• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.256-261
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• 2022

Sarcoidosis often involves the liver. However, primary hepatic sarcoidosis confined to the liver without evidence of systemic involvement is rare. We report the case of a 37-year-old man with hepatic sarcoidosis who initially presented with elevated liver enzymes and suspicious cirrhotic nodules on computed tomography. The patient had cirrhosis but did not have portal hypertension. Based on the initial histopathologic finding of chronic granulomatous inflammation and the common clinical characteristics of sarcoidosis, he was initially diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis, and his daily dosage of ursodeoxycholic acid was increased to 900 mg. After 14 months of treatment, his total serum bilirubin concentration was 10.9 mg/dL (upper normal limit, 1.2 mg/dL). Additionally, a transjugular liver biopsy revealed multiple noncaseating granulomas. He was diagnosed with primary hepatic sarcoidosis involving the lungs, heart, spleen, kidneys, and skin. Treatment with methylprednisolone was initiated. Two weeks later, he was started on azathioprine, and the dose of steroid was simultaneously reduced. These findings indicate the importance of including hepatic sarcoidosis as a possible diagnosis in patients with elevated liver enzymes or cryptogenic cirrhosis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제50권6호
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• pp.377-385
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• 2017

Objectives: Although mercury (Hg) exposure is known to be neurotoxic in humans, its effects on liver function have been less often reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether total Hg exposure in Korean adults was associated with elevated serum levels of the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). Methods: We repeatedly examined the levels of total Hg and liver enzymes in the blood of 508 adults during 2010-2011 and 2014-2015. Cross-sectional associations between levels of blood Hg and liver enzymes were analyzed using a generalized linear model, and nonlinear relationships were analyzed using a generalized additive mixed model. Generalized estimating equations were applied to examine longitudinal associations, considering the correlations of individuals measured repeatedly. Results: GGT increased by 11.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5 to 18.0%) in women and 8.1% (95% CI, -0.5 to 17.4%) in men per doubling of Hg levels, but AST and ALT were not significantly associated with Hg in either men or women. In women who drank more than 2 or 3 times per week, AST, ALT, and GGT levels increased by 10.6% (95% CI, 4.2 to 17.5%), 7.7% (95% CI, 1.1 to 14.7%), and 37.5% (95% CI,15.2 to 64.3%) per doubling of Hg levels, respectively, showing an interaction between blood Hg levels and drinking. Conclusions: Hg exposure was associated with an elevated serum concentration of GGT. Especially in women who were frequent drinkers, AST, ALT, and GGT showed a significant increase, with a significant synergistic effect of Hg and alcohol consumption.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제13권9호
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• pp.1290-1295
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• 2000

The present study was conducted to evaluate effects of the increased dietary vitamin A supplementation on the vitamin A, vitamin E and ascorbic acid concentrations in the plasma and liver and activities of some enzymes in the liver of the growing chicken. One hundred and twenty female chickens at 4 weeks of age were divided in 6 equal groups in accordance with their body weight. They were housed in cages and fed on standard wheat-barley-based broiler diet balanced in the major nutrients. Vitamin A was supplemented in the form of retinyl acetate. Control diet was supplemented with 10 IU/g and experimental feeds were supplemented with 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 IU/g. At days 42 and 56 of the development 8 chickens from each group were killed, plasma and liver were collected for vitamin and enzyme analyses. The increased vitamin A supplementation was associated with its increased accumulation in the liver and with a reduction of ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ concentrations in the plasma and liver. The blood plasma was more resistant to vitamin A concentration changes and the retinol level was elevated only when the vitamin A dose exceeded 100 IU/g feed. Ascorbic acid concentration in the liver was elevated when moderately high vitamin A supplementation was used but significantly decreased at the highest vitamin A dose. Similar changes were observed with glycogen concentration in the liver. Activities of hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase in the chicken liver were also dependent on vitamin A supplementation, decreasing with highest vitamin A doses. Therefore the observations showed that the vitamin A excess compromises antioxidant system of the growing chickens suggesting that prooxidant activity may be responsible for at least part of the toxicity of vitamin A.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.14-23
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• 2016

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is caused by fat accumulation and is associated with oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the potential protective effect of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract (PPE) against oxidative stress in the liver of rats with NAFLD. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high fat diet (HFD), 20% corn oil, or palm oil for 8 weeks in the presence or absence of PPE. The control group was fed a basal diet. The progression of NAFLD was evaluated histologically and by measuring liver enzymes (alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase), serum lipids (triglycerides and total cholesterol), and oxidative stress markers. The HFD feeding increased the body weight and caused NAFLD, liver steatosis, hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress, and elevated liver enzymes. Administration of PPE ameliorated the hepatic morphology, reduced body weight, improved liver enzymes, and inhibited lipogenesis. Furthermore, PPE enhanced the cellular redox status in the liver tissue of rats with NAFLD. Our findings suggest that PPE could improve HFD-induced NAFLD via abolishment of hepatic oxidative damage and hyperlipidemia. PPE might be considered as a potential lead material in the treatment of NAFLD and obesity through the modulation of lipid metabolism.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한예방의학회 1999년도 제51차 추계 학술대회 연제집
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• pp.44-44
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• 1999

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2003

In present study, we examined whether or not the pretreatment of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) could protect hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl$_4$) and D-galatosamine (GalN). For this study, we not only tested activity of various plasma enzymes (AST, ALT, SDH, LDH), which are used as indicators of liver disease, but also checked the change of liver components such as lipid, glutathione and cytochromes content, and several liver enzyme activity. Pretreatment of KRG for two weeks significantly reduced the elevated plasma enzyme activities induced by CCl$_4$ and GalN. Pretreatment of KRG also restored the hepatic enzymes, malonedialdehyde formation, and depletion of reduced glutathione content induced by CCl$_4$ and GalN to near normal level. However, ${\gamma}$-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity was lot affected by KRG. These results suggest that KRG shows the hepatoprotective effect by reducing lipid peroxidation, by reducing the activity of free radical generating enzymes, and by preserving the hepatic glutathione.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.54-58
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• 2015

The protective effect of EtOAc fraction of Limonium tetragonum extract (EALT) against alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity was assessed following acute ethanol intoxication in Spraque-Dawley rats. EALT (200 mg/kg p.o.) was administrated once before alcohol intake (8 g/kg, p.o.). Blood ethanol concentration, and the activities of alcohol metabolic enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in the liver were measured. Also, the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), catalase were determined after acute alcohol exposure. Pretreatment of rats received ethanol with EALT significantly decreased blood ethanol concentration and elevated the activities of ADH and ALDH in liver. The increased MDA level was decreased, and the reduced activities of SOD, GSH-px and catalase were markedly preserved by the treatment with EALT. This study suggests that EALT prevent hepatic injury induced by acute alcohol which is likely related to its modulation on the alcohol metabolism and antioxidant enzymes activities.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.195-202
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• 2015

The effects of waterborne arsenic (As) exposure on bioaccumulation and antioxidant defenses were examined in the liver and gills of tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, under thermal stress. Tilapia were exposed to different As concentrations (0, 200, and $400{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$) at three water temperatures (20, 25, and $30^{\circ}C$) for 20 days. After As exposure, higher levels of As accumulation were observed in the gills compared with the liver in elevated water temperatures. In terms of the antioxidant response, glutathione (GSH) levels and the activities of glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) significantly decreased in the liver and gills of tilapia exposed to As for 20 days, regardless of the As concentration (200 and $400{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$) or water temperature. These enzyme activities exhibited greater fluctuations in the liver and gills of tilapia after As exposure in water warmer than $20^{\circ}C$. The present findings suggest that the simultaneous stress of temperature change and As exposure can accelerate As accumulation and alter the antioxidant enzymes activities of tilapia.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.43-48
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• 2004

Changes of thiol methyltransferase (TMT) activity in cholestatic rat liver were studied. Hepatic subcellular and serum TMT activities were determined in cholestatic rat induced by common bile duct (CBD) ligation over a period 28 days. The mitochondrial and microsomal TMT activities in cholestatic rat liver were found to be significantly increased between the 1st and the 28th day after CBD ligation. The TMT activity in serum was significantly increased throughout the experiments. The Vmax values of the above hepatic TMT in cholestatic rat were significantly increased at the 7th day after CBD ligation. However, the Km values of the above hepatic enzymes did not vary in all the experimental groups. Therefore, the results indicate that the biosynthesis of TMT was increased in cholestatic rat liver. The elevated serum TMT activity is most likely caused by increased hepatocytes membrane permeability due to cholestasis mediated liver cell necrosis.

• 대한약리학회지
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.47-53
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• 1975

The metabolism of many drugs and also of steroid hormones is mediated by enzymes located in the microsomal fraction in smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum of mammalian liver. The duration and intensity of action of many drugs are largely determined by the speed at which they are metabolized in the body. Repeated administration of phenobarbital results in the induction of enzymes that metabolize a number of drugs. Lee et al. reported that daily administration of phenobarbital in rats significantly increased the activities of amylase in the pancreatobiliary juice, but the concentration of cholate in the bile was significantly lower in the treated group than that in the control group. After animals were treated with $CCl_4$, histological changes were shown in the endoplasmic reticulum, decreased microsomal enzyme activity and decreased hepatic protein synthesis were apparent. The purpose of the present report was to study the interaction between a 'microsomal-stimulating' agent such as phenobarbital and a 'microsomal- depressing' agent such as $CCl_4$ on hepatic and pancreatic functions in rats. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The mortality rate of $CCl_4$ treated group was 34% and was decreased this figure to 15% with phenobarbital pretreatment. 2. In animals treated with phenobarbital the volume of biliary-pancreatic secretion was markedly elevated but the volume was decreased significantly in animals treated with $CCl_4$. 3. Total bilirubin output was elevated markedly in the $CCl_4$ treated group of rats pretreated with phenobarbital. The bilirubin concentration was increased in $CCl_4$ treated group and decreased in the group treated phenobarbital alone. 4. The concentration and total output of cholate in the bile were significantly lower in the all experimental group than control group. 5. In the animals treated with phenobarbital alone and phenobarbital plus $CCl_4$, the activity of lipase in pancreatobiliary juice was elevated, while in the animals treated with $CCl_4$ alone no change was observed. 6. The activity of amylase in the pancreatobiliary juice was decreased in the $CCl_4$ treated group, but elevated markedly in phenobarbital group and also elevated in phenobarbital-$CCl_4$ group. By the above results, it is concluded, when the liver was damaged by $CCl_4$, the exocrine function of pancreas and liver was decreased simultaneously. However, in the animals pretreated with phenobarbital, the toxicity of $CCl_4$ on the liver and pancreas was reduced.