• Development and Reproduction
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2011

Some phytoestrogens in soy and red wine, for example, might have beneficiary rather than adverse effects. In particular, dietary soy intake seems to be highly correlated with protection of breast cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disorders. However, questions persist on the potential adverse effects of the main soy constituent genistein (GS) on female reproductive physiology. Previously we found that prepubertal exposure to GS could activate the reproductive system of immature female rats leading to precocious puberty onset, and intracerebroventricularly (ICV) injected GS could directly activate hypothalamic kisspeptin-GnRH neuronal circuits in adult female rats. The present study was performed to examine the hypothalamus-specific GS effects in prepubertal female rats and which subtype of estrogen receptor is mediated in this GS effect. Prepubertal female rats (PND 30) were anaesthetized, treated with single dose of GS (3.4 ${\mu}g$/animal), and sacrificed at 2 hrs post-injection. To determine the transcriptional changes of reproductive hormone-related genes in hypothalamus, total RNAs were extracted and applied to the semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). ICV infusion of GS significantly lowered the transcriptional activities of mTOR (1:$0.361{\pm}0.058$ AU, p<0.001) but increased that of GAD67 (1:$1.285{\pm}0.099$ AU, p<0.05), which are known to act as an upstream modulator of kisspeptin and GnRH neuronal activities in the hypothalamus, respectively. GS administration enhanced significantly the mRNA levels of KiSS-1(1:$1.458{\pm}0.078$ AU, p<0.001), and exerted no effect on the mRNA level of kisspeptin receptor GPR-54 (1:$1.29{\pm}0.08$ AU). GnRH gene expression was significantly decreased in GS-treated group compared to control group (1:$0.379{\pm}0.196$ AU, p<0.05). There was no difference in the mRNA level of $ER{\alpha}$ in the GS-treated group compare to control group (1:$1.180{\pm}0.390$ AU, Fig. 3A). However, icv infusion of GS significantly increased the transcriptional activities of $ER{\beta}$ (1:$4.209{\pm}0.796$ AU, p<0.01, Fig. 3B). Taken together, the present study indicated that the acute exposure to GS could directly alter the hypothalamic GnRH modulating system in prepubertal female rats. Our study strongly suggested the involvement of $ER{\beta}$ pathway in GS's hypothalamus-specific action, and this idea is consistent with the GS's well-known $ER{\beta}$-mediated protective action in breast cancer.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 1988

In case of the acute intake of radionuclide, an early medical treatment may be necessary, but the little is established the procedures to decontaminate the victims of internal contamination in Korea. The purpose of the present investigation is to study chemical agents to remove radiocobalt from the victims and to provide a more reliable procedure for the treatment. The removals of radiocobalt from the NIH-CGP)mice injected intraperitoneally with $1{\mu}Ci$ of $^{58}Co$ as $CoCl_2$ were investigated with doses of either $CaNa_3$ DTPA 8.4mg/0.2ml saline, $CoNa_3$ DTPA 8.4mg/0.2ml saline, or saline 5ml. The radioactivity was determined by MCA and Ge-detector on 4, 8, 12, 48 hours and 7 days for the whole body, organ distribution and urine excretion. Six mice per each group were sacrificed for the measurement of cobalt retention in the parenchymal tissue. The cobalt trisodium chelate had a pronounced effect on reducing the whole body retention and increasing the excretion rate. Regarding to the systemic protective effects, $CoNa_3$ DTPA, $CaNa_3$ DTPA and saline were effected significantly in order. In conclusion, the extrapolations from these results to human were suggested that the rapid administration of cobalt trisodium chelate and an amount of saline to the contaminated person after internal contamination of radiocobalt were markedly increasing the decontamination effects.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.701-710
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• 2008

The wild simulated ginseng (WSG) has been effectively used in folk medicine as a remedy against hepatic disease, hypertension and arthritic disease. However, there is still lack of scientific proof about its antioxidant capability. The present study has been conducted to evaluate the protective role of the WSG ethanol extract in the CCl4-induced oxidative stress and resultant hepatic disfunction in ICR mice. The electron donating abilities and IC50 of WSG etnanol extract were 76.86 ${\pm}$ 1.06% and 33.3 ${\mu}g$/mL (that of ascobic acid was 16.5 ${\mu}g$/mL), respectively. Total antioxidant status of WSG extract was 2.13 ${\pm}$ 0.06 mmoL/mg, while the values of ascorbic acid and BHT were 3.63 ${\pm}$ 0.06 and 3.12 ${\pm}$ 0.02, respectively. ICR mice (aged 3weeks) were fed for 4 weeks on AIN-93M diet and had free access to food and water. The animals were divided into three groups: normal group (intraperitoneally (i.p) injected with PBS at 100 ${\mu}L$/mouse), group C; CCl4-induced and without any treatment. (i.p injected only PBS, 100 ${\mu}L$ /mice), group G; CCl4-induced and treated with WSG (i.p injected with 5 mg WSG extract per mouse, suspended in 100 ${\mu}L$ phosphate buffer). After the i.p. injection of WSG or PBS (5 times for 7weeks), all mice were administered CCl4 in olive oil at the last day of the experiment, except for normal group. The normal group was administered only olive oil. Determination of plasma triglyceride, total cholersterol, fasting glucose and GPT activity was performed using automatic blood analyzer. To evaluate the protective effect against the oxidative stress, DNA fragmentation and TBARS were determined in blood leucocytes and RBC and hepatocyte, respectively. Body and organs weights and food intake did not show significant differences among the groups. Blood total cholesterol of group G was similar to that of normal group, which was the lowest in group C. The fasting blood glucose level was the highest in normal group (205.20 ${\pm}$ 135.24), which were decreased in group C (134.2 ${\pm}$ 79.31) and group G (126.48 ${\pm}$ 77.05). TBARS values in a red blood cell and hepatic tisuue homogenate were lower in group G comparing to the group C. DNA% in tail, tail length (TL) and tail moment (TM) of blood leucoocytes showed the highest values in group C (20.11 ${\pm}$ 2.47, 17.36 ${\pm}$ 2.58, 94.11 ${\pm}$ 12.29) and they were significantly diminished in group G (9.63 ${\pm}$ 1.19, 7.04 ${\pm}$ 1.50, 38.64 ${\pm}$ 7.60). In conclusion, wild simulated ginseng might be a protective agent against the oxidative stress.