• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2005

Objectives : To observe physiological anti-body effects of anti-BV, acute toxic response, measurement of $LD_{50}$, and the effects of anti-body were evaluated. Methods : $LD_{50}$ of Anti-Bee Venom were measured, and to analyze acute toxic responses, weight, and the anti-body effects various concentrations of Anti-BV were diluted and the survival rate was measured. Cell blood count (CBC), liver, spleen, and kidney pathologies were observed from the histological aspects. Results : Experiment was conducted to observe Anti-BV as the anti-body to the bee venom and the following results were obtained : 1.anti-BV was injected intraperitoneally and no toxic responses were witnessed. All of the experiment subjects stayed alive during the experiment, making $LD_{50}$ analysis impossible. 2.Anti-BV was injected intraperitoneally in mice and no significant weight changes were measured between the control group and the experiment groups. 3. Measuring the concentration dependent survival rate, the highest survival rate was at the concentration of $1.25{\times}10^2mg/kg$(1/2.000) for Anti-BV. 4. No particular results were shown in the CBC test. 5. Observation of changes in the organ tissues, Anti-BV was found to suppress blood stasis in the liver and inhibit necrosis of the cells. Conclusion : Above results suggest that Anti-BV doesn't cause any toxic responses in the body and works as an anti-body to the bee venom. Further studies must be followed to secure the findings.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2009

The proposal of the $CO_2$ ocean sequestration necessitates a thorough understanding of its consequences to aquatic organisms. This paper describes acute toxic responses to high $CO_2$ environment of a cephalopod, Octopus vulgaris. O. vulgaris was chronically cannulated in the abdominal aorta and recovered in a restrained chamber. Acid base variables as well as ion concentrations were estimated in samples of the blood collected from recovered O. vulgaris. 100% mortality occurred within 72h during exposure to 3%-$CO_2$ environment. Hemolymph pH significantly decreased after 30 min during exposure to 1%-$CO_2$ environment without any compensation thereafter. $[HCO_3^-]$ significantly increased from 2.2 mM at 0h to 7.8 mM at 8h, but gradually decreased thereafter. Hemolymph ions $([Cl^-],\;[Na^+],\;[K^+])$ showed no significant changes. O. vulgaris may be more sensitive than teleost, yellowtail, flounder and dogfish.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2007

This study was conducted with using chlorophyll a fluorescence (indicated as photosynthetic activity) to examine the toxic effect of 96 h exposure of heavy metals and herbicides on the benthic diatom Nitzschia sp. which was isolated from pristine sediment in Pamquat Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. Samples of benthic diatom were exposed to 0, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg L–1 of copper, 0, 1, 10 and 100 mg L–1 of chrome (VI), 0, 2.45, 24.5 and 245 mg L–1 of paraquat dichloride, and 0, 4.37, 43.7 and 437 mg L–1 of alachlor during 96 hours. The effective quantum yield of photochemistry (ΔF/Fm’) was evaluated by subjecting light acclimated samples to saturating pulses of light using a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer. The impact of heavy metals on Nitzschia sp. photosynthesis was not severe in < 1 mg L–1 but in the high concentrations (> 1 mg L–1) clearly increased toxic stress during 96 h. Herbicides had a limited impact during the exposure period but clearly increased stress on the benthic diatom with increasing concentrations. Acute response of Nitzschia sp. to selected heavy metals and herbicides was characterized, and the capacity of a benthic diatom to tolerate and recover from toxic stress was assessed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.420-443
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• 2012

An Individual-Based Model (IBM) was developed by employing natural and toxic survival rates of individuals to elucidate the community responses of benthic macroin-vertebrates to anthropogenic disturbance in the streams. Experimental models (dose-response and relative sensitivity) and mathematical models (power law and negative exponential distribution) were applied to determinate the individual survival rates due to acute toxicity in stressful conditions. A power law was additionally used to present the natural survival rate. Life events, covering movement, exposure to contaminants, death and reproduction, were simulated in the IBM at the individual level in small (1 m) and short (1 week) scales to produce species abundance distributions (SADs) at the community level in large (5 km) and long (1~2 years) scales. Consequently, the SADs, such as geometric series, log-series, and log-normal distribution, were accordingly observed at severely (Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP<10), intermediately (BMWP<40) and weakly (BMWP${\geq}50$) polluted sites. The results from a power law and negative exponential distribution were suitably fitted to the field data across the different levels of pollution, according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The IBMs incorporating natural and toxic survival rates in individuals were useful for presenting community responses to disturbances and could be utilized as an integrative tool to elucidate community establishment processes in benthic macroin-vertebrates in the streams.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.124-131
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• 2016

The toxic responses of flagellate Euglena agilis Carter to 8 heavy metals (Ag, Cd, Cr (VI), Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) were measured using E. agilis system (E-Tox), an automated biomonitoring system. The E-Tox measures cell movement parameters, such as velocity, motility, and forms of the cells, as biological endpoints. $EC_{50}$ values from the E. agilis biomonitoring test were compared with the literature data from the tests with Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri and Euglena gracilis. Measurement of the E. agilis movement behavior and D. magna acute toxicity test were also conducted for the wastewater samples. E. agilis is less sensitive than D. magna but is comparable to or more sensitive than V. fischeri and E. gracilis for the heavy metals tested in this study. E. agilis shows prompt changes of these parameters for the toxic metal plating wastewater. Major advantages of the E-tox are automatic, easy to handle and fast ecotoxicity monitoring system compared to other biological test systems. These results imply that E. agilis biomonitoring test using E-Tox can be a putative ecotoxicity test as a good early warning tool for the monitoring of toxic wastewater.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.254-260
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• 2007

In order to evaluate the toxic effects of butachlor, a herbicide widely used for control of weeds in paddy field, on medaka (Oryzias latipes), acute toxicity tests for five developmental stages and early life stage toxicity test of were conducted. As the results of acute toxicity test, $96h-LC_{50}s$ for 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 2 months and 5 months after hatching of O. latipes were 0.68, 0.52, 0.38, 1.09 and $0.45\;mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. This indicated that the most sensitive stage was 2 weeks after hatching. The early life stage toxicity test showed that no statistically significant hatching period and hatching success of embryo was observed at all concentrations of butaclor. However, 0.05 and $0.1\;mg\;L^{-1}$ of butachlor showed statistically significant post hatching survival with p<0.1. Abnormalities of larva were 2.1, 2.3 and 10% at 0.025, 0.05 and $0.1\;mg\;L^{-1}$ of concentration, respectively. They showed abnormal vertebral axis, craniofacial alteration and retarded yolk-sac resorption. The total length and weight were decreased depending on butachlor concentration the end of test. Weight of larva was showed more sensitive toxic indicator than total length. The toxicological responses of O. latipes to butachlor expressed as LOEC(lowest observed effect concentration), NOEC(no observed effect concentration) and MATC(maximum acceptable toxicant concentration) values were 0.025, 0.013 and $0.018\;mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.641-647
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• 2016

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease characterized by vascular remodeling of pulmonary arteries (PAs) and increased vascular resistance in the lung. Monocrotaline (MCT), a toxic alkaloid, is widely used for developing rat models of PAH caused by injury to pulmonary endothelial cells; however, characteristics of vascular functions in MCT-induced PAH vary and are not fully understood. Here, we investigated hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) responses and effects of various vasoconstrictors with isolated/perfused lungs of MCT-induced PAH (PAH-MCT) rats. Using hematoxylin and eosin staining, we confirmed vascular remodeling (i.e., medial thickening of PA) and right ventricle hypertrophy in PAH-MCT rats. The basal pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) and PAP increase by a raised flow rate (40 mL/min) were higher in the PAH-MCT than in the control rats. In addition, both high $K^+$ (40 mM KCl)- and angiotensin II-induced PAP increases were higher in the PAH-MCT than in the control rats. Surprisingly, application of a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, L-$N^G$-Nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME), induced a marked PAP increase in the PAH-MCT rats, suggesting that endothelial functions were recovered in the three-week PAH-MCT rats. In addition, the medial thickening of the PA was similar to that in chronic hypoxia-induced PAH (PAH-CH) rats. However, the HPV response (i.e., PAP increased by acute hypoxia) was not affected in the MCT rats, whereas HPV disappeared in the PAH-CH rats. These results showed that vascular contractility and HPV remain robust in the MCT-induced PAH rat model with vascular remodeling.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

Acute toxicity tests for 5 organic solvents were conducted using Euglena agilis carter (E. agilis), a Korean domestic organism. Organic solvents decreased the growth rate of E. agilis in a dose dependent manner. The toxicity to E. agilis was increased in the order of chloroform>acetone${\geq}$ethanol${\geq}$methanol>DMSO based on $EC_{50}$ values from growth test. Organic solvents also induced cell motility and morphological changes of E. agilis. Especially significant effects on the cell swimming velocity, motility, and compactness were observed for chloroform at the concentration of $EC_{50}$ calculated from 96 hr growth test. Overall, toxic responses of E. agilis to test substances are comparable to or more sensitive than D. magna, M. macrocopa and V. fischeri. Our study demonstrates that E. agilis can be a putative ecotoxicity test model organism to assess domestic water quality. Results obtained from this study can be applied to establish the standard test guidelines for ecotoxicity test using E. agilis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.900-906
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• 2005

The responses of two luminescence-based biosensors were studied on various heavy metals in aqueous solutions. One was recombinant E. coli ($DH5{\alpha}$/pSB311), genetically modified luminescence-based bacteria, and the other was Vibrio fisheri used for the LumisTox system. The recombinant E. coli was marked with the lux CDABE gene from multicopy plasmid, pACYC184, originally isolated from Photorhabdus luminescens. The $DH5{\alpha}$/pSB311 had a characteristic of no organic substrate for its luminescence reaction. Among the tested heavy metals Zinc and cadmium were less toxic than copper and mercury. The recombinant E. coli was more sensitive to toxicity of heavy metals than the LumisTox. The order of toxicity of the heavy metals to the recombinant E. coli was $Hg^{2+}>Cu^{2+}>Zn^{2+}>Cd^{2+}$. In case of the LumisTox, the order of the toxicity of heavy metals was $Hg^{2+}>Cu^{2+}>Cd^{2+}>Zn^{2+}$. The genetically modified luminescence-based biosensor offers a range of sensitive, rapid, and easy to use methods for assessing the potential toxicity of heavy metals in aqueous samples.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.350-356
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• 2011

Environment-friendly agro-materials tend to be preferred to chemical insecticides recently. For this reason, many studies were conducted to develop environment-friendly insecticides containing natural materials. The purpose of this study was to assess ecotoxicity for 5 plant essential oils (Thyme white, Clove bud, Cassia, Lavender, Lemon eucalyptus) expected to prevent from pests and be used for agro-materials. Target species used to assess acute toxicity were aquatic invertebrate (Daphina magna), fish (Oryzias latipes), honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) and earthworm (Eisenia fetida). The EC50 value, toxicological responses of thyme white, clove bud, and cassia to Daphina magna were 2.5, 2.8, and $6.9mg\;L^{-1}$ respectively and these values were moderately toxic according to standard of USEPA. $EC_{50}$ of Lavender and lemon eucalyptus were >$10mg\;L^{-1}$ then they were considered as slightly toxicity. In case of acute toxicity test to fish, $LC_{50}$ of thyme white and cassia were 6.7 and $7.5mg\;L^{-1}$ each other. The other plant essential oils indicated $LC_{50}$ >$10mg\;L^{-1}$. Acute contact and oral toxicity test to Honeybee were conducted. As a result, $LD_{50}$ of all essential oils were >$100{\mu}g$ a.i. $bee^{-1}$ in both of tests. In case of acute toxicity test to earthworm, $LC_{50}$ of thyme white, clove bud, cassia, lavender, and lemon eucalyptus were 149, 230, 743, 234, and $635mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. In conclusion, if the safety for earthworm is confirmed, 5 plant essential oils are expected to be use for environment-friendly insecticide materials with low risk against ecosystem and contribute to developing environment-friendly agro-materials.