• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1988.08a
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• pp.63-69
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• 1988

The effect of $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ purified from ginseng was examined in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. The rats of the $ginsenoside-Rb_2-treated$ group showed a significant decrease in blood glucose level as well as a significant decrease of glucose-6-phosphatase in the liver. whereas a significants rise was observed in the activity of glucokinase. Furthermore, the rats treated with $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ showed a significant decrease of glucose and a slight increase of glycogen in the hepatic tissue. The glucose-6-phosphate level tended to increase, the pyruvate level was unchanged and the lactate level tended to decrease. There was, however. no accumulation of total lipid in hepatic tissue. The serum levels of triglyceride. non-esterified fatty acid. 3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were markedly decreased, showing a trend toward restoration of the normal state and inducing. an increase in lipids in the adipose tissue. Additional experiments involving long-term administration of $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ produced results suggesting that $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ may improve diabetic symptoms such as overeating, overdrinking. polyuria and glycosuria.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.26 no.1 s.84
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• pp.69-77
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• 1998

Antioxidant activities of 80% ethanol extracts of 63 species of mushroom fruiting bodies were investigated. The ethanol extracts from Daedalea dickinsii, Armillariella mellea, and Fomitella fraxinea showed markedly inhibition on lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsome. The extracts from Daedaleopsis tricolor, Trametes suaveolens, Armillariella mellea, Trichaptium abietinum, Daedalea dickinsii, Fomitella fraxinea, Tylophilus neofelleus, Boletellus obscurecoccineus, and Xerocomus subtomentosus significantly inhibited the hepatic aldehyde oxidase activity, and the extracts from Daedaleopsis tricolor, Armillariella mellea, Daedalea dickinsii, and Fomitella fraxinea slightly stimulated the hepatic SOD activity. These results suggest that Daedalea dickinsii, Armillariella mellea, and Fomitella fraxinea contain the bioactive substances for natural antioxidant and may be useful for development of antioxidant from mushrooms.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.261-269
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• 1995

Background; To explore the efficacy of aspartate as NAD regenerating agent for ethanol and acetaldehyde oxidation, we performed crossover challenge in two groups of volunteers by coadministration of various doses of aspartate, asparagine and ethanol. Methods; 18 healthy male volunteers were randomly divided into two groups. 6 volunteers of the first group were administered 5 gm monosodium aspartate(MSA), 5 gm asparagine or placebo with 100 ml of $40^{\circ}$ whiskey by the 3 way-crossover design, while 12 volunteers of the other group were administered placebo, 1, 2 or 5 bottles of $Aspar^(circledR)$ containing 1 gm of MSA per bottle with 100 ml of $40^{\circ}$ whiskey by the 4 way-crossover design. Ethanol(and acetaldehyde) concentrations in venous blood drawn at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8th hour after ethanol ingestion were analysed by gas chromatogaphy. Subjective symptoms, liver function tests and psychomotor function tests were also performed during the study periods. Result; Plasma concentration and AUC of acetaldehyde in asparagine and MSA trials on ethanol ingestion were significantly lower than those of placebo trial in the 1st group. Plasma ethanol concentration of 5 bottle $Aspar^(circledR)$ trial was significantly lower than that of placebo trial in the 2nd group. Improvement of subjective symptoms or psychomotor performance by the treatment was not statistically significant. Conclusion; Aspartate and asparagine may be prospective candidates for acceleration of ethanol metabolism and prevention of ethanol toxicity.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.677-687
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• 2006

Objective : Hypothyroidism is a common disease of the endocrinal system. characterized by fatigue, cold intolerance, bradycardia, and so on. Clinically, Levothyroxine(L-T4) has been usually used for replacement therapy, but it often has side effects. so many hypothyroidism patients wants oriental medical therapy. Zingiberis rhizoma, traditionally has been used in treatment of coldness, fatigue, and bradycardia. In this study. I investigated the therapeutic effects of Zingiberis rhizoma on PTU induced hypothyroidism in rats. Methods : I used two-month-old rats administered PTU and induced with hypothyroidism. After 2 weeks. Zingiberis rhizoma and thyroxine were daily administered, respectively. Body weights was measured every weeks. After 4 weeks, blood samples were taken and analyzed biochemically and T4 and TSH were measured by ELISA kits. Results : In comparison with normal groups, control groups showed hypothyroidism with low T4 and high TSH level. In Zingibris rhizoma administration groups were observed T4 level elevation, this elevation was dependent on the dose of Zingibris rhizoma. Between experimental groups and control groups, there was no difference in TSH level, statistically. Changes of biochemistry were not observed in any experimental groups. Conclusions : These findings suggest that Zingiberis rhizoma makes thyroid cells producing thyroid hormones. There is also a non-toxic effect on the cardiovascular system, liver and kidney function. So, Zingiberis rhizoma should be an effective agents for treating hypothyroidism.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2005

This study was performed to investigate repeated-dose toxicities of Clean natural, a new disinfectant, in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. In the 4-week repeated oral toxicity study, Clean Natural was orally administered once daily via gavage to male and female rats at dose levels of 0, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg body weight for 4-weeks. There were no deaths and clinical signs during the dosing period. In both sexes, there were no statistically significant differences between the administered and control groups in urinalysis indicators and hematological parameters. In serum biochemistry, aspartate aminotransferase(AST) was significantly decreased and sodium content was increased in the 2,000 mg/kg male group, while chlorine was significantly decreased in the 2,000 mg/kg female group. Also, albumin, total cholesterol and total bilirubin were significantly increased in the 2,000 mg/kg male and female group. In histopathological examinations, centrilobular hepatocellular hypertrophy in the liver was observed in the 2,000 mg/kg male and female groups. And pigmentation in the spleen was observed in the 2,000 mg/kg male group. In conclusion, four-week repeated oral dose of Clean Natural to rats did not cause apparent toxicological change at the dose less than 2,000 mg/kg body weight. Thus it is suggested that no-observed adverse-effect level(NOAEL) for Clean Natural in rats was considered to be 1,000 mg/kg/day.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.43-45
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• 2016

Whole body energy balance is achieved through the coordinated regulation of energy intake and energy expenditure in various tissues including liver, muscle and adipose tissues. A positive energy imbalance by excessive energy intake or insufficient energy expenditure results in obesity and related metabolic diseases. Although there have been many obesity treatment trials aimed at the reduction of energy intake, these strategies have achieved only limited success because of their associated adverse effects. Serotonin is among those traditional pharmacological targets for anti-obesity treatment because central 5-HT functions as an anorexigenic neurotransmitter in the brain. Thus, there have been many trials aimed at increasing the activity of 5-HT in the central nervous system, and some of the developed methods are already used in the clinical setting as anti-obesity drugs. However, recent studies suggest the new functions of peripheral serotonin in energy homeostasis ranging from the endocrine regulation by gut-derived serotonin to the autocrine/paracrine regulation by adipocyte-derived serotonin. Pharmacological inhibition of 5-HT synthesis leads to inhibition of lipogenesis in epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT), induction of browning in inguinal WAT and activation of adaptive thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Fat specific Tph1 knock-out (Tph1 FKO) mice exhibit similar phenotypes as mice with pharmacological inhibition of 5-HT synthesis, suggesting the localized effects of 5-HT in adipose tissues. In addition, Htr3a KO mice exhibit increased energy expenditure in BAT and Htr2a KO mice exhibit the decreased lipid accumulation in WAT. These data suggest the clinical significance of the peripheral serotonergic system as a new therapeutic target for anti-obesity treatment.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.516-521
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• 2021

Although arginase primarily participates in the last reaction of the urea cycle, we have previously demonstrated that arginase II is an important cytosolic calcium regulator through spermine production in a p32-dependent manner. Here, we demonstrated that rhaponticin (RPT) is a novel medicinal-plant arginase inhibitor and investigated its mechanism of action on Ca²⁺-dependent endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation. RPT was uncompetitively inhibited for both arginases I and II prepared from mouse liver and kidney. It also inhibited arginase activity in both aorta and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Using both microscope and FACS analyses, RPT treatments induced increases in cytosolic Ca²⁺ levels using Fluo-4 AM as a calcium indicator. Increased cytosolic Ca²⁺ elicited the phosphorylations of both CaMKII and eNOS Ser1177 in a time-dependent manner. RPT incubations also increased intracellular L-arginine (L-Arg) levels and activated the CaMKII/AMPK/Akt/eNOS signaling cascade in HUVECs. Treatment of L-Arg and ABH, arginase inhibitor, increased intracellular Ca²⁺ concentrations and activated CaMKII-dependent eNOS activation in ECs of WT mice, but, the effects were not observed in ECs of inositol triphosphate receptor type 1 knockout (IP3R1^-/-) mice. In the aortic endothelium of WT mice, RPT also augmented nitric oxide (NO) production and attenuated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In a vascular tension assay using RPT-treated aortic tissue, cumulative vasorelaxant responses to acetylcholine (Ach) were enhanced, and phenylephrine (PE)-dependent vasoconstrictive responses were retarded, although sodium nitroprusside and KCl responses were not different. In this study, we present a novel mechanism for RPT, as an arginase inhibitor, to increase cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration in a L-Arg-dependent manner and enhance endothelial function through eNOS activation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.358-365
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• 2019

This study investigated the effects of dietary cactus Opuntia ficus-indica stem and fruit extract on the growth, flesh quality, lysozyme activity, and histological changes of growing Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Three replicates of fish (152 g/fish) were fed one of the following diets: containing 0 additions (control); 0.1, 0.5, or 1.0% cactus stem powder; or 1.0% fruit extract for 11 weeks. Growth performance did not differ significantly among treatments, including survival, final weight, feed efficiency, and daily feed intake. The experimental diets did not affect the proximate and fatty acid compositions, plasma biochemistry, or dorsal muscle texture of the fish. However, the plasma lysozyme activity of the fish fed the diet containing 0.1% cactus stem was significantly higher than that of the fish fed the control diet. These fish had variously sized lipid vacuoles in the liver tissue compared with the control. Distinct mucosal folds and mucus-secreting goblet cells developed in the fish fed the diet containing 1% cactus stem compared with the other dietary groups. These results suggest that feeding growing Korean rockfish cactus stem might increase the plasma lysozyme activity and induce histological changes in the gastrointestinal tract that might be related to digestion.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.630-635
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• 2018

C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) is a small secreted protein that exhibits a structure similar to the proangiogenic subgroup of the CXC chemokine family. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests that chemokines play a pivotal role in cancer progression and carcinogenesis. We examined the expression levels of 7 types of $ELR^+$ CXCLs messenger RNA (mRNA) in 264 clinical samples. We found that CXCL2 expression was stably down-regulated in 94% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens compared with paired adjacent normal liver tissues and some HCC cell lines. Moreover, CXCL2 overexpression profoundly attenuated HCC cell proliferation and growth and induced apoptosis in vitro. In animal studies, we found that overexpressing CXCL2 by lentivirus also apparently inhibited the size and weight of subcutaneous tumours in nude mice. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CXCL2 induced HCC cell apoptosis via both nuclear and mitochondrial apoptosis pathways. Our results indicate that CXCL2 negatively regulates the cell cycle in HCC cells via the ERK1/2 signalling pathway. These results provide new insights into HCC and may ultimately lead to the discovery of innovative therapeutic approaches of HCC.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.566-571
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• 2019

Lymphoma is one of the most curable types of cancer. However, drug resistance is the main challenge faced in lymphoma treatment. Peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid ${\beta}$-oxidation. Deregulation of ACOX1 has been linked to peroxisomal disorders and carcinogenesis in the liver. Currently, there is no information about the function of ACOX1 in lymphoma. In this study, we found that upregulation of ACOX1 promoted proliferation in lymphoma cells, while downregulation of ACOX1 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis. Additionally, overexpression of ACOX1 increased resistance to doxorubicin, while suppression of ACOX1 expression markedly potentiated doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, downregulation of ACOX1 promoted mitochondrial location of Bad, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and provoked apoptosis by activating caspase-9 and caspase-3 related apoptotic pathway. Overexpression of ACOX1 alleviated doxorubicin-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential. Importantly, downregulation of ACOX1 increased p73, but not p53, expression. p73 expression was critical for apoptosis induction induced by ACOX1 downregulation. Also, overexpression of ACOX1 significantly reduced stability of p73 protein thereby reducing p73 expression. Thus, our study indicated that suppression of ACOX1 could be a novel and effective approach for treatment of lymphoma.