• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.198-205
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• 2017

Background: There are a million ragpickers in India who gather and trade recyclable municipal solid wastes materials for a living. The objective of this study was to examine whether their occupation adversely affects their immunity. Methods: Seventy-four women ragpickers (median age, 30 years) and 65 age-matched control housemaids were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to measure leukocyte subsets, and leukocyte expressions of $Fc{\gamma}$ receptor I (CD64), $Fc{\gamma}RIII$ (CD16), complement receptor 1 (CD35) and CR3 (CD11b/CD18), and CD14. Serum total immunoglobulin-E was estimated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Compared with the controls, ragpickers had significantly (p < 0.0001) higher levels of CD8-T-cytotoxic, CD16+CD56+natural killer, and CD4+CD45RO+memory T-cells, but depleted levels of CD19+B-cells. The percentage of CD4+T-helper-cells was lower than the control group (p < 0.0001), but their absolute number was relatively unchanged (p = 0.42) due to 11% higher lymphocyte counts in ragpickers. In ragpickers, the percentages of CD14+CD16+intermediate and CD14dim CD16+nonclassical monocyte subsets were elevated with a decline in CD14+CD16-classical monocytes. The expressions of CD64, CD16, CD35, and CD11b/CD18 on both monocytes and neutrophils, and CD14 on monocytes were significantly higher in ragpickers. In addition, ragpickers had 2.7-times more serum immunoglobulin-E than the controls (p < 0.0001). After controlling potential confounders, the profession of ragpicking was positively associated with the changes. Conclusion: Ragpicking is associated with alterations in both innate (neutrophils, monocytes, and natural killer cell numbers and expression of complement and $Fc{\gamma}$ receptors) and adaptive immunity (numbers of circulating B cells, helper, cytotoxic, and memory T cells).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.217-224
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• 2017

Carbon monoxide (CO), a reaction product of cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), is a gaseous messenger with anti-proliferative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory actions in many cell types. Here, we investigated the role of CO on the process of monocyte differentiation induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) in human monocytic THP-1 cells. CORM-2 (tricarbonyldichlororuthenium (II) dimer, $Ru2Cl_4(CO)_6$), a CO-releasing compound, decreased a marked cell adherence with a slight reduction of proliferation in monocytic THP-1 cells treated with PMA. And, CORM-2 significantly inhibited expression of differentiation markers such as CD14, CD11b plus CD18 (macrophage-1 antigen, Mac-1 or complement receptor 3, CR3) and phagocytosis of carboxylate-modified red fluorescent latex beads, in PMA-stimulated THP-1 cells. For the further experiments, differentiation of PMA-treated cells was enhanced after the initial 2 days stimulus by removing the PMA-containing media then incubating the cells in fresh media for a another 4 days. And, we observed the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and phagocytosis in differentiated macrophages. Treatment with CORM-2 significantly abolished the secretion of IL-6, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and phagocytosis using fluorescence-conjugated E. coli (K-12 strain) bioparticles in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated differentiated macrophages. In conclusion, these results suggest that CO inhibits the differentiation of monocytic THP-1 cells as well as the activation of differentiated macrophages.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1498-1504
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• 2005

Competitive direct ELISA was developed to detect gentamicin residues. Mice immunized with gentamicin-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) conjugate developed good antiserum titers, which gradually increased with booster injections, indicating immunization was successfully processed. Monoclonal antibody against gentamicin was prepared using hybridoma cells cloned by limit dilution of fused cells. IgG was purified from ascites fluid of hybridoma cell-injected mice through ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-25 gel filtration. After the gel filtration, fractions of high antibody titer were further purified through affinity chromatography on protein A/G column. Monoclonal antibody against gentamicin was confirmed as IgG1, which has kappa light chain. Cross-reactivities ($CR_{50}$) of gentamicin monoclonal antibody to other aminoglycosides (kanamycin, neomycin, and streptomycin) were less than 0.005%, indicating the monoclonal antibody was highly specific for gentamicin. Standard curve constructed through competitive direct ELISA showed measurement range (from 80 to 20% of B/$B_0$ ratio) of gentamicin was between 1 and 40 ng/ml, and 50% of B/$B_0$ ratio was about 4 ng/ml. The gentamicin concentration rapidly increased to 1,300 ng/ml after the intramuscular administration up to 2 h, then sharply decreased to less than 300 ng/ml after 4 h of withdrawal, during which the elimination half-life ($t_{1/2}$) of gentamicin in the rabbit plasma was estimated to be 1.8 h. Competitive direct ELISA method developed in this study using the prepared monoclonal antibody is highly sensitive for gentamicin, and could be useful for detecting gentamicin residues in plasma of live animals.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.224-230
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• 1998

This study showed the anti-invasive activity of ginseng components, panaxadiol (PD) and panamatrlol (PT) on the highly metastatic HT1080 human flbrosarcoma cell line. PD and PT reduced tumor cell invasion through a reconstitute basement membrane in the transwell chamber. A significant down regulation of MMP-9 by PD and PT was detected by northern blot analysis. However, MMP-2 was constantly expressed. Quantitative gelatin based zymography confirmed a marked reduced expression of MMP-9 but not MMP-2 in the treatment of PD and PT. Since the chemical structures of PD and PT are very similar to that of dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, it was investigated whether PD and PT act through GR. Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry showed that PD and PT increased the GR fraction in the nucleus. These results suggest that ursolic acid may induce repression of MMP-9 by stimulating the nuclear translocation of GR and hence inhibiting the activity of AP-1 to TPA-responsible element of MMP-9 promoter region. In conclusion, we suggest that CR-induced down-regulation of MMP-9 by PD and PT contributes to reduce the invasive capacity of HT 1080 cells.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.48-51
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• 2007

In order to investigate the effects of particle size and specific surface area(BET area) of spinel powder, $LiMn_2O_4$ were synthesized using metal oxide precursor by co-precipitation method(CoP) and solid state reaction (SSR) .X-ray diffraction(XRD) patterns revealed that the both prepared powder has a well developed spinel structure with Fd3m space group. The $LiMn_2O_4$ prepared by co-precipitation showed spherical morphology with narrow size distribution. However, the $LiMn_2O_4$ prepared by solid state reaction showed relatively smaller particles with irregular shape. The measured BET areas of the powers are $0.8m^2g^{-1}$ (CoP) and $3.6m^2g^{-1}$(SSR). The electrochemical performance of the Prepared $LiMn_2O_4$ powders was evaluated using coin type cells(CR2032) at elevated temperature ($55^{\circ}C$). The $LiMn_2O_4$ prepared by co-precipitation showed the better cycling performance(82.3%capacity retention at $50^{th}$ cycle) than that of the $LiMn_2O_4$(68.3%) prepared by solid state reaction at elevated temperature.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2004

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of nitric oxide scavenger (hemoglobin) and inhibitor (L-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester; L-NAME) with or without cumulus cell on the development of bovine IVM/IVF embryos. When CR/sub 1aa/ medium were supplemented with different dosage (lug/m, 5ug/m and 10ug/ml) of hemoglobin at 48hrs for in vitro culture, the proportion of embryos developing beyond morulae stage in 0, 1ug/ml and 5ug/ml with or without cumulus cell were 23.8%, 33.3 % and 26.8%, and 39.5%, 54.8% and 48.8%, respectively. There was a significantly difference the developmental rate of 1ug/ml hemoglobin intact cumulus cells to any other groups (P<0.05). On the other hand, when added to hemoglobin at 96 hrs, 1 ug/ml hemoglobin with cumulus cell group was significantly increased the percentage of developing into morulae and blastocysts to any other groups (P<0.05), and similar trend that of added at 48hrs. The overall means of the percentage of developing into morulae and blstocysts in 1ug/ml hemoglobin group was significantly increased than those of any other groups (P<0.05) and cumulus co-culture with hemoglobin was increased the in vitro developing rate of IVM/IVF embryos. In CR/sub 1aa/ medium treated with L-NAME 0, 10, 50 and 100mM, the developmental rate of morula plus blastocysts were 55.6%, 64.9%, 58.8% and 66.7%, respectively. The L-NAME did not affect the developmental rate and the cell numbers of blastocysts in all treated groups. These results indicate that hemoglobin and cumulus co-culture can increase the proportion of embryos that developed into morulae and blastocysts, but cell numbers of blastocysts were not affect in all groups.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 1996

The objective of this study was to examine the cell number of Total, ICM and TE cells of bovine blastocysts according to development progression cultured in CR1 medium, which was reported as successfully supporting medium for preimplantaion bovine embryo development to the blastocyst stage, by differential labelling of the nuclei with immunosurgery and polynucleot-ide-specific fluorochromes. Blastocysts were obtained at day 8 after in vitro fertilization and classified to early, middle, expanded stage according to the developmental morphology; blastocoel expansion and zona thickness. Also, bias tocysts in the same category were divided into two parts to check the Total cell number by using bisbenzimide only and ICM, TE and Total cell number by using immunosurgery and two polynucleotide-specific fluorochromes. 1) The development rate of blastocysts at day 8 after in vitro fertilization was 29.3% and classified bIas tocysts to early, middle, expanded and hatching stage were 8.7, 9.9, 7.6 and 3.1%, respectively. 2) The numbers of total blastomere using bisbenzimide in the classified blastocysts to early, middie and expanded were 46.9${\pm}$8.6, 66.2${\pm}$12.5 and 122.8 ${\pm}$ 14.4, respectively. This indicated that CR1 is a appropriate culture medium for bovine embryo development. 3) The count of ICM and TE cell number by using differential labelling with immunosurgery and polynucleotide-specific fluorochromes in the classified blastocysts to early, middle and expanded; ICM cell numbers of were 12.8${\pm}$5.9, 26.3${\pm}$8.4 and 35.5${\pm}$15.0, respectively and TE cell numbers were 30.5${\pm}$5.0, 4 41.3${\pm}$8.2 and 81.1${\pm}$13.4, respectively. These results presented that the increase of ICM and TE cell numbers averaged two and three doublings between early and expanded blastocyst stage and also total cell number counted from ICM nuclei and TE nuclei by using differential label-ling showed the increase pattern with development advance level and the results were similar to total cell number obtained from bisbenzimide treatment only. Therefore, the differential labelling of ICM and TE nuclei in situ is a very useful technique to evaluate embryo qualities and can be used as an indicator on study of preim-plantation embryo development.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 1987

In vitro sensitivity testing was performed for 21 kinds putative anticancer drugs selected from references and information. Cellular damage of P815 mastocytoma cells following exposure to water extracts of drugs was evaluated by colony formation assay. Highly effective drugs with more than 50% inhibition of colony formation were seven (Houttuyniae Herba, Sanguisorbae Radix, Nepetae Herba, Manitis Squama, Lonicerae Flos, Amomi Semen, Polyporus), though not more effective than BCNU. According to the results of $^3H-thymidine$ incorporation assay for determination of selective cytotoxicity, 3 of these drugs (Houttuyniae Herba, Polyporus, Manitis Squama) were found to be low cytotoxic to normal mouse lymphoid cells. These findings suggest that the above 3 drugs may be used for effective anticancer drugs in vivo.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.11
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• pp.1271-1277
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• 2017

As Kamisipjeondaebotang (KSD) extract is an herbal ingredient, safety is very important due to possible cell poisoning or heavy metal toxicity to organs when administered to humans or animals. Accordingly, this study examined the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of KSD extract to confirm its medicinal safety by using RAW 264.7 cells after heavy metal screening, functional index test of the liver and kidney, and cell survival rate test. Heavy metals were not found in KSD extracts or were less than standard amounts. Liver function indices such as aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase revealed low values and kidney function indices such as creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were not significantly different from the normal group. This proved the safety to the human. RAW 264.7 cells showed no poisoning compared to the control group in terms of survival rate. Regarding the antioxidant effect of KSD extract, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazo-line-6-sulphonic acid) radical scavenging activity increased at concentrations over $10{\mu}g/mL$. The anti-inflammatory effect of KSD extract significantly decreased based on the amount of nitric oxide at concentrations of 10 and $100{\mu}g/mL$ compared to the control group. Expression of interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. There was no significant difference in tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ level. Based on the results, KSD can be regarded as a safe antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects for fracture treatment.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.356-363
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• 2010

For this paper, we investigated the area specific resistance (ASR) of commercially available ferritic stainless steels with different chemical compositions for use as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) interconnect. After 430h of oxidation, the STS446M alloy demonstrated excellent oxidation resistance and low ASR, of approximately 40 $m{\Omega}cm^2$, of the thermally grown oxide scale, compared to those of other stainless steels. The reason for the low ASR is that the contact resistance between the Pt paste and the oxide scale is reduced due to the plate-like shape of the $Cr_2O_3$(s). However, the acceptable ASR level is considered to be below 100 $m{\Omega}cm^2$ after 40,000 h of use. To further improve the electrical conductivity of the thermally grown oxide on stainless steels, the Co layer was deposited on the stainless steel by means of an electroless deposition method; it was then thermally oxidized to obtain the $Co_3O_4$ layer, which is a highly conductive layer. With the increase of the Co coating thickness, the ASR value decreased. For Co deposited STS444 with 2 ${\mu}m$hickness, the measured ASR at $800^{\circ}$ after 300 h oxidation is around 10 $m{\Omega}cm^2$, which is lower than that of the STS446M, which alloy has a lower ASR value than that of the non-coated STS. The reason for this improved high temperature conductivity seems to be that the Mn is efficiently diffused into the coating layer, which diffusion formed the highly conductive (Mn,Co)$_3O_4$ spinel phases and the thickness of the $Cr_2O_3$(S), which is the rate controlling layer of the electrical conductivity in the SOFC environment and is very thin