The aim of this study was to investigate the relaxant effect of ethanol extract, fractions from Epimedium koreanum (E. koreanum) on penile corpus cavernosum smooth muscle (PCCSM) in a rabbit. The contractility on PCCSM was also evaluated with icariin, active major compound, from E. koreanum quantified using HPLC analysis. The pre-contracted PCCSM with 10 μM phenylephrine (Phe) was accumulatively treated with extract and fractions (n-hexane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol) from E. koreanum at concentrations of 1, 2, 3 and 4 mg/mL. Icariin was performed with final concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM. The interaction of icariin with phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, udenafil, was also examined on PCCSM contractility. Extract and three fractions had the relaxant effect on PCCSM in a dose-dependent manner and the maximum relaxation was obtained in ethyl acetate fraction. Icariin dose-dependently relaxed the PCCSM and efficiently enhanced the udenafil-induced relaxation at least two-fold. These results indicate the possibility that icariin fromE. koreanum may be a candidate for a new or alternative medicine in erectile dysfunction patients who do not completely respond to PDE-5 inhibitors.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Male hypogonadism is a condition where the body does not produce enough testosterone and significantly impacts health. Age, obesity, genetics, and oxidative stress are some physiological factors that may contribute to testosterone deficiency.Previous studies have shown many pharmacological benefits of Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) Baillon as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. However, the molecular mechanism of attenuating hypogonadism is yet to be well established. This research was undertaken to study the effects of S. chinensis extract (SCE) on testosterone deficiency.MATERIALS/METHODS: S. chinensis fruit was pulverized and extracted using 60% aqueous ethanol. HPLC analysis was performed to analyze and quantify the lignans of the SCE. RESULTS: The 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) scavenging assays confirmed that the SCE and its major lignans (schisandrol A and gomisin N) inhibit oxidative stress. Effects of SCE analysis on the testosterone level under oxidative stress conditions revealed that both schisandrol A and gomisin N were able to recover the lowered testosterone levels. Through mRNA expression of TM3 Leydig cell, we observed that the SCE lignans were able to induce the enzymes involved in testosterone biosynthesis-related genes such as 3β-HSD4 (P < 0.01 for SCE, and P < 0.001 for schisandrol A and gomisin N), 17β-HSD3 (P < 0.001 for SCE, schisandrol A and gomisin N), and 17, 20-desmolase (P < 0.01 for schisandrol A, and P < 0.001 for SCE and gomisin N). CONCLUSIONS These results support that SCE and its active components could be potential therapeutic agents for regulating and increasing testosterone production.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) which has various pathological mechanisms, recently, it is attracting attention to the mechanism via microbiome-gut-brain axis. 6-Shogaol, a representative compound of ginger, have been known for improving PD phenotypes by reducing neuroinflammatory responses. In the present study, we investigated whether 6-shogaol and ginger attenuate degeneration induced by Proteus Mirabilis(P. mirabilis) on the intestine and brain, simultaneously. C57BL/6J mice received P. mirabilis for 5 days. Ginger (300 mg/kg) and 6-shogaol (10 mg/kg) were treated by gavage feeding for 22 days including the period of P. mirabilis treatment. Results showed that 6-shogaol and ginger improved motor dysfunction and dopaminergic neuronal death induced by P. mirabilis treatment. In addition, they suppressed P. mirabilis-induced intestinal barrier disruption, pro-inflammatory signals such as toll-like receptor and TNF-α, and intestinal α-synuclein aggregation. Moreover, ginger and 6-shogaol significantly inhibited neuroinflammation and α-synuclein in the brain. Taken together, 6-shogaol and ginger have the potential to ameliorate PD-like motor behavior and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons induced by P. mirabilis in mice. Here, these findings are meaningful in that they provide the first experimental evidence that 6-shogaol might attenuate PD via regulating gut-brain axis.

Quantification of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons is essential for the preclinical study of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, manual analysis of immunohistochemical (IHC) images is labor-intensive and has less reproducibility due to the lack of objectivity. Therefore, several automated methods of IHC image analysis have been proposed, although they have limitations of low accuracy and difficulties in practical use. Here, we developed a convolutional neural network-based machine learning algorithm for TH+ cell counting. The developed analytical tool showed higher accuracy than the conventional methods and could be used under diverse experimental conditions of image staining intensity, brightness, and contrast. Our automated cell detection algorithm is available for free and has an intelligible graphical user interface for cell counting to assist practical applications. Overall, we expect that the proposed TH+ cell counting tool will promote preclinical PD research by saving time and enabling objective analysis of IHC images.

Purpose: This study aimed to describe nurses’ perceived needs and barriers to pediatric palliative care (PPC). Methods: Mixed methods with an embedded design were applied. An online survey was conducted for nurses who participated in the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium- Pediatric Palliative Care (ELNEC-PPC) train-the-trainer program, of whom 63 responded. Quantitative data were collected with a survey questionnaire developed through the Delphi method. The 47 items for needs and 15 items for barriers to PPC were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were collected through openended questions and analyzed with topic modeling techniques. Results: The mean scores of most subdomains of the PPC needs were 3.5 or higher out of 4, and those of PPC barriers ranged from 3.22 to 3.56, indicating the items in the questionnaire developed in this study properly reflect each factor. The needs for PPC were divided into 4 categories: “children and adolescents,” “families,” “PPC management system,” and “community-based PPC.” Meanwhile, PPC barriers were divided into 3 categories: “healthcare delivery system,” “healthcare provider,” and “client.” The keywords derived from the topic modeling were perception, palliative, children, and education for necessities and lack, perception, medical care, professional care providers, service, and system for barriers to PPC. Conclusion In this study, by using mixed-methods, items of nurses’ perceived needs and barriers to PPC were identified, categorized, and weighted, and their meanings were explored. For the stable establishment of PPC, the priority should be given to improving perceptions of PPC, establishing an appropriate system, and training professional care providers.

Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an intractable pain disease with various symptoms. Here, we investigated the disease status, work life, sleep problems, medical insurance, economic status, psychological problems, and quality of life (QOL) of CRPS patients. Methods: CRPS patients from 37 university hospitals in South Korea were surveyed.The survey questionnaire consisted of 24 questions on the following aspects of CRPS patients: sex, age, occupation, cause of injury, activities of daily living (ADL), pain severity, sleep disturbance, level of education, economic status, therapeutic effect, and suicidal ideation. Additionally, the abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire, consisting of 26 questions, was used to identify the status of QOL. Results: A total of 251 patients completed the questionnaire. According to the survey, 54.2% patients could not perform ADL on their own. Over the previous week, the mean pain score was 7.15 ± 1.78 (out of a total of 10 points); 92.1% of patients had sleep disorders and 80.5% had suicidal ideation, with most patients suffering from psychological problems. The average for each domain of WHOQOL-BREF was as follows: 21.74 ± 14.77 for physical, 25.22 ± 17.66 for psychological, 32.02 ± 22.36 for social relationship, and 30.69 ± 15.83 for environmental (out of a total of 100 points each). Occupation, ADL, sleep time, therapeutic effect, and suicidal ideation were statistically correlated with multiple domains. Conclusions Most patients had moderate to severe pain, economic problems, limitations of their ADL, sleep problems, psychological problems, and a low QOL score.

Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an intractable pain disease with various symptoms. Here, we investigated the disease status, work life, sleep problems, medical insurance, economic status, psychological problems, and quality of life (QOL) of CRPS patients. Methods: CRPS patients from 37 university hospitals in South Korea were surveyed.The survey questionnaire consisted of 24 questions on the following aspects of CRPS patients: sex, age, occupation, cause of injury, activities of daily living (ADL), pain severity, sleep disturbance, level of education, economic status, therapeutic effect, and suicidal ideation. Additionally, the abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire, consisting of 26 questions, was used to identify the status of QOL. Results: A total of 251 patients completed the questionnaire. According to the survey, 54.2% patients could not perform ADL on their own. Over the previous week, the mean pain score was 7.15 ± 1.78 (out of a total of 10 points); 92.1% of patients had sleep disorders and 80.5% had suicidal ideation, with most patients suffering from psychological problems. The average for each domain of WHOQOL-BREF was as follows: 21.74 ± 14.77 for physical, 25.22 ± 17.66 for psychological, 32.02 ± 22.36 for social relationship, and 30.69 ± 15.83 for environmental (out of a total of 100 points each). Occupation, ADL, sleep time, therapeutic effect, and suicidal ideation were statistically correlated with multiple domains. Conclusions Most patients had moderate to severe pain, economic problems, limitations of their ADL, sleep problems, psychological problems, and a low QOL score.

A resolution adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2014 stated that all nurses should be equipped with palliative care skills in order to integrate palliative care into a day-to-day healthcare system. This article introduces the palliative nursing competency that was developed for the Korean environment by the Korean Hospice Palliative Nursing Research Network based on its study of overseas cases where this competency and competency-based training were developed. This is the first step towards the development of competency-based palliative nursing education, and active efforts should be made to integrate this competency into the undergraduate nursing curriculum.
Clinical Competence ; Curriculum ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Global Health ; Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Palliative Care ; Students, Nursing

Comprehension of the medical diagnoses of doctors and treatment of diseases is important to understand the underlying principle in selecting appropriate acupoints. The pattern recognition process that pertains to symptoms and diseases and informs acupuncture treatment in a clinical setting was explored. A total of 232 clinical records were collected using a Charting Language program. The relationship between symptom information and selected acupoints was trained using an artificial neural network (ANN). A total of 11 hidden nodes with the highest average precision score were selected through a tenfold cross-validation. Our ANN model could predict the selected acupoints based on symptom and disease information with an average precision score of 0.865 (precision, 0.911; recall, 0.811). This model is a useful tool for diagnostic classification or pattern recognition and for the prediction and modeling of acupuncture treatment based on clinical data obtained in a real-world setting. The relationship between symptoms and selected acupoints could be systematically characterized through knowledge discovery processes, such as pattern identification.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Republic of Korea ; Syndrome

No abstract available.
Immunoassay ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen