• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.195-195
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• 2003

It is well known that diesel exhaust particulate matter contains mutagenic PAHs, such as benzo[${\alpha}$]pyrene, benz[${\alpha}$]anthracene, chrysene, etc. Therefore it is suspected that these chemicals act on estrogen receptor and reveal endocrine-disrupting effects. Recent attention has focused on causative chemicals of endocrine-disrupting effects. We examined the estrogenic activity of respirable diesel exhaust particulate matter derived from diesel powered vehicle. PM2.5 diesel exhaust of vehicle was collected using a high volume sampler equipped with a cascade impactor. Diesel exhaust samples were fractionated according to EPA methods. The presence of estrogenic and antiestrogenic chemicals in PM 2.5 diesel exhaust was determined using E-screen assay. To quantitatively assess the estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities in diesel exhaust particulate matter, estradiol equivalent concentration (bio-EEQ) was calculated by comparing the concentration response curve of the sample with those of the estrogen calibration curve. Weak estrogenic activities and strong antiestrogenic activities were detected in the crude extract and moderately polar fractions. Higher antiestrogenic potency was observed with higher EROD activities in aliphatic and aromatic compounds fraction. In conclusion, estrogenic/antiestrogenic-like activities were present in diesel exhaust particulate matter. However, the health consequences of this observation was unknown, the presence of these activities may contribute to and exacerbate adverse health effect evoked by diesel exhaust particulate matter.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2006

Vitellogenin (Vtg), a phospholipoglycoprotein precursor of egg yolk is synthesized and secreted from the liver in response to estrogens in female fish. Vtg is normally undetectable in the blood of male fish, but can be induced by exposure to chemicals possessing estrogenic activity. Thus, the presence of Vtg in blood of male fish can serve as a useful biomarker for assessing previous exposure to estrogenic compounds. In the present study, Vtg was abnormally expressed in Rhynchocypris oxycephalus using estradiol benzoate ($E_2$). As the result, it was found that the level of Vtg in blood from R. oxycephalus was increased by treated quantity of $E_2$ with dose-effect manner. Monoclonal antibodies were generated against Vtg of R. oxycephalus. The hybridoma were screened with an enzyme immunoassay for the production of specific anti-Vtg antibodies. Five positive cell lines with a high specificity were selected. Monoclonal antibodies against vtg of R. oxycephalus that was developed in this study, may be a useful bio-indicator for the detection of estrogenic contamination in the aquatic ecosystem.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2015

Synthetic pyrethroids (SPs) are the most common pesticides which are recently used for indoor pest control. The widespread use of SPs has resulted in the increased exposure to wild animals and humans. Recently, some SPs are suspected as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and have been assessed for their potential estrogenicity by adopting various analyzing assays. In this study, we examined the estrogenic effects of lambda-cyhalothrin (LC) and cypermethrin (CP), the most commonly used pesticides in Korea, using BG-1 ovarian cancer cells expressing estrogen receptors (ERs). To evaluate the estrogenic activities of two SPs, LC and CP, we employed MTT assay and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in LC or CP treated BG-1 ovarian cancer cells. In MTT assay, LC ($10^{-6}M$) and CP ($10^{-5}M$) significantly induced the growth of BG-1 cancer cells. LC or CP-induced cell growth was antagonized by addition of ICI 182,720 ($10^{-8}M$), an ER antagonist, suggesting that this effect appears to be mediated by an ER-dependent manner. Moreover, RT-PCR results showed that transcriptional level of cyclin D1, a cell cycle-regulating gene, was significantly up-regulated by LC and CP, while these effects were reversed by co-treatment of ICI 182,780. However, p21, a cyclin D-ckd-4 inhibitor gene, was not altered by LC or CP. Moreover, $ER{\alpha}$ expression was not significantly changed by LC and CP, while down-regulated by E2. Finally, in xenografted mouse model transplanted with human BG-1 ovarian cancer cells, E2 significantly increased the tumor volume compare to a negative control, but LC did not. Taken together, these results suggest that LC and CP may possess estrogenic potentials by stimulating the growth of BG-1 ovarian cancer cells via partially ER signaling pathway associated with cell cycle as did E2, but this estrogenic effect was not found in in vivo mouse model.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.128-135
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• 2019

This study evaluates the effect of dissolved effluent organic matter (SE-dEfOM) from sewage wastewater treatment plants on the adsorption and estrogenic activity of bisphenol A (BPA). Specific ultraviolet absorbance and fluorescence index analyses indicated that SE-dEfOM was mainly microbially derived non-humic substances differed from Suwannee River natural organic matter (SR-NOM) as reference. Both Langmuir and Freundlich models successfully explained the adsorption of BPA onto both SE-dEfOM and SR-NOM. Additionally, the SE-dEfOM showed higher binding capacities and affinities for BPA than those of SR-NOM, resulting in better reduction of the estrogenic activity of BPA. These findings suggest that the binding and toxicity of BPA are largely dependent on the source of organic matters.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.318-327
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• 2017

Background: A typical sewage treatment plant is designed for organic and nutrient removal from municipal sewage water and not targeted to eliminate micropollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and nano-sized metals which become a big concern for sustainable human and ecological system and are mainly discharged from sewage treatment plant. Therefore, despite contaminant removal by wastewater treatment processes, there are still remaining environmental risks by untreated pollutants in STP (sewage treatment plant) effluents. This study performed aquatic toxicity tests of raw wastewater and treated effluents in two sewage treatment plants to evaluate toxicity reduction by wastewater treatment process and analyze concentration of contaminants to reveal potential toxic factors in STP effluents. Methods: Water samples were collected from each treatment steps of two STPs, and acute and chronic toxicity tests were conducted following USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines. Endpoints were immobility for mortality and reproduction effect for estrogenicity. Results: Acute $EC_{50}s$ (median effective concentration) of influents for Seungki (SK) and Jungnang (JN) STPs are $54.13{\pm}32.64%$ and $30.38{\pm}24.96%$, respectively, and reduced to $96.49{\pm}7.84%$ and 100%. Acute toxicity reduction was clearly correlated with SS (suspended solids) concentration because of filter feeding characteristics of test organisms. Chronic toxicity tests revealed that lethal effect was reduced and low concentration of influents showed higher number of neonates. However, toxicity reduction was not related to nutrient removal. Fecundity effect positively increased in treated wastewater compared to that in raw wastewater, and no significant differences were observed compared to the control group in JN final effluent implying potential effects of estrogenic compounds in the STP effluents. Conclusions: Conventional wastewater treatment process reduced some organics and nutritional compounds from wastewater, and it results in toxicity reduction in lethal effect and positive reproductive effect but not showing correlation. Unknown estrogenic compounds could be a reason causing the increase of brood size. This study suggests that pharmaceutical residues and nanoparticles in STP effluents are one of the major micropollutants and underline as one of estrogenic effect factors.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2007

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.667-672
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• 2015

Cynanchum wilfordii and Phlomis umbrosa Turcz. are known to contain isoflavone, a representative phytoestrogen. This study was performed to determine whether the extract mixture of C. wilfordii and P. umbrosa Turcz. would induce an estrogenic effect in ovariectomized rats. The extracts were administered to the ovariectomized rats at 30, 60, 120 mg/kg per day for 4 weeks, respectively. They showed no estrogenic effect, which was indicated by the decrease in uterus wall thickness as well as the increase in body weight and the level of cholesterol and triglyceride. The extracts also had no effect on the concentrations of estrogen and growth hormone in the serum. However, the increase in alkaline phosphatase activity, which leads to protection against the bone loss caused by ovariectomy, was noted on administration of the extract. Therefore, it seemed that the extracts of C. wilfordii and P. umbrosa Turcz. had no estrogenic effect in rats.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.207-210
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• 2007

The study was designed to determine the estrogenic effect of some penicillins on endocrine function in adult Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Vitellogenin (Vtg) produced in male fish has been used for a biomarker to study endocrine disrupters. $17\beta-estradiol\;(E_2)$ was used a positive control that was induced Vtg in male fish. Result of total protein qantification and ELISA for female and male fish were exposed to $17\beta-estradiol$ 10ng/ml for $3\sim5$ days. As a result, male fish exposed to amoxicillin respectively appeared 0.75, 0.23, 8.21 and $9.36\%_{\circ}$ of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm respectively, that value was elevated compared with control male fish. Male fish exposed to ampicillin respectively appeared 1.85, 4.68, 0.85 and $39.59\%_{\circ}$ of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 ppm respectively, that value was elevated compared with control male fish. This study is one of the first reports suggesting potential endocrine disruption of some penicillins in aquatic ecosystem. These results suggest that vitellogenin and estrogen receptor induction patterns alter in male medaka treated with selected estrogenic compounds, and that these results may be useful molecular biomarkers for screening estrogenic EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals) in the shortest possible time.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2006

Genistein is a potent, plant-derived isoflavone that displays estrogenic activity at low concentrations but inhibits proliferation at high amounts. However, the molecular mechanism of genistein is not completely understood. In the present study, the biphasic effects (estrogenic and antiestrogenic activity) of genistein on the growth of MCF-7 cells were identified. Genistein within a low range of concentration, $1-10\;{\mu}M$, stimulated proliferation, while $50-100\;{\mu}M$ caused apoptotic cell death. Additionally, genistein at a low concentration induced estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated gene expression and ER phosphorylation. When pre-treated with PD98059, an MEK inhibitor, ER-mediated gene expression and ER phosphorylation by genistein were noticeably increased. However, the increased gene expression and phosphorylation did not enhance cell proliferation. Moreover, it was observed that ER-mediated signaling performs an important role in the MAPK pathway. The proliferation and apoptosis in genistein-treated MCF-7 cells were partially dependent on the Bcl-2 level. The addition of IC1 182, 780, an estrogen receptor antagonist, inhibited Bcl-2 expression induced by genistein. This study suggests that there is a close relationship between Bcl-2 and the ER signaling pathways in MCF-7 cells.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2016

This study investigates the effect of effluent organic matter (EfOM) from sewage wastewater treatment plants on estrogenic activity reduction of bisphenol A (BPA) by UV photolysis. The EfOM and Suwannee River natural organic matter (SR-NOM) as reference were isolated into hydrophobic (HPO), transphilic (TPI) and hydrophilic (HPI) fractions depending on polarity. The specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) analysis indicated that EfOM showed similar properties to microbially derived organic matters with low hydrophobicity, which is different from SR-NOM having high hydrophobicity. UV irradiation upto 3 hr significantly reduced SUVA values of both EfOM and SR-NOM (p<0.0001), depending on the polarity of organic matters. In the absence of organic matters, the relative estrogenic activity (REA) of BPA ($5.0{\times}10^{-5}M$) was decreased from 86% to 63% by UV photolysis (2 hr). However, the decrease of mean REA was from 68% to 37% in the presence of organic matters, which was significantly independent on the type (EfOM or SR-NOM) and polarity (HPO, TPI or HPI) of organic matters (p>0.05). As a result, the reduced REA by UV photolysis of BPA with and without organic matters was 31% and 23%, respectively, suggesting that both EfOM and SR-NOM accelerated the photolytic reduction of BPA estrogenic activity.