• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2017

We investigated whether betulin affects the gene expression, secretion and proteolytic activity of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in primary cultured rabbit articular chondrocytes, as well as in vivo production of MMP-3 in the rat knee joint to evaluate the potential chondroprotective effect of betulin. Rabbit articular chondrocytes were cultured and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure interleukin-$1{\beta}$ ($IL-1{\beta}$)-induced gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs-4 (ADAMTS-4), ADAMTS-5 and type II collagen. Effect of betulin on IL-$1{\beta}$-induced secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3 was investigated using western blot analysis and casein zymography, respectively. Effect of betulin on MMP-3 protein production was also examined in vivo. The results were as follows: (1) betulin inhibited the gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, and ADAMTS-5, but increased the gene expression of type II collagen; (2) betulin inhibited the secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3; (3) betulin suppressed the production of MMP-3 protein in vivo. These results suggest that betulin can regulate the gene expression, secretion, and proteolytic activity of MMP-3, by directly acting on articular chondrocytes.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.163-168
• /
• 2005

This study was carried out to estimate above-ground biomass and inorganic nutrient distribution for a Camellia japonica stand located Mt. Cheon-gwan, Jeonnam province. Regression analysis of biomass for stem, current twig, branch and foliage versus diameter at breast height(DBH) was used to calculate regression equations of the form of logY = a + blogD(Y: component biomass, D: DBH). Total above-ground biomass for a Camellia japonica stand was 115.2 ton/ha(47.9 for main stem, 1.4 for current twig, 53.4 for live and dead branch, 5.6 for current foliage and 6.9 for ${\geq}1$-yr-old foliage). Component biomass was non-linearly correlated with DBH, and the difference in biomass between ${\geq}1$-yr-old and current foliage increased in proportion to DBH. Current foliage and live branch showed higher N, P and K concentrations compared to ${\geq}1$-yr-old foliage and dead branch, respectively. However, Ca concentration of current foliage and live branch was lower than that of ${\geq}1$-yr-old foliage and dead branch, respectively. Total above-ground inorganic nutrient contents(kg/ha) were distributed as follows; K: 366.4. N: 442.7, Ca: 433.3, Mg: 118.4, P: 50.5 and Na: 25.3. The proportions of inorganic nutrient content for live branch were generally the highest in all the inorganic nutrients.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.275-280
• /
• 2005

Hyperlipidemia is one of the major factors causing the atherosclerosis of coronary arteries and well-documented modifiable risk factors of stroke, especially of the ischemic type. For Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus sufferers, if blood sugar is appropriately maintained, lipid and lipoprotein are normal, but if blood sugar is inappropriately maintained or clinical Diabetic nephropathy induces metabolic disorder of lipid, then Total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels go up and high density lipoprotein levels go down. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of treatment with Ojeok-san and to observe the changes in Fasting Blood Sugar(FBS), 2 Hours Postprandial Blood Sugar(PP2h), Haemoglobin A1c(HbA1c), Total Cholesterol(T-Chol) and Triglyceride(TG). After the treatment, Fasting Blood Sugar decreased from 149mg/dl to 89mg/dl. 2 Hours Postprandial Blood Sugar decreased from l85mg/dl to 110mg/dl. Haemoglobin A1c decreased from 6.3% to 5.7%. Total Cholesterol decreased from 268mg/dl to 217mg/dl. And Triglyceride decreased from 438mg/dl to 265mg/dl. These results support a role for oriental medical therapy in treating Diabetic Hyperlipidemia. Further case studies of herbal treatment of this ailment are needed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.48-56
• /
• 2005

Purpose: Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked dominant neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 1 per 10,000~15,000 female births worldwide. The disease-causing gene has been identified as MECP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein). In this study, we carried out diagnostic mutational analysis of MECP2 gene in RTT patients. Methods: We analyzed four exons and putative promoter of MECP2 gene from the peripheral blood of 43 Korean patients with RTT by PCR-RFLP and direct sequencing. Results: Mutations were detected in MECP2 gene about 60.5% of patients. The mutations consisted of 14 different types including 9 missense mutations, 4 nonsense mutations and 1 frameshift mutation. Of these, three mutations (G161E, T311M, P385fsX409) were newly identified and these were determined as disease-causing mutations by PCR-RFLP and direct sequencing analysis. Most of the mutations were located within MBD (42.3%) and TRD (50%). T158M, R270X, and R306C mutations were identified with high frequency. An intronic SNP (IVS3+23C>G) was newly identified in only three of the patients. It may be a disease-related and Korea-specific SNP with RTT. The L100V and A201V have been reported to be unclassified variant and SNP. However, these mutations were not found in more than 100 normal Korean control samples. These base substitutions seem to be the disease-causing mutations in Korean RTT contrary to previous studies. Conclusion: Disease-causing mutations and polymorphisms would be very important for diagnosing of RTT in Korean. The experimental procedure used in this study might be considered for molecular biologic diagnosis used in clinical field.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2020

Objectives : In this study, we investigated the protective effects of Charybdis japonica (C. japonica) water extract on the acute reflux esophagitis in rat models. Methods : Twenty rats were divided into four groups for examination: normal control group (n=6), the reflux esophagitis group (n=6), reflux esophagitis treated with positive control group (ranitidine 40 mg/kg, n=6), reflux esophagitis treated with C. japonica group (100 mg/kg, n=6). All rats fasted for 18 hr and then were induced with reflux esophagitis by a pylorus and forestomach ligation operation. After 4 hr, the rats were sacrificed. The proinflammatory cytokine and proteins expression measured by western bolt assay, and the histopathological analysis of the esophageal mucosa measured by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Results : C. japonica administration significantly was protecting esophageal mucosal damage upon histological analysis of reflux esophagitis in rats. The C. japonica treatment confirmed the protection of the reduction of claudin-5, an evaluation index of the damage of tight junctions in the reflux esophagitis. C. japonica was also found to inhibit the expression of proteins such as COX-2 and TNF-α in the rat esophagus. C. japonica markedly attenuated the activation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of IκBα at the same time. Conclusion : These results indicated that C. japonica suppressed the development of esophagitis through the modulation of inflammation by regulating NF-κB activation. Based on these findings, we concluded that C. japonica can prevent reflux esophagitis.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.244-248
• /
• 2017

The effects of ultrasonic (1.2~1.7 kJ/g TS) pretreatment on the solubilization of dairy and livestock sludge were separately evaluated to investigate the possibility of recycling dairy sludge as a potential source of organic carbon. Compared to other industrial wastewater and sewage sludge, dairy sludge has higher organic matter content and no toxic materials. The solubilization rates of dairy and livestock sludge, at a specific energy input of 1.7 kJ/g TS, were 14.5% and 10.6%, respectively. After the 90-minute ultrasonic treatment, the soluble COD (chemical oxygen demand) increased about 7.1 times that of the initial SCOD, at an increase rate of $0.022m^{-1}$. In comparison, the increase in soluble nitrogen, which was ~3.4 times that of the initial soluble nitrogen concentration, was much smaller than the increase in SCOD; thus, the C/N ratio increased from 4.0 to 8.7.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.103-114
• /
• 2005

The transit fare resulted from the renovation of public transit system in Seoul is basically determined based on the distance-based fare policy (DFP). In DFP, the total fare a passenger has to pay for is calculated by the basic-transfer-premium fare decision rule. The fixed amount of the basic fare is first imposed when a passenger get on a mode and it lasts within the basic travel distance. The transfer fare is additionally imposed when a passenger switches from one mode to another and the fare of the latter mode is higher than the former. The premium fare is also another and the fare of the latter begins to exceed the basic travel distance and increases at the proportion of the premium fare distance. The purpose of this study is to propose an algorithm for finding K number of paths, paths that are sequentially sorted based on total amount of transit fare, under DFP of the idstance-based fare policy. For this purpose, the link mode expansion technique is proposed in order to save notations associated with the travel modes. Thus the existing K shortest path algorithms adaptable for uni-modal network analysis are applicable to the analysis for inter-modal transportation networks. An optimality condition for finding the K shortest fare routes is derived and a corresponding algorithms is developed. The case studies demonstrate that the proposed algorithm may play an important role to provide diverse public transit information considering fare, travel distance, travel time, and number of transfer.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.348-354
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to find the levels of reduction in rice yield and to determine economic threshold levels as affected by densities of Scirpus planiculmis and Lindernia dubia in wet seeding rice cultivation. In wet seeding rice cultivation, yield of rice in densities of S. planiculmis (192 per $m^2$) and L. dubia (384 per $m^2$) was reduced by 43 and 22%, respectively. Relationship between rice yield and densities of weeds were predicted with these equations of Y=531.3kg/(1+0.003931x), $r^2$=0.964 for S. planiculmis and Y=547.0kg/(1+0.000792x), $r^2$=0.922 for L. dubia. According to Cousens' method, economic threshold densities of S. planiculmis and L. dubia were calculated by 7.2 and 34.9 per $m^2$, respectively. This result indicated that yield of rice in wet seeding rice cultivation could be reduced by over economic threshold densities of S. planiculmis and L. dubia.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.1-4
• /
• 2016

Background and Objectives: National cancer center institute reports that male patients of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) are annually increasing. This study aimed to analyze the features of the male patients with PTC. Materials and Method: We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed clinical records of 170 patients who were treated for PTC in male patients between 2000 and 2010. Clinical features, size, pathologic type, extrathyroidal extension, recurrence, multiplicity, extent of surgery, and lymph node metastasis were retrospectively evaluated.Univariate and multivariate analyses of various clinical factors were performed. Results: Total 4145 patients received surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma. The number of male patients was 170 (4.1%) among them. Of170 male patients, only 16(9.4%) patients underwent the recurrence of PTC. The size of tumor, central neck node metastasis, lateral neck node metastasis, extrathyroidal extension and RAI ablation therapy were associated with recurrence(p< 0.05) in univariate analysis. However, only the extrathyroidal extension [p=0.03, Odds ratio=3.58(95% CI. 1.09~14.24)] was related to the recurrence in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Re-estimation of clinical features in male PTC patients should be concerned. The recurrence of PTC in male patients was 16(9.4%) and nearly same as the other studies. The extrathyroidal extension was revealed as an associated factor for the recurrence. Evaluation of regional or distant metastasis should be considered in patients with the extrathyroidal extension in male PTC patients during long-term follow-up.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.166-175
• /
• 2018

Recombination activating gene-2 (RAG-2) plays a crucial role in the development of lymphocytes by mediating recombination of T cell receptors and immunoglobulins, and loss of RAG-2 causes severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in humans. Rag-2 knockout mice created using homologous recombination in ES cells have served as a valuable immunodeficient platform, but concerns have persisted on the specificity of Rag-2-related phenotypes in these animals due to the limitations associated with the genome engineering method used. To precisely investigate the function of Rag-2, we recently established a new Rag-2 knockout FVB mouse line ($Rag-2^{-/-}$) manifesting lymphopenia by employing a CRISPR/Cas9 system at Center for Mouse Models of Human Disease. In this study, we further characterized their phenotypes focusing on histopathological analysis of lymphoid organs. $Rag-2^{-/-}$ mice showed no abnormality in development compared to their WT littermates for 26 weeks. At necropsy, gross examination revealed significantly smaller spleens and thymuses in $Rag-2^{-/-}$ mice, while histopathological investigation revealed hypoplastic white pulps with intact red pulps in the spleen, severe atrophy of the thymic cortex and disappearance of follicles in lymph nodes. However, no perceivable change was observed in the bone marrow. Moreover, our analyses showed a specific reduction of lymphocytes with a complete loss of mature T cells and B cells in the lymphoid organs, while natural killer cells and splenic megakaryocytes were increased in $Rag-2^{-/-}$ mice. These findings indicate that our $Rag-2^{-/-}$ mice show systemic lymphopenia with the relevant histopathological changes in the lymphoid organs, suggesting them as an improved Rag-2-related immunodeficient model.