Nobiletin, a polymethoxylated flavonoid found in citrus, has been studied because of its modulatory functions in cellular signaling cascades, and effects to prevent mitochondrial calcium overload and neuronal cell death. Particularly, we previously reported that nobiletin induced changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential through K + channel regulation, suggesting that nobiletin might exert neuroprotective effects via regulating mitochondrial functions associated with the electron transport chain (ETC) system. This study investigated whether nobiletin regulated mitochondrial dysfunction mediated by ETC system downregulation by inhibiting complex I (CI) and complex III (CIII) in pure mitochondria and the cortical neurons of rats. The results showed that nobiletin significantly reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, inhibited apoptotic signaling, enhanced ATP production and then restored neuronal viability under conditions of CI inhibition, but not CIII inhibition.These effects were attributed to the downregulation of translocation of apoptosis-induced factor (AIF), and the upregulation of CI activity and the expression of antioxidant enzymes such as Nrf2 and HO-1. Together with our previous study, these results indicate that the neuroprotective effects of nobiletin under mitochondrial dysfunction may be associated with its function to activate antioxidant signaling cascades. Our findings suggest the possibility that nobiletin has therapeutic potential in treating oxidative neurological and neurodegenerative diseases mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction.

Functional paraganglioma of the mediastinum is an uncommon tumor of the paraganglion system that causes symptoms and signs of episodic catecholamine release. It has not been reported in Korea. We experienced a case of a 17 years old man with a history of diaphoresis and paroxysmal hypertension refractory to therapy since 14 years old. Urinary execretion of catecholamine and its metabolites were elevated. Computed tomography(CT) scan revealed high density mass located on the posterior mediastinum in the area of the right fifth intercostal space. At thoracotomy, a 3X3X4cm sized lesion was resected and confirmed as a paraganglioma.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Korea ; Mediastinum* ; Paraganglioma* ; Pheochromocytoma ; Thoracotomy

Intracranial lipomas are rare lesions, which represent 0.1-1.7% of all intracranial tumors. They preferentially occur near the midline, most frequently in the pericallosal cistern, and are often associated with various neurologic and systemic anomalies. Magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography together with clinical trials are of crucial importance for diagnosis. We report a rare case of intracranial lipoma of the body of corpus callosum in a child, who has had cyclic headache, vertigo, with a review of the literature.
Child ; Corpus Callosum ; Diagnosis ; Headache ; Humans ; Lipoma* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Vertigo

Double aortic arch is the most common type of symptomatic vascular ring. In most patients, the symptoms are manifested at birth or in early infancy. Double aortic arch usually has more severe symptoms than other types of complete vascular rings. We experienced one case of complete duplicated double aortic arch with left descending aorta and left patent ductus arteriosus. A one-day-old female neonate was transferred to our hospital because of mild dyspnea and stridor. She showed intractable CO2 retention and respiratory difficulty with time in spite of ventilator therapy. She died of respiratory failure 23 hours after birth. On autopsy, we found that the diameter of the vascular ring was 0.7cm in maximum extent. It was ovoid and contained trachea and esophagus. The trachea was flattened due to allowing 0.1x0.2cm. The compression level of the trachea was approximately 1cm from the tracheal bifurcation.
Aorta, Thoracic* ; Autopsy* ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; Dyspnea ; Esophagus ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Parturition ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Respiratory Sounds ; Trachea ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Transforming growth factor-j31 (TGF-p1) has potential for therapeutic use in common clinical conditions for which there are no adequate pharmacological agents. However, in vivo studies using TGF-p1 were hindered by high price of this cytokine. As a first step towards large scale purification of TGF-p1, it was purified in a small scale (10 unit platelets) from human platelets by four purification steps: platelet extraction, gel filtration, cation exchange chromatography, and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A single protein band with a molecular weight of 25 Kd corresponding to purchased TGF-p1 (R8D Systems) was confirmed by silver staining after SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of eluant from reversed phase HPLC. Recovery (%) of each step was about 50-60%, resulting in the final recovery of 20% based on the detection by a sandwich ELISA. Approximately, 3.7 p,g of purified TGF-p1 was obtained from 18 pg of platelet extracts. This result was confirmed by receptor (TGF-j31 type II) ELISA and bioassay using a mink lung epithelial'cell line (MV1LU). Further, in vitro characterization study showed that purified TGF-p1 inhibits G1/S transition of LPS-activated murine spleen B cells and increases surface IgA expression by the same cell population, which are typical activities of TGF-p1 in B cell differentiation. Taken together, the results from the present study reveals that purified TGF-p1 is fully biologically active and our purification methodology could be usbful to obtain a large scale of recombinant TGF-p1 in the future.
B-Lymphocytes ; Biological Assay ; Blood Platelets ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromatography ; Chromatography, Gel ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Electrophoresis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulin A ; Lung ; Mink ; Molecular Weight ; Silver Staining ; Spleen ; Transforming Growth Factors*

BACKGROUND: Diabetic cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) causes perioperative cardiovascular instability. A rapid increase in the desflurane concentration induces tachycardia and hypertension (HTN). This study examined the effects of the cardiovascular response to desflurane on patients with diabetic CAN. METHODS: Forty diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with CAN were divided two groups: one with HTN (DM+HTN group, n = 17) and one without HTN (DM group, n = 23). The control group (n = 20) was composed of healthy patients without DM or HTN. In each group, the concentration of desflurane inspired was increased abruptly to 12.0 vol% 2 minutes after a thiopental injection. The target was to produce an end-tidal concentration of desflurane of 10.0 vol%, which was maintained until the end of the study by adjusting the vaporizer dial setting. The heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and cardiac index (CI) were measured. RESULTS: The HR, MAP and CI increased significantly in all three groups when compared with the baseline (P<0.05). Additionally, the HR and MAP showed did not differ among the three groups at any of sampling times. However, the CI of the DM group and the DM+HTN group differed when compared with the control group at 90 and 120 seconds after intubation (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In diabetic patients with CAN, the hemodynamic responses to a rapid increase in desflurane concentration are similar to those in non-diabetic patients before endotracheal intubation. However, after endotracheal intubation, increments in CI are blunted in diabetic patients with CAN.
Arterial Pressure ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Isoflurane ; Nebulizers and Vaporizers ; Tachycardia ; Thiopental

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of Short-form Health Literacy Scale (HLS-SF-K12) for Adults. Methods: The English HLS-SF12 was translated into Korean with forward and backward translation. Survey data were collected from 204 adults who visited two hospitals in Korea. Content validity, construct validity, and known-groups validity were evaluated. Cronbach's ⍺ for internal consistency and test-retest were used to assess reliability. SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0 software were used for data analysis. Results: The HLS-SF-K12 was composed of 12 items, and three subscales (health care, disease prevention, and health promotion). The instrument explained reliable internal consistency with Cronbach’s ⍺ for the total scale of .89, and .74~.81 for subscales. The model of three subscales for the HLS-SF-K12 was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (Normed x 2 =2.14 (p<.001), GFI=.92, RMR=.04, RMSEA=.08, CFI=.94, TLI=.92, IFI=.94). The hypothesis testing which analyzed the differences in health literacy by age and education level was satisfied. Conclusion The HLS-SF-K12 is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring health information comprehension for adults in Korea.

Silent information regulator 2 (Sirtuin2 / SIRT2) is a NAD⁺-dependent deacetylase that regulates the cellular oxidative stress response. It modulates transcriptional silencing and protein stability through deacetylation of target proteins including histones. Previous studies have shown that SIRT2 plays a role in mood disorders and hippocampus-dependent cognitive function, but the underlying neurobiological mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we report that chronic stress suppresses SIRT2 expression in the hippocampus. Molecular and biochemical analyses indicate that the stress-induced decrease in the SIRT2 expression downregulates synaptic plasticity-related genes in the hippocampus through the increase of euchromatic histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 2 (Ehmt2) (also known as G9a). shRNA-mediated knockdown of SIRT2 in the dentate gyrus alters the expression of synaptic plasticity-related genes in a way similar to those induced by chronic stress, and produces depression-like behaviors. Our results indicate that SIRT2 plays an important role in the response to stress, thereby modulating depression-like behaviors.
Cognition ; Dentate Gyrus ; Depression ; Down-Regulation ; Hippocampus ; Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase ; Histones ; Mood Disorders ; Neuronal Plasticity ; Oxidative Stress ; Protein Stability ; Up-Regulation

Background: The quality of a vaccine depends strongly on the effects of the adjuvants applied simultaneously with the antigen in the vaccine. The adjuvants enhance the protective effect of the vaccine against a viral challenge. Conversely, oil-type adjuvants leave oil residue inside the bodies of the injected animals that can produce a local reaction in the muscle. The longterm immunogenicity of mice after vaccination was examined. ISA206 or ISA15 oil adjuvants maintained the best immunity, protective capability, and safety among the oil adjuvants in the experimental group. Objectives: This study screened the adjuvant composites aimed at enhancing foot-andmouth disease (FMD) immunity. The C-type lectin or toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist showed the most improved protection rate. Methods: Experimental vaccines were fabricated by mixing various known oil adjuvants and composites that can act as immunogenic adjuvants (gel, saponin, and other components) and examined the enhancement effect on the vaccine. Results: The water in oil (W/O) and water in oil in water (W/O/W) adjuvants showed better immune effects than the oil in water (O/W) adjuvants, which have a small volume of oil component. The W/O type left the largest amount of oil residue, followed by W/O/W and O/W types. In the mouse model, intramuscular inoculation showed a better protection rate than subcutaneous inoculation. Moreover, the protective effect was particularly weak in the case of inoculation in fatty tissue. The initial immune reaction and persistence of long-term immunity were also confirmed in an immune reaction on pigs. Conclusions The new experimental vaccine with immunostimulants produces improved immune responses and safety in pigs than general oil-adjuvanted vaccines.

PURPOSE: It is very important to remove or to reduce the effect of organ motion due to respiration in stereotatic radiosurgery of lung. This study reports the effectiveness of the breath hold technique with a ABC for reducing the breathing effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole body stereotactic frame (Elekta, Sweden) was used for lung SRS. Patients who have tumor motion range larger than 10 mm from fluoroscopic observation were selected to apply a ABC. Seventeen patients were enrolled in this study. Passive breath hold is possible with our ABC. Automatic breath hold was set at 80% of deep inspiration. Breath hold time was 25~30 seconds depending on the patients. Three consecutive CT scans were performed as indicated in Asan Medical Center SRS procedure for each patients. Lung volume and PTV differences between with breath hold and free breath were examined for 5 patients. RESULTS: The breath hold technique with ABC could be applied for 15 patients. Inter-, intra-treatment organ motion with ABC showed 1.5 mm, while it was 2.3 mm with abdomen compress. When with breath hold technique, PTV and CTV was reduced 33.7% and 45.4%, respectively, and lung volume was increased 32.3 % compared to conventional SRS method. CONCLUSION: Better target localization could be achieved with breath hold technique in lung SRS. Tumor motion could be minimized and relative lung volume irradiation could be reduced
Abdomen ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Radiosurgery ; Respiration ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed