• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2012

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related joint disease characterized by degradation of articular cartilage and its association with chronic pain. Purified Bee venom (PBV) has been traditionally used to the treatment for inflammatory diseases. The purpose of the current study is to examine whether PBV regulates the pro-inflammation against a mouse model of knee OA induced by papain. We studied the effect of PBV on papain-induced OA in the knee joints of mice. Mice were split into following groups: normal control, papain induced OA, OA treated with PBV, OA treated with meloxicam as positive control. Proteoglycan deposition was analyzed by safranin O-fast green staining and H&E staining. Papain injection significantly degraded the proteoglycan in OA mice at 42 days. Cartilage proteoglycan density was significantly higher in PBV treated OA group than those of the positive control groups. These results demonstrate that PBV efficiently suppresses pathological processes in an OA model. Thus, PBV could be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of OA.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.165-166
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• 2018

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and is a leading cause of disability with a large socioeconomic cost. OA is a whole-joint disease characterized by cartilage destruction, synovial inflammation, osteophyte formation, and subchondral bone sclerosis. To date, however, no effective disease-modifying therapies for OA have been developed. The estrogen-related receptors (ERRs), a family of orphan nuclear receptor transcription factors, are composed of $ERR{\alpha}$, $ERR{\beta}$, and $ERR{\gamma}$, which play diverse biological functions such as cellular energy metabolism. However, the role of ERRs in OA pathogenesis has not been studied yet. Among the ERR family members, $ERR{\gamma}$ is markedly upregulated in human and various models of mouse OA cartilage. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of $ERR{\gamma}$ in the mouse knee joint tissue caused OA pathogenesis. Additionally, cartilage-specific $ERR{\gamma}$ transgenic (Tg) mice exhibited enhanced experimental OA. Consistently, $ERR{\gamma}$ in articular chondrocytes directly caused expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 3 and MMP13, which play a crucial role in cartilage destruction. In contrast, genetic ablation of Esrrg or shRNA-mediated Esrrg silencing in the joint tissues abrogated experimental OA in mice. These results collectively indicated that $ERR{\gamma}$ is a novel catabolic regulator of OA pathogenesis and can be used as a therapeutic target for OA.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.528-533
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• 2021

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disorder that can result in the loss of articular cartilage. No effective treatment against OA is currently available. Thus, interest in natural health products to relieve OA symptoms is increasing. However, their qualities such as efficacy, toxicity, and mechanism are poorly understood. In this study, we determined the efficacy of avenanthramide (Avn)-C extracted from oats as a promising candidate to prevent OA progression and its mechanism of action to prevent the expression of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) in OA pathogenesis. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), a proinflammatory cytokine as a main causing factor of cartilage destruction, was used to induce OA-like condition of chondrocytes in vitro. Avn-C restrained IL-1β-mediated expression and activity of MMPs, such as MMP-3, -12, and -13 in mouse articular chondrocytes. Moreover, Avn-C alleviated cartilage destruction in experimental OA mouse model induced by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) surgery. However, Avn-C did not affect the expression of inflammatory mediators (Ptgs2 and Nos) or anabolic factors (Col2a1, Aggrecan, and Sox9), although expression levels of these genes were upregulated or downregulated by IL-1β, respectively. The inhibition of MMP expression by Avn-C in articular chondrocytes was mediated by p38 kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling, but not by ERK or NF-κB. Interestingly, Avn-C added with SB203580 and SP600125 as specific inhibitors of p38 kinase and JNK, respectively, enhanced its inhibitory effect on the expression of MMPs in IL-1β treated chondrocytes. Taken together, these results suggest that Avn-C is an effective candidate to prevent OA progression and a natural health product to relieve OA pathogenesis.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.10.1-10.11
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• 2022

Background: Repetitive hand use increases the risk of hand osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to investigate characteristics of and risk factors for hand OA in Korean women farmers. Methods: This cross-sectional study included women farmers resident in Jeollanam-do, Korea. The participants were interviewed, and radiographs were taken of both hands. Radiological hand OA was defined based on the Osteoarthritis Research Society International imaging criteria of joint space narrowing or the presence of osteophytes. The participants were divided into age groups of < 60 and ≥ 60 years. Obesity was defined as body mass index of > 25 kg/m². Annual working time was divided into < 2,000, 2,000-2,999, and ≥ 3,000 hours. Agricultural working type was divided into rice farming and field farming. Robust Poisson regression was used to identify factors associated with radiographic hand OA, with adjustment for age, obesity, annual working time, and agricultural classification. Results: A total of 310 participants with a mean age of 58.1 ± 7.6 years, were enrolled. The prevalence of radiologically confirmed OA was 49.0%, with an OA prevalence of 39.4% the interphalangeal joint in the thumb (IP1). The prevalence of OA was higher in the distal interphalangeal joint than in the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, and carpometacarpal joints. The prevalence of OA varied by age, annual working time, and agriculture type. Conclusions: Korean women farmers have a high prevalence of OA, particularly in the IP1 joints. OA is associated with age, working hours, and agriculture type.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.492-496
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• 2001

Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein(MTP) activity and mRNA level were investigated in the liver and small intestine of rats fed on di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate(DEHP) and orotic acid(OA) as serum triglyceride-reducing agents. The concentration of liver triglyceride was significantly increased in the OA group, but that was not increased in the DEHP group compared with the control group. The concentration of serum triglyceride was significantly decreased in the OA and DEHP groups compared with the control group, but this reduction was more pronounced in the OA group. MTP activity and mRNA level in liver were decreased in the OA group compared with the control group, while MTP activity in the small intestine was increased in the OA group compared with the control group. MTP activities and MTP mRNA levels in both liver and small intestine had no influence by the DEHP dietary feeding, despite the triglyceride-lowering action, compared with the control dietary feeding. The activity of liver microsomal phosphatidate phosphohydrolase(PAP), the rate-limiting enzyme in triglyceride synthesis, was increased in the OA group compared with the control group, but that of cytosolic PAP was decreased in the DEHP group compared with the control group. The result suggest that MTP activity and MTP mRNA level are involved in the triglyceride-lowering action of OA, but those are not involved in that of DEHP.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1256-1266
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• 2004

2-Bromooctanoic acid (2-BrOA) is known to block the formation of polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) in Pseudomonasfluorescens BM07 without any influence on the cell growth when grown on fructose, but it inhibits the cell growth when grown on octanoate (OA) (Lee et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 4963- 4974, 2001). We investigated the role of 2-BrOA in the PHA synthesis of the bacterium grown with mixtures of fructose and fatty acids. OA, 11­phenoxyundecanoic acid (1 1-POU), and 5-phenylvaleric acid (5-PV) were selected as model substrates. When supplemented with 50 mM fructose, all these carboxylic acids suppressed the formation of PHA from fructose, however, the ~-oxidation coenzyme A monomers derived from the carboxylic acids were efficiently polymerized, but the conversion yield [(mol of carboxylate substrate converted into PHA)/(mol of carboxylate substrate in the feed)] was low (e.g., maximally $\~53\%$ for 5 mM 11-POU). Addition of 2-BrOA (up to 5 mM) to the mixed carbon sources raised the conversion yield sensitively and effectively only at low levels of the acid substrates (e.g., 2 mM 1 1-POU or 5 mM OA): For instance, $100\%$ of 2 mM ll-POU were converted into PHA in the presence of 5 mM 2-BrOA, whereas only $\~10\%$ of the 1 1-POU were converted in the absence of 2-BrOA. However, at highly saturated suppressing levels (e.g., 5 mM ll-POU), 2-BrOA inhibitor showed no significant additional effect on the conversion ($60- 70\%$ conversion irrespective of 2-BrOA level). The existence of competitive and compensative relationship between 2­BrOA and all the carboxylic acid substrates used may indicate 'Present address: Section on Brain Physiology and Metabolism, Bldg. 10, Rm. 6N202, National Institute on Agmg, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, U.S.A. that all the acid substrate-derived inhibiting species bind to the same site as the 2-BrOA inhibiting species does. We, therefore, suggest that 2-BrOA can be used for efficiently increasing the yield of conversion of expensive substituted fatty acids into PHA and then substituted 3-hydroxyacids by hydrolyzing it.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.572-577
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• 1991

Fermented Korean soybean foodstuffs(12 samples of meju, 28 samples of doenjang and 28 samples of kanjang) which collected nation wide in Korea, were used to isolate of fungi. And the fungi producing ochratoxin A(OA) among isolated fungi were identified. Of total 222 fungi isolated in each samples, the production rate of OA was 17.7%(39/222). Four fungi out of 39 isolates which production OA showed a higher amount of ochratoxin A. From these results, four kinds of fungi producing large quantities of OA were Penicillium spp., Phialotubus microsporus, Eupenicillium lapidosum, and Paecilomyces variotti, respectively. Four fungi showed the optimum growth at water activity($a_{w}$) of 0.99, but production of OA was almost inhibited at $a_{w}$, of 0.85. Furthermore, three fungi except P. variotti showed the optimum growth at $30^{\circ}C$, while OA production inhibited at same temperature. The optimal pH for toxin production except P. variotti was 6.5. Also, toxin production was not greatly influenced by pH.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 1994

A total 103 strains of Edwardsiella tarda was isolated from eel culture-ponds and examined for drug resistance, distribution and transferabilities of R plasmids. The drugs used were lincomycin(LM), penicillin(PM), sulfamethazine(SF), sulfadimethoxine(SD), cephalosprin(CP), chloramphenicol(CH), streptomycin(SM), oxytetracycline(OT), ampicillin(AP), oxolinic acid(OA), kanamycin(KM), amikacin(AK), gentamicin(GM) and enrofloxacin(EF). Two strains were resistant to the all drugs used, and all isolates were multiply resistant to drugs(at least 8 among 14 drugs), mostly restricted to LM(103 strains), PM(103 strains), SD(103 strains), SF(103 strains), CP(102 strains), CM(101 strains), SM(100 strains), OT(94 strains), AM(92 strains), OA(80 strains), KM(60 strains), AK(30 strains), GM(19 strains) and EF(14 strains), in combination at high degree showing 34 different drug resistant patterns. The most frequently encountered patterns were LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP OA KM(22 strains, 22.4%) followed by LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP OT(12 strains, 11.7%). LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP(7 strains, 6.8%), LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP OA KM AK GM(6 strains, 5.8%) and LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AM OX KM AK GM(6 strains, 5.8%). Transfer experiment of drug resistance showed that of 103 resistant strains, 100 strains(97%) transferred part or all resistance to all drugs, indicating that most isolates carried conjugally transferrable R plasmids determining multiple drugs. The most frequently observed transferarble R plasmids were LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP OA(10 strains), LM PM SD SF CP CH SM OT AP OX KM(7 strains) and LM PM SD SF CP CH AP OA(7 strains). These results sugested that eel culture-ponds were highly contaminated with different strains of Edwardsiella tarda, and that contaminated bacteria might be highly multiple resistant strains to drugs, carring transferable R plasmids.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 1994

Phosphatase의 저해제로 알려진 okadaic acid(OA)가 한국산 개구리(북방산개구리 참개구리) 난자의 성숙에 미치는 효과를 조사하였다. 북방산개구리 난자에 약 50 nl의 okadaic acid(0 5-500 mM)를 미세주입한 후 18시간 배양한 결과 0.5 mM의 농도에서 부터 난자의 핵붕괴를 일으키기 시작하였다 동면초기에 처리한 progesterone에 반응하지 않는 난자들도 OA에 의하여 성숙을 일으켰으며. 이 성숙은 배양액에 첨가한 cycloheximide(10 mg/ml)에 영향을 받지 않았다 또한 OA의 처리를 받고 일정시간 배양한 난자의 세포질에는 미성숙 난자의 성숙을 유도하는 maturation promoting factor (MPF)의 활성이 생기었다 참개구리의 난자도 역시 OA에 의해 성숙이 유도되었으며, 주입 후 6시간에서부터 핵붕괴가 일어나기 시작하였다 참개구리에서도 OA의 처리가 MPF의 활성을 촉진하는 것을 세포질내에 Hl histone kinase의 활성도가 증가하는 것으로 확인할 수 있었다 참개구리에서도 OA에 의한 성숙은 cycloheximide나 CAMP에 의해 영향을 받지 않았다 이러한 결과들은 개구리 난자의 MPF 활성화와 성숙과정에 phosphatase가 관여함을 보여주는 것이다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.677-684
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• 2015

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent forms of joint disorder, associated with a tremendous socioeconomic burden worldwide. Various non-genetic and lifestyle-related factors such as aging and obesity have been recognized as major risk factors for OA, underscoring the potential role for epigenetic regulation in the pathogenesis of the disease. OA-associated epigenetic aberrations have been noted at the level of DNA methylation and histone modification in chondrocytes. These epigenetic regulations are implicated in driving an imbalance between the expression of catabolic and anabolic factors, leading eventually to osteoarthritic cartilage destruction. Cellular senescence and metabolic abnormalities driven by OA-associated risk factors appear to accompany epigenetic drifts in chondrocytes. Notably, molecular events associated with metabolic disorders influence epigenetic regulation in chondrocytes, supporting the notion that OA is a metabolic disease. Here, we review accumulating evidence supporting a role for epigenetics in the regulation of cartilage homeostasis and OA pathogenesis.