• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.225-231
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• 2003

Up-front irradiation technique as 3-dimensional conformation, or intensity modulation has kept large proportion of brain tumors from being complicated with acute radiation reactions in the normal tissue during or shortly after radiotherapy. For years, we've cannot help but counting on 2-D vertex beam technique to reduce acute reactions in the brain tumor patients because we're not equipped with 3-dimensional planning system. We analyzed its advantages and limitations in the clinical application. From 1998 to 2001, vertex or oblique vertex beams were applied to 35 patients with primary brain tumor and 25 among them were eligible for this analysis. Vertex(V) plans were optimized on the reconstructed coronal planes. As the control, we took the bilateral opposed techniques(BL) otherwise being applied. We compared the volumes included in 105% to 50% isodose lines of each plan. We also measured the radiation dose at various extracranial sites with TLD. With vertex techniques, we reduced the irradiated volumes of contralateral hemisphere and prevented middle ear effusion at contralateral side. But the low dose volume increased outside 100%; the ratio of V to BL in irradiated volume included in 100%, 80%, 50% was 0.55+/-0.10, 0.61+/-0.10, and 1.22+/-0.21, respectively. The hot area within 100% isodose line almost disappeared with vertex plan; the ratio of V to BL in irradiated volume included in 103%, 105%, 108% was 0.14+/-0.14, 0.05./-0.17, 0.00, respectively. The dose distribution within 100% isodose line became more homogeneous; the ratio of volume included in 103% and 105% to 100% was 0.62+/-0.14 and 0.26+/-0.16 in BL whereas was 0.16+/-0.16 and 0.02+/-0.04 in V. With the vertex techniques, extracranial dose increased up to $1{\sim}3%$ of maximum dose in the head and neck region except submandibular area where dose ranged 1 to 21%. From this data, vertex beam technique was quite effective in reduction of unnecessary irradiation to the contralateral hemispheres, integral dose, obtaining dose homogeneity in the clinical target. But it was associated with volume increment of low dose area in the brain and irradiation toward the head and neck region otherwise being not irradiated at all. Thus, this 2-D vertex technique can be a useful quasi-conformal method before getting 3-D apparatus.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.631-636
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• 2008

Acanthopanax divaricatus var. albeofructus (ADA) have been shown to have various levels of activity such as antioxidant, anticancer, antivirus, and immunostimulatory effects. However, little is known about its mechanism related to the modulation of immune activities. In this study, a water extract of ADA leaves were used to treat human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMC) to determine the underlying mechanisms for the immunostimulatory effects. To characterize its immunomodulatory activity, the secretion level of various cytokines including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-$\gamma$, and TNF-$\alpha$ were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Treatment of hPBMC with ADA leaf extract in an in vitro experiment induced various Th1 cytokines in a dose-dependent manner. A significant increase of IL-2, IL-12, IFN-$\gamma$, and TNF-$\alpha$ secretion was observed in the presence of ADA leaf extract. In contrast, Th2 cytokines including IL-4 and IL-6 were suppressed. There was no significant change in IL-10 release. Our results showed an increase in Th1 and a decrease in Th2 cytokine secretion which suggests that ADA may influence the immune response towards a predominance of Th1 cytokines in the immune system.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 2006

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the transmission and modulation of nociceptive information at the peripheral, spinal cord and supraspinal levels. We conducted this experiment to assess the antinociceptive effects of a nonselective nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), on the modulation of pain in rats subjected to the formalin test. Methods: Formalin 5% was injected in the right hind paw after intraperitoneal (IP) injection of various doses of L-NAME (0.5 mg/kg, 1.5 mg/kg with and without L-arginine 100 mg/kg, 5.0 mg/kg). The number of flinches was measured. Results: Formalin injected into the rat hind paw induced a biphasic nociceptive behavior. IP injected L-NAME diminished the nociceptive behaviors in a dose-dependent manner during phases 1 and 2. The concomitant injection of L-arginine reversed the antinocipetive effect of L-NAME. Conclusions: The data demonstrates that a nonselective NOS inhibitor, L-NAME, possesses antinociceptive properties in rats subjected to the formalin test, and the antinociceptive effect of L-NAME is reversed by the concomitant administration of L-arginine.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.278-283
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• 2010

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) are important inflammation enzyme and severe up-nitric oxide (NO) production by this enzyme has been intricate with pathogenesis of atopy dermatitis. The present study was designed in order to determine whether Lonicera japonica could inhibit atopy dermatitis through modulation of iNOS by NF-${\kappa}B$ suppression. We found that IKK mRNA and iNOS mRNA expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide dose-dependantly decreased by Lonicera japonica (0.4 - 1.0 mg/$m{\ell}$) and NO production decreased. The distribution of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 and iNOS positive reacted cell in NC/Nga mice with atopy dermatitis were decreased by Lonicera japonica (45 mg/kg/day) and apoptosis were increased. These data likely indicate that Lonicera japonica may act as inflammatory regulator for atopy dermatitis through iNOS modulation by NF-${\kappa}B$B suppression and may be possible to develop useful agent for chemoprevention of NO intricate inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.160-169
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• 2021

Background: Dual-energy X-ray images (DEI) can distinguish or improve materials of interest in a two-dimensional radiographic image, by combining two images obtained from separate low and high energies. The concepts of DEI performance describing the performance of double-exposure DEI systems in the Fourier domain been previously introduced, however, the performance of double-exposure DEI itself in terms of various parameters, has not been reported. Materials and Methods: To investigate the DEI performance, signal-difference-to-noise ratio, modulation transfer function, noise power spectrum, and noise equivalent quanta were used. Low- and high-energy were 60 and 130 kVp with 0.01-0.09 mGy, respectively. The energy-separation filter material and its thicknesses were tin (Sn) and 0.0-1.0 mm, respectively. Noise-reduction (NR) filtering used the Gaussian-filter NR, median-filter NR, and anti-correlated NR. Results and Discussion: DEI performance was affected by Sn-filter thickness, weighting factor, and dose allocation. All NR filtering successfully reduced noise, when compared with the dual-energy (DE) images without any NR filtering. Conclusion: The results indicated the significance of investigating, and evaluating suitable DEI performance, for DE images in chest radiography applications. Additionally, all the NR filtering methods were effective at reducing noise in the resultant DE images.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1314-1321
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• 2024

Branched-chain hydroxy acids (BCHAs), produced by lactic acid bacteria, have recently been suggested as bioactive compounds contributing to the systemic metabolism and modulation of the gut microbiome. However, the relationship between BCHAs and gut microbiome remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of BCHAs on the growth of seven different families in the gut microbiota. Based on in vitro screening, both 2-hydroxyisovaleric acid (HIVA) and 2-hydroxyisocaproic acid (HICA) stimulated the growth of Lactobacillaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae, with HIVA showing a significant growth promotion. Additionally, we observed not only the growth promotion of probiotic Lactobacillaceae strains but also growth inhibition of pathogenic B. fragilis in a dose-dependent manner. The production of HIVA and HICA varied depending on the family of the gut microbiota and was relatively high in case of Lactobacillaceae and Lachnosporaceae. Furthermore, HIVA and HICA production by each strain positively correlated with their growth variation. These results demonstrated gut microbiota-derived BCHAs as active metabolites that have bacterial growth modulatory effects. We suggest that BCHAs can be utilized as active metabolites, potentially contributing to the treatment of diseases associated with gut dysbiosis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.134-141
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• 2014

Along with the wide use of radiotherapy in cancer treatment, there is growing interest in beneficial effect of low-dose irradiation (LDI) in cancer therapy. Therefore, we investigate how LDI affects immune responses in mice model. Total body irradiation (TBI) on C57BL/6 mice was given at low-dose rate of $1mGy{\cdot}min^{-1}$ using $^{137}Cs$ source at three times for consecutive three days. Hematological examination, total cell numbers of spleen, populations and characteristics of splenocytes were determined. Total numbers of RBC or platelet in irradiated mice showed no significant changes. WBC counts were decreased in a dose-dependent manner 2 days after TBI, however, these differences are gradually waned until 28 days. Dose-dependent decrease in the number of splenocytes of TBI mice at day 2 was also improved as time progressed. While the level of Foxp3 mRNA was decreased, the frequency of $CD4^+$ T cells and $CD69^+$ cells in spleen was increased at day 2 and 14. Fractionated low-dose TBI on mice exhibited normal body weight with no distinguishable behavior during whole experimental periods. These results suggest that some parameters of immune system could be altered and evaluated by fractionated low-dose TBI and be used to broaden boundary of low dose radiation research.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.233-239
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• 2016

Comparison of the dose aspect that radiation therapy treatments using IMRT, tomotherapy, mArc (modulated arc therapy). The experimental subject is non-small cell lung cancer patient. The prescription dose is 58.0 Gy to the volume of PTV(planning target volume). and spinal cord, esophagus, and liver organ is the normal organ(OAR, organ at risk). Average PTV value is 57.60 Gy in mArc and 61.04 Gy in tomotherapy and 58.95 Gy in IMRT. The average dose of the Esophagus is 2.84 Gy in m-Arc, 5.14 Gy in tomotherapy, 1.84 Gy in IMRT. The average dose of the Liver is 19.44 Gy in m-Arc, 12.22 Gy in tomotherapy, 21.97 Gy in IMRT. The average dose of the Spinal cord is 5.72 Gy in m-Arc, 7.08 Gy in tomotherapy, 6.15 Gy in IMRT. Results of this study is no significant difference between mArc and tomotherapy and Linac based IMRT in dose study and also, mArc's dose coverage and dose volume histogram is better than IMRT and tomotherapy. but, This study is limited to a disease of cancer. in addition, fewer number of groups. The wide range the more research can be developed patient-specific treatment techniques and be applied to the patients

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.756-767
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• 2007

For the combination of phosphor screens having various thicknesses and a photodiode array manufactured by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process, we report the observation of image-quality degradation under the irradiation of 45-kVp spectrum x rays. The image quality was assessed in terms of dark pixel signal, dynamic range, modulation-transfer function (MTF), noise-power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). For the accumulation of the absorbed dose, the radiation-induced increase both in dark signal and noise resulted in the gradual reduction in dynamic range. While the MTF was only slightly affected by the total ionizing dose, the noise power in the case of $Min-R^{TM}$ screen, which is the thinnest one among the considered screens in this study, became larger as the total dose was increased. This is caused by incomplete correction of the dark current fixed-pattern noise. In addition, the increase tendency in NPS was independent of the spatial frequency. For the cascaded model analysis, the additional noise source is from direct absorption of x-ray photons. The change in NPS with respect to the total dose degrades the DQE. However, with carefully updated and applied correction, we can overcome the detrimental effects of increased dark current on NPS and DQE. This study gives an initial motivation that the periodic monitoring of the image-quality degradation is an important issue for the long-term and healthy use of digital x-ray imaging detectors.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2015

Connexin (Cx) is a complex which allows direct communication between neighboring cells via exchange of signaling molecules and eventually leads to functional harmony of cells in a tissue. The initial segment (IS) is an excurrent duct of male reproductive tract and expression of numerous genes in the IS are controlled by androgens and estrogens. The effects of these steroid hormones on gene expression in the IS during postnatal development have not extensively examined. The present research investigated expressional modulation of Cx isoforms in the IS by exogenous exposure to estrogen agonist, estradiol benzoate (EB), or androgen antagonist, flutamide (Flu), at weaning age. Two different doses of EB or Flu were subcutaneously administrated in 21-day old of male rats, and expressional changes of Cx isoforms in the adult IS were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. Treatment of a low-dose EB ($0.015{\mu}g/kg$ body weight) resulted in an increased expression of Cx31 gene and a decreased expression of Cx37 gene. A high-dose EB ($1.5{\mu}g/kg$ body weight) treatment caused an increase of Cx31 gene expression. Increased levels of Cx30.3 and Cx40 transcripts were observed with a low-dose Flu ($500{\mu}g/kg$ body weight) treatment. Treatment of high-dose Flu (50 mg/kg body weight) led to expressional increases of Cx30.3, 40, and 43 genes. Our previous and present findings suggest differential responsiveness on gene expression of Cx isoforms in the IS by androgens and estrogens at different postnatal ages.