• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
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• 2001.12a
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• pp.61-68
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• 2001

Soybean, rice and nuts are the staple foods in South East Asia. In order to clarify the function of these foods in relation to coronary heart diseases, we have done a series of experiments using animals and humans. Soybean protein preparations (SPI) in comparison with an animal protein, casein (CAS), resulted in reducing atherosclerotic lesion development in apolipoprotein (apo) E deficient mice that develop an advanced lesion similar to that in humans. This action was attributed to the protein, since the ethanol-extracted SPI (EE-SPI), from which isoflavones and saponins removed, lowered the lesion development in apo E-deficient mice. However, The EE-SPI, compared to the SPI, resulted in a decrease of mRNA for key proteins of cholesterol metabolism (low density lipoprotein receptor and cholesterol 7$\alpha$-hydroxylase) in hypercholesterolemic rats, followed by an elevation of the serum cholesterol level, indicating a contribution of isoflavones to the serum cholesterol level. Rice protein (RPI) was also effective to lower the lesion development in apo E deficient mice. Both the SPI and RPI led to an increased level of the serum NOiN03, metabolites of NO. This effect appeared to be attributed to their high content of arginine. Besides, C57BL/6J mice fed a diet containing whole grain rice had an elevation of the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Furthermore, rice bran oil and the unsaponifiable fraction that is rich in plant sterols were effective to lower serum cholesterol levels in hypercholeserolemic rats. Finally, we tested if walnuts consumption would be hypocholesterolemic for Japanese. A diet containing walnuts effectively lowered the serum total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in Japanese men and women. These animal and human experiments would be relevant to advocate publics to keep consuming diets including soybean, rice and nuts for their healthful life.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.197-200
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• 2016

Cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite, can cause cryptosporidiosis which is a gastrointestinal disease that can infect humans and livestock. Cattle are the most common livestock that can be infected with this protozoan. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia and to find out the association between the occurrence of infection and 3 different ages of cattle (calves less than 1 year, yearling, and adult cattle). The samples were processed by using formol-ether concentration technique and stained by modified Ziehl Neelsen. The results showed that 15.9% (24/151) of cattle were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium in calves less than 1 year was the highest with the percentage of 20.0% (11/55) followed by yearling and adult cattle, with the percentage occurrence of 15.6 % (7/45) and 11.8% (6/51), respectively. There was no significant association between the occurrence and age of cattle and presence of diarrhea. Good management practices and proper hygiene management must be taken in order to reduce the infection. It is highly important to control the infection since infected cattle may serve as potential reservoirs of the infection to other animals and humans, especially animal handlers.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.274-281
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• 2018

A previous study in humans demonstrated the sustained inhibitory effects of donepezil on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity; however, the effective concentration of donepezil in humans and animals is unclear. This study aimed to characterize the effective concentration of donepezil on AChE inhibition and impaired learning and memory in rodents. A pharmacokinetic study of donepezil showed a mean peak plasma concentration of donepezil after oral treatment (3 and 10 mg/kg) of approximately $1.2{\pm}0.4h$ and $1.4{\pm}0.5h$, respectively; absolute bioavailability was calculated as 3.6%. Further, AChE activity was inhibited by increasing plasma concentrations of donepezil, and a maximum inhibition of $31.5{\pm}5.7%$ was observed after donepezil treatment in hairless rats. Plasma AChE activity was negatively correlated with plasma donepezil concentration. The pharmacological effects of donepezil are dependent upon its concentration and AChE activity; therefore, we assessed the effects of donepezil on learning and memory using a Y-maze in mice. Donepezil treatment (3 mg/kg) significantly prevented the progression of scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice. As the concentration of donepezil in the brain increased, the recovery of spontaneous alternations also improved; maximal improvement was observed at $46.5{\pm}3.5ng/g$ in the brain. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the AChE inhibitory activity and pharmacological effects of donepezil can be predicted by the concentration of donepezil. Further, $46.5{\pm}3.5ng/g$ donepezil is an efficacious target concentration in the brain for treating learning and memory impairment in rodents.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.243-248
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• 2013

Q fever is a rickettsial infection caused by Coxiella burnetii that is transmitted from animals to humans. Modes of transmission to humans include inhalation, tick bites and ingestion of unpasteurized milk or dairy products. This survey was aimed at monitoring the seroprevalence of C. burnetii in bulk-tank milk (BTM) in Gyeongbuk province. In addition, the seroprevalence of C. burnetii was investigated at the herd level of dairy cattle in eastern Gyeongbuk province in which many dairy cattle are reared. Among 324 BTM samples collected from 20 country areas, 175 (54%) BTM samples from 15 (75%) country areas were positive for C. burnetii by ELISA. By regions, the seroprevalence of BTM samples in eastern, central, western and northern areas of Gyeongbuk province were 62.7%, 48.4%, 45.1%, and 41.4%, respectively. When analyzed in the dairy cattle reared in the eastern area where high seroprevalence occurred in BTM samples, 119 (24.2%) out of 492 dairy cattle were positive for C. burnetii. Seroprevalence of C. burnetii in dairy cattle was increased with daily milk yield of farm (P<0.05) and age (P<0.001). Since seroprevalence of C. burnetii is relatively high in both BTM samples and dairy cattle reared in Gyeongbuk province, further studies on the high risk farms and herds are needed to evaluate infection status and appropriate control programs in this region.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.665-670
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• 2019

Sporulated oocysts from the feces of infected cats with Toxoplasma gondii can cause detrimental disease in both humans and animals. To investigate the prevalence of feral cats that excrete T. gondii oocysts in the feces, we examined fecal samples of 563 feral cats over a 3-year period from 2009 to 2011. Oocysts of T. gondii excreted into the feces were found from 4 of 128 cats in 2009 (3.1%) and one of 228 (0.4%) in 2010 while none of the 207 cats in 2010 were found positive with oocysts in their feces, resulting in an overall prevalence rate of 0.89% (5/563) between 2009 and 2011. Among the 5 cats that tested positive with T. gondii oocysts, 4 of the cats were male and 1 was a female with an average body weight of 0.87 kg. Numerous tissue cysts of 60 ㎛ in diameter with thin (<0.5 ㎛) cyst walls were found in the brain of one of the 5 cats on necropsy 2 months after the identification of oocysts in the feces. A PCR amplification of the T. gondii-like oocysts in the feces of the positive cats using the primer pairs Tox-5/Tox-8 and Hham34F/Hham3R confirmed the presence of T. gondii oocysts in the feces. This study provides a good indication of the risk assessment of feral cats in the transmission of T. gondii to humans in Korea.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.142-148
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• 2005

The immune response-related genes have been suggested to be the most favorable genes for positive selection during evolution. Comparing the entire DNA sequence of chimpanzee chromosome 22 (PTR22) with human chromosome 21 (HSA21), we have identified 15 orthologs having indel in their coding sequences. Among them, interferon-${\alpha}$ receptor-1 gene (IFNAR1), an immuneresponse-related gene, is subjected to comparative genomic analysis. Chimpanzee IFNAR1 showed the same genomic structure as human IFNAR1 (11 exons and 10 introns) except the 3 bp insertion in exon 4. The sequence alignment of IFNAR1 coding sequence indicated that 'ISPP' amino acid sequence motif is highly conserved in chimpanzee and other animals including mouse and chicken. However, the human IFNAR1 shows that one proline residue is missing in the sequence motif. The homology modeling of the IFNAR1 structures suggests that the proline deletion in human IFNAR1 leads to the formation of the following ${\alpha}$-helix, whereas two sequential prolines in chimpanzee IFNAR1 inhibit it. As a result, human IFNAR1 may adopt a characteristic structure distinct from chimpanzee IFNAR1. This human specific trait could contribute to specific immune response in the most optimized manner for humans. Further molecular biological studies on the IFNAR1 will help us to gain insights into the molecular implication of species-specific host-pathogen interaction in primate evolution.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.69
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• pp.373-400
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• 2017

The objective of this study is to compare the modern transformation of a folk tale in each country. A folk tale is a story about a man who obtained an ability to see the original look of humans with tiger's eyebrows successfully found a new wife suitable for him by using them. In Korea, China, Japan, and India, folk tales similar to have been transmitted. 'Tiger's Eyebrows' is differently shown in each country like 'Wolf's Eyebrows' in Japan, 'Tiger's Whisker' in China, and 'Vulture's Feather' in India. This paper looked for works that modernly transformed this folk tale in each country. In the results, there were diverse works in each country such as fairy tale book, musical, short story, and game in Korea, full-length novel in China, and fairy tale, animation, and cartoon in Japan. Meanwhile, in India, there was only a mention of the folk tale in a collection of papers. Among them, there were works showing the significance of modern transformation in the aspect of genre or contents like a short story of Korea, a full-length novel of China, and a cartoon of Japan. The Korean novel shows that human is a being with the animal's instinct while human tries to ignore it. On the other hand, the Chinese novel shows that humans are not much different from animals especially in case when facing pains or death. The Japanese cartoon shows that it is meaningless to feel shame as human in the world which is filled with monsters or animals. In India, there were no works modernly transformed because Indian folk tales might be stories based on the mythic belief rather than fun.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.205-209
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• 2014

Echinococcus granulosus is the causative agent of cystic echinococcosis with medical and veterinary importance in China. Our main objective was to discuss the genotypes and genetic diversity of E. granulosus present in domestic animals and humans in western China. A total of 45 hydatid cyst samples were collected from sheep, humans, and a yak and subjected to an analysis of the sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene. The amplified PCR product for all samples was a 1,068 bp band. The phylogenetic analysis showed that all 45 samples were identified as E. granulosus (genotype G1). Ten haplotypes were detected among the samples, with the main haplotype being H1. The haplotype diversity was 0.626, while the nucleotide diversity was 0.001. These results suggested that genetic diversity was low among our samples collected from the west of China based on cytb gene analysis. These findings may provide more information on molecular characteristics of E. granulosus from this Chinese region.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.477-481
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• 2015

Giardia is a major public health concern and considered as reemerging in industrialized countries. The present study investigated the prevalence of giardiosis in 202 sheltered dogs using PCR. The infection rate was 33.2% (67/202); Gyeongsangbuk-do and Daejeon showed 25.7% (39/152, P<0.0001) and 56% (28/50), respectively. The prevalence of infected female dogs (46.7%, P<0.001) was higher than in male dogs (21.8%). A higher prevalence (43.5%, P<0.0001) was observed in mixed breed dogs than purebred (14.1%). Although most of the fecal samples collected were from dogs of ${\geq}1$ year of age which showed only 27.4% positive rate, 61.8% (P<0.001) of the total samples collected from young animals (<1 year of age) were positive for G. intestinalis. A significantly higher prevalence in symptomatic dogs (60.8%, P<0.0001) was observed than in asymptomatic dogs (23.8%). Furthermore, the analysis of nucleotide sequences of the samples revealed that G. intestinalis Assemblages A and C were found in the feces of dogs from Gyeongsangbuk-do and Daejeon. Since G. intestinalis Assemblage A has been known to infect humans, our results suggest that dogs can act as an important reservoir of giardiosis in Korea. Hence, hygienic management should be given to prevent possible transmission to humans.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.212-214
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• 2015

Encephalitoozoon cuniculi is an obligate intracellular microsporidian parasite commonly found in rabbits, causing encephalitozoonosis. This organism can also infect a wide range of hosts including humans, which is known to cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals. In this case, four rabbits presented with head tilt and nystagmus were diagnosed for E. cuniculi infection using ELISA. The rabbits were treated with fenbendazole for 4 weeks and therapeutic success was evaluated by assessing the neurological symptoms. Three out of 4 rabbits showed improved health condition 3 to 5 days after treatment, but one rabbit showed persistent anorexia and head tilt after treatment and then died after 10 days. This report is the first to investigate the therapeutic response of fenbendazole for rabbit encephalitozoonosis in Korea, and suggests that pet rabbits may serve as potential E. cuniculi reservoirs for both pet animals and humans.