• 한국해양바이오학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.43-50
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• 2022

Squid is a sustainable source of long-chain omega 3 fatty acids. This study aims to assess the safety and triglyceride-lowering efficacy of refined oil derived from the squid(Todarodes pacificus) viscera. Male and female participants with elevated fasting serum lipids (i.e., total cholesterol of ≥5.2 mmol/L or fasting serum triglyceride of ≥1.65 mmol/L) were randomly allocated to the control (n = 52) or squid oil group (n = 52), and participants in the latter group were instructed to consume 3 g of squid oil daily for 60 days. None of the subjects reported adverse events associated with the consumption of squid oil. Baseline clinical chemistry and hematological parameter values and those toward the end of the treatment period were similar, and all values were within the normal range. Fasting cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the control and squid oil groups were similar; however, toward the end of the 60 day study period, these levels significantly reduced in the squid oil group relative to those in the control group (P< 0.01). However, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol remained unchanged in both groups. Thus, it can be inferred that squid oil is a safe source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and has beneficial effects on the blood lipid levels. This is the first clinical study on squid oil usage, and suggests that it could be a sustainable source of omega 3 fatty acids.

• 대한임상독성학회지
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.14-19
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• 2011

Purpose: Most paraquat poisonings are easily diagnosed by history taking on physical examination, however, some are failed to be diagnosed initially if the poisoning was veiled. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical characteristics of veiled paraquat poisoning. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients whose discharge diagnosis was paraquat poisoning in one university teaching hospital between 1 Jan, 2001 and 31 Dec, 2010. Veiled paraquat poisoning was determined when there was a positive urine paraquat kit in patients who did not mention paraquat poisoning in an initial physical examination or had unknown cause of pulmonary fibrosis, acute renal failure, or multi-organ failure. Results: Of the 117 patients with paraquat poisoning during the study period, 6 patients (5.1%) had veiled paraquat poisoning. The clinical characteristics were 1) proteinuria - 6 (100%), 2) increased creatinine - 4 (66.7%), 3) green skin stains - 2 (33.3%), 4) mucosal ulcer - 3 (50%). Blood chemistry results were variable. Conclusion: We should suspect veiled paraquat poisoning for patients who have proteinuria, increased creatinine, green skin stain, mucosal ulcer and vomiting, or if they have rapidly progressing acute renal failure or multi-organ failure with unknown cause, even if patients didn't mention about paraquat poisoning upon the initial physical examination. In cases with the above clinical conditions, a thorough repeated physical examination including history taking and use of urine paraquat kits should be performed.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제40권2호
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• pp.158-163
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• 2023

A 9-year-old spayed female Shih-Tzu was presented with a mass on the upper eyelid of the right eye (OD). The eyelid mass continued to enlarge along the eyelid margin and the eyelid skin. Throughout the follow-up examinations, the mass did not affect the palpebral conjunctiva OD. Until 9 months since the mass was first identified, the dog did not show any clinical signs related to the mass. However, after 11 months, the owner complained of the dog's discomfort on OD and decided on surgical excision of the mass. There were no abnormalities in the complete blood count and serum chemistry profiles. The pentagonal resection was performed to completely remove the mass in the eyelid. There were no suspicious findings of metastasis on whole-body computed tomography scan immediately before the surgery. On histopathology and immunohistochemistry for multiple myeloma oncogene-1, the eyelid mass was diagnosed as extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP). Surgical margin of the mass was clearly cut. No recurrence was observed during the 5-month follow-up. EMPs on the eyelid have rarely been reported in dogs. Although EMP is a benign tumor, the mass showed invasive growth and grew toward the skin rather than the palpebral conjunctiva. No recurrence occurred when surgically removed with clean margins.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.189-200
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current state of quantitative literature evidence for the prescription of 56 herbal medicines covered by health insurance that have been studied in Korea for the past 30 years, to evaluate the reliability of the evidence, and to find out the research direction of herbal medicine prescription in the future. Methods: 56 kinds of herbal medicine prescriptions were searched in domestic literature search databases OASIS, DBpia, and overseas PubMed, classified into chemistry, toxicity, cells, animals, clinical cases, and clinical trial studies, and built into an EBM pyramid structure. Results: When classified according to research contents, there were 61 cases (7.5%) of physicochemical analysis to identify constituent substances, 80 cases (9.8%) of toxicity evaluation, and 672 cases (82.7%) of efficacy evaluation. The efficacy evidence was classified according to the evidence-based medical pyramid structure: 196 cell trials (29.1%), 372 animal trials (55.4%), 89 case and case reporting series (13.3%), 7 comparative case studies (1.1%), and 8 randomized control clinical trials (1.2%). In the pyramid composition, the basis for the validity of 56 kinds of herbal medicines prescribed was 568 cases (84.5%) in cell and animal units, which could not be said to be highly reliable. There was no relationship between the ranking of quantitative literature evidence for herbal medicine prescriptions and the ranking of salary administration. Conclusions: In an era that continues to require scientific evidence for herbal medicine, traditional herbal medicine should secure the basis for safety validity even for the 10th most frequent prescription among 56 herbal medicine prescriptions for consumers. In particular, traditional herbal medicine should increase the quantitative and qualitative level of case reports on related herbal medicine prescriptions, focusing on each clinical society, and move toward comparative case studies and randomized clinical trial so that traditional herbal medicine is positioned as Evidence-based medicine.

• 대한화학회지
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.679-691
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• 2012

New series of metal complexes of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Pd(II) and Pt(II) with 4-(p-chlorophenyl)-1-(pyridin-2-yl)thiosemicarbazide (HCPTS) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic moment, spectra (IR, UV-Vis, $^1H$ NMR, mass and ESR) and thermal studies. The IR data suggest different coordination modes for HCPTS which behaves as a monobasic bidentate with all metal ions except Cu(II) and Zn(II) which acts as a monobasic tridentate. Based on the electronic and magnetic studies, Co(II), Cu(II), Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes have square - planner, Ni(II) has mixed stereochemistry (tetrahedral + square planar), while Zn(II) is tetrahedral. Molar conductance in DMF solution indicates the non-ionic nature of the complexes. The ESR spectra of solid copper(II) complex show $g_{\parallel}$ (2.2221) > $g_{\perp}$ (2.0899) > 2.0023 indicating square-planar structure and the presence of the unpaired electron in the $d_x2_{-y}2$ orbital with significant covalent bond character. The thermal stability and degradation kinetics of the ligand and its metal complexes were studied by TGA and DTA and the kinetic parameters were calculated using Coats-Redfern and Horowitz-Metzger methods. The complexes have more antibacterial activity against some bacteria than the free ligand. However, the ligand has high anticancer activities against HCT116 (human colon carcinoma cell line) and HEPG2 (human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) compared with its complexes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.1455-1459
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• 2014

We report a sensitive and reliable FRET-based nanotechnology assay for efficient detection and quantification of bisulfite-unmodified or modified DNA. Bisulfite-untreated DNA or bisulfite-treated DNA is subjected to PCR amplification with biotin-conjugated primers so that the amounts of bisulfite-untreated and treated DNA can be differentiated. Streptavidin-coated quantum dots (QDs) are used to capture biotinylated PCR products intercalated with SYBR Green, enabling FRET measurement. Key features of our method include its low intrinsic background noise, high resolution, and high sensitivity, enabling detection of as little as 1.75 ng of bisulfite-untreated DNA in the presence of an approximately 1,000-fold excess of bisulfite-untreated DNA compared to bisulfate-treated DNA, with the use of PCR reduced (as low as 15 cycles). SYBR Green as an intercalating dye as well as a FRET acceptor allows for a single-step preparation without the need for primers or probes to be chemically conjugated to an organic fluorophore. Multiple acceptors per FRET donor significantly enhance the signal-to-noise ratio as well. In consideration of the high relevance of bisulfite treatment to DNA methylation quantitation, our system for FRET measurement between QDs and intercalating dyes can be generally utilized to analyze DNA methylation and to potentially benefit the scientific and clinical community.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.694-700
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• 2017

Clostridium difficile, which causes pseudomembranous colitis, releases toxin A and toxin B. These toxins are considered to be the main causative agents for the disease pathogenesis, and their expression is associated with a marked increase of apoptosis in mucosal epithelial cells. Colonic epithelial cells are believed to form a physical barrier between the lumen and the submucosa, and abnormally increased mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis is considered to be an initial step in gut inflammation responses. Therefore, one approach to treating pseudomembranous colitis would be to develop agents that block the mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis caused by toxin A, thus restoring barrier function and curing inflammatory responses in the gut. We recently isolated an antimicrobial peptide, Periplanetasin-2 (Peri-2, YPCKLNLKLGKVPFH) from the American cockroach, whose extracts have shown great potential for clinical use. Here, we assessed whether Peri-2 could inhibit the cell toxicity and inflammation caused by C. difficile toxin A. Indeed, in human colonocyte HT29 cells, Peri-2 inhibited the toxin A-induced decrease in cell proliferation and ameliorated the cell apoptosis induced by this toxin. Moreover, in the toxin A-induced mouse enteritis model, Peri-2 blocked the mucosal disruption and inflammatory response caused by toxin A. These results suggest that the American cockroach peptide Peri-2 could be a possible drug candidate for addressing the pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. difficile toxin A.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.166-177
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• 2018

Plant essential oils are defined as fragrant volatile oils extracted from leaves, stems, fruits, flowers, and roots of a plant. Such oils are composed of multiple components and multiple functions. By accumulation of inductive information, various plant essential oils have been studied for using in therapeutic medicine for various diseases. Despite of the apparent advantages of essential oils as a source of therapeutic medicines, plant essential oils have many limitations, including cytotoxic side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the toxicity and the mechanisms of cytotoxicity of such oils. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity to human-derived cell lines of 10 plant essential oils provided by National Institute of Forest Science (i.e., Larix kaempferi; Abies holophylla; Zanthoxylum ailanthoides; Pinus parviflora; Tsuga sieboldti; Chamaecyparis pisifera; Cryptomeria japonica; Pinus densiflora; Illicium anisatum; Pinus thunbergii). Cytotoxicity evaluations were accomplished by using CCK-assays and PCR-based cytotoxicity-related marker gene analyses with A549 cell line, and the Detroit551 cell line which are lung and skin cell line. The genes were analyzed included caspase-3 has a role in cell apoptosis, and the other cyclinA, cyclinB, cyclinD, and cyclinE regulated cell cycling for the cell proliferation. By examining the five cytotoxicity-related marker genes by performing real-time PCR and examined the cytostatic gene regulation associated with the various essential oils. The results of this study showed that the degree of cytotoxicity and the cytostatic gene regulation which could give precious information for using the plant essential oil for the clinical usages.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.33-37
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• 2013

Autophagy is a degradation process that acts in response to environmental stressors. Recently, autophagy has been detected in normal term, preeclamptic and intrauterine growth-restricted placentas. The object of this work was to investigate the presence of autophagy in first trimester voluntary interruption of pregnancy placental villi by the expression of autophagy-related proteins, light chain 3 (LC3), and Beclin-1. In first trimester placental villi laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) analysis revealed LC3 and Beclin-1 immunoreactivity prevalently located in villous cytotrophoblasts. Using LSCM, LC3, and Beclin-1 were localized to the cytoplasm of the trophoblast layer in human full-term placentas. Beclin-1 expression and LC3 activation were confirmed by western blotting. These data emphasize that autophagy activation is different among cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts depending on the gestational age and thus we speculate that autophagy might play a prosurvival role throughout human pregnancy.

• 농업과학연구
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.981-989
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• 2019

Coffee is a popular beverage worldwide, and the scale of consumption is growing rapidly. Many studies have shown that increased coffee consumption has various effects on human health, including beneficial effects on liver diseases, clinical type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. However, the influences of coffee or caffeine (a component of coffee) on the gut microbiota have not been examined in detail. Here, we tested whether caffeine could alter the antimicrobial activity of L. casei against E. coli. Interestingly, we found that treatment with 0.3 mg/mL caffeine increased the antimicrobial activity of L. casei against E. coli. This activity was not associated with the release of lactic acid but did appear to be related to a heat-labile factor present in the L. casei culture supernatant. Our analyses suggest that the putative antimicrobial factor found in the culture supernatant of L. casei treated with caffeine may be bacteriocin. Taken together, our results suggest that caffeine, which is an ingredient of coffee, increases the antimicrobial activity of L. casei against E. coli through the enhanced production of bacteriocin. These findings also suggest that coffee consumption affects the ability of beneficial bacteria to decrease pathogenic bacteria and/or prevent the progression of bacterial infection-associated diseases in the gut.