• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• 제33권44호
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• pp.279.1-279.16
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• 2018

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a new emerging neurosurgical procedure applied in a wide range of clinical fields. It can generate high-intensity energy at the focal zone in deep body areas without requiring incision of soft tissues. Although the effectiveness of the focused ultrasound technique had not been recognized because of the skull being a main barrier in the transmission of acoustic energy, the development of hemispheric distribution of ultrasound transducer phased arrays has solved this issue and enabled the performance of true transcranial procedures. Advanced imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance thermometry could enhance the safety of MRgFUS. The current clinical applications of MRgFUS in neurosurgery involve stereotactic ablative treatments for patients with essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, or neuropathic pain. Other potential treatment candidates being examined in ongoing clinical trials include brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease, and epilepsy, based on MRgFUS abilities of thermal ablation and opening the blood-brain barrier. With the development of ultrasound technology to overcome the limitations, MRgFUS is gradually expanding the therapeutic field for intractable neurological disorders and serving as a trail for a promising future in noninvasive and safe neurosurgical care.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.21-31
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• 1968

The appearance rates of antipyrine and urea into cerebrospinal fluid from blood were studied in the rabbits which were in the state of hypotension and of high permeability in the capillary beds following injection of histamine. The alteration in the distribution of electrolytes among various compartments of the brain and the permeability characteristics in the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier were also observed. Adult male rabbits, weighing around 2 kg, were used. Twenty four rabbits were divided into 3 groups. Besides the control group, histamine treated rabbits were categorized into 2 groups. $H_1$ consisted of the rabbits showing moderate responses to histamine and ranging from 62 to 80 mmHg in their mean anterial blood pressure. The animals which belong to $H_2-group$ showed severe responses to histamine and the mean anterial blood pressures dropped to 30-50 mmHg. Animals were anesthetized with nembutal, 30mg/kg i.v. The mean arterial blood pressure was read by means of the mercury manometer connected to the femoral artery. The animals, treated with histamine, were kept in hypotensive state at least for 40 minutes before the administration of the test-substances. The test-substances, 300 mg of urea and 200 mg of antipyrine, were dissolved in 3 ml of distilled water and were injected into the ear vein of the rabbit. After 10 minutes elapsed arterial blood sample was taken from the femoral artery and cerebrospinal fluid from the cisterna magna. Brain tissues were also analysed with respect to electrolytes in order to observe the disturbances in the electrolytes balance as well as in the function of the central nervous system. The results obtained were as follow: 1. The ratio of antipyrine concentration in cerebrospinal fluid to that of arterial blood plasma, that was the distribution ratio, was close to unity, revealing a well established equilibrium between the compartments of blood and cerebrospinal fluid in 10 minutes. In other words, there was no diffusion barrier with regard to antipyrine. The ratios over unity which were frequently seen in the histamine treated animals were attributable to the early penetration of the substance into the cerebrospinal fluid. 2. The appearance rates of urea into the cerebrospinal fluid in the histamine treated rabbits were higher in comparison with those of in the control animals. The increasing tendency in the rates was particularly remarkable in the $H_2-group$, showing the enhanced penetration of urea across the boondary. 3. In the htisamine treated $H_2-group$ the concentration of potassium in the blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluid well exceeded the control values and showed 8.5 and 9.0 mEq/l in average, respectively. Simultaneous drops in the brain tissue water were noticed, suggesting the leakage of intracellular potassium. 4. There was a coincidence in the rising pattern of potassium in the blood plasma and in the cerebrospinal fluid of $H_2-group$ and at least partial removal of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier with respect to potassium was suggested in these animals. 5. The concentration of sodium in the blood plasma or in the cerebrospinal fluid showed no significant changes following histamine injection. However, sodium in the brain tissue revealed slight elevation in the histamine treated groups. 6. The ratios of the concentrations of potassium to those of sodium, [K]/[Na] in the brain tissues, were 1.92 in the control 1.82 in the $H_1$ and 1.52 in the $H_2-group$, respectively. The marked drop in the $H_2-group$ might represent neural dysfunction in the extremely hypotensive rabbits.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.61-67
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• 2012

Objective : Angelica Gigas Nakai is a popular oriental medicine used for the treatment of vascular diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate neuroprotective effect of the water extract of Anelicae Gigantis Radix Palva (AG) in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO)-induced ischemic rats via the regulation of angiogenesis-related molecules. Methods : Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally administrated with AG water extract at doses of 10, 25, 50 mg/kg body weight after tMCAO (90 min occlusion). reperfusion for 24 hr infarction volumes were measured by 2,3,5-tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Brain tissues were observed neuronal cell injuries by nissl staining, and also brain-blood barrier (BBB) permeability change by evans blue. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and Tie-2 receptor protein in brain tissues was determined by western blot. Results : AG water extract significantly reduced infarction volume in ischemic brains of rats, degradation of neuronal cell, BBB permeability and expression of VEGF protein dose-dependently. Ang-1 protein was increased dose-dependantly, not significantly. Conclusion : This study suggests that AG water extract shows neuroprotective effect by preventing BBB breakdown, with regulating angiogenesis factor VEGF and Ang-1.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.196-204
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• 1998

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) of rats was modificated opening reversibly by infusing a hyperosmotic solution of arabinose (1.6 molal) into the right external carotid artery. Pre vious studies demonstrated that permeability was increased maxmmally in the first 15 min and remained slightly elevated at 1 hr. As control reference, saline was used. In the present study, to evaluate the effects of osmotic BBB opening on the BBB trasport according to hydrophilic or hydrophobic characteristics of drugs. And the differences of the uptakes of these compounds to right (treated osmotic opening) and left (untreated) hemispheres in same rats were compared each other following injection of 8 mCi per rat of $^{99m}Tc$-ethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) as hydrophilic drug or 5mg/kg of phenytoin as hydrophobic drug mto the right external carotid artery of rats between two groups (1.6 molal arabinose vs saline). The uptakes of $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA and phenytoin in the right cerebral hemispheres were increased to about thirty three times and twice rather than those in the left cerebral heimspheres, respectively. And PAs (permeability X capillary surface area) were also increased from a control mean of 2.11${\times}10^{-4}$ (Untreated) to 6.98${\times}10^{-3}\;sec^{-1}$ (treated osmotic opening for $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA and 0.29 to 0.17 $sec^{-1}$ for phenytoin, respectively. From the results of present study, it is noted that osmotic opening of BBB is more effective in the brain delivery of hydrophilic drugs rather than that of hydrophobic drugs.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.319-328
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• 2024

Lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPA₁) plays a critical role in brain injury following a transient brain ischemic stroke. However, its role in permanent brain ischemic stroke remains unknown. To address this, we investigated whether LPA₁ could contribute to brain injury of mice challenged by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). A selective LPA₁ antagonist (AM152) was used as a pharmacological tool for this investigation. When AM152 was given to pMCAO-challenged mice one hour after occlusion, pMCAO-induced brain damage such as brain infarction, functional neurological deficits, apoptosis, and blood-brain barrier disruption was significantly attenuated. Histological analyses demonstrated that AM152 administration attenuated microglial activation and proliferation in injured brain after pMCAO challenge. AM152 administration also attenuated abnormal neuroinflammatory responses by decreasing expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines while increasing expression levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the injured brain. As underlying effector pathways, NF-κB, MAPKs (ERK1/2, p38, and JNKs), and PI3K/Akt were found to be involved in LPA₁-dependent pathogenesis. Collectively, these results demonstrate that LPA₁ can contribute to brain injury by permanent ischemic stroke, along with relevant pathogenic events in an injured brain.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제22권7호
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• pp.1152-1162
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• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether there are regional differences in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of cognitively normal elderly participants and to identify factors influencing BBB permeability with a clinically feasible, 10-minute dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI protocol. Materials and Methods: This IRB-approved prospective study recruited 35 cognitively normal adults (26 women; mean age, 64.5 ± 5.6 years) who underwent DCE T1-weighted imaging. Permeability maps (K_trans) were coregistered with masks to calculate the mean regional values. The paired t test and Friedman test were used to compare Ktrans between different regions. The relationships between K_trans and the factors of age, sex, education, cognition score, vascular risk burden, vascular factors on imaging, and medial temporal lobar atrophy were assessed using Pearson correlation and the Spearman rank test. Results: The mean permeability rates of the right and left hippocampi, as assessed with automatic segmentation, were 0.529 ± 0.472 and 0.585 ± 0.515 (K_trans, x 10^-3 min^-1), respectively. Concerning the deep gray matter, the K_trans of the thalamus was significantly greater than those of the putamen and hippocampus (p = 0.007, p = 0.041). Regarding the white matter, the K_trans value of the occipital white matter was significantly greater than those of the frontal, cingulate, and temporal white matter (p < 0.0001, p = 0.0007, p = 0.0002). The variations in K_trans across brain regions were not related to age, cognitive score, vascular risk burden, vascular risk factors on imaging, or medial temporal lobar atrophy in the study group. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated regional differences in BBB permeability (K_trans) in cognitively normal elderly adults using a clinically acceptable 10-minutes DCE imaging protocol. The regional differences suggest that the integrity of the BBB varies across the brains of cognitively normal elderly adults. We recommend considering regional differences in K_trans values when evaluating BBB permeability in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.391-395
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• 2000

To establish the usefulness of oxytocin (OT) as an analgesic for women in delivery, the pharmacokinetic parameters and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of [$^3H$] OT were obtained using an intravenous injection technique or the internal carotid artery perfusion/capillary depletion (ICAP/CDM) method. Brain uptake of OT was similar to that of sucrose, plasma space marker, indicating that OT has a poor BBB permeability. Moreover, the analgesic effects of OT injected through the jugular vein on nociception were evaluated by the tail-flick method. The antinociceptive effects of OT injected at a dose of 0.2 ${m}g/kg$or 2 ${m}g/kg$ were dose-dependent. In addition, the analgesic effects of OT on the CNS were unaffected by naloxone, a m-receptor antagonist. In a similar manner to the opioid system, OT may play a modulatory role in antinociception.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.385-388
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• 2010

Intracranial granulocytic sarcomas are rare tumors, which are composed of immature granulocytic cells. Although it has been well known that these tumors are associated with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), they have been almost always related to bone marrow relapse. However, isolated recurrence of granulocytic sarcoma following complete remission from prior AML is extremely rare, especially in the central nervous system. A 44-year-old male presented with isolated recurrence of granulocytic sarcoma mimicking a falx meningioma two years after complete remission by allogenic peripheral blood stem cell transfusion (PBSCT) in the acute myelomonoblastic leukemia (FAB, M4). Because of depressed mental state and mass effect, total surgical resection was performed. Pathological findings were compatible with the granulocytic sarcoma. There was no evidence of leukemic relapse in the peripheral blood. We suggest that this phenomenon can be explained by the hypothesis that a certain barrier effect such as blood brain barrier might lead to the proliferation of intracranial leukemic cells which metastasized before PBSCT.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• 제50권2호
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• pp.124-128
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• 2006

Astrocyte has emerged as an active regulator of brain function, which connects between blood vessels and neurons as well as is a structural component of the blood-brain barrier, From its structural characteristics, astrocyte seems to sensitively respond to oxygen tension, and, in turn, generate diverse cellular cascades. Therefore, to reveal astrocytlc events by oxygen change, we screened genes whose expressions are upregulated under reoxygenation after hypoxic stress using cDNA representational difference analysis (RDA) technique. Meteorin that regulates glial differentiation was isolated from primary cultured rat astrocytes as a hypoxia/reoxygenation regulatory factor. We cloned rat version of Meteorin (rMe-teorin) and determined full-size sequences of rMeteorin. In addition, RT-PCR analysis revealed that Meteorin was increased under reoxygenation in astrocytes and highly expressed in the developing brain. Collectively, these results suggest that Meteorin may regulate astrocyte-mediated effects in response to the change of oxygen tension in the pathophysiological states.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.77-81
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• 2014

Mushrooms are considered not only as food but also for source of physiologically beneficial medicines. The culinary-medicinal mushrooms may important role in the prevention of age-associated neurological dysfunctions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Hericium erinaceus (H. erinaceus), is edible mushrooms, is a parasitic fungus that grows hanging off of logs and trees and well established candidate for brain and nerve health. H. erinaceus contains high amounts of antioxidants, beta-glucan, polysaccharides and a potent catalyst for brain tissue regeneration and helps to improve memory and cognitive functions. Its fruiting bodies and the fungal mycelia exhibit various pharmacological activities, including the enhancement of the immune system, antitumor, hypoglycemic and anti-aging properties. H. erinaceus stimulates the synthesis of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) which is the primary protein nutrient responsible for enhancing and repairing neurological disorders. Especially hericenones and erinacines isolated from its fruitin body stimulate NGF, synthesis. This fungus is also utilized to regulate blood levels of glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol. H. erinaceus can be considered as useful therapeutic agents in the management and/or treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. However, this review focuses on in vitro, in vivo and clinical trials for neurodegerative disease.