Lung cancer is one of the most common causative cancers worldwide. Particularly, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 85% of all lung cancer cases. NSCLC is a serious form of lung cancer that requires prompt diagnosis, and the 5-year survival rate for patients with this disease is only 24%. Gibbosic acid H (GaH), a natural lanostanoid obtained from the Ganoderma species (Ganodermataceae), has antiproliferative activities against colon and lung cancer cells. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of GaH in NSCLC cells and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms.GaH was found to induce G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and autophagy by activating adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase in A549 and H1299 cells. The induction of this cell cycle arrest was associated with the downregulation of cyclin E1 and CDK2.Additionally, the induction of autophagy by GaH was correlated with the upregulation of LC3B, beclin-1, and p53 expression. GaH also induced apoptosis by upregulating cleaved caspase-3 and Bax in the lung cancer cells. These findings suggest that GaH has a potential in the growth inhibition of human lung cancer cells.

Educational evaluation involves data collection and the analysis of various education-related factors to make decisions that improve educational quality. Systematic educational evaluation is essential for enhancing the quality of education. This study reports a case of student-conducted process evaluation of a medical school’s student support system and the procedure for devising improvement plans. Sixteen Inje University College of Medicine students participated in the Education Evaluation Committee (IUCM-EEC) to understand the educational improvement process as learners and actively achieve improvement. The Quality Improvement Committee of the Inje University College of Medicine (IUCM-QIC) decided to reform its student support system based on a previous educational evaluation in 2019. The evaluation of the student support system was conducted for 10 months in 2021 by the student subcommittee, under the guidance of the IUCM-EEC. The CIPP (context-input-process-product) evaluation model was used for a systematic evaluation. Accordingly, the subcommittee developed evaluation criteria and indicators, and analyzed relevant data collected from surveys and the previous literature. For further recommendations and revision ideas, the student subcommittee members interviewed faculty members from six other medical schools and also conducted a focus group interview with the dean and vice deans of IUCM. Finally, the student subcommittee submitted a report to the IUCM-QIC. Communication with various stakeholders is essential for a successful evaluation process. In this case, students, as key stakeholders in education, evaluated the student support system. Their active participation helped improve their understanding of the evaluation process.

Background: and Purpose A multifactorial antiepileptic mechanism underlies the ketogenic diet (KD), and one of the proposed mechanisms of action is that the KD inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. To test this clinically, this study aimed to determine the efficacy of the KD in patients with pathologically confirmed focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) due to genetically identifiable mTOR pathway dysregulation. Methods: A cohort of patients with pathologically confirmed FCD after epilepsy surgery and who were screened for the presence of germline and somatic mutations related to the mTOR pathway in peripheral blood and resected brain tissue was constructed prospectively. A retrospective review of the efficacy of the prior KD in these patients was performed. Results: Twenty-five patients with pathologically confirmed FCD and who were screened for the presence of detectable somatic mTOR pathway mutations had received a sufficient KD. Twelve of these patients (48.0%) had germline or somatic detectable mTOR pathway mutations. A response was defined as a ≥50% reduction in seizure frequency. The efficacy of the KD after 3 months of dietary therapy was superior in patients with detectable mTOR pathway mutations than in patients without detectable mTOR pathway mutations, although the difference was not statistically significant (responder rates of 58.3% vs. 38.5%, p=0.434). Conclusions A greater proportion of patients with mTOR pathway responded to the KD, but there was no statistically significant difference in efficacy of the KD between patients with and without detectable mTOR pathway mutations. Further study is warranted due to the smallness of the sample and the limited number of mTOR pathway genes tested in this study.

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways play an important role in the embryonic development, cell proliferation, differentiation, and adhesion. Therefore, the abnormal activation and repression have been associated with uncontrolled homeostasis in human tissues. In particular, the activation of Wnt signaling is highly correlated with a diverse of diseases including cancer. On this regard, a strategy for targeting Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been employed in the discovery and development of antitumor agents. Herein, the evolution of Wnt signaling and the Wnt inhibitors derived from natural products were briefly summarized in the drug discovery of anticancer agents.

Phytochemical studies were performed to identify the active principles of Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica (Phyrymaceae) for anti-inflammation. The anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by measuring the inhibition rate on nitric oxide (NO) formation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophage 264.7 cells. Of the five compounds including ursolic acid, phrymarolin I, harpagide, haedoxancoside A, and acteoside isolated from this plant, ursolic acid showed the most prominent inhibition of NO formation. Therefore, ursolic acid may be the anti-inflammatory principle of Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica.
Macrophages ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide ; Plants

Caryopteris incana (Verbenaceae) has been used to treat cough, arthritis, and eczema in Oriental medicine. The two fractions (CHCl₃- and BuOH fractions) and the essential oil of the plant material were subjected to the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) assay. The IC₅₀ of the CHCl₃ fraction and the essential oil on LPS-induced macrophage RAW 264.7 cells were 16.4 µg/mL and 23.08 µg/mL, respectively. On gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectroscopy (MS) analysis, twenty-five components representing 85.5% amount of total essential oil were identified. On the chromatogram, three main substances, trans-pinocarveol, cis-citral, and pinocarvone, occupied 18.8%, 13.5% and 18.37% of total peak area. Furthermore, by HPLC-UV analysis, six compounds including one iridoid (8-O-acetylharpagide)- and five phenylethanoid glycosides (caryopteroside, acteoside, phlinoside A, 6-O-caffeoylphlinoside, and leucosceptoside A) isolated from the BuOH fraction were quantified. The content of six compounds were shown as the following order: caryopteroside (162.35 mg/g) > 8-O-acetylharpagide (93.28 mg/g) > 6-O-caffeoylphlinoside (28.15mg/g) > phlinoside (22.60mg/g) > leucosceptoside A (16.87 mg) > acteoside (7.05 mg/g).
Arthritis ; Chromatography, Gas ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cough ; Eczema ; Glycosides ; Macrophages ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide ; Plants ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Spectrum Analysis ; Verbenaceae

OBJECTIVES: Sex hormones exposure during the prenatal period has an effect on cerebral lateralization. Male brains are thought to be more lateralized than female brains. Bipolar disorder was known to show abnormalities in cerebral laterality whose characteristics could be estimated by electroencephalography (EEG) coherences. We studied sex-related differences of EEG coherences between healthy controls and patients with bipolar disorder to examine the sex effects in the genesis of bipolar disorder. METHODS: Participants were 25 patients with bipolar disorder (11 male, 14 female) and 46 healthy controls (23 male, 23 female). EEG was recorded in the eyes closed resting state. To examine dominant EEG coherence associated with sex differences in both groups within five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) across several brain regions, statistical analyses were performed using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: Though statistically meaningful results were not found, some remarkable findings were noted. Healthy control females showed more increased interhemispheric coherences than control males in gamma frequency band. There were no differences in the intrahemispheric coherences between the healthy control males and females. In patients with bipolar disorder, female dominant pattern in interhemispheric coherences was attenuated compared with healthy control. CONCLUSIONS: Sex differences of EEG coherences, which could be a marker for cerebral laterality, were attenuated in patients with bipolar disorder compared with healthy controls. These results imply that abnormal sex hormone exposure during early development might play some role in the pathogenesis of bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder* ; Brain ; Electroencephalography* ; Female ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; Humans ; Male ; Sex Characteristics

Rabies is an important zoonosis in the public and veterinary healthy arenas. This article provides information on the situation of current rabies outbreak, analyzes the current national rabies control system, reviews the weaknesses of the national rabies control strategy, and identifies an appropriate solution to manage the current situation. Current rabies outbreak was shown to be present from rural areas to urban regions. Moreover, the situation worldwide demonstrates that each nation struggles to prevent or control rabies. Proper application and execution of the rabies control program require the overcoming of existing weaknesses. Bait vaccines and other complex programs are suggested to prevent rabies transmission or infection. Acceleration of the rabies control strategy also requires supplementation of current policy and of public information. In addition, these prevention strategies should be executed over a mid- to long-term period to control rabies.
Acceleration ; Korea* ; Rabies* ; Raccoon Dogs ; Vaccines

Entecavir (Baraclude(R), Bristol-Myers Squibb) is a potent and selective antiviral agent that has demonstrated efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The most frequent adverse events attributed to entecavir include increased alanine aminotransferase, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, abdominal pain, cough, pyrexia, fatigue, and diarrhea. Although quite a few randomized double-blind studies including ones investigating adverse events along with these general symptoms have been reported, few cases of cutaneous adverse events have been described in detail. We demonstrate a case of granulomatous drug eruption as a cutaneous adverse event induced by entecavir.
Abdominal Pain ; Alanine Transaminase ; Cough ; Diarrhea ; Double-Blind Method ; Drug Eruptions* ; Fatigue ; Fever ; Guanine ; Headache ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Respiratory Tract Infections

No abstract available.
Candida albicans* ; Candida* ; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions*