• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.790-798
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• 2020

Background: Beneficial effects of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) on polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) remains unclear. Methods: We examined whether pretreatment (daily from 2 hours before PCOS induction) with KRG extract in water (KRGE; 75 and 150 mg/kg/day, p.o.) could exert a favorable effect in a dehydroepian-drosterone (DHEA)-induced PCOS rat model. Results: Pretreatment with KRGE significantly inhibited the elevation of body and ovary weights, the increase in number and size of ovarian cysts, and the elevation of serum testosterone and estradiol levels induced by DHEA. Pretreatment with KRGE also inhibited macrophage infiltration and enhanced mRNA expression levels of chemokines [interleukin (IL)-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1), proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6), and inducible nitric oxide synthase in ovaries induced by DHEA. It also prevented the reduction in mRNA expression of growth factors (epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-beta (EGF, TGF-β)) related to inhibition of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cell pathway and stimulation of the nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2 pathway. Interestingly, KRGE or representative ginsenosides (Rb1, Rg1, and Rg3(s)) inhibited the activity of inflammatory enzymes cyclooxygenase-2 and iNOS, cytosolic p-IκB, and nuclear p-nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 cells, whereas they increased nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2 nuclear translocation. Conclusion: These results provide that KRGE could prevent DHEA-induced PCOS via antiinflammatory and antioxidant activities. Thus, KRGE may be used in preventive and therapeutic strategies for PCOS-like symptoms.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.327-336
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• 2008

Many herbal extracts have been reported to have a preventive or therapeutic effect of on diabetes mellitus. Momordica Charantia commonly known as bitter melon or karela has been reported to be a medicinal plant for treating various diseases including cancers and diabetes. The objectives of this study were to investigate anti-diabetic effects of bitter melon (BM) as determined by blood glucose levels, glucose tolerance test (GTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT), insulin and HbA1C activities in serum, serum biochemical and lipid levels, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and AMPK-${\alpha}2$ expression of skeletal muscle in male C57BL/6J db/db mice. There were four experimental groups including vehicle control, BM 10 mg/kg, BM 50 mg/kg, and BM 250 mg/kg. BM at doses of 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg was orally administered to the diabetic mice everyday for 8 weeks. The treatments of BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg significantly decreased the blood glucose level in the diabetic mice compared with vehicle control (p < 0.05). The treatments of BM 10 and 50 mg/kg significantly decreased the GTT, ITT and HbA1c levels in the diabetic mice compared with vehicle control (p < 0.05). All BM groups significantly decreased GOT, GPT, BUN, LDL and glucose levels in the diabetic mice compared with the vehicle control mice (p < 0.05). The livers of mice treated with the BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg showed a remarkable decrease in the number of lipid droplets compared with the vehicle control. The pancreas of mice treated with the BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg showed a remarkable increase in insulin concentration of ${\beta}$-cells compared with the vehicle control. In addition, the treatments of BM 10, 50, and 250 mg/kg actually increased the expression of AMPK-${\alpha}2$ compared with vehicle control. These results suggest that BM has a respectable anti-diabetic effect resulting from inhibition of blood glucose level and lipid level in serum and that consumption of BM may give a benefit for controlling diabetes mellitus in humans.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.173-181
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• 2019

The CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a G protein-coupled receptor that regulates chemotaxis and effector functions of immune cells. It also serves as the major co-receptor for the entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Recently, CCR5 inhibitors have been developed and used for the treatment or prevention of HIV infections. Additionally, it has been identified that CCR5 controls bone homeostasis by regulating osteoclastogenesis and the communication between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. However, the effects of CCR5 inhibition on bone tissue in elderly patients are unknown. This study aimed to examine the bone phenotype of aged CCR5 knockout (KO) mice. Femoral and tibial bones were isolated from 12-month and 18-month old wild-type (WT) and CCR5 KO mice, and microcomputed tomography and histology analyses were performed. Twelve-month-old CCR5 KO mice exhibited a decreased trabecular bone mass and cortical bone thickness in both femoral and tibial bones compared with age-matched WT mice. Eighteen-month-old mice also showed a decreased trabecular bone mass in femurs compared with control WT mice, but not in tibial bones. Unlike in 12-month-old mice, the cortical margin of femurs and tibias in 18-month-old mice were rough, likely because they were aggravated by the deficiency of CCR5. Overall, our data suggest that the deficiency of CCR5 with aging can cause severe bone loss. When CCR5 inhibitors or CCR5 inactivating technologies are used in elderly patients, a preventive strategy for bone loss should be considered.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4107-4111
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• 2016

Background: Oral cancers account for approximately 2% of all cancers diagnosed each year; however, the vast majority (80%) of the affected individuals are smokers whose risk of developing a lesion is five to nine times greater than that of non-smokers. Tobacco smoke contains numerous carcinogens that cause DNA damage, including oxidative lesions that are removed effectively by the base-excision repair (BER) pathway, in which poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1), plays key roles. Genetic variations in the genes encoding DNA repair enzymes may alter their functions. Several studies reported mixed effects on the association between PARP-1 variants and the risk of cancer development. Till now no reported studies have investigated the association between PARP-1 variants and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) risk in an Indian population. Materials and Methods: In the present case control study 100 OSCC patients and 100 matched controls were genotyped using PARP1 single nucleotide peptides (SNP's) rs1136410 and rs3219090 using TaqMan assays. Results: The results indicated significantly higher risk with PARP1 rs1136410 minor allele "C" (OR=1.909; p=0.02942; CI, 1.060-3.439). SNP rs1136410 also showed significantly increased risk in patients with smoking habit at C/C genotype and at minor allele C. Conclusions: The PAPR-1 Ala762Val polymorphism may play a role in progression of OSCC. Larger studies with a greater number of samples are needed to verify these findings.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.395-405
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of parental rearing attitudes on smartphone addiction and mediation effect of children's aggression and impulse between them. The randomly chosen 390 subjects of the 4th and 5th elementary school students (boy: 199, girl: 191) of J City participated in this research. The main scales were EMBU-Shot, Smartphone Addiction Scale and NEO-PAS. Spss 22.0 was used for its statistical analysis, that is correlation analysis and regression analysis. The main results are as follows. First, parental rearing attitude, smartphone addiction, and aggression and impulse were statistically significantly correlated. Second, it is testified that rejective parental rearing attitudes statistically significantly increasingly influenced smartphone addiction with partial mediation of aggression and impulse. Also overprotective parental rearing attitudes statistically significantly increasingly influenced smartphone addiction with full mediation of them. It suggested the importance of intervention for aggression and impulse of the children with smartphone addiction as well as parental rearing attitude changes in intervening and counseling them. This study tried to supply evidence-based and basic data for the developing preventive education and counseling programs for them. The limit and future tasks were discussed.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of the disease duration on depression change in cancer survivors between the middle and old age groups. Methodology: To that end, we analyzed 275 patients using the Korea welfare panel survey from 2011 to 2016 jointly developed by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and Seoul National University. The duration of the elapsed and the experienced was measured as a independent variable. CES-D was used as a dependent variable. Frequency, paired t-test, ANOVA, and logistic regression analysis were conducted using Stata 14.0 for statistical analysis. Findings: Studies have shown that as the duration of the elapsed and the experienced increases, people under 65 are 1.17 times and 1.84 times each more likely to be included in depression-increase group than in depression-reduction group. The group that has been maintaining economic activities continuously since 2011 was significantly less likely to belong to the depression-increase group than the group that did not have economic activities in 2016. For those aged 65 and older, there was no significant difference in the duration of the elapsed and the experienced. The higher the likelihood of low-income households being included in the family of depression was 2.58 times higher than for ordinary households. Practical Implications: It is suggested that close policy management of the employment and working environment of cancer survivors is necessary, as both cancer survivors of productive age as well as older cancer survivors are analyzed to be beneficial to depression management. In addition, a systematic management program related to the mental health of cancer survivors is believed to be necessary for normal social recovery in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2010

This study was designed to investigate the effect of increased blood and tibia lead on the change of bone mineral density in retired male lead workers. One hundred nine retired male lead workers who worked in 4 different lead industries and 51 nonoccupationally lead exposed male subjects were recruited from March 2004 to October 2004. Bone mineral density(BMD) was measured by broadband ultrasound attenuation(BUA) at left calcaneous bone area with broadband ultrasound attenuation method of QUS-2(Metra Biosystems Inc, USA). Tibia bone lead was measured for skeletal bone lead with K-xray fluorescence(K-XRF) and blood lead was analyzed with flameless atomic spectrophotometer. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum calcium and iron were also analyzed. In addition, information for smoking and drinking status and basic personal data such as age and lead exposure were also collected using questionnaire inquiry. Blood lead was correlated with tibia lead (r=0.711) and these two variables were negatively correlated with BUA in bivariate analysis. BUA and tibia lead showed significant main effects on the change of blood lead after adjusting covariates. The effect modification by the level of BMD (low: lower than the median of BUA and high: higher than the median of BUA) was observed between the association of tibia lead and blood lead after adjustment of covariates. The subjects who had higher BMD seemed to have lower blood lead by the increase of tibia lead than those of lower BMD. In the multiple regression analysis of blood lead and tibia lead on BUA after adjustment of covariates, only blood lead showed statistically significant effect on BUA. This study confirmed that BMD and blood lead were significantly associated. To verify the causal association of BMD on blood lead and vice versa, further longitudinal studies are needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.111-124
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• 2002

A line of study reported that electroacupuncture(EA) modulate natural killer cell(NK Cell) activities. One report suggested that EA enhanced splenic interferon-gamma($IFN-{\gamma}$), interleukin-2(IL-2), and NK cell activity in Sprague-Dawley rats. Another study suggested that $IFN-{\gamma}$ mediates the up-regulation of NK cell activity, and endogenous ${\beta}$-endorphin secretion also play a role in the up-regulation of NK cell activity induced by EA stimulation. In order to better understand the molecular regulation underlying the activation of NK cell induced by EA, we have utilized cDNA microarray to elucidate how EA alters program of gene expression of spleen in rats. First, we divided three groups, group I was EA group treated with EA in restriction holder, group II was sham group with only holder stress, and last group III was control group with no treatment. We measured NK cell activity after EA stimulation three times for 2 days using $^{51}Cr$ release assay. Second, Biotin-labeled cDNA probes synthesized from EA group and sham group, were competitively hybridized to the microarray that contained variable genes. Such high-throughput screening has identified a number of EA-responsive gene candidates. Of these, we found that EA induced a subset of genes of genes that functionally could modulatory effects on NK cell activity. Genes(vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, protein-tyrosine kinase, CD94 mRNA) related to boost NK cell activity, were increased by EA And, genes(protein-tyrosine-phospatase mRNA, protein-tyrosine phosphatase(SHP-1) mRNA) related to inhibit NK cell activity, were decreased by EA. These EA-responsive genes may provide key insights from which to understand mechanisms of activation of NK cell induced by EA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.137-159
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• 2007

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the risk factors and the genetic polymorphism of TNF-alpha associated with rheumatoid arthritis by Sasang constitution Methods : This study was planned to detect the susceptibility of the patients diagnosed by rheumatoid arthritis to Sasang Constitution and to examine the risk factor such as life style and environmental stress (smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, alcohol intake and so on). The genetic polymorphism of TNF-alpha (G308A) were analyzed by PCR-RFLP in rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls. Rheumatoid arthritis patients and matched controls are assessed with QSCCII question for Sasang Typology. Then the genetic polymorphism of patients by Sasang constitution are compared to those of control, which are statistically analyzed and adjusted by age, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, and econocmic status. Results: Differential effect of passive smoking on the association between Sasang constitution and rheumatoid arthritis risk was found. This study showed that the genetic polymorphism (TNF-${\alpha}$(G308A)) of rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls associated with the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis by sasang constitution was analyzed. Differential effects of TNF-${\alpha}$(G308) genetic polymorphism on the association between rheumatoid arthritis risk and Sasang constitution were found. Conclusion : It is suggested that the genetic polymorphism correlated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis by specific sasang constitution used as its susceptibility marker and further as basic data to prevent the risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis. But larger studies will be needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.151-161
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• 1974

Home visiting as a Public Health Horsing function is believed to be of therapeutic value to, the patient. However, home visiting is time consuming and expensive. Is the gain in knowledge and treatment for patients with Tuberculosis in Korea enough to make the necessary outlay in finances and personnel worthwhile\ulcorner While this study does not attempt to completely answer this question it does, under the following objectives, attempt to answer part of the question. The objectives of the study were to l) ascertain if there is a difference between patients, who receive home visits from the public Health Nurse and those who do not, in the following areas: a) their compliance with medical regimen, b) their ability to answer general questions about Tuberculosis, and c) their compliance with medical advice concerning prevention (B.C.G. immunization) and early diagnosis (contact X-rays), and 2) to determine if there is any correlation between the patient's answers to questions about Tuberculosis and his action both in the areas of treatment and prevention. The patients participating in the study were all newly diagnosed patients at Kwangju Christian Hospital. A control group and an experimental group were selected. The patients in the control group were seen according to the regular schedule at the Kwangju Christian Hospital except that they received no home visits from the Public Health Nurses. The patients in the experimental group were visited on an average of three times during the first two months of their treatment by the investigator, a Public Health Nurse. At the end of two months the patients in the two groups were compared as to compliance both in the treatment and preventive areas. They were also compared according to their answers to a questionnaire regarding both the prevention and treatment of Tuberculosis. The following results were obtained : 1. Patients in the experimental group (68.2%) showed a significantly higher compliance rate for medical treatment than patients in the control group (43.2%). 2. Patients in the experimental group (87.5%) showed a higher compliance rate for B.C.G. immunization than those in the control group (40%). 3. Women patients in the experimental group showed a higher mean score (7.2$\pm$2.6) on the questionnaire than did women in the control group (6.2$\pm$3.4). The results of this study seem to indicate that while home visiting is beneficial to the patient with Tuberculosis as far as treatment is concerned, something more concrete needs to be done if home visiting is to help the patient learn more about Tuberculosis and its prevention. Further study is indicated in the following areas: 1) A similar type of study over a longer period of time involving more subjects and using Korean Public Health Nurses to make the home visits. 2) Study to develop an adequate approach to education considering the problems unique to patients with Tuberculosis living in Korea.