The angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor (Captopril) has recently been studied extensively in various experimental models of radiation injury and has proven its protective effects in various organs, such as the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys. Twenty-three Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into experimental and control group. The experimental group was divided into two large groups: the first one received a single dose of 18 Gy irradiation from an electron beam on the local field of the kidney region only, and the second group received captopril per oral continuously after the same doses of irradiation. The second experimental group was divided into four subgroups by captopril doses: 62.5 mg/l, 125 mg/l, 250 mg/l, and 500 mg/l, respectively. On light and electron microscopy, the kidneys of the irradiated rats with no captopril treatment showed diffuse glomerular contraction, congestion with occlusion and focal necrosis of the endothelial, and mesangial cells. The tubules showed ballooning degeneration, desquamation, and diffuse coagulation necrosis. Captopril treated rats, especially those given a high dose (more than 250 gm/l), revealed a marked reduction of the tubular and glomerular injuries. There was a statistically significant difference in the degree of renal injury among the experimental groups (p<0.05). The result of this study suggests that an administration of high dose captopril might prevent radiation-induced renal injury, especially in the early post-irradiation period.
Animals ; Captopril* ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Kidney ; Lung ; Mesangial Cells ; Microscopy, Electron ; Models, Theoretical ; Necrosis ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Radiation Injuries ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Experimental studies suggest that captopril plays an important preventive role in radiation induced renal injury (RRI). To elucidate the pathogenesis of RRI and effect of captopril, one subgroup was irradiated with a single dose of 9 gray (Gy) total body irradiation and another subgroup with 17 Gy local irradiation in the right kidney. Twenty-four healthy looking Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 200~250 g, were divided into one control and three experimental group (EG)s for this study. The control group, composed of 2 rats, was maintained on stock diet and drinking tap water. EG was divided into three. EG 1 composed of two subgroups, the first subgroup, 3 rats each, was sacrificed within 12 hours after 9 Gy and 17 Gy single dose irradiation only and the second subgroup, 2 and 1 rats each, was sacrificed 8 weeks after the same doses irradiation. EG 2 composed of subgroups of 2 and 3 rats was given 500 mg/L of captopril in the drinking water after irradiating them with 9 Gy and 17 Gy and sacrificed in the 8th week. EG 3 was subdivided into four subgroups by captopril doses given, 62.5 mg/L, 125 mg/L and 250 mg/L and sacrificed 20 weeks after 9 Gy and 17 Gy irradiation. On light microscopy proximal convoluted tubules showed cytoplasmic vacuolization and focal necrosis in the subcapsular region in EG 1 sacrificed within 12 hours after 9 Gy and 17 Gy irradiation only (sham) and very mild fibrosis in juxtamedullary regions in rats sacrificed 8 weeks after irradiation. In EG 3 these changes were severely increased with additional increased fibrosis in the juxtamedullary region in the group given captopril 62.5 mg/L. On transmission electron microscopy, there were various degenerative changes of organelle. Among the captopril administered EG 2 and EG 3, rats given a high dosage revealed milder degree of damage compared to that of rats given a low dosage, and thickening of basement membrane was remarkable in rats given a low dosage. There was a reduction in tubular damage related to the captopril dosage. According to the above findings, administration of a high dose of captopril might preserve the ultrastructure in RRI and the possible mechanism of captopril was discussed.
Animals ; Basement Membrane ; Captopril ; Cytoplasm ; Diet ; Drinking ; Drinking Water ; Fibrosis ; Kidney ; Microscopy ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Necrosis ; Organelles ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Water ; Whole-Body Irradiation

OBJECTIVE: To provide medicare services for patients demands satisfyingly, immediate introduction of the Customer Relationship Management(CRM) is raised inevitable. In this paper we proposed that the minimizing the hospital losses by cut down the rate of cancelation of the hospital reservation, to secure patients as clients. METHODS: And to implement the data mining-based healthcare customer relationship management system applied from the back propagation algorithm of the artificial neural networks technique and the Feature GENeration(FGEN) algorithm of the decision tree technique. RESULTS: In this paper we divided a patient to an appropriate group through a data mining process and classified more correct customer through a campaign process. CONCLUSION: These results would be essential for new patients to enhance hospital reliability, for hospital to select profitable patients with high loyalty and to manage patients efficiently.
Data Mining* ; Decision Trees ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Humans ; Medicare

Inadvertent application of ionizing radiation, a valuable tool in diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy, results in injury and death of adjacent normal cells, inducing gene mutations or even producing latent cancers. Captopril, an angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, has been reported to prevent the structural and functional changes in variable organs, such as lung and kidney, from radiation injury in different experimental animal models. An experiment was carried out to elucidate the radiation-induced histomorphologic changes of small intestine, especially jejunum, and to determine whether captopril can reduce or prevent the radiation-induced injuries in jejunum. Twenty-six healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Experimental group (n=24) was divided into two large groups: the first one (n=16) was treated with two different single dose (9 Gy, 17 Gy) irradiation only and was sacrificed at 12 hours and at 8 weeks following irradiation; the second one (n=8) received captopril 500 mg/l per oral continuously after same doses of irradiation and was sacrificed at 8 weeks. The control group (n=2) was maintained on a stock diet in a same period of experimental group and sacrificed coincidentally. On light and electron microscopy, the 9 Gy and 17 Gy 12 hours groups revealed frequent apoptosis and necrosis but extremely decreased mitotic figures of the crypt cells. However, the 9 Gy and 17 Gy 8 weeks groups and the combined irradiation with captopril groups showed extremely reduced apoptosis and necrosis with increased mitotic figures. There was good correlation between experimental groups in apoptotic count and mitotic count (p<0.05). In the 9 Gy and 17 Gy 12 hours groups, the mucosal surface was focally or diffusely fragmented and the villi were slightly to moderately distorted. Collagen deposition was very mild and confined to the lower portion of the lamina propria. The 9 Gy and 17 Gy 8 weeks groups showed more severe mucosal surface fragmentation even with foci of erosion, short and distorted villi, and more intense collagen deposition. In contrast, the combined irradiation with captopril groups revealed complete regeneration of the mucosal surface epithelium and absent collagen deposition. These findings suggest that the acute radiation injuries to small intestine occur principally in the mucosal crypt cells. Captopril, the ACE inhibitor, might provide a useful intervention in the radiation injuries of intestinal mucosa.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Captopril ; Collagen ; Diet ; Epithelium ; Intestinal Mucosa* ; Intestine, Small ; Jejunum ; Kidney ; Lung ; Microscopy, Electron ; Models, Animal ; Mucous Membrane ; Necrosis ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Radiation Injuries ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Radiotherapy ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to obtain better clinical insights and therapeutic approaches to the diverticular diseases of the colon by identifying the clinical characteristics of the right and left colonic diverticular diseases. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made of 68 colonic diverticular patients treated between August of 1986 and July of 1997. Right colonic diverticular disease was present in 55 patients, left side disease in eight patients, and bilateral disease in five patients. According to the location of the colonic diverticular disease, various clinical parameters such as the nature of the diverticula, age and sex, diagnostic accuracy, and methods of treatment were assessed. RESULTS: The average age of 68 patients in this study was 50.94 years. Fifty two patients were male and sixteen were female. The disease was far more common in the right colon (80.9%) than the left colon (11.7%) and the right colonic diverticular disease was the most common source of confusion in diagnosis from acute appendicitis. Conservative management was tried in 30 of 35 patients above age 50 and obtained a good result without any complication. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a tendency toward increased incidence of annual colonic diverticular diseases in this study. The right colonic diverticular disease was far more common than the left side disease and the disease was more common in the male. In patients above age 50, initial conservative management is a reasonable approach, although early surgical exploration might be better in younger patients. Acute appendicitis should be ruled out before any treatment decision was made.
Appendicitis ; Colon ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulum ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Retrospective Studies*

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that Cortex mori ( Morus alba L, Sangbaikpi ; CM ), the root bark of mulberry tree, plays a role in inhibiting mast cell activation. Human seminal plasma ( HSP ) modulates immune systems and activates rat peritoneal mast cells ( RPMC ). However, the inhibitory agents of HSP - induced mast cell activation have not been disclosed yet. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: This study was undertaken to determine the effects of CM on HSP-induced mast cell activation by morphologic and functional methods. Morphological changes of RPMC by HSP alone or CM plus HSP were observed with the inverted light microscope. And the amounts of histamine and calcium were measured by radioisotopic enzymatic histamine and radioisotopic calcium assays. RESULTS: By inverted microscopy, HSP-induced RPMC degranulation occurred in a dose-dependent fashion. After pretreatment of RPMC with CM, there was no HSP-induced degranulation. Degranulation index (DI) of RPMC treated with Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS), CM or HSP was 7.0+/-4.3, 9.0+/-6.2, 56.5+/-16.9, respectively. After pretreatment of RPMC with CM, HSP-induced DI was 11.0 +/-7.1. These results indicate that CM inhibited HSP-induced degranulation of RPMC. HSP-induced RPMC histamine release (HR) was dose-dependent. HR of RPMC treated with HBSS, CM or HSP was 0.18+/-0.10, 0.30+/-0.19, 4.48+/-0.86 ug/ml, respectively. After pretreatment of RPMC with CM, HSP-induced HR was 0.52+/-0.21 ug/ml. These results indicate that CM inhibited HSP-induced HR from RPMC. Intracellular calcium level ( ICL) of RPMC was also increased according to the concentration of HSP. ICL of RPMC treated with HBSS, CM or HSP was 6.1+/-1.0, 9.0+/-2.1, 30.2+/-6.5 pmole, respectively. After pretreatment of RPMC with CM, HSP-induced ICL of RPMC was 11.6 +/- 3.3 pmole. These results indicate that CM inhibited HSP-induced calcium uptake of RPMC. CONCLUSION: From these results, it is suggested that CM contains some substances which inhi-
Animals ; Calcium ; Histamine ; Histamine Release ; Humans* ; Immune System ; Mast Cells* ; Microscopy ; Morus ; Rats* ; Semen* ; Trees

BACKGROUNDS: It is well known that intimal hyperplasia is one of the most important cause of vascular graft failure in angioplasty, autogenous venous graft and prosthetic bypass graft. Clinical trials of drugs including antiplatelet agents, anticoagulant, corticosteroid, cyclosporine and prostaglandin were not satisfactory in suppressing intimal hyperplasia. Seeding of endothelial cell also have been done for this purpose with some success. There are several reports that endovascular low dose irradiation and external beam irradiation might reduce the amount of proliferative neointima after arterial injury. METHODS: In order to evaluate the effect of external beam irradiation on intimal hyperplasia in grafted vessel, femoral artery autografts using external jugular vein were performed in dogs, and studied the morphological finding under microscope and compared intimal hyperplasia between control and radiated groups. Group I (control) was not irradiated after graft. But experimental groups were irradiated with 6 Mev electron: Group II, 800 cGy on day 1; Group III, 400 cGy on day 1 and day 4 each; and Group IV, 800 cGy on day 4. Radiation efficacy on intimal hyperplasia was histologically assessed by measuring neointimal thickness at the proximal and distal site of grafted vessel at 6 weeks after graft. RESULTS: Mean neointimal thickness in all irradiated groups were significantly lesser than control group (p<0.05) and not related with irradiating time: Group I (Control), 0.41+/-0.11 mm; Group II, 0.16+/-0.10 mm; Group III, 0.19 0.10 mm; Group IV 0.15+/-0.08 mm. There was no difference in intimal hyperplasia between proximal and distal anastomotic site of grafted vessels in both control and irradiated groups: Control, 0.42+/-0.11 mm vs 0.40+/-0.10 mm; Radiated groups, 0.17+/-0.10 mm vs 0.16+/-0.09 mm; (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that low dose external beam irradiation might suppress intimal hyperplasia in grafted vessel, but further study will be necessary to determine optimal dose and timing of radiation delivery, and its efficacy in long segment bypass graft.
Angioplasty ; Animals ; Autografts* ; Cyclosporine ; Dogs* ; Endothelial Cells ; Femoral Artery* ; Hyperplasia* ; Jugular Veins ; Neointima ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; Transplants

No abstract available.
Female ; Granulosa Cell Tumor* ; Granulosa Cells* ; Ovary*

Technological advances that have been achieved over the last two decades in the area of treatment planning and sophisticated and complicated hardware capabilities, such as computer-controlled treatments, multileaf collimators, and incorporating imaging devices into treatment machines, enable clinical implementation of high-precision radiotherapy in field of radiation oncology. High-precision radiotherapy allows the delivery of increased tumor doses with relative sparing of normal tissues compared to 3 -dimensional radiotherapy and conventional techniques. Preliminary clinical experiences of high precision radiation therapy have been encouraging by high rates of local control and decrease of toxicity. This article provides an overview of high precision radiotherapy such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, stereotactic radiation therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, and charged particle therapy.
Proton Therapy ; Radiation Oncology ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated

Resveratrol has been reported to exert anticancer activity via modulation of multiple pathways and genes. In this study, we examined the effect of resveratrol on YD-10B human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and its molecular mechanisms of action. We found that resveratrol inhibited the proliferation of YD-10B cells in a dose- and timedependent manner. The suppressive effect of resveratrol was accompanied by a reduction in Bmi-1 gene expression.We observed that silencing the Bmi-1 gene by small interfering RNA effectively downregulated the levels of GLUT1 mRNA and protein, which were also repressed by resveratrol. Bmi-1 silencing increased the number of YD-10B cells in S-phase arrest by approximately 2.3-fold compared with the control. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrate, for the first time, that resveratrol suppresses Bmi-1-mediated GLUT1 expression in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and suggest that the specific molecular targeting of Bmi-1 and/or GLUT1 expression can be combined with a chemotherapeutic strategy to improve the response of oral cancer cells to resveratrol.