• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.228.2-229
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• 2002

Methylmercury (MeHg). a potent neurotoxicant. produces neuronal death that may be partially mediated by glutamate. Glutamine synthetase (GS), a glial-specific enzyme. catalyzes the synthesis of glutamine from glutamate and ammonia and is associated with ischemic injury and neurological diseases. Objectives of this experiment are to investigate whether in vivo and in vitro MeHg exposure have adverse effects on GS and whether duration of exposure to MeHg and glutamate co-treatment playa role in MeHg-induced toxicity. (omitted)

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 2020

Cognitive impairment is considered to be key research topics in the field of neurodegenerative diseases and in understanding of learning and memory. In the present study, we investigated neuroprotective effects of Schisandra chinensis (SC) and Ribes fasciculatum (RF) extracts in hydrogen peroxide-induced neuronal cell death in vitro and scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in Sprague Dawley^® (SD) rat in vivo. Apoptotic cell death in neuroblastic PC12 cell line was induced by hydrogen peroxide for 1 hour at 100 μM. However, mixture of SC and RF treatment prevented peroxide induced PC12 cell death with no neurotoxic effects. For in vivo experiment, the effect of SC and RF extracts on scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in SD rat was evaluated by spontaneous alternation behavior in Y-Maze test. After 30 min scopolamine injection, the scopolamine-induced rats presented significantly decreased % spontaneous alteration and acetylcholine level, compared to non-induced group. However, treatment of SC+RF extracts rescued the reduced % spontaneous alteration with acetylcholine concentration from hippocampus in scopolamine-induced rats. These results suggested that mixture of SC and RF extract may be a potential natural therapeutic agent for the prevention of cognitive impairment.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.84-90
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• 2006

This study was conducted to anticipate nitrate reduction state in tree through measurement of nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and investigate the effect of nitrogen concentrations (100, 200, 400, and 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$) on growth, the nitrogen content of various tissue, and NRA of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia cv. Niitaka) seedlings in sand culture. Nutrient solutions used in this experiment were adjusted to pH 6.5 and fixed the ratio of ammonium and nitrate to 1:3 and trickle-irrigated 3 times a day. Tree height and dry weight of various organs in seedlings were higher in low nitrogen concentration (100 and 200 $mg\;L^{-1}$) than in high nitrogen concentration (400 and 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$). The shoot growth in 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$ was extremely poor by nitrogen over supply. Increasing the nitrogen concentration, the concentration of nitrate-N in leaves and roots were insignificantly changed but that of stems increased. The accumulation of total and reduced nitrogen in all organs with increasing concentrations of nitrogen supply were increased at 30 days after treatment but those of all organs at 60 and 90 days after treatment were highest in 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$, whereas there were no significant changes among other nitrogen concentration. The in vivo (${+NO_3}^-$) NRA of all organs did not relate to nitrogen concentration but the in vivo (${-NO_3}^-$) NRA of leaves except roots increased with increasing the nitrogen concentration. Therefore, the proper nitrogen concentration to promote growth and nitrate reduction of pear tree was 200 $mg\;L^{-1}$.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.115-132
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• 2014

Objective : Portulacae Herba (PH) can clear away heat, detoxicate, cool down blood heat. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of PH on ACD induced by 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) in mice. Method : In this experiment, the effects of PH on changes in body weights, thicknesses and weights of ear, thicknesses of dorsum skin, degree of symptoms on the dorsum skin, histopathological changes of ear and dorsum skin, spleen weights, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-10 in serum were observed. And the effects on the proliferation rates of splenocytes were also investigated in vitro and in vivo. Results : 1. PH spread (PHS) group and PH spread plus administered (PHS+Adm) group didn't show any changes in weight and thickness of ear. 2. But in PHS and PHS+Adm group, thickness of dorsum skin decreased significantly. 3. And PHS and PHS+Adm group showed meaningful effectiveness on ACD symptoms like erythema, desquamation and keratinization. 4. In histopathological observation, hyperplasia and edema of spongy tissues were remarkably diminished in PHS and PHS+Adm group. 5. And PH reduced the proliferation rates of splenocytes in vivo and vitro study. Conclusions : PH effectively decreased symptoms of ACD in this study, therefore PH can be one of medicinal ingredients to treat ACD.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.90-90
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• 1997

Natural products, which have been used for the treatment of hypertension, diuresis and nephritis in traditional oriental medicine, were selected for the screening of nitric oxide (NO) production in endothelial cells and kidney tissues in vitro as well as in vivo by measuring the conversion of [$\^$14/C]-L-arginine to [$\^$14/C]-L-citrulline, a coproduct of the enzyme reaction with NO. Confluent monolayer of endothelial cells were used for the screening of 16 natural products. Among the natural products, Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula stimulated endothelial NO synthase activity. Thus, both confluent monolayer of endothelial cells and kidney homogenates (glomeruli, cortical tubules, meudllae) were treated with Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula (final concentration 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) and NO releases were compared with those by receptor - dependent agonists, bradykinin and ADP and receptor - independent calcium ionophore A23187 in vitro. In rat experiment, NO releases in glomeruli, cortical tubules and medullae and plasma renin activity were assessed after intraperitoneal injection of Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula (10 mg/kg/day for 4 days). As a result, both Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula significantly increased NO releases in cultured endothelial cells, kidney tissues in vitro as well as in vivo. Stimulation of NO releases by Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula was similar to those by receptor - dependent agonists, bradykinin and ADP and receptor - independent calcium ionophore A23187 in cultured endothelial cells. However, plasma renin activity was not influenced by these two natural products. In conclusion, stimulatory effects of Zizyphus jujuba and Codonopsis pilosula on NO release in kidney may contribute their hypotensive effects and antinephritic action possibly by increasing renal blood flow.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.80-89
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• 2022

The targeting of DNA methylation in cancer using DNA hypomethylating drugs has been well known to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy and immunotherapy by affecting multiple pathways. Herein, we investigated the combinational effects of DNA hypomethylating drugs and ionizing radiation (IR) in human sarcoma cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Clonogenic assays were performed to determine the radiosensitizing properties of two DNA hypomethylating drugs on sarcoma cell lines we tested in this study with multiple doses of IR. We analyzed the effects of 5-aza-dC or SGI-110, as DNA hypomethylating drugs, in combination with IR in vitro on the proliferation, apoptosis, caspase-3/7 activity, migration/invasion, and Western blotting using apoptosis- or autophagy-related factors. To confirm the combined effect of DNA hypomethylating drugs and IR in our in vitro experiment, we generated the sarcoma cells in nude mouse xenograft models. Here, we found that the combination of DNA hypomethylating drugs and IR improved anticancer effects by inhibiting cell proliferation and by promoting synergistic cell death that is associated with both apoptosis and autophagy in vitro and in vivo. Our data demonstrated that the combination effects of DNA hypomethylating drugs with radiation exhibited greater cellular effects than the use of a single agent treatment, thus suggesting that the combination of DNA hypomethylating drugs and radiation may become a new radiotherapy to improve therapeutic efficacy for cancer treatment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.34-50
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• 1996

The present experiment was desinged to investigate the effects of Tongdosan water extracts on the Cardiovascular System in the Experimental Animals. Thus, the changes of blood pressure and heart rate were measured after oral admini- stration. Measurment of Mortality rate was observed for measuring the effect of Tongdosan water extract. Tongdosan water extract against pulmonary thrombo- embolism induced by collagen the mixture(0.1ml/10g, 2mg/kg B.W) plus serotonin(5mg/kg B.W) in mouse. The effect of Tongdosan water extract was examined by observing the change of collagen-induced platelet aggregation, coagulation activity, ex vivo and in vitro fibrinolytic activity of euglobulin fraction in rats. The results were summarized as followings. 1. Tongdosan dropped the blood pressure in spontaneous hypertensive rat. 2. The drug increased the auricular blood flow in rabbit. 3. The drug relaxed the artery contraction by pretreated norepinephrine in rat. 4. The drug inhibited the death rate of mouse which was led to thromboembo- lism by serotonin and collagen. 5. The drug inhibited the platelet aggregation in rat. 6. The drug prolonged the prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time on the test of plasma coagulation factor activity in rat, but was not valuable. 7. The drug reduced the fibrinogen lyses time of rat ex vivo assay and lyses area was increased. 8. Tongdosan reduced fibrinogen lyses time of rat in vitro assay. According to the above mentioned results, Tongdosan increased the blood flow and dropped the blood pressure by the dilation of blood vessel. And the drug presented the antithrombin acivity, inhibited the platelet aggregation.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.114-125
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• 2006

objective : The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of Scutellaria Radix(SR) extract on immune cells and cytokines in ovalbumin(OVA)-induced asthmatic mice. Methods : In vivo, C57BL/6 mice were sensitized and handicapped by OVA for 9 weeks. In this experiment, one group was not treated, and the other group was treated with SR extract for six weeks(five times per week) and analyzed by ELISA and flow cytometer. Results : In vivo, there were significant decreases in eosinophils, IL-4, IL-13 in BALF (bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) compared with that of control group. However,$IFN{\gamma}$ in the SR group increased significantly compared with that of control group. Additionally, the population of $CD3e^-/CCR3^+,\;CD69^+/CD3e^+,\;IgE^+/B220^+,\;CD11b^+/Gr-1^+$ cells in the SR group decreased compared with that of control group. conclusion : The results of this study support a role for SR as an effective treatment for asthma in its experimental success in significantly decreasing inflammation and asthma reactions, and in increasing $IFN{\gamma}$, Which helps prevent such reactions.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2003

To validate and to estimate the chemical hazard playa very important role to environment and human health. The detection of many synthetic chemicals used in industry that may pose a genetic hazard in our environment is of great concern at present. Since these substances are not limited to the original products, and enter the environment, they have become widespread environmental pollutants, thus leading to a variety of chemicals that possibly threaten the public health. In this resepct, the clastogenicity of 8 synthetic chemicals was evaluated with bone marrow micronucleus assay in mice. The positive control, mitomycin C(2mg/kg,i.p.) revealed significant induction ratio of percentage of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes/l,000 polychromatic erythrocytes compared to carboxymethylcellulose control. The chemicals with relatively high LD$\_$50/ value such as phenylisocyanate (CAS No. 103-71-9), m-aminochlorobenzene (CAS No. 108-42-9) and 2-chloro-4-nitroaniline (CAS No. 121-87-9) revealed no significant induction of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in mice. From this results, 8 synthetic chemicals widely used in industry have revealed no significant micronucleus induction of clastogenicity in mice in this experiment.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.197-204
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• 1987

Novel pranoprofen algininate and lysinate salts were manufactured and their salt formation was confirmed by melting point, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resornance spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffractometry. The physical properties of pranoprofen lysinate and argininate salts were compared with those of pranoprofen through in vitro and in vivo tests. Solubility, $pK_a$ and lipid-water partition coefficient were measured through in vitro experiments, while antiinflammatory efficacy, analgesic effect, acute toxicity and in situ absorption were tested through in vivo experiments. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The solubilities of pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were increased markedly in pH 6.8 and pH 7.5 phosphate buffer solutions, comparing with that of pranoprofen itself. 2) $pK_a$ values of pranoprofen, pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were 6.34, 7.99 and 7.56 in carbon tetrachloride, and 5.86, 6.69 and 7.92 in chloroform, respectively by liquid-liquid partition method. 3) The lipid-water partition coefficients of pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were increased more than that of pranoprofen in carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, or benzene-pH 6.8 buffer system, but were nearly identical using pH 1.2 buffer as water phase. 4) Antiinflammatory effects of pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were remarkably increased and analgesic effects of the salts were as same as that of pranoprofen. 5) Pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were safer than pranoprofen itself in acute toxicity, and the in situ absorption rates of pranoprofen, pranoprofen argininate and lysinate salts were 0.392, 0.960 and $0.762\;hr^{-1}$, respectively according to the rat intestine recirculation experiment.