• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.84-92
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• 2000

This Study was conducted to assess the single dose toxicity of DA-125, a new anthracycline anti-cancer agent, in rats and mice. The Drug was administered once intravenously to both sexes of rats and mice. Then followed a 14-day period of observation. The $LD_{50}$ Values (95% confidence limit) were estimated to be 60.9 mg/kg (57.5~64.3 mg/kg) for male rats and 60.2 mg/kg (56.2~64.5 mg/kg) for female rats, and 85.8 mg/kg (81.0~90.9 mg/kg) for male mice and 84.5 mg/kg (78.2~91.9 mg/kg) for female mice. Both sexes of rats and mice given the drug revealed the clinical sign of decreased locomotor activity, emaciation, hair loss, red-dish brown urine, salivation, and watery diarrhea. In addition, body weight from the next day to the 7th day tended to be decreased slightly in rats and mice treated with DA-125. Death occurred from the next day after administration to the 12th day. Macroscopically, congestion of gastrointestinal organ, lung, and adrenal glands were found in both sexes on the dead rats and mice. Histopathological examination of dead rats manifested atrophy of spleen, hypoplasia of bone marrow, hypcplasia and necrosis of lymphocyte in thymus, atrophy of villi in small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum), hyperplasia of granular epithelium in small intestine, degeneration of germinal epithelium in testis, defer oration of tubular epithelium in kidney, and vacuolation and myolysis of myocardium in heart. Histopathological examination of dead mice revealed hypoplasia of spleen and mesenteric lymph node, local necrosis of liver, atrophy of villi in small intestine, hyperplasia of glandular epithelium in small and large intestine, degeneration of tubular in kidney, degeneration of germinal cells in testis, and slight vacuolar degeneration of myocardium in heart.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2007

Present study aimed to investigate the radioprotective effects of propolis feeding on rat tissues damaged by X-ray irradiation. It was shown that the number of white blood cell in X-ray irradiated group supplemented with propolis increased as much to those of the control group and also the GOT activities among the blood components were decreased after propolis feeding. The mineral contents such as Mg, Fe, Ca, Mn, Cu, Mo, Ni, As in liver were increased as compared with those of the control group but maintained lower level than those of only irradiated groups, implying that the propolis feeding elevated the recovery capability of white blood cell effectively and propolis have a potential resistance to cell damage by X-ray. According to histological observations of the testis, intestine and liver tissues which are irradiated after feeding propolis, the numbers of damaged undifferentiated cells were decreased in testis and the shape of the goblet cells and inner and outer muscular layers in intestine were restored to the original state and the hepatocytes and interlobular veins were shown intact in liver, suggesting that propolis has a potential capacity to restore cell shapes or resist deformation of cell.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2007

We examined the expression patterns of the chicken TCs(tentative consensus sequences) originated from GermOnline genes in various chicken tissues, applying information from GermOnline to chicken organisms. 42 TCs among 84 chicken homologous TCs from the pool of 84 genes related to germ cell lineage in mouse(10), rat(71) and human(3) had high homology based on a BLAST search. Of these, Hmgcs2 and Sycp3 was shown to be expressed in a testis- specific manner and a reproductive organ(testis and ovary)-specific manner, respectively, by RT- PCR analysis. Crmp4, Cyct, Ldhc, Epha7, Pcsk4 and Dnmt3a are expressed in brain, testis, and ovary. The characterization of chicken genes originated from GermOnline in this research may give an enormously useful source of information related to germ cell development.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.307-315
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• 1989

This research was intended to know the influence of ${\omega}3\;and\;{\omega}6$ polyunsaturated fatty acids on rat's brain, kidney, testis tissues and composition of serum lipoprotein. Different kinds of diets containing perilla oil (PO) and red pepper oil (RPO) were administered to the rats: group 1, 10% PO; group 2, 7.5% PO and 2.5% RPO ; group 3, 5% PO and 5% RPO ; group 4, 2.5% PO and 7.5% RPO ; group 5, 10% RPO. The following are the results. 1. No significance of cholesterol concentration in brain was noticed among the groups, but group 5 was the highest and other groups tended to decrease. 2. As for concentration of triglyceride and phospholipid, the groups with more percentage of RPO increased gradually while those with more PO decreased by degrees. 3. No significance of cholesterol level in kidney was found among the groups. About triglyceride level, group 5 was the highest and it was relatively low in groups2, 3 and 4. group 5, however, was the lowest in phospholipid level. 4. As to cholesterol concentration in testis, groups 1 to 4 were low. About triglyceride level, group 1 increased while groups 2 to 4 decreased. 5. Concerning lipoprotein pattern in serum, HDL increased in groups 1 to 3, while LDL decreased gradually with the increase of perilla oil.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2007

Objectives : Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) is the major component in commercial liquid epoxy resins, which are manufactured by co-reacting bisphenol A with epichlorohydrin. This study was performed to show the developmental effects of prenatal and postnatal exposures to BADGE in male rat offspring. Methods : Mated female rats were divided into four groups, each containing 12 rats. The dosing solutions were prepared by thoroughly mixing BADGE in corn oil at the 0, 375, 1500 and 3000 mg/kg/day concentrations. Mated females were dosed once daily by oral gavage on gestation day (GD) 6 - 20 and postnatal day (PND) 0 - 21. Pregnant female dams were observed general symptoms and body weight. Also, male pups were observed the general symptoms, body weight, developmental parameters (e.g. anogenital distance, pina detachment, incisor eruption, nipple retention, eye opening, testis descent), organ pathologic changes and hormone levels of plasma. Results : Pregnant rats treated with BADGE died at a rate of about 70% in the 1500 mg/kg/day group and all rats treated with 3000 mg/kg/day died. Body weight, for male pups treated with doses of 375 mg/kg/day, was significantly lower than in the control group at PND 42, 56, and 63 (p<0.05). Evaluation of body characteristics including; separation of auricle, eruption of incisor, separation of eyelid, nipple retention, descent of testis, and separation of the prepuce in the BADGE treated group showed no difference in comparisons with the control group. AGD and adjusted AGD (mm/kg) for general developmental items in BADGE 375 mg/kg/day treated pups tended to be longer than in controls, however, these differences were not statistically significant. Relative weights of adrenal gland, lung (p<0.05), brain, epididymis, prostate, and testis (p<0.01) were heavier than in control in measures at PND 9 weeks. There were no significant changes in comparisons of histological findings of these organs. Loss of spermatids was observed in the seminiferous tubule at PND 9 weeks, but no weight changes were observed. The plasma estrogen levels were similar in the control and treatment groups at PND 3, 6 and 9 weeks. The plasma testosterone levels in the control group tended to increase with age. However, in the BADGE 375 mg/kg/day treated male pups it did not tend to increase. Conclusions : These findings suggest that BADGE is a chemical that has developmental effects consistent with it being an endocrine disruptor.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.189-202
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• 1997

The hypothalamic peptide GnRH plays a central role in the regulation of the mammalian reproductive axis. Recent studies suggested that GnRH stimulates or inhibits the ovarian steroidogenesis and gametogenesis directly. Our previous report indicated that GnRH gene is expressed in adult rat ovary as well as in hypothalamus and that the expressed GnRH may induce the follicular atresia and apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells in rat. Therfore, we studied whether GnRH gene is expressed in the mouse fetal ovary, when the germ cells are degenerating by apoptosis during gonad diffeerentiation. Mouse fetal gonads were obtained on the 12, 15,18 and 20th day of gestation from the mother mice superovulated (10 IU PMSG and 10 IU hCG) and mated. The morphological changes of fetal ovaries were examined histochemically by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The fetal sex was confirmed by PCR methods for sexing. RT-PCR methods were used to examine the expression of GnRH gene and the sex steroid hormones were determined by conventional radioimmunoassays. The levels of estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) were increaseduntil 18th day of gestation and then E was decreased just before parturition. The morphological changes of fetal gonadal tissue sections showed the ovarian development and coincided with the result of PCR analysis for sexing using ovary- or testis- specific oligonucleotide primers. Immunoreactive GnRH in placenta was decreased gradually until the end of gestation but fetal brain and ovarian GnRH were increased. The level of GnRH gene expression was increased during fetal ovarian development from 12 till 18th day and decreased suddenly on 20th day just before birth. From these results, it is suggested that ovarian GnRh may play a regulatory role on the germ cell differentiation of fetal ovary.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 1997

These experiments were carried out to examine the development capacity of sexed and then bisected embryo from 8-cell to morula stage. Antisera to histocompatibility-Y(H-Y) antigen were prepared in inbred SD female rat by repeated immunization of spleen cell or testis supernatant from males of same strain. Male and female embryos were separated by delaying development of embryos against H-Y antibody. After sexing, rabbit embryos were bisected and aggregated. The results obtained from the these experiments were summuerized as follows: 1. When mouse and rabbit 8-, 16-cell and morular embryos were culature in H-Y antiserum, the ratio of embryo which has developed to hatching blastocyst was 53.4, 46.3 and 57.4% in mouse embryos, and 49.0, 52.0 and 61.0% in rabbit embryo, respectively. The ratio of mouse and rabbit embryos developed to hatching blastocyst showed nearly natural sex rate(50%), except rabbit mourla showed a little higher ratio(61.0%) as compared to natural sex ratio. 2. When rabbit demi-embryos from 8-, 16-cell embryo and morula were cultured, the percentage of demi-embryos was 70, 68 and 58% without zona pellucida removed, and 62, 69 and 51% with zona pellucida. The rate of aggregation was higher in 8- and 16-cell demi-embryos than in morula demi-embryo. 4. When sexed-demi-embryo was aggregated with another demi-embryo with demi-embryo with same sex, the rate of embryo developed to blastocyst was 60, 50 and 25%, respectively. Eight-cell demi-embryo showed highest rate. In conclusion, it showed that H-Y antiserum which was made by rat spleen cell enabled sexing rabbit embryos. And when rabbit sexed 8-, 16-cell and morula demi-embryo were aggregated, they were developed to eu-blastocyst which suggested the potential of sexed embryo manipulation.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1163-1168
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• 2004

In order to establish the experimental clinical model for evaluating the influences on the sexual hormones of SD-rat administrated with Methoxychlor(MET), it was dissolved in acetone and olive oil (1:19), which was administrated orally at doses of 200㎎/㎏ body weight/day for 7 days. The Testosterone value was measured in sera by Gamma Count with 1251 isotype, also weights of the body, testis and liver were measured for 15 weeks. Testosterone in the serum of intacted SD-rats was 0.51±0.43ng/㎖(n=5), but it was 0.69±0.18(n=2)ng/㎖l on 1 week. 0.28±0.05ng/㎖(n=2) on 3 week, 1.52±0.95ng/㎖(n=3) on 5 week, and 0.54±1.95 ng/㎖(n=3) 15 week post-dosing MET, respectively. Histologically, the numbers of spermatozoa and Leydig cells were reduced, which might influence to reduce sexual hormone, and AST and ALT was not increased in the serum due to administrating with MET, blood profile was not changed according to the administration of MET excepting MCH(Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin). This study suggest that change of male sexual hormone by MET be a experimental model for evaluating some drugs associate with sex hormone.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.86-95
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• 2022

Inflammaging in male reproductive organs covers a wide variety of problems, including sexual dysfunction and infertility. In this study, the beneficial effects of cordycepin (COR), isolated from potential medicinal fungi Cordyceps militaris, in aging-associated testicular inflammation and serum biochemical changes in naturally aged rats were investigated. Male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into young control (YC), aged control (AC), and COR (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) treated aged rat groups. Aging-associated serum biochemical changes and inflammatory parameters were analyzed by biochemical assay kits, Western blotting, and real-time RT-PCR. Results showed a significant (p < 0.05) alteration in the total blood cell count, lipid metabolism, and liver functional parameters in AC group when compared with YC group. However, COR-treated aged rats ameliorated the altered biochemical parameters significantly (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 at 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg, respectively). Furthermore, the increase in the expression of inflammatory mediators (COX-2, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tissue necrosis factor-alpha) in aged rat testis was significant (p < 0.05) when compared with YC group. Treatment with COR at 20 mg/kg to aged rats attenuated the increased expression of inflammatory mediators significantly (p < 0.05). Mechanistic studies revealed that the potential attenuating effects exhibited by COR in aged rats was mediated by regulation of NF-κB activation and MAPKs (c-Jun N-terminal kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, and p38) signaling. In conclusion, COR restored the altered serum biochemical parameters in aged rats and ameliorated the aging-associated testicular inflammation proving the therapeutic benefits of COR targeting inflammaging-associated male sexual dysfunctions.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.237-242
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• 2000

Growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), the major hypothalamic stimulus of GH secretion from the anterior pituitary gland, has been found to be present in several extrahypothalamic sites including placenta testis, ovary and anterior pituitary gland. The present study was performed to elucidate the role of pituitary GHRH on proliferation of cells derived from rat anterior pituitary gland. The GHRH content of pituitary tissue, cultured pituitary cells, and the conditioned media was evaluated by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Primary cultures of pituitary cells derived from adult rats were prepared by enzymatic dispersion. Significant amounts of GHRH-like molecules were detected in both pituitary tissue and cell cultures by GHRH RIA. Competition curves with increasing amounts of tissue extracts and conditioned media were parallel with those of standard peptide, indicating that the pituitary GHRH-like material is similar to authentic GHRH. To analyze specific cell types responsible for producing GHRH in anteroior pituitary, cell fractionation technique combined with GHRH RIA was performed. In cell fractionation experiment, the highest level of GHRH content was found in gonadotrope enriched-fraction and followed by somatotrope-, lactotrope- and thyrotrope-fraction. Treatment of pituitary cells with GHRH resulted in a dose-dependent increase in [$^3$H] thymidine incorporation. The mitogenic effect of GHRH could be mediated by typical oncogenic activation since the GHRH induced transient increase in c-fos mRNA levels with peak response at 30 minutes. The present study demonstrated that i) the pituitary GHRH expressed in the rat anterior pituitary gland can be secreted, ii) among the various cell types, gonadotropes and somatotorpes are the major GHRH source, and iii) the GHRH treatment increased the [$^3$H] thymidine incorporation and c-fos transcriptional activity in the pituitary cell culture. These findings suggested that GHRH could participated in the paracrine and/or autocrine regulation of cell proliferation, as well as promoting growth hormone secretion.