• CELLMED
• /
• v.13 no.14
• /
• pp.15.1-15.15
• /
• 2023

Background and objective: A new formular CPC22 consists of Cynanchum wilfordii root, Pueraria thomsonii flower, and Citrus unshiu peel and has been developed to improve the postmenopausal symptoms. The research intended to evaluate whether CPC22 would regulate bone loss, hot flashes, and dysregulated lipid metabolism in ovariectomized (OVX) postmenopausal mice. Method: The OVX mice were orally administered with CPC22 daily for 7 weeks. Results: CPC22 regulated OVX-induced bon loss by enhancing serum osteoprotegerin, alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin levels and diminishing serum receptor-activator of the NF-κB ligand (RANKL), collagen type 1 cross-linked N-telopeptide, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase levels. As a result of CPC22 treatment, notable decreases in tail skin temperature and rectal temperature were observed, along with diminishment in hypothalamic RANKL and monoamine oxidase A levels and enhancement in hypothalamic serotonin (5-HT), norepinephrine, dopamine, 5-HT2A, and estrogen receptor-β levels. CPC22 enhanced levels of serum estrogen and diminished levels of serum follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. CPC22 regulated levels of serum lipid metabolites, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Furthermore, CPC22 diminished levels of serum blood urea nitrogen, creatine kinase, alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase and restored vaginal dryness without affecting uterus atrophy index and vagina weights. Conclusion: Therefore, these results indicated that CPC22 improves OVX-induced bone loss, hot flashes, and dysregulated lipid metabolism by compensating for estrogen deficiency without side effects, suggesting that CPC22 may be used for the prevention and treatment of post menopause.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2005

The last two decades have shown a marked expansion in publications of diverse effects of Panax ginseng. Ginsenosides, as active ingredients of Panax ginseng, are saponins found in only ginseng. Recently, a line of evidences shows that ginsenosides regulate various types of ion channel activity such as $Ca^{2+},\;K^+,\;Na^+,\;Cl^-$, or ligand gated ion channels (i.e. $5-HT_3$, nicotinic acetylcholine, or NMDA receptor) in neuronal, non-neuronal cells, and heterologously expressed cells. Ginsenosides inhibit voltage-dependent $Ca^{2+},\;K^+,\;and\;Na^+$ channels, whereas ginsenosides activate $Ca^{2+}-activated\;Cl^-\;and\;Ca^{2+}-activated\;K^+$ channels. Ginsenosides also inhibit excitatory ligand-gated ion channels such as $5-HT_3$, nicotinic acetylcholine, and NMDA receptors. This review will introduce recent findings on the ginsenoside-induced differential regulations of ion channel activities and will further expand the possibilities how these ginsenoside-induced ion channel regulations are coupled to biological effects of Panax ginseng.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.208-219
• /
• 2001

The pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia exhibits wide inter-individual variabilities in clinical efficacy and adverse effects. Recently, human genetic diversity has been known as one of the essential factors to the variation in human drug response. This suggests that drug therapy should be tailored to the genetic characteristics of the individual. Pharmacogenetics is the field of investigation that attempts to elucidate genetic basis of an individual's responses to pharmacotherapy, considering drug effects divided into two categories as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The emerging field of pharmacogenomics, which focuses on genetic determinants of drug response at the level of the entire human genome, is important for development and prescription of safer and more effective individually tailored drugs and will aid in understanding how genetics influence drug response. In schizophrenia, pharmacogenetic studies have shown the role of genetic variants of the cytochrome P450 enzymes such as CYP2D6, CYP2C19, and CYP2A1 in the metabolism of antipsychotic drugs. At the level of drug targets, variants of the dopamine $D_2$, $D_3$ and $D_4$, and 5-$HT_{2A}$ and 5-$HT_{2C}$ receptors have been examined. The pharmacogenetic studies in schizophrenia presently shows controversial findings which may be related to the multiple involvement of genes with relatively small effects and to the lack of standardized phenotypes. For further development in the pharmacogenomics of schizophrenia, there would be required the extensive outcome measures and definitions, and the powerful new tools of genomics, proteomics and so on.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.285-289
• /
• 2010

In the present study, the antinociceptive profiles of $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract were examined in ICR mice. The $Campanula$ $punctata$ contain a large dose of saponin. $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract administered orally (200 mg/kg) showed an antinociceptive effect as measured by the tail-flick and hot-plate tests. In addition, $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract attenuated the writhing numbers in the acetic acid-induced writhing test. Furthermore, the cumulative nociceptive response time for intrathecal (i.t.) injection of substance P ($0.7{\mu}g$) was diminished by $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) pretreatment with yohimbine (${\alpha}_2$-adrenergic receptor antagonist) attenuated antinociceptive effect induced by $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract in the writhing test. However, naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist) or methysergide (5-HT serotonergic receptor antagonist) did not affect antinociception induced by $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract in the writhing test. Our results suggest that $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract shows an antinociceptive property in various pain models. Furthermore, this antinociceptive effect of $Campanula$ $punctata$ extract may be mediated by ${\alpha}_2$-adrenergic receptor, but not opioidergic and serotonergic receptors.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.1576-1581
• /
• 2007

Dopamine reward pathway projecting from ventral tegmental area to nucleus accumbens is well known as playing an important role in alcohol dependence. It is supposed that this dopamine pathway is modulated by $5-HT_3$ nervous system, and it was reported that ondansetron (OND), $5-HT_3$ receptor antagonist, reduced drinking amount and increased abstinence rate in alcohol-dependent patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of combination of OND and naltrexone (NTX), non-specific opioid receptor antagonist, on alcohol intake in C57BL/6 mice. In 40 C57BL/6 mice in the state of alcohol dependence, vehicle, while OND 0.01 mg/kg, or NTX 1.0 mg/kg administrated respectively, or OND 0.01 mg/kg and NTX 1.0 mg/kg administrated simultaneously for ten days, medication effects on 2-hr alcohol, 22-hr water, 24-hr food intake and body weight were studied. When vehicle group was compared with 3 medication groups respectively, using a repeated measure ANOVA, NTX alone and vehicle groups showed a significant medication by time interaction (p=0.042) in 2-hr alcohol intake, but in the other 2 groups, OND and NTX combination group and OND alone group, there was no significant interaction with vehicle group in 2-hr alcohol intake. From these results, it is suggested that there is no effect on alcohol intake in mice treating with OND, and naltrexone#s suppression effect on alcohol intake in mice is attenuated when treating with OND and NTX simultaneously. It is supposed that a further study looking at the interactions of serotonin, dopamine and opioid nerves systems will be needed.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.377-381
• /
• 2014

Propofol is a widely used anesthetic. Many studies have shown that propofol has direct effects on blood vessels, but the precise mechanism is not fully understood. Secondary intrapulmonary artery rings from male rats were prepared and mounted in a Multi Myograph System. The following constrictors were used to induce contractions in isolated artery rings: high $K^+$ solution (60 mmol/L); U46619 solution (100 nmol/L); 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; $3{\mu}mol/L$); or phenylephrine (Phe; $1{\mu}mol/L$). The relaxation effects of propofol were tested on high $K^+$ or U46619 precontracted rings. Propofol also was added to induce relaxation of rings preconstricted by U46619 after pretreatment with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor $N^G$-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). The effects of propofol on $Ca^{2+}$ influx via the L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels were evaluated by examining contraction-dependent responses to $CaCl_2$ in the absence or presence of propofol (10 to $300{\mu}mol/L$). High $K^+$ solution and U46619 induced remarkable contractions of the rings, whereas contractions induced by 5-HT and Phe were weak. Propofol induced dose-dependent relaxation of artery rings precontracted by the high $K^+$ solution. Propofol also induced relaxation of rings precontracted by U46619 in an endothelium-independent way. Propofol at different concentrations significantly inhibited the $Ca^{2+}$-induced contractions of pulmonary rings exposed to high $K^+$-containing and $Ca^{2+}$-free solution in a dose-dependent manner. Propofol relaxed vessels precontracted by the high $K^+$ solution and U46619 in an endothelium-independent way. The mechanism for this effect may involve inhibition of calcium influx through voltage-operated calcium channels (VOCCs) and receptor-operated calcium channels (ROCCs).

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.34-45
• /
• 1998

We provide the reader with a brief introduction to the neurobiology of neuropeptides. Several comprehensive reviews of the distribution and neurochemical, neurophysiological, neuropharmacological and behavioral effects of the major neuropeptides have recently appeared. In reviews of the large number of neuropeptides in brain and their occurance in brain regions thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of major psychiatric disorders, investigators have sought to determine whether alternations in neuropeptide systems are associated with schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and neurodegenerative disease. There is no longer any doubt that neuropeptide-containing neurons are altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the factors that has hindered neuropeptide research to a considerable extent is the lack of pharmacological agents that specifically alter the synaptic availability of neuropeptides. With the exception of naloxone and naltrexone, the opiate-receptor antagonists, there are few available neuropeptide- receptor antagonists. Two independent classes of neuropeptide-receptor antagonists has been expected to be clinically useful. Naltrexone, a potent ${\mu}$-receptor antagonist, has been used successfully to reduce the need for alcohol consumption. And cholecycstokinin antagonists are now in development as a new class of anxiolytics, which would be expected to be free from tolerance and physical dependence and lack of sedation. In this review, we deal with these two kinds of neuropeptide system, the opioid system and cholesystokinins in the brain. The role of opioid systems in the reinforcement after alcohol consumtion and that of cholesystokinins in the pathogenesis of anxiety will be discussed briefly. As we know, the future for neuropeptides in psychiatry remains bright indeed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.4751-4756
• /
• 2012

Colon cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers, and the importance and necessity of new therapies needs to be stressed. The most important proto-oncogen factors for colon cancer appear to be epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR, and c-Src with high expression and activity leading to tumor growth and ultimately to colon cancer progression. Application of c-Src and EGFR antisense agents simultaneously should theoretically therefore have major benefit. In the present study, anti-EGFR and c-Src specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotides were combined in a formulation using PAMAM dendrimers as a carrier. Nano drug entry into cells was confirmed by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy imaging and real time PCR showed gene expression of c-Src and EGFR, as well as downstream STAT5 and MAPK-1 with the tumor suppressor gene P53 to all be downregulated. EGFR and c-Src protein expression was also reduced when assessed by western blotting techniques. The effect of the antisense oligonucleotide on HT29 cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay, reduction beijng observed after 48 hours. In summary, nano-drug, anti-EGFR and c-Src specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotides were effectively transferred into HT-29 cells and inhibited gene expression in target cells. Based on the results of this study it appears that the use of antisense EGFR and c-Src simultaneously might have a significant effect on colon cancer growth by down regulation of EGFR and its downstream genes.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.145-150
• /
• 2009

We evaluated cytotoxic effect based on the MTT assay and identified altered proteins in 5-FU(fluorouracil) treated HT29 cells using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. As proteins inducing apoptosis, siah binding protein 1 and p47 protein isoform a were up-regulated and tumor protein translationally-controlled 1 was down-regulated by 5-FU treatment. And mannose 6 phosphate receptor binding protein 1 controls DNA mismatch repair system was increased. We suggest 5-FU promotes a cytotoxicity under the action of these proteins in colon cancer cells.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.201-208
• /
• 2005

Earlier we have reported the antidiabetic activity of fresh juice of rhizomes of Zingiber officinale (Z. officinale) and its correlation with 5-HT receptor antagonism. Since 6-gingerol the marker compound of Z. officinale is reported to posses 5-HT anatgonistic activity, the present investigation, was undertaken to find out the concentration of 6-gingerol present in methanolic extract of Z. officinale and its different fractions (petroleum ether, toluene and chloroform). We also evaluated these fractions for antidiabetic activity in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced neonatal type 2 diabetic rats. Fasting glucose and insulin levels in non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) rats were found to be significantly (P < 0.05) higher than control rats and these were significantly decreased by treatment with methanolic extract of Z. officinale and its fractions. The results of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) showed that methanolic extract and its fractions significantly (P < 0.05) decreased both STZ-induced increase in $AUC_{glucose}$ and $AUC_{insulin}$ values in NIDDM groups. Treatment with petroleum ether fraction produced a greater reduction in elevated glucose and $AUC_{glucose}$ levels as compared to treatment with other fractions. Treatment with methanolic extract of Z. officinale and its fractions also produced significant reduction in the elevated lipid, serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) levels in NIDDM rats. The effect of petroleum ether fraction on elevated lipid, SGOT and SGPT levels was significantly greater as compared to treatment with other fractions. The concentration of 6-gingerol was found to be maximum in petroleum ether fraction (11.430%) and minimum in chloroform fraction (0.973%). The methanolic extract and toluene fraction was found to contain 3.080% and 2.191 %, 6-gingerol respectively. In conclusion, our data suggest that methonolic extract and its fractions possess significant antidiabetic activity in NIDDM rats. The extent of activity appears to be dependent on the concentration of 6-gingerol present in the extract or its fractions.