• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.197-201
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• 2010

Osteopetrosis is a rare bone disease characterized by systemic osteosclerosis due to an osteoclast dysfunction that decreases bone resorption. This report demonstrates two cases of adult osteopetrosis with secondary osteomyelitis of the maxilla, in siblings who are 43-year old female and 55-year old, male respectively. The common radiographic features of these cases were increased radiopacity in skull, rib and vertebra. The radiographic features that differed between these two cases were the osteosclerotic pattern of the jaw bones, that is, diffuse patterns in the female case, while the male case showed nodular patterns that were confined to the root apices. The diagnosis of osteopetrosis may be complicated due to the varying degree of osteosclerosis on panoramic radiograph. Additional radiographs such as the chest and skull radiograph may be helpful for the diagnosis of osteopetrosis.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2008

Background: A co-inhibitory molecule, B7-H4, is believed to negatively regulate T cell immunity by suppressing T cell proliferation and inhibiting cytokine production. However, the mechanism behind B7-H4-mediated tolerance remains unclear. Methods: Balb/c $(H-2^d)$ mice were fed with dendritic cell line, DC2.4 $(H-2^d)$ every day for 10 days. Meantime, mice were hydrodynamically injected with recombinant plasmid expressing B7-H4 fusion protein (B7-H4.hFc) or hFc via tail vein. One day after last feeding, mice were immunized with allogeneic B6 spleen cells. 14 days following immunization, mice were challenged with B6 spleen cells to ear back and the ear swelling was determined the next day. Subsequently, a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was also performed and cytokines profiles from the reaction were examined by sandwich ELISA. Frequency of immunosuppressive cell population was assayed with flow cytometry and mRNA for FoxP3 was determined by RT-PCR. Results: Tolerant mice given plasmid expressing B7-H4.hFc showed a significant reduction in ear swelling compared to control mice. In addition, T cells from mice given B7-H4.hFc plasmid revealed a significant hyporesponsiveness of T cells against allogeneic spleen cells and showed a significant decrease in Th1 and Th2 cytokines such as IFN-${\gamma}$, IL-5, and TNF-${\alpha}$. Interestingly, flow cytometric analysis showed that the frequency of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Tregs in spleen was increased in tolerant mice given recombinant B7-H4.hFc plasmid compared to control group. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that B7-H4 synergistically potentiates oral tolerance induced by allogeneic cells by increasing the frequency of FoxP3+ CD4+CD25+ Treg and reducing Th1 and Th2 cytokine production.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.203-214
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• 2000

Porphyromonas gingivalis has been implicated in periodontal diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease is the most prevalent medical problem in patients with periodontal diseases. In order to check the possibility that P. gingivalis is involved in coronary heart disease, the present study was performed to observe P. gingivalis adherence and invasion of human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and production of cytokines and growth factors by HCAEC upon P. gingivalis infection. $^3H$-labeled P. gingivalis 381 was incubated with HCAEC for 90 min. The radioactivity of the washed HCAEC was a measure of the absorbed (adhering and invading) P. gingivalis. The absorption radioactivity of the HCAEC infected by P. gingivalis was determined to be 59.58% of the input bacterial cells. In contrast, the absorption radioactivity of the cells infected by S. gordonii Challis which was employed as a control was negligible (0.59%). DPG3, a P. gingivalis mutant defective of fimbriae, appeared to be impaired to some extent in capability of adherence/invasion as compared to that of the parental strain 381, showing 43.04% of the absorption radioactivity. The absorption radioactivity of the HCAEC infected by P. gingivalis 381 in the presence of excessive fimbriae at the concentrations of $50\;{\mu}g$ and $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ was 57.27 and 45.44%, respectively. Invasion of HCAEC by P. gingivalis 381 was observed by an antibiotic (metronidazole) protection assay and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In the antibiotic protection assay, invasion by the bacterium was measured to be 0.73, 1.09, and 1.51% of the input bacterial cells after incubation for 30, 60, and 90 min, respectively. Invasion by DPG3 was shown to be 0.16% after 90-min incubation. In comparison of invasion efficiency at 90 min of the incubation, the invasion efficiency of DPG3 was 0.37% while that of its parental strain 381 was 2.54%. The immunoblot analysis revealed fimbriae of P. gingivalis did not interact with the surface of HCAEC. These results suggest that fimbriae are not the major contribution to the adherence of P. gingivalis to HCAEC but may be important in the invasion of HCAEC by the bacterium. The presence of cytochalasin D ($1\;{\mu}g/ml$) and staurosporine ($1\;{\mu}M$) reduced the invasion of HCAEC by P. gingivalis 381 by 78.86 and 53.76%, respectively, indicating that cytoskeletal rearrangement and protein kinase of HCAEC are essential for the invasion. Infection of P. gingivalis induced HCAEC to increase the production of TNF-${\alpha}$. by 60.6%. At 90 min of the incubation, the HCAEC infected with P. gingivalis cells was apparently atypical in the shape, showing loss of the nuclear membrane and subcellular organelles. The overall results suggest that P. gingivalis may cause coronary heart disease by adhering to and invading endothelial cells, and subsequently damaging the cells.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.111-124
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• 2009

This study analyzes through the review of literature and laws the exposure time, clinical frequency, and radiation exposure of intraoral and extraoral radiography as well as of panoramic radiography performed by dental hygienists in dental clinics, compares the dental radiology curriculums of radiological science and dental hygiene departments, and proposes the expansion of dental hygienists' radiography operations. The radiology curriculums were compared between the radiological science and dental hygiene departments of colleges. For new analysis by radiography for dental diagnosis, the exposure time, radiation absorbed dose, effective dose, and number of days of natural radiation were compared by the type of oral radiation films and radiographical techniques proposed by domestic and international studies. The exposure time of panoramic radiography is 15 seconds and it takes about two minutes for completion, whereas the exposure time of the standard radiography is 0.2~0.8 seconds and it takes 10 times longer for completion of the radiography of full mouth than the panoramic radiography. The standard radiography can cause distortions of radiation at severely curved parts of dental arch and palatopharyngeal reflex. However, panoramic radiography can be performed even for lock jaw patients, causes less inconvenience to patients and is much simpler than the standard radiography. The percentage of dental clinics where radiography is performed by dental hygienists was 92.0%, and the percentage of standard film radiography by dental hygienists was 98% whereas the percentage of panoramic radiography by dental hygienists was 92%. For the absorbed dose which is an indicator of radiation exposure, the When the effective dose which is an indicator of the danger of radiation exposure was converted to the number of days of natural radiation, it was 3.3 days for panoramic radiography, but 13.9 days for the full mouth standard radiography by bisecting angle technique which was 4.2 times longer than the panoramic radiography. There were two colleges that had a dental radiology course with two credits in the departments of radiological science. The credits for dental radiology courses in the department of dental hygiene ranged varied by college, ranging from 3 to 8; on average, the theory course was 2.2 credits and the practice course was 2.02 credits. To summarize the above results, the percentage of dental clinics where panoramic radiography is performed by dental hygienists under the guidance of dentists is high. Panoramic radiography has become an essential facility for dental clinics. It is faster than standard film radiography and less dangerous due to low radiation exposure. Panoramic radiography is a simple mechanical job that does not require training of oral radiography by radiotechnologist. Because panoramic radiography is one of major operations which must be performed at all times in dental clinics, it must be designated as intraoral technique rather than extraoral technique, or legalized for inclusion in the scope of operations of dental hygienists.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.130-136
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• 2012

The GroEL heat-shock protein from Fusobacterium nucleatum, a periodontopathogen, activates risk factors for atherosclerosis in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) and ApoE-/- mice. In this study, we analyzed the signaling pathways by which F. nucleatum GroEL induces the proinflammatory factors in HMEC-1 cells known to be risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis and identified the cellular receptor used by GroEL. The MAPK and NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathways were found to be activated by GroEL to induce the expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), E-selectin, and tissue factor (TF). These effects were inhibited by a TLR4 knockdown. Our results thus indicate that TLR4 is a key receptor that mediates the interaction of F. nucleatum GroEL with HMEC-1 cells and subsequently induces an inflammatory response via the MAPK and NF-${\kappa}B$ pathways.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.391-395
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to determine the cytotoxicity and hypersensivity of toothash which we developed. As a result of a cell toxicity experiment to use MTT assay, there were no differences between toothash group and control group. The cytotoxicity was thought to be absent. Particular allergic reaction did not appear compared with the control group in toothash group.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.3967-3972
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• 2011

A whole body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was applied to investigate absorption, distribution, and physiologic variations on pharmacokinetics of imatinib in human body. Previously published pharmacokinetic data of the drug after intravenous (i.v.) infusion and oral administration were simulated by the PBPK model. Oral dose absorption kinetics were analyzed by adopting a compartmental absorption and transit model in gut section. Tissue/plasma partition coefficients of drug after i.v. infusion were also used for oral administration. Sensitivity analysis of the PBPK model was carried out by taking parameters that were commonly subject to variation in human. Drug concentration in adipose tissue was found to be higher than those in other tissues, suggesting that adipose tissue plays a role as a storage tissue for the drug. Variations of metabolism in liver, body weight, and blood/plasma partition coefficient were found to be important factors affecting the plasma concentration profile of drug in human body.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.137-141
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• 1981

Occurrence and distribution of sucrose metabolizing enzymes in oral streptococci had been studied. In these studies, the carbohydrate component of the culture medium had been glucose. I have extended these studies by analyzing bacterial culture supernatants for the relative content of hexosyltransferases, namely glucosyl and fructosyltransferase. As a carbohydrate, fructose was used. The growth measured for nine oral streptococci (Strptococcus mutans strains BHT, ING, AHT, 6715, LM-7, and SL-1 ; Streptococcus sanguis 903, 9811, and M-5) varied. The level of glucosyltansferase activity also varied among S. mutans strains, and its level in S. sanguis was relatively low. Fructosyltansferase activity of the various strains fluctuated more than of glucosyltransferase. S.mutans strain LM-7 had significantly higher level of both enzymes. As a whole, fructose-grown cultures had generally an agreeable trend of enzyme activity to those from glucose-grown cultures.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2013

Staphylococcus species are one of prevalent pathogens found in hospitals. Microbes that are a primary cause of nosocomial infection were isolated from a dental and medical environment it may assist the reader to explain what this is and how it differs from the 'dental health care providers and ward health care providers'. To investigate the distribution of staphylococcus species in this environment, we used vitek II to measure drug sensitivity, and further performed biochemical testing. The isolation rate of staphylococcus species from the dental and medical environment was 100% but from dental health care providers and ward health care providers were 44.4% and 33.3%, respectively. In the analyses, staphylococcus species showed resistance to diffusion of cefoxitin and oxacillin discs. These staphylococci may be sufficiently positive for the mecA gene. Our results suggest that staphylococci might be an important cause of nosocomial infection in the dental clinic.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.259-264
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• 1989

The adherence of $^{3}H$-labeled oral streptococcal cells to protein-coated hydroxyapatite (HA) beads was studied by a standard adherence assay. The adherence equilibrium for S. mutans 10449 occured in about 2 hrs. The cell numbers adhering to SHA was 50% less than those on bare HA. Sailva from different subjects had varying effect on bacterial adherence. The use of saliva adsorbed with homologouis bacteria decreased S. mutans adherence by 38% ; this indicates the presence of salivary agglutinin in acquired pellicle formed on HA. Animal sera and BSA decreased S. sanguis adherence. BSA concentration as high as 10mg/ml caused up to 87% adherence inhibition. The desorption experiment of adhered bacteria confirmed the previous reports that the adhesive sites on HA beads for S. mutans were different from those for S. sanguis and that S. mutans could enhance the adherence of S. sanguis but not vice versa.