• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.570-582
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• 2020

Purpose: Obesity is a risk factor for various adult diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardio-cerebrovascular disease, and cancer. With an increasing obesity population worldwide, the prevention of obesity with natural components has emerged as an alternative health care strategy. Ramulus mori (Sangzhi, RM) is widely used as a traditional herbal medicine in East Asia. It contains various phytochemicals, including stilbenes and 2-arylbenzofurans. In this study, we compared the anti-obesity effects of RM extracts and its major stilbene components (mulberroside A [MSA] and oxyresveratrol [ORT]) in high fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. Methods: Five week-old, male C57BL/6J mice were grouped into 7 experimental groups: normal diet (ND), HFD, HFD + 1% RM water extracts (MW), HFD + 0.1% MSA, HFD + 1% RM ethanol extracts (ME), HFD + 0.1% ORT, and HFD + 1% Garcinia cambogia extracts (GC) as a positive control. All mice were fed experimental diet for 13 weeks. Results: Compared to the HFD group, total body weight and weekly body weight gain were significantly decreased in the ME, ORT, and GC groups. Glucose tolerance level was significantly decreased in all experimental groups, whereas plasma insulin level was decreased in MSA, ME, ORT and GC groups. Plasma glucose, triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol levels were significantly decreased, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were increased in the MSA, ORT, and GC groups. Hepatic TG accumulation was also significantly decreased in the MSA, ME, ORT, and GC groups. Adipose tissue weight and size of adipocytes were significantly decreased in the MSA, ME and ORT groups, and were comparable to values obtained in the GC group. The levels of adiponectin and SREBP1c mRNA expressions were increased in the ORT and GC groups. Conclusion: These results indicate that ME, ORT and MSA exert significant anti-obesity effect, and have the potential to be developed as a weight control ingredient of functional foods.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.318-324
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• 2022

PPARγ and C/EBPα are master adipogenic transcription factors (TFs) required for adipose tissue development. They control the induction of many adipocyte genes and the early phase of adipogenesis in the embryonic development of adipose tissue. Adipose tissue continues to expand after birth, which, as a late phase of adipogenesis, requires the lipogenesis of adipocytes. In particular, the liver and adipose tissues are major sites for de novo lipogenesis (DNL), where carbohydrates are primarily converted to fatty acids. Furthermore, fatty acids are esterified with glycerol-3-phosphate to produce triglyceride, a major source of lipid droplets in adipocytes. Hepatic DNL has been actively studied, but the DNL of adipocytes in vivo remains not fully understood. Thus, an understanding of lipogenesis and adipose expansion may provide therapeutic opportunities for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic diseases. In adipocytes, DNL gene expression is transcriptionally regulated by lipogenesis coactivators, as well as by lipogenic TFs such as ChREBP and SREBP1a. Recent in vivo studies have revealed new insights into the lipogenesis gene expression and adipose expansion. Future detailed molecular mechanism studies will determine how nutrients and metabolism regulate DNL and adipose expansion. This review will summarize recent updates of DNL in adipocytes and adipose expansion in terms of transcriptional regulation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.295-303
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• 2023

Immune and metabolic systems are important factors in maintaining homeostasis. Immune response and metabolic regulation are highly associated, so, when the normal metabolism is disturbed, the immune response changed followed the metabolic diseases occur. Likewise, obesity is highly related to immune response. Obesity, which is caused by an imbalance in energy metabolism, is associated with metabolic diseases, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver diseases, atherosclerosis and hypertension. As known, obesity is characterized in chronic low-grade inflammation. In obesity, the microenvironment of immune cells became inflammatory by the unique activation phenotypes of immune cells such as macrophage, natural killer cell, T cell. Also, the immune cells interact each other in cellular or cytokine mechanisms, which intensify the obesity-induced inflammatory response. This phenomenon suggests the possibility of regulating the activation of immune cells as a pharmacological therapeutic strategy for obesity in addition to the common pharmacological treatment of obesity which is aimed at inhibiting enzymes such as pancreatic lipase and α-amylase or inhibiting differentiation of preadipocytes. In this review, we summarize the activation phenotypes of macrophage, natural killer cell and T cell, and their aspects in obesity. We also summarize the pharmacological substances that alleviates obesity by regulating the activation of immune cells.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.51-51
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• 2023

The world-wide rate of obesity is increasing continuously, representing a serious medical threat since it is associated with a variety of diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and numerous cancers. Sophora japonicais used as a traditional herb for medicinal purposes in eastern Asia. However, the anti-obesity effects of S. japonicafruit have not been explored. The aim of this study is to investigate the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis by an ethanol extract of S. japonicafruit (EESF) in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. Our results demonstrate that EESF suppressed the terminal differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by a decrease in lipid droplet number and lipid content through Oil Red O staining. EESF significantly reduced the accumulation of cellular triglyceride, which was associated with a significant inhibition of the levels of pro-adipogenic transcription factors, including PPARγ, C/EBPα and C/EBPβ. In addition, EESF potentially down regulated the expression levels of adipocyte-specific proteins, including aP2 and leptin. In particular, EESF treatment effectively enhanced the activation of the AMPK signaling pathway; however, the co-treatment with compound C, an inhibitor of AMPK, significantly restored the EESF-induced inhibition of pro-adipogenic transcription factors and adipocyte-specific genes. These results indicate that EESF may exert an anti-obesity effect by controlling the AMPK signaling pathway, suggesting that the fruit extract of S. japonica may be a potential anti-obesity agent.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.375-382
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• 2008

This study was a preliminary study to establish diagnostic criterias and treatment for Orofacial Movement Disorders. The 33 Orofacial Movement Disorder patients who were visited in the department of Oral Medicine from September, 2007 to December, 2007 were selected for this study. We analyzed the age, sex, systemic diseases, the diagnosis and the cause of the patients' chief complaints, the self-consciousness and the types of orofacial movements. The obtained results were as follows : 1. Female were predominant in orofacial movement disorders(81.82% vs 18.18%) and mean age was 78.78(56 to 87) years. 2. They almost had systemic diseases(81.82%). Hypertenstion was the most common disease(22.41%) and diabetes mellitus(17.24%), depression(8.62%), gastritis(8.62%) in turns. 3. In clinical manifestation, temporomandibular disorder was the most frequently complained symptom(33.33%), and soft tissue disease(21.57%), burning mouth syndrome(17.65%), orofacial movement itself(15.69%), diffuse orofacial pain(6명, 11.76%) in turns. 4. Most orofacial movement disorders are idiopathic(72.73%), and related to prosthetic treatment(24.24%), related to antidepressant medication(3.03%) in turns. 5. The jaw-closing type was the most common type of orofacial movement disorders, and lateral type(33.33%), jaw-opening types(16.67%) in turns. 6. There were more patients who did not conscious of their orofacial movements than those who did.(54.55% vs 45.45%). In conclusion, dentists must be consider the orofacial movement disorders in patients who have orofacial pain. Also, dentists should obtain a proper history and perform a clinical examination to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate, irreversible treatment.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2019

A chicken clathrin-associated adaptor protein $3-{\delta}$ subunit 2 (AP3S2) is a subunit of AP3, which is involved in cargo protein trafficking to target membrane with clathrin-coated vesicles. AP3S2 may play a role in virus entry into host cells through clathrin-dependent endocytosis. AP3S2 is also known to participate in metabolic disease developments of progressions, such as liver fibrosis with hepatitis C virus infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Chicken AP3S2 (chAP3S2) gene was originally identified as one of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in chicken kidney which was fed with different calcium doses. This study aims to characterize the molecular characteristics, gene expression patterns, and transcriptional regulation of chAP3S2 in response to the stimulation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) to understand the involvement of chAP3S2 in metabolic disease in chicken. As a result, the structure prediction of chAP3S2 gene revealed that the gene is highly conserved among AP3S2 orthologs from other species. Evolutionarily, it was suggested that chAP3S2 is relatively closely related to zebrafish, and fairly far from mammal AP3S2. The transcriptional profile revealed that chAP3S2 gene was highly expressed in chicken lung and spleen tissues, and under the stimulation of poly (I:C), the chAP3S2 expression was down-regulated in DF-1 cells (P<0.05). However, the presence of the transcriptional inhibitors, BAY 11-7085 (Bay) as an inhibitor for nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ ($NF{\kappa}B$) or Tanshinone IIA (Tan-II) as an inhibitor for activated protein 1 (AP-1), did not affect the expressional level of chAP3S2, suggesting that these transcription factors might be dispensable for TLR3 mediated repression. These results suggest that chAP3S2 gene may play a significant role against viral infection and be involved in TLR3 signaling pathway. Further study about the transcriptional regulation of chAP3S2 in TLR3 pathways and the mechanism of chAP3S2 upon virus entry shall be needed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.680-683
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• 2009

Glycosidase inhibitors are major targets in the treatment of type II diabetes, cancer and viral infections. This study was carried out to investigate the glycosidase inhibitory substances from bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides). Bamboo was extracted with methanol and then further fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, n-BuOH and aqueous to get an active fraction. All extracts were evaluated for ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities to identify the n-hexane fraction with 33.5 ${\mu}$g/ml of IC50 value. Active compound 1 in the n-hexane fraction was identified as linoleic acid, which exhibited inhibitory activity with 12.4 ${\mu}$M of IC50 value. Mechanistic analysis showed that linoleic acid exhibited noncompective inhibition. This is the first study in which bamboo is reported to show ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.301-310
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• 1997

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a wide range of pathophysiological in the kidney. This study was designed to examine the effects of high glucose concentration on IGF-I binding and glucose transporters in renal proximal tubule cells. The results were as follows : The binding of $^{125}I-IGF-I$ reached the peak at the 30 minutes and gradually decreased by the time dependent manner. The binding of $^{125}I-IGF-I$ was inhibited by the unlabelled IGF-I($10^{-14}{\sim}10^{-8}M$) in a concentration dependent manner. The relative affinity of IGF-I receptor for IGF-I, IGF-II and insulin exhibited typical type 1 binding(IGF-I > insulin > IGF-II). However IGF-II did not compete for the cultured cell membrane $^{125}I-IGF-I$ binding site at $10^{-14}{\sim}10^{-8}M$. Under optimal conditions, IGF-I binding to the membranes from 5mM and 20mM glucose treated cells was analyzed. It was found that 20mM glucose treated cells exhibited higher binding activity for IGF-I. In order to further substantiate this increase in IGF-I binding sites, we performed affinity-labelling studies. The cross-linked cell membrane subjected to SDS-PAGE; labelled material was detected by autoradiography. 20mM glucose treated cells exhibited higher levels. The initial rate of $methyl-{\alpha}-D-glucopyranoside({\alpha}-MG)$ uptake was significantly lower($74.41{\pm}6.71%$) in monolayers treated with 20mM glucose than those of 5mM glucose. However, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose(3-O-MG) uptake was not affected by glucose concentration in culture media. IGF-I significantly increased ${\alpha}-MG$ uptake in both 5mM and 20mM glucose treated cells. However, 3-O-MG uptake was not affected by IGF-I in both conditions. In conclusion, 20mM glucose increased binding sites of $^{125}I-IGF-I$, inhibited Na/glucose cotransporter activity. But 20mM glucose did not change facilitated glucose transporter.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.425-431
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• 2015

Estrogen deficiency is associated with increased body weight and fat mass, resulting in obesity-associated complications such as insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and type-2 diabetes. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of black rice (Oryza sativa L.) extracts (BRE) on body weight and fat mass in ovariectomized rats. Ovariectomized (or sham-operated) rats were randomly blocked into three groups (n=8~10 per group): sham operated group (S), ovariectomized control group (OVX), and ovariectomized group with BRE 30 mg/kg B.W. (BRE). High fat diet (fat calories 45%) was fed to all experimental rats for 12 weeks. Final body weight, weight gain, and body fat weight showed significant increases in the OVX group, whereas they were reduced by BRE supplementation. Serum TAG, T-chol level, and adipocyte size were not significantly different among the three groups. However, ovariectomy-induced hepatic steatosis was improved in BRE-treated group. Moreover, in the BRE group, serum leptin levels was significantly lower and fecal total lipid concentrations was significantly higher compared to the OVX group. The gathered data suggest that BRE is a potentially useful ingredient to protect against estrogen deficiency-related obesity and its related diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.680-687
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• 2017

Recently, there has been a marked increase in the use of bioactive products resulting from the fermentation of natural substances by microorganisms. In this study, Opuntia humifusa (OH) was fermented using Lactobacillus plantarum (fermented Opuntia humifusa; fOH). We then examined the anti-obesity effect of fOH in mice fed a 45% Kcal high fat diet (HFD). In this study, mice were treated with fOH concentrations of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg. The mice in the control group were treated with OH at a concentration of 400 mg/kg based on previous animal experiments. All of the mice given a continuous HFD showed an increase in their weight, the density of abdominal fat, and the accumulated periovaric and abdominal fat. All of these obesity-linked factors, however, were significantly decreased in the groups treated with fOH at concentrations of 200 and 400 mg/kg. Mice treated with fOH at 100 mg/kg did not show a significant decrease in these obesity-linked factors compared to the control group. It appears that fOH fermented by L. plantarum has a greater anti-obesity effect in HFD-supplied mice compared to unfermented OH. While further studies of fOH are needed to examine its effect on obesity, hyperlipidemia, hepatic steatosis, renal function, and type II diabetes with its relevant complications, fOH may have significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of metabolic syndrome.