• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2014

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of bacterial infections in infants and young children. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is important because of their association with renal scarring, which can lead to complications. Urine endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the major renal isoform produced and released by renal mesangial cells in response to glomerular injury. This study aimed to investigate whether urinary levels of ET-1 can be used as a biomarker for UTI diagnosis. Method: We conducted a prospective study using medical records of 70 patients below the age of 18 years, who visited Chung-Ang University Hospital from July 2012 to July 2013. We classified the patients into the UTI and control groups based on urine culture studies. The UTI group was further divided into upper and lower UTI groups using 99m-Technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy. Urine ET-1 was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with 0.3 mL urine. Results: The UTI and control groups were comprised of 45 and 25 patients, respectively. Mean urine ET-1 levels were significantly higher in the UTI group than in the control group ($1.41{\pm}0.35$ pg/mL vs. $0.33{\pm}0.07$ pg/mL, P =0.04). There was no significance difference in the quantitative value between the upper and lower UTI groups (P =0.552). There was no correlation between urine ET-1 and serum C-reactive protein (Pearson correlation [R]=0.24), urine ET-1 and serum white blood cell count (R=0.19). Conclusion: Our study suggests that urine ET-1 can be used for early diagnosis of UTI in children.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2006

One of the main attractions of treatment with herbal medicine is its apparent lack of side effects compared with the drug therapies used in allopathic medicine. However, evidence from various countries suggest that Asian herbal medicine carry a significant risk of contamination with toxic heavy metals at levels that may seriously threaten health. The aims of this study were to analyze and compare concentrations of heavy metals in urine and hair from 184 patients taking herbal medicines in the form of decoctions and/or pills in comparison to 101 control subjects taking either Western or no medications. Levels of metal concentrations exceeding WHO reference values were observed in a number of hair and urine samples for all subjects. After adjusting for potential confounders, taking decoctions or pills was associated with higher levels of some metals (such as Cu, Pb in urine), as well a higher odds ratio of exceeding the upper limit of reference ranges for Pb, Hg in hair. In contrast, taking decoctions or pills was associated with lower levels of some metals (such as Cu in urine and Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb in hair), suggesting that some herbal medicines may have a chelating effect on heavy metals in the body. Overall, the results obtained in the study show a mixed picture and suggest that heavy metals contamination in herbs is sometimes present, but may also be counteracted by the potential for some herbal medicines to act as chelating agents. Further study must be followed to obtain more concrete evidence.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.442-453
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• 2013

Objectives This case study was about a Taeeumin patient with advanced Parkinson's disease diagnosed as Dry-heat symptomatic pattern. In this study, we reported significant improvement of motor and non-motor symptoms of this patient after Sasang constitutional medicine treatment. Methods The patient was diagnosed with Taeeumin Dry-heat symptomatic pattern and treated with Taeeumin's constitutional medications and acupuncture. The primary outcome measure for this study is Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS) to assess the overall function of patient. Secondary outcome assessments include Global Assessment Scale(GAS), change of patient's sleep, stool and urine. Results and Conclusions The patient treated with Taeeumin's constitutional medications and acupuncture had reduction in UPDRS (specifically Part II, Part III and Part IV) and GAS of motor symptoms. Furthermore, patient's sleep, stool and urine were reported to be normal after treatment. In conclusion, this study shows that Sasang constitutional medicine can be effective treatment for Taeeumin patient with Advanced Parkinson's disease diagnosed as Dry-heat symptomatic pattern.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2009

Objectives : To evaluate the efficacy of herbal medicine on CRF, clinical study on one case of 48 year old male patient of CRF was performed. The patient complained of general weakness and anorexia, dizziness and both lower limb edema. Methods : According to the Differentiation of Symptoms(變證), the patient was classified as weakness(虛勞) prescribed Sipjeondaebo-tang(十全大補湯) as well as acupuncture and moxibustion. treatment. Change of BUN, Creatinine, Hgb, Albumin, VAS of weakness and urine volume was compared before and after treatment for 3 months. Results : After such treatments, the level of BUN and creatinine was decreased and the volume of urine was increased. Conclusion : Herbal medicine Sipjeondaebo-tang with acupuncture and moxibustion treatment would be efficient to the patient of CRF.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.96-102
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• 2007

Measurement of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3, ceramide trihexoside) in urine has clinical importance for monitoring after enzyme replacement therapy in Fabry disease patients. The disease is an X-linked lipid storage disorder that results from a deficiency of the enzyme ${\alpha}$-galactosidase A (${\alpha}$-Gal A). The lack of ${\alpha}$-Gal A causes an intracellular accumulation of glycosphingolipids, mainly Gb3. A simple, rapid, and highly sensitive analytical method for Gb3 in urine was developed without labor-extensive pre-treatment by electrospray ionization MS/MS (ESI-MS/MS). Only simple 5-fold dilution of urine is necessary for the extraction and isolation of Gb3 in urine. Gb3 in diluted urine was dissolved in dioxane containing C17:0 Gb3 as an internal standard. After centrifugation it was directly injected and analyzed through guard column by in combination with multiple reaction monitoring mode of ESI-MS/MS. Eight isoforms of Gb3 were completely resolved from urine matrix. C24:0 Gb3 occupied 50% of total Gb3 as a major component in urine. Linear relationship for Gb3 isoforms was found in the range of 0.005${\sim}$5.0 ${\mu}$g/ml. The limit of detection (S/N=5) was 0.005 ${\mu}$g/ml and limit of quantification was 0.05 ${\mu}$g/ml for C24:0 Gb3 with acceptable precision and accuracy. Correlation coefficient of calibration curves for 8 Gb3 isoforms ranged from 0.9598 to 0.9975. This method could be useful for rapid and sensitive 1st line Fabry disease screening, monitoring and/or diagnostic tool for Fabry disease.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.28-39
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• 2016

Struvite (MgNH₄PO₄ ⋅ 6H₂O) and hydroxyapatite (HAP, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) precipitation in urine-separating toilets (NoMix toilets) causes severe maintenance problems and also reduce the phosphate and calcium content. Application of urine separating technique and extraction of by-products from human urine is a cost effective technique in waste water treatment. In this study, we extract urine calcite from human urine by batch scale method, using urease producing microbes to trigger the precipitation and calcite formation process. Extracted urine calcite (calcining at 800℃) is a potential adsorbent for removal of heavy metal(loid)s like (Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺ and As³⁺) along with additional leaching analysis of total nitrogen (T-N), phosphate (T-P) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The transformations of calcite during synthesis were confirm by characterization using XRD, SEM-EDAX and FT-IR techniques. In additional, the phosphate leaching potential and adsorbate (nitrate) efficiency in aqueous solution was investigated using the calcinedurine calcite. The results indicate that the calcite was effectively remove heavy metal(loid)s lead up to 96.8%. In addition, the adsorption capacity (q_e) of calcite was calculated and it was found to be 203.64 Pb, 110.96 Cd, 96.02 Zn, 104.2 As, 149.54 Cu and 162.68 Ni mg/g, respectively. Hence, we suggest that the calcite obtain from the human urine will be a suitable absorbent for heavy metal(loid)s removal from aqueous solution.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.375-382
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• 2008

A low iodine diet (LID) is the recommended preparation for radioactive iodine treatment. However, the recommended duration and stringency of LID are different among each recommendation. More stringent LID is expected in Korea because Korea is a iodine-rich region. We investigated the decrement of urine iodine excretion by two-week stringent LID for remnant thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine in Korean patients with thyroid cancer, prospectively. Material and Method: From November 2006, patients who referred to our hospital for remnant ablation after total thyroidectomy were included in this study. To decrease total body iodine, our protocol included three strategies. First, we checked medication which could inhibit the radioactive iodine uptake. Second, the date of 1-131 treatment was scheduled at least 3 months later if contrast agent had been used. The last strategy was two-week stringent LID education by specialized nutritionist. Before and after two-week stringent LID, 24hr-urine iodine was analyzed respectively. 24hr-urine creatinine was also analyzed for determining more valid 24hr urine sampling subgroup. Results: Total 51 patients were finally enrolled. Average of 24hr-urine iodine excretion was significantly lowered ($787{\pm}2242\;{\rightarrow}\;85{\pm}85\;{\mu}g/d$, p=0.03) after LID and 74.4% of patients reached below the recommended urine iodine excretion level ($<100\;{\mu}g/d$). In subgroup (n=14), similar results was showed ($505{\pm}666\;{\rightarrow}\;99{\pm}116\;{\mu}g/d$, p=0.05) and 78.6% of patients met the criteria. Conclusion: Most patients could reach below the recommended urine iodine level after two-week stringent LID. Therefore, in our opinion, at least two-week stringent LID should be recommended in Korea.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.509-515
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• 2005

This study was conducted to determine the kinetics of cyclohexane metabolites (the biomarker on cyclohexane exposure), the changes of hepatic cyclohexane metabolizing enzyme activities and the metabolites of cyclohexane in urine or serum. The rats were sacrificed at 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 hr after administration of one dose of cyclohexane (1.56 g/kg body weight, i.p.). The metabolites of cyclohexane in urine were identified as cyclohexanol, cyclohexanone, trans-l,2-cyclohexanediol and 1,4-cyclohexanediol with cyclohexane metabolite being 124.00, 0.78, 23.28 and 2.75 (g/g of creatinine, $1\times10^{-3}$). Most of the cyclohexanol and trans-l,2-cyclohexanediol were determined to be in the form of $\beta-glucuronide$ conjugates, whereas cyclohexanone and 1 ,4-cyclohexanediol were found as free forms. In toxicokinetics of serum cyclohexane metabolites, cyclohexanol showed a rapid increase, reaching the plateau at 4 hr, after this time rapidly decreased throughout 24 hr. Changes of cyclohexanone also showed the similar pattern with cyclohexanol except somewhat lower concentration. Trans-l,2-cyclohexanediol, however, showed a gradual increase until 12 hr with the continued same levels throughout 24 hr. On the other hand, 1,4-cyclohexanediol was detected as trace levels at 4 and 12 hr, respectively. The administration of cyclohexane led to a significant increase of hepatic aniline hydroxylase activity from 2 to 8 hr. The activity of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase showed a significant increase at 4 hr and then were recovered to the level of the control at 24 hr. On the other hand, there were no differences in liver weightlbody weight between the control and cyclohexane-treated animals. However, there were the changes of aniline hydroxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities on time-dependent pattern after cyclohexane treatment, which influence on the degree of cyclohexane metabolites both in blood and urine. These results suggest that differential determination of cyclohexane metabolites in urine and serum may be able to be as a biomarker of cyclohexane-exposure in the body. But in this fields further study is needed.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.1037-1044
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate whether acupuncture and moxibustion treatment could improve proteinuria in immunoglobulin A nephropathy. Methods: A 25-year-old man diagnosed with immunoglobulin A nephropathy had severely increased proteinuria. We conducted acupuncture treatment and moxibustion treatment on the abdominal area between the abdominal aorta and kidney at level L2. Results: After five months of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, the patient's urine albumin/creatinine ratio and urine protein/creatinine ratio had improved from 0.571 to 0.28 and 0.79 to 0.47, respectively. Conclusions: This case report suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion treatment may ameliorate proteinuria in immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2000

To evaluate the renal toxicity of the antitumor agent, 1-(N-methyl) piperazinyl-3-phenyl-isoquinoline(CWJ-$\alpha$-5), rats were terated with CWJ-$\alpha$-5 (acute : 100mg/kg, i.p., single and subacute : 10mg/kr, i.p., daily for 7 days). The changes in the body weights, water consumption, kidney weights and urine volume after and during the treatment were observed. The concentrations of urinary creatinine, the activities of N-acetyl-$\beta$-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), alanine aminopeptidase (AAP), $\gamma$-glutamyl transpeptidase ($\gamma$-GT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in 24 hr urine were also determined. The body weight and water consumption were decreased after the acute and subacute administration. However, the excretion of urine was not changed except the 1 day after the acute treatment. The excretion of creatinine was significantly decreased from 1 day after acute administration and continuously decreased. Also the excretion of creatinine was decreased during subacute administration. However, the protein excretion did not changed in both treatment. Those indicate that CWJ-$\alpha$-5 might decrease the metabolic rate of muscle. The urinary activities of NAG, AAP, $\gamma$-GT, and LDH were significantly affected by the drug treatment. The urinary activities of NAG, AAP and $\gamma$-GT were significantly increased 1 and 3 days after the acute administration and then returned to the control value. However, the urinary activities of LDH were increased 7 days after acute treatment. During subacute treatment, the urinary activities of $\gamma$-GT were not changed. However, the urinary activities of NAG, AAP and LDH were only significantly increased after the third administration. These results indicate that either the high acute dose or the subacute administration with low dose of the compound might induce a temporal damage in the kidney cells.