• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• 제73권10호
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• pp.1571-1576
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• 2018

We developed and evaluated an algorithm to calculate the target radiation dose in cancer patients by measuring the transmitted dose during 3D conformal radiation treatment (3D-CRT) treatment. The patient target doses were calculated from the transit dose, which was measured using a glass dosimeter positioned 150 cm from the source. The accuracy of the transit dose algorithm was evaluated using a solid water phantom for five patient treatment plans. We performed transit dose-based patient dose verification during the actual treatment of 34 patients who underwent 3D-CRT. These included 17 patients with breast cancer, 11 with pelvic cancer, and 6 with other cancers. In the solid water phantom study, the difference between the transit dosimetry algorithm with the treatment planning system (TPS) and the measurement was $-0.10{\pm}1.93%$. In the clinical study, this difference was $0.94{\pm}4.13%$ for the patients with 17 breast cancers, $-0.11{\pm}3.50%$ for the eight with rectal cancer, $0.51{\pm}5.10%$ for the four with bone cancer, and $0.91{\pm}3.69%$ for the other five. These results suggest that transit-dosimetry-based in-room patient dose verification is a useful application for 3D-CRT. We expect that this technique will be widely applicable for patient safety in the treatment room through improvements in the transit dosimetry algorithm for complicated treatment techniques (including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.27-31
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• 2021

Shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) is a fat extracted from shea tree nuts and contains relatively high levels of non-glycerides. Triterpenes, the main non-glyceride component, exhibit a variety of biological activities such as antitumor, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory. Shea butter extract (SBE) has been used to treat various skin problems such as burns, eczema, and rash in human medicine, but little is known about the activity of SBE on canine skin. This study evaluated the cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effect of SBE in canine keratinocytes. Cytotoxicity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5-50 ng/mL) and SBE (50-200 ㎍/mL) was evaluated using the CCK-8 assay. Non-cytotoxic concentrations of LPS and SBE were administered to canine cell cultures to evaluate anti-inflammatory effects. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of SBE, the levels of IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12, and TNF-α were measured using ELISA kits. The concentration of each cytokine was quantified in control, LPS-treated, LPS + SBE-treated groups. Increased levels of IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12 were found in LPS-treated groups relative to control groups. LPS + SBE-treated groups showed a lower level of IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12 than LPS-treated groups. These results suggest that SBE may have application as a topical agent for canine inflammatory skin diseases. However, further in vivo study is needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of SBE in dogs.

• 한국식품과학회지
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.77-81
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• 2009

Streptozotocin-유도 당뇨병 모델을 이용하여 흑삼의 혈당강하작용에 대한 효과를 연구하고 증포과정에 따른 ginsenoside의 조성 변화를 분석하였다. 증포별 ginsenoside의 정량분석 결과, 증포 횟수가 증가할수록 조사포닌의 총량과 대부분의 ginsenoside는 줄어든 반면 ginsenoside-$Rg_3$ 함량 및 PD/PT 비율은 증가하는 경향을 보였는데, 이러한 조성은 다른 인삼제품과는 차별성 있는 특징이다. 또한, streptozotocin-당뇨병 유발쥐를 이용한 모델실험에서 흑삼추출물의 투여는 고혈당 준위(300 mg/dL이상)를 정상 수준(102 mg/dL)으로 감소시켰으며, 혈당 수준의 감소는 glycolysis나 HMT shunt 및 지방산 합성에 관여하는 glucokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, acetyl CoA carboxylase 등의 효소의 활성증대에 기인하는 것으로 판단되었다. 이러한 결과는 흑삼추출물의 유의적인 혈당강하 효과를 입증하며 이에 따라 신약이나 식이보조제의 항당뇨물질로서의 이용가능성을 시사한다.

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제60권7호
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• pp.1417-1426
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• 2011

Radiofrequency ablation through cardiac catheterization is one of minimally invasive intervention procedures used in drug resistant arrhythmia treatment. To facilitate more accurate and precise catheter navigation, systems for robotic cardiac catheter navigation have been developed and commercialized. The authors have been developing a novel robotic catheter navigation system. The system is a network-based master-slave configuration 3-DOF (Degree-Of-Freedom) robotic manipulator for operation with conventional cardiac ablation catheter. The catheter manipulation motion is composed of the translation (forward/backward) and the roll movements of the catheter and knob rotation for the catheter tip articulation. The master manipulator comprises an operator handle compartment for the knob and the roll movement input, and a base platform for the translation movement input. The slave manipulator implements a robotic catheter platform in which conventional cardiac catheter is mounted and the 3-DOF motions of the catheter are controlled. The system software that runs on a realtime OS based PC, implements the master-slave motion synchronization control in the robot system. The master-slave motion synchronization performance tested with step, sinusoidal and arbitrarily varying motion commands showed satisfactory results with acceptable level of steady state error. The developed system will be further improved through evaluation of safety and performance in in vitro and in vivo tests.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.34-44
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• 2020

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed as an alternative therapy to be applied into several pathologies of the nervous system. These cells can be obtained from adipose tissue, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, among other tissues, and have remarkable therapeutic properties. MSCs can be isolated with high yield, which adds to their ability to differentiate into non-mesodermal cell types including neuronal lineage both in vivo and in vitro. They are able to restore damaged neural tissue, thus being suitable for the treatment of neural injuries, and possess immunosuppressive activity, which may be useful for the treatment of neurological disorders of inflammatory etiology. Although the long-term safety of MSC-based therapies remains unclear, a large amount of both pre-clinical and clinical trials have shown functional improvements in animal models of nervous system diseases following transplantation of MSCs. In fact, there are several ongoing clinical trials evaluating the possible benefits this cell-based therapy could provide to patients with neurological damage, as well as their clinical limitations. In this review we focus on the potential of MSCs as a therapeutic tool to treat neurological disorders, summarizing the state of the art of this topic and the most recent clinical studies.

• BMB Reports
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• 제56권10호
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• pp.545-550
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• 2023

Osteoporosis is a major public health concern, which requires novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or mitigate bone loss. Natural compounds have attracted attention as potential therapeutic agents due to their safety and efficacy. In this study, we investigated the regulatory activities of boeravinone B (BOB), a natural rotenoid isolated from the medicinal plant Boerhavia diffusa, on the differentiation of osteoclasts and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the two main cell components responsible for bone remodeling. We found that BOB inhibited osteoclast differentiation and function, as determined by TRAP staining and pit formation assay, with no significant cytotoxicity. Furthermore, our results showing that BOB ameliorates ovariectomy-induced bone loss demonstrated that BOB is also effective in vivo. BOB exerted its inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis by downregulating the RANKL/RANK signaling pathways, including NF-κB, MAPK, and PI3K/Akt, resulting in the suppression of osteoclast-specific gene expression. Further experiments revealed that, at least phenomenologically, BOB promotes osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow-derived MSCs but inhibits their differentiation into adipocytes. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that BOB inhibits osteoclastogenesis and promotes osteoblastogenesis in vitro by regulating various signaling pathways. These findings suggest that BOB has potential value as a novel therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제27권9호
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• pp.539-551
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• 2024

The enormous diversity of molluscs has provided humans with food, colours, medicines and shells, among other resources. Molluscs have long been utilized in traditional medicine in several countries and they are a valuable source of medical supplies for many diverse communities worldwide. The purpose of this study was to identify and assess Cipangopaludina lecythis bioactive compounds in order to determine the nature of the primary ingredient that gives its medicinal properties. C. lecythis flesh and shell extracts using polar and lipophilic solvents were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This study provides the first chemical assessment of flesh and shell-opercula of C. lecythis. Chemical analysis of flesh and shell-opercula of C. lecythis clearly showed the presence of major compounds such as chitin, allantoin, linoleic acid, dihydrotachysterol, cyclotrisiloxane hexamethyl and 6-gingerol besides other minor compounds with bioactive properties of medicinal significance. Overall, this research provides good evidence that C. lecythis produce secondary metabolites with a variety of intriguing pharmacological characteristics. They have also long been a part of traditional medicine in many human cultural groups. Its usage by traditional practitioners to treat a range of human diseases is justified by the presence of numerous medicinally significant bioactive chemicals. However, more research on the bioactive compounds found in snails is necessary to standardize the extraction techniques for their detection, quantification and formulations, to validate their in vivo efficacy, and confirm their safety.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.1-16
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• 2000

Many natural products elicit diverse pharmacological effects. Using two classes of potential chemopreventive compounds, the phenolic compounds and the isothiocyanates, we review the potential utility of two signaling events, the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and the ICE/Ced-3 proteases (caspases) stimulated by these agents in mammalian cell lines. Studies with phenolic antioxidants (BHA, tBHQ), and natural products (flavonoids; EGCG, ECG, and isothiocyanates; PEITC, sulforaphane), provided important insights into the signaling pathways induced by these compounds. At low concentrations, these chemicals may activate the MAPK (ERK2, JNK1, p38) leading to gene expression of survival genes (c-Fos, c-Jun) and defensive genes (Phase II detoxifying enzymes; GST, QR) resulting in survival and protective mechanisms (homeostasis response). Increasing the concentrations of these compounds will additionally activate the caspase pathway, leading to apoptosis (potential cytotoxicity). Further increment to suprapharmacological concentrations will lead to nonspecific necrotic cell death. The wider and narrow concentration ranges between the activation of MAPK/gene induction and caspases/cell death exhibited by phenolic compounds and isothiocyanates, respectively, in mammalian cells, may reflect their respective therapeutic windows in vivo. Consequently, the studies of signaling pathways elicited by natural products will advance our understanding of their efficacy and safety, of which many man become important therapeuitc drugs of the future.

• 환경생물
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.241-250
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• 2011

현대인들은 가정생활과 직업환경 속에서 다양한 종류의 전자기파에 노출되며 전자기파 노출에 따른 생체위해성은 공중보건학적으로 중요한 이슈로 대두되었다. 현재까지 많은 체외 및 체내실험 결과에서 전자기파 노출이 세포대사, 내분비, 면역, 신경, 생식, 태아발달에 영향을 미치는 것으로 보고되었다. 세포나 개체 수준에서 시행된 실험연구에서는 전자기파 노출에 의해 세포내부 자유기의 증가, DNA 손상과 암발생, 발생기형, 생식기능 저하가 나타난다. 역학조사결과 전자기파 노출은 생명을 위협하는 질병인 백혈병, 뇌암, 근위축성 측삭경화증, 우울증, 자살, 알츠하이머와 상관성이 보고되었다. 이러한 생체기능 변화는 전자기파의 주파수, 노출기간, 강도 (에너지)에 따라 다르게 나타난다. 전자기파 노출은 곤충, 어류, 양서류, 파충류, 조류 등 야생동물에서도 동물행동, 번식, 생리기능의 변화를 초래한다. 본 소고에서는 인간보건학적 측면과 생태계에서 나타난 전자기파의 위해성을 전자기파의 종류, 노출시간에 따라 세포 및 개체 수준에서 보고된 위해성 자료를 정리하였다.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.207-224
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• 2011

Diseases caused by plant pathogenic bacteria constitute an emerging threat to global food security. Xanthomonas is a large genus of Gram-negative bacteria that cause disease in several host plants leading to considerable losses in productivity and quality of harvests. Despite the ranges of controlling techniques available, the microbiological safety of economically important crops and crop plants including fruits and vegetables continues to be a major concern to the agriculture industry. On the other hand, many of the currently available antimicrobial agents for agriculture are highly toxic, non-biodegradable and cause extended environmental pollution. Besides, the use of antibiotics has provoked an increased resistance among the bacterial pathogens and their pathovars. Thus, novel efficient and safe remedies for controlling plant bacterial diseases are necessary. There has been an increasing interest worldwide on therapeutic values of natural products such as essential oils, hence the purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the published data on the antibacterial efficacy of essential oils that could be considered suitable for application in agriculture as biocontrol measures against plant pathogenic bacteria of Xanthomonas species. The current knowledge on the use of essential oils to control Xanthomonas bacteria in vitro and in vivo models has been discussed. A brief description on the legal aspects on the use of essential oils against bacterial pathogens has also been presented. Through this review, a mode of antibacterial action of essential oils along with their chemical nature and the area for future research have been thoroughly discussed.