Initial impacts of the Hebei Spirit oil spill on the sandy beach macrobenthic community west coast of Korea.

Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination and macrobenthos in the sandy tidal flats of Taean were monitored for 1 year to assess the impacts of Hebei Spirit oil on the macrobenthic community. A total of 207 macrobenthic fauna was collected, and the mean density and biomass of macrobenthic fauna continued to decrease until 12 months after the oil spill, but macrobenthic density at the most heavily affected sites increased by about twofold. In January 2008, the dominant species occurred at very low densities in strongly affected sites. The macrobenthic communities differed between oil-affected and unaffected sites. In particular, differences in community structure at Mallipo beach were larger than those at Shinduri. We suggest that long-term monitoring is needed to assess the specific effects of oil pollution on the sandy intertidal macrobenthic community.

Ginkgo biloba extract attenuates hyperalgesia in a rat model of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common, dose-limiting side effect of cancer chemotherapeutic drugs. Hyperalgesia is a common component of neuropathic pain. Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) is an oriental herbal medicine that has various pharmacological actions. In this study, we evaluated the effects of oral GBE on hyperalgesia in a rat model of vincristine-induced neuropathy. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were injected intraperitoneally with vincristine or saline (0.1 mg/kg/d) using a 5-day-on, 2-day-off schedule over 12 days. All the behavioral tests for mechanical, cold, and heat hyperalgesia were conducted before the daily injection during the course of vincristine treatment. Rats that developed hyperalgesia 14 days after vincristine injection were randomly assigned into 4 groups. Distilled water and GBE (50, 100, and 150 mg/kg) were administered, respectively, to the individual groups. We examined the hyperalgesia at preadministration and at 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes after oral drug administration. RESULTS: Saline injection did not have any significant effect on mechanical, cold, and heat hyperalgesia. Vincristine injection produced mechanical and cold hyperalgesia. For the GBE groups, the paw withdrawal threshold to mechanical stimuli was significantly increased and withdrawal frequency to cold stimuli was significantly reduced versus the control group dose-dependently (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that oral administration of GBE is associated with a dose-dependent antihyperalgesic effect on mechanical and cold stimuli in a rat model of vincristine-induced neuropathy.

A randomized controlled trial of intra-articular prolotherapy versus steroid injection for sacroiliac joint pain.

OBJECTIVES: Controversy exists regarding the efficacy of ligament prolotherapy in alleviating sacroiliac joint pain. The inconsistent success rates reported in previous studies may be attributed to variability in patient selection and techniques between studies. It was hypothesized that intra-articular prolotherapy for patients with a positive response to diagnostic block may mitigate the drawbacks of ligament prolotherapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and long-term effectiveness of intra-articular prolotherapy in relieving sacroiliac joint pain, compared with intra-articular steroid injection. DESIGN: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTINGS/LOCATION: The study was conducted at an outpatient pain medicine clinic at Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwang-ju, Korea. SUBJECTS: The study included patients with sacroiliac joint pain, confirmed by ≥50% improvement in response to local anesthetic block, lasting 3 months or longer, and who failed medical treatment. INTERVENTIONS: The treatment involved intra-articular dextrose water prolotherapy or triamcinolone acetonide injection using fluoroscopic guidance, with a biweekly schedule and maximum of three injections. OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain and disability scores were assessed at baseline, 2 weeks, and monthly after completion of treatment. RESULTS: The numbers of recruited patients were 23 and 25 for the prolotherapy and steroid groups, respectively. The pain and disability scores were significantly improved from baseline in both groups at the 2-week follow-up, with no significant difference between them. The cumulative incidence of ≥50% pain relief at 15 months was 58.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 37.9%-79.5%) in the prolotherapy group and 10.2% (95% CI 6.7%-27.1%) in the steroid group, as determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis; there was a statistically significant difference between the groups (log-rank p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Intra-articular prolotherapy provided significant relief of sacroiliac joint pain, and its effects lasted longer than those of steroid injections. Further studies are needed to confirm the safety of the procedure and to validate an appropriate injection protocol.

Analgesic effect of intrathecal ginsenosides in a murine bone cancer pain.

BACKGROUND: Bone cancer pain has a disruptive effect on the cancer patient's quality of life. Although ginsenosides have been used as traditional medicine in Eastern Medicine, the effect on bone cancer pain has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this study was to determine whether ginsenosides may alter the bone cancer pain at the spinal level. METHODS: NCTC 2472 tumor cells (2.5 × 10(5)) were injected into the femur of adult male C3H/HeJ mice to evoke bone tumor and bone cancer pain. To develop bone tumor, radiologic pictures were obtained. To assess pain, the withdrawal threshold was measured by applying a von Frey filament to the tumor cells inoculation site. The effect of intrathecal ginsenosides was investigated. Effect of ginsenosides (150, 500, 1,000 µg) was examined at 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 min after intrathecal delivery. RESULTS: The intrafemoral injection of NCTC 2472 tumor cells induced a radiological bone tumor. The withdrawal threshold with tumor development was significantly decreased compared to the sham animals. Intrathecal ginsenosides effectively increased the withdrawal threshold in the bone cancer site. CONCLUSIONS: NCTC 2472 tumor cells injection into the mice femur caused bone tumor and bone cancer pain. Intrathecal ginsenosides attenuated the bone cancer-related pain behavior. Therefore, spinal ginsenosides may be an alternative analgesic for treating bone cancer pain.