• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.354-362
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• 2018

Periogen is a new caries activity test using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of Periogen by evaluating the correlation with dmft, dmfts indices and comparing with Cariview and caries risk assessment tool (CAT). 83 children under 6 participated in this study. Dmft, dmfts indices and CAT were collected through an examination of oral health status. Plaque samples for Periogen and Cariview were collected and manipulated according to the manufactures' instructions. The correlation coefficient of Periogen, Cariview and CAT with the dmfts index were 0.38, 0.56 and 0.66 in each (p < 0.01). The sensitivity of Periogen, Cariview and CAT were 43%, 76% and 95% and specificity were 80%, 72% and 74% respectively. Area under curve under the receiver operating characteristic curves in each method indicated 0.69, 0.81 and 0.85. CAT and Cariview were more effective in evaluation the risk of dental caries than Periogen so far. To be used Periogen clinically, more improvements for higher validity were needed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1681-1690
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a reported p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-${\alpha}$ (PFT-${\alpha}$), on preimplantation porcine in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryo development in culture. Treatment of PFT-${\alpha}$ was administered at both early (0 to 48 hpi), and later stages (48 to 168 hpi) of preimplantation development, and its impact upon the expression of five genes related to apoptosis (p53, bak, bcl-xL, p66Shc and caspase3), was assessed in resulting d 7 blastocysts, using real-time quantitative PCR. Total cell numbers, along with the number of apoptotic nuclei, as detected by the in situ cell death detection assay, were also calculated on d 7 in treated and non-treated control embryos. The results indicate that PFT-${\alpha}$, when administered at both early and later stages of porcine IVF embryo development, increases the incidence of apoptosis in resulting blastocysts. When administered at early cleavage stages, PFT-${\alpha}$ treatment was shown to reduce the developmental competence of porcine IVF embryos, as well as reducing the quality of resulting blastocysts in terms of overall cell numbers. In contrast, at later stages, PFT-${\alpha}$ administration resulted in marginally increased blastocyst development rates amongst treated embryos, but did not affect cell numbers. However, PFT-${\alpha}$ treatment induced apoptosis and apoptotic related gene expression, in all treated embryos, irrespective of the timing of treatment. Our results indicate that PFT-${\alpha}$ may severely compromise the developmental potential of porcine IVF embryos, and is a potent apoptotic agent when placed into porcine embryo culture media. Thus, caution should be exercised when using PFT-${\alpha}$ as a specific inhibitor of p53 mediated apoptosis, in the context of porcine IVF embryo culture systems.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1660-1666
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• 2012

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), one of the world's most geographically widespread diseases, still represents a considerable economic and public health significance, although a variety of methods has been used to control the disease. It has been demonstrated that genetic factors, especially variations in MHC loci, can influence the outcome of CE infection in the human population. The study described here was designed to determine whether variation in MHC-DQB1 was associated with susceptibility or resistance to CE in sheep. If so, it would lay a theoretical foundation for breeding disease resistance sheep in future. This study was carried out on 204 Chinese Merino sheep, including 101 CE sheep and 103 healthy controls. The polymorphism of MHC-DQB1 exon 2 was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, and $x^2$ test was used to compare genotype frequencies between CE sheep and healthy controls. A total of 22 alleles and 42 genotypes were identified in DQB1 exon 2 in Chinese Merino sheep. In addition, $x^2$ test showed that frequencies of DQB1-TaqIaa and DQB1-HaeIIInn genotypes were significantly higher in the healthy group (82.5% and 57.3%, respectively) than that in the CE group (57.4% and 28.9%, respectively) (both p values = 0, OR = 0.286, 0.303, respectively), suggesting that these genotypes appeared to be associated with resistance to CE. Whereas, frequencies of DQB1-TaqIab and DQB1-HaeIIImn genotypes were significantly higher in the CE group (36.9% and 32.0%, respectively), as compared with the healthy group (16.5% and 11.15%, respectively) (p = 0.001, 0.001 and OR = 2.963, 3.629, respectively), indicating that these genotypes might be associated with susceptibility to CE. It is concluded that the genetic polymorphism within MHC-DQB1 might influence immune responses to pathogens, thus leading to the development of CE or protection against CE in Chinese Merino sheep, which would pave the way for breeding disease resistance sheep in future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.664-670
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• 2016

Cheonggukjang (CKJ) is a Korean traditional food made of fermented soybeans. In comparison to normal intake of soybeans, Cheonggukjang has high digestibility with bioactive, antioxidant substances, and thrombolytic enzymes. Recent studies have reported anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity activities as well as inhibitory activities against osteoporosis for CKJ. In this study, we identified the effects of CKJ on osteoblast differentiation by increasing the polyglutamic acid (PGA) content of CKJ. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralization significantly increased in response to treatment with both natural CKJ (CKJ A) and PGA-increased CKJ (CKJ B). However, CKJ B exhibited higher ALP activity and mineralization than CKJ A. Real-time reverse transcription PCR demonstrated that mRNA expression of osteoblastic-associated genes such as type I collagen, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and osteopontin in C2C12 cells was significantly up-regulated by CKJ A or B treatment. These results indicate that treatment with CKJ has an anabolic effect on bone by increasing osteoblastic differentiation and ALP activity. Increasing PGA content in CKJ had a greater effect than CKJ A on up-regulation of osteoblastic gene expression in osteoblast cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.625-633
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• 2016

Allium hookeri is known as a healthy food since it contains larger amounts of sulfur compounds than commonly known alliaceous plants. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of A. hookeri were compared between two types of extracts, $80^{\circ}C$ water and 95% ethanol extracts of A. hookeri roots. A. hookeri root 95% ethanol extracts displayed superior total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity [1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) radical scavenging activity], and anti-inflammation activity than those of water extracts (P<0.05). We studied the effects of A. hookeri root 95% ethanol extracts (95% ethanol extracts group: AHE) on acute alcohol-induced intoxication in mice. AHE [250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg body weight (BW)/d] was orally administered to the study group once a day for 1 week. On the last day of AHE treatment, 40% ethanol (10 mL/kg BW) was orally administered to induce acute liver injury. The blood alcohol concentration of mice treated with AHE was significantly lower compared to the control group (P<0.05). The levels of hepatic aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were lower in the AHE-treated group than the control group (P<0.05). The RT-PCR results for alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase measured based on mRNA in liver tissues showed that enzyme activities were higher in the AHE-treated group than in the control group at a low blood alcohol concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2013

We investigated the effect of red cabbage extract (RCE) on cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Cells were cultured in the presence 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg/mL concentrations of RCE for 24 hours. MTT assays demonstrated that mitochondrial dehydrogenase activities decreased in a dose-dependent manner in cells (p<0.05). In contrast, the proportion of dual staining with Hoechst 33342/ethidium bromide (EtBr) for cell death increased in a dose-dependent manner in cells (p<0.05). Flow cytometry assays revealed that cell death caused by an apoptotic program increased in a dose-dependent (p<0.05). Also, increased ROS accumulation in cells, as revealed by DCF-DA staining, was observed in a dose-dependent fashion (p<0.05). The apoptosis suppressor gene Bcl-2 decreased significantly at the mRNA level. Pro-apoptotic genes Bax and caspase-3, genes that are related to the last stage of apoptosis significantly increased. The Bcl-2/Bax ratio which is an important indicator of apoptosis, was found to have significantly decreased dose dependence. These results taken together indicate that the effect of red cabbage extract induces cell death in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.169-174
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• 2004

A hot water extract(HWE-P4) was separated from the fruit bodies of PMO-P4, and its antitumor and immunomodulatory activities against sarcoma-180 in ICR mice were investigated. The internal transcribed spacer(ITS) regions from PMO-P4 were amplified using polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and sequenced. The results revealed that PMO-P4 was belong to the Phellinus baumii. When oral administration at the dose of 160mg/kg/day in the mice until the end of the experiment with 2 week's pre-feeding of the HWE-P4, the survival rate of the mice was 152% for 50days after the inoculation of sarcoma-180 and the suppression rate of the tumor growth was 35.3%(p<0.05) for 28 days after inoculation of sarcoma-180. The HWE-P4 increased 71.4% of the CD4/CD8 ratio and 5-fold of the expression of CD25(IL-2 receptor chain) compared with the control. From these results, the antitumor activity of HWE-P4 is exerted through its immunomodulating activity on the host's immune system.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.339-351
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• 2012

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the most frequently used serum for the cultivation of mammalian cells. However, since animal-derived materials might not be appropriate due to safety issues, allogeneic human serum (HS) has been used to replace FBS, particularly for the culture of human cells. While there has been a debate about the advantages of HS, its precise effect on human adult stem cells have not been clarified. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of HS on the human eyelid adipose stem cells (HEACs) in vitro. When HEACs were cultivated in a medium containing 10% HS, many cells moved into several spots and aggregated there. The phenomenon was observed as early as 9 days following 10% HS treatment, and 12 days following 5% HS plus 5% FBS treatment. However, the aggregation was never observed when the same cells were cultivated with 10% FBS or bovine serum albumin. To examine whether cell density might affect the aggregation, cells were seeded with different densities on 12-well dish. Until the beginning of aggregation, cells seeded at low densities exhibited the longest culture period of 16 days whereas cells seeded at high densities showed the shortest period of 9 days to form aggregation. The number of cells was $15.1{\pm}0.2{\times}10^4$ as the least for the low density group, and $29.3{\pm}2.8{\times}10^4$ as the greatest for the high density group. When human cord blood serum or normal bovine serum was examined for the same effect on HEACs, interestingly, cord blood serum induced the aggregation of cells whereas bovine serum treatment has never induced. When cells were cultivated with 10% HS for 9 days, they were obtained and analyzed by RT-PCR. Compared to FBS-cultivated HEACs, HS-cultivated HEACs did not express VIM, and less expressed GATA4, PALLD. On the other hand, HS-cultivated HEACs expressed MAP2 more than FBS-cultivated HEACs. In conclusion, human adult stem cells could move and form aggregates by the treatment with human body fluids.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.344-351
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• 2013

Microsatellite is one of the most suitable marker for cultivar identification as it has great discrimination power for cultivars with narrow genetic variation. The polymorphism level between 358 microsatellite primer pairs and 11 commercial cucumber cultivars was investigated. Thirty-one primer pairs showed high polymorphism within cucumber cultivars with different fruit types. These markers were applied for the constructing DNA profile data base of 110 commercial cucumber cultivars through multiplex PCR and fluorescence based automatic detection system. A total of 139 polymorphic amplified fragments were obtained by using 31 microsatellite markers. The average of PIC value was 0.610 ranging from 0.253 to 0.873. One hundred and thirty nine microsatellite loci were used to calculate Jaccard's distance coefficients for UPGMA cluster analysis. A clustering group of varieties, based on the results of microsatellite analysis, were categorized into plant shape and fruit type. Almost the cultivars were discriminated by marker genotypes. This information may be useful to compare through genetic relationship analysis between existing variety and candidate varieties in distinctive tests and protection of plant breeders' intellectual property rights through variety identification.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.131-149
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• 2007

Objectives : The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of herbal acupuncture (HA) with Moxi-tar for the treatment to intestinal disease in mice with 2, 4, 6 - trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis. Methods : Mice were administered with 5% TNBS at day 1 and day 7. To investigate effects of HA with Moxi-tar at LI11, treatments were carried out at day -1, day 1, day 3, day 5, and day 7. It was checked on the weight and width of colon, diarrhea, edema, survival rate, changes of body weight, and myeloperoxygenase (MPO) activity. Furthermore, we carried out immunohistochemical staining and Western blot and analyzed mRNA expression by RT-PCR. Results : HA of Moxi-tar at LI11 in preventive mode suppressed macroscopic damages and damages of intestinal epithelial cells and infiltration of immune cells in the colon by TNBS. HA in early and preventive mode ameliorated various symptoms by TNBS. TNBS injection increased MPO activity in colon while HA in preventive mode suppressed increase of MPO activity. HA down-regulated NF-kB activity and reduced expression of TNF-a, IL-1b, and ICAM-1 in colon of TNBS treated mice. Similar to experiment at colon, HA down-regulated NF-kB activity and reduced expression of TNF-a, IL-1b, and ICAM-1 by TNBS in mesenteric lymph node. HA in therapeutic mode suppressed errosion and shortening of colon and MPO activity by TNBS and suppressed mRNA expression of TNF-a, IL-1b, and ICAM-1 in the colon. Conclusions : This study demonstrates that HA with Moxi-tar at LI11 represents a potential therapeutic method of inflammatory bowel diseases.