• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.100 no.3
• /
• pp.327-333
• /
• 2011

This study was aimed to specify health-related push and pull factors in mountain climbing and provide effective management strategy for mountain-based recreational setting through the identification of the reciprocal relationship between the push and pull factors. The results of survey by 440 mountain climbers at Mt. Dobong, Mt. Bukhan, Mt. Kwanak, and Mt. Cheonggye showed that three dimensions were respectively derived from health-related 15 push items and 11 pull items; therapeutic care, mental health, physical fitness in push factors and cultural, socio-economic, and natural environment in pull factors. According to an analysis of influence between push and pull factors, natural environment was reported to be the greatest influencing pull factor on therapeutic care and physical fitness, and socio-economic environment was on mental health.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.411-416
• /
• 2023

Methamphetamine (METH) is a powerful neurotoxic psychostimulant affecting dopamine transporter (DAT) activity and leading to continuous excess extracellular dopamine levels. Despite recent advances in the knowledge on neurobiological mechanisms underlying METH abuse, there are few effective pharmacotherapies to prevent METH abuse leading to brain damage and neuropsychiatric deficits. α-Pinene (APN) is one of the major monoterpenes derived from pine essential oils and has diverse biological properties including anti-nociceptive, anti-anxiolytic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory actions. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of APN in a METH abuse mice model. METH (1 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was injected into C57BL/6 mice for four alternative days, and a conditioned place preference (CPP) test was performed. The METH-administered group exhibited increased sensitivity to place preference and significantly decreased levels of dopamine-related markers such as dopamine 2 receptor (D2R) and tyrosine hydroxylase in the striatum of the mice. Moreover, METH caused apoptotic cell death by induction of inflammation and oxidative stress. Conversely, APN treatment (3 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced METH-mediated place preference and restored the levels of D2R and tyrosine hydroxylase in the striatum. APN increased the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 to pro-apoptotic Bax ratio and decreased the expression of inflammatory protein Iba-1. METH-induced lipid peroxidation was effectively mitigated by APN by up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes such as manganese-superoxide dismutase and glutamylcysteine synthase via activation of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2. These results suggest that APN may have protective potential and be considered as a promising therapeutic agent for METH-induced drug addiction and neuronal damage.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.105-118
• /
• 2024

The world has witnessed tremendous advancements in nano-base applications. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZON) are widely used in food industry and medicine. Although their application is of important value, they may cause toxicity to body tissues. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) proved its efficacy in tissue regeneration especially when it is preconditioned by activated platelet supernatant (APS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of ZON on the gastric mucosa and the therapeutic role of the PBMCs preconditioned by APS in rats. Ten rats were donors and fifty rats were recipients. The recipients were divided into; control group, ZON group (10 mg/kg/day orally for five days) and preconditioned PBMCs group (1×10⁷ once intravenously 24 hours after ZON). Gastric specimens were processed for histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction studies. ZON group showed marked structural changes in the gastric mucosa. There was desquamation or deep ulceration of the epithelium. Cytoplasmic vacuoles and pyknotic nuclei were in glandular cells. Reduced proliferating cell nuclear antigen and increased tumor necrosis factor-α were in epithelial cells. There were significant elevation in malondialdahyde and reduction in glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. Enhancement in mRNA expression of nuclear factor kappa-B and cyclooxygenase-2 was detected. The preconditioned PBMCs group showed significant improvement of all parameters. So, ZON had cytotoxic effects on the gastric mucosa and the preconditioned PBMCs had a therapeutic effect on gastric mucosal damage after ZON.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.112-119
• /
• 2024

Objective: Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease among reproductive-age women. Numerous hypotheses exist regarding the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In Turkey, the consumption of Allium cepa (commonly known as the "onion cure") is a popular treatment employed to alleviate a variety of gynecological disorders. Methods: In this study, our objective was to assess the therapeutic mechanisms of the onion bulb A. cepa using an autologous endometriosis model in Sprague-Dawley rats. Previous research has shown that A. cepa possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic properties. We evaluated the pathological condition of endometriotic implants by employing hematoxylin-eosin staining and Ki67 immunohistochemistry analysis. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) have been identified as profibrotic markers that are highly overexpressed in endometriotic tissues relative to eutopic endometrial tissue. Furthermore, TGF-β1 influences the differentiation and progression of endometriosis. To quantify profibrotic activity, we measured TGF-β1 and α-SMA using the immunosorbent assay method. Results: Lower histologic evaluation scores for endometriotic implants were observed in the group receiving high-dose A. cepa relative to the other groups. Ki67 expression was reduced following the high-dose A. cepa regimen, which consisted of 30% A. cepa and 70% normal feed. However, no statistically significant differences in TGF-β1 or α-SMA levels were observed among the groups (p=0.7 and p=0.778, respectively). Conclusion: The findings suggest that A. cepa could serve as a therapeutic agent in endometriosis treatment, as evidenced by the reduction in proliferative potential. Nevertheless, A. cepa was not associated with significantly lower levels of endometriosis-associated TGF-β1 or α-SMA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.7
• /
• pp.1317-1325
• /
• 2008

Viral safety is an important prerequisite for clinical preparations of plasma-derived pharmaceuticals. One potential way to increase the safety of therapeutic biological products is the use of a virus-retentive filter. In order to increase the viral safety of human antihemophilic factor IX, particularly in regard to non-enveloped viruses, a virus removal process using a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane filter (Viresolve NFP) has been optimized. The most critical factor affecting the filtration efficiency was operating pH and the optimum pH was 6 or 7. Flow rate increased with increasing operating pressure and temperature. Recovery yield in the optimized production-scale process was 96%. No substantial changes were observed in the physical and biochemical characteristics of the filtered factor IX in comparison with those before filtration. A 47-mm disk membrane filter was used to simulate the process performance of the production-scale cartridges and to test if it could remove several experimental model viruses for human pathogenic viruses, including human hepatitis A virus (HAV), porcine parvovirus (PPV), murine encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), and bovine herpes virus (BHV). Non-enveloped viruses (HAV, PPV, and EMCV) as well as enveloped viruses (HIV, BVDV, and BHV) were completely removed during filtration. The log reduction factors achieved were $\geq$6.12 for HAV, $\geq$4.28 for PPV, $\geq$5.33 for EMCV, $\geq$5.51 for HIV, $\geq$5.17 for BVDV, and $\geq$5.75 for BHV. These results indicate that the virus filtration process successfully improved the viral safety of factor IX.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.181-186
• /
• 1992

A retrospective analysis was undertaken for 22 patients with early glottic cancer ($T_1N_0M_0$; 17, $T_2N_0M_0$; 5) who completed curative radiotherapy at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Chonnam University Hospital between November 1985 and December 1990. Median follow-up period was 39 months. The 3 year actuarial survival rate of T1, T2 was $81\%$ and $80\%$. respectively. Three patients ($13\%$) showed second malignant tumors and the site of the new primary was esophagus in two patients and lung in the other one. They were excluded from the local control analysis. The local control rate of T1. T2 group was $66\%$ and $50\%$. respectively. The surgical salvage rate and the ultimate local control rate of T1 group was $80\%$ (4/5) and $93\%$. and that of T2 group was $100\%\;(2/2)\;and\;75\%$. respectively. The local control rates of T1 stage were evaluated according to the various parameters. The local control rate of the superficial and exophytic lesion was better than that of the ulcerative and infiltrative one, and the involvement of anterior commissure was not seemed to be adverse prognostic factor. But the protracted treatment time showed the adverse effect on the local control of the disease. All of the eleven patients controlled by primary radiation therapy have maintained their voice well without any significant complication.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.175-181
• /
• 1993

Radiosurgery requires integral procedure where special devices and computer systems are needed for localization, dose planning and treatment. The aim of this work is to verify the overall mechanical accuracy of our LINAC and develop dose calculation algorithm for LINAC radiosurgery. The alignment of treatment machine and the performance testing of the entire system were extensively carried out and the basic data such as percent depth dose, off-axis ratio and output factor were measured. A three dimensional treatment planning system for stereotactic radiosurgery has been developed. We used an IBM personal computer with C programming language (IBM personal system/2, Model 80386, IBM Co., USA) for calculating the dose distribution. As a result, deviations at isocenter on gantry and table rotation for our treatment machine were acceptable since they were less than 2 mm. According to the phantom experiments, the focusing isocenter were successful by the error of less than 2 mm. Finally, the mechanical accuracy of our three dimensional planning system was confirmed by film dosimetry in sphere phantom.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2007

Background: Mizoribine (MZR) is an imidazole nucleoside isolated from Eupenicillium brefeldianum. MZR is currendy in clinical use for patients who have undergone renal transplantation. Therapeutic efficacy of MZR has also been demonstrated in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus nephritis. MZR has been shown to inhibit the proliferation or lymphocytes by interfering with inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase. Since the exact mechanism by which MZR benefits rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not clear, we investigated the ability of MZR to direct its immunosuppressive influences on other antigen presenting cells, such as macrophages. Methods: Mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide in the presence of MZR. To elucidate the mechanism of the therapeutic efficacy in chronic inflammatory diseases, we examined the effects of MZR on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2\;(PGE_2)$ in macrophages. Results: MZR dose-dependendy decreased the production of nitric oxide and pro- inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukins $1{\beta}$ (IL-${\beta}$ and IL-6 $PGE_2$. Examination of gene expression levels showed that the anti-inflammatory effect correlated with the down-regulation of inducible nitiric oxide synthase expression, cycloxygenase-2 expression and TNF-${\alpha}$ gene expression. Conclusion: In this work, we resulted whether MZR $(1.25{\sim}10{\mu}g/ml)$ inhibited macrophage activation by inhibiting secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NO and $PGE_2$. These findings provide an explanation for the therapeutic efficacy of MZR in chronic inflammation-associated diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.191-195
• /
• 2000

Background: Vascular occlusive event is one of the etiologies of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Stellate ganglion block (SGB) induces dramatic and intense vasodilatation in head and neck. Based on this principle, SGB has used as one of the treatment modalities in SNHL. This study was performed to evaluate immediate response of SGB on pure tone audiogram (PTA) in SNHL. Methods: Forty patients were studied. Each patient received daily ipsilateral SGB in paratracheal approach using 0.2% bupivacaine for 2 weeks. On first, third, and fifth day of treatment, we checked their PTA twice 1 hour before (Pre-PTA) and after (Post-PTA) SGB. Pre- and Post-PTA were compared. Several factors were analyzed as a prognostic factor of therapeutic results. Results: Eleven of 40 patients revealed decreased PTA after SGB. Degree of decreased PTA were insignificant ($2.5{\pm}1.6$ dB). Initial and final PTA results was $76.2{\pm}22.5$ and $49.8{\pm}28.3$ dB, respectively. Thirty-one of 40 patients were improved their PTA over 10 dB. The recovery was mainly influenced by the severity of initial hearing loss (P<0.001) and slightly by age (P<0.05). However, the change of PTA after SGB, time interval to receive SGB, sex, site, and number of SGB were not correlated to therapeutic outcome. Conclusions: These results suggest that vasodilatation by SGB has no immediate improvement in SNHL. Therefore, we question whether SGB is beneficial to all patients with SNHL as a therapeutic modality.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.78 no.3
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2015

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and small airway remodeling. The alveolar destruction associated with emphysema cannot be repaired by current clinical practices. Stem cell therapy has been successfully used in animal models of cigarette smoke- and elastase-induced emphysema. However, the optimal dose of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the most effective therapy has not yet been determined. It is vital to determine the optimal dose of MSCs for clinical application in emphysema cases. Methods: In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of various doses of MSCs on elastase-induced emphysema in mice. When 3 different doses of MSCs were intravenously injected into mice treated with elastase, only $5{\times}10^4$ MSCs showed a significant effect on the emphysematous mouse lung. We also identified action mechanisms of MSCs based on apoptosis, lung regeneration, and protease/antiprotease imbalance. Results: The MSCs were not related with caspase-3/7 dependent apoptosis. But activity of matrix metalloproteinase 9 increased by emphysematous lung was decreased by intravenously injected MSCs. Vascular endothelial growth factor were also increased in lung from MSC injected mice, as compared to un-injected mice. Conclusion: This is the first study on the optimal dose of MSCs as a therapeutic candidate. This data may provide important basic data for determining dosage in clinical application of MSCs in emphysema patients.