test showed that Mn exposure decreased motor skills in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, but not in $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice (p = 0.023). In the Barns maze test, latency to find the target hole was not altered in Mn-exposed $Hfe^{+/+}$ compared with water-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice. However, Mn-exposed $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice spent more time to find the target hole than Mn-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice (p = 0.028). These data indicate that loss of Hfe function impairs spatial memory upon Mn exposure in drinking water. Our results suggest that individuals with hemochromatosis could be more vulnerable to memory deficits induced by Mn ingestion from our environment. The pathophysiological role of HFE in manganese neurotoxicity should be carefully examined in patients with HFE-associated hemochromatosis and other iron overload disorders.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.107-115
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of an exercise program on frontal lobe cognitive function in seniors. Methods: The participants were 42 seniors using a health center in Seoul (experimental group) and 28 seniors using a facility for elders in Seoul (control group). The exercise program was carried out for 16 weeks from April to August 2007. The frontal lobe cognitive function, which includes short term memory, attention, immediate memory, delayed memory, verbal fluency and motor function, was measured by the Digit Span Forward test, Trail Making test, Immediate recall words test, Delayed recall words, Controlled oral word association test and Finger tapping test. The collected data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, Chi-square, t-test, and ANCOVA using the SAS program. Results: The major findings of this study were as follows: Attention (p=.009), immediate memory (p=.005), delayed memory (p=.009), and verbal fluency (p=.004) improved after the exercise program. Conclusion: In this study, the exercise program was effective in improving frontal lobe cognitive function in elders. So it provides basic information for further nursing education on exercise programs which will be effective for prevention of early cognitive function decline in normally aging elders.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2010

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development. Motor disorder of cerebral palsy is often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, perception, cognition, communication, behavior and seizure disorder. Disharmony of motor function leads to frequent falling down. Moreover patients have high prevalence of class II malocclusion. Compared to normal patients, the patients with cerebral palsy tends to have high prevalence of recurrent trauma and bruxism which make restoration of the anterior tooth more difficult. This case report is consisted of three cases of cerebral palsy patients who have challenging problems with restoration of anterior teeth.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1253-1258
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• 2016

Although major advances have been achieved in our understanding and treatment of diseases in many areas of medicine, relatively few improvements have been made in the area of gastrointestinal (GI) motor function. The dried root of Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. (CP) has been used as a traditional folk medicine for improving poor GI function in East Asia, including China and Korea. In the present study, neither aqueous (CP-W) nor ethanolic (CP-E) extracts of CP showed significant toxicity, even at an oral dose of 5 g/kg to mice. The effects of CP-W and CP-E on GI motor function were investigated by measuring in vivo the gastric emptying rate (GER) and intestinal transit rate (ITR) in mice. In normal mice, the ITR was significantly increased by CP-W in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the GER was not significantly affected by any CP extracts. The ITR was significantly retarded in the mice with experimental GI motility dysfunction (i.e., peritoneal irritation by acetic acid) compared with that in normal mice. However, the retardation was significantly recovered by the pre-treatment of CP-W in a dose-dependent manner. The above results suggest that CP-W might be a potential prokinetic agent preventing or alleviating GI motility dysfunctions in human patients.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2008

Cerebrovascular Accident(stroke) is that a sudden, nonconvulsive loss of neurologic function due to an ischemic or hemorrhagic intracranial vascular event. If stroke happens at the portion of trigeminal motor nucleus or its control part of cerebral cortex, masticatory muscles will be atrophy or paralyzed. So it is possible that dental occlusion changes after stroke. A 74-aged woman recurred mild stroke 2 month ago, who had experienced severe stroke 2 years ago. After recurrence, suddenly her upper full denture was dropped when lower denture contacted upper one. According to the her occlusion exam, her lower jaw moved back slightly compared with the occlusion of old denture. And her face had asymmetry and lower jaw dislocated to paralyzed side. A 50-aged man was treated because many cervical caries, which would occur because of an aftereffect of stroke, long-herm hospitalization and limits of self oral-care. 6 years ago he had cerebral hemorrhage and he claimed that he cannot bite exactly. Just two pairs of teeth was contact on biting, his lower jaw was located back, too. This two case suggests that dental occlusion can change after stroke.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2017

A 25-years-old woman with mandibular prognathism underwent a mandibular setback by way of mandibular sagittal split ramus osteotomy (MSSRO). After 2 days of operation, she developed difficulty of closing her right eye. The blink reflex test and motor nerve conduction study of the right orbicularis oris muscle were revealed right facial neuropathy of unknown origin and House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system (HBFNGS) grade V. For treatment, we initially prescribed oral prednisolone and nimodipine including physical therapy. The samples consisted of 11 facial nerve palsy patients caused by MSSRO and were analysed about onset of facial nerve palsy, postoperative HBFNGS, final HBFNGS, treatment method and recovery time. At 10 weeks of treatment of nimodipine, she had completely regained normal function (HBFNGS grade I) of the right facial nerve. The clinical results lead to assume a fast recovery of facial nerve function by the nimodipine medication, whereas average time of recovery is 16.32 weeks in references. Despite of the limited one patient treated, the result was very promising with respect to a faster recovery of the facial nerve function. Considering the use of nimodipine treatment for peripheral facial nerve palsy following a surgical approach with an anatomically preserved nerve can be recommended.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.116-123
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• 2010

Background: Pamidronate is a potent inhibitor of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. Recently, the drug has been known to relieve bone pain. We hypothesized that direct epidural administration of pamidronate could have various advantages over oral administration with respect to dosage, side effects, and efficacy. Therefore, we evaluated the neuronal safety of epidurally-administered pamidronate. Methods: Twenty-seven rats weighing 250-350 g were equally divided into 3 groups. Each group received an epidural administration with either 0.3 ml (3.75 mg) of pamidronate (group P), 0.3 ml of 40% alcohol (group A), or 0.3 ml of normal saline (group N). A Pinch-toe test, motor function evaluation, and histopathologic examination of the spinal cord to detect conditions such as chromatolysis, meningeal inflammation, and neuritis, were performed on the 2nd, 7th, and 21st day following administration of each drug. Results: All rats in group A showed an abnormal response to the pinch-toe test and decreased motor function during the entire evaluation period. Abnormal histopathologic findings, including neuritis and meningeal inflammation were observed only in group A rats. Rats in group P, with the exception of 1, and group N showed no significant sensory/motor dysfunction over a 3-week observation period. No histopathologic changes were observed in groups P and N. Conclusions: Direct epidural injection of pamidronate (about 12.5 mg/kg) showed no neurotoxic evidence in terms of sensory/motor function evaluation and histopathologic examination.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.611-621
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• 2022

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is commonly used as control or vehicle solvent in preclinical research of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) due to its ability to dissolve lipophilic compounds and cross the blood brain barrier. However, the biochemical effects of DMSO on the outcomes of preclinical research are often overlooked. In the present study, we investigated whether the long-term oral administration of 5% DMSO affects the neurological, functional, and histological disease phenotype of the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase glycine 93 to alanine mutation (SOD1-G93A) mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. SOD1-G93A transgenic mice showed shortened survival time and reduced motor function. We found that administration with DMSO led to increased mean survival time, reduced neurological scores, and improved motor performance tested using the rotarod and grip strength tests. On the other hand, DMSO treatment did not attenuate motor neuron loss in the spinal cord and denervation of neuromuscular junctions in the skeletal muscle. These results suggest that DMSO administration could improve the quality of life of the SOD1-G93A mouse model of ALS without affecting motor neuron denervation. In conclusion, the use of DMSO as control or vehicle solvent in preclinical research may affect the behavioral outcomes in the SOD1-G93A mouse model. The effect of the vehicle should be thoroughly considered when interpreting therapeutic efficacy of candidate drugs in preclinical research.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.303-309
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• 2021

Background: Transferring the hypoglossal nerve to the facial nerve using an end-to-end method is very effective for improving facial motor function. However, this technique may result in hemitongue atrophy. The ansa cervicalis, which arises from the cervical plexus, is also used for facial reanimation. We retrospectively reviewed cases where facial reanimation was performed using the ansa cervicalis to overcome the shortcomings of existing techniques of hypoglossal nerve transfer. Methods: The records of 15 patients who underwent hypoglossal nerve transfer were retrospectively reviewed. Three methods were used: facial reanimation with hypoglossal nerve transfer (group 1), facial nerve reanimation using the ansa cervicalis (group 2), and sural nerve interposition grafting between the hypoglossal nerve and facial nerve (group 3). In group 1, the ansa cervicalis was coapted to neurotize the distal stump of the hypoglossal nerve in a subset of patients. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the House-Brackmann (H-B) grading system and Emotrics software. Results: All patients in group 1 (n= 4) achieved H-B grade IV facial function and showed improvements in the oral commissure angle at rest (preoperative vs. postoperative difference, 6.48° ± 0.77°) and while smiling (13.88° ± 2.00°). In groups 2 and 3, the oral commissure angle slightly improved at rest (group 2: 0.95° ± 0.53°, group 3: 1.35° ± 1.02°) and while smiling (group 2: 2.06° ± 0.67°, group 3: 1.23° ± 0.56°). In group 1, reduced tongue morbidity was found in patients who underwent ansa cervicalis transfer. Conclusion: Facial reanimation with hypoglossal nerve transfer, in combination with hypoglossal nerve neurotization using the ansa cervicalis for complete facial palsy patients, might enable favorable facial reanimation outcomes and reduce tongue morbidity. Facial reanimation using the ansa cervicalis or sural nerve for incomplete facial palsy patients did not lead to remarkable improvements, but it warrants further investigation.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.51-65
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• 2024

Purpose: This study is to propose the establishment and direction of a public health-medical cooperation system for rehabilitation medical services for people with physical and brain disabilities in Gangneung, Korea. Research design, data and methodology: The study focused on 30 individuals with these disabilities registered. Data was collected from December 20, 2021, to December 31, 2021, through structured surveys administered by researchers visiting disability-related facilities, utilizing convenience and random sampling methods. Descriptive statistics and cross-analysis were applied for analysis. Results: Specifically, among respondents with physical disabilities, a total of 20 needs were identified, with 'Visiting health services' (25.0%) and 'Oral health services' (20.0%) ranking highest. The survey results regarding visit-based rehabilitation services for disability support showed a high demand, emphasizing the necessity of service provision tailored to the needs of recipients, focusing on disability prevention, health management, and motor function recovery, rather than solely medical or therapeutic concepts. Conclusions: Gangwon National University Hospital, as the regional referral hospital in Gangwon, should collaborate with Gangwon Province Rehabilitation Hospital to provide prompt acute rehabilitation services. Moreover, cooperation and collaboration with Gangneung Asan Hospital, the tertiary hospital in the region, are essential to ensure continued acute and recovery phase rehabilitation therapy for a certain period in the Gangneung area.