To evaluate a new reliable sclerosant of the gallbladder, we attempted gallbladder ablation with 10% phenol, and the results compared with those from using 95% ethanol which had been used previousy as gallbladder sclerosing agent in laboratory animals in other reports. After laparotomy, ligation of the cystic dusts with silk and cannulation of gallbladder with 18 gauge angiocatheter were done. Then, transcatheter administration of two different scleroing agents was performed in 8 rabbits respectively and normal saline in four rabbits as a control. Additionally, preliminary washing with each agent were implemented to prevent the dilutional effect of residual bile and bleeding. All animals survived without complication. Eight animals were used for each agent, four each being sacrified two weeks and six weeks after adminstration of sclerosing agents respectively. In our results, 10% phenol was more effective than 95% ethanol in denuding the gallbladder epithelium and promoting fibrosis of gallbladder wall, And it was relatively safe in regard to the dilutional effect of residual fluid and bleeding during procedure. Toxic effects on the liver evaluated by examination of histologic specimen were non-specific except for edematous swelling on some cases, which had also been observed on others including control group. 10% phenol can be considered to be a promosing sclerosant for gallbladder ablation, but further study of its toxicity is needed before its application on human gallbladder.
Animals ; Animals, Laboratory ; Bile ; Catheterization ; Dust ; Epithelium ; Ethanol ; Fibrosis ; Gallbladder* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Ligation ; Liver ; Phenol* ; Rabbits* ; Sclerosing Solutions ; Sclerosis* ; Silk

PURPOSE: By developing on-line statistics program to record the information of radiation oncology to share the information with internet. It is possible to supply basic reference data for administrative plans to improve radiation oncology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The information of radiation oncology statistics had been collected by paper forms about 52 hospitals in the past. Now, we can input the data by internet web browsers. The statistics program used windows NT 4.0 operation system, Internet Information Server 4.0 (IIS4.0) as a web server and the Microsoft Access MDB. We used Structured Query Language (SQL), Visual Basic, VBScript and JAVAScript to display the statistics according to years and hospitals. RESULTS: This program shows present conditions about man power, research, therapy machines, technics, brachytherapy, clinic statistics, radiation safety management, institution, quality assurance and radioisotopes in radiation oncology department. The database consists of 38 inputs and 6 outputs windows. Statistical output windows can be increased continuously according to user's need. CONCLUSION: We have developed statistics program to process all of the data in department of radiation oncology for reference information. Users easily could input the data by internet web browsers and share the information.
Brachytherapy ; Internet ; Radiation Oncology* ; Radioisotopes ; Safety Management ; Web Browser

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord stimulation is a well-established method for the management of several types of chronic and intractable pain. This form of stimulation elicits a tingling sensation (paresthesia) in the corresponding dermatomes. The goal of this study was to establish a correlation between the spinal levels of the implanted epidural electrodes and the paresthesia elicited due to stimulation of the neural structures. METHODS: Thirty five patients, who received trial spinal cord stimulation, were evaluated. After the insertion of the lead to the selected position, the areas of paresthesia evoked by stimulation were evaluated. RESULTS: Seventy-one percent of cases showed paresthesia in the shoulder area when the tip of the electrode was located between the C2 C4 levels. At the upper extremities, paresthesia was evoked in 86 93% of cases, regardless of the location of the electrode tip within the cervical spinal segments. The most common tip placement of the leads eliciting hand stimulation was at the C5 level. The most common level of electrode tip placement eliciting paresthesia of the anterior and posterior thigh and the foot were at the T7 T12, T10 L1 and T11 L1 vertebral segments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed knowledge of the patterns of stimulation induced paresthesia in relation to the spine level of the implanted electrodes has allowed the more consistent and successful placement of epidural electrodes at the desired spine level.
Electrodes* ; Electrodes, Implanted ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Pain, Intractable ; Paresthesia* ; Sensation ; Shoulder ; Spinal Cord Stimulation* ; Spinal Cord* ; Spine ; Thigh ; Upper Extremity

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to determine whether certain biomaterials have the potential to support cell attachment. After seeding bone marrow stromal cells onto the biomaterials, we investigated their responses to each material in vitro. METHODS: Rat bone marrow derived stromal cells were used. The biomaterials were deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM), DBBM coated with fibronectin (FN), synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA), HA coated with FN, HA coated with beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP), and pure beta-TCP. With confocal laser scanning microscopy, actin filaments and vinculin were observed after 6, 12, and 24 hours of cell seeding. The morphological features of cells on each biomaterial were observed using scanning electron microscopy at day 1 and 7. RESULTS: The cells on HA/FN and HA spread widely and showed better defined actin cytoskeletons than those on the other biomaterials. At the initial phase, FN seemed to have a favorable effect on cell adhesion. In DBBM, very few cells adhered to the surface. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study, we can conclude that in contrast with DBBM not supporting cell attachment, HA provided a more favorable environment with respect to cell attachment.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Bone Marrow ; Bone Substitutes ; Calcium Phosphates ; Cell Adhesion ; Durapatite ; Fibronectins ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Rats ; Seeds ; Stem Cells ; Stromal Cells ; Transplants ; Vinculin

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of hydroxyapatite containing toothpaste with positive control toothpastes in reducing dentine hypersensitivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was a double-blind, randomized, parallel group comparison of two, namely hydroxyapatite containing toothpaste and strontium chloride containing toothpaste. A total of 55 subjects were included in this study. The subjects were given randomly assigned one of the two toothpastes after received tooth brushing instruction at baseline. Some clinical indices(PI, GI, PD), verbal rating score(VRS) for sensitivity to stimulus, the effect in relieving sensitivity and visual analogue scale(VAS) for sensitivity at baseline, week 2, week 4 and week 8 were assessed. All data were evaluated by intention-to-treat analysis. RESULTS: Overall, PI and GI scores were significantly reduced compare baseline in all groups(p<0.05). In addition, there was significant difference in PI at 4 weeks and in GI at 4, 8 weeks between groups. The proportions of subjects relieved sensitivity were 70.4% in experimental group and 57.1% in control group at 8 weeks respectively. The VRS for sensitivity to three kinds of stimuli and VAS for sensitivity decreased according to time, there was no overall difference between two groups(p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the new hydroxyapatite containing toothpaste was similarly effective in reducing dentine hypersensitivity with pre-existing benchmark toothpaste.
Dentin ; Dentin Sensitivity ; Durapatite ; Strontium ; Tooth ; Toothpastes

No abstract available.
Dentin* ; Hypersensitivity*

No abstract available.
Dental Implants* ; Mandible*

PURPOSE: Gene therapy (ex vivo) has recently been used as a means of delivering bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) to sites of tissue regeneration. In the present study, we investigated the effect of co-transduction of adenoviruses expressing BMP-2 and BMP-7 on osteogenesisof C2C12 cells in vitro. METHODS: A replication-defective human adenovirus 5 (Ad5) containing a cDNA for BMPs in the E1 region of the virus (Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7) was constructed by in vivo homologous recombination. Functional activity of Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 were evaluated in mouse stromal cells (W20-17cells). C2C12 cells are transduced with various MOI (multiplicity of infection) of Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 to assess most effective and stable titer. Based on this result, C2C12 cells were transduced with Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 alone or by combination. BMPs expression, alkaline phosphatase (ALPase) activity, cell proliferation, and mineralization were assessed. RESULTS: Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 are successfully transduced to W20-17 cells, and secreted BMPs stimulated cell differentiation. Also, C2C12 cells transduced with Ad5BMPs showed expression of BMPs and increased ALPaseactivity. In all groups, cell proliferation was observed over times. At 7days, cells co-transduced with Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 showed lower proliferation than the others. C2C12 cells co-transduced with Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 had greater ALPaseactivity than that would be predicted if effect of individual Ad5BMPs were additive. Little mineralized nodule formation was detected in cells transduced with individual Ad5BMPs. In contrast, Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7 combination stimulated mineralization after culturing for 10 days in mineralizing medium. CONCLUSIONS: Present study demonstrated that adenoviruses expressing BMPs gene successfully produced BMPs protein and these BMPs stimulated cells to be differentiated into osteoblastic cells. In addition, the osteogenic activity of Ad5BMPs can be synergistically increased by co-transduction of cells with Ad5BMP-2 and Ad5BMP-7.
Adenoviridae ; Adenoviruses, Human ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 ; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; DNA, Complementary ; Durapatite ; Genetic Therapy ; Homologous Recombination ; Mice ; Osteoblasts ; Osteogenesis ; Regeneration ; Stromal Cells ; Viruses

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare osteoblast behavior on zirconia and titanium under conditions cultured with bone morphogenetic protein-2. METHODS: MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured on sandblasted zirconia and sandblasted/etched titanium discs. At 24 hours after seeding MC3T3-E1, the demineralized bone matrix (DBM) gel alone and the DBM gel with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) were added to the culture medium. The surface topography was examined by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Cellular proliferation was measured at 1, 4, and 7 days after gel loading. Alkaline phosphatase activity was measured at 7 days after gel loading. The mRNA expression of ALPase, bone sialoprotein, type I collagen, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx-2), osteocalcin, and osterix were evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction at 4 days and 7 days. RESULTS: At 1, 4, and 7 days after loading the DBM gel alone and the DBM gel with BMP-2, cellular proliferation on the zirconia and titanium discs was similar and that of the groups cultured with the DBM gel alone and the DBM gel with BMP-2 was not significantly different, except for titanium with BMP-2 gel. ALPase activity was higher in the cells cultured with BMP-2 than in the other groups, but there was no difference between the zirconia and titanium. In ALPase, bone sialoprotein, osteocalcin, Runx-2 and osterix gene expression, that of cells on zirconia or titanium with BMP-2 gel was much more highly increased than titanium without gel at day 7. The gene expression level of cells cultured on zirconia with BMP-2 was higher than that on titanium with BMP-2 at day 7. CONCLUSIONS: The data in this study demonstrate that the osteoblastic cell attachment and proliferation of zirconia were comparable to those of titanium. With the stimulation of BMP-2, zirconia has a more pronounced effect on the proliferation and differentiation of the osteoblastic cells compared with titanium.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bone Matrix ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; Collagen Type I ; Gene Expression ; Integrin-Binding Sialoprotein ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Osteoblasts ; Osteocalcin ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Seeds ; Titanium ; Transcription Factors ; Zirconium

The immediate fall in cerebral blood flow(CBF) and the early clinical picture following subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) correlate well with the prognosis of most of the patients. But the cause of this fall in CBF is not fully understood. Recently attention has been focused on the role of endogenous opiates in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. This research was planned to observe the acute change of regional cerebral blood flow(CBF) in experimentally induced SAH, to investigate whether endogenous opiate plays a role in the mechanism of the acute reduction in CBF following SAH, and to document the therapeutic value of naloxone. We have studied the effects of naloxone, an opiate antagonist, on CBF, cardiovascular system, intracranial pressure (ICP) and electroencephalography(EEG) in pentobarbital anesthetized cats. Twenty - five adult cats were divided into four groups as follows : control group (group I; 5 caes), naloxone-treated control group (group II; 5 cats), SAH group (group III; 7 cats) and naloxone-treated SAH group (group IV; 8cats). The measurement of CBF was done by hydrogen clearance methods, and carried out every 20 minutes from the beginning to 140 minutes following SAH. Naloxone(10 mg/kg) was intravenously administered to cats, three times : 40, 80 and 120 minutes following SAH. The results were as follows : 1) We have induced SAH in 18 cats, in which 15 cats showed the immediate reduction in CBF following SAH(incidence rate : 83%). 2) Significant elevations in the mean arterial blood pressure(MABP : 141+/-10.7 to 146+/-12.3 mmHg) and ICP(19+/-3.5 to 21+/-3.9mmHg) were observed immediately after SAH, followed by reduction respectively to the levels of baseline value within 40 minutes after SAH. Naloxone had no significant influence on the changes in MABP and ICP. 3) Baseline values of CBF in group I and II were 44.5+/-6.9 to 50.1+/-5.4 ml/100g/min, and were not changed by naloxone. 4) Induction of SAH resulted in a significant reduction of blood flow to 34.8+/-5.9 to 38.4+/-5.6ml/100g/min(p<0.05), and the reduced value was not significantly changed through the experiment. Reduction in CBF was usually greater on the side of the lesion. 5) In group IV, the initial administration of naloxone made the reduced CBF increase to about 46 ml/100g/min(p<0.05), and the increased CBF value was maintained by the additional injections of naloxone. 6) Cats subjected to SAH exhibited progressive loss of amplitude and decreased frequency in EFG, which were improved by the administration of naloxone. These data suggest that endogenous opiate, which may cause decrease of cerebral metabolic rate and vasoconstriction, can play an important role in the mechanism of the acute reduction in CBF following SAH. Naloxone may induce increase in CBF by reversing the effects of endogenous opiate and its direct cerebral vasodilator properties.
Adult ; Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; Cardiovascular System ; Cats* ; Humans ; Hydrogen ; Intracranial Pressure ; Naloxone* ; Opioid Peptides ; Pentobarbital ; Prognosis ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* ; Vasoconstriction