• 한국물환경학회지
• /
• 제35권6호
• /
• pp.574-579
• /
• 2019

As interest in health issues increases, it is imperative to ensure good water quality from wastewater treatment plant effluent to preserve environmental health. In particular, currently there is a lack of water ecosystem risk assessment on pharmaceutical substances remaining in effluent. In this study, antidepressant escitalopram (ESC), antiepileptic carbamazepine (CBZ) and lead, which impact the behavior of aquatic organisms, were used to test their impact on the potential behavior of zebrafish. Zebrafish have been widely used in toxicological assessment studies due to the ease of handlinggenerically and genetically. It was possible to observe changes in the growth of organisms through monitoring the embryos' cognitive and behavior assessment. In this study, the embryo lethal dose test showed that the lethal concentration of ESC and CBZ was at 10 ppb, which is below the water quality criterion (100 ppb), increased by 32.5 % and 40 %, respectively. In the cognitive test, it was found that the cognitive ability function decreased by 22 % and 17% for ESC(500 ppb) and CBZ(1,000 ppb) respectively relative to control. Based on these results, it is necessary to initiate efforts to remove these trace pollutants from sewage treatment facilities to protect the health of aquatic organisms.

• 한국임상약학회지
• /
• 제26권2호
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2016

Background: Depression is the leading cause of lowering the quality of life of cancer patients and lung cancer is the most likely to cause depression. It is necessary to find out depression-related factors in lung cancer patients. Methods: The study was a retrospective cohort study using medical records, and was a non-equivalent comparison group design. It involved patients diagnosed of lung cancer at the Konkuk University Medical Center from January to December 2012. Between antidepressants prescription group and non prescription group, socio-demographic factors, clinical factors, treatment-related factors and other factors were analyzed statistically. Results: Antidepressant prescription group consisted of 23 people and non-prescription group of 206 people. Prescription rate of quetiapine was the highest 47.8% (11/23), followed by escitalopram (43.5%, 10/23), amitryptyline and trazodone (30.4%, 7/23). The prescription group was prescribed with an average of 1.9 antidepressants. Antidepressants were prescribed after average of 248 days from lung cancer diagnosis and prescription period per patient was average 177.5 days. According to the result of univariate logistic regression analysis between 2 groups, factors such as number of outpatient visit, number of admission, days of hospitalization, sleep disorder, and comorbidity were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). However, According multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that number of admission, days of hospitalization and sleep disorder were statistically significant (p < 0.05) excluding comorbidity. Conclusion: About 10% of lung cancer patients had received a prescription for antidepressants after lung cancer diagnosis. A sleep disorder, number of hospitalization and length of stay were identified as factors influencing the prescribing antidepressants.

• 정신신체의학
• /
• 제21권2호
• /
• pp.81-92
• /
• 2013

새로운 항우울제가 개발되고 임상에서 정신과적 질환뿐만이 아니라 만성통증증후군, 섬유근통증증후군, 두통 등의 많은 정신신체질환 그리고 신체질환자의 적응장애 및 우울증 등의 자문조정정신의학 영역에서도 다양하게 자주 사용되고 있다. 다양한 정신의학적 질환을 치료하기 위해 처방하는 새로운 항우울제의 사용 시 치료중단의 가장 큰 원인은 약물부작용이다. 이 논문은 현재 우리나라에서 널리 사용되고 있는 새로운 항우울제 사용 시 나타나는 부작용들 중 정신신체의학과 자문조정정신의학영역에서 관심을 가져야 할 매우 빈번하게 나타나는 세 가지 부작용인 오심과 구토, 체중증가, 성기능장애에 대한 발생기전, 발생빈도, 그리고 약물학적 처치를 위주로 한 해결방안을 알아보았다. 저자는 이 논문을 통하여 정신건강의학과 의사만이 아니라 정신신체의학 영역에 관심을 가지거나 자문조정정신의학과 연계되는 타과 영역의 의사들이 새로운 항우울제를 사용할 때 빈번하게 나타나서 삶의 질을 떨어뜨리고 치료중단을 일으킬 수 있는 이 약물들의 부작용을 잘 인지함으로써 이를 조기에 발견하고 적절히 해결하여 환자 치료에 도움을 주고자 하였다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제20권4호
• /
• pp.379-385
• /
• 2016

TWIK-related $K^+$ channel-2 (TREK-2) and TWIK-related spinal cord $K^+$ (TRESK) channel are members of two-pore domain $K^+$ channel family. They are well expressed and help to set the resting membrane potential in sensory neurons. Modulation of TREK-2 and TRESK channels are involved in the pathogenesis of pain, and specific activators of TREK-2 and TRESK may be beneficial for the treatment of pain symptoms. However, the effect of commonly used analgesics on TREK-2 and TRESK channels are not known. Here, we investigated the effect of analgesics on TREK-2 and TRESK channels. The effects of analgesics were examined in HEK cells transfected with TREK-2 or TRESK. Amitriptyline, citalopram, escitalopram, and fluoxetine significantly inhibited TREK-2 and TRESK currents in HEK cells (p<0.05, n=10). Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, nabumetone, and bupropion inhibited TRESK, but had no effect on TREK-2. These results show that all analgesics tested in this study inhibit TRESK activity. Further study is needed to identify the mechanisms by which the analgesics modulate TREK-2 and TRESK differently.

• 약학회지
• /
• 제57권2호
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2013

Depressive disorders are the most common psychiatric problem in the elderly. Most depression treatment guidelines emphasize treatment with antidepressant medication and recommend that benzodiazepine use be minimized for limited period, particularly to elderly patients. In order to evaluate appropriate use of antidepressants and benzodiazepine, retrospective review of prescriptions was performed. The study population are older than 65 years who had been newly diagnosed with major depressive disorder in specialty mental health at a community general hospital from January $1^{st}$, 2007 to October $31^{th}$, 2012 (N=373). Initial antidepressant accounted for 89.5% with SSRI, and escitalopram accounted for 60.9% of SSRI group. 79% or more of the patients were prescribed the recommended dosage. The maintenance rate for 4 weeks of initial antidepressant was 48% and 6 weeks was 39%. Treatment-discontinuation rate was 68% at 3 month. Alprazolam (short acting benzodiazepine) was prescribed the most, followed by clonazepam (long acting benzodiazepine) and then diazepam. 55% of patients received a duplicated prescription for short acting plus long acting benzodiazepine. 61% of patients used long acting benzodiazepines. Prescribed dosages of benzodiazepines were commonly within a recommended range, while no one was prescribed a appropriate period (up to 2 weeks) except for the early discontinued patients. Appropriate use of zolpidem was only 16.2%. The depressed elderly treated in specialty mental health mostly received long-term treatment with benzodiazepines in combination with antidepressants, guideline recommendations was not followed. Multidisciplinary interventions like audit and feedback of benzodiazepine use are needed and education for the elderly is needed to properly maintain antidepressant treatment.

• 한국임상약학회지
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.213-222
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the current state of antidepressant prescriptions in breast cancer patients and factors affecting the prescription of antidepressants. Methods: This study targeted female breast cancer patients who were prescribed antidepressants by a psychiatrist at least once between August 2010 and July 2011 at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul. The prescription history of each study subject was investigated to analyze the current state of antidepressant prescriptions in breast cancer patients. Results: The analysis of the prescription histories of 136 subjects in the antidepressant group determined that escitalopram, mirtazapine, and trazodone were the three most commonly prescribed medications with an average of 1.54 antidepressants prescribed per patient. A logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant increase in antidepressant prescriptions in patients who were divorced or widowed, had sleep disturbances, or had undergone oncologic surgery for the breast cancer (p<0.050). In contrast, the prescription rate was lower for patients with tumour sizes greater than 50 mm (p<0.050). Conclusion: The sociodemographic factor of marital status, clinical factors of sleep disorders and tumour size, and a treatment-specific factor of the use of surgical therapy were identified as affecting the prescription of antidepressants in female breast cancer patients.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
• /
• 제33권46호
• /
• pp.290.1-290.11
• /
• 2018

Background: The role of antidepressants (ADs) in bipolar disorder is long-standing controversial issue in psychiatry. Many clinicians have used ADs as a treatment for bipolar depression, and the selection of therapeutic agents is very diverse and inconsistent. This study aimed to examine recent AD prescription patterns for patients with bipolar disorder in Korea, using the nationwide, population-based data. Methods: This study utilized the Korean nationwide, whole population-based registry data of the year 2010, 2011, and 2013. All prescription data of the ADs, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers of the sampled patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (n = 2,022 [in 2010]; 2,038 [in 2011]; 2,626 [in 2013]) were analyzed for each year. Results: Annual prescription rate of ADs was 27.3%-33.6% in bipolar disorder, which was gradually increasing over the 3-year period. The combination pattern of ADs and antipsychotic drugs tended to increase over 3 years. The proportion of females and the prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorder were significantly higher in AD user group in all three years. Among individual ADs, escitalopram was prescribed most frequently, and fluoxetine and bupropion were prescribed to the next many patients. The mean duration of bipolar depressive episodes was 135.90-152.53 days, of which ADs were prescribed for 115.60-121.98 days. Conclusion: Our results show prescription rate of ADs in bipolar disorder was maintained at substantial level and increased in recent 3 years. More empirical data and evidence are needed to establish practical treatment consensuses.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
• /
• 제56권1호
• /
• pp.122-136
• /
• 2023

Depression is a prevalent global problem since ages, predominately treated with SSRI. Cipralex, is an antidepressant of the SSRIs class used as a remedy for mood, depression and anxiety. Silymarin (SIL), a natural free radical scavenging, has an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This hypothesis evaluates, for the first time, the role of cipralex on the structure of the endocrine and exocrine components of the pancreas and assess the beneficial effects of SIL on these changes. Forty-five rats were divided into control, cipralex, and cipralex plus SIL groups. During sacrifice, all rats and pancreases were weighed and the ratio of pancreatic weight (PW) to rat weight (RW) was calculated, blood samples were collected to estimate fasting glucose, insulin and amylase levels, the specimens were prepared for histological, immunohistochemical (inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS], tumour necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α], caspase 3, proliferating cell nuclear antigen [PCNA], and anti-insulin antibody), and morphometrical studies. Cipralex group exhibited marked destruction of the pancreatic architecture of the exocrine and endocrine parts, with a dense collagen fiber deposition. Also, there is highly significant decrease (P<0.001) of PW/RT ratio, insulin, and amylase levels, the number and diameter of islets of Langerhans, the number of PCNA positive immunoreactive cells, and the number of insulin positive β-cells. Furthermore, a highly significant increase of glucose level, iNOS, TNF-α, and caspase-3 positive immunoreactive cells in the islets of Langerhans and acinar cells were observed. SIL improves the pancreatic histological architecture, weight loss, biochemical, and immunohistochemical analyses. Administering SIL is advantageous in managing cipralex induced pancreatic injury via its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic qualities.

• 대한불안의학회지
• /
• 제14권2호
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2018

Objective : The Korean Association of Anxiety Disorders developed Korean guidelines for treatment of panic disorder (PD) 2018. In this paper, we discussed the consensus among psychiatrists, regarding initial and maintenance treatment strategies for pharmacological treatment of PD in Korea. Methods : Based on current treatment guidelines published by the American Psychiatric Association, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, and the Canadian Psychiatric Association, we developed questionnaires pertinent to initial and maintenance treatment strategies for pharmacological treatment of PD. Seventy-two experts in PD answered questionnaires. We classified expert opinions into three categories, first, second, and third-line treatment strategies, by analyzing the 95% confidence interval. Results : Antidepressants, benzodiazepine anxiolytics, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) were recommended as treatments of choice (ToC), and first-line strategies for initial treatment of PD. Escitalopram, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine were preferred from among many anti-panic drugs. Mean starting dose of anti-panic drugs for initial treatment of PD was relatively lower, than that for other psychiatric illnesses such as major depressive disorder. In the case of maintenance treatment of PD, antidepressants and CBT were selected as ToC and first-line strategies. Patients were typically examined every four weeks during treatment, to review effectiveness and side effects of the drug. Pharmacotherapy was generally continued for one year or more. Conclusion : This study provides information about consensus among Korean experts regarding pharmacological treatment strategies for patients with panic disorder.