Publications by authors named "Chang-Ju Kim"

Underactive bladder (UAB), characterized by a complex set of symptoms with few treatment options, can significantly reduce the quality of life of affected people. UAB is characterized by hyperplasia and fibrosis of the bladder wall as well as decreased bladder compliance. Pirfenidone is a powerful anti-fibrotic agent that inhibits the progression of fibrosis in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

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Background: Vestibular migraine (VM) is common migraine that occurs in patients with dizziness. Vestibular rehabilitation for managing VM generally remains unclear. Recently, it has been reported that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has positive effects in alleviating dizziness.

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Background: and Purpose: Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) are a group of clinically diverse genetic disorders that share the neurologic symptom of difficulty in walking due to progressive serious muscle weakness and spasticity in the legs. This study describes a physiotherapy program for improving the functional ability of a child diagnosed with complicated HSP and reports the treatment results.

Methods: A 10-year-old boy with complicated HSP received a physiotherapy intervention that included strengthening of the leg muscles and treadmill training for 1 h per session, three to four times a week for 6 weeks.

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Polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN), which is adenosine A receptor agonist, facilitates healing and inhibits inflammation and apoptosis. The effect of PDRN on alcoholic liver injury (ALI) was evaluated focusing on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway. The mice were given daily oral administration of 50% ethanol at a dose of 4 g/kg during 8 weeks.

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In Brief: Mealtime changes in pregnant mice revealed impaired neurobehavioral development in mouse offspring. This study is the basis for investigating diseases associated with neurobehavioral development of adult offspring of pregnant shift-working women.

Abstract: Most organisms on Earth have a biological clock, and their physiological processes are regulated by a 1-day cycle.

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Article Synopsis
  • * After 16 weeks of a high-fat diet, some mice underwent aerobic exercise for 24 weeks, and their memory and learning abilities were tested using specific behavioral tasks.
  • * The results showed that exercise was the most effective method for reducing obesity, boosting memory, and reducing inflammation, while gut microbiome transplantation had some benefits, but not significantly more than just exercise alone.
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We examined whether exercise is associated with hippocampus-mediated improvement in insulin signaling and cell differentiation in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease (3xTg AD) murine model following exposure to 40-Hz light flickering and exercise. We subjected 12-month-old 3xTg AD mice to exercise and 40-Hz light flickering for 3 months. The exercise session was proceeded for 12 consecutive weeks with gradual increase of intensity.

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The physiological processes of organisms in this rotating planet can adjust according to the time of day via built-in circadian clocks. However, more people are having different shift works, which can increase the risk of pathological conditions including altered reproductive function. Thus, circadian rhythm disturbance has become prevalent in the modern society.

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Article Synopsis
  • Alzheimer's disease (AD) primarily causes dementia and is marked by short-term memory loss due to brain dysfunction in the cortex and hippocampus.
  • * A study tested the effects of 12 weeks of exercise combined with 40-Hz light flickering on cognitive functions in a 5-month-old 3×Tg-AD mouse model, focusing on neuroinflammation, mitochondrial function, and neuroplasticity.
  • * Results showed that the combination significantly reduced harmful proteins linked to AD, improved mitochondrial function, and enhanced memory, demonstrating a synergistic effect compared to exercise or light flickering alone.
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  • The study investigates how swimming exercise during pregnancy impacts the cognitive function and neuronal health of offspring in mice whose mothers were treated with valproic acid, a drug known to affect neurodevelopment.
  • Pregnant mice were given valproic acid and subjected to a regular swimming regimen, with assessments of memory function and neural markers performed on the pups.
  • Findings suggest that swimming exercise improved memory and increased production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), while also reducing markers of cell death in the offspring, indicating a potential protective effect against neurodevelopmental issues like autism.
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The unfolded states of fibronectin (FN) subsequently induce the formation of an extracellular matrix (ECM) fibrillar network, which is necessary to generate new substitutive tissues. Here, the authors demonstrate that negatively charged small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) qualify as candidates for FN delivery due to their remarkable effects on the autonomous binding and unfolding of FN, which leads to increased tissue regeneration. In vitro experiments revealed that the FN-SUV complex remarkably increased the attachment, differentiation, and migration of fibroblasts.

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Cerebral ischemia causes tissue death owing to occlusion of the cerebral blood vessels, and cerebral ischemia activates mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and induces secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Adenosine A2A receptor agonist, polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN), suppresses the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and exhibits anti-inflammatory effect. In the current study, the therapeutic effect of PDRN on cerebral ischemia was evaluated using gerbils.

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Background: Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic disorder that indicates bladder-related pain or discomfort. Patients with IC often experience urination problems, such as urinary frequency and urgency, along with pain or discomfort in the bladder area. Therefore, new treatments based on IC etiology are needed.

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The purpose of this study is to determine whether moderate aerobic exercise training improves high-fat diet-induced alterations in mitochondrial function and structure in the skeletal muscle. Male 4-week-old C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: control (CON), control plus exercise (CON + EX), high-fat diet (HFD), and high-fat diet plus exercise (HFD + EX). After obesity was induced by 20 weeks of 60% HFD, treadmill exercise training was performed at 13-16 m/min, 40-50 min/day, and 6 days/week for 12 weeks.

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Studies on the effects of an equine riding simulator (ERS) program on back pain, spinal alignment, and isokinetic moments in subjects with chronic low back pain (CLBP) remain limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in elderly women with CLBP who participate in an ERS program. The 80 participants were all women aged 61-84 years who were randomly assigned to either the control group (CON) or ERS group (ERSG).

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Acute liver injury (ALI) causes life-threatening clinical problem, and its underlying etiology includes inflammation and apoptosis. An adenosine A receptor agonist, polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN), exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects by inhibiting the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In the current study, the protective effect of PDRN against carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced ALI was investigated using mice.

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Particulate matter (PM) of 10-μm-sized fine dust in the air penetrates the respiratory tract and contributes to the increasing incidence of various lung diseases, but its definite mechanism is not known. Recently, polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects in various tissues. However, the bronchial-related mechanism is not well-understood.

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