• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.1092-1100
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• 2024

The global elderly population, aged 65 and over, reached approximately 10% in 2020, and this proportion is expected to continue rising. Therefore, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), which are characterized by declining memory capabilities, is anticipated to increase. In a previous study, we successfully restored the diminished memory capabilities in a fruit fly model of PD by administering an omija extract. To identify functional ingredients that can enhance memory akin to the effects of the omija extract, we conducted screenings by administering halophyte extracts to the PD model. Halophytes are plants that thrive in high-salt environments, and given Korea's geographic proximity to the sea on three sides, it serves as an optimal hub for the utilization of these plants. Upon examining the effects of the oral administration of 12 halophyte extracts, Salicornia herbacea and Calystegia soldanella emerged as potential candidates for ameliorating memory loss in PD model flies. Moreover, our findings suggested that C. soldanella, but not S. herbacea, can mitigate oxidative stress in DJ-1β mutants.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1089-1099
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cinnamon on the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) and to introduce its use in Korea. Method: We searched the experimental studies in electronic databases (PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang, CiNii, J-STAGE, Science ON, and OASIS) using the key search terms "cinnamic acid", "cinnamon", "cinnamomum", "Parkinson's disease", "Parkinson disease", "Parkinsonism", and "dopamine". This study only involved experimental studies (in vivo and in vitro) that adopted cinnamon as a single administration and measured indicators relating to Parkinson's disease, including parkin, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and dopamine. Results: A Total of 11 literature studies were selected, and they all showed that treatment with cinnamon has a neuroprotective effect. Cinnamon activated neuroprotective factors and restored neurotransmitters and it reduced the rate of oxidative stress and inflammation in neurons. As a result, cell viability was upregulated, while cell apoptosis and neurodegeneration were downregulated. Five in vivo studies, through behavioral tests, also confirmed that cinnamon recovers locomotor function in PD models. Conclusion: We identified that cinnamon is an effective neural protector and improves motor performance in behavioral testing in the experimental PD studies.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.734-740
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• 2015

Recent studies report that a history of antidepressant use is strongly correlated with the occurrence of Parkinson' disease (PD). However, it remains unclear whether antidepressant use can be a causative factor for PD. In the present study, we examined whether tricyclic antidepressants amitriptyline and desipramine can induce dopaminergic cell damage, both in vitro and in vivo. We found that amitriptyline and desipramine induced mitochondria-mediated neurotoxicity and oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells. When injected into mice on a subchronic schedule, amitriptyline induced movement deficits in the pole test, which is known to detect nigrostriatal dysfunction. In addition, the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta was reduced in amitriptyline-injected mice. Our results suggest that amitriptyline and desipramine may induce PD-associated neurotoxicity.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.240-244
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to compare finger tapping (FT) movement of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with normal subjects. A gyrosensor system was used for the measurement of FT movement, because it provides angular velocity free from the gravitational artifact and it can be used during clinical FT test listed in unified PD rating scale (UPDRS). Forty PD patients (age: 65.7 ${\pm}$ 11.1 yrs, H&Y stage:2.3 ${\pm}$ 0.5), 14 age-matched elderly subjects (65${\pm}$3.9 yrs) and 17 healthy young subjects (24${\pm}$2.1yrs) participated in this study. Angular velocity of finger tapping movement was measured in both right and left index finger. As quantitative measures, root-mean-squared (RMS) angular velocity, RMS angle, peak power and total power were used. ANOVA showed that all measures were significantly different among three groups (p<0.001) in all quantitative measures. Post-hoc test revealed that all quantitative measures except peak power in patients with PD were significantly smaller than in both healthy elderly and young subjects (p<0.01). This suggests that the measures developed in this study can distinguish patients with PD from normal subjects.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.44-49
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of auditory cues in the form of a metronome on gait initiation (GI) in Parkinson's disease (PD). 2 patients (mean age: 54 yrs) with idiopathic PD participated in the study. All patients (Hoehn and Yahr disability score of 2.0) were tested in the "on" state approximately 1.5 hours following the administration and fully responding to their PD medications. Subjects first initiated walking at self-initiated speeds to determine their cadences. Then, subjects were asked to initiate gait along the walkway while keeping pace with a metronome. The metronome rate (in beats/min) was set at a cadence 85% (slow condition), 100% (normal condition) and 115% (fast condition) of gait for each subject. Subjects were able to increase the speed of GI with faster cadence, but the speed of GI for the slow condition was similar to that of the normal condition. Swing toe-off was 578.3 ms for the fast condition, 709.4 ms for the normal condition and 736.2 ms for the slow condition. Respective times for swing heel-strike were 894.3 ms, 1110.2 ms and 1119.1 ms, and stance toe-off were 1105.4 ms, 1338.5 ms, and 1343.1 ms. Except for stance unloading ground reaction forces were greatest for the fast condition and smallest for the slow condition. It appears that PD patients were able to modulate GRFs and temporal events in response to auditory cues to achieve the peak acceleration force of the swing and stance limb. The findings from this study provided preliminary data, which could be used to investigate how PD patients modulate GRFs and temporal events during GI in response to tasks.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.8-19
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• 2022

Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) patients experience various non-motor symptoms, among which constipation is the second most common after anosmia. However, there are no clear guidelines or effective treatment for constipation in PD. Methods: To investigate the efficacy of Majainhwan (MH) on constipation in patients with PD, we conducted a retrospective chart review study of PD or Parkinsonism patients with constipation who received outpatient or inpatient treatment and whose previous laxatives were replaced by MH from August 2016 to July 2019. Results: In this study, a total of 68 patients' medical records were reviewed. Among the 44 outpatients with MH treatment, "effective" results were observed in 86.4% patients. Similarly, among the 24 inpatients, "effective" results were noted in 95.8% patients. The adverse effect was "diarrhea" reported in five cases. Conclusion: Based on these findings, we could suggest that MH is relatively safe and may be effective in the treatment of constipation in patients with PD.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.655-661
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• 2022

Since speech impairment is prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), speech recognition systems suitable for these patients are needed. In this paper, we propose a speech recognition system that effectively recognizes the speech of patients with PD. The speech recognition system is firstly pre-trained with the Globalformer using the speech data from healthy people, and then fine-tuned using relatively small amount of speech data from the patient with PD. For this analysis, we used the speech dataset of healthy people built by AI hub and that of patients with PD collected at Inha University Hospital. As a result of the experiment, the proposed speech recognition system recognized the speech of patients with PD with Character Error Rate (CER) of 22.15 %, which was a better result compared to other methods.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.29-52
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• 2024

The aim of this review is to consolidate findings from clinical investigations spanning the past decade regarding the impact of acupuncture on Parkinson's disease (PD). The objective is to assess the efficacy of acupuncture as a therapeutic approach to PD, with the intention of informing future clinical practices and advancing the foundation for subsequent research endeavors in this area. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify clinical trials exploring the effects of acupuncture on PD between January 2014 and August 2023. Databases search included PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, OASIS, KISS, KMBASE, RISS, and ScienceON. Quantitative evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was systematically reviewed, and the methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan) 5.4.1 software. The systematic review encompassed a total of 38 RCTs involving 2,786 participants. Meta-analysis of 12 studies revealed that individuals treated with a combination of acupuncture and Western medicine exhibited notable improvements compared to those receiving Western medicine alone or sham acupuncture alongside Western medicine. However, the overall quality of the RCTs was deemed low, and no serious adverse events were reported. Across clinical investigations conducted in the past decade, acupuncture appears to hold promise as a complementary treatment for PD patients when administered alongside Western medicine. Nevertheless, this study identifies certain limitations that warrant consideration in future research endeavors. Enhanced emphasis on conducting high-quality RCTs is imperative to comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in managing PD.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.323-327
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• 2005

RT-PCR is an useful method to investigate the expression of target gene as detection tools. Although RT-PCR is the powerful detection method for tissues, it was difficult to amplify the target gene product using the single cell. To clarify the expression level of the genes related to Parkinson's disease (PD), I performed the laser dissection of single cell from Substantia nigra. I examined the mRNA expression level in the dopaminergic neuron isolated from the PD patients by the single cell RT-PCR method. It is known that tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) are involved in biosynthesis of the catecholamine such as dopamine. Little has been known about the gene expression features of these enzymes in single dopaminergic neuron. I could detect the specific gene products in single cell level. The different expression was observed in PD-related gene products from the single neuron of PD patients. Interestingly, TH gene expression was significantly decreased with comparing the ratio of decrease in other PD-related genes. Hence, I represented data that indicate the RT-PCR method described in this report is an effective method in detecting a specific single-cell mRNA level related with diseases.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.311-314
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• 2003

Pacheco's disease (PD) is a highly contagious, acute disease of psittacines caused by a herpesvirus. Five 56-day-old dead parakeets (Neophema bourkii) were submitted to the National. Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service for diagnosis. At necropsy, principle lesions were seen in the pancreas, which were hard, whitish, nodular and atrophic resulting in distortion of the duodenal loop. Histologically, lymphocytic pancreatitis with eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions syncytium-formed acinar epithelium was prominent. In the brain, marked focal gliosis and perivascular lymphocytic cuffing were observed. On the electron microscopy examination, various forms of viral particles were found in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of acinar epithelium of pancreas, identified as a herpesvirus. These results were suggested that the cases were diagnosed as PD in the parrakeet.