• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.113-116
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• 2011

Purpose: Acetylcholine receptor antibodies cause acetylcholine receptor loss, which is responsible for failure of the neuromuscular junction in the acetylcholine receptor autoantibody. The disease characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, myasthenia gravis(MG) occurs when the body inappropriately produces antibodies against acetylcholine receptors, and thus inhibits proper acetylcholine signal transmission. And this reason, the measurement of acetylcholine receptor antibodies can be of considerable value in disease diagnosis. Methods: From 2010. August to September, we tested orderd AchRAb 19 samples to get the results. 1. Pipette $5{\mu}{\ell}$ undiluted patient sera and kit control and add 125I AChR $50{\mu}{\ell}$ and incubate at R.T for 2 hours. 2. Pipette $50{\mu}{\ell}$ of anti-human IgG into each tube, and incubate at $2{\sim}8^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours. 3. Pipette $25{\mu}{\ell}$ precipitation enhancer into each tube and add 1mL washing solution into all tubes. 4. Centrifuge each tube for 20minutes at $2{\sim}8^{\circ}C$ at 1500g. 5. Aspirate or decant the supernatant. 6. Pipette 1 mL washing solution into all tubes and resuspend the pellet and repeat centrifugation. 7. Aspirate or decant the supernatant and count all tubes on a gamma counter. Results: Cut off value is 0.2 nmol/L and the results taken below 0.2 nmol/L are negative, the results above that identified as being positive values. We assayed the 19 patients samples and got 7 positive results. Of which, 6 patients were diagnosed as MG.(85.7%). Conclusions: Acetylcholine Receptor autoantibody test is intended for use by persons only for the quantitative determination of it in human serum. Even if measurement of the antibodies is not a routine test, it can be of considerable value in disease diagnosis.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.270-275
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• 2010

Catecholamines are among the first molecules that displayed a kind of response to prolonged or repeated stress. It is well established that long-term stress leads to the induction of catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes such as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine ${\beta}$-hydroxylase (DBH) in adrenal medulla. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of ginseng on TH and DBH mRNA expression. Repeated (2 h daily, 14 days) immobilization stress resulted in a significant increase of TH and DBH mRNA levels in rat adrenal medulla. However, ginseng treatment reversed the stress-induced increase of TH and DBH mRNA expression in the immobilization-stressed rats. Nicotine as a ligand of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in adrenal medulla stimulates catecholamine secretion and activates TH and DBH gene expression. Nicotine treatment increased mRNA levels of TH and DBH by 3.3- and 3.1-fold in PC12 cells. The ginseng total saponin exhibited a significant reversal in the nicotine-induced increase of TH and DBH mRNA expression, decreasing the mRNA levels of TH and DBH by 57.2% and 48.9%, respectively in PC12 cells. In conclusion, immobilization stress induced catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes gene expression, while ginseng appeared to restore homeostasis via suppression of TH and DBH gene expression. In part, the regulatory activity in the TH and DBH gene expression of ginseng may account for the anti-stress action produced by ginseng.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.1519-1526
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• 2014

This study investigated the biological activities and effects of Korean Zingiber mioga R. (flower buds and rhizome) on memory. The general composition, minerals, anti-oxidative activities, and AChE inhibitory effects were analyzed, and NORT (Novel object recognition test) and Y-Maze test in vivo were performed. The general contents (moisture, crude fat, crude protein, and crude ash; wet basis) of ZB (flower buds) were 91.96%, 0.15%, 1.99%, and 11.90%, respectively. The general contents (moisture, crude fat, crude protein, and crude ash; wet basis) of ZR (rhizome) were 75.21%, 0.53%, 2.20%, and 9.50%, respectively. The macro mineral contents (Ca, P, Na, and K) of ZB were 31.70 mg%, 15.20 mg%, 8.20 mg%, and 258.60 mg%, respectively. Inhibitory effects (IC50 value) of DPPH and ABTS radicals were higher with ZBD (flower buds water extract) than with ZBE (flower buds EtOH extract), ZRD (rhizome water extract) or ZRE (rhizome EtOH extract). AChE inhibitory effect of ZBD was higher and that of ZRD. NORT and Y-Maze test were performed with scopolamine-induced mice treated with ZBD and ZBE. In NORT, effects of ZBD and ZBE were similar to that of donepezil. In the Y-maze test, performances of ZBD and ZBE-treated mice were similar to that of the normal group. These results suggest that Korean Zingiber mioga R. has potential to be developed into a new functional food for cognition enhancement in the global food market.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1996

Intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) may play a crucial role in a variety of neuronal functions. Here we report that in primary culture of mouse cerebellar granule cells nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are expressed in a specific developmental stage and involved in the regulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Nicotine-mediated calcium responses were measured using $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ or fluorometrically using the calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2. Maximal uptake of $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ evoked by nicotine in mouse cerebellar granule cells were revealed $8{\sim}12$ days in culture. In contrast, nicotine did not alter the basal $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake in cultured glial cells. In cerebellar granule cells nicotine-evoked $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake was largely blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonists. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT). which removes endogenous glutamate, also prevented nicotine effects, implying the indirect involvement of glutamate in nicotine-mediated calcium responses. Fluorometric studies using fura-2 showed two phases of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises: the initial rising phase and the later plateau phase. Interestingly, the NMDA receptor antagonists and GPT appeared to inhibit only the later plateau phase of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises. The present results imply that nicotine mediated $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake and $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises are attributed to the calcium fluxes through both nAchRs and NMDA receptors in a time-dependent manner. Consequently, nAChRs may play an important role in neuronal development by being expressed in a specific developmental stage and regulating the intracellular calcium homeostasis.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.299-308
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to investigate cadmium concentrations among metals in ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) of indoor environments and to evaluate the cadmium as a marker of ETS. The correlations of cadmium concentrations and nicotine, 3-EP, RSP, SD (Smoking Density), and SI (Smoking Index). Air samples of metals, nicotine, 3-EP, and RSP were taken in smoking room, smoking allowed office, corridor outside smoking room, and non-smoking office respectively. The SD, ACH, and SI were investigated during sampling. Airborne concentration of cadmium known as human carcinogen were qualified and quantified. The SD was 0.2 to $2.6cig/m^2{\cdot}hr$, and the mean value of SD in smoking rooms was $1.2cig/m^2{\cdot}hr$ that is higher than other researches. The mean of ACH in smoking rooms was 11.1. The concentrations of cadmium showed log-normal distributions and the geometric mean concentrations of cadmium in smoking rooms, corridor outside smoking rooms, smoking allowed offices, and non-smoking offices were $0.045{\mu}g/m^3$, $0.018{\mu}g/m^3$, $0.021{\mu}g/m^3$, and $0.017{\mu}g/m^3$ respectively. The concentrations of cadmium in smoking room showed significant difference according to category of indoor office environments (p<0.05) and showed compliance with occupational exposure limits. The correlation coefficients between cadmium and nicotine, 3-EP, and RSP were 0.53, 0.41, 0.43 respectively. The cadmium among metals showed the highest correlations (r=0.63) with SI. It was recommended cadmium among metals is a good indicator for ETS.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1103-1109
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• 2015

Cholinergic innervation of the hippocampus is known to be correlated with learning and memory. The cholinergic agonist carbachol (CCh) modulate synaptic plasticity and produced long-term synaptic depression (LTD) in the hippocampus. However, the exact mechanisms by which the cholinergic system modifies synaptic functions in the hippocampus have yet to be determined. This study introduces an acetylcholine receptor-mediated LTD that requires internalization of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptors on the postsynaptic surface and their intracellular mechanism in the hippocampus. In the present study, we showed that the application of the cholinergic agonist CCh reduced the surface expression of GluA2 on synapses and that this reduction was prevented by the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist pirenzepine in primary hippocampal neurons. The interaction between GluA2 and the glutamate receptor-interacting protein 1 (GRIP1) was disrupted in a hippocampal slice from a rat upon CCh simulation. Under the same conditions, the binding of GluA2 to adaptin-α, a protein involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, was enhanced. The current data suggest that the activation of LTD, mediated by the acetylcholine receptor, requires the internalization of the GluA2 subunits of AMPA receptors and that this may be controlled by the disruption of GRIP1 in the PDZ ligand domain of GluA2. Therefore, we can hypothesize that one mechanism underlying the LTD mediated by the M1 mAChR is the internalization of the GluA2 AMPAR subunits from the plasma membrane in the hippocampal cholinergic system.