• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.579-590
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impact of Ephedra sinica pharmacopuncture on the weight and lipid metabolism of obese mice.Methods: Obesity was induced in male C57BL/6 mice by a 60% fat diet. The animals were divided into three groups (n=5) fed a normal diet, high-fat diet, and high-fat diet with Ephedra sinica pharmacopuncture. After 13 wk, fasting blood sugar levels were measured in each group, and oral glucose tolerance tests were conducted. After 15 wk, body weight, epididymal fat pad weight, subcutaneous fat pad weight, and serum lipid and gene expression of hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL), perilipin, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ were measured in each group.Results: In the Ephedra group, body weight, fasting blood sugar, and oral glucose tolerance were significantly decreased. In addition, in the Ephedra group, the gene expression of HSL was significantly increased, whereas that of perilipin was significantly decreased.Conclusions: These results provide evidence that E. sinicapharmacopuncture affects obesity and obesity-induced metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, by activating lipolysis via the HSL pathway in adipose tissue.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.609-623
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• 2016

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of Mori folium on insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation in an experimental mouse model of obesity.Methods: Obesity was induced in C57BL/6 mice by feeding them a high-fat diet. The mice were divided into four groups (n=6): a normal diet, high-fat diet, high-fat diet with 40 mg of Mori folium, and high-fat diet with 800 mg of Mori folium groups. After 13 wk, the body weights, fasting blood glucose and fasting serum insulin levels, insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment) levels, oral glucose tolerance test levels, epididymal fat and liver weights, and gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interferon-γ were measured. In addition, adipose tissue macrophages were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.Results: Mori folium significantly reduced blood glucose levels, oral glucose tolerance levels, and liver weights. It also reduced adipose tissue macrophage numbers and tumor necrosis factor receptor-α gene expression.Conclusions: These results show that Mori folium has insulin resistance reduction and anti-inflammatory effects in an experimental mouse model of obesity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.371-377
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• 2023

In this study, a pepA gene encoding glutamyl (aspartyl)-specific aminopeptidase (PepA; E.C. 3.4.11.7) was cloned from Tetragenococcus halophilus CY54. The translated PepA from T. halophilus CY54 showed very low similarities with PepAs from Lactobacillus and Lactococcus genera. The pepA from T. halophilus CY54 was overexpressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) using pET26b(+). The recombinant PepA was purified by using an Ni- NTA column. The size of the recombinant PepA was 39.13 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE, while its optimum pH and temperature were pH 5.0 and 60℃, respectively. In addition, the PepA was completely inactivated by 1 mM EDTA, indicating its metallopeptidase nature. The Km and Vmax of the PepA were 0.98 ± 0.006 mM and 0.1 ± 0.002 mM/min, respectively, when Glu-pNA was used as the substrate. This is the first report on PepA from Tetragenococcus species.

• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2021

Objectives: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an easily recurrent inflammatory skin disease. Since AD has complex pathology, people have been investigating it on different aspects with various experimental models. One of them is in vivo model which has spontaneously developed AD-like skin lesions by various inducers. Methods: In this study, two kinds of mouse species were applied in the experiment; BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. We compared features among the animal species making AD mouse model with protein allergen, ovalbumin. AD-like skin lesions were induced by ovalbumin on two kinds of scheme and were evaluated with the histological results and size of spleen which is a critical immunological organ. Also, we measured the level of immunoglobulin E in serum. In addition, we investigated the results of ovalbumin induced-AD-like skin lesions along with obesity. Results and Conclusion: We evaluated weight of organs and thickness of epidermis. These results suggest the possibility of the appropriate in vivo experimental model for AD or the comorbidity with obesity.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.870-882
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic syndrome, a global public health problem. Mentha canadensis (MA), a traditional phytomedicine and dietary herb used for centuries, was the focus of this study to investigate its effects on obesity. MATERIALS/METHODS: Thirty-five male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 2 groups and fed either a normal diet (ND, n = 10) or a high-fat diet (HFD, n = 25) for 4 weeks to induce obesity. After the obesity induction period, the HFD-fed mice were randomly separated into 2 groups: one group continued to be fed HFD (n = 15, HFD group), while the other group was fed HFD with 1.5% (w/w) MA ethanol extract (n = 10, MA group) for 13 weeks. RESULTS: The results showed that body and white adipose tissue (WAT) weights were significantly decreased in the MA-supplemented group compared to the HFD group. Additionally, MA supplementation enhanced energy expenditure, leading to improvements in plasma lipids, cytokines, hepatic steatosis, and fecal lipids. Furthermore, MA supplementation regulated lipid-metabolism-related enzyme activity and gene expression, thereby suppressing lipid accumulation in the WAT and liver. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that MA has the potential to improve diet-induced obesity and its associated complications, including adiposity, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and inflammation.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.99-109
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• 2008

Objectives : The present study was to investigate the effect of extract of Chelidonii herba (ECH) on the proliferation and activation of eosinophils which were prepared from lung cells of asthma-induced mouse by ovalbumin (OVA) treatment. Methods : C57BL/6 mouse was exposed to OVA three times a week for 6 weeks. The mouse lung tissues were dissected out, chopped and dossiciated with collagenase (1 ${\mu}g$/ml). Eosinophils were activated by rIL-3/rmIL-5 co-treatments. The lung cells were treated with ECH, incubated for 48 hr at $37^{\circ}C$, and analyzed by flow cytometery, ELISA, RT-PCR, and immuno-histochemical analysis. Results : In FACS analysis, number of granulocyte/lymphocyte, $CD3e^-$/$CCR3^+$, $CD3e^+$/$CD69^+$, $CD4^+$ and $CD23^+$/$B220^+$ in asthma-induced lung cells were significantly decreased by ECH treatment compared to the control group. And mRNA expression for IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, CCR3 and eotaxin in asthma-induced lung cells, which was induced by rIL-3 plus rmIL-5 treatments, was significantly decreased by ECH treatment. In ELISA analysis, production levels of IL-3, IL-5, IL-13 and histamine in asthma-induced lung cells, which were induced by rIL-3 plus rmIL-5 co-treatment, were significantly decreased by ECH treatment. ECH treatments significantly inhibited the proliferation of eosinohils prepared from asthma-induced mouse lung tissues compared to the non-ECH treated control cells. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that ECH treatment significantly decreased the levels of eosipnphil activation compared to non-treated cells. Conclusions : The present data suggested that Chelidonium majus L. may have an effect on the inhibition of parameters associated with asthma responses in eosinpophils, and thus implicate the possibility for the clinical application of Chelidonium majus L.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.123-132
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• 2013

Obesity is consistently increasing in prevalence and can trigger insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Many lines of evidence have shown that macrophages play a major role in inflammation associated with obesity. This study was conducted to determine metformin, a widely prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, would regulate inflammation through down-regulation of scavenger receptors in macrophages from obesity-induced type 2 diabetes. RAW 264.7 cells and peritoneal macrophages were stimulated with LPS to induce inflammation, and C57BL/6N mice were fed a high-fat diet to generate obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mice. Metformin reduced the production of NO, $PGE_2$ and pro-inflammatory cytokines ($IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$) through down-regulation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ translocation in macrophages in a dose-dependent manner. On the other hand, the protein expressions of anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-4 and IL-10, were enhanced or maintained by metformin. Also, metformin suppressed secretion of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and reduced the protein and mRNA expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ in obese mice as well as in macrophages. The expression of scavenger receptors, CD36 and SR-A, were attenuated by metformin in macrophages and obese mice. These results suggest that metformin may attenuate inflammatory responses by suppressing the production of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and the expressions of scavenger receptors.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.205-212
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• 2013

Dectin-1, which specifically recognizes ${\beta}$-glucan of fungal cell walls, is a non-Toll-like receptor (TLR) pattern recognition receptor and a representative of C-type lectin receptors (CLRs). The importance of Dectin-1 in innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, has previously been well studied. However, the function of Dectin-1 in B cells is very poorly understood. To determine the role of Dectin-1 in B cell activation, we first investigated whether mouse B cells express Dectin-1 and then assessed the effect of Dectin-1 stimulation on B cell proliferation and antibody production. Mouse B cells express mRNAs encoding CLRs, including Dectin-1, and surface Dectin-1 was expressed in B cells of C57BL/6 rather than BALB/c strain. Dectin-1 agonists, heat-killed Candida albicans (HKCA) and heat-killed Saccharomyces cerevisiae (HKSC), alone induced B cell proliferation but not antibody production. Interestingly, HKSC, HKCA, and depleted zymosan (a selective Dectin-1 agonist) selectively enhanced LPS-driven IgG1 production. Taken together, these results suggest that, during fungal infection, ${\beta}$-glucan-stimulated Dectin-1 may cooperate with TLR4 to specifically enhance IgG1 production by mouse B cells.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.9 no.3 s.21
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• pp.47-59
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• 2006

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to confirm the suppressive effect against asthma and immune regulatory effect of Perillae Fractusher Herbal-acupuncture at Chok-samni(ST36) on ovalbumin-induced asthma in mice. Methods : C57BL/6 mice were sensitized and challenged with OVA(ovalbumin) for 12 weeks. The mice in the PF-HA group were treated with PF-HA at ST36 for the later 8 weeks(3 times a weeks). The mice in the OVA-Needle-Prink(NP) group were treated with single prick with an injection needle at ST36 for the later 8 weeks(3 times a weeks). Results : 1. The lung weight of the mice treated with PF-HA at St36 were decreased significantly compared with that of the control group. 2. The total leukocytes and eosinophils in BALF of the group treated with PF-HA were decreased significantly compared with those of the control group. 3. Eosinophils in BALF and the collagen accumulation in lung of the mice treated with PF-HA were decreased significantly compared with those of the control group. 4. The Concentrations of IgE, IL-4 and IL-5 in BALF, and IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 in serum of the PF-HA group were decreased significantly compared with those of the control group. 5. The numbers of CD3-/CCR3+, Gr-1+/CD11b+,CD4+, and CD3e+/CD69+cells in lung of the mice group treated with PF-HA at St36 were decreased significantly compared with those of the control group. 6. The mRNA expressions of TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 in lung of the mice group treated with PF-HA at St36 were decreased significantly compared with those of the control group.