• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 2023

Today, environmental pollution has been found to be one of the causes of various diseases, including brain and nervous system diseases. In particular, neurodegenerative diseases have been found to be caused by hyperactivation of immune system cells such as microglia. Preventive and therapeutic measures are needed to suppress them. Hirudo is known as a traditional herbal medicine, based on its multiple biological activities such as anti-eczema and anti-coagulation. In the present study, the anti-neuroinflammatory potential of hirudo extract was investigated in lipopolysccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglial cells and in mice. Hirudo extract significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production and cytokine (IL-1Ra, KC, MCP-5, and RANTES) expression in a dose-dependent manner without causing cytotoxicity. Pretreatment with hirudo extract suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation. Moreover, hirudo extract reduced LPS-stimulated microglial acitivation and improved memory impairments. The results demonstrated that hirudo extract exerts anti-neuroinflammation activities, partly through inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway. These findings suggest that hirudo extract might have therapeutic potential with respect to neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1337-1344
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• 2007

In this research, we synthesized potassium ferrate(VI) acting as an oxidant, disinfectant, and coagulant, and used it to treat natural organic matter(NOM, HA and FA) in river water. The removal efficiencies obtained by $UV_{254}$ ranged from 20.7 to 73.6% for 10 mg/L HA and from 52.6 to 77.5% for 10 mg/L FA in Nakdong river sample as the ferrate dose varied from 2 to 46 mg/L(as Fe). However, the removal efficiencies by TOC analysis ranged from 0 to 20.3% for HA and from 0 to 26.6% for FA at the same ferrate doses. The removal efficiencies of NOM increased either with decreasing pH or with increasing temperature. The removal efficiency of HA by ferrate was comparable to those by traditional coagulants such as $Al_2(SO_4)_3{\cdot}18H_2O$, $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, and FeO(OH). The reaction between ferrate and HA reached a steady state within 60 seconds, showing first-order with respect to the reaction time. The removal efficiencies of HA by traditional coagulants were improved by pretreatment of HA using a small amount of ferrate.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.206-212
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• 1998

The effects of the pretreatment with coagulants on the recovery efficiency of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate, PHB) synthesized in Alcaligenes eutrophus were investigated. Al-base or Fe-base coagulants, and the dispersion method of 30% hypochlorite solution and chloroform were used as coagulants and PHB recovery method, respectively The recovery efficiency of PHB from the cells harvested with Al-base coagulants at the range from 0 to 1000 mg-Al/L was similar to that from cells harvested without the coagulants. At these conditions, the concentrations of residual aluminium in the purified PHB were below 250 mg-Al/kg-PHB, indicating the effect of residual aluminum on the characteristics of the purified PHB can be insignificant. When the dosage of coagulants was over 1000 mg-Al/L, the PHB recovery remarkably decreased with increasing the coagulant dosage. However, the PHB recovery could be enhanced by the use of 50% hypochlorite solution instead of 30% hypochlorite solution. Even though the reduction of PHB recovery efficiency was not found by using Fe-base coagulants, the purified PHB was stained pale red due to residual iron, These results suggest that the use of Al-base coagulants did not exert bad influence on neither PHB recovery efficiency and PHB purity.