Deer Antler has been known for its traditional oriental medicinal properties and has been widely used to promote growth, boost immune function, treat blood loss and chronic joint pain. Recent study showed imported (New Zealand) Deer Antler was beneficial in reducing the side effects of cancer treatments. However, there was no intervention study conducted on the effect of Korean Deer Antler on reducing the oxidative stress to patients with diabetes. One of the sensitive ways to measure endogenous oxidative stress is by measuring cellular DNA damage using single cell gel electrophoresis (COMET assay). This study was conducted to investigate the possible beneficial effect of commercial Deer Antler drink (provided by Chung-yang Deer Farm) on lymphocyte DNA damage and blood glucose of diabetic patients. Ten patients (4 men, 6 women) participated in the study and consumed 2 pouches of Deer Antler drink every day for 20 days. Blood was collected on the morning before and after the intervention for lymphocyte isolation and blood glucose analysis. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to decrease but did not reach statistical significance after the trial. Blood glucose level was not affected by the supplementation. After the intervention, over 50% reduction were noted in the cellular DNA damage, expressed as tail length (TL) and tail moment (TM; tail length x percent tail DNA). Although we did not obtain beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels in the patients, this results suggest that Deer Antler may initially act in protecting endogenous DNA damage in short-term experiment.
Animals ; Antlers* ; Arthralgia ; Blood Glucose* ; Blood Pressure* ; Clinical Trial ; Deer* ; DNA Damage* ; DNA* ; Electrophoresis ; Humans ; Lymphocytes* ; Male ; Oxidative Stress

Water gets magnetically charged when it is contacted with a magnet. Although magnetic water products have been promoted since the 1930's, they have received very little recognition due to questionable effectiveness. Diethylnitrosamine (DEN) is a widely occurring nitrosamine that is one of the most important environmental carcinogens primarily inducing tumors of liver. In this study, the effect of magnetized water supplementation on lymphocyte DNA damage in ICR mice treated with DEN was evaluated using the Comet assay. Mice were divided into 3 groups: control, DEN, and DEN + magnetized water group. Fifteen mice were maintained in each group for the entire experimental period of 6, 12 and 18 weeks. Five mice in each group were sacrificed at 6, 12, and 18th weeks, followed by the Comet assay using the blood obtained from heart puncture of the mice. The level of lymphocyte DNA damage reflected by tail moment and other DNA damage indices of tail DNA (%) or tail length of the magnetized water group were significantly decreased after the 6th, 12th and 18th weeks of supplementation compared with the positive control, the DEN group. The relative DNA damage of the magnetized water groups compared to the DEN control group after 6th, 12th, and 18th weeks of supplementation were 42.2%, 40.8%, and 32.9% for DNA in tail, 31.2%, 32.6%, and 21.3% for tail length, and 33.8%, 33.8%, and 24.6% for tail moment, respectively. This is the first report demonstrating that magnetized water may be involved in the lowering effect of the DNA damage in DEN-treated ICR mice. This result suggests that the magnetized water might have minimized the DNA damage by improving the antioxidant status of the mice. However, further studies are needed to characterize the condition of the magnetization and examine the long-term effect of the water product.
Animals ; Carcinogens, Environmental ; Comet Assay ; Diethylnitrosamine ; DNA ; DNA Damage ; Heart ; Liver ; Lymphocytes ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Punctures ; Water

Dysfunctions of ubiquitin-proteasome system and toxicity of dopamine have been known as the key mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and proteasome inhibitors are widely used in experimental models of PD to reproduce cell death of dopaminergic neurons. In the present study, immortalized human neural stem cells (HB1.F3, F3) and those transfected with human aromatic acid decarboxylase gene (F3.AADC), were used to investigate the mechanism of selective dopaminergic neuronal cell death mediated by dopamine or proteasome inhibitors. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that F3.AADC was more susceptible to dopamine than parental F3 cell which does not carry dopaminergic phenotype. The dopamine-induced apoptosis was mediated by activation of caspases 3 and 9 and cleavage of PARP. Proteasome inhibitors also induced apoptosis in dose-dependent manner but there was no difference between cell types. Prolonged exposure to subtoxic dose of proteasome inhibitors further enhanced dopamine-induced apoptosis in the F3.AADC, and increased presence of alpha-synuclein and ubiquitin-positive inclusions was noted in the cytoplasm of apoptotic cells by immunocytochemistry. These findings indicate that dopaminergic cells are selectively susceptible to dopamine toxicity and prolonged suppression of proteasome system further enhances selective sensitivity to dopamine toxicity. Chronic subtoxic proteasomal dysfunction of dopaminergic cells might contribute to selective cell death of dopaminergic neurons during the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.
alpha-Synuclein ; Apoptosis ; Caspases ; Cell Death ; Cytoplasm ; Dopamine ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Models, Theoretical ; Neural Stem Cells ; Parents ; Parkinson Disease ; Phenotype ; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex ; Proteasome Inhibitors

PURPOSE:The lesion of Congenital Lipoid Adrenal Hyperplasia has been suggested to be in the 1st step of steroidogenesis of conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone by P450scc. In 1995, however, the molecular defect of this disease has been located in the transport of cholesterol into mitochondria due to defective regulatory protein called Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein(StAR), while the enzyme P450scc itself is normal. This genetic study using automatic sequence analyzer aimed at elucidating the molecular defect in the StAR gene of the two patients. METHODS:This study was performed on the two patients of Congenital Lipoid Adrenal Hyperplasia. Both children were phenotypically females. However, one turned out to have a karyotype of 46, XY, the other 46, XX. Genomic DNAs were extracted from their peripheral blood. We amplified the last exon, hot spot, of the StAR gene using 1 set of primer, S4, 5'-CCT GGC AGC CTG TTT GTG ATA G-3' AS4, 5'-CCT CAT GTC ATA GCT AAT CAG TG-3'. Subsequently, one PCR product have been directly sequenced by dideoxy termination method, and also the other products(patient's and her father's) have been sequenced by automatic sequence analyzer. RESULTS:The mutation was identified in the last exon of the StAR gene, substituting T for A at codon 258, replacing glutamine by stop codon in the two unrelated Korean patients with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia. One patient were found to be homozygote, but the other to be heterozygote for the mutation. CONCLUSIONS:These results indicate that Korean children with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia may be genetically identical as in Japanese. But, we discovered that the hot spot, codon 258, are not always homozygote. We want to emphasize the different point, and to say that we did experiece the automatic sequence analyzer successfully.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cats ; Child ; Cholesterol ; Codon ; Codon, Terminator ; DNA ; Exons ; Female ; Glutamine ; Heterozygote ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Karyotype ; Mitochondria ; Molecular Biology* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnenolone

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE) inhibition as a means of controlling blood pressure began in the 1970s. This increasing knowledge of ACE inhibitors has resulted in their being used with confidence in a antihyertensive therapy, combining high efficacy with very low levels of side effects. METHOD: In this study, the antihyertensive effect of ramipril was assessed in 28 patients(9 males and 19 females with mean age of 52 years)with mild-to-moderate hypertension. After a placebo run-in phase, patients received ramipril as monotherapy in a dose 2.5 to 5 mg daily for 6 weeks. RESULTS: 1) At the end of 6 weeks, ramipril induced clinically significant reduction in supine(30.1mmHg in systole, 17mmHg in diastole) and sitting(33.4mmHg in systole, 18.5mmHg in diatole)blood pressure. 2) The heart rate was similar after 6 weeks. 3) The most frequent side effect was dry cough in 6 patients(5.6%) followed by dizziness. CONCLUSION: This study indicate that ramipril is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate essential hypertension.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; Angiotensins ; Blood Pressure ; Cough ; Dizziness ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Male ; Ramipril* ; Systole

Many in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated the targeted migration of neural stem cells (NSC) to infiltrating brain tumors, including malignant glioma, highlighting a potential therapeutic approach. However, there is not enough information to apply this approach to clinical therapy. The most important things in stem cell therapy for brain tumors involve selecting the appropriate neural progenitor type and optimizing the efficiency of the cell engraftment. By histological analysis using two different live-dyes, human NSCs were shown to migrate away from the transplanted site in the direction of the expanding C6 glioma and to intermix with the tumor bed, especially with the tumor core. This intermixing occurred within 7 days when NSCs were implanted into glioma model. The time course of migratory HB1.F5 with the greatest mobility of three NSC lines was as follows. As early as 3 days after transplantation, several NSCs were found leaving the implant site, primarily approaching microsatellites and frontier cells located near the site of NSC implantation. Through 7 days post-transplantation, massive numbers of NSCs continued to be attracted to and interspersed with C6 glioma, and were finally distributed extensively throughout the whole tumor bed, including the core and penumbra of the tumor mass. However, NSCs appeared to penetrate into the tumor mass very well, whereas normal fibroblast cells could not migrate. These findings strengthen the potential for human NSCs as attractive vehicles to improve therapeutic gene delivery to cancer or glioma if they are optimized to selectively kill neoplastic cells.
Animals ; Brain/*cytology/*pathology ; Brain Neoplasms/*pathology ; *Cell Movement ; Female ; Glioma/*pathology ; Humans ; Mice ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Neurons/*cytology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stem Cells/*cytology

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the survival rates of implants placed in grafted maxillary sinuses and compare the results obtained with graft materials, implant surfaces and timing of implant placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 1996 and December 2005, 391 implants were placed in 161 patients who underwent sinus grafting treatment simultaneously or separately at Ewha Womans University Hospital. According to inclusion criteria, 272 implants were placed in 102 patients with 112 sinus grafts (30 females, 72 males), aged 26 to 88 years (mean age 49.0+/-9.7). The follow-up period ranged from 12 to 134 months (mean F/U 47+/-32). Survival rates were evaluated according to graft material, implant surface and timing of implant placement. The Kaplan-Meier procedure and the log rank (Mantel-Cox) test were used to estimate survival rates and test for equality of survival rates between different groups of patients. RESULTS: Ten-year cumulative survival rate for implants placed in the grafted sinuses was 90.1%. The survival rates for autogenous bone, combination and bone substitutes were 94.6%, 85.9% and 100%, respectively (p > 0.05). According to implant surface, survival rates were 84.8% in machined group and 97.5% in rough group (p < 0.05). The survival rates were 92.9% in delayed group and 86.0% in simultaneous group (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ten-year cumulative survival rate for implants placed in the grafted sinuses was 90.1%. Rough-surfaced implants have a higher survival rate than machined-surfaced implants when placed in grafted sinuses (p < 0.05).
Aged ; Bone Substitutes ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Transplants

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate adhesion and gene expression of the MC3T3-E1 cells cultured on machined titanium surface (MS) and anodized titanium surface (AS) using MTT test, Scanning electron micrograph and cDNA microarray. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MTT test assay was used for examining the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells, osteoblast like cells from Rat calvaria, on MS and AS for 24 hours and 48 hours. Cell cultures were incubated for 24 hours to evaluate the influence of the substrate geometry on both surfaces using a Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM). The cDNA microarray Agilent Rat 22K chip was used to monitor expressions of genes. RESULTS: After 24 hours of adhesion, the cell density on AS was higher than MS (p<0.05). After 48 hours the cell density on both titanium surfaces were similar (p>0.05). AS had the irregular, rough and porous surface texture. After 48 hours incubation of the MC3T3-E1 cells, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) was up-regulated on AS than MS (more than 2 fold) and the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor was down-regulated (more than 2 fold) on AS than MS. CONCLUSION: Microarray assay at 48 hours after culturing the cells on both surfaces revealed that osteoinductive molecules appeared more prominent on AS, whereas the adhesion molecules on the biomaterial were higher on MS than AS, which will affect the phenotype of the plated cells depending on the surface morphology.
Animals ; Cell Count ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Connective Tissue Cells ; DNA ; DNA, Complementary ; Electrons ; Gene Expression ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Osteoblasts ; Phenotype ; Rats ; Skull ; Titanium

No abstract available.
Endocardial Cushion Defects* ; Endocardial Cushions* ; Ultrasonics*

Objective: To identify the factors associated with unsuccessful pessary fitting and reasons for pessary discontinuation in Korean women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Methods: The medical records of 234 patients who underwent pessary fitting for the management of symptomatic POP were retrospectively reviewed. A ring pessary with or without support was used. Successful pessary fitting was defined as the ability to wear a pessary for 2 weeks without any discomfort. Factors associated with unsuccessful pessary fitting were determined using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was obtained to examine the probability of continuing pessary use over the follow-up period. The reasons for the discontinuation of pessary were identified. Results: Two-hundred-and-twenty-five women were included in the analysis. The rate of unsuccessful pessary fitting was 40%. Prior hysterectomy (odds ratio [OR], 4.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-9.42) and POP quantification stage III-IV (OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.28-4.85) were independent risk factors for unsuccessful pessary fitting. Among the patients with successful pessary fitting, the median time to discontinuation of pessary use was 4 years. The most common causes of discontinued use were vaginal erosion (45.3%) and urinary incontinence (26.5%). Conclusion Patients with a history of hysterectomy and advanced-stage POP are at risk for an unsuccessful fitting of the ring pessary. Vaginal erosion is the main reason for discontinued use among patients with successful pessary fitting.