• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.162-167
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• 2000

To study on antioxidant effects of saponin fractions, we investigated effects in the liver of 40-week-old mice to which were pretreated with 5 mg/kg per body weight of saponins for 5 days. The ability of saponins to protect against oxidative damage to the mouse liver was examined by determining the level malondialdehyde (MDA),hydrogen peroxide and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). The only panaxadiol (PD)among the ginseng saponin fractions significantly increased the hepatic SOD activities (p<0.01), Whereas PD, panaxatriol (PT), ginsenoside Rd (G-Rd) (p<0.01) and ginsenoside Re (G-Re) (p<0.05) significantly decreased the contents of hydrogen peroxide. It was only G-Rd that significantly increased CAT activities (p<0.05). The level of MDA was significantly decreased by G-Rd and PD. In conclusion, PD and G-Rd among the saponin fractions were especially increased in the activity of hepatic antioxidative enzyme and decreased the lipid peroxidation that was expressed in term of MDA formation.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2019

Objectives : Alcohol hangover is a common phenomenon which basically occurs after heavy drinking. Moreover, heavy alcohol consumption leads to acute and chronic diseases. We investigated the effect of herbal mixture (SJ) on alcohol metabolism in serum or/and liver. Methods : 5W-old Sprague Dawley rats were used for the study. To overnight fasted rats, 0.9% saline or SJ extract was administrated per os before alcohol treatment. Then, 40% alcohol was orally administrated to all rats in 30 mins. Ethanol, acetaldehyde concentrations, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activities were measured by assay kits. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were measured by analyzer. Results : Ethanol and acetaldehyde concentrations lowered in SJ groups compared with CON group. Especially, acetaldehyde concentration significantly decreased in SJ groups compared with CON group. AST and ALT levels tended to increase in SJ groups compared with CON group but there was no significant difference between CON group and SJ groups. ADH activity in serum was higher in SJ groups than CON group but no significant difference in liver. ALDH activity in both serum and liver showed significantly increased in SJ groups compared with CON group. Conclusions : Treatment of SJ extract showed not only reducing concentration of alcohol and acetaldehyde but also increasing activities of ADH and ALDH. These results suggest SJ may influence in alcohol metabolism via control of metabolic enzyme activities and metabolite. Therefore, SJ, herbal mixture, might have a function of preventing hangover after drinking alcohol.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.46-61
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: An increasing life expectancy in society has burdened healthcare systems substantially because of the rising prevalence of age-related metabolic diseases. This study compared the effects of animal protein hydrolysate (APH) and casein on metabolic diseases using aged mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Eight-week-old and 50-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used as the non-aged (YC group) and aged controls (NC group), respectively. The aged mice were divided randomly into 3 groups (NC, low-APH [LP], and high-APH [HP] and fed each experimental diet for 12 weeks. In the LP and HP groups, casein in the AIN-93G diet was substituted with 16 kcal% and 24 kcal% APH, respectively. The mice were sacrificed when they were 63-week-old, and plasma and hepatic lipid, white adipose tissue weight, hepatic glucose, lipid, and antioxidant enzyme activities, immunohistochemistry staining, and mRNA expression related to the glucose metabolism on liver and muscle were analyzed. RESULTS: Supplementation of APH in aging mice resulted in a significant decrease in visceral fat (epididymal, perirenal, retroperitoneal, and mesenteric fat) compared to the negative control (NC) group. The intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test and area under the curve analysis revealed insulin resistance in the NC group, which was alleviated by APH supplementation. APH supplementation reduced hepatic gluconeogenesis and increased glucose utilization in the liver and muscle. Furthermore, APH supplementation improved hepatic steatosis by reducing the hepatic fatty acid and phosphatidate phosphatase activity while increasing the hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity. Furthermore, in the APH supplementation groups, the red blood cell (RBC) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and hepatic H₂O₂ levels decreased, and the RBC glutathione, hepatic catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities increased. CONCLUSIONS: APH supplementation reduced visceral fat accumulation and alleviated obesity-related metabolic diseases, including insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis, in aged mice. Therefore, high-quality animal protein APH that reduces the molecular weight and enhances the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score has potential as a dietary supplement for healthy aging.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.443-448
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate changes of blood metabolites and enzyme activities at different slaughter ages of Hanwoo cattle. Blood samples were taken from six hundred thirty two steers (24~33 months of age) and one hundred twenty eight bulls (17~24 months of age) by venipuncture from caudal vein immediately prior to slaughter. Glucose concentrations were linearly increased (P<0.001) with increases of the slaughter age in steers, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations were linearly decreased (P<0.001) with increases of the slaughter age in steers. Likewise, glucose and albumin concentrations in bulls were linearly decreased (P=0.009 and P<0.001, respectively) with increases of the slaughter age. BUN, cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol concentrations were linearly increased (P<0.001, 0.018 and 0.002, respectively), and creatinine concentrations were quadratically increased (P=0.009) with increases of the slaughter age. Activity of gamma glutamyltransferase (${\gamma}$-GT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was linearly increased (P<0.001) with increases of the slaughter age in both steers and bulls, whereas alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was not affected by increasing slaughter age. In addition, the concentrations of ${\gamma}$-GT and AST were higher (P<0.05) for bulls than those of steers at 24 months of age. Increased levels of ${\gamma}$-GT and AST indicate impaired liver function; it may be associated with increases of concentrate level which is a concomitant of the extended fattening periods in Hanwoo feeding. In conclusion, the results in the present study may be one of the useful information for diagnosis of the metabolic disorder in Hanwoo cattle.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2014

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST; E.C. 2.6.1.1), a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme, preferentially promotes the mutual transformation of aspartate and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate and glutamate. It plays a key role in amino acid metabolism and has been widely recommended as a biomarker of liver and heart damage. Our study aimed to evaluate the extensive preparation of AST and its application in quality control in clinical laboratories. We describe a scheme to express and purify the 6His-AST fusion protein. An optimized sequence coding AST was synthesized and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain for protein expression. Ideally, the fusion protein has a volumetric productivity achieving 900 mg/l cultures. After affinity chromatography, the enzyme activity of purified AST reached 150,000 U/L. Commutability assessment between the engineered AST and standard AST from Roche suggested that the engineered AST was the better candidate for the reference material. Moreover, the AST showed high stability during long-term storage at $-20^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, the highly soluble 6His-tagged AST can become a convenient tool for supplying a much better and cheaper standard or reference material for the clinical laboratory.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.81-94
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• 1997

The concentrations of cadmium, metallothionein(MT), superoxide dismutase(SOD), and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) were investigated in liver and kidney of rats which were fed the water containing 50 or 100ppm cadmium chloride with basal diet(group A), 5% horsetail diet(group, B), 5% mugwort diet(group C) and 5% champignon diet(group D) for weeks. Cadmium in liver decreased for the first 12 weeks of treatment, but thereafter increased, and was lower in experimental group B,C,D than in control group A. Cadmium in kidney increased linearly during the 16 weeks of treatment, and was lower in group B than in group A. MT in liver decreased for the first 12 weeks of treatment in group A, but increased linearly during the 16 weeks in group B,C,D, higher in group B than in group A. There were significantly higher accumulation of cadmium and MT in liver than in kidney in the beginning of cadmium treatment, but reversed in the ending of treatment. The SOD and LDH activities were not affected during the 16 weeks treatment, and there was no significant difference between groups. Histologic examination revealed moderate to severe hepatic and renal injury in group A compared to horsetail diet group B. These results indicate that the kidney is a major target organ of chronic cadmium poisoning, and suggest that Cd-induced hepatic injury, via release of Cd-MT, may play an important role in the nephrotoxicity. In addition, higher MT concentrations in liver and kidney in the group B constitute a plausible explanation of the protective effects of horsetail diet against the cadmium toxicity in relation to histologic findings.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2014

The present study was carried out to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of hot water extract of Korean white dandelion (Taraxacum coreanum Nakai) on liver cancer induced in rats by a single dose of N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA). The animals were divided into three groups. The animals in the normal (Nor) group were fed basal diet. Control (Con) group were administered with NDEA (200 mg/kg, i.p.). Hot water extract of Korean white dandelion (KDDA, KDDB) group treated with hot water extracts of Korean white dandelion (30, 60 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks after NDEA. Serum AST and ALT were measured, enzyme activity of liver were examined by spectrophotometer and histological alternation of liver were examined by light microscopy. KDDA and KDDB group were decreased the increase of serum AST, ALT level induced by NDEA. The activities of SOD and CAT were significantly increased in KDDA, KDDB then in the Con. In the histological observation, KDDA and KDDB group were structure of liver lobula and nuclear shape was relatively cleared. In addition, the cytoplasm staining was similar to those of the Nor group. vacuolization of cytoplasm was not observed. These results suggest that administration of hot water extract of Korean white dandelion suppress or retard liver cancer induced by NDEA in rats.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 1989

Several proteolytic activities and the level of and-trypsin in neoplastic tissues of human cervix and liver were compared to those in normal tissues to examine if any correlation exists between malignant behavior of the tumors and the changes in overall proteolytic capacity. Proteolysis against casein and insulin in cervix tumor was increased to 2-to 3-fold while that in liver tumor was reduced to one-tenth to one-half. By contrast, the level of anti-trypsin in cervix tumor was lowered to nearly one-tenth of that in normal tissues while the level rose to about 2-fold in malignant tissues of liver. On the other hand, the activities of plasmin-like protease and plasminogen activator were enhanced 10-20% over the activities in normals. These results suggest that the changes in proteolytic capacity are at least in part due to outbalance in either of proteolytic or its inhibitory activity over the other and occur distinctively to each tumor systems for their malignant behavior.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2021

Metabolic syndrome (MBS) is a widespread disease that has strongly related to unhealthy diet and low physical activity, which initiate more serious conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to examine the therapeutic effects of morin, as one of the flavonoids constituents, which widely exists in many herbs and fruits, against some metabolic and hepatic manifestations observed in MBS rats and the feasible related mechanisms. MBS was induced in rats by high fructose diet feeding for 12 weeks. Morin (30 mg/kg) was administered orally to both normal and MBS rats for 4 weeks. Liver tissues were used for determination of liver index, hepatic expression of glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) as well as both inflammatory and fibrotic markers. The fat/muscle ratio, metabolic parameters, systolic blood pressure, and oxidative stress markers were also determined. Our data confirmed that the administration of morin in fructose diet rats significantly reduced the elevated systolic blood pressure. The altered levels of metabolic parameters such as blood glucose, serum insulin, serum lipid profile, and oxidative stress markers were also reversed approximately to the normal values. In addition, morin treatment decreased liver index, serum liver enzyme activities, and fat/muscle ratio. Furthermore, morin relatively up-regulated GLUT2 expression, however, down-regulated NF-κB, TNF-α, and TGF-β expressions in the hepatic tissues. Here, we revealed that morin has an exquisite effect against metabolic disorders in the experimental model through, at least in part, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic mechanisms.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.499-512
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• 2001

This study was performed to investigate effects of dried leaf powders, water, 75% and 95% ethanol extracts of persimmon leaf and green tea on lipid metabolism, lipid peroxidation and antioxidative enzyme activity in 12-month-old rats. Fifty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 542$\pm$4.5g were blocked into groups according to their body weight and were raised for four weeks with the diets containing 5%(w/w) dried leaf powders of persimmon(Diospyros kaki Thunb) and green tea(Camellia Sinensis O. Ktze), water or 75% and 95% ethanol extracts from same amount of each dried tea powder. Food intake was not significantly different among all groups, but weight gain of green tea powder group was significantly lower than that of control group. Plasma and liver lipid levels of all the tea diet groups were lower than those of control group. Especially, 75% ethanol extract of persimmon leaf decreased total lipid and triglyceride concentrations in plasma and 95% ethanol extract of persimmon leaf decreased liver total lipid level. However, there was no difference between 75% ethanol extracts groups and 95% ethanol extracts groups in lipid metabolism. Superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase activities in erythrocyte were remarkably increased by all the green tea diets. SOD, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities in liver were increased by the feeding of ethanol extracts from green tea and persimmon leaf powder. Liver xanthine oxidase activity was not different among all groups. Plasma Thiobarbirutic acid reactive substance(TBARS) concentrations of all the green tea diet groups were significantly low. It was thought that high flavonoids in green tea inhibited plasma lipid peroxidation by promoting SOD, catalase activities in erythrocyte. 95% ethanol extract of persimmon leaf also inhibited plasma lipid peroxidation by high vitamin E and beta-carotene. Persimmon leaf powder decreased liver TBARS concentration by vitamin E, betacarotene and vitamin C and by increasing activities of antioxidative enzymes with flavonoids. In conclusion, dried leaf powders, water, 75% and 95% ethanol extracts of persimmon leaf and green tea were effective in lowering lipid levels and inhibiting lipid peroxidation in 12-month-old rats. Above all, ethanol extracts of persimmon leaf decreased plasma and liver lipid levels and persimmon leaf powder effectively inhibited liver lipid peroxidation. Extracts of green tea leaf inhibited plasma lipid peroxidation. In lowering lipid levels and inhibiting lipid peroxidation, ethanol extracts were more effective than water extracts, but there was no difference between 75% ethanol extracts and 95% ethanol extracts in lipid metabolism. (Korean J Nutrition 34(5) : 499~512, 2001)