• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.30-40
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether gocho (苦椒) extract mesotherapy can effectively reduce weight and abdominal fat in obese patients. Methods: Forty obese participants were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups. Five participants dropped out voluntarily during the course of the study and four men were excluded from the analysis to avoid gender bias. Results are presented on a total of thirty-one women. Over an eight-week period, the treatment group (n=13) received gocho (苦椒) extract injections (100mcg/3cc) in the abdominal skin, twice per week; the control group (n=18) received normal saline injections (3cc). A mixed lidocaine and prilocaine cream (2.5%/2.5% EMLA cream) was applied before the injection. At baseline and 8 weeks, body weight, body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), abdominal fat, energy expenditure, and questionnaires (eating attitudes and physical activity) were evaluated in both groups. Results: Reductions in body weight (p<0.005), BMI, and WC (p<0.05) were greater in the treatment group. WHR, total fat area, and visceral fat area decreased only in the treatment group (p<0.05). Resting metabolic rate (RMR) change was correlated with weight loss only in the control group (r=-0.498, p<0.05). Before and after the treatment, there were no significant differences between the two groups in questionnaire variables (p>0.05). Conclusion: his study suggests that abdominal gocho (苦椒) extract mesotherapy might be an effective way to promote weight and abdominal fat loss in obese Korean women.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.361-374
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• 2006

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fermented food waste (FFW) supplementation on growth, nutrient digestibility and pork quality of growing pigs. A total of 48 crossbred pigs were assigned to four treatments in a randomized complete block (RCB) design. Treatments were 1) Control (basal), 2) FFW 2% (basal+2%FFW), 3) FFW 4% (basal+4%FFW) and 4) FFW 6% (basal+6%FFW). Diets were formulated based on corn-soybean meal and the FFW products were provided to weaning, growing and finishing periods. During the whole experimental period, FFW treatment groups showed similar ADG, ADFI and G:F ratios (P>.10) compared to control group. However, In the finishing period, pigs fed 6% FFW tended to be lower ADG than other dietary treatments (P=0.13) resulting in lower final weight. All pigs showed inconsistent blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations pattern. In metabolic trial, nutrient digestibility was not affected by the supplementation of FFW. The pork quality was affected by the supplementation of FFW based upon pork pH, lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and meat color analysis. These results suggested that utilization of fermented food waste to growing pig's diet reduce production cost without any detrimental effect on pork quality when it was provided at low level.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.106-111
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• 2006

Adverse changes in individual's biochemistry under heavy metal stress are directly linked with its metabolic activity and health status. The present investigation highlights the differences in protecting role of Panax ginseng extract against mercuric chloride induced alterations in serum proteins. The assessment was based on dividing fifty albino rats into two sets, one for acute and the other for sub-acute study. All the sets had five groups with five albino rats in each i.e. control group, mercuric chloride treated group, Panax ginseng extract treated group, mercuric chloride followed by Panax ginseng extract treated group and Panax ginseng extract followed by mercuric chloride treated group. Mercuric chloride was given orally 0.926 mg/kg body weight for acute set and 0.044 mg/kg body weight for sub-acute set after LD50 (9.26 mg/kg body weight) determination by probitt analysis. 10 mg/kg body weight Panax ginseng extract was given in both acute and sub-acute sets after incorporating safety trials. The control group received tween-20 and distilled water only. The result exhibited significantly reduction (P<0.01) in serum protein, albumin and globulin following mercuric chloride intoxication whereas significant (P<0.01) enhancement in other groups with Panax ginseng extract as an ingredient confirming its protective role. All serum samples were also electrophoresed in 10% SDS with standard marker using discontinuous buffering system. Gradual disappearance of alpha-2 and beta-1 globulin bands from electrophoretic pattern was observed, while a single sharp band was observed between beta-2 and gamma globulin in serum protein pattern of acutely mercuric chloride treated rats. However, this band could not be visualized in sub-acute studies. Panax ginseng extract exhibits a better protection after acute intoxication.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.439-448
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• 2023

Tick infestation causes a significant threat to human and animal health, requiring effective immunological control methods. This study aimed to investigate the potential of recombinant Haemaphysalis longicornis enolase protein for tick vaccine development. The exact mechanism of the recently identified enolase protein from the H. longicornis Jeju strain remains poorly understood. Enolase plays a crucial role in glycolysis, the metabolic process that converts glucose into energy, and is essential for the motility, adhesion, invasion, growth, and differentiation of ticks. In this study, mice were immunized with recombinant enolase, and polyclonal antibodies were generated. Western blot analysis confirmed the specific recognition of enolase by the antiserum. The effects of immunization on tick feeding and attachment were assessed. Adult ticks attached to the recombinant enolase-immunized mice demonstrated longer attachment time, increased bloodsucking abilities, and lower engorgement weight than the controls. The nymphs and larvae had a reduced attachment rate and low engorgement rate compared to the controls. Mice immunized with recombinant enolase expressed in Escherichia coli displayed 90% efficacy in preventing tick infestation. The glycolytic nature of enolase and its involvement in crucial physiological processes makes it an attractive target for disrupting tick survival and disease transmission. Polyclonal antibodies recognize enolase and significantly reduce attachment rates, tick feeding, and engorgement. Our findings indicate that recombinant enolase may be a valuable vaccine candidate for H. longicornis infection in experimental murine model.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2013

Objectives: Mental health has been shown to be linked with certain underlying physiological mechanisms. The objective of this cross sectional study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and brachial artery reactivity (BAR) in an understudied population: police officers. Methods: Participants were 351 police officers who were clinically examined in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Police Stress (BCOPS) study. BAR was performed using standard B-Mode ultrasound procedures. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Mean values of the difference between the baseline and maximum diameters of the brachial artery were determined across three categories of CES-D score using the analysis of variance and the analysis of covariance. p-values for linear trends were obtained from linear regression models. Results: The mean age (${\pm}$ standard deviation) of all officers was $40.9{\pm}7.2$ years. Women had a slightly higher mean CES-D score than men ($8.9{\pm}8.9$ vs. $7.4{\pm}6.4$) and a slightly higher percentage increase of BAR than men (6.90 vs. 5.26%). Smoking status significantly modified the associations between depressive symptoms and BAR. Among current smokers, mean absolute values of BAR significantly decreased as depressive symptoms increased after adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, hypertension, and diabetes; the multivariate-adjusted p-values were 0.033 (absolute) and 0.040 (%). Associations between depressive symptoms and BAR were not statistically significant among former smokers or never smokers. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms were inversely associated with BAR among police officers who were current smokers and together may be considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease among police officers. Further prospective research is warranted.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1532-1537
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different arthroplasty designs on knee kinematic and lower limb muscular activation for up-stair and down-stair movement. 3-D video analysis of whole body and joint kinematics and EMG analysis of quadriceps and hamstrings were conducted. One-way ANOVAs were used for statistical analyses (p=0.05). The single-radius group exhibited more arthroplasty limb quadriceps EMG and hamstring coactivation EMG than the multi-radius group. Single-radius demonstrated more abduction angular displacement and reached peak abduction earlier than the multi-radius arthroplasty limb. The single- radius the percent body fat showed similar values in the Elderly, Single and Multi-radius group among the periods, however Control group was Lowered among the periods. Single-radius group limb also increased the quadriceps muscle activation level to produce more knee extension moment to compensate for the short quadriceps moment arm. Resting metabolic rate was significantly increased in control group in the period of LI. Energy expenditure was extremely increased in all groups except control group among the periods. We can say this is the exercise effects.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2017

Periodontitis is the major causation of tooth loss in the elderly population. Multiple risk factors include oral microorganisms, smoking, metabolic syndrome, and genetic factors influence periodontitis development. In this study, we conducted a replication study of using previous Korean GWAS results by examining an independent population. The study population was recruited from Mir Dental Clinic, Daegu, Korea. In total, 93 samples were evaluated from July 2016 to January 2017. The sample groups include relatively older patients (>60 years) with no periodontitis (n = 31) and relatively younger patients (range 40~60 years) with severe periodontitis (n = 62). A total of seven markers which were previously reported to be associated with periodontitis were genotyped. Among the seven SNPs, rs16846206 and rs2392510 showed a significant association by logistic regression analysis and Chi square test, respectively. The former SNP showed significant association with severe periodontitis, whereas this study also showed same tendency in which individuals with the minor allele are significantly more frequent in cases than those in controls. The SNP is located on a coding gene (SLC9C2), where the alanine residue 505 is replaced by glycine (Ala505Gly). The later SNP was significant when differed between case and control groups, but there was no significance by logistic regression analysis when controlled for age and sex as covariant. Although the study population size examined in the current study was relatively smaller compared to previous studies, our results implicated that at least the two SNPs (rs16846206 and rs2392510) might be important candidates for the further genetic study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1368-1376
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• 2008

In our previous study, the expression of active H-ferritins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was found to reduce cell growth and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation upon exposure to oxidative stress; such expression enhanced that of high-affinity iron transport genes (FET3 and FTR1). The results suggested that the recombinant cells expressing H-ferritins induced cytosolic iron depletion. The present study analyzes metabolic changes under these circumstances via proteomic methods. The YGH2 yeast strain expressing A-ferritin, the YGH2-KG (E62K and H65G) mutant strain, and the YGT control strain were used. Comparative proteomic analysis showed that the synthesis of 34 proteins was at least stimulated in YGH2, whereas the other 37 proteins were repressed. Among these, the 31 major protein spots were analyzed via nano-LC/MS/MS. The increased proteins included major heat-shock proteins and proteins related to endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). On the other hand, the proteins involved with folate metabolism, purine and methionine biosynthesis, and translation were reduced. In addition, we analyzed the insoluble protein fractions and identified the fragments of Idh1p and Pgk1p, as well as several ribosomal assembly-related proteins. This suggests that intracellular iron depletion induces imperfect translation of proteins. Although the proteins identified above result from changes in iron metabolism (i.e., iron deficiency), definitive evidence for iron-related proteins remains insufficient. Nevertheless, this study is the first to present a molecular model for iron deficiency, and the results may provide valuable information on the regulatory network of iron metabolism.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2010

Plants have evolved physiological, biochemical and metabolic mechanisms to increase their survival under the adverse conditions. This present study has been performed to select salt-tolerant rice mutant lines through in vivo and in vitro mutagenesis with gamma-rays. For the selection of the salt-tolerant rice mutants, we conducted three times of selection procedure using 1,500 gamma ray mutant lines resulted from an embryo culture of the original rice cv. Dongan (wild-type, WT): first, selection in the a nutrient solution with 171 mM NaCl; second, selection under in vitro condition with 171 mM NaCl; and third, selection in a reclaimed saline land. Based on a growth comparison of the entries, out of the mutant lines, two putative 2 salt tolerant (ST) rice mutant lines, ST-87 and ST-301, were finally selected. The survival rate of the WT, ST-87 and ST-301 were 36.6%, 60% and 66.3% after 7 days in 171 mM NaCl treatment, respectively. The WT and two salt tolerant mutant lines were used to analyze their genetic variations. A total of 21 EcoRI and Msel primer combinations were used to analyze the genetic relationship of among the two salt-tolerant lines and the WT using the ABI3130 capillary electrophoresis system. In the AFLP analysis, a total of 1469 bands were produced by the 21 primer combinations, and 700 (47.6%) of them were identified as having polymorphism. The genetic similarity coefficients were ranged from 0.52 between the ST-87 and WT to 0.24 between the ST-301 and the WT. These rice mutant lines will be used as a control plot for physiological analysis and genetic research on salt tolerance.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.334-343
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• 2021

Background: Gut microbiota mainly function in the biotransformation of primary ginsenosides into bioactive metabolites. Herein, we investigated the effects of three prebiotic fibers by targeting gut microbiota on the metabolism of ginsenoside Rb1 in vivo. Methods: Sprague Dawley rats were administered with ginsenoside Rb1 after a two-week prebiotic intervention of fructooligosaccharide, galactooligosaccharide, and fibersol-2, respectively. Pharmacokinetic analysis of ginsenoside Rb1 and its metabolites was performed, whilst the microbial composition and metabolic function of gut microbiota were examined by 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenomic shotgun sequencing. Results: The results showed that peak plasma concentration and area under concentration time curve of ginsenoside Rb1 and its intermediate metabolites, ginsenoside Rd, F2, and compound K (CK), in the prebiotic intervention groups were increased at various degrees compared with those in the control group. Gut microbiota dramatically responded to the prebiotic treatment at both taxonomical and functional levels. The abundance of Prevotella, which possesses potential function to hydrolyze ginsenoside Rb1 into CK, was significantly elevated in the three prebiotic groups (P < 0.05). The gut metagenomic analysis also revealed the functional gene enrichment for terpenoid/polyketide metabolism, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, propanoate metabolism, etc. Conclusion: These findings imply that prebiotics may selectively promote the proliferation of certain bacterial stains with glycoside hydrolysis capacity, thereby, subsequently improving the biotransformation and bioavailability of primary ginsenosides in vivo.