• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2865-2869
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• 2013

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can become chronic and if left untreated can progress to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Thailand is endemic for HBV and HCC is one of the top five cancers, causing deaths among Thai HBV-infected males. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the KIF1B gene locus, rs17401966, has been shown to be strongly associated with the development of HBV-related HCC. However, there are no Thai data on genotypic distribution and allele frequencies of rs17401966. Thai HBV patients seropositive for HBsAg (n=398) were therefore divided into two groups: a case group (chronic HBV with HCC; n=202) and a control group (HBV carriers without HCC; n=196). rs17401966 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and analyzed by direct nucleotide sequencing. The genotypic distribution of rs174019660 for homozygous major genotype (AA), heterozygous minor genotype (AG) and homozygous minor genotype (GG) in the case group was 49.5% (n=100), 40.1% (n=81) and 10.4% (n=21), respectively, and in controls was 49.5% (n=97), 42.3% (n=83) and 8.2% (n=16). Binary logistic regression showed that rs17401966 was not statistically associated with the risk of HCC development in Thai chronic HBV patients (p-value=0.998, OR=1.00 and 95% CI=0.68-1.48). In conclusion, the KIF1B gene SNP (rs174019660) investigated in this study showed no significant association with HBV-related HCC in Thai patients infected with HBV, indicating that there must be other mechanisms or pathways involved in the development of HCC.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.224-230
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• 2006

Japanese Quails were used to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with vitamin E (dl-a-tocopheryl-acetate), lycopene, and their combination on egg production, egg quality, concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), vitamin E, A and cholesterol in serum and egg yolk. Quails (n = 120; 55 d old) were divided into four groups (n = 30/group) and fed a basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with lycopene (100 mg/kg diet), vitamin E (250 mg dl-${\alpha}$-tocopheryl-acetate/kg diet) or a combination of lycopene and vitamin E (100 mg/kg lycopene plus 250 mg dl-${\alpha}$-tocopheryl-acetate/kg diet). Vitamin E and lycopene did not affect (p>0.05) body weight, feed intake or egg weight. Egg production and Haugh unit were greater (p<0.05) in each supplemental group compared with the control group (p<0.05). Serum and liver MDA levels were decreased in supplemented groups compared with the control group. Separately or as a combination, supplemental lycopene and vitamin E increased serum and egg yolk vitamin E and A but decreased cholesterol concentrations (p<0.05). In general, when a significant effect was found for a parameter, the magnitude of the responses to vitamin and lycopene supplements was greatest with the combination of the lycopene and vitamin E, rather than that observed with each supplement separately. Results of the present study indicate that supplementing with a combination of dietary lycopene and vitamin E reduced serum and yolk cholesterol concentrations and improved antioxidant status.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.413-418
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• 2014

Hydatid cyst caused by Echinococcus granulosus is one of the most important parasitic diseases around the world and many countries in Asia, including Iran, are involved with this infection. This disease can cause high mortality in humans as well as economic losses in livestock. To date, several molecular methods have been used to determine the genetic diversity of E. granulosus. So far, identification of E. granulosus using real-time PCR fluorescence-based quantitative assays has not been studied worldwide, also in Iran. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of E. granulosus from center of Iran using real-time PCR method. A total of 71 hydatid cysts were collected from infected sheep, goat, and cattle slaughtered in Isfahan, Iran during 2013. DNA was extracted from protoscolices and/or germinal layers from each individual cyst and used as template to amplify the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (cox1) (420 bp). Five cattle isolates out of 71 isolates were sterile and excluded from further investigation. Overall, of 66 isolates, partial sequences of the cox1 gene of E. granulosus indicated the presence of genotypes G1 in 49 isolates (74.2%), G3 in 15 isolates (22.7%), and G6 in 2 isolates (3.0%) in infected intermediate hosts. Sixteen sequences of G1 genotype had microgenetic variants, and they were compared to the original sequence of cox1. However, isolates identified as G3 and G6 genotypes were completely consistent with original sequences. G1 genotype in livestock was the dominant genotype in Isfahan region, Iran.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.612-617
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• 2012

The antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities of ovotransferrin were investigated in vitro. The antioxidant capacity of ovotransferrin was evaluated using the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method, antimicrobial effects using the agar well diffusion method, and cytotoxicity using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthizol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylatetetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The DPPH radical-scavenging capacity of ovotransferrin at 1 mg/mL level reached approximately 60% after 48 h of reaction. The antimicrobial effects of ovotransferrin against common food-borne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus KCCM 32395, Bacillus cereus KCCM 40935, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313, Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43895, and Helicobacter pylori HpKCTC 26695 were dose dependant. Gram-positive bacteria was more sensitive to ovotransferrin than gram-negative bacteria. Ovotransferrin showed stronger antimicrobial effect against L. monocytogenes than other gram-positive bacteria tested. The cytotoxicity of ovotransferrin was evaluated in human cancer cell lines, various tissue origins, including the larynx (Hep-2), stomach (AGS), lung (SK-MES-1), liver (HepG2), breast (MCF-7), cervix (HeLa), and colon (HT-29). Ovotransferrin displayed relatively high cytotoxicity (${\leq}60%$ inhibition effects) at 40 mg/mL. At lower concentrations (${\leq}10mg/mL$), however, ovotransferrin cytotoxic effects were not significant in all cancer cell lines tested. These results indicated that ovotransferrin has potential to be used as an antioxidant or antimicrobial agent in foods or a pharmaceutical agent against cancers.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2009

This study investigated whether trinitroglycerine (TNG) as nitric oxide (NO) releasing agent had anti-leishmanial effects and mediated pathology in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a zoonotic infection caused by leishmania protozoa is still one of the health problems in the world and in Iran. NO is involved in host immune responses against intracellular L. major, and leishmania killing by macrophages is mediated by this substance. Moreover, application of CL treatment with NO-donors has been recently indicated. In our study, TNG was used for its ability to increase NO and to modify CL infection in mice, in order to evaluate NO effects on lesion size and formation, parasite proliferation inside macrophages, amastigote visceralization in target organs, and NO induction in plasma and organ suspensions. Data obtained in this study indicated that TNG increased plasma and liver-NO, reduced lesion sizes, removed amastigotes from lesions, livers, spleens, and lymph nodes, declined proliferation of amastigotes, hepatomegaly, and increased survival rate. However, TNG reduced spleen-NO and had no significant effects on spelenomegaly. The results show that TNG therapy reduced leishmaniasis and pathology in association with raised NO levels. TNG had some antiparasitic activity by reduction of positive smears from lesions, livers, spleens, and lymph nodes, which could emphasize the role of TNG to inhibit visceralization of L. major in target organs.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2009

This study carried out development of a natural antimicrobial agent from Schima wallichii ssp. liukiuensis. Compound I exhibiting potent antimicrobial activity against Candida spp. was isolated from the methanol extracts of Schima wallichii ssp. liukiuensis. The structure of I identified as a sterol glycoside consisted of a trisaccharide and ${\alpha}_1$-sitosterol. Trisaccharide composed of L-rhamnose, D-galactose and D-glucose residues. The antimicrobial activity of I was selective on yeast rather than bacteria or other fungi. Compound I was demonstrated to be ineffective against toxicity to mouse liver cells where as protective to human dermal fibroblast cells at low concentrations. Thus, it is reasonable to expect a sterol glycoside (I) as a valuable alternative for synthetic antifungal.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate anti-glycemic and anti-lipid effects of Supungsunkihwan-gagambang, which is composed of Cornus officinalis, Dioscorea Batatas Decaisne, Auantii fructus and Platicodon grandiflorum. Methods: Diabetes was induced in ICR male mice ($24{\pm}1g$) with Surwit's high fat and high sucrose diet. Mice were divided into 3 groups (n=10) of normal, control and Supungsunkihwan-gagambang. The Supungsunkihwan-gagambang group was given 5% herbal medicine in their diet. The animals were fed on each experimental diet for 8 weeks. Body weight was assessed every week. At the 7th week, the fasting blood sugar (FBS) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were conducted in all experimental groups. After 8 weeks, fructosamine, lipid profile, epididymal fat weight, liver weight and white adipose tissue (WAT) size were measured. Results: Supungsunkihwan-gagambang significantly reduced FBS, OGTT and fructosamine. It also increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and significantly reduced triglyceride/HDL cholesterol ratio, total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio and WAT size. Conclusions: These results show that Supungsunkihwan-gagambang improves anti-glycemic and anti-lipid effect in high fat diet-induced obese mice. Therefore we suggest that Supungsunkihwan-gagambang could be an effective treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2003

The activity of phase II enzyme in the liver of mice was examined following the application of Cnidium officinale Makino aqua-acupuncture solution (COMAS). The application of COMAS $CV_{12}$ to mice for 7 days increased quinone reductase(QR) activity. The glutathione S-transferase(GST) activity was also increased with COMAS. A greater increase was observed in the glutathione(GSH) levels than in the QR and GST activities.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2011

We studied the acute oral toxicity of black ginseng (BG) produced by heat process in rats. Single acute BG extract doses of 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/kg dissolved in saline were administered by oral gavage and the animals were kept under observation for 14 days. The single administration of BG extract up to 15 g/kg did not produce mortality, behavioral change or abnormal clinical signs in the rats. These results indicated that the oral $LD_{50}$ of the BG extract in the rats is higher than 15 g/kg. Compared to the control group, no treatment-related biologically significant effects of BG extract were noted in the measurements of the body weight or food intake. At the end of the period, the biochemical parameters and hematological parameters were analyzed in the plasma and blood. A histopathological examination of the liver and kidney was also conducted. Only the blood nitrogen urea and potassium levels in the biochemical indices showed significant differences at 10 and 15 g/kg doses of BG extract compared to the control group. These changes were not considered to be due to the toxicity. None of the other clinical chemistry parameters were affected. Therefore, these results indicate that the BG by heat processing is virtually nontoxic.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.861-867
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• 2003

Inhibitory effect of the lectins (KML-C) isolated from Korean mistletoe (KM; Viscum album coloratum) on tumor metastases produced by murine tumor cells (B16-BL6 melanoma, colon 26M3.1 carcinoma and L5178Y-ML25 lymphoma cells) was investigated in syngeneic mice. An intravenous (i.v.) administration of KML-C (20-50 ng/mouse) 2 days before tumor inoculation significantly inhibited lung metastases of both B16-BL6 and colon 26-M3.1 cells. The prophylactic effect of 50 ng/mouse of KML-C on lung metastasis was almost the same with that of 100 $\mu$ g/mouse of KM. Treatment with KML-C 1 day after tumor inoculation induced a significant inhibition of not only the experimental lung metastasis induced by B16-BL6 and colon 26M3.1 cells but also the liver and spleen metastasis of L5178Y-ML25 cells. Furthermore, multiple administration of KML-C given at 3 day-intervals after tumor inoculation led to a significant reduction of lung metastasis and suppression of the growth of B16-BL6 melanoma cells in a spontaneous metastasis model. In an assay for natural killer (NK) cell activity. i.v. administration of KML-C (50 ng/mouse) significantly augmented NK cytotoxicity against Yac-1 tumor cells 2 days after KML-C treatment. In addition, treatment with KML-C (50 ng/mouse) induced tumoricidal activity of peritoneal macrophages against B16-BL6 and 3LL cells. These results suggest that KML-C has an immunomodulating activity to enhance the host defense system against tumors, and that its prophylactic and therapeutic effect on tumor metastasis is associated with the activation of NK cells and macrophages.