• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

Steamed and freeze-dried mature silkworm powder (SMSP) is a natural food containing a large amount of various functional materials and has various health promoting effects. SMSP is known to increase the life expectancy and healthspan, simultaneously. The accomplishment of extension of healthspan should be possible to achieve by activating various signaling pathways delaying aging in various tissues, not by regulating only a few signaling pathways. Consistent with this notion, SMSP increased the resistant to Parkinson disease by enhancing olfaction and mitochondrial activity in neurons of animal models. In addition, SMSP could enhance the gastrointestinal functions. The animals consumed SMSP showed enhanced alcohol metabolisms, reduced cholesterols in bloods, increased resistance to carcinogens causing liver cancers, and protective effects in alcohol induced stomach ulcers. Furthermore, SMSP was also effective in appearance. The SMSP consumed animals showed reduced skin pigmentations and more hair growth compared with control animals. Taken together, the functional enhancement effects of SMSPs in various tissues and organs, which have been discovered to date, are combined to extend healthspan. Therefore, SMSP can be regarded as calorie restriction mimetics. Further studies in the health promoting effects of SMSP will contribute to identifying new applicable diseases, resulted in increased sales of SMSP and incomes of sericulture farmers.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.499-507
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), a dominant component from the extract of Panax ginseng root, exhibits neuroprotective functions in many neurological diseases. This study was intended to investigate whether Rb1 can attenuate cisplatin-induced memory impairments and explore the potential mechanisms. Methods: Cisplatin was injected intraperitoneally with a dose of 5 mg/kg/wk, and Rb1 was administered in drinking water at the dose of 2 mg/kg/d to rats for 5 consecutive wk. The novel objects recognition task and Morris water maze were used to detect the memory of rats. Nissl staining was used to examine the neuron numbers in the hippocampus. The activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, cholineacetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, and the levels of malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species, acetylcholine, tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, interleukin-$1{\beta}$, and interleukin-10 were measured by ELISA to assay the oxidative stress, cholinergic function, and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus. Results: Rb1 administration effectively ameliorates the memory impairments caused by cisplatin in both novel objects recognition task and Morris water maze task. Rb1 also attenuates the neuronal loss induced by cisplatin in the different regions (CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus) of the hippocampus. Meanwhile, Rb1 is able to rescue the cholinergic neuron function, inhibit the oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in cisplatin-induced rat brain. Conclusion: Rb1 rescues the cisplatin-induced memory impairment via restoring the neuronal loss by reducing oxidative stress and neuroinflammation and recovering the cholinergic neuron functions.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.232-247
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• 2021

This study attempted to examine the nutrition knowledge of caregivers for the elderly and the diet-related medical treatment and dietary assistance given by them. Thus, this research is a descriptive study focusing on the current nutritional knowledge of caregivers and the dietary assistance given by them. The survey included a questionnaire (nutritional knowledge level of digestive system diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular risk, brain disease, bone disease, and meal assistance performance status) for caregivers working in nursing homes for the elderly. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 235 caregivers between February and March 2020. The results were analyzed using the SPSS 25.0, and the significance test of each question was verified by the Friedman test and the Chi-square independence test. The number of elderly people who needed meal assistance from caregivers was 4.4 more than the average. The most common types of meal assistance were partial assistance (59.20%) and the task of when to stop eating for the elderly (58.71%). Besides, the higher nutritional knowledge level of the caregivers, the more the time spent on services related to meal assistance (P<0.001), and the higher the meal assistance level. The disease state of the elderly was considered the most relevant (P<0.001). Caregivers with high levels of knowledge and offering significant meal assistance were found to have received nutrition education (P<0.001). Up to 80% of the respondents needed nutrition education, and most of them answered that they needed education on appropriate management methods for the specific disease state of the elderly (P<0.01). Accordingly, providing nutrition education for caregivers for the elderly should be a means to improve their ability to offer meal assistance.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.269-278
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to report the effect of the Korean acupuncture treatment and Open Wet Dressing Therapy(OPWT) for pressure ulcer. From November 2015 to January 2020, 9 patients with 3rd or 4th graded pressure ulcer over 70 years of age who were admitted to a care hospital with underlying diseases such as cerebral infarction, brain hemorrhage, and Parkinson's disease were treated by acupuncture and OPWT. Photographs of lesions were used to evaluate the changes in condition of pressure ulcer. Acupuncture was performed 4 times a week along the border between the normal epidermal region and the pressure ulcer granulation tissue in contact with the pressure ulcer interface. OPWT to create a wet environment for wounds by washing the wounds 1-2 times a day with normal saline solution and covering them with food wrap was combined. In addition, for objective treatment progress evaluation, size, stage and condition of pressure ulcer were regularly monitored using the classification method of The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) according to the condition and depth of the damaged tissue and The Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing(PUSH tool 3.0). After acupuncture treatment and OPWT, the pressure ulcer of patients was cured in as short as 66 days and as long as 274 days (average 170 days). This study shows that acupuncture treatment and OPWT were effective to treat pressure ulcer.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.173-193
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most representative neurodegenerative disease mainly caused by the excessive production of amyloid beta (Aβ). Several studies on the antioxidant activity and protective effects of Populus tomentiglandulosa (PT) against cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal damage have been reported. Based on this background, the present study investigated the protective effects of PT against cognitive impairment in AD. MATERIALS/METHODS: We orally administered PT (50 and 100 mg/kg/day) for 14 days in an Aβ_25-35-induced mouse model and conducted behavioral experiments to test cognitive ability. In addition, we evaluated the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum and measured the production of lipid peroxide, nitric oxide (NO), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tissues. RESULTS: PT treatment improved the space perceptive ability in the T-maze test, object cognitive ability in the novel object recognition test, and spatial learning/long-term memory in the Morris water-maze test. Moreover, the levels of AST and ALT were not significantly different among the groups, indicating that PT did not show liver toxicity. Furthermore, administration of PT significantly inhibited the production of lipid peroxide, NO, and ROS in the brain, liver, and kidney, suggesting that PT protected against oxidative stress. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that administration of PT improved Aβ_25-35-induced cognitive impairment by regulating oxidative stress. Therefore, we propose that PT could be used as a natural agent for AD improvement.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.4-13
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• 2022

Changes in diagnostic criteria, for example, the various International Classification of Headache Disorders criteria, would lead to changes in the outcomes of epidemiological studies. International Classification of Headache Disorders-1 was based mainly on expert opinion, yet most of the diagnostic criteria were reliable and valid, but it did not include chronic migraine. In its second version, the classification introduced chronic migraine, but this diagnosis resembled more a high-frequency migraine rather than the actual migraine transformation process. It also introduced medication overuse headache, but it necessitated analgesic withdrawal and subsequent headache improvement to be diagnosed as such. Hence patients having medication overuse headache could only be diagnosed in retrospect, which was an awkward situation. Such restrictive criteria for chronic migraine and medication overuse headache omitted a high proportion of patients. International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 allows a diagnosis of medication overuse headache due to combination analgesics if taken for at least 10 days per month for more than three months. Hence the prevalence rate of medication overuse headache and chronic migraine can increase compared to the previous version of the headache classification. Different criteria have been used across studies to identify chronic migraine and medication overuse headache, and therefore the information acquired from previous studies using earlier criteria becomes uncertain. Hence much epidemiological research would need to be interpreted cautiously or repeated with the most updated criteria, since the subjects in studies that apply the latest criteria may be phenotypically different from those in older studies.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2022

Salmonella meningitis is rare yet poses causes significant neurological morbidity in children. Infants, especially those under 3 months of age, and those with immunocompromised states, such as malignancy, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus infection, are at increased risk for developing Salmonella meningitis. Herein, we describe a case of Salmonella meningitis in a previous healthy 8-year-old girl who presented with high fever, vomiting, and altered mental status. Group D Salmonella species were isolated in cerebrospinal fluid culture, and no abnormal findings were noted in brain magnetic resonance imaging. Immunoglobulin levels and lymphocyte subset counts were within the normal ranges, and no genetic mutation responsible for primary immunodeficiency disease was detected by next-generation sequencing. The patient's condition improved rapidly with third-generation cephalosporin, and no complications or sequalae developed. Nontyphoidal Salmonella can cause meningitis in immunocompetent children and can be successfully treated with early administration of antibiotics.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.201-208
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• 2022

Neuroinflammation is defined as a neurological inflammation within the brain and the spinal cord. In neuroinflammation, microglia are the tissue-resident macrophages of the central nervous system, which act as the first line of defense against harmful pathogens. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has an anti-inflammatory effect in many neurological conditions. Additionally, the microRNA-30a-5p (miR-30a-5p) mimic has been proven to be effective in macrophages in inflammatory conditions. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic anti-inflammatory effects of both miR-30a-5p and Dex in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV2 cells. This study showed that miR-30a-5p and Dex decreased nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) translocation in LPS-induced BV2 cells. MiR-30a-5p and Dex alleviated tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), LPS-induced phosphorylation c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38. Also, the expression of the NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome (NLRP3), cleaved caspase-1, and ASC was inhibited. Furthermore, LPS-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression were attenuated by Dex and miR-30a-5p. Our results indicate that a combination of Dex and miR-30a-5p, attenuates NF-κB activation, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and inflammatory mediators involved in LPS-induced inflammation and inhibits the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in LPS-activated BV2 cells.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.38-44
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• 2021

[Purpose] Exercise can prevent conditions such as atrophy and degenerative brain diseases. However, owing to individual differences in athletic ability, exercise supplements can be used to improve a person's exercise capacity. Schisandra chinensis (SC) is a natural product with various physiologically active effects. In this study, we analyzed SC using a pharmacological network and determined whether it could be used as an exercise supplement. [Methods] The active compounds of SC and target genes were identified using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). The active compound and target genes were selected based on pharmacokinetic (PK) conditions (oral bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30%, Caco-2 permeability (Caco-2) ≥ -0.4, and drug-likeness (DL) ≥ 0.18). Gene ontology (GO) was analyzed using the Cytoscape software. [Results] Eight active compounds were identified according to the PK conditions. Twenty-one target genes were identified after excluding duplicates in the eight active compounds. The top 10 GOs were analyzed using GO-biological process analysis. GO was subsequently divided into three representative categories: postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor activity (53.85%), an intracellular steroid hormone receptor signaling pathway (36.46%), and endopeptidase activity (10%). SC is related to immune function. [Conclusion] According to the GO analysis, SC plays a role in immunity and inflammation, promotes liver metabolism, improves fatigue, and regulates the function of steroid receptors. Therefore, we suggest SC as an exercise supplement with nutritional and anti-fatigue benefits.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.435-443
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• 2022

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disease that develops following exposure to a traumatic event and is a stress-associated mental disorder characterized by an imbalance of neuroinflammation. Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) is the herbal supplement that is known to be involved in a variety of pharmacological activities. We aimed to investigate the effects of KRG on neuroinflammation as a potential mechanism involved in single prolonged stress (SPS) that negatively influences memory formation and consolidation and leads to cognitive and spatial impairment by regulating BDNF signaling, synaptic proteins, and the activation of NF-κB. Methods: We analyzed the cognitive and spatial memory, and inflammatory cytokine levels during the SPS procedure. SPS model rats were injected intraperitoneally with 20, 50, or 100 mg/kg/day KRG for 14 days. Results: KRG administration significantly attenuated the cognitive and spatial memory deficits, as well as the inflammatory reaction in the hippocampus associated with activation of NF-κB in the hippocampus induced by SPS. Moreover, the effects of KRG were equivalent to those exerted by paroxetine. In addition, KRG improved the expression of BDNF mRNA and the synaptic protein PSD-95 in the hippocampus. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that KRG exerts memory-improving actions by regulating anti-inflammatory activities and the NF-κB and neurotrophic pathway. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that KRG is a potential functional ingredient for protecting against memory deficits in mental diseases, such as PTSD.