• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.7
• /
• pp.491-500
• /
• 2022

HK shiitake mushroom mycelium (HKSMM), containing 14% β-glucan, is a health functional food ingredient individually approved by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for liver health. The anti-inflammatory effect of a 50% aqueous ethanol extract of HKSMM (designated HKSMM50) was studied in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). An active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) was used as a positive control. LPS-activated RAW 264.7 cells were treated with HKSMM50 and AHCC (0, 20, 100, 500 ㎍/ml) and cultured for 24 hr. Inflammation-related elements in the supernatant were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) proteins in the cells was analyzed by Western blotting. The HKSMM50 lowered iNOS and COX-2 protein expressions, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) contents in a concentration-dependent manner as compared to LPS treatment. Similarly, the HKSMM50 lowered the content of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) contents and increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). The efficacy of the AHCC treatment was similar to that of the HKSSM50 treatments. These results indicate that HKSMM50 showed an anti-inflammatory effect in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells by down-regulation of NF-κB signaling and suggest that HKSMM could be used as a health functional food ingredient to help improve immune function.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.9
• /
• pp.678-689
• /
• 2022

HK shiitake mushroom mycelium (HKSMM), containing 14% β-glucan, is a health functional food ingredient approved individually for liver health by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The immune-enhancing efficacy of a 50% aqueous ethanol extract of HKSMM (designated HKSMM50) was studied in Jurkat cells activated with concanavalin A (ConA). Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) was used as a positive control. ConA-activated Jurkat cells were treated with HKSMM50 (0, 25, 50, 100 ㎍ g/ml) or AHCC (100 ㎍ g/ml), and cultured for 3 and 6 hours. The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) protein content in the cytosol and the nucleus was measured by Western blotting. Interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. HKSMM50 lowered NFAT content in the cytosol, but elevated NFAT content in the nucleus. The IL-2 and IFN-γ productions were elevated. Meanwhile, both COX-2 activity and apoptosis were suppressed. The efficacy of the AHCC treatment showed similar to those of HKSMM50 treatments. These results indicate that the HKSMM50 exhibited immune-enhancing effects in ConA-treated Jurkat cells by activation of NFAT protein, and suggest that HKSMM could be used as a health functional food ingredient to improve immune functions in humans.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.368-377
• /
• 2021

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of radiation mutant Perilla frutescens var. crispa and Atractylodes macrocephala Koidzumi complex extract(Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract) on the mediators related to degenerative arthritis in a monosodium iodoacetate-induced rat model of degenerative arthritis. Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract was administered orally at doses of 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks before direct injection of monosodium iodoacetate (3 mg/50 µl of 0.9% saline) into the intra-articular space of the rats' right knees. The rats subsequently received the same doses of oral Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract for another 4 weeks. It was evaluated that the treatment effects based on serum bio-markers, and morphological and histopathological analysis of the knee joints. Compared with those in negative control rats, the Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract treatments significantly reduced the serum levels of inflammation, bone metabolism markers (i.e., TNF-α, MMP-3, COX-2, PGE₂, COMP, and Aggrecan). Otherwise, it was significantly increased the production of CTX-2 in cartilage absorption mediators. In addition, the Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract treatments effectively preserved the knee cartilage and synovial membrane. As a result, it indicates that the Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex extract improved degenerative arthritis symptoms. Thus, the Perilla frutescens var. crispa complex can be used in food material for the management of degenerative arthritis.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2018

Objective : In this study, we investigated the effect of SAL5(mixing extracts of Schisandra chinensis Baillon, Artemisia capillaris Thunb., and Aloe vera Linne) on chronic ethanol-induced fatty liver model. Methods : Sprague-Dawley male rats were fed Liber-DeCarli (normal), ethanol liquid diet (control), SAL5 (200 mg/kg). We administrated the SAL5 on chronic ethanol-induced fatty liver model for 5 weeks. We measured alkaline phosphtase (ALP), alanine transminase (ALT), aspartate transminase (AST) and ${\gamma}-glutamyl$ transpeptase (${\gamma}-GTP$) in serum and triglyceride (TG), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in liver. Liver histopathology was examined by Hematoxylin-eosin and Oil red O staining of the fixed liver tissues. Real-time PCR was performed to measure the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines and MMP-2, MMP-9. Results : SAL5 administration resulted in significantly decreased liver marker enzymes activities of alanine transminase (ALT), ${\gamma}-glutamyl$ transpeptase (${\gamma}-GTP$) in serum and triglyceride (TG) activities in liver. The control group decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) with the reduced level of glutathione (GSH) in liver. On the other hand, SAL5 group increased the activities of SOD, CAT and the level of GSH. SAL5 delayed the development of an alcoholic fatty liver by reversing fat accumulation in the liver, as evidenced in histological observations. The gene expression of mRNA were significantly decreased at the $IL-1{\beta}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$, NOS-II and MMP-2 by SAL5. Conclusions : These results indicate that SAL5 might have protective effect chronic ethanol-induced fatty liver models.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2023

To be an adjunct professor(gyeomgyosu) literally means to act as an instructor while also holding a different position. Adjunct professors were initially introduced under Confucianism. Gradually, technical offices also appointed adjunct professors using Confucian-educated bureaucrats for the purpose of educating lower-level technical officials and cadets. This paper examines the history of the civil service system related to adjunct professors through the Code of Laws, and examines those who have been appointed to the public office described in various documents. This paper argues that changes in the medical office's adjunct professor system reflect changes in the national medical talent training policy. The main basis of specific recognizing medical personnel is to decouple the appointment of Confucian scholars from that of full-time doctors. The replacement of the role of medical educators from Confucian scholars to full-time doctors was largely accomplished during the reign of King Jungjong(中宗) and was completed during the period of King Injo(仁祖). The time when Euiyakdongcham was created and the Office of Euiyakdongcham was established coincided with the period when the adjunct professor was disrupted in the medical office. However, this change in the adjunct professor system of medical authorities is in contrast to interpretation, which is a representative technical field. In the case of interpretation, Moonshin's sayeogwon position as adjunct professor was maintained even in the late Joseon Dynasty, and apart from this, there was a hanhagmunsin in Seungmunwon. Interpreter families had institutional arrangements that prevented them from making interpretation their own monopoly. Therefore, families of medical bureaucrats had more room for institutional growth than those of bureaucratic interpreters. Of course, these institutional devices did not prevent the growth of interpreting bureaucratic families in the late Joseon Dynasty. However, the situation in which medicine was accepted only as a kind of knowledge, not as an object of full-time work for sadaebue, would have been an opportunity to rise for those in technical jobs who were full-time medicine. As medicine became more differentiated and developed in the late Joseon Dynasty, medical knowledge and the knowledge about the medical profession became more important. The politicians could not avoid the use of a philosophically oriented system in which a confucian-educated bureaucrat equipped with only Confucian knowledge might replace a full-time doctor. Thus, the contradiction between the reality and the ideal of ignoring or denying reality was reproduced like other Confucian-centered societies. These contradictions have implications for us living in the modern age. Establishing the relationship between philosophy (or belief) and technology should not end with the superiority of one side or the other.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.45-57
• /
• 2022

This paper examines the positions and personnel of the Naeui system in the late Joseon Dynasty. First, the regulations of the Naeui system were investigated through the literature related to Naeuiwon. Next, the operation of the regulations, changes in the system, and causes were analyzed through the Seungjeongwon Diary (承政院日記). We discovered: 1) Naeuiwon's medical bureaucracy originally did not have a fixed number of positions, but gradually came into being with a quota regulation. Uiyagdongcham-ui (議藥同參醫) and Naechim-ui (內鍼醫) did not have a quota, but was initially set at 10 people, then expanded to 12 people. Originally, the royal physician had no fixed number, and in 1864 the first quota was 7 people. 2) 'Gyeom-eoui' and 'gachanaeui' served to expand Naeui's quota. After the mid-17th century, 'Gyeom-eoui' expanded the quota of royal physicians to secure a position for the medical bureaucracy of Naeuiwon. 'Gachanae' after King Jeongjo serves to add to the quota while obeying the provisions of the law. 3) The customary promotion of Naeuiwon's medical bureaucracy expanded and became stricter after the mid-19th century, during which special promotions became more frequent than in previous periods. As for the provision of appointment to the 6th class after 30 months, Uiyagdongcham-ui was established in 1686 and Naechim-ui was established in 1718, increasing the chance for customary promotion. In the case of Naeui, the regulation for the Secretary General to raise the degree of official rank has been strengthened since the Cheoljong era. However, special promotions were frequent in the mid-19th century because the number of high-ranking officers increased compared to the previous period. In conclusion, the Naeui system in the late Joseon Dynasty changed in the direction of strengthening their own privileges. The Naeuiwon's quota was increased and promotion was guaranteed through the system and customs. Since the mid-18th century, there have been some regulatory restrictions, but the framework has not changed. This is confirmed not only in the regulations of the documents related to the Naeuiwon, but also in the Seungjeongwon Diary. Naeuiwon's medical bureaucracy enjoyed superiority in promotion and status compared to other forms of technical bureaucracy.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.69-87
• /
• 2014

Objectives: We analyzed retrospective clinical data of Korean medical institutes for infertility care and investigated current status and outcome of the Korean medical treatment of infertility as a part of foundational research for verifying validity of constructing national support system and developing appropriate policy on Korean medical treatment of infertility. Methods: We investigated data uploaded on the homepage of The Society of Korean Medicine for Subfertility (http://www.okinfertility.org) by Korean medical institutes for infertility care to get informations such as patients' age, body height, weight, methods of Korean medical treatment, cost and duration of treatment, success or failure of pregnancy and result of treatment. Results: The average age of patients was $33.1{\pm}3.8$ and the average body height was $161.2{\pm}5.3cm$ and the average body weight was $55.2{\pm}8.5kg$. The method of Korean medical treatment was Herbal medicine (97.5%), acupuncture (80.4%), moxibustion (57.7%), cupping (32.7%). The average cost of treatment was $1,160,625{\pm}882,499$ won, and the average medical cost per visit was $357,845{\pm}241,602$ won. The average duration of treatment was $11.26{\pm}10.58$ weeks, and the average number of visits per patient was $4.78{\pm}6.10$ times. The average duration of treatment was the longest in the group of infertile patients with the highest average medical cost per visit. The average pregnancy success rate was 30.9% overall, and that of the group of infertile patients was 25.8%. Conclusions: When we develop the standard project model with expectation for about 25% success rate of pregnancy and delivery in the group of patients who have idiopathic and ovulatory factors, it is desirable to perform acupuncture and moxibustion treatment 1-2 times a week with herbal medicine. The treatment period is set to at least 12 weeks. Average treatment fee maybe calculated by converting the averaged treatment cost of clinic's one month worth of daily treatment fee and medical hospital's ten day treatment fee into weekly treatment cost.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.384-395
• /
• 2018

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a novel formulation of an herbal extracts has an inhibitory effect on obesity. To determine its anti-obesity effects, we performed anti-obesity-related experiments in vitro and in vivo. Thus, our present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-obesity effect of herbal extracts using a high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mouse model and 3T3-L1 adipose cells. The effects of each herbal extracts on lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells were examined using Oil Red O staining. Results showed that treatment with each herbal extracts at $10{\sim}100{\mu}g/ml$ had no effect on cell morphology and viability. Without evidence of toxicity, herbal extracts treatment decreased lipid accumulation compared with the untreated adipocytes controls as shown by the lower absorbance of Oil Red O stain. Futhermore, compared with control-differentiated mature adipocytes, each herbal extracts significantly inhibited lipid accumulation in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In the HFD-fed obese mice, body weight, liver weight and white adipose tissue weights were significantly reduced by mixture of herbal extracts administration in mouse skin. Futhermore, we found that mixture of herbal extracts administration suppressed serum triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol (TCHO) in HFD-induced obese mouse model. The mixture of herbal extracts of permeability was estimated by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) value in pig skin. The optimized formulations of herbal extracts (Test 3 formulation) showed skin permeation. However, test 1 formulation containing essential oil as enhancer showed maximum skin permeation. After confirming the enhanced skin permeability, in vivo studies were performed to assess whether skin irritation potential on the basis of a primary irritation index (PII) in rabbit skin. Reactions were scored for erythema/edema reactions at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post-application. It was concluded that the test 1 formulation was not irritation (PII = 0). The present study suggests that the test 1 formulation might be of therapeutic interest with respect to the treatment of obesity.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.198-206
• /
• 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate the vasorelaxant effect of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract on contracted rabbit carotid artery. To study the effect of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract on contracted rabbit carotid arterial strips, arterial strips with intact or damaged endothelium were used for experiment using organ bath. The pre-contracted arterial strips with Phenylephrine(PE) was treated with various concentrations of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract(0.01, 0.03, 0.1, 0.3 and $1.0mg/m{\ell}$). To determine the mechanisms of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang-induced vasorelaxant, DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract were infused into contracted arterial rings which had been pretreated by indomethacin(IM), tetraethylammonium chloride(TEA), $N{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine ($_L-NNA$), methylene blue(MB). And calcium chloride(Ca) 1 mM was infused into precontracted arterial ring induced by PE after treatment of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract in $Ca^{2+}$-free krebs solution. DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract revealed significant relaxation on PE-induced arterial contraction. DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract also had an effective relaxation to the intact endothelium arterial ring. SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract on contracted rabbit carotid artery is related with NO-cGMP pathway. Pretreatment of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract inhibited the contraction by influx of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ in contracted arterial ring induced by NE. This study indicated that the relaxation effect of SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract on contracted rabbit carotid artery is related with NO-cGMP pathway. Pretreatment of DangGuiSu-San and SamHwangSaSim-Tang extract inhibited the contraction by influx of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ in contracted arterial ring induced by NE.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.504-512
• /
• 2021

Sperm formation disorders and sperm quality degradation comprises the largest proportion of male infertility caused by TCDD. To solve this problem, this study examined the effects of Gobonyangjeonbang oriental medicine prescription on the endocrine function and reproductive toxicity-related indicators in rat-induced TCDD-induced reproductive. Male SD rats were divided into five groups of seven animals and tested. The normal control group was administered the vehicle and saline, the TCDD alone group was administered intraperitoneally with TCDD (2 ㎍/kg, weeks) and physiological saline, and the test group was administered orally by dividing GYB (75, 150, and 300 mg/kg) into three concentrations for six weeks. Weight loss was observed in all groups administered TCDD. Regarding the hormonal changes, a significant decrease in free testosterone was observed in the GYB 300 mg/kg group (p<0.01). In addition, some of the germ cell destruction, seminiferous tubular atrophy, and decrease in sperm count was improved in a concentration-dependent manner in the testicular tissue of the GYB-treated group. In addition, Johnsen's score and serotoli cell index (SCI) were improved in a concentration-dependent manner (p<0.05). Overall, GYB can be used in drug therapy rather than medical procedures to solve male infertility in the future.