• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.113-122
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study investigated the improvement effects of Pakistani (DF-a) and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan (DF-b) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a high fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Methods : Eight-week-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into five groups: a normal lean group given a standard diet, an obese control group given a high fat diet, and atorvastatin, DF-a, and DF-b groups given a high fat diet with atorvastatin (10 mg/kg), DF-a (80 mg/kg), and DF-b (80 mg/kg), respectively. After 8 weeks of treatment, body weight gain, blood lipid markers, ALT concentrations, liver weight and histology were examined. Results : 1. Body weight gain was significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The extent of decreases was eminent in DF-a group. 2. Circulating concentrations of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The decreases were most effective in atorvastatin group. 3. Liver weights were decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. In particular, liver weight was significantly reduced in DF-b group. 4. Hepatic lipid accumulation was significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control, and the magnitude of which was most effective in DF-b group. 5. Circulating ALT concentrations were decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control, but ALS levels were significantly reduced only in DF-b group. Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that DF-a and DF-b decrease body weight gain, improve blood lipid metabolism, and reduce liver weight and hepatic lipid accumulation, contributing to the improvement of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In addition, these effects were similar between Pakistani and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.39-78
• /
• 2000

Introduction: In order to investigate the effects of partial Cervus elaphus Linne' extract on antitumoral immunological, a group of mice are melanoma-induced and observed reponses in terms of the number of lymphocyte, CD4+ count, CD8+ count, CD4+/CD8+ ratio in blood and spleen, change in body weight, melanoma weight, spleen index, NK cell activity and productivity of IL-2 in each mouse Methodology: Male C57BL/6 mice were chosen as an experimental object and were divided into 5 groups randomly selection. The normal group did not receive any induction. The control group was treated with normal saline in melanoma-induced' mice. Sample I group induced the upper part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract in melanoma-induced mice. Sample II group was induced the middle part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract in melanoma-induced mice. Sample III group was induced the lower part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract in melanoma-induced mice. The dosage of medication was 0.2cc daily for 14days. Results: 1. There was a significant difference in the number of lymphocyte in spleen in the sample I (upper part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract induced) and the sample II (middle part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract induced) compared to the control group and the sample III (lower part of Cervus elaphus Linne' extract induced). On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in the number of lymphocyte in blood in the control group and all sample groups. 2. In the CD4+ T cell ratio in blood, all three sample groups showed differences compared to the control group, though there was no significant difference between sample groups. In the CD4+ T cell ratio in spleen, there was a difference between the sample I and the control group, while the sample II and the sample III had significant difference to the control group. And also, it has been observed there were differences between the sample I and the other samples. 3. In the CD8+ T cell ratio in spleen, all three sample groups showed significant differences compared to the control group, while there was no difference between groups in the ratio in blood. 4. In the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio in blood, the sample I showed a significant difference compared to the control group, while the sample 1I and sample III showed differences compared to the control group. In the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio in spleen, all three samples showed a significant difference compared to the control group, when the sample I had a difference to the other sample groups. 5. The spleen index of the sample I and the sample II showed a significant difference compared to the sample III and the control group. In comparison between the sample groups, the sample I and the sample II showed a significant difference to the sample III. 6. In terms of the change in body weight and melanoma weight, all three sample groups showed a significant difference compared to the control group, while the comparison between the sample groups showed the sample and the sample II had a significant difference to the sample Ⅲ. 7. In comparison of NK cell activity, the sample I had a difference compared to the other groups when the effector to target cell ratio was 2.5:1. With the ratio of 5:1, the sample I and sample II showed significant differences compared to the control group, while the sample Ⅲ showed a difference. When the effector to target cell ratio was 10:1, there was no difference between groups. 8. In the productivity of IL-2, all three sample groups showed significant differences compared to the control group. In comparison between sample groups, there were significant differences between each sample groups in order of the sample I , the sample II and the sample Ⅲ. Conclusion: As one can witness from the above results, administration of partial Cervus elaphus Linne extract played important role in antitumoral immune response in melanoma-induced mice, and it could be suggested that sample I and sample II groups have prominent antitumoral immune effect.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2002

Objective: In order to acquire the technique for the establishment of human embryonic stem cells (ESe) derived from the human frozen-thawed embryos produced in IVF-ET program, this study was performed to establish mouse ESC derived from the in vitro fertilized embryos. Materials and Methods: After Fl hybrid (C57BL female $\times$ CBA mael) female mice were superovulated with PMSG and hCG treatment, their oocytes were retrieved and inseminated, and the fertilized embryos were cultured for 96-120 hours until the expected stages of blastocysts were obtained. To isolate the inner cell mass (ICM), either the blastocysts were treated with immunosurgery, or the whole embryos were cultured for 4 days. Isolated ICMs were then cultured onto STO feeder cell layer, and the resultant ICM colonies were subcultured with trypsin-EDTA treatment. During the subculture process, ESC-like cell colonies were observed with phase contrast microscopy. To identify ESC in the subcultured ESC-like cell colonies, alkaline phosphatase activity and Oct-4 (octamer-binding transcription factor-4) expression were examined by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively. To examine the spontaneous differentiation, ESC-like cell colonies were cultured without STO feeder cell layer and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Results: Seven ESC-like cell lines were established from ICMs isolated from the in vitro fertilized embryos. According to the developmental stage, the growth of ICMs isolated from the expanded blastocysts was significantly better than that of ICMs isolated from the hatched blastocysts (80.3% vs. 58.7%, p<0.05). ESC-like cell colonies were only obtained from ICMs of expanded blastocysts. However, the ICMs isolated from the embryos treated with immunosurgery were poorly grown and frequently differentiated during the culture process. The established ESC-like cell colonies were positively stained with alkaline phosphatase and expressed Oct-4, and their morphology resembled that observed in the previously reported mouse ESC. In addition, following the extended in vitro culture process, they maintained their expression of cell surface markers characteristic of the pluripotent stem cells such as alkaline phosphatase and Oct-4. When cultured without STO feeder cell layer and LIF, they were spontaneously differentiated into the various types of cells. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the establishment of mouse ESC can be successfully derived from the in vitro fertilized embryos. The established ESC-like cells expressed the cell surface markers characteristic of the pluripotent stem cells and spontaneously differentiated into the various types of cells.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.117-138
• /
• 2000

This study is, from the view point of constructive social studies which is the foundation of the 7th curriculum, to explore whether there is any viable program and to investigate it by which students, using photo resources in social studies, can organize their knowledge in the way of self-directed thinking. The main results are as follows: If it is a principle of knowledge construction process of constructive social studies that individual construction (cognitive construction) develops into communal construction(social construction) and yet communal construction develops itself, interacting with individual construction, it will be meet the objectives of social studies. In social studies, photos are a powerful communication tool. communicating with photos enables to invoke not only the visual aspects but also invisible aspects of social phenomena from photos. It, therefore, can help develop thinking power through inquiry learning, which is one of the emphasis of the 7th curriculum. Having analyzed photo resources appeared on the regional textbooks in elementary social studies, they have been appeared that even though the importance and amount of space photo resources occupy per page is big with regard to total resources, most of the photos failed to lad to self-directed thinking but just assistant material in stead. Besides, there appeared some problems with the title, variety, size, position, tone of color, visibility of the photos, and further with the combination of the photos. Developing of photo resources for constructive social studies is to overcome some problems inherent in current text books and to reflect the theoretical background of the 7th curriculum. To develop the sort of photo that can realize the point just mentioned, it would be highly preferable to provide photo database to facilitate study with homepage through web-based interaction. To take advantage of constructive photo resources, the instruction is strategized in four stages, intuition, conflict, accommodation, and equilibration stage. With the advancement of the era of image culture, curriculum developers are required to develop dynamic, multidimensional digital photos rather than static photos when develop text books.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.21-39
• /
• 2010

Objectives : This study was to investigate the characteristics of the heart rate variability(HRV), types of insomnia and accompanying symptoms of 175 insomnia patients. Methods : For this study we carried out HRV, Inbody of 175 patients with insomnia who have come to Dongeui oriental hospital of Dongeui university from the period of Janaury 2008 to September 2010. We studied the association of the insomnia patients' age and gender with HRV, accompanying symptoms and the types of insomnia. The information of the accompanying symptoms and types of insomnia was based on each patients' progress note. Results : l. There was no significant differences in the characteristics of HRV between male and female. 2. The most frequent symptom shown among the insmonia patents' was headache(41.14%). 3. Comparing the symptoms between the gender, female patients had more dry mouth, alternative periodic chill and fever, and hot flush symptoms than the male patients. 4. Comparing the symptoms between the age groups(divided in two), the lower age group (20~59) had more dizziness and constipation symptoms than the higher age group (over 60). 5. Comparing the types of insomma between the age group, the higher age group (over 60) had more termination insomnia. 6. The types of insomnia of the entire insomnia patients were onset insomnia (73.1%), maintenance insomnia(20.6%), termination insomma(l7.1 %), shallow sleep (52.6%), listed by order of frequency. 7. The patients who takes hypnotics had more anorexia symptoms than the patients who doesn't take hypnotics. 8. There was no visible differences of the average fractal portrait between male and female. The age group of 20~30yrs. had the highest average fractal portrait, and the age group of 30~59yrs. the second highest, and the age group over 60yrs. the lowest. 9. The average of the regulation reserves of the autonomic nervous system(B2) - was lower than the regulation level of the ANS at the present (Bl). 10. When compared the priority of the function of the ANS, it showed that the proportion of HF($38.61{\pm}29.19%$)was the most, and than VLF($30.65{\pm}23.36%$), LF($20.04{\pm}19.13%$) the least. 11. The average of the compensation level of the central nervous system at present(Cl) - was lower than the compensation reserves of the CNS(C2). 12. The average of the control reserves of the cerebrum(D2) - was lower than the control level of the cerebrum at the present (Dl). 13. There was no visible differences between different sexes and ages in pulse rate. 14. The abdomen fat ratio above the line of the insomnia patients was 77.97% in male and 93.1% in female. Both sexes showed that insomnia patients had more abdomen fat that the standard, and female patients had more abd. fat than male patients. Conclusions : This study shows that the HRV of insomnia patients had no significant differences between gender. Fractal portrait, HF, LF and VLF of the insomnia patients are in inverse proportion to the age. The study of the Body Component Analysis showed that female had more abdomen fat than male, and both gender showed more abdomen fat than the standard. When looked into the accompanying symptoms of the insomnia patients, the symptoms show differences according to gender, age and hypnotics taking, as shown as below. In the entire patients, Headache was the most accompanying symptom. Female had more dry mouth, alternative periodic chill and fever, and hot flush symptoms than male. Higher age groups had more dizziness and constipation as accompanying symptoms than lower age groups. Patients who takes hypnotics had more anorexia than those who dont.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.63-76
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study investigated the improvement effects of Pakistani (DF-a) and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan (DF-b) on obesity in a high fat diet-fed obese mouse model. Methods : Eight-week-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into four groups: a normal lean group given a standard diet, an obese control group given a high fat diet, and DF-a and DF-b groups given a high fat diet with DF-a (80 mg/kg), and DF-b (80 mg/kg), respectively. After 8 weeks of treatment, body weight gain, feeding efficiency ratio, blood lipid markers, fat weight and histology were examined. Results : 1. Body weight gain and fat mass were significantly decreased in DF-a and DF-b groups compared with control. The extent of decreases was eminent in DF-a group. 2. Feeding efficiency ratio and circulating leptin concentration were significantly decreased in DF-a and DF-b groups compared with control, whereas circulating adiponectin concentration was increased in DF-a and DF-b groups compared with control. 3. Consistent with their effects on body weight gain and fat mass, circulating concentrations of triglyceride, glucose and insulin were decreased in DF-a and DF-b groups compared with control. 4. The size of adipocytes were decreased by DF-a and DF-b compared with control, whereas the adipocyte number per unit area was increased by them, suggesting that DF-a and DF-b decreased the number of large adipocytes. 5. Consistent with their effects on body weight gain, liver fibrosis was reduced in DF-a and DF-b groups compared with control. Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that DF-a and DF-b not only decrease feeding efficiency ratio, plasma leptin concentration, and blood anti-obesity biomarkers, but also reduce fat mass, contributing to the improvement of obesity. DF-a and DF-b also inhibit liver fibrosis. In addition, these effects were similar between Pakistani Ephedra herba and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.105-120
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study was investigated the improvement effects of Gangjihwan (DF) and combination of Gangjihwan and Gamisochehwan (GSH) on obesity in a high fat diet-fed obese mouse model. Methods : Eight-week-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into four groups: a normal lean group given a standard diet, an obese control group given a high fat diet, and DF and DF+GSH groups given a high fat diet with DF (40 mg/kg), and DF+GSH (80 mg/kg), respectively. After 8 weeks of treatment, body weight gain, feeding efficiency ratio, blood lipid markers, fat weight and histology were examined. Results : 1. Body weight gain and fat mass were significantly decreased in DF and DF+GSH groups compared with control. The extent of decreases was eminent in DF+GSH group. 2. Feeding efficiency ratio and circulating concentration of leptin were decreased in DF and DF+GSH groups compared with control. These decreases were significant in DF+GSH group. 3. Consistent with their effects on body weight gain and fat mass, circulating concentrations of triglyceride, glucose and insulin were decreased in DF and DF+GSH groups compared with control. 4. The size of adipocytes was decreased by DF and DF+GSH compared with control, whereas the adipocyte number per unit area was increased by them, suggesting that DF and DF+GSH decreased the number of large adipocytes. 5. Consistent with their effects on body weight gain, liver fibrosis was also improved in DF and DF+GSH groups compared with control. Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that DF and DF+GSH groups decrease feeding efficiency ratio, plasma leptin concentration, blood anti-obesity biomarkers and fat mass, improves body weight gain contributing to the inhibition of liver fibrosis. In addition, these effects were more effective in DF+GSH combination group than in DF-only group.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.47-57
• /
• 2000

Objective: The effects of cryopreservation with or without coculture on the in vitro development of blastomere-biopsied 8-cell mouse embryos were investigated. This experimental study was originally designed for the setup of a preclinical mouse model for the preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in human. Methods: Eight-cell embryos were obtained after in vitro fertilization (IVF) from F1 hybrid mice (C57BL(표현불가)/CBA(표현불가)). Using micromanipulation, one to four blastomeres were aspirated through a hole made in the zona pellucida by zona drilling (ZD) with acid Tyrode's solution (ATS). A slow-freezing and rapid-thawing protocol with 1.5M dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 0.1M sucrose as cryoprotectant was used for the cryopreservation of blastomere- biopsied 8-cell mouse embryos. After thawing, embryos were cultured for 110 hours in Ham's F-10 supplemented with 0.4% bovine serum albumin (BSA). In the coculture group, embryos were cultured for 110 hours on the monolayer of Vero cells in the same medium. The blastocyst formation was recorded, and the embryos developed beyond blastocyst stage were stained with 10% Giemsa to count the total number of nuclei in each embryo. Results: The survival rate of embryos after cryopreservation was significantly lower in the blastomere-biopsied (7/8, 6/8, 5/8, and 4/8 embryos) groups than in the non-biopsied, zona intact (ZI) group. Without the coculture, the blastocyst formation rate of embryos after cryopreservation was not significantly different among ZI, the zona drilling only (ZD), and the balstomere-biopsied groups, but it was significantly lower than in the non-cryopreserved control group. The mean number of cells in embryos beyond blastocyst stage was significantly higher in the control group ($50.2{\pm}14.0$) than in 6/8 ($26.5{\pm}6.2$), 5/8 ($25.0{\pm}5.5$), and 4/8 ($17.8{\pm}7.8$) groups. With the coculture using Vero cells, the blastocyst formation rate of embryos after cryopreservation was significantly lower in 5/8 and 4/8 groups, compared with the control, 7/8, and 6/8 groups. The mean number of cells in embryos beyond blastocyst stage was also significantly lower in 4/8 group ($25.9{\pm}10.2$), compared with the control ($50.2{\pm}14.0$), 7/8 ($56.0{\pm}22.2$), and 6/8 ($55.3{\pm}25.5$) groups. Conclusion: After cryopreservation, blastomere-biopsied mouse embryos have a significantly impaired developmental competence in vitro, but this detrimental effect might be prevented by the coculture with Vero cells in 8-cell mouse embryos biopsied one or two blastomeres. Biopsy of mouse embryos after ZD with ATS is a safe and highly efficient preclinical model for PGD of human embryos.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2006

Puroose: We examined whether intratumoral (i.t.) administration of dendritic cells (DCs) into a treated tumor could induce local and systemic antitumor effects in a mouse tumor model. Methods and Materials: C57BL/6 mice were inoculated s.c. in the right and left thighs with MCA-102 fibrosarcoma cells on day 0 and on day 7, respectively. On day 7, the tumors (usually 6 mm in diameter) on the right thigh were heated by immersing the tumor-bearing leg in a circulating water bath at $43^{\circ}C$ for 30 min; thereafter, the immature DCs were i.t administered to the right thigh tumors. This immunization procedure was repeated on days 7, 14 and 21. The tumors in both the right and left thighs were measured every 7 days and the average sizes were determined by applying the following formula, tumor $size=0.5{\times}(length+width)$. Cytotoxicity assay was done to determine tumor-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity. Results: Hyperthermia induced apoptosis and heat shock proteins (HSPs) in tumor occurred maximally after 6 hr. For the local treated tumor, hyperthermia (HT) alone inhibited tumor growth compared with the untreated tumors (p<0.05), and furthermore, the i.t. administered DCs combined with hyperthermia (HT + DCs) additively inhibited tumor growth compared with HT alone (p<0.05). On the distant untreated tumor, HT alone significantly inhibited tumor growth (p<0.05), and also HT + DCs potently inhibited tumor growth (p<0.001); however, compared with HT alone, the difference was not statistically significant. In addition, HT + DCs induced strong cytotoxicity of the splenocytes against tumor cells compared to DCs or HT alone. Conclusion: HT + DCs induced apoptosis and increased the expression of HSPs, and so this induced a potent local and systemic antitumor response in tumor-bearing mice. This regimen may be beneficial for the treatment of human cancers.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.6
• /
• pp.799-808
• /
• 2021

This study was performed to investigate the extent of microbial contamination, the presence of enterotoxin genes, and the antibiotic susceptibility of Bacillus cereus in 58 red pepper plants and 43 environmental samples (soil, irrigation water, and gloves) associated with the plant cultivation. The detected counts of total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus were lower in these samples, as compared to the regulations of standards for foods; moreover, pathogens, such as E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp., were not detected. Genes encoding hemolysin BL enterotoxins (hblA, hblC, and hblD) as well as non-hemolytic enterotoxins (nheA, nheB, and nheC) were detected in 23 B. cereus specimens that were isolated from the test samples and had β-hemolytic activity. Interestingly, B. cereus is resistant to β-lactam and susceptible to non-β-lactam antibiotics. However, in this case, the isolated B. cereus specimens exhibited a shift from resistant to intermediate in response to cefotaxime and from susceptible to intermediate in case of rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin, clindamycin, and erythromycin. Therefore, the levels of B. cereus should be monitored to detect changes in antibiotic susceptibility and guarantee their safety.