• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.383-396
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• 1992

In order to find out the reasons for the excessive accumulation of certain fertilizer elements in arable land in Korea, which may be a detrimental factor for her sustainable agriculture in the future, total requirement of fertilizers were estimated from the huge number of soil test data obtained throughout the country using the fertilizer requirement models based on the soil analysis data and the concepts of multi nutrient factor balance or starter fertiliazer. The total fertilizer requirements estimated based on the present soil fertility status were much less than those estimated from the suspected cropping area of various crops cultivated depending on the conventional fertilizer recommendation for each crops or the actual amount of fertilizer elements consumed through National Agricultural Cooporative Federation(NACF). The excessive accumulation of certain fertilizer elements in arable land in Korea must be due to excessively high dose of chemical fertilizers as well as those farm wastes such as animal wasts produced unexpectedly in large amounts or crop residues. And it is suggested that the improved fertilizer recommendation must be developed in consideration both with the soil fertility status and the amounts of nutrient removal by each crop, and that the high analyzed complex fertilizers commonly used by farmers must ugently be developed in a form containing low P and K with Mg and slow release type N for the better balanced management practices of soil fertility by farmers arid for their practices of sustainable agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.280-286
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• 2016

Polyphenols have been reported to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease. A polyphenolic compound, 3,4-dihydroxy-hydrocinnamic acid (3,4-DHHCA), has been shown to have antioxidative and antitumorigenic activities. However, the effect of 3,4-DHHCA on atherosclerosis is still unknown. Herein, we investigated the effects of 3,4-DHHCA on atherosclerosis in New Zealand White rabbits. Broad and fused fatty streak lesions were found in rabbits fed with high-cholesterol diet for 8 weeks. Administration of 3,4-DHHCA reduced atherosclerotic lesion formation and lesional accumulation of macrophage in rabbits fed with cholesterol diet without systemic or local toxicity. Hepatic acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity was decreased after treatment with 3,4-DHHCA by 22% in cholesterol diet-fed rabbits compared with the control group. These results indicate that 3,4-DHHCA had antiatherogenic effects in rabbits, possibly by partial inhibition of ACAT.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2016

Resveratrol is a non-flavonoid polyphenol which belongs to the stilbenes group and is naturally generated in several plants in response to damage or fungal invasion. It has been shown in published studies that resveratrol has an anti-adipogenic effect. A good consensus regarding the involvement of a down-regulation of $C/EBP{\alpha}$ and $PPAR{\gamma}$ in this effect has been reached. In addition, different metabolic pathways involved in triacylglycerol metabolism in white adipose tissue have been shown to be regulated by resveratrol. Concerning lipolysis, though this compound in itself seems to be unable to cause lipolysis, it increases lipid mobilization stimulated by ${\beta}-adrenergic$ agents. The increase in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, and accordingly the associated energy dissipation, can attribute to accounting for the body-fat reducing effect of resveratrol. Besides its effects on adipose tissue, resveratrol can also acts on other organs and tissues. Therefore, it increases mitochondrial biogenesis and accordingly fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle and liver. This effect can also attribute to the body-fat reducing effect of this molecule. The present review purposes to collect the evidence concerning the potential mechanisms of action which underlie the anti-obesity effects of resveratrol, acquired either in cultured cells lines and animal models.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.605-611
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• 2016

Ketamine is an anesthetic with hypertensive effects, which make it useful for patients at risk of shock. However, previous ex vivo studies reported vasodilatory actions of ketamine in isolated arteries. In this study, we reexamined the effects of ketamine on arterial tones in the presence and absence of physiological concentrations of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) by measuring the isometric tension of endothelium-denuded rat mesenteric arterial rings. Ketamine little affected the resting tone of control mesenteric arterial rings, but, in the presence of 5-HT (100~200 nM), ketamine ($10{\sim}100{\mu}M$) markedly contracted the arterial rings. Ketamine did not contract arterial rings in the presence of NE (10 nM), indicating that the vasoconstrictive action of ketamine is 5-HT-dependent. The concentration-response curves (CRCs) of 5-HT were clearly shifted to the left in the presence of ketamine ($30{\mu}M$), whereas the CRCs of NE were little affected by ketamine. The left shift of the 5-HT CRCs caused by ketamine was reversed with ketanserin, a competitive 5-$HT_{2A}$ receptor inhibitor, indicating that ketamine facilitated the activation of 5-$HT_{2A}$ receptors. Anpirtoline and BW723C86, selective agonists of 5-$HT_{1B}$ and 5-$HT_{2B}$ receptors, respectively, did not contract arterial rings in the absence or presence of ketamine. These results indicate that ketamine specifically enhances 5-$HT_{2A}$ receptor-mediated vasoconstriction and that it is vasoconstrictive in a clinical setting. The facilitative action of ketamine on 5-$HT_{2A}$ receptors should be considered in ketamine-induced hypertension as well as in the pathogenesis of diseases such as schizophrenia, wherein experimental animal models are frequently generated using ketamine.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.896-904
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• 2001

Conjugated linoleic acid(CLA) is a group of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid(LA) and exhibits anticarcinogenic activity in multiple experimental animal models. Cis-9,trns-11(c9t11) and trans-10,cis-12(t10c12) CLA are the principal isomers found in foods. The present study was performed to determine whether CLA and the two isomers inhibits HT-29 cell proliferation and to assess whether such an effect was related to changes in secretion of eicosanoids. Cells were incubated in serum-free medium with various concentrations(0 to 20$\mu$M) of CLA or LA. CLA inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, with maximal inhibition(70 $\pm$ 1%) observed at 20$\mu$M concentration after 96 hours. However, LA had no effect at the same concentration range. To compare the ability of c9f11 and t10c12 to inhibit cell proliferation, cells were incubated with increasing concentrations(0 to 4$\mu$M) of these isomers. T10c12 inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. A 66 $\pm$ 2% decrease in cell number was observed within 96 hours after addition of 4$\mu$M t10c12. By contrast, c9t11 had no effect. The concentrations of CLA and the two isomers in the plasma membrane were increased when they were added to the incubation medium. However, they did not alter the levels of arachidonic acid in plasma membrane. To assess whether the proliferation inhibiting effect of CLA was related to changes in eicosanoid production, prostaglandin E$_2$(PGE$_2$) and leukotriene B$_4$(LTB$_4$) concentrations in conditioned media were estimated by a competitive enzyme immunoassay. Both CLA and t10c12 increased the production of materials reactive to PGE$_2$ and LTB$_4$ antibodies in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, c9t11 had no effect. These results indicate that inhibition of HT-29 cell proliferation by CLA is attributed to the effect of the t10v12 isomer. The materials reactive to PGE$_2$ and LTB$_4$ antibodies may inhibit growth stimulatory effect of arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids on HT-29 cell proliferation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.489-494
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• 2014

Background: Psychiatric patients appear to be at lower risk of cancer. Some antipsychotic drugs might have inhibitory effects on tumor growth, including penfluridol, a strong agent. To test this, we conducted a study to determine whether penfluridol exerts cytotoxic effects on tumor cells and, if so, to explore its anti-tumor mechanisms. Methods: Growth inhibition of mouse cancer cell lines by penfluridol was determined using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cytotoxic activity was determined by clonogenic cell survival and trypan blue assays. Animal tumor models of these cancer cells were established and to evaluate penfluridol for its anti-tumor efficacy in vivo. Unesterified cholesterol in cancer cells was examined by filipin staining. Serum total cholesterol and tumor total cholesterol were detected using the cholesterol oxidase/p-aminophenazone (CHOD-PAP) method. Results: Penfluridol inhibited the proliferation of B16 melanoma (B16/F10), LL/2 lung carcinoma (LL/2), CT26 colon carcinoma (CT26) and 4T1 breast cancer (4T1) cells in vitro. In vivo penfluridol was particularly effective at inhibiting LL/2 lung tumor growth, and obviously prolonged the survival time of mice bearing LL/2 lung tumors implanted subcutaneously. Accumulated unesterified cholesterol was found in all of the cancer cells treated with penfluridol, and this effect was most evident in LL/2, 4T1 and CT26 cells. No significant difference in serum cholesterol levels was found between the normal saline-treated mice and the penfluridol-treated mice. However, a dose-dependent decrease of total cholesterol in tumor tissues was observed in penfluridol-treated mice, which was most evident in B16/F10-, LL/2-, and 4T1-tumor-bearing mice. Conclusion: Our results suggested that penfluridol is not only cytotoxic to cancer cells in vitro but can also inhibit tumor growth in vivo. Dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis by penfluridol may be involved in its anti-tumor mechanisms.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.247-258
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• 2015

Exposure of high concentration of ground-level ozone (GLO) can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, asthma, bronchitis and congestion. There are substantial human and animal toxicological data that support health effects associated with exposure to ozone and associations have been observed with a wide range of outcomes in epidemiological studies. The aim of the present study is to estimate the spatial distributions of GLO using geostatistical method (ordinary kriging) for assessing the exposure level of ozone in the eastern part of Texas, U.S.A. GLO data were obtained from 63 U.S. EPA's monitoring stations distributed in the region of study during the period January, 2012 to December, 2012. The descriptive statistics indicate that the spatial monthly mean of daily maximum 8 hour ozone concentrations ranged from 30.33 ppb (in January) to 48.05 (in June). The monthly mean of daily maximum 8 hour ozone concentrations was relatively low during the winter months (December, January, and February) and the higher values observed during the summer months (April, May, and June). The higher level of spatial variations observed in the months of July (Standard Deviation: 10.33) and August (Standard Deviation: 10.02). This indicates the existence of regional variations in climatic conditions in the study area. The range of the semivariogram models varied from 0.372 (in November) to 15.59 (in April). The value of the range represents the spatial patterns of ozone concentrations. Kriging maps revealed that the spatial patterns of ozone concentration were not uniform in each month. This may be due to uneven fluctuation in the local climatic conditions from one region to another. Thus, the formation and dispersion processes of ozone also change unevenly from one region to another. The ozone maps clearly indicate that the concentration values found maximum in the north-east region of the study area in most of the months. Part of the coastal area also showed maximum concentrations during the months of October, November, December, and January.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.2146-2152
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• 2015

Apios americana Medik (hereinafter Apios) has been reported to treat diseases, including cancer, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. The therapeutic effect of Apios is likely to be associated with its anti-inflammatory activity. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of Apios in animal models of acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza A virus (H1N1). Mice were exposed to LPS or H1N1 for 2-4 days to induce acute lung injury. The treatment groups were administered Apios extracts via oral injection for 8 weeks before LPS treatment or H1N1 infection. To investigate the effects of Apios, we assessed the mice for in vivo effects of Apios on immune cell infiltration and the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and histopathological changes in the lung. After induction of acute lung injury, the numbers of neutrophils and total cells were lower in the Apios-treated groups than in the non-Apios-treated LPS and H1N1 groups. The Apios groups tended to have lower levels of tumor necrosis factor-a and interleukin-6 in BAL fluid. In addition, the histopathological changes in the lungs were markedly reduced in the Apios-treated groups. These data suggest that Apios treatment reduces LPS- and H1N1-induced lung inflammation. These protective effects of Apios suggest that it may have therapeutic potential in acute lung injury.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.65-79
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• 2015

Objectives : In this study, effects of haepyoijintang (HIJ) on the increase in airway epithelial mucosubstances of rats and ATP-, PMA-, EGF- or TNF-${\alpha}$-induced MUC5AC mucin production and gene expression from human airway epithelial cells were investigated. Methods : Hypersecretion of airway mucus was induced by exposure of rats to $SO_2$ during 3 weeks. Effect of orally-administered HIJ during 2 weeks on increase in airway epithelial mucosubstances from tracheal goblet cells of rats was evaluated using histopathological analysis after staining the epithelial tissue with PAS-alcian blue. Possible cytotoxicity of HIJ was evaluated by examining the potential damage of kidney and liver functions by measuring serum GOT/GPT activities and serum BUN and creatinine concentrations of rats and the body weight gain during experiment, after administering HIJ orally. At the same time, the effect of HIJ on ATP-, PMA-, EGF- or TNF-${\alpha}$-induced MUC5AC mucin production and gene expression from human airway epithelial cells (NCI-H292) were investigated. Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated for 30 min in the presence of HIJ and treated with ATP ($200{\mu}M$), PMA (10 ng/ml), EGF (25 ng/ml) or TNF-${\alpha}$ (0.2 nM) for 24 hrs, to evaluate the effect of HIJ both on ATP-, PMA-, EGF- or TNF-${\alpha}$-induced MUC5AC mucin production using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and on gene expression by the same inducers using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results : (1) HIJ decreased the amount of intraepithelial mucosubstances of trachea of rats. (2) HIJ did not show renal and hepatic toxicities and did not affect body weight gain of rats during experiment. (3) HIJ significantly inhibited ATP-, PMA-, EGF-, and TNF-${\alpha}$-induced MUC5AC mucin productions from NCI-H292 cells. (4) HIJ significantly inhibited ATP-, PMA-, EGF-, and TNF-${\alpha}$-induced MUC5AC mucin gene expression from NCI-H292 cells. Conclusions : The result from the present study suggests that HIJ might control the production and gene expression of airway mucin observed in various respiratory diseases accompanied by mucus hypersecretion and do not show in vivo toxicity to liver and kidney functions after oral administration. Effect of HIJ with their diverse components should be further investigated using animal experimental models that can reflect the pathophysiology of airway diseases through future studies.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.520-526
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• 2012

Various forms of fermented soybean products are well documented for their health benefits. The efficacy of anti-obesogenic effect of Doenjang, one of the most commonly used seasonings in Korean cuisine, has been reported only in animal models; thus, an evaluation of Doenjang needs to be conducted in human studies. We aimed to test the hypothesis that Doenjang supplementation reduces body weight and changes body composition in overweight adults. A total of 51 overweight adults participated in this study. A group of males with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and waist to hip ratio (WHR) ${\geq}$ 0.90, and a group of females with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and WHR ${\geq}$ 0.85 were randomly assigned to either a Doenjang supplement (9.9 g dry/day) group or a placebo group for a 12-week randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerized tomography (CT) and blood components were measured before and after the intervention period. After the 12-week study, the Doenjang supplementation group had significant reductions in body weight (kg), body fat mass (kg) and body fat (%) compared to the placebo group, the supplementation of Doenjang resulted in a significant reduction in visceral fat ($cm^2$), although no changes were observed in total and subcutaneous fat are as ($cm^2$), serum lipid profiles and dietary intakes. The present study demonstrated that daily supplementation of 9.9 g dry/day of Doenjang for 12 weeks reduces body weight and visceral fat in overweight adults.