It has been reported that stressful events in early life influence behavior in adulthood and are associated with different psychiatric disorders, such as major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder.Maternal separation (MS) is a representative animal model for reproducing childhood stress. It is used as an animal model for depression, and has well-known effects, such as increasing anxiety behavior and causing abnormalities in the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This study investigated the effect of MS on anxiety or aggression-like behavior and the number of GABAergic neurons in the hippocampus. Mice were separated from their dams for four hours per day for 19 d from postnatal day two. Elevated plus maze (EPM) test, resident-intruder (RI) test, and counted glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) or parvalbumin (PV) positive cells in the hippocampus were executed using immunohistochemistry. The maternal segregation group exhibited increased anxiety and aggression in the EPM test and the RI test. GAD67-positive neurons were increased in the hippocampal regions we observed:dentate gyrus (DG), CA3, CA1, subiculum, presubiculum, and parasubiculum. PVpositive neurons were increased in the DG, CA3, presubiculum, and parasubiculum.Consistent with behavioral changes, corticosterone was increased in the MS group, suggesting that the behavioral changes induced by MS were expressed through the effect on the HPA axis. Altogether, MS alters anxiety and aggression levels, possibly through alteration of cytoarchitecture and output of the ventral hippocampus that induces the dysfunction of the HPA axis.

Fibromuscular dysplasia is a nonatheromatous, noninflammatory arterial disorder that results in stenosis and/or aneurysm formation and rarely involves the mesenteric arteries. Herein, we report a case of fibromuscular dysplasia limited to the inferior mesenteric artery, which manifested with arterial aneurysms and ischemic colitis.

Serous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are usually benign, with a low malignant potential. Herein, we report a case of malignant serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas treated with subtotal pancreatectomy, which progressed to local recurrence and metachronous hepatic metastasis during the regular follow-up period.

Serous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are usually benign, with a low malignant potential. Herein, we report a case of malignant serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas treated with subtotal pancreatectomy, which progressed to local recurrence and metachronous hepatic metastasis during the regular follow-up period.

The aims of this study were to develop strategies and algorithms of calculating food commodity intake suitable for exposure assessment of residual chemicals by using the food intake database of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). In this study, apples and their processed food products were chosen as a model food for accurate calculation of food commodity intakes uthrough the recently developed Korea food commodity intake calculation (KFCIC) software. The average daily intakes of total apples in Korea Health Statistics were 29.60 g in 2008, 32.40 g in 2009, 34.30 g in 2010, 28.10 g in 2011, and 24.60 g in 2012. The average daily intakes of apples by KFCIC software was 2.65 g higher than that by Korea Health Statistics. The food intake data in Korea Health Statistics might have less reflected the intake of apples from mixed and processed foods than KFCIC software has. These results can affect outcome of risk assessment for residual chemicals in foods. Therefore, the accurate estimation of the average daily intake of food commodities is very important, and more data for food intakes and recipes have to be applied to improve the quality of data. Nevertheless, this study can contribute to the predictive estimation of exposure to possible residual chemicals and subsequent analysis for their potential risks.
Eating ; Korea* ; Malus ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Risk Assessment

Many intracellular proteins and signaling cascades contribute to the sensitivity of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). One such putative contributor is the serine/threonine kinase, protein kinase C (PKC). Activation of PKC by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) causes activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and promotes the formation of new spines in cultured hippocampal neurons. The purpose of this study was to examine which PKC isoforms are responsible for the PMA-induced augmentation of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 stratum radiatum of the hippocampus in vitro and verify that this facilitation requires NMDAR activation. We found that PMA enhanced the induction of LTP by a single episode of theta-burst stimulation in a concentration-dependent manner without affecting to magnitude of baseline field excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Facilitation of LTP by PMA (200 nM) was blocked by the nonspecific PKC inhibitor, Ro 31-8220 (10microM); the selective PKCdelta inhibitor, rottlerin (1microM); and the PKCepsilon inhibitor, TAT-epsilonV1-2 peptide (500 nM). Moreover, the NMDAR blocker DL-APV (50microM) prevented enhancement of LTP by PMA. Our results suggest that PMA contributes to synaptic plasticity in the nervous system via activation of PKCdelta and/or PKCepsilon, and confirm that NMDAR activity is required for this effect.
2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate ; Acetophenones ; Benzopyrans ; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials ; Hippocampus ; Indoles ; Long-Term Potentiation ; Nervous System ; Neurons ; Phorbols ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Isoforms ; Protein Kinases ; Proteins ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; Spine

BACKGROUND: The essential oil of Ocimum basilicum (EOOB) has a pleasant aroma and is known to have antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. In addition, it is used as a pain reliever in folk medicine. However, there are few reports on the antinociceptive activities of EOOB. METHODS: This study examined the antinociceptive effects of EOOB using formalin and a plantar test in mice. In the formalin test, EOOB (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally and the licking time of the mice was measured. In the plantar test, intraperitoneal EOOB (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg) was administered and the withdrawal latency was measured using the Hargreaves method. RESULTS: In the formalin test, EOOB (50 mg/kg, IP) showed significant decreases in licking time in the second phase. On the other hand, in the plantar test, there were no significant effects in any of the groups examined. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the traditional use of EOOB for the treatment of painful conditions. However, there is a need for more research to determine the active chemical constituents and the precise mechanism.
Animals ; Formaldehyde ; Hand ; Medicine, Traditional ; Mice ; Ocimum ; Ocimum basilicum ; Pain Measurement

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that systemic administration of agmatine, endogenous ligand for imidazoline receptors has anti-hypernociceptive effects in experimental animal. However the peripheral effects of agmatine on inflammatory pain have not yet been elucidated. Here we examined the effects of intra-articular injection of agmatine in the induction and maintenance phase of arthritic pain. In addition, we sought to determine the potential contribution of imidazoline and alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors to the antinociceptive effects using clonidine which is mixed alpha(2)-adrenoceptor and imidazoline receptor agonist. METHODS: To induce arthritis in rats, 2% lambda-carrageenan (50microliter, in saline) was injected into the joint of the right hind limb under enflurane anesthesia. Either agmatine (10, 50, 100microgram/40microliter) or clonidine (10, 50, 100microgram/40microliter) was injected into the knee joint cavity immediately before or 4 hr after carrageenan injection. Weight load tests were performed to measure pain-related behavior in freely walking rats. RESULTS: The intraarticular injection of agmatine into the knee joint had no effects in the both phase of induction and maintenance of arthritic pain at any dose tested. However, injection of clonidine reversed arthritic pain, when injected 4 h after carrageenan injection. CONCLUSIONS: In rats, agmatine has no peripheral effect on inflammatory pain and imidazoline receptors in the periphery may not contribute to the anti-inflammatory pain.
Agmatine ; Anesthesia ; Animals ; Arthritis ; Carrageenan ; Clonidine ; Enflurane ; Extremities ; Imidazoline Receptors ; Inflammation ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Joints ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Rats ; Walking

PURPOSE: In present study, we evaluated the relationship between prostate stone and lower urinary tract symptoms(LUTS) and the effect of medications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July 2005 and June 2007, 328 male patients who underwent transrectal ultrasonography(TRUS) were included in this study. 237 patients who had prostate stone with or without LUTS were divided into 3 groups by the prostate stone size(3-5mm, 6-10mm and larger than 11mm). These patients were also divided into 3 groups according to the prostate stone location(the periurethral group, the peripheral group and the multiple site group). The change of the maximum flow rate(Qmax) and the International Prostate Symptom Score(IPSS) were measured 6 months after treatment with alpha-blocker and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor(5-ARI). RESULTS: 275 of the 328 patients who underwent TRUS complained of LUTS and 200(72.7%) of these 275 patients had prostate stone; 37(69.8%) of the 53 patients who did not have LUTS had prostrate stone. No statistical significance was found between LUTS and the presence of prostate stone (p=0.664). We found that the patients with LUTS showed a trend to have larger stone, but this was not statistically significant(p=0.792). The location of prostate stone tended to be periurethral for the patients with LUTS (p=0.047). The patient group with resistant to pharmacological manage of their LUTS had stones larger than 11mm, but this had no statistical significance(p=0.615). A lesser therapeutic result was related with periurethral stones(p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is no statistical relation for the presence of prostate stone with LUTS. The patients with prostate stone that was located in the periurethral area had more LUTS and less medical benefit.
Male ; Humans

PURPOSE: Recent studies have reported the association of obesity and advanced stage prostate cancer. We researched the association between body mass index(BMI), which is widely used to diagnose obesity, and the prostate-specific antigen(PSA) screening test for prostate cancer. METERIALS AND METHODS: The authors examined the association between BMI and PSA for 26,193 men who visited the health promotion center at our medical center from July 1998 to June 2004. The BMI(weight in kg/height in m2) was calculated from the measured height and weight and this was categorized as follows: BMI<18.5(underweight), BMI 18.5-23.0(normal weight), BMI 23.0-27.5(overweight), BMI>27.5(obesity). We measured the mean PSA value of each BMI category. After adjust for age, we evaluated the PSA according to BMI by using error bars and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: The patients' age distribution was from 20 to 90 years old and their mean age was 46.1. The mean PSA value increased in a linear fashion with an increase in the age category(p<0.001), while it decreased in a linear fashion with an increase in the BMI category(p<0.001). After adjusting for age, the mean PSA value also decreased in a linear fashion with an increase in the BMI category(p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Men with an elevated BMI tend to have a lower value of PSA and to be misdiagnosed with prostate cancer. The PSA value should considered in relation to age and the BMI for the early detection of prostate cancer.
Age Distribution ; Aged, 80 and over ; Body Mass Index* ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Obesity ; Prostate-Specific Antigen* ; Prostatic Neoplasms