• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.167-170
• /
• 2000

The present study was conducted to investigate the acute toxicity of plant sterol ester by a single oral dose in Sprague-Dawley rats. Ten males and 10 females aged 5 weeks were randomly assigned to two groups of 5 rats each and were administered by gavage at dose level of 0 or 20 ml/kg body weight. Parameters measured during the 14-day observation period were mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes, and gross findings. No mortality was observed in the present study. Treatment-related clinical signs, such as pasty stool and diarrhea, were observed on the day of treatment and these signs resulted in soiled fur on day 1 after the treatment. However, no clinical signs were observed on days 2-14 after the treatment. There was no significant difference in body weight changes between the control and treatment groups. At necropsy on day 14 after the treatment, no treatment-related gross findings were observed in the treatment group. Based on these results, it was concluded that a single oral dose of plant sterol ester induced pasty stool and diarrhea in Sprague-Dawley rats at dose level of 20 ml/kg and that the lethal doses were considered to be over 20 ml/kg for both sexes.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.14-21
• /
• 2001

The effects of sodium molybdate(Mo) on phospholipid metabolism in sciatic nerve isolated from lead-intoxicated rat were investigated. Four weeks aged albino rats were divided into four groups : normal control group, lead(10 ppm)-treated group, Mo(1 mg/kg)-treated group, lead and Mo-treated group. As a result of the study, Mo significantly increased the rate of incorporation of $2-[^3H]$myo-inositol into polyphosphinositides in lead-intoxicated rat. Mo also increased the rate of phosphatidylcholine metabolism in normal and lead-intoxicated rats. However, Mo did not affect the metabolism of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanola-mine in normal and lead-intoxicated status. These results suggest that Mo might improve lead-intoxicated status by principally enhancing the metabolism of myo-inositol-related phospholipids and by partly phosphatidylcholine in sciatic nerve.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.117-125
• /
• 1997

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated glutamatergic neurotransmission is involved in synaptic plasticity, developmental processes, learning and memory and many neuropathological disorders including age-related diseases. In the present study, regulation of the NMDA receptor properties by various ligands was investigated using $[^3H]MK-801$ binding studies in the synaptic membranes of young and aged rat forebrains. The binding in the presence of glutamate and glycine increased dramatically with growth between 1 and 6 weeks old, and thereafter declined gradually with aging. Glutamate, glycine or spermine respectively increased the binding with growth. Glutamate maintained the binding during aging, while glycine or spermine significantly decreased the binding in the aged brain. The maximum stimulation by glycine varied depending on the ages of brains. Greater sensitivity to glycine was observed at 1 week and 3 months and the sensitivity was significantly reduced in the aged brain. In contrast, spermine showed similar stimulation patterns in young and aged rats. These results indicated that the functional properties of the NMDA receptor-ion channel complex in young and aged rat forebrains are differentially regulated by agonists, and the reduction of the receptor function with normal aging may be, in some degree, due to the reduction of the receptor sensitivity to glycine.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.257.2-257.2
• /
• 2003

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
• /
• 2009.05a
• /
• pp.97-100
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of treadmill running training on superoxide product of spontaneously hypertensive rats. 20 males aged five week old rats were used for the experiments. They were randomly selected into experimental group (10 rats) and control group (10 rats) after being housed in laboratory for two weeks. The rats of experimental group performed treadmill exercise from 15 minutes for the first time to 35 minutes for the last one in order to familiar with experimental protocol ($VO_{2}max\;65{\sim}70%$, 0.9km/h, 5 times/week, 35 minutes/session). They began to perform treadmill running at the age of eight weeks for eight weeks. Superoxide production and NADPH oxidase activities were measured on the aortal from end of experiment. All statistical analyses and description methods were computed by SPSS Version 10.0. Differences in the values between experimental group and control group were calculated using t-tests. The results of this study were: there wewe no significant differences in superoxide production, NADPH oxidase-drivened superoxide activity, NADPH oxidase activity between two groups (p>.05). Spontaneously hypertensive rats of experimental group were characterized by higher superoxide production and lower NADPH oxidase-drivened superoxide activity and NADPH oxidase activity in comparison with the control group. One possible explanation of this finding was that NADPH oxidase activity of experimental group was lower than the control group. It can be concluded that treadmill running for eight weeks was associated positively with superoxide product of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.15 no.6 s.73
• /
• pp.1028-1033
• /
• 2005

Estrogen deficiency in peri-and postmenopausal women results in variety of neurovegetative, psychic and somatic symptoms, and may contribute to severe diseases within the aged female population. Capsosiphon fulvecense (CF), green algae, loaded with large amount of proteins, calcium and ion. This seaweed is distributed in the Southern coast in Korea and widely throughout the world. Our objective was to investigate the effects of Capsosiphon fulvecense (CF) extract on serum lipid concentration and platelet aggregation in ovariectomized rats. Three groups were surgically ovariectomized (OVX). The fourth group was sham operated. Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly assigned to the following groups : sham-operated rats (Sham), ovariectomized control rats (OVX-Control), ovariectomized rats supplemented with CF at 50mg/kg bw/d (OVX-CF5O) and ovariectomized rats supplemented with CF at 200mg/kg bw/d (OVX-CF200). The serum triglyceride level was significantly decreased after supplemented with the CF extracts. The serum HDL-cholesterol level in the OVX-CF group was significantly higher than the level in the OVX-control group. The ability of platelet aggregation treated with CF extract (CF group) was $7\%$ less than OVX-control group. Taken these together, CF extract may be used to improve the quality of life in menopausal women.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.513-519
• /
• 2012

Aged garlic extract (AGE) is known to have a protective effect against immune system, endothelial function, oxidative stress and inflammation. We examined the effects of exercise with and without aged garlic extract administration on body weight, lipid profiles, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress marker in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Forty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a HFD (HFD, n = 40) or a normal diet (ND, n = 5) for 6 weeks and thereafter randomized into ND (n = 5), HFD (n = 10), HFD with AGE (n = 10), HFD with Exercise (n = 10), or HFD with Exercise+AGE (n = 10) for 4 weeks. AGE groups were administered at a dose of 2.86 g/kg body weight, orally. Exercise consisted of running 15-60 min 5 days/week with gradually increasing intensity. AGE (P<0.01), Exercise, and Exercise+AGE (P<0.001) attenuated body weight gain and food efficiency ratio compared to HFD. Visceral fat and liver weight gain were attenuated (P<0.05) with all three interventions with a greater effect on visceral fat in the Exercise+AGE than AGE (P<0.001). In reducing visceral fat (P<0.001), epididymal fat (P<0.01) and liver weight (P<0.001), Exercise+AGE was effective, but exercise showed a stronger suppressive effect than AGE. Exercise+AGE showed further additive effects on reducing visceral fat and liver weight (P<0.001). AGE significantly attenuated the increase in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol compared with HFD (P<0.05). Exercise+AGE attenuated the increase in triglycerides compared with HFD (P<0.05). Exercise group significantly decrease in C-reactive protein (P<0.001). These results suggest that AGE supplementation and exercise alone have anti-obesity, cholesterol lowering, and anti-inflammatory effects, but the combined intervention is more effective in reducing weight gain and triglycerides levels than either intervention alone.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.185-195
• /
• 2016

Background: To investigate the effect of pectinase-treated Panax ginseng (GINST) in cellular and male subfertility animal models. Methods: Hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced mouse spermatocyte GC-2spd cells were used as an in vitro model. Cell viability was measured using MTT assay. For the in vivo study, GINST (200 mg/kg) mixed with a regular pellet diet was administered orally for 4 mo, and the changes in the mRNA and protein expression level of antioxidative and spermatogenic genes in young and aged control rats were compared using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Results: GINST treatment ($50{\mu}g/mL$, $100{\mu}g/mL$, and $200{\mu}g/mL$) significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the $H_2O_2$-induced ($200{\mu}M$) cytotoxicity in GC-2spd cells. Furthermore, GINST ($50{\mu}g/mL$ and $100{\mu}g/mL$) significantly (p < 0.05) ameliorated the $H_2O_2$-induced decrease in the expression level of antioxidant enzymes (peroxiredoxin 3 and 4, glutathione S-transferase m5, and glutathione peroxidase 4), spermatogenesis-related protein such as inhibin-${\alpha}$, and specific sex hormone receptors (androgen receptor, luteinizing hormone receptor, and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor) in GC-2spd cells. Similarly, the altered expression level of the above mentioned genes and of spermatogenesis-related nectin-2 and cAMP response element-binding protein in aged rat testes was ameliorated with GINST (200 mg/kg) treatment. Taken together, GINST attenuated $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress in GC-2 cells and modulated the expression of antioxidant-related genes and of spermatogenic-related proteins and sex hormone receptors in aged rats. Conclusion: GINST may be a potential natural agent for the protection against or treatment of oxidative stress-induced male subfertility and aging-induced male subfertility.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.88-96
• /
• 1999

The effect of acute cadmium-neuropathy on phospholipid metabolism in rat sciatic nerve was investigated. An animal model of cadmium neuropathy was induced by feeding diet containing cadmium to Sprague-Dawley rat for two weeks. Four weeks aged Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups : normal control group, 10ppm-cadmium treated group, 100ppm-cadmium treated group, 1000ppm-cadmium treated group, reference drug, myo-inositol-treated group. All rats were sacrificed at the end of two weeks. The rate of incorporation of 2-[3H]myo-inositol into polyphosphinositide was significantly decreased while the rates of incorporation into phospholipid of titratedserine, ethanolamine and choline were unchanged in sciatic nerve obtained from cadmium-treated rat. Continuously the activities of three enzymes concerned with inositol phospholiped metabolism were measured in homogenates of rat sciatic nerves. Cystidine diglyceride transferase and phophatidylinositol kinase showed significantly decreased activities while phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate kinase did not show any significant change in activity by cadmium treatment. However these deficits of inositol phospholipid metabolism were ameliorated by myo-inositol administration and these effectiveness were more potent in lower dose cadmiumtreated rats than higher dose cadmium-treated rats. These results suggest that cadmium intoxicated peripheral nerve with perturbation of the ployphosphoinositide metabolism and alteration of the enzyme activity which concerned with myo-inositol metabolism.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.135-144
• /
• 1987

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietray carbohydrate level on the lipid and Ca metabolism, and on immune response in the process of aging. Sprag\ulcornerue - Dawley male rats of 12 months of age were fed either high carbohydrate or low carbohydrate diet for 9 months. With increasing age from 12 months to 21 months, there was no significant increase in body weight, however, the epididymal fat pat weight and total serum lipid tend to become higher, and the inorganic/organic matterratio in bone tends to become lower. This suggests that body fat accumulation increase and bone mass decrease with age. Rats fed low carbohydrate diet showed the higher epididymal fat pat weight, and the lower Ca content in femur and scapular compared to high carbohydrate diet fed rats. The immune response was also lower in low carbohydrate diet group judged by the lower thymus and spleen index and by the lower response to PHA and ConA stimulation. The results of this study suggests that the dietary level of carbohydrate and fat may play an important role in the process of aging. It could be recommended to practice high carbohydrate -low fat diet for the elderly to reduce the risk of degenerative diseases.