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[Purpose] This study aimed to examine the independent effect of electrical pulse stimulation( EPS) and nitric oxide(NO) on muscle contraction and their synergistic or combined effect on contraction phenomenon using C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells. [Methods] Some differentiated C2C12 myotube cells were untreated (control). Other cells did not receive EPS and did receive 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 mM of the NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP; -E/S0.5, -E/S1.0, and -E/S2.0, respectively). For the EPS treatments (0.3 V/mm, 1.0 Hz, and 4.0 ms), differentiated C2C12 myotube cells received only EPS or both EPS and the SNAPtreatments at the same concentrations (+E/-S, +E/S0.5, +E/ S1.0, and +E/S2.0, respectively). All samples were then cultured for 4 days. [Results] Differentiated C2C12 cellswere stimulated by the EPS, NO, and EPS+NO treatments. The cell length of the +E/S2.0 Group after the 4-day culture (84.2±13.2㎛) was the shortest of all the groups. The expressions of AMPK, JNK, Akt, eNOS, GLUT4, and PGC1α proteins were noticeably dominant. The results indicated synergistic effect on muscle contraction of simultaneously applied EPS and SNAP. [Conclusion] Motor skills were significantly improved when exercise was accompanied by the intake of NO precursor and/or NO, compared to that upon their independent application or treatment.

Background: This study was investigated the effects of dexmedetomidine in combination with fentanyl-based intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) on pain attenuation in patients undergoing open gastrectomy in comparison with conventional thoracic epidural patient-controlled analgesia (E-PCA) and IV-PCA. Methods: One hundred seventy-one patients who planned open gastrectomy were randomly distributed into one of the 3 groups: conventional thoracic E-PCA (E-PCA group, n = 57), dexmedetomidine in combination with fentanyl-based IV-PCA (dIV-PCA group, n = 57), or fentanyl-based IV-PCA only (IV-PCA group, n = 57). The primary outcome was the postoperative pain intensity (numerical rating scale) at 3 hours after surgery, and the secondary outcomes were the number of bolus deliveries and bolus attempts, and the number of patients who required additional rescue analgesics. Mean blood pressure, heart rate, and adverse effects were evaluated as well. Results: One hundred fifty-three patients were finally completed the study. The postoperative pain intensity was significantly lower in the dIV-PCA and E-PCA groups than in the IV-PCA group, but comparable between the dIV-PCA group and the E-PCA group. Patients in the dIV-PCA and E-PCA groups needed significantly fewer additional analgesic rescues between 6 and 24 hours after surgery, and had a significantly lower number of bolus attempts and bolus deliveries during the first 24 hours after surgery than those in the IV-PCA group. Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine in combination with fentanyl-based IV-PCA significantly improved postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing open gastrectomy without hemodynamic instability, which was comparable to thoracic E-PCA. Furthermore, this approach could be clinically more meaningful owing to its noninvasive nature.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of Salicornia herbacea L. powder ingestion on carbohydrate metabolism in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Methods To achieve this objective, 35 Sprague-Dawley male rats were raised with feed mixed with Salicornia herbacia L. powder and given specific periods to swim for 5 weeks. There was no significant difference in the insulin increase rate while ingesting Salicornia herbacea L. powder and simultaneously exercising. Results Compared to the diabetes mellitus group, HOMA-IR was significantly decreased in the diabetes mellitus + exercise group, diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea group, and the diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea + exercise group. However, changes in blood glucose were significant in each group. Thus, for the result of GLUT-4 and GLUT-2, which are the glycose transporters of the liver and muscle, diabetes mellitus + exercise group, diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea group, and diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea + exercise group showed significantly higher expressions. The glycogen concentration of the liver and muscle was significantly increased in the diabetes mellitus + exercise group, diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea group, and diabetes mellitus + Salicornia herbacea + exercise group. Conclusion With the results above, it seems that taking Salicornia herbacea L. powder and exercise will help prevent various diabetic complications. Therefore, the findings of this study could justify Salicornia herbacea L. powder with its basal data of physiological activities and pharmacological components as a type of health functional food.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine whether Nordic walking exercise can relieve low back pain and change the spine shape in elderly women. [Subjects] Sixteen elderly women with chronic low back pain from N University in Chungcheong-do, South Korea, were enrolled. [Methods] The participants were asked to walk in an upright posture, with the head upright and looking forward. The Nordic poles were held close to the body. When a foot was moved forward, the arm on the other side lifted the Nordic pole and moved it forward. The participants were using the Nordic pole when walked on the track with their arms lifted above their shoulders. The type of shoes worn during walking was not considered. [Results] One-way analysis of variance was used to determine the presence of significant differences between the measures of spine deformation and VAS. [Conclusion] Chronic low back pain, a complaint often received from elderly women, was reduced by pole-induced power walking reduction on the balance of the spine and back of this important exercise program is presented as a guideline.

We used caudal epidurography to compare the spread of contrast medium when the needle was inserted toward the affected side in patients with unilateral radiculopathy undergoing caudal steroid injection.We enrolled 24 patients with unilateral radiculopathy. A block needle was positioned toward the affected side in the sacral epidural space. After 5 mL of iodinated contrast medium was injected, a standardized anteroposterior view was imaged. Using Adobe Photoshop software, contrast medium spread was assessed by counting pixels within the areas spread on the affected side and on the opposite side, and the pixel counts of the two sides were compared. Spinal nerve root filling was also assessed.The pixel count within the area of contrast medium spread on the side with the needle was significantly greater than that of the opposite side (mean [SD] 41,368.6 [13,143.1] vs 15,165.3 (10,698.1), P 0.001]. However, 13.6% of the study patients had greater spread on the opposite side. The rates of L5 and S1 nerve root filling in the affected side were 18.2% and 36.4% respectively.When a needle was intentionally inserted toward the side with radiculopathy, the spread of contrast medium and number of delineated roots tended to be greater on the side with the needle, compared with those on the opposite side. However, the pattern of contrast medium spread in the sacral epidural space varied and some patients even had greater spread on the opposite side.

Purpose When patients are moved from the supine to the lateral decubitus position, the double-lumen endobronchial tube (DLT) is often displaced. The aim of this study was to determine whether a DLT is displaced when there are no movements of the head and neck.

(-)-Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) is a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme ATPcitrate-lyase, which inhibits lipogenesis in the body. Moreover, HCA increases endurance exercise performance in trained mice and athletes. However, had not been investigated in untrained animals and humans. Therefore, we investigated the effects of short-term HCA ingestion on endurance exercise performance and fat metabolism in untrained women. In two experiments designed as a double-blind crossover test, six subjects ingested 250 mg of HCA or placebo (same amount of dextrin) via capsule for 5 d and then participated in cycle ergometer exercise. They cycled at 40% VO2max for 1 h and then the exercise intensity was increased to 60% VO2max until exhaustion on day 5 of each experiment. HCA tended to decrease the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and carbohydrate oxidation during 1 h of exercise. In addition, exercise time to exhaustion was significantly enhanced (p

Zirconium sulfate supported on zirconia catalysts were prepared by impregnation of powdered Zr(OH) 4 with zirconium sulfate aqueous solution followed by calcining in air at high temperature. The characterization of prepared catalysts was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and by the measurement of surface area. The addition of zirconium sulfate to zirconia increased the phase transition temperature of ZrO 2 from amorphous to tetragonal due to the interaction between zirconium sulfate and zirconia, and the specific surface area and acidity of catalysts increased in proportion to the zirconium sulfate content up to 10 wt % of Zr(SO 4)2. Infrared spectra of ammonia adsorbed on Zr(SO4)2/ZrO2 showed the presence of Bronsted and Lewis acid sites on the surface. 10-Zr(SO 4)2/ ZrO2 calcined at 600 o C exhibited maximum catalytic activities for 2-propanol dehydration and cumene dealkylation. The catalytic activities for both reactions were correlated with the acidity of catalysts measured by ammonia chemisorption method.

(-)-Hydroxycitrate (HCA) is known to inhibit increasing malonyl CoA concentration during endurance exercise. Furthermore, a short-term administration of HCA enhances endurance exercise performance in mice. Therefore we investigated the short-term administration of HCA on the exercise performance of athletes. Subjects were administered 250 mg of HCA or placebo as a control (CON) for 5 d, after each time performing cycle ergometer exercise at 60% VO2max for 60 min followed by 80% VO2max until exhaustion. Blood was collected and expired gas samples analyzed at rest and every 15 min. The respiratory exchange ratio was significantly lower in the HCA trial than in the CON trial (p < 0.05). Fat oxidation was significantly increased by short-term administration of HCA, and carbohydrate oxidation was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) during exercise, presumably resulting in increasing the cycle ergometer exercise time to exhaustion after 1 h of 60% VO2max exercise (p < 0.05). These results suggest that a short-term administration of HCA enhances endurance performance with increasing fat oxidation, which spares glycogen utilization during moderate intensity exercise in athletes.

(Purpose) In this study, the authors have intended to investigate the effects that the exercise training and the intake of the water extract from propolis have on the activity of antioxidant enzymes. (Methods) For this purpose, the exercise training (70% VO2max treadmill running exercise for 60min)of 5 times per week for six weeks and the intake (50mg/kg/day) of the water extract from propolis were performed by separating the experimental animals (SD rats, n=32) into CON(n=8) group, CON+Ex(n=8), PA(n=8), and PA+Ex(n=8). (Results) As a result, the following conclusions were obtained: The concentration of the blood glucose and insulin of the CON+Ex group and PA+Ex group which are the exercise parallel group were significantly decreased in comparison with the control group, whereas if comparing the glycogen concentration in skeletal muscle and liver tissue between the exercise parallel group and the CON group, the former showed significantly high value in comparison with the latter (p < .05). In the case of the activity of the antioxidant enzyme in the skeletal muscle and the liver tissue, the activities of SOD, GPX and CAT in the gastrocnemius muscle tissue of the experimental animals showed significantly high value in PA+Ex group in comparison with other experimental groups (p < .05). In addition, the SOD activity in the liver tissue showed that only PA+Ex group was significantly increased, whereas GDX activity showed significantly higher value in CON+Ex group and PA group than CON group (p < .05). However, the activity of CAT in the liver tissue showed that there is no difference between the experimental groups. As a result that measured the concentration of MDA in order to evaluate the damage level of the tissue by oxygen free radicals, the difference between the groups in the liver tissue was not shown, while it was shown that only PA+Ex group in the skeletal muscle tissue was significantly decreased in comparison with other experimental groups (p < .05). (Conclusion) Taken together the above findings, it is considered that the parallel treatment of the exercise training and the water extract from propolis can not only increase the use of glycogen of the skeletal muscle and liver tissue, but also it can give the effect to suppress the creation of active oxygen by inducing the activity of the antioxidant enzyme in the body, and in the future, the possibility as the exercise supplements and the antioxidant of the water-soluble propolis are expected. (Keyword) Exercise, propolis, antioxidant enzyme.

The purpose of this study was is to investigate the arthritis treatment and prevention of the effects the herbral adminis- tration to experimental animals induces arthritis 4 weeks for medicinal herbs (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Acanthopan- acis cortex, Achyranthis Radix). To investigate the prevention of histopathological examination and molecular biological examinations for arthritis improvement in vivo New Zealand, white rabbits were divided into a normal (Normal, n = 7), or a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA, n = 7), or a collagenase injection and medicinal herbs (SAA, n = 7). It was confirmed that induced arthritis was treated with Gross examination, and the measurement of average arthritis index (MAI) and im- proved arthritis by medicinal herbs. TNF-α and IL-1β were significantly increased in the CIA and SAA groups, compared to the normal group (p < 0.05). MMP-1 and TIMP-2 were significantly increased in the CIA, compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). MMP-1 and TIMP-2 were significantly decreased in the SAA group, compared to the CIA group (p < 0.05). As a result, Herbal administration used in this study might be able to help in the treatment of arthritis induced by inflam - matory and immunosuppressive effects, that which can be expected. (Korean J Nutr 2012; 45(5): 437 ~ 442)

Purpose: We investigated what kinds of neurotransmitters are related with electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia in an arthritic pain model of rats. Materials and Methods: One hundred rats were assigned to six groups: control, EA, opioid, adrenergic, serotonin and dopamine group. A standardized model of inflammatory ar thritis was produced by injecting 2% carrageenan into the knee joint cavity. EA was applied to an acupoint for 30 min in all groups except fo the control group. In the opioid, adrenergic, serotonin and dopamine groups, each receptor antagonist was injected intraperitoneally to their respective group before initiating EA. Results: In the opioid receptor antagonist group, adrenergic receptor antagonist group, serotonin receptor antagonist group, dopamine receptor antagonist group and the control group weight-bearing force decreased significantly from 30 min to 180 min af ter EA in comparison with the EA group. Conclusion: The analgesic effects of EA are related to opioid, adrenergic, serotonin and dopamine receptors in an arthritic pain model of rats.

Background: Various anesthetic agents have been used in laryngeal microscopic surgery, because the airway is shared with the surgeon, there is a short operation duration and intense cardiovascular stimulation occurs during the surgery. Sufentanil is superior than other anesthetic agents in blocking the cardiovascular response to the airway stimulation and a short duration of effects. Methods: Thirty patients undergoing elective laryngeal microscopic surgery were randomized to receive sufentanil 0.125/kg (group 1, n = 10), sufentanil 0.25/kg (group 2, n = 10) or sufentanil 0.5/kg (group 3, n = 10). The bispectral index score, blood pressure, heart rate, recovery time from general anesthesia, the need for additional analgesics and naloxone and the postoperative complications associated with sufentanil were measured. Results: The bispectral index, blood pressure and heart rate were similar in the three groups. Only four patients in group 3 required naloxone (P /kg is an appropriate dose for the rapid recovery and attenuation of the cardiovascular response in laryngeal microscopic surgery.

Background: The physiological activity of osteoblsts is known to be closely related to increased intracellular activity ([]i) in osteoblasts. The cellular regulation of ([]i) in osteoblasts is mediated by movements associated with release from intracellular stores, and transmembrane influx via exchanger, and ATPase. Reactive oxygen species, such as , play an important role in the regulation of cellular functions, and act as signaling molecules or as toxins in cells. Methods: Osteoblasts were isolated from the femurs and tibias of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats, and cultured for 7 days. The cultured osteoblasts were loaded with a -sensitive fluorescent dye, Fura-2 AM ester, and fluorescence images were monitored using a cooled CCD camera. Ca-spike changes upon ATP application were checked for (1) osteoblasts in -free and 2.5 mM normal Tyrode solution, (2) osteoblasts in which the of the endoplastic reticulumin had been depleted with ryanodine, thapsigargin ord caffein, and (3) osteoblasts pretreated with , in which the expression of IP3 receptor was checked by Western blotting. Results: ATP increased intracellular free regardless of extracellular concentration. When the intracellular store was depleted, the level of increased activity by ATP was suppressed. sustained the increase induced by ATP. The expression of IP3 receptor was enhanced by . Conclusions: modulates intracellular activity in osteoblasts by increasing release from the intracellular stores.