Reliability, Accuracy, and Use Frequency of Evaluation Methods for Amount of Tongue Coating / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To classify the evaluation methods for amount of tongue coating (TC) and investigate their reliability, accuracy, and frequency of use.@*METHODS@#Articles published from 1985 to 2015 were searched for evaluation methods for the amount of TC in PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Only clinical researches were included except protocol articles. The methods were classified according to their characteristics.@*RESULTS@#Finally, 113 articles were selected. The evaluation method for the amount of TC from the articles was classified into 4 types: intuitive, specificative, computerized, and weighing TC. The reliability in the intuitive and specificative methods (κ =0.33-0.92) showed varying levels among the studies. In general, the amount of TC calculated by the specificative method (Spearman's r=0.68-0.80) was more strongly related to the directly measured value than to the value estimated by the computerized method (Pearson's r=0.442). The number of articles published on this topic has increased consistently, and the specificative method was the most frequently used. Despite the higher reliability of the computerized method, it has not been widely used.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The high prevalence of the specificative method would continue in clinical practice because of its convenience and accuracy. However, to establish higher reliability, the limitation of the subjectivity of the assessors should be overcome through calibration training. In the computerized method, novel algorithms are needed to obtain a higher accuracy so that it can help the practitioners confidently estimate the amount of TC.

Cardiac arrest due to intracranial hypotension following pseudohypoxic brain swelling induced by negative suction drainage in a cranioplasty patient: a case report / 대한마취과학회지

Pseudohypoxic brain swelling (PHBS) is known to be an uncommon event that may occur during and following an uneventful brain surgery, when negative suction drainage is used. The cerebrospinal fluid loss related to suction drainage can evoke intracranial hypotension that progress to PHBS. The main presentations of PHBS are sudden unexpected circulatory collapses, such as severe bradycardia, hypotension, cardiac arrest, consciousness deterioration and diffuse brain swelling as seen with brain computerized tomography (CT). We present a stuporous 22-year-old patient who underwent cranioplasty under general anesthesia. The entire course of the general anesthesia and operation progressed favorably. However, the time of scalp suture completion, sudden bradycardia and hypotension occurred, followed by cardiac arrest immediately after initiation of subgaleal and epidural suction drainage. After successful resuscitation, the comatose patient was transferred to the neurosurgical intensive care unit and PHBS was confirmed using brain CT.

Involvement of Heme Oxygenase-1 in Orexin-A-induced Angiogenesis in Vascular Endothelial Cells

The cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) influences endothelial cell survival, proliferation, inflammatory response, and angiogenesis in response to various angiogenic stimuli. In this study, we investigate the involvement of HO-1 in the angiogenic activity of orexin-A. We showed that orexin-A stimulates expression and activity of HO-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Furthermore, we showed that inhibition of HO-1 by tin (Sn) protoporphryin-IX (SnPP) reduced orexin-A-induced angiogenesis in vivo and ex vivo. Orexin-A-stimulated endothelial tube formation and chemotactic activity were also blocked in SnPP-treated vascular endothelial cells. Orexin-A treatment increased the expression of nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2), and antioxidant response element (ARE) luciferase activity, leading to induction of HO-1. Collectively, these findings indicate that HO-1 plays a role as an important mediator of orexin-A-induced angiogenesis, and provide new possibilities for therapeutic approaches in pathophysiological conditions associated with angiogenesis.

The Lipopolysaccharide from Porphyromonas gingivalis Induces Vascular Permeability

Porphyromonas gingivalis, one of the major periodontal pathogens, is implicated in the initiation and progression of periodontal disease. The initial stages of periodontal inflammation are accompanied by vascular hyperpermeability. In our present study, we report that the P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increases the mRNA expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), a major inducer of vascular permeability, in vascular endothelial cells. P. gingivalis LPS also stimulated the induction of IL-8 secretion in endothelial cells. The P. gingivalis LPS-induced expression of IL-8 was primarily modulated by nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB). P. gingivalis LPS significantly enhanced the vascular permeability both in vitro and in vivo, and a blockade of the IL-8 receptor decreased the P. gingivalis LPS-induced vascular permeability. Taken together, these results suggest that P. gingivalis LPS increases vascular permeability through the NF-kappaB-dependent production of IL-8 in vascular endothelial cells.

Long-Term Effects of Oral Progesterone (Medroxyprogesterone Acetate) on the Level of Bone Mineral Density During Estrogen Replacement Therapy in Postmenopausal Women / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Estrogen replacement therapy is known to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Estrogen has beneficial effect on bone density and adding progesterone to estrogen is known to have synergistic effect. However, the effect of progesterone on bone mineral density had not been precisely evaluated in Korean postmenopausal women. To evaluate the impacts of progesterone on bone mineral density during estrogen replacement therapy, we conducted the randomized 2-year trials of conjugated equine estrogen (Premarin(R) 0.625 mg/day) with or without cyclic progesterone(medroxyprogesterone acetate : MPA 10 mg/day for 12 days) in 105 postmenopausal women. Bone mineral density was measured in the lumbar vertebrae(L2-L4) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry(DEXA) at the beginning of the treatment, 6 onths, 12 months and 24 months later, respectively. In Premarin only group, bone mineral density at 6 months and 12 months after treatment did not show significant difference from baseline value. But bone mineral density on 24 months after treatment showed significantly increased value(p value<0.05) than that of initial. In Premarin plus MPA group, bone mineral density at 12 months and 24 months after treatment showed significantly increased than baseline(p value<0.05). And compared with Premarin only group, Premarin plus MPA group showed significant increase in spinal bone density after 2 years treatment(p value<0.05). These results suggest that the addition of MPA in estrogen replacement therapy appears to increase in bone mineral density more than unopposed estrogen. Thus combination of estrogen and progesterone appeared to be effective long-term prophylactic treatment regimen upon postmenopausal bone loss.