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

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of 6-week vegetable juice supplementation (360 ml/day) on serum lipid profiles and antioxidant activity in college women. Twenty women (mean age: 21) with normal life style and dietary pattern and who are free of any specific diseases were recruited among the student in S women's university. The subjects consumed vegetable juice to take part in an uncontrolled clinical trial for a 6-week intervention period. While there was no difference in the concentration of total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol, serum concentrations of TG and HDL/LDL ratio were significantly reduced by 22% (p = 0.013) and 6% (p = 0.007) respectively. Significant decrease in malondialdehyde (p = 0.000) was accompanied by an increase in the activity of serum antioxidant enzymes, such as GSHPx (p = 0.000), SOD (p = 0.007). It was also found that total antioxidant status was improved by 5.4% (p = 0.009). Serum parameters were all changed without affecting body mass index, waist and hip circumferences, or nutrient intakes after six week of supplementation. This study demonstrated that the supplementation regular meals with vegetable juice can favorably affect serum lipid profiles and antioxidant systems, and hence could contribute to reduce the risks of chronic diseases in college women.
Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Hip ; Humans ; Life Style ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Malondialdehyde ; Meals ; Vegetables*

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a secondary stroke prevention education program on the health risk indicators and self-care compliance of stroke patients. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used to select the participants. Subjects were 54 stroke patients (27 in the experimental group and 27 in the control group) hospitalized in a K university hospital in D city, Korea. Health risk indicators and self-care compliance were measured both for a baseline, as well as after intervention. The data was analyzed using a chi-square test, paired t-test and ANCOVA. RESULTS: There were significant differences in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, weight and self-care compliance. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that an educational secondary stroke prevention program is effective for health risk indicators and self-care compliance of patients. Therefore it can be used as an effective nursing intervention in clinical practice.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Compliance* ; Education ; Fasting ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Secondary Prevention ; Self Care* ; Stroke*

The cumulative incidence of breast cancer in Korea is low, being about one-fifth of that in the United States. This low incidence has been mainly explained by environmental factors, and recently, however, racial variations in the disease-causing genes should also be considered. The BRCA1 is one of the common genes involved in early-onset breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer in the United States and Northern Europe. However, the involvement of BRCA1 in Korean'breast cancer patients are still unclear. We performed germline mutation screening of the BRCA1 gene by DNA single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. We examined 27 breast cancer patients who were diagnosed less than 35 years by age including two cases with family history of breast cancer. Our study showed no germline mutation at the exons 2, 11 and 20, which were known as the supreme susceptible regions of BRCA1 mutations. Even though our cases did not fulfilled the criteria of familial breast/ovarian cancer, the proprotion of families who inherit the mutated BRCA1 allele seems to be very small and might be negligible among Korean population. Therefore, it is considered that the BRCA1 itself cannot be a major susceptibility gene and the contributions of other genes might be important for the breast cancer.
Alleles ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; DNA ; Europe ; Exons ; Genes, BRCA1 ; Germ-Line Mutation* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; United States

OBJECTIVES: To determine changes in the incidence and pattern of eclampsia in Il Sin Christian Hospital over a 46-year period. METHODS: Information was collected from medical records of the 1910 eclamptic patients among 233,613 deliveries in Il Sin Christian Hospital from Jan. 1 1953 to Dec. 31 1998. Incidence, presentation, and management of eclampsia were reviewed retrospectively, and maternal mortality rate and perinatal mortality rate were calculated. Statistical analysis was done by Chi-squared and Fisher's exact test through two by two tables looking at relative changes between each study period. RESULTS: The overall incidence of eclampsia was 81.8 per 10,000 deliveries. The incidence of eclampsia had increased from 137.3/10,000 in 1953-1962 to 278.4/10,000 in 1963-1972, but the rate had reduced to 6.5/10,000 in 1993-1998. There was a statistically significant fall in the rate of eclampsia every decade between 1973 and 1992, but there has been steady decrease in the last study period. Convulsion occurred antepartum in 54% of patients, intrapartum in 29% and postpartum in 17%. With the reduction in the proportion of antepartum eclampsia, there has been a relative increase in that of intrapartum and postpartum eclampsia. Maternal death occurred in 59 cases among eclampsia, and maternal mortality rate was 3.1%. Maternal mortality rate had significantly decresed from 11.1% in 1953-1962 to 3.8% in 1963-1972, and there has been no maternal death from eclampsia since 1986. Postpartum eclampsia had increased death risk compared with antepartum or intrapartum eclampsia. There were 280 cases of perinatal death and overall perinatal mortality rate was 144.1 per 1000 deliveries. There was a significant decrease in the rate from 243.2/1000 in 1953-1962 to 141.5/1000 in 1963-1972, but the rate has risen steadily since 1983. CONCLUSIONS: With the improvement in antenatal care and management of eclampsia, the incidence of eclampsia and its associated maternal mortality has decreased over the last 46 years. But eclampsia still remains a significant complication of pregnancy with high maternal and perinatal mortality.
Eclampsia* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Maternal Death ; Maternal Mortality ; Medical Records ; Perinatal Mortality ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures

No abstract available.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Line* ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Etoposide*

Purpose: Although numerous systematic reviews or meta-analysis have reported the hypotensive effects of garlic, the application of these results in the area of functional food is limited. This is because the trials used various garlic preparations and patients with differing hypertensive intensities. To validate the use of garlic powder as a blood pressure lowering functional food, we performed the current meta-analysis, focusing on the study of prehypertensive subjects. Methods: Literature search was carried out using various database up to July 2020, including PubMed, Cochrane, ScienceDirect and Korean studies Information Service System, and each study was screened by pre-stated inclusion/exclusion criteria. We identified nine trials that met the eligibility, of which two studies with moderate or high risk of bias were excluded. Results: Meta-analysis of the seven studies revealed that an intake of garlic powder significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by −6.0 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], −11.2, −0.8; p = 0.025) and −2.7 mmHg (95% CI, −5.3, −0.1; p = 0.046), respectively. Shapes of the funnel plot for both SBP and DBP seemed symmetrical, and the Egger's regression revealed no publication bias. Moreover, duration of the intervention period was inversely associated with the pooled effects of garlic powder on SBP (p = 0.019) and DBP (p = 0.019), and this result was supported by the subgroup-analysis. The daily dose of garlic powder, baseline value of each biomarker, and subject number, did not moderate the effects on SBP and DBP. Conclusion Results of the present meta-analysis indicate that garlic powder supplements are superior to placebo for improving the BP in prehypertensive individuals.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to identify factors which affect nursing students' self-leadership according to their locus of control. METHODS: This study was a descriptive research. Participants were 600 D city junior and senior nursing students who had completed clinical training. RESULTS: Results showed the following characteristics of students who had high self-leadership: For students with external locus of control the following correlations with self-leadership were found:, general creativity (r=.46), social support (r=.48), academic self-efficacy (r=.29), and communication competence (r=.49). For students with internal locus of control, self-leadership was correlated with general creativity (r=.46), social support (r=.41), academic self-efficacy(r=.36), and communication competence (r=.48). For the nursing students with external locus of control, age (β=−.24, p=.010), satisfaction with campus life (β=.16, p=.027), general creativity (β=−.20, p=.017), and social support (β=−.20, p=.028) had significant effects on their self-leadership: explanatory power of 44% (F=6.53, p < .001). For students with internal locus of control, self-leadership was effected by general creativity (β=.20, p=.011) and social support (β=.19, p=.012): explanatory power was 42%(F=5.96, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Applying these findings to the curriculum of nursing students would improve their self-leadership and increase the efficiency of organizational culture and contribute to goal achievement in nursing organizations.
Creativity ; Curriculum ; Humans ; Internal-External Control ; Mental Competency ; Nursing ; Organizational Culture ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: We conducted a descriptive study to identify the factors affecting peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: Data were collected from 131 cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy at two university hospitals in D city from January to July in 2018. The instruments used were the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy 20 (EORTC-QLQ CIPN 20), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), nutrition and eating habits, and Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: Factors influencing peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy were gender (β=−0.34, p=.005), basal cold hypersensitivity in the hands and feet (β=0.29, p<.001), depression (β=0.27, p=.002), and diabetes (β=0.23, p<.001). The explanatory power of the model was 41.1%. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the study, it is necessary to plan nursing interventions for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with peripheral neuropathy by considering gender, cold hypersensitivity in the hands and feet, depression, and diabetes.