• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.231-239
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of study was to identify how patients experienced chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and quality of life related to CIPN. Methods: This was a descriptive research. We collected data from 105 patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. They completed a self-reported questionnaire including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (EORTC) CIPN20 and items related to their disease and peripheral neuropathy. The investigators filled in part of items about disease and treatment. Results: In the study, duration of peripheral neuropathy was 9.4 month and 54.3% of patients used pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions. Patients reported the highest score for sensory scale and it's score was $38.74{\pm}20.24$. The scores for motor scale and autonomic scale were $21.95{\pm}19.19$ and $26.61{\pm}21.0$ respectively. This showed that patients more suffered from sensory neuropathy than any other domain of neuropathy. The most frequently selected two items were 'did you have tingling fingers or hands?' and 'did you have tingling toes or feet?'. Conclusion: The results of this study will provide useful information for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.354-360
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• 2019

Ginsenosides, the major active ingredients of ginseng and other plants of the genus Panax, have been used as natural medicines in the East for a long time; in addition, their popularity in the West has increased owing to their various beneficial pharmacological effects. There is therefore a wealth of literature regarding the pharmacological effects of ginsenosides. In contrast, there are few comprehensive studies that investigate their pharmacokinetic behaviors. This is because ginseng contains the complicated mixture of herbal materials as well as thousands of constituents with complex chemical properties, and ginsenosides undergo multiple biotransformation processes after administration. This is a significant issue as pharmacokinetic studies provide crucial data regarding the efficacy and safety of compounds. Moreover, there have been many difficulties in the development of the optimal dosage regimens of ginsenosides and the evaluation of their interactions with other drugs. Therefore, this review details the pharmacokinetic properties and profiles of ginsenosides determined in various animal models administered through different routes of administration. Such information is valuable for designing specialized delivery systems and determining optimal dosing strategies for ginsenosides.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.225-240
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of reminiscence therapy on depressive symptoms in older adults with dementia using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from January 2000 to January 2018 were searched through Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS), Korean Medical Database (KMbase), KoreaMed, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Ovid MEDLINE. Two researchers independently performed the search, selection, and coding. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.0 was used for meta-analysis, and Review Manager program 5.3 was used for quality assessment. Results: Out of the 1,250 retrieved articles, 22 RCTs were selected for analysis. The overall effect size of reminiscence therapy for mitigating depressive symptoms in older adults with dementia was -0.62 (95% Cl: -0.92 to -0.31). The effect size was greater in older adults under 80, those with less disease severity, and those for whom the therapy session lasted less than 40 minutes. Conclusion: Reminiscence therapy is an effective non-pharmacological therapy to improve depressive symptoms in older adults with dementia. Because its effectiveness is also influenced by age, disease severity, and application method, it is necessary to consider treatment designs based on individual characteristics as well as methodological approaches.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2019

Objectives: Insomnia is not only the most common sleep-related disorder, but also is one of the most important. Knowledge of the comorbidities of insomnia is essential for proper treatment including pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to prevent disease chronification. This study aimed to determine sleep clinic patients' knowledge of insomnia. Methods: This study recruited 44 patients (24 males and 20 females; mean age $54.11{\pm}16.30years$) from the sleep clinic at National Center for Mental Health. All subjects were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire about their reasons for visiting a sleep clinic and about their knowledge of treatment and comorbidities of insomnia. Results: The reasons for visiting the sleep clinic were insomnia symptoms of daytime sleepiness, irregular sleeping time, nightmares, snoring, and sleep apnea, in that order. Of the responders, 72.7% had a comorbidity of insomnia, and 22.7% showed high-risk alcohol use. In addition, 70.5% of responders chose pharmacological treatment of insomnia as the first option and reported collection of information about treatment of insomnia mainly from the internet and medical staff. More than half (52.3%) of the respondents reported that they had never heard about non-pharmacological treatments of insomnia such as cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT-I) or light therapy. The response rate about comorbidities of varied, with 75% of responders reporting knowledge of the relation between insomnia and depression, but only 38.6% stating awareness of the relation between insomnia and alcohol use disorder. Of the total responders, 68.2% were worried about hypnotics for insomnia treatment, and 70% were concerned about drug dependence. Conclusion: This study showed that patients at a sleep clinic had limited knowledge about insomnia. It is necessary to develop standardized insomnia treatment guidelines and educational handbooks for those suffering from insomnia. In addition, evaluation of alcohol use disorders is essential in the initial assessment of sleep disorders.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.427-436
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• 2021

Background: Pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies have been used to treat patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). However, the effect of therapies in cancer patients has yet to be investigated comprehensively. We hypothesized that cyclic thermal therapy would improve blood flow and microcirculation and improve the symptoms driven by CIPN. Methods: The criteria of assessment were blood volume in region of interest (ROI) in the images, and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Questionnaire-Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy 20 questionnaire scores. The blood volume was quantified by using red blood cell (RBC) scintigraphy. All patients were treated 10 times during 10 days. The thermal stimulations, between 15° and 41°, were repeatedly delivered to the patient's hands. Results: The total score of the questionnaires, the score of questions related to the upper limbs, the score of questions closely related to the upper limbs, and the score excluding the upper limbs questions was decreased. The blood volume was decreased, and the variance of blood volume was decreased. During cooling stimulation, the blood volume was decreased, and its variance was decreased. During warming stimulation, the blood volume was decreased, and its variance was decreased. Conclusions: We suggest that cyclic thermal therapy is useful to alleviate CIPN symptoms by blood circulation improvement. RBC scintigraphy can provide the quantitative information on blood volume under certain conditions such as stress, as well as rest, in peripheral tissue.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.562-570
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing the quality of sleep in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in the outpatient settings. The data were collected from 203 patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy in the outpatient settings at one tertiary hospital in B City. Stress, fatigue and depression were negatively correlated with quality of sleep (r=-.369, p=.001; r=-.565, p=.001; r=-.526, p=.001, respectively). Fatigue(${\beta}=-.387$, p<.001) was one of the biggest impact factors on quality of sleep which explained 31.6% of the variance of the sleep quality, followed by the experience of sleep disturbances prior to the diagnosis of breast cancer(${\beta}=-.178$, p<.002) and depression(${\beta}=-.231$, p<.004). In total, all of the antecedent variables explained significantly 37.4% of the variance of the sleep quality. Thus, in order to improve the quality of sleep, integrative nursing interventions need to be developed to reduce fatigue and depression among them, including an proactive system to screen out the patients with the experience of sleep disturbances prior to the diagnosis with breast cancer and to provide adequate pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological sleep interventions prior to the chemotherapy.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2006

This study was conducted to obtain the acute information of the oral dose toxicity of lyophilized water extract of Picrorrhiza Rhizoma (PR) - dried underground stem of Picrorrhiza kurroa, having various pharmacological effects, in male and female mice. In order to calculate 50% lethal dose ($LD_{50}$), approximate lethal dose and target organs, test article was administered once by oral gavage to male and female ICR mice at 2000, 1000, 500 and 250 mg/kg. The mortality and changes on body weight, clinical signs and gross observation were monitored during 14 days after dosing with organ weight and histopathology of 12 types of principle organs. As the results, we could not find any mortality, clinical signs, changes in the body weight and gross findings except for hair loss, a significantly (p<0.05) increase of body weight gains in 2000mg/kg of PR extracts-dosing male group and some sporadic gross findings. In addition, no meaningful changes on the organ weight and histopathology of 12 types of principle organs were detected in the present study except for significantly (p<0.05) but dose independent changes on thymus, spleen and popliteal lymph nodes weights, and some sporadic accidental histopathological findings. The results obtained in this study suggest that the PR extract is non-toxic in mice and is therefore likely to be safe for clinical use. The $LD_{50}$ and approximate lethal dose of PR extracts in both female and male mice were considered as over 2000 mg/kg.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.361-365
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• 2005

This study was conducted to obtain the acute information of the oral dose toxicity of Polycan - originated from Aureobasidium pullulans SM-2001 (half of the dry material is -1,3/1,6-glucans), a UV induced mutant of A. pullulans, having various pharmacological effects, in male and female mice. In order to calculate $50\%$ lethal dose $(LD_{50})$, approximate LD and target organs, test article was administered twice by oral gavage to male and female ICR mice at total 1000, 500 and 250mg/kg. The mortality and changes on body weight, clinical signs and gross observation were monitored during 14 days after dosing. As the results, we could not find any mortalities, clinical signs, changes in the body weight and gross findings. The results obtained in this study suggest that the Polycan is non-toxic in mice and is therefore likely to be safe for clinical use. The L050 and approximate $(LD_{50})$ in mice after single oral dose of Polycan were considered over 1000 mg/kg, respectively.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.227-247
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• 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of recently discovered non-coding small RNA molecules, on average approximately 21 nucleotides in length, which underlie numerous important biological roles in gene regulation in various organisms. The miRNA database (release 18) has 18,226 miRNAs, which have been deposited from different species. Although miRNAs have been identified and validated in many plant species, no studies have been reported on discovering miRNAs in Panax ginseng Meyer, which is a traditionally known medicinal plant in oriental medicine, also known as Korean ginseng. It has triterpene ginseng saponins called ginsenosides, which are responsible for its various pharmacological activities. Predicting conserved miRNAs by homology-based analysis with available expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences can be powerful, if the species lacks whole genome sequence information. In this study by using the EST based computational approach, 69 conserved miRNAs belonging to 44 miRNA families were identified in Korean ginseng. The digital gene expression patterns of predicted conserved miRNAs were analyzed by deep sequencing using small RNA sequences of flower buds, leaves, and lateral roots. We have found that many of the identified miRNAs showed tissue specific expressions. Using the insilico method, 346 potential targets were identified for the predicted 69 conserved miRNAs by searching the ginseng EST database, and the predicted targets were mainly involved in secondary metabolic processes, responses to biotic and abiotic stress, and transcription regulator activities, as well as a variety of other metabolic processes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.584-590
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• 2019

Luteolin, a widespread flavonoid, has been known to have neuroprotective activity against various neurologic diseases such as epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease. However, little information is available regarding the hypnotic effect of luteolin. In this study, we evaluated the hypnotic effect of luteolin and its underlying mechanism. In pentobarbital-induced sleeping mice model, luteolin (1, and 3 mg/kg, p.o.) decreased sleep latency and increased the total sleep time. Through electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) recording, we demonstrated that luteolin increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep time and decreased wake time. To evaluate the underlying mechanism, we examined the effects of various pharmacological antagonists on the hypnotic effect of luteolin. The hypnotic effect of 3 mg/kg of luteolin was not affected by flumazenil, a GABAA receptorbenzodiazepine (GABAAR-BDZ) binding site antagonist, and bicuculine, a GABAAR-GABA binding site antagonist. On the other hand, the hypnotic effect of 3 mg/kg of luteolin was almost completely blocked by caffeine, an antagonist for both adenosine A1 and A2A receptor (A1R and A2AR), 8-Cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX), an A1R antagonist, and SCH-58261, an A2AR antagonist. From the binding affinity assay, we have found that luteolin significantly binds to not only A1R but also A2AR with $IC_{50}$ of 1.19, $0.84{\mu}g/kg$, respectively. However, luteolin did not bind to either BDZ-receptor or GABAAR. From these results, it has been suggested that luteolin has hypnotic efficacy through A1R and A2AR binding.