• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.337-343
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• 2021

Objectives: To investigate effectiveness and satisfaction of applying critical pathway (CP) to Hwa-byung outpatients. Methods: Subjects were 32 outpatients who were diagnosed with Hwa-byung between January 1 and 2021 to October 31, 2021. Among these patients, 18 patients were applied with CP and 14 patients received treatment without applying CP. Their medical records and administration records were retrospectively analyzed. Data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and t-test using SPSS 26.0 program. Results: Mean total treatment period significantly decreased in the CP group compared with the non-CP group. Medical expenses were classified by treatment period, per visit, and patient charges per type of visit. When analyzed specifically by detailed items, there was a decreasing tendency in total medical expenses, uncovered medical expenses, and patient charges but an increasing tendency in covered medical expenses, although some of these changes were not statistically significant. Satisfaction score increased in the CP group compared with the non-CP group in general, although not all increases were statistically significant. Conclusions: Applying CP may contribute to the reduction of medical expenses and improvement of medical service quality. Further research on the development of CP for various diseases and the application of CP under various circumstances is needed.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.35-46
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• 2010

Various electrophysiological tests have provided a large body of valuable information on neuronal responses to a presented stimulus. The special and general somatic sensory pathways are main targets of evoked potentials. Two types of evoked potentials, exogenous and endogenous, are commonly used. Exogenous evoked potentials of general and special somatic sensory systems will be reviewed. One of general somatic sensory functional pathways, proprioception, can be evaluated by general somatosensory evoked potentials with electrical stimulation on nerves. The special somatosensory functional pathways, including vision, and audition, can be evaluated by visual evoked potentials and auditory evoked potentials. Also laser-evoked potentials are newly developed for pain pathway, including lateral spinothalamic pathway, and vestibular myogenic evoked potentials for sacculocollic pathways. The evoked potentials of sensory system have maximal clinical utility in evaluating functional deficits along the sensory pathways. They are used for evaluating comatose patients, hysterical patients, premature infants, patients with suspected demyelinating diseases or neoplasms, and research. We discuss the neurophysiologic tests of sensory systems in views of practical points. The organized evaluation of sensory electrophysiologic tests can be helpful in detecting and estimating the abnormalities in neurological diseases.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.27-39
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• 2012

Panax ginseng exhibits pleiotropic beneficial effects on cardiovascular system, central nervous system, and immune system. In the last decade, numerous preclinical findings suggest ginseng as a promising therapeutic agent for diabetes prevention and treatment. The mechanism of ginseng and its active components is complex and is demonstrated to either modulate insulin production/secretion, glucose metabolism and uptake, or inflammatory pathway in both insulin-dependent and insulin-independent manners. However, human studies are remained obscure because of contradictory results. While more studies are warranted to further understand these contradictions, ginseng holds promise as a therapeutic agent for diabetes prevention and treatment. This review summarizes the evidences for the therapeutic potential of ginseng and ginsenosides from in vitro studies, animal studies and human clinical trials with a focus on diverse molecular targets including an AMP-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제23권5호
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• pp.407-413
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• 2015

Paraquat dichloride (N,N-dimethyl-4-4'-bipiridinium, PQ) is an extremely toxic chemical that is widely used in herbicides. PQ generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and causes multiple organ failure. In particular, PQ has been reported to be an immunotoxic agrochemical compound. PQ was shown to decrease the number of macrophages in rats and suppress monocyte phagocytic activity in mice. However, the effect of PQ on macrophage cell viability remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxic effect of PQ on the mouse macrophage cell line, RAW264.7 and its possible mechanism of action. RAW264.7 cells were treated with PQ (0, 75, and $150{\mu}M$), and cellular apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and intracellular ROS levels were determined. Morphological changes to the cell nucleus and cellular apoptosis were also evaluated by DAPI and Annexin V staining, respectively. In this study, PQ induced apoptotic cell death by dose-dependently decreasing MMP. Additionally, PQ increased the cleaved form of caspase-3, an apoptotic marker. In conclusion, PQ induces apoptosis in RAW264.7 cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway. Thus, our study improves our knowledge of PQ-induced toxicity, and may give us a greater understanding of how PQ affects the immune system.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.43-47
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• 2019

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), a rare form of thrombotic microangiopathy, is distinguished from the typical form by the absence of a preceding verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli infection. Notably, aHUS occurs in association with genetic or acquired disorders causing dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway. Patients with aHUS may show the presence of anti-complement factor H (CFH) autoantibodies. This acquired form of aHUS (antiCFH-aHUS) primarily affects children aged 9-13 years. We report a case of a 13-year-old Lao girl with clinical features of aHUS (most likely anti-CFH-aHUS). The initial presentation of the patient met the classical clinical triad of thrombotic microangiopathy (microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury) without preceding diarrheal illness. Low serum levels of complement 3 and normal levels of complement 4 indicated abnormal activation of the alternative complement pathway. Plasma infusion and high-dose corticosteroid therapy resulted in improvement of the renal function and hematological profile, although the patient subsequently died of infectious complications. This is the first case report that describes aHUS (possibly anti-CFH-aHUS) in Laos.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제42권8호
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• pp.579-588
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• 2019

Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) is a popular tool to identify underlying biological processes in clinical samples using their gene expression phenotypes. GSEA measures the enrichment of annotated gene sets that represent biological processes for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in clinical samples. GSEA may be suboptimal for functional gene sets; however, because DEGs from the expression dataset may not be functional genes per se but dysregulated genes perturbed by bona fide functional genes. To overcome this shortcoming, we developed network-based GSEA (NGSEA), which measures the enrichment score of functional gene sets using the expression difference of not only individual genes but also their neighbors in the functional network. We found that NGSEA outperformed GSEA in identifying pathway gene sets for matched gene expression phenotypes. We also observed that NGSEA substantially improved the ability to retrieve known anti-cancer drugs from patient-derived gene expression data using drug-target gene sets compared with another method, Connectivity Map. We also repurposed FDA-approved drugs using NGSEA and experimentally validated budesonide as a chemical with anti-cancer effects for colorectal cancer. We, therefore, expect that NGSEA will facilitate both pathway interpretation of gene expression phenotypes and anti-cancer drug repositioning. NGSEA is freely available at www.inetbio.org/ngsea.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권8호
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• pp.1132-1141
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• 2020

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an increasing global burden and a predisposing factor to colorectal cancer. Although a number of treatment options are available, the side effects could be considerable. Studies on fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as an IBD intervention protocol require further validation as the underlying mechanisms for its attenuating effects remain unclear. This study aims to demonstrate the ameliorative role of FMT in an ulcerative colitis (UC) model induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and elucidate its relative mechanisms in a mouse model. It was shown that FMT intervention decreased disease activity index (DAI) levels and increased the body weight, colon weight and colon length of experimental animals. It also alleviated histopathological changes, reduced key cytokine expression and oxidative status in the colon. A down-regulated expression level of genes associated with NF-κB signaling pathway was also observed. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that FMT intervention restored the gut microbiota to the pattern of the control group by increasing the relative abundance of Firmicutes and decreasing the abundances of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. The relative abundances of the genera Lactobacillus, Butyricicoccus, Lachnoclostridium, Olsenella and Odoribacter were upregulated but Helicobacter, Bacteroides and Clostridium were reduced after FMT administration. Furthermore, FMT administration elevated the concentrations of SCFAs in the colon. In conclusion, FMT intervention could be suitable for UC control, but further validations via clinical trials are recommended.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.66-71
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• 2016

PikD is a widely known pathway-specific regulator for controlling pikromycin production in Streptomyces venezuelae ATCC 15439, which is a representative of the large ATP-binding regulator of the LuxR family (LAL) in Streptomyces sp. RapH and FkbN also belong to the LAL family of transcriptional regulators, which show greatest homology with the ATP-binding motif and helix-turn-helix DNA-binding motif of PikD. Overexpression of pikD and heterologous expression of rapH and fkbN led to enhanced production of pikromycin by approximately 1.8-, 1.6-, and 1.6-fold in S. venezuelae, respectively. Cross-complementation of rapH and fkbN in the pikD deletion mutant (ΔpikD) restored pikromycin and derived macrolactone production. Overall, these results show that heterologous expression of rapH and fkbN leads to the overproduction of pikromycin and its congeners from the pikromycin biosynthetic pathway in S. venezuelae, and they have the same functionality as the pathwayspecific transcriptional activator for the pikromycin biosynthetic pathway in the ΔpikD strain. These results also show extensive "cross-communication" between pathway-specific regulators of streptomycetes and suggest revision of the current paradigm for pathwayspecific versus global regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces species.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제85권3호
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• pp.221-226
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• 2022

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airflow limitation due to chronic airway inflammation and destruction of the alveolar structure from persistent exposure to oxidative stress. The body has various antioxidant mechanisms for efficiently coping with such oxidative stress. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-antioxidant response element (ARE) is a representative system. Dysregulation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway is responsible for the development and promotion of COPD. Furthermore, COPD severity is also closely related to this pathway. There has been a clinical impetus to use Nrf2 for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Therefore, in this work, we systematically reviewed the clinical significance of Nrf2 in COPD patients, and discuss the value of Nrf2 as a potential COPD biomarker.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.551-562
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• 2003

연구배경 : NF-${\kappa}B$는 많은 염증 유발성 물질들을 발현시키는데 필요한 전사 인자로서, 염증성 폐질환 발병에 관여한다는 사실이 확인되었다. 이러한 NF-${\kappa}B$의 활성화에는 여러 신호전달 체계가 관여한다는 사실이 밝혀지고 있으며 최근 PI3K/Akt 경로도 NF-${\kappa}B$ 활성화에 관여한다는 연구 결과가 보고되고 있으나, 실험 대상 세포주마다 활성화 기전이 다르고 호흡기 상피세포에 대한 결과도 알려져 있지 않아 호흡기 상피세포에서의 NF-${\kappa}B$ 활성화에 PI3K/Akt 경로가 관여하는지를 밝히기 위하여 본 연구를 시행하게 되었다. 방법 : 인체 기관지 상피세포주인 BEAS-2B와 폐암 세포주인 A549, NCI-H157을 사용하여 Akt 활성화와 $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ 분해 여부를 확인하기 위해 western blot을 시행하였다. Wortmannin, LY294002 및 DN-Akt를 이용하여 Akt 경로를 억제하였고, NF-${\kappa}B$ 활성화와 전사 활성을 측정하기 위하여 각각 EMSA와 luciferase assay를 시행하였다. 결과 : BEAS-2B, A549 및 NCI-H157 세포주에 TNF-$\alpha$ 및 insulin을 처리한 경우 Akt 활성화가 유도되었다. Insulin 으로 Akt 경로를 활성화시킨 경우 $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ 분해가 일어나지는 않았다. Wortmannin, LY294002 및 DN-Akt 를 이용하여 Akt 경로를 억제한 경우 TNF-$\alpha$에 의한 $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ 분해 및 IKK 활성화가 억제되지는 않았으며, NF-${\kappa}B$ 활성화도 억제되지 않았다. Wortmannin을 처리한 경우 TNF-$\alpha$에 의한 NF-${\kappa}B$ 전사 활성이 오히려 증가하는 양상을 보였으나, DN-Akt 이입시킨 경우에는 관찰되지 않았다. 결론 : 인체 호흡기 상피세포에서는 $I{\kappa}B$/NF-${\kappa}B$ 경로의 활성화는 PI3K/Akt 경로와 무관한 것으로 판단된다.