• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.226-233
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• 2004

Background : Interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) is a critical cytokine in the defense against a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Even though IFN-${\gamma}$ has occasionally been used in the treatment of refractory multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with some promising results, there is still some controversy regarding the therapeutic efficacy of IFN-${\gamma}$. This study was performed to examine the effect of subcutaneous IFN-${\gamma}$ in the treatment of MDR-TB patients. Methods : Six patients with refractory MDR-TB were enrolled in this study. Two million IU of IFN-${\gamma}$ was administered subcutaneously three times a week with the concomitant administration of antituberculous drugs for at least for 28 weeks. During the IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy, the sputum smear and culture, radiological and clinical evaluations were performed every 4 weeks throughout the study period. Results : The mean age of the 6 patients was 37 years (ranges, 15-61 years). The drug susceptibility test to standard antituberculous drugs revealed resistance to an average of 6.8 (${\pm}1.2$) agents including isoniazid and rifampicin. An average of 10.8 (${\pm}1.3$) antituberculous drugs were prescribed before IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy. The culture became negative in 2 patients (33%) after initiating IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy; one at 8 weeks, and the other at 24 weeks. Finally, after stopping the IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy after 28 weeks, the culture became positive again in the two patients who were culture-negative. The other 4 patients who failed in the culture conversion are still on antituberculous treatment except for one who died of tuberculosis. Conclusion : Even though 28 weeks of subcutaneous IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy in combination with antituberculous drugs was successful in inducing the culture-negative conversion in some patients with refractory MDR-TB, the culture became positive again after stopping the IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy. This suggests that subcutaneous IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy may have suppressive effect on tuberculosis only during the IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy period in some patients. Further studies will be needed to determine the optimum dose, the administration route, the duration of therapy, and the predicting factors of the response to adjuvant IFN-${\gamma}$ therapy.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.735-743
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• 2015

This study investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of barley leaf extract in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and hairless mice. Pre-treatment with barley leaf extract significantly inhibited the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-II (COX-II) in a dose-dependent manner in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Barley leaf extract also significantly inhibited the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin-$1{\beta}$ (IL-$1{\beta}$), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Moreover, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) were strongly suppressed by barley leaf extract in LPS-stimulated cells. In hairless mice, barley extract significantly decreased the pathological phenotypes of contact dermatitis, such as erythema, edema, and scabs. These results indicate that barley leaf extract has an anti-inflammatory effect and therefore a possible role in the treatment of inflammatory diseases or in functional cosmetics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1110-1119
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages could be promoted by particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5) stimulation. To this end, the levels of inflammatory parameters, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammation-regulating genes were investigated in RAW 264.7 cells treated with PM_2.5 in the presence or absence of LPS. Our results showed that the production levels of pro-inflammatory mediators (nitric oxide and prostaglandin E₂) and cytokines (interleukin-6 and -1β) were significantly increased by PM_2.5 stimulation in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells, which was correlated with increased expression genes involved in their production. In addition, when LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells were exposed to PM_2.5, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) expression was further increased in the nucleus, and the expression of inhibitor of NF-κB as well as NF-κB in the cytoplasm was decreased. These results suggest that the co-treatment of PM_2.5 and LPS further increases the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway compared to each treatment alone, thereby contributing to the promotion of transcriptional activity of inflammatory genes. Furthermore, although the generation of ROS was greatly increased by PM_2.5 in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells, the NF-κB inhibitor did not reduce the generation of ROS. In addition, when the generation of ROS was artificially suppressed, the production of inflammatory mediators and the activation of NF-κB were both abolished. Therefore, our results suggest that the increase in the NF-κB-mediated inflammatory response induced by PM_2.5 in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages was a ROS generation-dependent phenomenon.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.703-721
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• 1998

In order to observe the effects of Nicotine and NNK on cultured human gingival fibroblast, several factors were examined including mutagenicity, the number of cells attached culture plate surface through MTT test, the abundance of collagen & collagenase in mRNA level and collagenolytic activity in extracellular matrix. The results were as follows; 1. Regardless of the co-existence of S9, Nicotine did not show the mutagenicity by itself and NNK by itself showd the same result; However, dose related mutagenicity was shown in NNK with S9. 2. The number of fibroblasts attached cultured plate surface was measured by MTT procedure. The number of cells in Non-smokers increased at all time periods as compared to those of smoker. 3. Non-smoker's fibroblast treated by NNK or Nicotine was dosedependently dosedependently decreased in the number of cells when compared to untreated control. In higher dose, Nicotine showed the cellular toxicity, but NNK did not. 4. No change in the abundance of mRNA for pro${\alpha}1$ and pro${\alpha}2$ was shown in Nicotine treated group but in gingival fibroblasts following treatment with NNK, the abundance of mRNA for pro${\alpha}1$, but not pro${\alpha}2$ collagen was decreased. 5. The abundance of mRNA for collagenase was decreased when NNK was treated but no change occurred in Nicotine treated group. 6. The effect of NNK and Nicotine in collagenolytic activity showed that, collagenase activity exclusively react to type I collagen, was increased in both group, but gelatinase exclusively react to type IV collagen was not influenced at all. Collagenase activity of smoker's fibroblast was also increased as much as Nicotine and NNK group. The findings suggest that both of Nicotine and NNK lead gingival fibroblast to decrease in the abundance of collagen. And it seems to be that Nicotine and NNK have independent pathway toward the gingival fibroblast.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2004

The structure of sensibility from motion was developed for the purpose of understanding relationship between sensibilities and physical factors to apply it to dynamic visual display. Seventy adjectives were collected by assessing adequacy to express sensibilities from motion and reporting sensibilities recalled from dynamic displays with achromatic color. Various motion displays with a moving single dot were rated according to the degree of sensibility corresponding to each adjective, on the basis of the Semantic Differential (SD) method. The results of assessment were analyzed by means of the factor analysis to reduce 70 words into 19 fundamental sensibilities from motion. The Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) technique constructed the sensibility space in motion, in which 19 sensibilities were scattered with two dimensions, active-passive and bright-dark Motion types systemically varied in kinematic factors were placed on the two-dimensional space of motion sensibility, in order to analyze important variables affecting sensibility from motion. Patterns of placement indicate that speed and both of cycle and amplitude in trajectories tend to partially determine sensibility. Although color and motion affected sensibility according to the in dimensions, it seemed that combination of motion and color made each have dominant effect individually in a certain sensibility dimension, motion to active-passive and color to bright-dark.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.85-112
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• 2015

This study examined the relationship structure among personal and social cognitive factors contributing to professional help-seeking decisions to relieve distress of those in low-income, then suggested an appropriate model to inform knowledge for better social work practice. Using data of a purposive sampling from 331 low-income people, covariance structural analyses were conducted in two stages of model exploration, one for TPB model and another for its extended model including the level of distress, family support, and willingness. As results, in the path analyses with the observed variables of the basic components of the TPB, subjective norm showed the strongest effect on the intention, following by attitudes towards help-seeking, then behavioral control the least; in turn both the intention, positively, and behavioral control, negatively, contributed to help-seeking decisions. In the second stage of the path analyses with the extended model of the TPB, each of distress and family support demonstrated direct positive effect on each of attitudes, subjective norm, and behavioral control; each of the attitudes, subjective norm, and behavioral control showed positive effect on both intention and willingness; in turn, while intention showed strong positive effect on help-seeking decisions, willingness had no significant effect and behavioral control had negative effect on decisions. There were significant indirect effects of behavioral control on intention through willingness and of willingness on decisions through intention. These results suggested that the TPB model is useful for modeling help-seeking decisions through personal and social cognitions, especially the significance of subjective norm implied the importance of social cognition for the people in low-income with distress. Further, it was implied that the extended model needs to address particularity of those people in low-income and the mechanism shown by behavioral control and willingness implied the importance of practicing respect for the client's autonomy and will for self-support in social work practice.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.466-477
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• 2018

In this study, the anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts of different parts of Hovenia dulcis such as leaves, stems, and roots were investigated. Among them, the roots extract (RE) showed the most potent suppressive effect against pro-inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated mouse macrophage cells. RE induced dose-dependent reduction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and concomitantly reduced the production of NO and $PGE_2$. Additionally, pre-treatment with RE significantly suppressed the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$), interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, and IL-6, as well as mRNA levels. Moreover, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) were also strongly attenuated by RE in RAW264.7 cell. Furthermore, RE induced HO-1 expression through nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and increase HO-1 activity in RAW264.7 macrophages. Therefore, these results indicate that RE strongly inhibits LPS-induced inflammatory responses by blocking NF-kB activation, inhibiting MAPKs phosphorylation, and enhancing HO-1 expression in macrophages, suggesting that RE of H. dulicis and a major component, 27-O-protocatechuoylbetulinic acid could be applied as a valuable natural anti-inflammatory material.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.331-342
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• 2020

The suppression of neuroinflammatory responses in microglial cells can be considered a key target for improving the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Huntington's disease (HD). Asparagus cochinchinensis has traditionally been used as a medicine to treat fever, cough, kidney disease, breast cancer, inflammatory diseases, and brain diseases. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective mechanism of an aqueous extract from A. cochinchinensis root (AEAC), particularly its anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated BV-2 microglial cells. BV-2 cells were treated with four different concentrations of AEAC. No significant toxicity was detected in BV-2 cells treated with AEAC. Nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA levels were 21% lower in the AEAC+LPS group than in the Vehicle+LPS group. Lower proinflammatory (TNF-α and IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6 and IL-10) levels were also detected in the AEAC+LPS group than in the Vehicle+LPS group, albeit at varying rates. Moreover, the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) members after LPS treatment was significantly recovered in the AEAC-pretreated group compared to the Vehicle+LPS group, enhancement of the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) members after LPS treatment was significantly recovered in the AEAC-pretreated group, while cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase caused by LPS treatment was less severe in the AEAC+LPS group. The increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by LPS treatment was also lower in the AEAC-pretreated group than in the Vehicle+LPS group. This is the first study to show that AEAC exerts anti-neuroinflammatory activity against LPS stimulation by regulating the MAPK signaling pathway, the cell cycle, and ROS production.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.565-573
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• 2022

Gingival inflammation is one of the main causes that can be related to various periodontal diseases. Human gingival fibroblast (HGF) is the major constituent in periodontal connective tissue and secretes various inflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), upon lipopolysaccharide stimulation. This study is aimed at investigating the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities of Lotus Root extract (LRE) in Porphyromonas gingivalis derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS-PG)-stimulated HGF-1 cells. The concentration of NO and PGE₂, as well as their responsible enzymes, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), was analyzed by Griess reaction, ELISA, and western blot analysis. LPS-PG sharply elevated the production and protein expression of inflammatory mediators, which were significantly attenuated by LRE treatment in a dose-dependent manner. LRE treatment also suppressed activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in LPS-PG-stimulated HGF-1 cells. In addition, one of phase II enzyme, NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase (NQO)-1, and its transcription factor, Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), were significantly induced by LRE treatment. Consequently, these results suggest that LRE ameliorates LPS-PG-induced inflammatory responses by attenuating TLR4/MyD88-mediated NF-κB, and activating NQO-1/Nrf2 antioxidant response element signaling pathways in HGF-1 cells.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

The East Sea, one of the regions where the most rapid warming is occurring, is known to have important implications for the response of the ocean to future climate changes because it not only reacts sensitively to climate change but also has a much shorter turnover time (hundreds of years) than the ocean (thousands of years). However, the processes underlying changes in seawater characteristics at the sea's deep and abyssal layers, and meridional overturning circulation have recently been examined only after international cooperative observation programs for the entire sea allowed in-situ data in a necessary resolution and accuracy along with recent improvement in numerical modeling. In this review, previous studies on the physical characteristics of seawater at deeper parts of the East Sea, and meridional overturning circulation are summarized to identify any remaining issues. The seawater below a depth of several hundreds of meters in the East Sea has been identified as the Japan Sea Proper Water (East Sea Proper Water) due to its homogeneous physical properties of a water temperature below 1℃ and practical salinity values ranging from 34.0 to 34.1. However, vertically high-resolution salinity and dissolved oxygen observations since the 1990s enabled us to separate the water into at least three different water masses (central water, CW; deep water, DW; bottom water, BW). Recent studies have shown that the physical characteristics and boundaries between the three water masses are not constant over time, but have significantly varied over the last few decades in association with time-varying water formation processes, such as convection processes (deep slope convection and open-ocean deep convection) that are linked to the re-circulation of the Tsushima Warm Current, ocean-atmosphere heat and freshwater exchanges, and sea-ice formation in the northern part of the East Sea. The CW, DW, and BW were found to be transported horizontally from the Japan Basin to the Ulleung Basin, from the Ulleung Basin to the Yamato Basin, and from the Yamato Basin to the Japan Basin, respectively, rotating counterclockwise with a shallow depth on the right of its path (consistent with the bottom topographic control of fluid in a rotating Earth). This horizontal deep circulation is a part of the sea's meridional overturning circulation that has undergone changes in the path and intensity. Yet, the linkages between upper and deeper circulation and between the horizontal and meridional overturning circulation are not well understood. Through this review, the remaining issues to be addressed in the future were identified. These issues included a connection between the changing properties of CW, DW, and BW, and their horizontal and overturning circulations; the linkage of deep and abyssal circulations to the upper circulation, including upper water transport from and into the Western Pacific Ocean; and processes underlying the temporal variability in the path and intensity of CW, DW, and BW.