• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.33-38
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• 2007

Recently, the lifetime prevalence rate of alcoholism in Korea shows to be quite higher than that in American, European and Asian countries indicating approximately 11 %. Also prevalence rate of male adult alcoholism in total inpatient of a polyclinic hospital shows to be very high indicating 16.5 % to 38.2 %, and from this result it is could be supposed that considerable physical diseases are related with alcoholic problem. According to the disorder related with alcohol is one of the most important hygienic problems in our society. In spite of the development of medicine, there is no certain medication or method in the field of the adult diseases or cancers under the actual circumstances that foods and drugs have been taking approximately for the purpose of prevention; and from this viewpoint, functional foods proved to be physically effective compared to general foods have been developing and the natural substances that could increase the effectiveness of general food have been produced. Alcohol addiction has been inducing several social problems and according to the increasing trend following the development of society it is strongly required to develop the medication. Therefore the research regarding to the treatment for the alcohol addiction has been performed widely, and especially the attempt to developof new medication using herbal medicine has been performing as in the development of the medication for other diseases. This study was designed to investigate the effect of Glycyrrhizae Radix which is the representative herbal medicine and has been used widely in the preparation of herbal medicine on alcohol intake and alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제38권4호
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• pp.837-842
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• 1998

The present study describes the effectiveness of egg yolk antibodies (IgY) against enteric colibacillosis and edema disease in piglets. The antibodies were gained from the egg yolk of hens immunized with k88, k99, 987p fimbrial adhesin and heat-labile toxin antigens of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Orally-administered egg yolk antibodies solution protected against experimental challenge with ETEC $K88^+$ and $k99^+$ strains in neonatal piglets and mice. In field trial, a total of 598 diarrheal piglets were orally treated with 3ml of antibody once a day to determine for the therapeutic effect. Of them, 582 (97.3%) piglets were recovered from diarrhea in 3 days. We also experimentally treated with the egg yolk antibodies twice a day for 5 consecutive days for 94 weaning piglets with edema disease for the determination of therapeutic effects. Seventy four piglets (78.7%) were recovered from clinical edema signs. Theses findings indicate that egg yolk antibodies against k88, k99, 987p and LT of ETEC are useful source of passive immunity for enteric colibacillosis and edema disease of piglets.

• BMB Reports
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.43-48
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• 2003

Understanding the process of carcinogenesis will involve both the accumulation of many scientific facts derived from molecular, biochemical, cellular, physiological, whole animal experiments and epidemiological studies, as well as from conceptual understanding as to how to order and integrate those facts. From decades of cancer research, a number of the "hallmarks of cancer" have been identified, as well as their attendant concepts, including oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, cell cycle biochemistry, hypotheses of metastasis, angiogenesis, etc. While all these "hallmarks" are well known, two important concepts, with their associated scientific observations, have been generally ignored by many in the cancer research field. The objective of the short review is to highlight the concept of the role of human adult pluri-potent stem cells as "target cells" for the carcinogenic process and the concept of the role of gap junctional intercellular communication in the multi-stage, multi-mechanism process of carcinogenesis. With these two concepts, an attempt has been made to integrate the other well-known concepts, such as the multi-stage, multi-mechanisn or the "initiation/promotion/progression" hypothesis; the stem cell theory of carcinogenesis; the oncogene/tumor suppression theory and the mutation/epigenetic theories of carcinogenesis. This new "integrative" theory tries to explain the well-known "hallmarks" of cancers, including the observation that cancer cells lack either heterologous or homologous gap junctional intercellular communication whereas normal human adult stem cells do not have expressed or functional gap junctional intercellular communication. On the other hand, their normal differentiated, non-stem cell derivatives do express connexins and express gap junctional intercellular communication during their differentiation. Examination of the roles of chemical tumor promoters, oncogenes, connexin knock-out mice and roles of genetically-engineered tumor and normal cells with connexin and anti-sense connexin genes, respectively, seems to provide evidence which is consistent with the roles of both stem cells and gap junctional communication playing a major role in carcinogenesis. The integrative hypothesis provides new strategies for chemoprevention and chemotherapy which focuses on modulating connexin gene expression or gap junctional intercellular communication in the premalignant and malignant cells, respectively.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.27-33
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• 2007

The psychopharmacological profile of ginsenosides has not yet been confirmed systematically although various neuropharmacological activities associated with them have been investigated. In the present study, the psychological activities of Rb1 were investigated to evaluate whether it can be used in treatment or prevention of psychological disorders. Rb1 was intravenously injected at doses of O.2,2,5 and 10 mg/kg. The effects of Rb1 on the $Cl^-$ ion influx were investigated using IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells. Moreover, locomotor activity, forced swimming activity, activity on rotating rod and activity in elevated plus-maze were tested in mice. Rb1 increased the $Cl^-$ influx into the intracell region in a dose-dependent manner. Rb1 did not cause change in behavior in total open field when locomotor activity was tested, however it increased activities, especially, such as rearing frequency in center area. Administration of Rb1 at 0.2 mg/kg significantly reduced activities on rotating rod however administration at high dosages had no effect on them. Rb1 administration decreased animal immobile time in a water chamber in a dose dependent manner, and increased the strong mobile time of animals. In conclusion, the present results demonstrate that Rb1 contributes to the psychopharmacological effects of ginseng and may be used in treatment or prevention of psychological disorders such as anxiety or depression.

• 대한바이러스학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.327-335
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• 1998

Hantaan (HTN) and Seoul (SEO) viruses, murid rodent-borne hantaviruses, are known to causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Korea. To determine the genomic diversity and molecular phylogeny of HTN and SEO viruses found in Korea, we amplified for part of M and S genomic segments of hantaviruses from sera of HFRS patients and lung tissues of hantavirus seropositive striped-field mice. Both M and S segment of 16 HTN and 2 SEO viruses were amplified by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Based on 324 nucleotides in the M genomic segment, the HTN and SEO strains showed $93.8{\sim}100%$ and $99.1{\sim}99.4%$ homologies, respectively. Similarly, based on 230 nucleotides in the S genomic segment, HTN and SEO strains showed $90.9{\sim}100%$ and 100% homologies, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of M and S segments indicated that HTN strains could be divided into at least two main groups in M and S trees and the sequence differences detected among the Sand M genomic segments of HTN viruses are consistent with reassortment having taken place between HTN virus strains.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.95-101
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• 2007

Recently, small-animal imaging technology has been rapidly developed for longitudinal screening of laboratory animals such as mice and rats. One of newly developed imaging modalities for small animals is an x-ray micro-CT (computed tomography). We have developed two types of x-ray micro-CT systems for small animal imaging. Both systems use flat-panel x-ray detectors and micro-focus x-ray sources to obtain high spatial resolution of $10{\mu}m$. In spite of the relatively large field-of-view (FOV) of flat-panel detectors, the spatial resolution in the whole-body imaging of rats should be sacrificed down to the order of $100{\mu}m$ due to the limited number of x-ray detector pixels. Though the spatial resolution of cone-beam CTs can be improved by moving an object toward an x-ray source, the FOV should be reduced and the object size is also limited. To overcome the limitation of the object size and resolution, we introduce zoom-in micro-tomography for high-resolution imaging of a local region-of-interest (ROI) inside a large object. For zoom-in imaging, we use two kinds of projection data in combination, one from a full FOV scan of the whole object and the other from a limited FOV scan of the ROI. Both of our micro-CT systems have zoom-in micro-tomography capability. One of both is a micro-CT system with a fixed gantry mounted with an x-ray source and a detector. An imaged object is laid on a rotating table between a source and a detector. The other micro-CT system has a rotating gantry with a fixed object table, which makes whole scans without rotating an object. In this paper, we report the results of in vivo small animal study using the developed micro-CTs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.2405-2425
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• 2014

Radiation exposure leads to several pathophysiological conditions, including oxidative damage, inflammation and fibrosis, thereby affecting the survival of organisms. This review explores the radiation countermeasure properties of fourteen (14) plant extracts or plant-derived compounds against these cellular manifestations. It was aimed at evaluating the possible role of plants or its constituents in radiation countermeasure strategy. All the 14 plant extracts or compounds derived from it and considered in this review have shown some radioprotection in different in vivo, ex-vivo and or in vitro models of radiological injury. However, few have demonstrated advantages over the others. C. majus possessing antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects appears to be promising in radioprotection. Its crude extracts as well as various alkaloids and flavonoids derived from it, have shown to enhance survival rate in irradiated mice. Similarly, curcumin with its antioxidant and the ability to ameliorate late effect of radiation exposure, combined with improvement in survival in experimental animal following irradiation, makes it another probable candidate against radiological injury. Furthermore, the extracts of P. hexandrum and P. kurroa in combine treatment regime, M. piperita, E. officinalis, A. sinensis, nutmeg, genistein and ginsan warrants further studies on their radioprotective potentials. However, one that has received a lot of attention is the dietary flaxseed. The scavenging ability against radiation-induced free radicals, prevention of radiation-induced lipid peroxidation, reduction in radiation cachexia, level of inflammatory cytokines and fibrosis, are some of the remarkable characteristics of flaxseed in animal models of radiation injury. While countering the harmful effects of radiation exposure, it has shown its ability to enhance survival rate in experimental animals. Further, flaxseed has been tested and found to be equally effective when administered before or after irradiation, and against low doses (${\leq}5Gy$) to the whole body or high doses (12-13.5 Gy) to the whole thorax. This is particularly relevant since apart from the possibility of using it in pre-conditioning regime in radiotherapy, it could also be used during nuclear plant leakage/accidents and radiological terrorism, which are not pre-determined scenarios. However, considering the infancy of the field of plant-based radioprotectors, all the above-mentioned plant extracts/plant-derived compounds deserves further stringent study in different models of radiation injury.

• 대한한방소아과학회지
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.205-226
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• 1997

Sanpoongdan(SPD) has been known effective on infantile convulsive disorders in clinical field of oriental medicine. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-convulsive, sedation and analgesic effects of SPD in mouse. The anticonvulsive effect was evaluated In mice treated with pentylenetetrazol, stychnine, and picrotoxin. For the sedative effect, observations were made on the sleeping time induced by thiopental sodium and pentobarbital sodium following oral administration of SPD. Furthermore, reduction of spontaneous movements and ataxia using rota rod method were evaluated. Analgesic effects on the writhing syndrome induced by acetic acid and on hindlimb pain induced by pressure were also observed. The findings were as follows : 1. The solid extracts of SPD revealed no effect on convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol, strychnine, and picrotoxin. 2. Thiopental sodium-induced sleeping time was prolonged by the administration of the solid extracts of SPD, but this result was devoid of statistical significance. 3. The oral administration of SPD enhanced the sleeping induced by pentobarbital sodium. 4. Spontaneous movements were significantly depressed following the oral administration of the solid extracts of SPD. 5. Ataxia was not shown in rota rod method following the oral administration of the solid extracts of SPD. 6. The solid extracts of SPD showed positive analgesic effects on the acetic acid-induced writhing syndrome. 7. The solid extracts of SPD raised the threshold of the hindlimb pressure pain, but the result was not statistically significant. From the results, it can be concluded that SPD has sedative and analgesic effects.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제40권6호
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• pp.410-417
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• 2017

Estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is a key issue in the field of forensic pathology. With the availability of quantitative analysis of RNA levels in postmortem tissues, several studies have assessed the postmortem degradation of constitutively expressed RNA species to estimate PMI. However, conventional RNA quantification as well as biochemical and physiological changes employed thus far have limitations related to standardization or normalization. The present study focuses on an interesting feature of the subdomains of certain RNA species, in which they are site-specifically cleaved during apoptotic cell death. We found that the D8 divergent domain of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) bearing cell death-related cleavage sites was rapidly removed during postmortem RNA degradation. In contrast to the fragile domain, the 5' terminal region of 28S rRNA was remarkably stable during the postmortem period. Importantly, the differences in the degradation rates between the two domains in mammalian 28S rRNA were highly proportional to increasing PMI with a significant linear correlation observed in mice as well as human autopsy tissues. In conclusion, we demonstrate that comparison of the degradation rates between domains of a single RNA species provides quantitative information on postmortem degradation states, which can be applied for the estimation of PMI.

• 대한바이러스학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.101-106
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• 1996

Hantavirus is the etiologic agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). It has been known that the natural reservoirs of Hantavirus are not only field mice but also other animals in parts of the world. In this study, to research on the host range of Hantavirus, immunofluorescent antibody against Hantavirus was investigated in wild birds from 1991 to 1992, duck from 1991 to 1992 and squirrels (Tamias sibiricus) in 1990 in Korea. The results were as follows: 1. Of total 179 wild birds of 14 species, Emberiza elegans elegans and Passer montanus dy-bowsky were antibody positive. The positive rates were 3.92% (2 out of 51) and 1.64% (1 out of 61), respectively. 2. The antibody titers of wild birds were 1:16 and 1:64 in Emberiza elegans elegans, 1:16 in Passer montanus dybowsky. 3. The positive rate of antibody in ducks was 2.3% (3 out of 129). 4. The positive rate of antibody in squrrels was 48.10% (38 out of 79). According these results, we newly showed that passer montanus dybowsky, domestic ducks and Tamias sibiricus possessed the antibody against Hantavirus.