• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.4411-4417
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• 2011

Degenerative brain diseases including Alzheimer's diseases, Parkinson's diseases increase in frequency with age. They are amongst the most costly and devastating diseases to patients and their families. Therefore developing therapies for degenerative brain diseases is of the highest priority. Recently therapeutics for these diseases have undergone scrutiny by many clinical trials according to the advances of cellular and molecular neurobiology. This review is focused on studies investigating the current therapeutic strategies already undergone different stage of clinical trials and recent R&D trend by nations through patent analysis on treatments for degegerative brain diseases.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2005

Tacrine analogues for degenerative brain disease treatments have been designed. A series of diazaanthrine derivatives as novel analogues of tacrine has been prepared through the alkyl substitution and the ring expansion. They were expected to retain anti-inflammatory activity by inhibition of prostaglandin production with reduction of side effect as the selective prostaglandin synthase inhibitor. Prostaglandin synthase expression is associated with the deposition of beta-amyloid protein in neuritic plaques in brain inflammation. Therefore selective prostaglandin synthase blockade is important for the prevention and treatment of alzheimer's disease. To evaluate inhibitory effect of prostaglandin synthase, synthetic tacrine derivatives were screened with accumulation of prostaglandin biosynthesis by lipopolysaccharide in aspirin-treated murine macrophage cell. Most of synthetic compounds have shown significant prostaglandin synthase activities in vitro screening with $84.3{\sim}33.6\%$ inhibition of the prostaglandin $E_2$ production at $10\;{\mu}g/ml$.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.47-50
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• 2020

Recently, decades of robust researches on degenerative brain disorder have been highlighted on the interactive connection of gut and brain. In terms of inflammatory cytokine production, others have shown that Nucleotide-Binding Oligomerization Domain Containing 2 (NOD2) is involved with Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2). HEK293T cells were transiently co-transfected with Myc-tagged LRRK2 and Flag-tagged NOD2 and then followed by co-immunoprecipitation assay. In this study, we provide the novel finding of physical protein-protein interaction between NOD2 and LRRK2. G2019S variant has shown stronger interactions against NOD2 than those of wild type LRRK2. In an axis of NOD2-LRRK2 communication, it is believed to pave a new way in the understanding of the bidirectional molecular mechanism of brain disorder, including Parkinson's disease into gut inflammatory disease, including Crohn's disease.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.145-150
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• 2022

Lesions occurring simultaneously in the somatosensory or motor cortex of the brain and the cervical spine are rare. Brain tumors can cause similar symptoms to cervical lesions which can lead to confusion in treatment priorities. Moreover, if cervical disease is noticeably observed in radiologic findings of a patient complaining of cervical radiculopathy with non-specific electromyography results, it is common to no longer perform further evaluation. Here we introduce two cases where the cause of cervical radiculopathy was first considered to be the result of a degenerative cervical disease but was later discovered to be a result of a brain tumor.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2003

Neurodegenerative disorders cause a variety of dementia including Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, and Huntington's disease. PET scan is useful for early detection and differential diagnosis of these dementing disorders. Also, it provides valuable information about clinico-anatomical correlation, allowing better understanding of function of brain. Here we discuss recent achievements PET studies regarding these dementing disorders. Future progress in PET technology, new tracers, and image analysis will play an important role in further clarifying the disease pathophysiology and brain functions.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.194-197
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• 1997

Neural network models, also known as connectionist models or PDP models, simulate some functions of the brain and may promise to give insight in understanding the cognitive brain functions. The models composed of neuron-like elements that are linked into circuits can learn and adapt to its environment in a trial and error fashion. In this article, the history and principles of the neural network modeling are briefly reviewed, and its applications to psychiatry are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.307-312
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• 2016

Alzheimer's disease is the most common degenerative brain diseases that causes dementia. ${\beta}$-amyloid neuritic plaque density that accumulates in the brain is difficult to perform daily living, such as memory loss, language ability deterioration. It is used to estimate ${\beta}$-amyloid neuritic plaque density in adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive impairment. Using the $^{18}F$-Florbetaben with high sensitivity and specificity for the ${\beta}$-amyloid neuritic plaque density to evaluate the usefulness for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. In $^{18}F$-FDG Brain imaging shows no specific findings. And it appeared on the MR-Brain imaging without atrophy of the hippocampus. However, the intake of ${\beta}$-amyloid neuritic plaque density in $^{18}F$-Florbetaben informs that it is the progress of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, $^{18}F$-Florobetaben is very useful for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.140-148
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• 2015

Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between degenerative changes in brain [i.e., global cortical atrophy (GCA), medial temporal atrophy (MTA), white matter hyperintensities (WMH)] and neurocognitive dysfunction in Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. Methods A total of 62 elderly subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were included in this study. The degenerative changes in brain MRI were rated with standardized visual rating scales (GCA or global cortical atrophy, MTA or medial temporal atrophy, and Fazekas scales) and the subjects were divided into two groups according to the degree of degeneration for each scale. Cognitive function was evaluated with Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K) and several clinical features, including apolipoprotein E ${\varepsilon}4$ status, lipid profile and thyroid hormones, were also examined. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed to analyze the relationship between the degree of cerebral degeneration and neurocognitive functions. Results Demographic and clinical features, except for the age, did not show any significant difference between the two groups divided according to the degree of cerebral degenerative changes. However, higher degree of GCA was shown to be associated with poorer performance in verbal fluency test, word list recall test, and word list recognition test. Higher degree of MTA was shown to be associated with poorer performance in Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean Version of CERAD Assessment Packet (MMSE-KC), word list recognition test and construction praxis recall test. Higher degree of white matter hyperintensities was shown to be associated with poorer performance in MMSE-KC. Conclusions Our results suggest that severe brain degeneration shown in MRI is associated with significantly poorer performance in neurocognitive tests in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the degree of GCA, MTA and white matter hyperintensities, represented by scores from different visual rating scales, seems to affect certain neurocognitive domains each, which would provide useful information in clinical settings.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2022

Stem cell-based therapy is a promising approach for treating a variety of disorders, including acute brain insults and neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), circular membrane fragments (30 nm-1 ㎛) that are shed from the cell surface, carrying several therapeutic molecules such as proteins and microRNAs. Because EV-based therapy is superior to cell therapy in terms of scalable production, biodistribution, and safety profiles, it can be used to treat brain diseases as an alternative to stem cell therapy. This review presents evidences evaluating the role of stem cell-derived EVs in stroke, traumatic brain injury, and degenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson' disease. In addition, stem cell-derived EVs have better profiles in biocompatibility, immunogenicity, and safety than those of small chemical and macromolecules. The advantages and disadvantages of EVs compared with other strategies are discussed. Even though EVs obtained from native stem cells have potential in the treatment of brain diseases, the successful clinical application is limited by the short half-life, limited targeting, rapid clearance after application, and insufficient payload. We discuss the strategies to enhance the efficacy of EV therapeutics. Finally, EV therapies have yet to be approved by the regulatory authorities. Major issues are discussed together with relevant advances in the clinical application of EV therapeutics.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1881-1891
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• 2004

Daejowhan-gamibang(DJG) is used to prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, dementia, hyperlipdemia circulatory disturbance. Korean traditional herbal prescriptions and herb medicines in neuronal cells, which have been used for the treatment of stroke and brain diseases in Korean traditional medicine were screened to study the antioxidant effects and its mechanism. Daejowhan-gamibang water extract(DJGWE) was tested on their antioxidant activity using radical scavenging effects against ABTS. It showed significant antioxidant capacities at 50㎍ concentration. The antioxidant activity of DJGWE was determined in the different concentration (10㎍, 50 ㎍, and 100㎍). At the same time, the antiperoxidation effects was determined. Lipid peroxidation in brain homogenates induced by NADPH and ADP-Fe/sup 2+/ was significantly inhibited by DJGWE in vitro. DJGWE showed a potent antioxidant and antiperoxidative activity, further investigation, in vitro and in vivo, will be needed for the confirm of possibility as an antioxidant therapeutic agents and their optimal treatment of brain diseases in human. In searching the mechanism of antioxidant effects of DJGWE, it showed the inhibition of activity of JNK, p38, ERK and caspase 3 induced by hypoxia. So, DJGWE should be surveyed for the use of the potential therapeutic prescription for stroke and brain degenerative diseases such as pakinson's disease, dementia.