• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2008

This study was performed to investigate the correlations between steroids and TGF-${\beta}_1$ levels and delayed parturition in SCNT clone calving. The recipients pregnant by AI were used as control (AI-R). All AI-R were labored by natural delivery (n=5, day $284{\pm}0.71$ of pregnancy). The recipients pregnant by SCNT embryo (SCNT-R) showing no signs of delivery about 10 days after expected date were operated by Caesarean section (n=5, day 292). The blood and placentome samples were obtained and weighed at parturition. The concentrations of plasma progesterone (P4) and Estradiol-$17{\beta}$ (E2) were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The levels of plasma and placental TGF-${\beta}_1$ levels were examined by ELISA. The placentomes from SCNT-R were overweight (p<0.05) compared to those of AI-R. The plasma P4 (p<0.01) level in SCNT-R at parturition was significantly higher compared to that of AI-R. In contrast, the plasma E2 level in the SCNT-R was significantly lower compared to that of AI-R (p<0.05). The plasma and placental TGF-${\beta}_1$ protein levels in the SCNT-R were significantly higher than those of AI-R at parturition, respectively (p<0.01). Based on these results, aberrant expressions of steroid hormones and high levels of plasma and placental TGF-${\beta}_1$ protein at parturition may be one of the key indicators on delayed parturition of SCNT clone calving.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.401-412
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• 2005

This study was conducted to examine the effects of dietary Mogchotan(the mixture of charcoal and pyroligneous acid, 80:20, w/w) supplementation on fattening performance, fatty acid composition and the physico-chemical characteristics of meat in pigs. The present study was also stressed to investigate the possibility of industrial utilization of charcoal and pyroligneous acid as a livestock feed additive. Weight gain and feed conversion in pigs fed the Mogchotan supplemented diet were higher than those of the control group. In fatty acids composition, palmitic acid(C16:0) contents of Mogchotan treatment groups were lower than that of control group. However, Mogchotan supplementation increased C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 contents when compared with control group pigs. Also, Mogchotan supplementation groups decreased saturated fatty acids level than control group. On the other hand, Mogchotan supplementation showed higher unsaturated fatty acids value, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids value compared to control group. The carcass pH of pigs fed the Mogchotan tended to be higher than control, but was not significantly different. The water holding capacity was significantly higher in pigs fed the 3.0% Mogchotan-supplemented diet than those of other treatment groups(p<0.05). Altogether, it has been suggested that dietary $1{\sim}3%$ of Mogchotan supplementation improved the fattening performance and meat quality in pigs.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.299-308
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• 2007

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a bioinformatics software and to test it in serum samples of papillary thyroid cancer using mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Materials and Methods: Development of 'Protein analysis' software performing decision tree analysis was done by customizing C4.5. Sixty-one serum samples from 27 papillary thyroid cancer, 17 autoimmune thyroiditis, 17 controls were applied to 2 types of protein chips, CM10 (weak cation exchange) and IMAC3 (metal binding - Cu). Mass spectrometry was performed to reveal the protein expression profiles. Decision trees were generated using 'Protein analysis' software, and automatically detected biomarker candidates. Validation analysis was performed for CM10 chip by random sampling. Results: Decision tree software, which can perform training and validation from profiling data, was developed. For CM10 and IMAC3 chips, 23 of 113 and 8 of 41 protein peaks were significantly different among 3 groups (p<0.05), respectively. Decision tree correctly classified 3 groups with an error rate of 3.3% for CM10 and 2.0% for IMAC3, and 4 and 7 biomarker candidates were detected respectively. In 2 group comparisons, all cancer samples were correctly discriminated from non-cancer samples (error rate = 0%) for CM10 by single node and for IMAC3 by multiple nodes. Validation results from 5 test sets revealed SELDI-TOF-MS and decision tree correctly differentiated cancers from non-cancers (54/55, 98%), while predictability was moderate in 3 group classification (36/55, 65%). Conclusion: Our in-house software was able to successfully build decision trees and detect biomarker candidates, therefore it could be useful for biomarker discovery and clinical follow up of papillary thyroid cancer.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.96-102
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• 2012

This study was designed to evaluate a repeated oral dose toxicity and immunomodulating activity of $Pulsatilla$ $koreana$ and $Artemisiae$ $annuae$ in Sprague-Dawley rats. The female rats were treated with $Pulsatilla$ $koreana$ and $Artemisiae$ $annuae$ of control group, low group (0.5 ml/kg), medium group (1 ml/kg), high group (2 ml/kg) for distilled water, intragastrically for 4 weeks, respectively. To ensure the safety of $Pulsatilla$ $koreana $ and $Artemisiae$ $annuae$ such as the following were observed and tested. We examined the body weight, the feed intake, the clinical signs, the ophthalmological test, the hematological and the serum biochemical analysis. We also observed the histopathological changes of liver and kidney in rats. Hematological results were the increase of neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes in the high dose group of $Pulsatilla$ $koreana$. The increase immune cells in the high dose group of $Pulsatilla$ $koreana$ might immunomodulating activity. No significant differences in body weight, feed intake, serum biochemical analysis and histopathological between control and fed group were found. In conclusion, $Pulsatilla$ $koreana$ and $Artemisiae$ $annuae$ is physiologically safe and improve immunomodulating activity.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2015

The importance of genetic resource preservation has been highlighted in the literature as a means of maintaining genetic diversity. Investigations for hematologic values and the differential count of white blood cell count (WBC) for Korean indigenous cattle (KIC) and endangered indigenous cattle (EIC) are rarely performed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the hematologic values of total 40 EIC (White, Black, Mini cattle) and 35 KIC as control by analysis of hematologic characteristics. As a result, the mean values of RBC and platelet of EIC were significantly decreased by age (p<0.05). The mean values of RBC, HCT, MCV and MCHC between EIC and KIC of the same age (2~3 years) showed the statistical significance (p<0.05). Also, in the WBC of EIC, the mean values were decreased according to the age from $13.9{\times}10^3/{\mu}L{\sim}12.7{\times}10^3/{\mu}L$ under 1 year to $9.1{\times}10^3/{\mu}L{\sim}11.5{\times}10^3/{\mu}L$ over 2 years respectively. In the differential count of WBC of EIC (White, Black, Mini cattle), it showed generally the rates of 40.2%, 52.2%, 49.0% lymphocyte and 27.2%, 33.9%, 32.0% segmented neutrophil from 2~3 years respectively. Result of this study will be used for establishing reference range for blood analysis in EIC such as white, black and mini cattle. This study reported hematological values which could serve as baseline information for comparison in conditions of nutrient deficiency, physiological and health status of endangered Korean native cattle. In addition, this study provides a valuable resource for further investigations of the preservation of rare genetic stocks underlying traits of interest in cattle.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.361-371
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• 2000

It has been recently reported that 2-bromopropane (2-BP) induces male reproductive toxicity in both human and experimental animals. However, delayed effects of 2-BP on male reproductive system have not been investigated in detail. The present study was conducted to investigate the testicular toxicity of 2-BP and to determine the recovery of normal spermatogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Male rats aged 5 weeks were administered 1,000mg/kg 2-BP by gavage daily for 4 weeks and sacrificed sequentially at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 weeks after initiation of 2-BP treatment. Testicular toxicity was evaluated qualitatively by histopathological examinations and quantitatively by reproductive organ weights, spermatid head count, and repopulation index. In the 2-BP treated rats, the body weights was significantly suppressed and the weights of testes and epididymides were also decreased in a time-dependent manner. On histopathological examination, spermatogonia in stages I-VI and preleptotene and leptotene spermatocytes in stages VII-IX were strongly depleted at 1 week of dosing. Spermatogonia were depleted extensively in all spermatogenic stages at 2 weeks. Continuing with the evolution of spermatogenic cycle, zygotene spermatocytes, pachytene spermatocytes, and round spermatids were sequentially depleted at 2, 3, and 4 weeks of dosing due to the depletion of their precursor cells. Vacuolization of Sertoli cells and spermatid retention were also observed at all time points, suggesting that 2-BP induced Sertoli cell dysfunction. At 12 weeks, after 8 weeks recovery, most of the tubules appeared severely atrophic and were lined by Sertoli cells only. Leydig cell hyperplasia in the interstitial tissue was also found. In addition, dramatic reductions in the number of spermatid heads and repopulation index were observed, indicating that 2-BP-induced testicular injury is irreversible. These results indicate that 4 weeks repeated-dose of 1,000mg/kg 2-BP results in a progressive germ cell loss due to the depletion of spermatogonia followed by long-term testicular atrophy in SD rats.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.225-235
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential of freeze-dried persimmon powder (Diospyros kaki Thumb.) to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/cholesterol diet (HFD) in a rat model. Methods: Fifty Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control (NC), high-fat/cholesterol control (HC), tannin in HFD (HT, 1% of diet), immature persimmon in HFD (HI, 7% of diet), and mature persimmon in HFD (HM, 7% of diet). Tannin was used as a positive control. Biochemical, molecular, and histopathological changes were observed in the blood and liver. Results: We confirmed that a high fat/cholesterol diet successfully induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. However, oxidized low-density lipoprotein levels, histopathological damage in the liver, and hepatic triglyceride levels were significantly reduced in all HT, HI, and HM groups compared to those in the HF group. In contrast, plasma apolipoprotein B level was significantly reduced only in the HT and HM groups, whereas reduction of the LDL-C level was detected only in the HI group. Although HF-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) gene expression was significantly reduced in all treated groups, downstream gene expression levels varied among the different groups; significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMGCR) gene expression was detected only in the HI group, whereas cholesterol $7{\alpha}$-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) gene expression was significantly elevated only in the HM group. Conclusion: Taken together, the data suggest that protection of LDL oxidation and hepatic lipogenesis might be, at least partly, attributed to tannin in persimmons. However, the identified mechanisms varied up to the maturation stage of persimmon. In the case of immature persimmon, modulation of FAS and HMGCR gene expression was prominent, whereas in the case of mature persimmon, modulation of CYP7A1 gene expression was prominent.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.97-105
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• 2011

A wide diversity of liquid fertilizers and composts produced from the livestock manure in Korea is commonly applied to agricultural lands as an alternative of chemical fertilizers. However, their effects on the crop production and environmental impacts are still vague. The current study was investigated the property changes of paddy soils in sandy loam and silty loam treated with 1) control (no treatment), 2) chemicals, 3) storage liquid fertilizer and 4) SCB liquid fertilizer located in Gyeong-gi province, Korea. The chemical properties of soils in sandy loam and silty loam before the treatment were similar with the ones in the average paddy fields in Korea. Contrary to this, the amount of available phosphorus in sandy loam was higher than the one in the average paddy fields. The number of living organisms in sandy loam and silty loam treated with storage liquid fertilizer and SCB liquid fertilizer were higher than the ones in sandy loam and silty loam with no-treatment and chemicals. Significant difference (P<0.05) among the treatments and no-treatment was observed in sandy loam rather than in silty loam. The amounts of heavy metals were the highest in both sandy loam and silty loam treated with storage liquid fertilizer and SCB liquid fertilizer. The comparison of heavy metals showed that the ones in silty loam were little bit higher than sandy loam. The leaf lengths and dry weights of rices were increased over time, however, no significant difference was observed among each treament. In addition, the rice yield in sandy loam treated with SCB liquid fertilizer was higher than the ones in sandy loam. The highest rice yield was obtained from sandy loam treated with chemicals, but there was no significant difference between storage liquid fertilizer and SCB liquid fertilizer. While the rate of nutrient absorption by rices was the highest in sandy loam and silty loam treated with chemicals, there was no significant difference in sandy loam and silty loam treated with livestock liquid manure.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.231-245
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• 2023

In the cosmetics industry, it is important to develop new materials for functional cosmetics such as whitening, wrinkles, anti-oxidation, and anti-aging, as well as technology to increase absorption when applied to the skin. Therefore, in this study, we tried to optimize the nanoemulsion formulation by utilizing response surface methodology (RSM), an experimental design method. A nanoemulsion was prepared by a high-pressure emulsification method using Glabridin as an active ingredient, and finally, the optimized skin absorption rate of the nanoemulsion was evaluated. Nanoemulsions were prepared by varying the surfactant content, cholesterol content, oil content, polyol content, high-pressure homogenization pressure, and cycling number of high-pressure homogenization as RSM factors. Among them, surfactant content, oil content, high-pressure homogenization pressure, and cycling number of high-pressure homogenization, which are factors that have the greatest influence on particle size, were used as independent variables, and particle size and skin absorption rate of nanoemulsion were used as response variables. A total of 29 experiments were conducted at random, including 5 repetitions of the center point, and the particle size and skin absorption of the prepared nanoemulsion were measured. Based on the results, the formulation with the minimum particle size and maximum skin absorption was optimized, and the surfactant content of 5.0 wt%, oil content of 2.0 wt%, high-pressure homogenization pressure of 1,000 bar, and the cycling number of high-pressure homogenization of 4 pass were derived as the optimal conditions. As the physical properties of the nanoemulsion prepared under optimal conditions, the particle size was 111.6 ± 0.2 nm, the PDI was 0.247 ± 0.014, and the zeta potential was -56.7 ± 1.2 mV. The skin absorption rate of the nanoemulsion was compared with emulsion as a control. As a result of the nanoemulsion and general emulsion skin absorption test, the cumulative absorption of the nanoemulsion was 79.53 ± 0.23%, and the cumulative absorption of the emulsion as a control was 66.54 ± 1.45% after 24 h, which was 13% higher than the emulsion.