• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.300-309
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• 2001

Background : Sepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by a systemic inflammatory and hemodynamic response to severe bacterial infections that involve various mediators. Endothelin (ET)-1, a potent vasoconstrictor is associated with mu1tiple organ failure, and interleukin (IL)-8, a proinflammtory cytokine, plays a major role in neurophil activation. Both have been reported to be useful parameters in the clinical assessment of sepsis. The levels of ET-1 and IL-8 in the blood were measured in patients with sepsis, and the correlation of both parameters and their relationship with the clinical data was assessed. Methods : 19 sepsis patients and 17 controls were studied. Blood samples of the sepsis patients were drawn in day 1, 3, 7, and 14. The APACHE III scores were calculated in concurrent days. The ET-1 and IL-8 levels were measured using immunoassay methods. Results : The ET-1 levels of patients with sepsis were significantly higher than in the controls. In patients with sepsis, non-survivors had higher ET-1 levels than survivors on day 1 and 7, and patients with shock also had higher ET-1 levels than normotensive patients on admission. The ET-1 levels were significantly correlated with the creatinine levels on day 1, 7, and 14. The IL-8 levels showed a significant correlation with the ET-1 levels on day 14. Conclusion : ET-1 was found to be closely related with the clinical outcome, shock, and renal failure, and showed a correlation with IL-8. These mediators can be considered not only to play pathophysiologic roles but also as useful parameters in the clinical assessment of sepsis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3485-3491
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• 2015

Background: Nodal invasion by colorectal cancer is a critical determinant in estimating patient survival and in choosing appropriate preoperative treatment. The present meta-analysis was designed to evaluate the diagnostic value of endorectal ultrasound (EUS) in preoperative assessment of lymph node involvement in colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases for relevant studies published on or before December 10th, 2014. The sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the summary receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) were assessed to estimate the diagnostic value of EUS. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were performed to explore heterogeneity across studies. Results: Thirty-three studies covering 3,016 subjects were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.69 (95%CI: 0.63-0.75) and 0.77 (95%CI: 0.73-0.82), respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 3.09 (95%CI: 2.52-3.78) and 0.39 (95%CI: 0.32-0.48), respectively. The DOR was 7.84 (95%CI: 5.56-11.08), and AUC was 0.80 (95%CI: 0.77-0.84). Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that EUS has moderate diagnostic value in preoperative assessment of lymph node involvement in colorectal cancer. Further refinements in technology and diagnostic criteria are necessary to improve the diagnostic accuracy of EUS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.985-989
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• 2015

Background: Docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil (DCF) given every three weeks is an effective, but palliative regimen and significantly toxic especially in patients who have a low performance score. Here, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a weekly formulation of DCF in locally advanced and metastatic gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: 64 gastric cancer patients (13 locally advanced and 51 metastatic) whose ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status (PS) was 1-2 and who were treated with at least two cycles of weekly DCF protocol as first-line treatment were included retrospectively. The weekly DCF protocol included $25mg/m^2$ docetaxel, $25mg/m^2$ cisplatin, and 24 hours infusion of $750mg/m^2$ 5-fluorouracil, repeated every week. Disease and patient characteristics, prognostic factors, treatment response, grade 3-4 toxicity related to treatment, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Results: Of the patients, 41 were male and 23 were female; the median age was 63 (29-82) years. Forty-one patients were ECOG-1 and 23 were ECOG-2. Of the total, 81.2% received at least three cycles of chemotherapy. Partial response was observed in 28.1% and stabilization in 29.7%. Overall, the disease was controlled in 57.8% whereas progression was noted in 42.2%. The median time to progression was 4 months (95%CI, 2.8-5.2 months) and median overall survival was 12 months (95%CI, 9.2-14.8 months). The evaluation of patients for grade 3-4 toxicity revealed that 10.9% had anemia, 7.8% had thrombocytopenia and 10.9% had neutropenia. Non-hematologic toxicity included renal toxicity (7.8%) and thrombosis (1.6%). Conclusions: In patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer who were not candidates for DCF administered every-3-weeks, a weekly formulation of DCF demonstrated modest activity with minimal hematologic toxicity, suggesting that weekly DCF is a reasonable treatment option for such patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3545-3549
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• 2016

Background: The incidence of bladder cancer is lower in Asian than in Western countries. However, the crude incidence and mortality of bladder cancer have recently increased in Japan because of the increased number of senior citizens. We have already reported risk factors for urothelial cancer in a large population-based cohort study in Japan (JACC study). However, we did not evaluate the cancer risk in the upper and lower urinary tract separately in our previous study. Materials and Methods: Here we evaluated the risk of cancer death in the upper and lower urinary tracts, separately, using the database of the JACC study. The analytic cohort included 46,395 males and 64,190 females aged 40 to 79 years old. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Results: Current smoking increased the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths. A history of kidney disease was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer death, even after controlling for age, sex and smoking status. Conclusions: The present study confirmed that current smoking increases the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths and indicated the possibility that a history of kidney disease may be a risk factor for bladder cancer death in the Japanese population.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 2006

A study was conducted to predict the rumen microbial protein production based on urinary excretion of purine derivatives in buffaloes fed a diet of wheat straw and concentrate (40:60) at four fixed levels of feed intake. (95, 80, 60 and 40% of preliminary voluntary feed intake) following experimental protocol of IAEA (Phase I). The buffaloes were allocated according to a $4{\times}4$ latin square design. The urinary allantoin, uric acid, total PD excretion (mmol/d) in treatments L-95, L-80, L-60 and L-40 was 20.13, 16.00, 12.96 and 9.17; 1.88, 2.12, 2.11 and 2.15; 22.01, 18.12, 15.07 and 11.32, respectively and were significantly (p<0.05) different among treatments except for uric acid. The rate of PD excretion (mmol/d) was positively correlated with the digestible organic matter intake. Variations were observed in PD and creatinine concentration in spot samples collected at 6-hour interval. However, daily PD:Creatinine ratio (PDC index) appears to be a reasonably good predictor of microbial-N supply. The contribution of basal purine excretion to total excretion of purine derivatives (PD) was determined in pre-fasting period followed by a fasting period of 6 d (Phase II). Daily PD and creatinine excretion (mmol/kg $W^{0.75}$) during fasting averaged 0.117 and 0.456 respectively for buffaloes. The excretion rates of PD decreased significantly (p<0.01) during fasting compare to pre-fasting period, the urinary creatinine excretion remained almost similar. Except for creatinine, plasma concentration of target parameters significantly (p<0.01) declined during fasting. Likewise, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal clearance of allantoin and uric acid also decreased. Based on the PD excretion rates during fasting and at different levels of feed intake obtained in this study, a relationship between daily urinary PD excretion (Y-mmol) and microbial purine absorption (X-mmol) was developed for buffaloes as Y = 0.74X+0.117 kg $W^{0.75}$. The microbial N supply (g/kg DOMI) remained statistically similar irrespective of dietary treatment. The results showed that excretion of urinary purine derivatives is positively correlated with the levels of feed intake in Murrah buffaloes and thus, estimation of urinary purine derivatives and PDC index could be used to determine microbial nitrogen supply when there is large variation in level of feed intake.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.205-211
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• 2008

Gingival overgrowth can cause dental occlusion and seriously interfere with mastication, speech, and dental hygiene. It is observed in 25 to 81% of renal transplant patients treated with cyclosporine A (CsA). CsA-induced gingival overgrowth (CIGO) is caused by quantitative alteration of the extracellular matrix components, particularly collagen. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of CIGO remain poorly understood, despite intense clinical and laboratory investigations. The aim of the present work is to identify differentially expressed genes closely associated with CIGO. Human gingival fibroblasts were isolated by primary explant culture of gingival tissues from five healthy subjects (HGFs) and two patients with the CIGO (CIGO-HGFs). The proliferative activity of CsA-treated HGFs and CIGO-HGFs was examined using the MTT assay. The identification of differentially expressed genes in CsA-treated CIGO-HGF was performed by differential display reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by DNA sequencing. CsA significantly increased the proliferation of two HGFs and two CIGO-HGFs, whereas three HGFs were not affected. Seven genes, including the beta subunit of prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4HB) and testican 1, were upregulated by CsA in a highly proliferative CIGO-HGF. The increased P4HB and testican-1 mRNA levels were confirmed in CsA-treated CIGO-HGFs by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Furthermore, CsA increased type I collagen mRNA levels and suppressed MMP-2 mRNA levels, which are regulated by P4HB and testican-1, respectively. These results suggest that CsA may induce gingival overgrowth through the upregulation of P4HB and testican-1, resulting in the accumulation of extracellular matrix components.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.449-453
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• 2007

Trigeminal neuralgia is defined as "a sudden, usually unilateral, brief stabbing recurrent pain in the distribution of one or more branches of the fifth cranial nerve" by the International Association for the Study of Pain(IASP). Trigeminal neuralgia is classified as an idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia with no apparent cause and a symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia which is caused by a structural lesion such as brain tumor. Over 80% of the tumors are meningioma, acoustic neuroma, and epidermoid tumors. Symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia can not be excluded even if old-aged patient does not have abnormal neurologic sign and symptom, and good response to pharmacotherapy. Therefore, initial examinations such as MRI or CT are essential to exclude symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia. When compared with CT, MRI, especially gadolinium enhanced MRI, has an increased sensitivity in the detection of intracranial lesions. The most effective medical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia is carbamazepine. The most common side effects of carbamazepine include drowsiness, dizziness, unsteadiness, nausea, anorexia. Hepatotoxicity, bone marrow depression are the most feared side effect of carbamazepine therapy but occurs rarely. It require periodic complete blood cell counts as well as hepatic and renal function tests. It has been recommended that complete blood cell counts is done every 2 weeks for the first 2months and then quaterly thereafter. Oxcarbazepine can be used if neutropenia occurs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2014

Objective : Infectious spinal disease is regarded as an infection by a specific organism that affects the vertebral body, intervertebral disc and adjacent perivertebral soft tissue. Its incidence seems to be increasing as a result of larger proportion of the older patients with chronic debilitating disease, the rise of intravenous drug abuser, and the increase in spinal procedure and surgery. In Korea, studies assessing infectious spinal disease are rare and have not been addressed in recent times. The objectives of this study are to describe the epidemiology of all kind of spinal infectious disease and their clinical and microbiological characteristics as well as to assess the diagnostic methodology and the parameters related to the outcomes. Methods : A retrospective study was performed in all infectious spinal disease cases presenting from January 2005 to April 2010 to three tertiary teaching hospitals within a city of 1.5 million in Korea. Patient demographics, risk factors, clinical features, and outcomes were assessed. Risk factors entailed the presence of diabetes, chronic renal failure, liver cirrhosis, immunosuppressants, remote infection, underlying malignancy and previous spinal surgery or procedure. We comparatively analyzed the results between the groups of pyogenic and tuberculous spinal infection. SPSS version 14 statistical software was used to perform the analyses of the data. The threshold for statistical significance was established at p<0.05. Results : Ninety-two cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Overall, patients of tuberculous spinal infection (TSI) and pyogenic spinal infection (PSI) entailed 20 (21.7%) and 72 (78.3%) cases, respectively. A previous spinal surgery or procedure was the most commonly noted risk factor (39.1%), followed by diabetes (15.2%). The occurrence of both pyogenic and tuberculous spondylitis was predominant in the lumbar spine. Discs are more easily invaded in PSI. At initial presentation, white cell blood count and C-reactive protein levels were higher in PSI compared to TSI (p<0.05). Etiological agents were identified in 53.3%, and the most effective method for identification of etiological agents was tissue culture (50.0%). Staphyococcus aureus was the most commonly isolated infective agent associated with pyogenic spondylitis, followed by E. coli. Surgical treatment was performed in 31.5% of pyogenic spondylitis and in 35.0% of tuberculous spondylitis cases. Conclusion : Many previous studies in Korea usually reported that tuberculous spondylitis is the predominant infection. However, in our study, the number of pyogenic infection was 3 times greater than that of tuberculous spinal disease. Etiological agents were identified in a half of all infectious spinal disease. For better outcomes, we should try to identify the causative microorganism before antibiotic therapy and make every effort to improve the result of culture and biopsy.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 2013

Purpose : To investigate the blood pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of DTPA-bis-amide (L3) Gd(III) complexes. Materials and Methods: The pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of Gd $(L3)(H_2O){\cdot}nH_2O$ were investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats after intravenous administration at a dose of 0.1 mmol Gd/kg. The Gd content in the blood, various tissues, and organs was determined by ICP-AES. Blood pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using a two-compartment model. Results: The half-lives of ${\alpha}$ phase and ${\beta}$ phase Gd $(L3)(H_2O){\cdot}nH_2O$ were $2.286{\pm}0.11$ min and $146.1{\pm}7.5$ min, respectively. The bio-distribution properties reveal that the complex is mainly excreted by the renal pathway, and possibly excreted by the hepatobiliary route. The concentration ratio of Gd (III) was significantly higher in the liver and spleen than in other organs, and small amounts of Gd (III) ion were detected in the blood or other tissues of rats only after 7 days of intravenous administration. Conclusion: The MRI contrast agent Gd $(L3)(H_2O){\cdot}nH_2O$ provides prolonged blood pool retention in the circulation and then clears rapidly with minimal accumulation of Gd(III) ions. The synthesis of gadolinium complexes with well-balanced lipophilicity and hydrophilicity shows promise for their further development as blood pool MRI contrast agents.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2008

Objective : The purpose of this report was to provide the information about activity and safety of Ojeok-san by analyzing domestic/international papers about Ojeok-san. Methods : Domestic/international papers related to Ojeok-san were reviewed and analyzed. These papers were then classified by year, experimental method and subject. Results : The following results were obtained in this study. 1. The studies of Ojeok-san started from 1984 and has continuously increased. The studies were mainly focused on experimental models rather than clinical studies. 2. By subject, papers related to safety were most common with 5 papers among 20 papers. Besides there were papers related to efficacy of analgesic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-blood stasis and treatment for uterine myoma. 3. The papers related to safety were mainly focused on the effect of Okeok-san on liver function, renal function or metal concentration of organs such as blood, brain, liver, kidney and bone. Ojeok-san proved to be safe, but more clinical studies regarding the safety are needed hereafter. 4. Papers related to analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-phlogistic activities of Ojeok-san were in vivo studies, and other papers were about anti-hyperlipidemic activity, apoptosis inducing activity on uterine myeloma cell line and anti blood static activity on hydrocortisone acetate induced blood statis model. 5. Case reports were about anti-lipidemia, analgesic effect for mastalgia/back pain and anxiety disorder due to climacteric changes. Conclusion : Ojeok-san is being used in various ways with analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-phlogistic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-tumor or anti-blood statis activity. However, mechanism study should be conducted at the molecular biology level and more clinical studies on the efficacy of Ojeok-san are needed.