• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 1996

The surface of albumin microspheres was modified with methotrexate(MTX) by using 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC). Surface-modified albumin microspheres entrapping no MTX (SAMS), free MTX (SAMSF) and MTX-bovine serum albumin(BSA) conjugates(SAMSC) were prepared. The organ-targeting ability of free $[^3H]MTX,\;[^3H]MTX-BSA$ conjugate and the above microspheres was evaluated after i.v. administration of the preparations, equivalent to 150 nCi via the tail vein of mice. The total radioactivity in the lung increased immediately in a few minutes after i.v. injection of the microspheres, and then declined for the period of 3-4 weeks. However, the radioactivity in the liver, spleen and kidney increased slowly during the rapid decrease in radioactivity in the lung. This suggested that the microspheres could be entrapped rapidly in the lung through mechanical filtration because of their large size and slowly redistributed to the liver, spleen and kidney due to either the microspheres being degraded enough for the size to allow passage through the capillary beds of the lung and/or the release of $[^3H]MTX\;or\;[^3H]MTX-BSA$ conjugates from the microspheres. The amount of $60{sim}70%$ of the dose was targeted to the liver after the i.v. injection of SAMS, SAMSF and SAMSC, and the values of $(R_e\;^*\;_{e)liver}$ from the microspheres were $5{\sim}7$ compared to free MTX. This suggested that the liver-targeting ability from surface-modified albumin microspheres could be $5{\sim}7$ times as that of free MTX. The liver-targeted drug was accumulated in the Kupffer cells at the initial stage, thereafter the drug in the Kupffer cell was slowly transferred into the hepatocytes. The value of AUQ for liver from SAMS was higher than that from SAMSF, but much lower than that from SAMSC. This suggest that MTX bound to their surface could be eliminated slower than the entrapped free MTX, and faster than the entrapped MTX-BSA conjugates. This is consistent with the in vitro release rates order in the presence of a proteolytic enzyme. Also, surface-modified MTX was scarcely released in the absence of a proteolytic enzyme. Therefore, the surface-modified MTX nay be released (or eliminated) rapidly from SAMSC at the target site, and thereafter MTX may be released (or eliminated) slowly from the entrapped MTX-BSA conjugates in SAMSC for a long period.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.181-189
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• 2001

Purpose : Changes in the balance between MMP and TIMP can have a profound effect on the composition in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and affect various cellular functions including adhesion, migration, differentiation of cells, and fibrosis and invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Radiation therapy is a popular treatment modality for benign and malignant tumor, but the study for radiation effect on MMP and TIMP is scarce. In the current study, we have examined the expression of TIMP in fibrosis-prone (C57BL/6) mice after radiation. Methods and Materials : Adult female mice of $10\~12$ weeks were used. The whole body were irradiated using a Varian CL-4/100 with 2 and 10 Gy. Immunohistochemical staining was peformed according to Avidin Biotin complex method and evaluated by observing high power field. For TIMP-1, TIMP-2 antibodies, reactivity was assessed in the parenchymal cell and in the stromal cell. The scale of staining was assessed by combining the quantitative and qualiative intensity of staining. Results : TIMP-1 immunoreactivity did not change in lung. But, in liver, TIMP-1 immunoreactivity was localized in cytoplasm of hepatocyte and Kupffer cell. in kidney, TIMP-1 immunoreactivity was localized in cytoplasm of some tubular cell. Temporal variations were not seen. Dose-response relationship was not seen except kidney. TIMP-2 immunoreactivity in lung was a score (++) at 0 Gy and elevated to a score (+++) at 2 Gy. TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was a score (++) in liver at 0 Gy. TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was localized in cytoplasm of hepatocyte and Kupffer cell as same as patterns of TIMP-1 immunoreactivity. The TIMP-2 immunoreactivity in liver was elevated to (+++) at 2 Gy. Immunoreactivity to TIMP-2 in kidney was a score (+++) at 0 Gy and was not changed at 10 Gy. The score of TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was reduced to (++) at 2 Gy. TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was confined to tubules in kidney. Temporal variation of TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was irregular. Dose-response relationship of TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was not seen. Conclusions : Differences between intensity of expression of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in each organ was present. Expression of TIMP was localized to specific cell in each organ. Irradiation increased TIMP-1 immunoreactivity in the liver and the kidney. Irradiation increased TIMP-2 immunoreactivity in the lung. But, in the liver and the kidney, TIMP-2 expression to radiation was irregular. Temporal variation of TIMP-2 immunoreactivity was irregular. Dose-response relationship of TIHP-2 immunoreactivity was not seen. In the future, we expect that the study of immunohistochemical staining of longer period of postirradiation and quantitative analysis using western blotting and northern blotting could define the role of TIMP in the radiation induced tissue fibrosis.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-16
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• 1989

In order to investigate the in vivo effect of $^{60}Co$ radiation on rabbit liver, the uptake ratio and regional excretory value in hepatocytes and Kupffer cells were estimated during acute and chronic hepatic injuries. The left lobe of liver was irradiated at 15 Gy or 30 Gy with a single dose and subsequent changes were analysed with a seial nuclear medicine imaging by using $^{99m}Tc-phytate,\;^{99m}Tc-DISIDA\;and\;^{99m}Tc-HSA$ and resulting data were computerized. The degree of hepatic damage, duration of the injury, and recovery pattern after the irradation were in agreement with the findings of other investigations. However, out values were more quantitative evacuation than those of other publications. Recovery of decreased uptake of $^{99m}Tc-phytate$ was delayed approximately $2{\sim}3$ days later than that of $^{99m}Tc-DISIDA$. In acute radiation induced injury, the results demonstrated that the recovery of Kupffer cells was delayed more than that of hepatocytes. This discrepancy was considered due to the differences in repair activities between these cell types. The decreased of regional excretory value in irradiated area was found to be dose-dependent but had no corelation with regional uptakes of DISIDA and phytate. The decreased of regional excretory value observed in non-irradiated region suggested that irradiated liver might induce an indirect effect.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.628-634
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• 2016

We investigated the characteristics and rate of development of allotriploid embryos derived from a cross between female olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus and male starry flounder Platichthys stellatus. The allotriploidy was induced by cold shocking fertilized eggs three minutes post-fertilization at 3°C for 45 minutes. The average cellular DNA content of the allotriploid embryos was 2.06±0.03 pg/cell, which is equal to the sum of the cellular DNA content of a diploid olive flounder (1.42 pg/cell) and a haploid starry flounder (0.66 pg/haploid cell). The first cleavage, midblastula, gastrula and Kupffer's vesicle appearance stages of the allotriploid eggs began at 1.5, 8, 13 and 26 hours after cold shocking at 18°C, respectively. The developmental rate of allotriploid eggs was equivalent to that of diploid and triploid olive flounder eggs at 10, 14 and 18°C. However, the hatching times of allotriploid eggs, 7 h at 10°C, 5 h at 14°C and 4 h at 18°C, were earlier than those of diploid and triploid olive flounder.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.181-187
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• 2010

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the critical causative factors leading to alcoholic liver disease (ALD). ALD is characterized by a wide spectrum of liver damage, ranging from simple uncomplicated liver steatosis (fatty liver) to steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. It has been believed that the obvious underlying cause for ALD is due to hepatocyte death induced by alcohol itself. However, recent sparkling studies have shown that diverse immune responses contribute to ALD because liver is enriched with numerous immune cells. Especially, a line of evidence has suggested that innate immune cells such as Kupffer cells and natural killer (NK)/NKT cells are significantly involved in the pathogenesis of ALD via production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other mediators. Indeed, more interestingly, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), known as a major cell inducing liver steatosis and fibrosis, can be killed by liver NK cells, which could be suppressed by chronic alcohol consumption. In this review, with the view of liver as predominant innate immune organ, we describe the pathogenesis of ALD in which what roles of innate immune cells are and how they are interacting with HSCs.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 1991

Clinical signs, serum chemical values and histological findings of hepatic tissue after partial and complete obstruction of common bile duct in Korean goats were investigated. Abnormal clinical signs were not observed in partial obstruction of common bile duct, but in complete obstruction clinical signs such as jaundice, urine color change, were observed. Serum total bilirubin, total cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase, sorbitol dehydrogenase, gamma glutamyltranspeptidase, and total protein values increased on the 1-4th day and then gradually decreased to normal level in partial obstruction. However, they tend to increase persistently by the 24th day in complete obstruction of common bileduct. Histologic features of hepatic tissue in partial obstruction were not changed as compared with normal hepatic tissue. On the other hand, in complete obstruction of common bite duct there were moderate bile duct proliferation in a portal area, rupture of bile canaliculi, phagocytosis of bile pigment by Kupffer cells, periportal fibrosis, intrahepatic bile stasis and hepatic cell necrosis.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.727-733
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• 1996

2-(Allylthio)pyrazine is effective in selectively suppressing constitutive and inducible expression of cytochrome P450 2E1. The effect of 2-(allylthio)pyrazine against potentiat ed chemical injury was studied in rats. Vitamin-A pretreatment of rats substantially increased carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity, as supported by an ~4-fold increase in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity. Concomitant pretreatment of rats with 2-(allylthio)pyrazine at the daily dose of 200mg/kg resulted in a 76% decrease in vitamin-A-potentiated hepatotoxicity, which supported the possibility that 2-(allylthio)pyrazine protects the liver against chemical-induced hepatic injury by the mechanism associated with Kupffer cell inactivation. Pyridine pretreatment caused substantial enhancement in carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity. 2-(Allylthio)pyrazine treatment of rats reduced the pyridine-potentiated toxicity in a dose-dependent manner. Animals treated with both pyridine and 2-(allylthio)pyrazine prior to intoxicating dose of CCl$_4$ resulted in 85% and 47% decreases in pyridine-increased triglycerides and cholesterol levels in the liver. The protective effect of 2-(allylthio)pyrazine on the DNA strand breakage induced by benzenetriol was assessed by measuring the conversion of supercoiled ${\Phi}x$-174 DNA to the open relaxed form. 2-(Allylthio)pyrazine blocked the benzenetriol-induced conversion of supercoiled DNA to open circular form in a dose-dependent manner. The presence of 2-(allylthio)pyrazine at the doses from I to 10mM in the incubation mixture containing 5 ${\mu}$M benzenetriol completely protected benzenetriol-induced DNA strand breakage with the EC50 for the 2-(allylthio)pyrazine blocking being noted as ~220 ${\mu}$M, whereas allyl disulfide exerted protecting effect at relatively high concentrations (i.e. ~850 ${\mu}$M), suggesting that 2-(allylthio)pyrazine effectively scavenges the reactive oxygen species. These results provide evidence that 2-(allylthio)pyrazine blocks vitamin A- or pyridine-potentiated CCl$_4$ hepatotoxicity and that the agent is active in protecting DNA by scavenging the reactive oxygen species.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.549-557
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• 1994

This study was done to find the method of the extermination of Fasciola hepatica matacercariae. And the artificial infection was carried out with 30 metacercarae exposed to 5% ammonia water and not-exposed to 5% ammonia water. Serial determinations of live weight, red blood cell, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, and eosinophils were performed in rats at 7 days interval for 16 weeks after infection (WAI). Recovery of worm burden and microscopic findings of livr was performed in rats at 10 WAI. The results in this work were summarized as follows; 1. Fasciola spp metacercariae exposed to 5% ammonia water have lost their ability of infection. 2. In teh exposed group, the mean of worm recovered was 2.25 and the common bile duct was swelling up to 0.71cm in diameter. 3. The value of live weight was different in two groups as the not-exposed group and the exposed group were 321.28, 384.38 at 10 WAI, respectively. 4. In the not-exposed group, at 7 WAI, hemoglobin at 5 WAI and packed cell volume at 7 WAI wre minimally decreased to $5.84{\times}10^{-6}/mm^3$, 11.53g/dl and 43.2%, respectively. But those three values were slowly increased at 10 WAI. Rercent cosinophil was increased to 12.2% at 4 WAI and slightly decreased to 7.9% at 10 WAI. But there are no stastistical singnificance between the exposed group and the normal control group. 5. In histolgical findings in the not-exposed group, the dilated common bile ducts and intrahepatic bile ducts showed distinct hyperplasia of the epithelium. Lymphocytes and eosinophils were infilterated around the bile ducts. The hepatic cells and Kupffer cells showed swollen appearance.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.633-638
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• 2022

Liver regeneration is a well-known systemic homeostatic phenomenon. The N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification pathway has been associated with liver regeneration and hepatocellular carcinoma. m⁶A methyltransferases, such as methyltransferase 3 (METTL3) and methyltransferase 14 (METTL14), are involved in the hepatocyte-specific-regenerative pathway. To illustrate the role of METTL14, secreted from non-parenchymal liver cells, in the initiation phase of liver regeneration, we performed 70% partial hepatectomy (PH) in Mettl14 heterozygous (HET) and wild-type (WT) mice. Next, we analyzed the ratio of liver weight to body weight and the expression of mitogenic stimulators derived from non-parenchymal liver cells. Furthermore, we evaluated the expression of cell cycle-related genes and the hepatocyte proliferation rate via MKI67-immunostaining. During regeneration after PH, the weight ratio was lower in Mettl14 HET mice compared to WT mice. The expressions of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, mitogens derived from non-parenchymal liver cells that stimulate the cell cycle, as well as the expressions of cyclin B1 and D1, which regulate the cell cycle, and the number of MKI67-positive cells, which indicate proliferative hepatocyte in the late G1-M phase, were significantly reduced in Mettl14 HET mice 72 h after PH. Our findings demonstrate that global Mettl14 mutation may interrupt the homeostasis of liver regeneration after an acute injury like PH by restraining certain mitogens, such as HGF and TNF-α, derived from sinusoidal endothelial cells, stellate cells, and Kupffer cells. These results provide new insights into the role of METTL14 in the clinical treatment strategies of liver disease.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.3 no.1_2
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• pp.21-31
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• 1988

The effect of capsaicin on the toxicity of ethanol in mice were studied. Capsaicin was administered i.p. every other day for 4 weeks and 5% ethanol was provided ad libitum by tap water for 4 weeks. The administration of capsaicin 3.0 mg/kg showed the increase of body weight gain, ratio of liver wt./body wt., s-GPT. s-triglyceride and s-cholesterol, and showed the decrease of BUN as compared to control group. Capsaicin administered 3.0 mg/kg showed severe moth eaten appearance. eosinophilic necrosis and cholangitis in mouse liver The administration of 5% ethanol showed the decrease of body weight gain, ratios of liver, kidney and spleen wt./body wt., s-tryglyceride and s-cholestrol. Ethanol administered 5% solution showed little fatty change, moth eaten appearance, Kupffer cell proliferation, spotty necrosis and nuclear regeneration. The administration of capsaicin and ethanol together decreased the influence of ethanol on body weight gain, ratios of liver, kidney and spleen wt./body wt., s-triglyceride and s-cholesterol, and showed the less severe moth eaten appearance, eosinophilic necrosis and cholangitis. It might be concluded that the administration of capsaicin and ethanol together decreased the toxicity caused by capsaicin or ethanol respectively.