• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 1986

Earlier studies have shown that the administration of Na-alginate, a water-soluble, non absorbable acidic polysaccharide, effectively reduces the absorption of radioactive strontium, cadmium and other bivalent metals. In this study the effects of Na-alginate on the Toxicity induced by Lead and Cadmium were examined in rats and the following results were obtained. 1. The elevations of the activities of serum GOT, GPT by Pb and Cd administration in the experimental animals. However, the administration of Na-alginate significantly inhibited the elevation of serum GOT, GPT. 2. Generally serum TBA values were significantly elevated in Pb and Cd group in comparison with the control group. However, the administration of Na-alginate inhibited the elevation of serum TBA values. 3. The activity of Alkaline phosphatase was also significantly elevated in Cd group in comparison with the control group. However, the administration of Na-alginate significantly inhibited the elevation of serum alkaline phsphatase. 4. Furthermore, the activity of $\delta$-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase in red blood cells was also significantly inhibited by Pb and this inhibition was stimulated by the administration of Na-alginate. 5. The concentrations of Pb in liver and Cd in kidney were markedly increased by Pb and Cd. However, the administration of Na-alginate significantly inhibited the elevation of them.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.314-318
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• 2012

The aims of the present study were to estimate the possibility for toxicity test and compare acute toxicity of potassium dichromate in the larva stage of Neocaridina denticulata, Daphnia magna and the juvenile stage of Oryzias latipes. N. denticulate, a freshwater shrimp lives in Korea, is an indigenous species and considered to be useful for toxicity test. D. magna and O. latipes were recommended as a test species for the OECD test guideline. The 96 h-$LC_{50}$ potassium dichromate value was 0.62 mg $L^{-1}$ for the larva stage of N. denticulata and 168.44 mg $L^{-1}$ for the juvenile stage of O. latipes. The 48 h-$EC_{50}$ value was 1.27 mg $L^{-1}$ for the D. magna. The study was confirmed higher sensitivity of the larva stage of N. denticulata to potassium dichromate compared to the D. magna and the juvenile stage of O. latipes.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.300-305
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• 2004

Background : Due to increased interest in herbal medicines is recent years, medical circles have made studies of toxicity and side effects of herbal medicines. Particularly the kidney is sensitive to toxicity. A few reports concerning the side effects and toxicity of herbal medicine have been presented recently. This has bought on some distrust in herbal medicines among patients and western doctors. Objectives : The purpose of this study is to determine what effects long-term prescription of one herbal medicine may have on renal function. Methods : Nineteen patients took herbal medicine for eight weeks. Tests of their Blood Urea Nitrogen(BUN), Creatinine of blood plasma, and urine (chemical and microscopic) were taken before taking medicine and at the 2nd, 4th, 8th weeks. Results : After taking a herbal medicine, BUN and Creatinine decreased significantly or remained the same in comparison with the prior interval. Chemical and microscopic examination of urine showed no changes. Conclusions : The results suggest that taking this herbal medicine for a long time does not induce nephrotixicity. Further study is needed for investigating safety and toxicity of herbal medicines.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-65
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• 2009

The purpose of a phase I clinical trial is to determine the maximum tolerated dose(MTD) of a new drug. This paper investigates the performance of standard method, continual reassessment method and accelerated titration designs in phase I clinical trials. Especially we study the precision and safety at the MTD of these methods. We utilize hyperbolic tangent function and power function to define dose-toxicity model. For each method, expected toxicity rate at MTD is computed and compared with target toxicity probability. We also suggest some modifications of these methods and show some improvements in performance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1555-1560
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• 2010

Quantum dots (QDs) are extensively employed for biomedical research as a fluorescence reporter and their use for various labeling applications will continue to increase as they are preferred over conventional labeling methods for various reasons. However, concerns have been raised over the toxicity of these particles in the biological system. Till date no thorough investigation has been carried out to identify the molecular signatures of QD mediated toxicity. In this study we evaluated the toxicity of CdSe, $Cd_{1-x}Zn_xS$/ZnS and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots having different spectral properties (red, blue, green) using human embryonic kidney fibroblast cells (HEK293). Cell viability assay for both short and long duration exposure show concentration material dependent toxicity, in the order of CdSe > $Cd_{1-x}Zn_xS$/ZnS > CdSe/ZnS. Genome wide changes in the expression of genes upon QD exposure was also analyzed by wholegenome microarray. All the three QDs show increase in the expression of genes related to apoptosis, inflammation and response towards stress and wounding. Further comparison of coated versus uncoated CdSe QD-mediated cell death and molecular changes suggests that ZnS coating could reduce QD mediated cytotoxicity to some extent only.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.919-924
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• 2006

Toxicity evaluation systems for various chemicals and their metabolites have been developed during last decades. In this study, the acute toxicity of endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as endosulfan, bisphenol A, vinclozolin, and 3,5-dichloroaniline, was evaluated using HepG2 cell line, Lumbricus rubellus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. The extents of toxicity of the chemicals in different bioassay systems varied substantially, such as endosulfan>3,5-dichloroaniline> bisphenol A in HepG2 cell line system, endosulfan>bisphenol A>3,5-dichloro aniline in L. rubellus system, and 3,5-dichloroaniline>endosulfan>bisphenol A in S. cerevisiae system. Meanwhile, no cytotoxicity was observed by treatment of vinclozolin in the evaluation systems. Our results suggest that earthworm and yeast are useful to evaluate acute toxicity of endocrine disrupting chemicals, and direct comparison of toxicity data from different bioassay systems is unattainable. Based on our results, we propose that the bioassay system with earthworm or yeast, a rapid, simple and economic system, could be applied as pre-test for the toxicity evaluation using human cell line or animals.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 1998

This study compared acute ammonia toxicity in juvenile rockfish and red sea bream. Oxygen concentration affected ammonia toxicity to aquatic animals. Without aeration, the 96-hr $LC_50$ values of $NH_4^+$and un-ionhized ammonia for juvenil rockfish(3.6g, 6.6cm) were 2.61 and 0.09 mg/l, respectively. The 3-hr $LC_50$ values of $NH_4^+$ for the size of 1.9g (5.2cm) and 3.6g (6.6cm) rockfish, and 1.0g (3.8cm) and 2.0g (5.0cm) red sea bream without aeration were 3.96, 3.94, 4.35 and 3.75 mg/l, respectively. When oxygen level was low, larger fish were more susceptible to ammonia toxicity than smaller one because of stress resulted from low oxygen. However, with aeration, the 96-hr $LC_50$ values of $NH_4^+$ for the size of 1.2g (3.9cm) and 2.3g (5.1cm) red sea bream with aeration were 3.84 and 3.90mg/l, respectively. The 6-hr $LC_50$values of $NH_4^+$ for the size of 3.1g (5.9cm) and 6.2g (7.0cm) rockfish with aeration were 3.83 and 3.94 mg/l, respectively. When oxygen level was high, larger rockfish and red sea bream were less susceptible to ammonia toxicity than smaller ones. The 6 hr-or 96 hr-$LC_50$ values of $NH_4^+$for rockfish with reduced ammonia toxicity. In comparing 96 hr-$LC_50$ values of $NH_4^+$ and un-ionized ammonia for juvenil rockfish with those for juvenil red sea bream, the values for rockfish were lower than for red sea bream. This indicates that juvenile rockfish is more susceptible to ammonia toxicity than juvenile red sea bream.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2005

A new method, ToxTemp (TOXcity test based on TEMPerature control) using Ceridaphnia dubia was applied to evaluate the toxicity of insecticide materials and compared with the standard 48 hr acute bioassay. BPMC, diazinon and fenitrothion may cause the inhibition to the biological process in sewage treatment plant and need to detect toxicity within short contact time. The ToxTemp method showed sensitive detection with more shorter contact of 1-1.5 hr time than that of the standard 48 hr acute bioassay. To evaluate toxicity of real wastewater/sewage, the inhibition rate of nitrification and oxygen uptake rate (OUR) using activated sludge, the standard 48hr acute bioassay and ToxTemp method using C. dubia were compared, respectively. On the basis of the inhibition rate of nitrification, the OUR test showed the less sensitive results at the relatively strong toxic sewage. On the other hands, the standard 48hr acute bioassay and ToxTemp method using C. dubia represented the toxicity of each wastewater/sewage with high sensitivity. Even the slightly low (about 1.5%) sensitivity, the ToxTemp method showed the high applicability to the real site of sewage treatment plant.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2008

Luminescent bacterial toxicity test was first introduced in the early 1980s, registered as international standard method in 1998 and now widely used as a common toxicity test method. This toxicity test uses luminescent bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, originated from marine environment as a test organism. The degree of toxicity can be evaluated from the comparison of luminescent emission intensity between control and treatment groups to toxicants and materials from various environmental matrix for 30 min. This test can be carried out by using commercial products and its results are sensitive and precise. This research is on the feasibility of adopting luminescent bacterial test as a domestic standard test protocol. Using commercial products, a series of experiments were conducted to identify the precision and accuracy of injection volume and light emission, and to evaluate concentration-response relationship between chemical concentrations and light emissions. Also, the feasibility of the application to environmental media and quality assurance/quality control were checked. The results of serial toxicity tests revealed that the preliminary luminescent bacterial toxicity test was robust and suitable as a standard method.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.68-77
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• 2001

Herbal medicines have been used since ancient times as medicines to treat and relieve the symptoms of many different human diseases. However, so far, relatively few herbal medicines have been evaluated scientifically to prove their safety, potential benefits and effectiveness. This study was conducted to provide the groundwork for improving the current registration regulations for herbal medicines in distinction from synthetic medicines. The study was performed based on the literature research and individual interviews with 5 experts who had extensive experience in registration of herbal medicines. When compared with synthetic drugs, herbal medicines exhibit some marked differences, namely the active principles are frequently unknown, standardization, stability and quality control are not easy, they are usually mixtures of complex compounds. Second, the current regulations for herbal medicines are reviewed by comparison of foreign regulation systems like the one in China. The regulation requirements of herbal medicine in China are in distinction from synthetic drugs. The authors conclude that new registration requirements for the herbal medicines should be changed as follows; the toxicity and efficacy data should be submitted as mixed herbal preparation and the documents and other research on the reproduction and generation toxicity need to be shown for the proof of reproduction and generation toxicity, if needed.