• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
• /
• 1984.09a
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 1984

The balance between metabolic activation of xenobiotics and detoxification of their active metabolites may playa vital role in controlling mutagenic and carcinogenic processes. To assess the possible role of P. ginseng C.A. Meyer in detoxification of xenobiotics, we studied the effects of ginseng on several parameters of the monooxygenasd system, including benzo(a) pyrene monooxygenase(AHH) and benzo(a) pyrene epoxide hydratase(EH) as well as effects of ginseng on the conjugation system. Test animals receiving ginseng saponin-fraction induced epoxide hydratase activity to over $150\%$ (20mg/kg b.w.) of the control and increased glutathione transferase activity (GSH-T) up to $140\%$ (20mg/kg b.w.) of the control, whereas no significant changes were observed in the benzopyrene monooxygenase activity (AHH). Such a selective induction of the inactivation enzyme epoxide hydratase, combined with a marked elevation of the detoxifying enzyme glutathione transferase, without a concurrent induction of benzopyrene monooxygenase which is responsible for the formation of carcinogenic intermediates, demonstrates that ginseng has the potential to alter the metabolic course of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and thereby enhance detoxification. Thus, ginseng may play an important role in the prevention of tumors caused by carcinogens.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.42-48
• /
• 1989

The binding of bay region diol-epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to target tissue DNA is thought to be essential for the initiation of cancer by these compounds. In this study we investigated the effect of polyacetylenes such as panaxynol and panaxydol on the formation of benzo(a)pyreno (BP)-metabolite-DNA adduct in the liver of ICR mice. Treatment of mice by i.p. administration of polyacetylenes produced a marked reduction in BP metabolite binding to DNA in vitro. Following i.v. administration of (3H)BP(300, ${\mu}$Ci/21 nmoles/0.1 nt DMSO) to mice, radioactivity was detected in the DNA of the liver in vivo. The result of tentative identification of the 4 peaks between the two standard markers for high pressure liquid chromatography showed that the peaks. I, II, III, and IV were BP-phenol oxide-DNA adduct (or BP-diol-epoxide-dCyt. adduct), (-) BP$.$diolepoxide I:dGuO adduct, (+) BP-diol-epoxide I: dGuo adduct, and BP-diol-epoxide II:dGuO adduct, respectively. The minor adduct, (-) BP-diol epoxide I: dGuo was reduced to 6971 of the amount of the control, while the major adduct, (+) BP-diolepoxide I: dGuO(peak II) which was produced from (-) BP-7, 8-diol was reduced to 78% of that of the control. The amount of the minor adduct, BP-diol-epoxide II:dGuo adduct(peak IV) which formed from (+) BP-7, 8-diol was 58% of the control. These results show that the panaxydol is more related to inhibition of the formation of the minor ad- ducts than of the major adducts, which were generally produced from ($\pm$) BP-7, 8-dihydro-dials.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.141-147
• /
• 2023

The genus Cottiusculus Jordan and Starks 1904 (Cottoidei: Cottidae) comprises four species worldwide, three species in Japan, and two species in Korea. Cottiusculus species are characterized by a compressed head and body without scales, except for lateral-line scales, a preopercle with four spines, a curved uppermost preopercular spine with small dorsal spines, and teeth on the upper jaws, vomer, and palatines. Two Cottiusculus species have been recorded in Korea: Cottiusculus gonez and Cottiusculus nihonkaiensis. Among these, "jeom-jul-hoet-dae" specimens were initially identified as Cottiusculus schmidti by many Korean Ichthyologists. However, since C. nihonkaiensis was reported by Kai and Nakabo (2009), most such specimens have been identified as C. nihonkaiensis. To clarify the taxonomic status of "jeom-jul-hoet-dae", we conducted morphological and molecular analyses collected from the coasts of South Korea, and compared our findings with previous reports. Japanese and Korean C. nihonkaiensis specimens mostly consistent in some proportional measurements, our molecular results indicate that they are the same species. C. nihonkaiensis, "jeom-jul-hoet-dae" distinguished from other congers by combination of following characters: simple nasal spines, two branched cirri at the upper jaw, cirri at the opercular, preopercular, and lateral lines, and a number of blotches below the lateral line.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2005

Emphysema is characterized by air space enlargement and alveolar destruction. The mechanism responsible for the development of emphysema was thought to be protease/antiprotease imbalance and oxidative stress. A very recent study shows that alveolar cell apoptosis causes lung destruction and emphysematous changes. Thus, this study was performed to support the evidence for the role of apoptosis in the development of emphysema by characterizing cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced apoptosis in A549 (type II pneumocyte) lung epithelial cells. CSE induced apoptosis at low concentration (10% or less) and both apoptosis and necrosis at high concentration (20%). Apoptosis was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation using FACScan for subG1 fraction. Discrimination between apoptosis and necrosis was done by morphologic analysis using fluorescent microscopy with Hoecst 33342/propium iodide double staing and electron microscopy. Cytochrome c release was confirmed by using immunofluorescence with monoclonal anti-cytochrome c antibody. However, CSE-induced cell death did not show the activation of caspase 3 and was not blocked by caspase inhibitors. This suggests that CSE-induced apoptosis might be caspase-independent apoptosis. CSE-induced cell death was near completely blocked by N-acetylcystein and bcl-2 overexpression protected CSE-induced cell death. This results suggests that CSE might induce apoptosis through intracellular oxidative stress. CSE also activated p53 and functional knock-out of p53 using stable overexpression of HPV-E6 protein inhibited CSE-induced cell death. The characterization of CSE-induced cell death in lung epithelial cells could support the role of lung cell apoptosis in the pathogenesis of emphysema.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.334-340
• /
• 2014

Toxin-producing Bacillus cereus is the causative agent of two different types of food poisoning: the emetic and the diarrheal types. This study was conducted to investigate the presence of enterotoxin and emetic toxin genes in 263 B. cereus isolated from 619 different ready-to-eat food items. Hemolytic enterotoxins hblA, hblC, and hblD were detected in 85.6, 41.1, and 76.8%, respectively, of the B. cereus isolates. About 67.0% (175/263) of the isolates presented all of three genes. Non-hemolytic enterotoxins nheA, nheB, and nheC were detected in 100, 97.0, and 68.4% of the isolates, respectively. Approximately 90.0% (236/263) of the isolates presented all of these three non-hemolytic enterotoxin genes. Emetic toxin gene, CER, was detected in 132 of 263 (50.2%) isolates. Computer-assisted cluster analysis of Rep-PCR profiles showed a high genetic diversity among the isolates. All B. cereus isolates from food samples tested in this study carried at least 6 of 10 toxin genes.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.335-342
• /
• 2024

This study aimed to examine the delivery conditions and microbial contamination of fresh-cut and ready-to-eat foods purchased from online markets between February and November 2023. Upon arrival, the average surface temperature of the products was 11.3℃. In the fresh-cut foods, the average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms was 4.5 log colony-forming units (CFU)/g and 1.2 log CFU/g, respectively, whereas in the ready-to-eat foods, these values were 10.6 log CFU/g and 1.2 log CFU/g, respectively. Pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, and pathogenic Escherichia coli were absent from all samples. Bacillus cereus was found in 2.7% of the fresh-cut foods and 0.9% of the ready-to-eat foods, with contamination levels averaging 0.05 log CFU/g and 0.01 log CFU/g, respectively. In the four samples in which B. cereus was detected, genetic testing of the six toxin genes produced by B. cereus revealed the presence of at least one enterotoxin gene, excluding the emetic toxin. L. monocytogenes was absent from ready-to-eat foods but was detected in 0.9% of fresh-cut foods. Analysis of the isolated L. monocytogenes confirmed the presence of six pathogenicity-related genes, including iap, indicating the potential risk of foodborne diseases.