The ambiguity of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) posed a challenge to many medical researchers in the early days after its discovery and continues to do so till date. The establishment of the Budapest Criteria of the International Association for the Study of Pain resolved certain queries on CRPS. Many aspects of CRPS, such as pathophysiology and etiology, remain unknown. Therefore, of these aspects, we focused on the genetic basis of CRPS. In this qualitative review, we summarized the recent findings on the genetic association of CRPS and analyzed the roles of genes identified in each study and limitations of the studies. In particular, we confirmed the reliability of each study by comparing the following research, which used the following control groups or the same candidate genes. Notably, specific phenotypes of CRPS with dystonia indicate a significant association with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ8. Further, HLA-DQ8, which is associated with aberrant CD4+ T-cell reaction, could be associated with CRPS etiology since an increased CD4+ T-cell population was reported in CRPS patients. In addition, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 found in genome-wide expression profiling is noteworthy since MMP-9 is associated with neuro-inflammatory reactions. Despite these suggestions on the genetic aspects of CRPS, the pathophysiology and etiology of CRPS may be polygenic and multifactorial, influenced by multiple genes and other factors. Further, some studies have suggested that CRPS phenotypes have different etiologies. Thus, further studies with the precise classification of CRPS on a unified basis and with a significant number of case groups are required

Background : Ephedra Sinica has been used to treat obesity in Korean medicine and brown adipocytes also have potential in obesity treatment. Recently, p53 is considered as one of transcriptional regulators regarding thermogenesis of brown adipocytes. Methods and Results : E. Sinica extraction was made with DW and brown preadipocytes were differentiated with adipogenic reagents by incubating for 6 days in the absence or presence of E. Sinica extraction 5 ㎍/㎖ and 10 ㎍/㎖, non-cytotoxic concentration determined by MTT assay. Studies were conducted to see whether E. Sinica modulates the expression of thermogenic and adipogenic genes by qPCR and Western blot. Results showed that E. Sinica significantly activated thermogenesis of brown adipocytes by increasing the mRNA expressions of Uncoupling Protein 1 (UCP1), Cell Death-inducing DNA Fragmentation Factor Alpha-like Effector A (CIDEA), Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) and Beta-3 Adrenergic Receptor (ADRB3). However, major adipogenic genes such as Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor Gamma (PPARλ) and PR Domain Containing 16 (PRDM16), showed no significant differences. In addition, the expression level of p53 was decreased by E. Sinica. Conclusion : It is suggest that E. Sinica stimulates the thermogenesis of brown adipocytes via p53 inhibition.

This study examines the relationship between urbanization rate and extreme climate indices in South Korea for the period 1981-2010. In the analysis five extreme climate indices related to air temperature and four types urbanization rates are used. In particular, this paper adopts frequency of warm nights(TN90p), intra-annual extreme temperature range(ATR), growing season length(GSL), number of frost days(FD) and heat warm spell duration indicator(HWDI) as extreme climate indices. As a measure of urbanization rate, four kinds of urbanization rate are used: (1) three urbanization rates within a radius of 1km, 5km or 10km of weather station and (2) a urbanization rate of sub-watershed where weather station is located. The trend of extreme climate indices is calculated based on Mann-Kendall trend analysis and Sen’s slope, and this trend is contrasted with urbanization rates in eleven climatic regions. The results show that TN90p, GSL, and FD have a relatively high correlation with urbanization rate. This study also shows that a urbanization rate within a radius of 1km of weather station affects GSL and FD. while a urbanization rate within 5km buffer zone of weather station affects TN90p. It is Daegwallyeong, Inje, Yangpyeong, and Hongcheon where extreme climate indices responded sensitively despite the low urbanization rates of these areas. Continual attention is needed to these areas because they are relatively sensitive to climate changes of synoptic scale.