The ultimate goal of periodontal treatment is the regeneration of periodontal tissues which have been lost due to periodontal disease. Recently, many natural medicines have been studied for their potential of anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects in periodontal tissues. Safflower seeds have been traditionally used as a drug for treatment of fracture and blood stasis in oriental medicine. The objective of the present study is to examine the biologic effects of safflower seeds extract on bone formation and regeneration of rat calvarial defects. The calvarial defects were made with 8mm trephine bur and extract of safflower seeds were placed directly at these defects. 24 rats were divided into control and experimental groups, and each group was sacrificed at 1 week, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. To study a histopathology related to bone regeneration, Goldner's Masson Trichrome stain and histomorphologic measuring was done at each weeks. In the early phase of bone healing, less inflammatory infiltration and capillary proliferation was found in experimental group compared to control. Dense bony tissues and matured bone structures in defect areas were found in experimental groups. And area of new bone formation was significantly increased at 8 weeks in experimental group. These results indicate that direct local application of safflower seeds extract reduces the early inflammatory response and promotes the regeneration of new bone in calvarial defects of rats.
Animals ; Bone Regeneration* ; Capillaries ; Carthamus tinctorius* ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Osteogenesis ; Periodontal Diseases ; Rats* ; Regeneration

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Oriental herbal materials known as aconitine have long been used in oriental traditional medicine for their analgesic and antiinflammatory effects. Aconitine and its related alkaloids are known cardiotoxins with no therapeutic role in modern western medicine. We have studied the cardiovascular side effects of intoxication that took place in otherwise healthy individuals after ingestion of herbal decoctions containing aconite alkaloids. MATERIALS AND METHOD: During a six-year interval from 1990 to 1996, 9 cases of accidental herb-induced aconitine intoxication were managed in Kyung Hee university medical center. Hospital records were reviewed in detail. RESULTS: All patients developed symptoms of aconitine toxicity within 4 hours of herb ingestion. The frequency of the order in cardinal symptoms of acute aconitine poisoning was nausea or vomiting, irritability, chest discomfort, dizziness, etc. Nine patients developed arrhythmias, including multifocal APC with aberrancy, multifocal VPC, ventricular tachycardia, etc. Administration of isotonic saline, dopamine, atropine and lidocaine with supportive cares brought clinical recovery and disappearance of arrhythmias in most cases within several hours. However, one case of acute aconitine poisoning had been dead of cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. CONCLUSION: Aconitine and its related alkaloids can cause toxic effects and even fatal poisoning. These cases point to the need for strict surveillance of herbal substances with low safety margins.
Academic Medical Centers ; Aconitine* ; Aconitum ; Alkaloids ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atropine ; Cardiotoxins ; Dizziness ; Dopamine ; Eating ; Heart Arrest ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Nausea ; Poisoning* ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Thorax ; Ventricular Fibrillation ; Vomiting

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of smoking on adult periodontitis after non-surgical periodontal therapy. The study population consisted of 40 patients with moderate to advanced periodontitis. Smokers(n=20) were defined as individuals smoking at least twenty cigarettes per day at the time of the initial examination. The non-smoking group(n=20) second and the fourth weeks after periodontal non-surgical therapy. The results were as follows; 1. Clinical indices including plaque index, gingival index, and pocket depth were decreased in both smoking and non-smoking group at the first, the second, and the fourth weeks. Especially, clinical indices of non-smokers were more significantly decreased than those of smokers. 2. Non-motile rods were increaseed and motile rods were reduced at the fourth week. spirochetes were reduced significantly in the non-smoking group at the fourth week. These results suggest that smoking play a minor role in adult periodontitis after non-surgical periodontal therapy.
Adult* ; Chronic Periodontitis* ; Humans ; Periodontal Index ; Periodontitis ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Spirochaetales ; Tobacco Products

Fibroblasts are major cellular components of gingiva and periodontal ligament. They regulate the healing process after surgery or injury. Recently, many natural medicines, whose advantages are less side effects and possibility of long-term use, have been studied for their capacity, their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and regenerative potential of periodontal tissues. Sophorae radix have been traditionally used as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drug in oriental medicine. The purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of Sophorae radix extract on cell cycle progression and its molecular mechanism in human gingival fibroblasts. Sophorae radix extracts(100microgram/ml) notably increased cell proliferation and cell activity in the human gingival fibroblasts as compared to non-supplemented controls. There was an increase in the S phase and a decrease in the G1 phase in 100microgram/ml of Sophorae radix extracts group as compared to non-supplemented controls. The level of cyclin E and cdk 2 protein in test group was higher than that of control groups. But that of cyclin D, cdk 4, and cdk 6 was not distinguished from controls. The level of p53 protein in test group was lower than that of controls, whereas that of p21 was not different. The level of pRB protein in test group was higher than that of controls, whereas that of p16 was lower. These results indicate that the increase of cell proliferation by Sophorae radix extracts may be due to the increased expression of cyclin E and cdk 2, and the decreased expression of p53 and p16 in human gingival fibroblasts.
Cell Cycle Proteins* ; Cell Cycle* ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin D ; Cyclin E ; Cyclins ; Fibroblasts* ; G1 Phase ; Gingiva ; Humans* ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Periodontal Ligament ; S Phase ; Sophora*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Atrial fibrillation(AF) is the most frequently encountered arrhythmia in clinical practice. Pharmacologic therapy has been advocated for both immediate restoration of sinus rhythm and prevention of recurrent AF. Because conventional antiarrhythmic therapy is often ineffective in maintaining sinus rhythm or is associated with adverse side effects in patients with AF, recent interest has focused on the use of class III antiarrhythmic agents. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of sotalol and amiodarone for conversion of chronic AF and prevention of recurrent AF. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Thirty six patients with AF were firstly received sotalol by prospective study protocol. The patients were classified as having paroxysmal AF(PAF, N=2) or chronic AF(CAF, N=4) based on AF pattern. If the patients with CAF did not convert to sinus rhythm or the patients with PAF recurred in AF, the patients were received second agents(amiodarone). Patients were followed up for one year. RESULTS: Among the 12 patients with PAF receiving sotalol, 10(83.3%) patients remained in normal sinus rhythm for average 9.4+/-3.6 months. Sotalol was replaced by amiodarone in the remaing 2 patients with arrhythmia recurrence and 1 of the 2 patients remained in sinus rhythm during the follow-up period. In the case of 24 patients with CAF, conversion to sinus rhythm was achieved in 5(20.8%) patients with sotalol. Among the patients with CAF who were not respond to sotalol, 17 patients received amiodarone subsquently and 3 patients successfully converted to sinus rhythm. There were no proarrhythmic effects related to both agents during the study period. CONCLUSION: Both sotalol and amiodarone appear to be less effective in the termination of CAF, but sequential use of these two agents seem to be very effective for the prevention of recurrence of PAF.
Amiodarone* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Sotalol*

Recently many researches on plaque removal effect and therapeutic effect of toothpaste containing natural medicines are being studied in early periodontal diseases. The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical and microbiological effect of toothpaste containing natural medicines such as camomile, rhatany, myrrh, sage oil, glycyrrhetinic acid and vitamin E. Sixty three subjects with gingivitis were divided into an experimental group which performed normal oral hygiene procedure with toothpaste containing natural medicines and vitamine E and a control group which also performed normal oral hygiene procedure with Syrinmed? toothpaste without containing herbal extracts and vitamine E. At the baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks, subjects were analyzed for clinical study and microbiological study. After 2 weeks and 4 weeks use of their respective toothpastes, statistically significant decreases of gingival index, plaque index, and bleeding index were shown in both the control and the experimental group. The degree of decrease was more significant in the experimental group than the control group. A statistically significant decrease of pocket depth, and gingival crevicular fluid were shown in both the control and the experimental group. A statistically significant increase of cocci was shown in both the control and the experimental group, the degree of increase was more significant in the experimental group than control group. A statistically significant decrease ofnon-motile rods, and motile rods were shown in both the control and the experimental group, the degree of decrease was more significant in the experimental group than the control group. Spirochetes increased weakly in both the control and the experimental group but a statistic significance was not shown. A statistically significant decrease of anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, and black pigmented Bacteroides were shown in both the control and the experimental group. These results indicate that the use of toothpaste containing natural medicines is effective in the prevention and the treatment of periodontal diseases.

No abstract available.
Herpesvirus 1, Suid* ; Pseudorabies*

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, particulary ischemic heart disease, and it impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Cholesterol-lowering therapy can improve cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with atherosclerosis. Although the mechanism responsible are undear, it has been proposed that enhanced endothelial function might contribute to the improvement in clinical status. The purpose of this study was to examine brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation(FMD) in patients with hypercholesterolemia and to determine if reduction of serum cholesterol with simvastatin, an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, is associated with an improvement of endothelium-dependent vasodilation. METHODS: Twenty one patients with hypercholesterolemia(mean+/-SD: age 59+/-7 yr) were studied. Endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated vasodilation and endothelium-independent nitroglycerin-mediated vasodilation(NMD) were assessed in the brachial artery using high resolution ultrasound 1) at baseline 2) during 12 weeks of simvastatin(10mg) therapy, and 3) after withdrawal of simvastatin for 4 weeks. RESULTS: Simvastatin significantly decreased total cholesterol from 284+/-31 to 200+/-45mg/ dL, LDL-cholesterol from 178+/-39 to 115+/-44mg/dL, and triglyceride from 263+/-158 to 183+/-102mg/dL in 4 weeks after the drug administration(p=0.0005). At 12 weeks, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride fell to 201+/-36mg/dL, 104+/-46mg/dL and 219+/-215mg/dL. Flow mediated vasodilation rose from 6.1+/-4.1% at baseline to 9,7+/-6.4%(p<0.05), 11+/-4.3% and 12+/-3.5%(p=0.002) after 4, 8, 12 weeks therapy. But, after 4 weeks of simvastatin discontinuation(16 week), total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol rose to 249+/-37mg/ dL, 115+/-44mg/dL(p=0.0002) and FMD fell to 4+/-5.7%(p(0.0002). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that cholesterol-lowering therapy with simvastatin leads to an improvement of FMD in the brachial artery of patients with hypercholesterolemia.
Atherosclerosis ; Brachial Artery ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol* ; Endothelium ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia* ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Oxidoreductases ; Risk Factors ; Simvastatin ; Triglycerides ; Ultrasonography ; Vasodilation*

Intoxifications caused by toxic honey were occurred recently in Korea. Honey poisoning is known to be induced by grayanotoxins, that appear in flowers of different species of Rhododendron. These toxic compounds cause depolarization of membranes that contain fast Na channel by increasing in Na permeability. After ingestion of toxic honey patients may present with neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal sign and symptoms. Two cases of honey poisoning are described here. Both patients experienced syncope and severe arterial hypotension after ingestion of honey which was brought from Nepal and Brazil. Conservative treatement was fully successful in both patients within 24 hours. We report the first case of honey poisoning in Korea.
Brazil ; Eating ; Flowers ; Honey* ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Korea ; Membranes ; Nepal ; Permeability ; Poisoning* ; Rhododendron ; Sick Sinus Syndrome ; Syncope*

In the past 60 years the maternal mortality rate has declined rnarkedly. Nevertheless, death associated with childbirth is still a major public health problem. For women delivered of live infants, the leading causes of mortality are acute pulmonary embolism(mostly thromboembolic), pregnancy-induced hypertension, hemorrhage, and infection. Currently, the common cause of maternal rnortality are pulmonary embolisrn. Though acute pulmonary embolism is a potentially fatal disorder, when properly diagnosed and treated, clinically apparent pulmonary embolism was an uncommon cause of death. However, the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism is still a challenge for clinicians because of its nonspecific and variable clinical features. Pulmonary angiography, admittedly the 'gold standard' technique for this diagnosis, is costly, invasive, and not universally available. Noninvasive procedures such as lung scan has certainly simplified the diagnostic approach. However, lung scan is diagnostic in only 30 to 50% of patients, and many institutions lack nuclear medicine facilities. Thus, alternative imaging techniques are needed for the noninvasive diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Echocradiography is rapid, practical and sensitive technique for the identification of right ventricular overload following acute pulmonary embolism. Echocardiographic identification of patients with right ventricular dysfunction is important because aggressive intervention with thrombolytics, certain inotropic and vasoactive agents, or embolectomy may improve outcome. We report herein two cases of acute pulmonary embolism after cesarean section. Certain clinical findings, hemodynamic values, and particularly, echocardiographic signs can indentify right ventricular dysfunction after pulmonary embolisrn. The patients was immediately treated mth intravenous heparin and inotropic support, which induced a rapid improvement of the clinical and hemodynamic parameters.
Angiography ; Cause of Death ; Cesarean Section* ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography* ; Embolectomy ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Heparin ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Infant ; Lung ; Maternal Mortality ; Mortality ; Nuclear Medicine ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Public Health ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Right