• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.182-190
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• 2015

This study was conducted to evaluate the removal efficiencies of organic matter and pharmaceuticals and to identify the removal mechanism of pharmaceuticals using sand obtained from Hwangryong River in Jangsung. Batch and column studies were used to simulate managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems. All experiments were performed using field effluent containing pharmaceuticals from Damyang Wastewater Treatment Plant as an influent. Based on the removal results of organic matter and pharmaceuticals from the batch and column experiments, soil organic matter (SOM) and microbial activity were found to effectively remove target contaminants. The removal of organic matter was found to increase under biotic conditions. Neutral and cation pharmaceuticals (iopromide, estrone, and trimethoprim) exhibited removal efficiencies higher than 70% from natural sand and baked sand media in batch and column studies. Carbamazepine persisted in the sand batch and column studies. Anion pharmaceuticals (ketoprofen, ibuprofen, and diclofenac) can be removed under conditions featuring high SOM and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentrations in the sand surface. Based on the experimental Batch and column results, biodegradation and sorption were found to be important mechanisms for the removal of pharmaceuticals within the simulated MAR systems.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2016

Objectives: Several studies have revealed that systemic hypertension is strongly associated with cataractogenesis. However, the pathophysiology and treatment is often unclear. In this study, we evaluated the anti-cataractogenic effect of cinnamaldehyde (CA), a natural organic compound, in rats with fructose-induced hypertension. Methods: The rats were divided into six groups. For six weeks, the normal group received a suspension of 0.5% carboxy methyl cellulose (10 mL/kg/day, p.o.) while five other groups received a 10% (w/v) fructose solution in their drinking water to induce hypertension. By the end of the third week hypertension had been induced in all the animals receiving fructose. From the beginning of the fourth week to the end of the sixth week, one of those five groups (control) continued to receive only 10% (w/v) fructose solution, one group (standard) received ramipril (1 mg/kg/day, p.o.) plus 10% (w/v) fructose solution, and three groups (experimental) received CA at doses of 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg/day p.o., plus 10% (w/v) fructose solution. Blood pressure was measured weekly using a non-invasive blood pressure apparatus. After six weeks, the animals were sacrificed, and the anti-cataractogenic effects on the eye lenses were evaluated. Results: Administration of fructose elevated both the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures, which were significantly reduced by CA at all dose levels. In the control group, a significant increase in the malonaldehyde (MDA) level and decreases in the total protein, $Ca^{2+}$adenosine triphosphate (ATP)ase activity, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione levels, as compared to the normal group, were observed. Administration of CA at all doses significantly restored the enzymatic, non-enzymatic, antioxidants, total protein, and $Ca^{2+}$ATPase levels, but decreased the MDA level, as compared to the control group. Conclusion: The present study revealed that CA modulated the antioxidant parameters of the serum and lens homogenates in hypertension-induced cataractogenic animals.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 1997

In the present study, it was aimed to further indentify the intracellular action mechansm of cromakalim and levcromakalim in the porcine coronary artery. In intact porcine coronary arterial strips loaded with fura-2/AM, acetylcholine caused an increase in intracellular free $Ca^{2+}$ $([Ca^{2+}]_i)$ in association with a contraction in a concentration-dependent manner. Cromakalim (1 ${\mu}M$) caused a reduction in acetylcholine-induced increased $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ not only in the mormal physiological salt solution (PSS) but also in $Ca^{2+}$-free PSS (containing 1 mM EGTA). In the skinned strips prepared by exposure of tissue to 20 .${\mu}M$ B-escin, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate ($IP_3$) evoked an increase in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$, but it was without effect on the intact strips. The $IP_3$-induced increase in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ was inhibited by cromakalim by 78% and levcromakalim by 59% (1 .${\mu}M$, each). Pretreatment with glibenclamide (a blocker of ATP-sensitive $K^+$ channels, 10 .${\mu}M$) and apamin (a blocker of small conductance $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels, 1 .${\mu}M$) strongly blocked the effect of cromakalim and levcromakalim. However, charybdotoxin (a blocker of large conductance $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels, 1 .${\mu}M$) was without effect. In addition, cromakalim inhibited the $GTP{\gamma}S$ (100 .${\mu}M$, non-hydrolysable analogue of GTP)-induced increase in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. Based on these results, it is suggested that cromakalim and levcromakalim exert a potent vasorelaxation, in part, by acting on the $K^+$ channels of the intracellular sites (e.g., sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane), thereby, resulting in decrease in release of $Ca^{2+}$ from the intracellular storage site.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.37-45
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• 1981

The importance of thyroid hormones for the survival of rats in the cold is along-established fact. Hypothyroid animals are unable to survive in a cold environment. It was also reported that acute exposure of rats, guinea pigs and rabbits to cold produced an increased secretion of TSH and thereby thyroid hormone secretion within 10 to 30 min, but this increase of thyroid activity disappeared quite rapidly during warming. However, in human study no significant difference was found in the concentration of $T_4$, TSH and cortisol between summer and winter. But plasma $T_3$ concentration was increased significantly in winter in 56 adult men. On the other hand, it has been also known that catecholamines are important in the maintenance of body temperature of rat exposured to cold. Abundant evidences suggest that the sympathetic nervous system is involved in the activation of nonshivering thermogenesis and that thyroid hormone metabolism and secretion are influenced by catecholamines and consequently by the activity of the sympatheticadrenal system. Many of the metabolic effects of catecholamines are associated with an increase in the level of cAMP mediated through activation of adenylate cyclase which converts ATP to cAMP. Other studies have shown that thyroid hormones affect the amount of adenylate cyclase present in the adipose tissue. On the other hand. it was also reported that a particulate cAMP phosphodiesterase activity in fat cells was modulated by the action of thyroid hormones. The objective of the present study was to determine the interaction between thyroid activity and cyclic nucleotides during acute exposure to cold. Albino rats weighing around 200 g were used as the experimental animal. The room temperature group was kept at $25^{\circ}C$ and the cold-exposured group was kept at $4^{\circ}C$ for 1 week or 2 weeks. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups; control, KI, and MTU group. At the end of experiment the animals were etherized and blood was taken from abdominal aorta for $T_4,\;T_3$ and cyclic nucleotides. The determinations of $T_3,\;T_4$ and cyclic nucleotides were carried out with a radioimmunoassay(RIA) method. The results were summerized as followings. 1) A significant increase of thyroid weight was observed in rats exposured to cold for 2 weeks. Furthermore, in rats administered MTU while to exposure to cold the thyroid weight was also increased significantly. 2) After 2 weeks $T_3$ concentration in the plasma of cold-exposured rats was significantly increased in KI group and MTU group as well as in control group. On the contrary, after 2 weeks of cold exposure $T_4$ level was decreased in control group. 3) In the case of cyclic nucleotides, plasma cAMP was increased in the control group after 1 or 2 weeks of cold exposure. However, cAMP level in plasma was rather significantly decreased in KI group and MTU group as well as in control group.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.772-787
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• 2000

In this study, evaluation on the loaches from the various sources was carried out in respect of their taste compounds. The samples were classified by local, season and growing condition and evaluated in terms of composition, the refuse, contents of nucleotides and their related compounds, total and free amino acid, organic acid and fatty acid. Evaluation on the compositions revealed the fact that, in terms of the local, the imported loach contain a low level of fat and high level of ash, in comparison with Korean loach; in terms of growing condition, cultured loach contains a high level of fat and low level of moisture, in comparison with wild loach; and in terms of the season, the summer loach contains less moisture than the fall loath; but as for the contents of other component, the summer loach was superior. As for the refuse, the imported loach had a greater refuse than the Korean loach. In the growing condition, the wild loach had lower value than the cultured loach. There was no substantial difference in each season. Also nucleotide and these related compounds were detected in all of the samples, while ATP was not found. The content levels of such detected compound did not show a substantial difference in each condition. However, generally, the imported loach was poor in such compound and all of the samples were high in IMP. The samples were high in total amino acids. The local and growing conditions showed no substantial difference, while in the season, the summer loach had a higher content of total and essential amino acid than the fall loach. As for the contents of free amino acids, similar distribution of the composition was shown in each sample, even though there was little difference in their constituents. Also, total content of free amino acid varied with the conditions of the samples. As for total content of organic acid and the distribution of the composition, there was a little difference between each condition. In the season and growing condition, the summer loach was high in organic acid. As for the distribution of the fatty acid compositions, there was no substantial difference between each condition and each sample. In the case of the wild loach, the summer loach was high in ${\omega}-3$ polyunsaturated fatty acid and the fall loach was high in essential fatty acid. Similarly, in the case of the imported loach, the summer loach was high in ${\omega}-3$ polyunsaturated fatty acid and the fall loach was high in essential fatty acid.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.151-164
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• 2008

Objective: To investigate the effects of Yeongdamsagantang (YDGT) on apoptosis of neuronal cells that can result in dementia. Method: The water extract of the YDGT was tested in vitro for its beneficial effects on neuronal survival and neuroprotective functions, particularly in connection with $A{\beta}$ oligomer-related dementias. $A{\beta}$ oligomers derived from proteolytic processing of the ${\beta}-amyloid$ precursor protein (APP), including the $amyloid-{\beta}$ peptide $(A{\beta})$, play a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. A neuroblastoma cell line stably expressing an $A{\beta}$ oligomerassociated neuronal degeneration was used to investigate if YDGT inhibits formation of $A{\beta}$ oligomer. To measure the ATP generating level in mitochondrial membrane, luciferin/luciferase luminescence kit (Promega) and luminator was used, and to survey the protein's apparition, confocal microscopy was used. Result: $A{\beta}oligomer$ had a profound attenuation in the increase in CT105 expressing neuro2A cells from YDGT. Experimental evidence indicates that YDGT protected against neuronal damage from cells, but its cellular and molecular mechanisms remain unknown. We demonstrated that YDGT inhibited formation of $amyloid-{\beta}$ $(A{\beta})$ oligomers, which were the behavior, and possibly causative, features of AD. The decreased $A{\beta}$ oligomer in the presence of YDGT was observed in the conditioned medium of this $A{\beta}oligomer-secreting$ cell line under in vitro. In the cells, YDGT significantly attenuated mitochondrion-initiated apoptosis. Conclusion: (i) a direct $A{\beta}$ oligomer toxicity and the apoptosis initiated by the mitochondria; and (ii) multiple cellular and molecular neuroprotective mechanisms, including attenuation of apoptosis and direct inhibition of $A{\beta}$ oligomer aggregation, underlie the neuroprotective effects of YDGT.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.46-58
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• 1996

Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate($InsP_3$) is a second messenger for mobilizing intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. It can be dephosphorylated by soluble and particulate forms on $InsP_3$ 5-phosphatase, or phosphorylated to produce inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate($InsP_3$) by $InsP_3$ 3-kinase. These enzymes represent possible targets for the regulation of the $InsP_3/InsP_4$ signal. $InsP_3$ 3-kinase which catalyses th ATP-dependent phosphorylation of $InsP_3$ was purified from bovine brain tissue. All operation were carried out at $4^{\circ}C$. Fresh tissure was homogenized and centrifuged. The supernatant was pooled. Proteins were precipitated from 10% polyethylene glycol, and suspended solution was applied to DEAE cellulose column for chromatography. As the result of above procedure, two isozymes of $InsP_3$ 3-kinase, I and II were obtained. Each isozyme was applied to Matriz green gel, Calmodulin-Affigel 15 column and subsequent phenyl-TSK HPLC column. Specific activites(SA) and fold of puriety were observed at each purification step of chromatography. At DEAE cellulose chromatography, SA were I, 0.6 and II, 4.8 nM/min/mg, and folds were I, 17.2 and II, 16.6. At Matrix green gel chromatography, SA were I, 18 and II, 11 nM/min/mg, folds were I, 62.1 and II, 38.0. At calmodulin-Affigel 15 column chromatography, SA were I, 19 and II, 13 nM/min/mg, folds were I, 65.5 and II, 44.8. Finally $InsP_3$ kinase I and II were purified 3,103-fold and 2,310-fold, and SA were I, 900 and II, 670 nM/min/mg, respectively. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis elucidated 3 distinct fractions of Mr of 145,000, 85,000 and 69,500 from isozyme I, and 2 distinct fractions of Mr of 79,000 and 57,000 from isozyme II.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1075-1083
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• 2015

Adipose tissue deposited within muscle fibers, known as intramuscular fat (IMF or marbling), is a major determinant of meat quality and thereby affects its economic value. The biological mechanisms that determine IMF content are therefore of interest. In this study, 48 genes involved in the bovine peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, which is involved in lipid metabolism, were investigated to identify candidate genes associated with IMF in the longissimus dorsi of Hanwoo (Korean cattle). Ten genes, retinoid X receptor alpha, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG), phospholipid transfer protein, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group H member 3, fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3), carnitine palmitoyltransferase II, acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase long chain (ACADL), acyl-Coenzyme A oxidase 2 branched chain, and fatty acid binding protein 4, showed significant effects with regard to IMF and were differentially expressed between the low- and high-marbled groups (p<0.05). Analysis of the gene co-expression network based on Pearson's correlation coefficients identified 10 up-regulated genes in the high-marbled group that formed a major cluster. Among these genes, the PPARG-FABP4 gene pair exhibited the strongest correlation in the network. Glycerol kinase was found to play a role in mediating activation of the differentially expressed genes. We categorized the 10 significantly differentially expressed genes into the corresponding downstream pathways and investigated the direct interactive relationships among these genes. We suggest that fatty acid oxidation is the major downstream pathway affecting IMF content. The PPARG/RXRA complex triggers activation of target genes involved in fatty acid oxidation resulting in increased triglyceride formation by ATP production. Our findings highlight candidate genes associated with the IMF content of the loin muscle of Korean cattle and provide insight into the biological mechanisms that determine adipose deposition within muscle.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.7-20
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• 1995

Taurine, a ${\beta}-amino$ acid, plays an important role as a neuromodulator and is necessary for the normal development of the brain. Since de novo synthesis of taurine in the brain is minimal and in vivo studies suggest that taurine dose not cross the blood-brain barrier, we examined whether the choroid plexus, the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier, plays a role in taurine transport in the central nervous system. The uptake of $[^3H]-taurine$ into ATP depleted choroid plexus from rabbit was substantially greater in the presence of an inwardly directed $Na^+$ gradient taurine accumulation was negligible. A transient in side-negative potential gradient enhanced the $Na^+-driven$ uptake of taurine into the tissue slices, suggesting that the transport process is electrogenic, $Na^+-driven$ taurine uptake was saturable with an estimated $V_{max}$ of $111\;{\pm}\;20.2\;nmole/g/15\;min$ and a $K_M\;of\;99.8{\pm}29.9\;{\mu}M$. The estimated coupling ratio of $Na^+$ and taurine was $1.80\;{\pm}\;0.122.$ $Na^+-dependent$ taurine uptake was significantly inhibited by ${\beta}-amino$ acids, but not by ${\alpha}-amino$ acids, indicating that the transporter is selective for ${\beta}-amino$ acids. Since it is known that the physiological concentration of taurine in the CSF is lower than that in the plasma, the active transport system we characterized may face the brush border (i.e., CSF facing) side of the choroid plexus and actively transport taurine out of the CSF. Therefore, we examined in vivo elimination of taurine from the CSF in the rat to determine whether elimination kinetics of taurine from the CSF is consistent with the in vitro study. Using a stereotaxic device, cannulaes were placed into the lateral ventricle and the cisterna magna of the rat. Radio-labelled taurine and inulin (a marker of CSF flow) were injected into the lateral ventricle, and the concentrations of the labelled compounds in the CSF were monitored for upto 3 hrs in the cisterna magna. The apparent clearance of taurine from CSF was greater than the estimated CSF flow (p<0.005) indicating that there is a clearance process in addition to the CSF flow. Taurine distribution into the choroid plexus was at least 10 fold higher than that found in other brain areas (e. g., cerebellum, olfactory bulb and cortex). When unlabelled taurine was co-administered with radio-labelled taurine, the apparent clearance of taurine was reduced (p<0.0l), suggesting a saturable disposition of taurine from CSF. Distribution of taurine into the choroid plexus, cerebellum, olfactory bulb and cortex was similarly diminished, indicating that the saturable uptake of taurine into these tissues is responsible for the non-linear disposition. A pharmacokinetic model involving first order elimination and saturable distribution described these data adequately. The Michaelis-Menten rate constant estimated from in vivo elimination study is similar to that obtained in the in vitro uptake experiment. Collectively, our results demonstrate that taurine is transported in the choroid plexus via a $Na^+-dependent,saturable$ and apparently ${\beta}-amino$ acid selective mechanism. This process may be functionally relevant to taurine homeostasis in the brain.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 1985

Potato tubers treated at $4^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks were irradiated with a dose of 0.12 kGy from $^{60}Co$ source and stored at $20^{\circ}C,\;70{\sim}90%$ humidity for 5 weeks. Changes of ${\alpha}-amylase$, peroxidase, indole acetic acid oxidase, indole acetic acid synthesizing enzyme activities were determined. In addition, treatment of gibberellin or indole acetic acid to tubers irradiated were carried out to examine reversal of sprout-inhibition of tubers irradiated. Results are as follows; 1. Irradiation by ${\gamma}-ray$ at 0. 12 kGy dose inactivated easily the enzyme activities in vitro. $D_{37}$ values obtained were 0.94, 0.36 kGy for ${\alpha}-amylase$ and peroxidase, respectively 2. Complete inhibition of the toter sprouting was resulted by the irradiation of tubers with a dose of 0.12 kGy. 3. The indole acetic acid oxidase activity increased 2 times immediately after irradiation. Meanwhile, indole acetic acid synthesizing activity decreased about $50{\sim}75%$ for 5-week storage in irradiated potatoes, whereas the activity increased about 3.5 times along with sprouting in non-irradiated tubers. 4. In morphological aspects, deformed buds with necrosis in the meristmatic tissue were developed in irradiated tubers. Treatment of gibberellin or indole acetic acid at the concentration of 100 or 20 ppm to the irradiated tubers reversed the sprout-inhibition partially. Nevertheless, the deformed buds remained without change.