• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.65-80
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• 2004

Objectives : CRATAEGII FRUCTUS(山査) is known as the substance which delays aging by the antioxidant effects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of CRATAEGII FRUCTUS(山査) on antioxidant enzyme activities such as Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS), Superoxide dismutase(SOD), Catalase(CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) in rat erythrocytes and blood plasma. Methods : Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups, Normal group (supplied enough water and feeds only, Normal Group), D-galatose administered group(injected D-galatose 50mg/kg, 1time/day for 6 weeks, Control Group) and CRATAEGII FRUCTUS(山査) administered group (D-galactose 50mg/kg and CRATAEGII FRUCTUS(山査) extracts 85.0mg/200g 1time/day for 6 weeks, SS Group). Rats were sacrificed and TBARS, SOD, CAT, GSH-px, neutral fat and cholesterol were measured in rat erythrocytes and blood plasma. Results : There was no significant difference in the level of TBARS in the blood plasma between each experimental group. Red blood cell SOD activities were significantly different in each group. They were significantly decreased in the Control group compared to those of Normal and there was an increasing phenomenon in the SS group compared to the Control group. There was a significant difference in the activities of the red blood cell - glutathione peroxides in each group. There was a significant increase in the SS group compared to the Control group. Red blood cell catalase activities was no significant difference in each group. Plasma total lipid concentration was significantly different in each group. It was significantly increased in the Control group compared with the Normal group and it was decreasing in the SS group compared to the control group. Plasma triglyceride was not significantly different in each group. Plasma total cholesterol and Plasma HDL -cholesterol concentrations in the blood plasma were not significantly different in each group. Conclusions : According to the above results, it is considered that CRATAEGII FRUCTUS(山査) is effective in inhibiting lipid peroxides and increasing the activities of antioxidative(anti aging) enzyme in D-galactose induced aging rat.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.112-127
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• 2002

Objectives: Younnyeniksoobulrodan(延年益壽不老丹) composed of Polygonum multiflorum THUNB. and some medical herbs is known as formula of senescence delay effect. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Younnyeniksoobulrodan(延年益壽不老丹) on antioxidant enzyme activity such as Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS), Superoxide dismutase(SOD), Catalase(CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) in rat erythrocytes and liver. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats divided into 4 gorups, Young group(8 weeks old, N-8), Aging group(18 weeks old, N-18), pathologically induced aging gorup(injected D-galatose 50mg／kg, 1time／day for 6 weeks, CON) and Younnyeniksoobulrodan(延年益壽不老丹) administered group(D-galactose 50mg／kg and Younnyeniksoobulrodan extracts 840.0mg／kg 1time／day for 6 weeks, YIB). Rats were sacrificed and TBARS, SOD, CAT, and GSH-px were measured in rat erythrocytes and liver. Results: Plasma and liver TBARS concentrations of YIB group were significantly lower than those of control. Red blood cell(RBC) SOD activities of YIB group was increased(F=3.445, p=0.033, ANOVA test), and RBC catalase activities of all experimental group were not significantly different. RBC GSH-px activities of YIB group was increased(F=9.365,p=0.0001, ANOVA test). Liver SOD activities of YIB group was higher than those of control(F=4.967, p=0.008, ANOVA test). Liver catalase activities of all experimental group were not significantly different, and liver GSH-px activity of YIB group was significantly higher than that of control(F=3.846, p=0.022,ANOVA test). Conclusions: According to the above results, it is considered that Younnyeniksoobulrodan is effective in inhibiting lipid peroxidation and increasing antioxidative enzyme activities in D-galactose induced aging rat.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1841-1846
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• 2009

Menopause is often associated with the incidence of several chronic diseases including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective regimen that has been found to prevent these diseases in postmenopausal women. However, HRT is accompanied by an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Ecklonia cava, a kind of seaweed, extract on bone turnover markers in symptomatic menopausal women. For this study, the following four groups of 9-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were evaluated over 6 weeks: normal rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX-CON) and ovariectomized rats that were treated with Ecklonia cava extracts. The optimum extraction temperature and solvent of Ecklonia cava were found to be $80^{\circ}C$ and 80% ethanol. We measured the osteocalcin and CTx content, enzyme ALP activity in serum and collagen content in the cartilage, bone, skin and lungs. We found that the levels of indicators of bone metabolism such as ALP, osteocalcin and CTx were lower in rats in the Ecklonia cava extract group than the OVX-CON group. In addition, the collagen contents in the bone, cartilage, skin and lungs decreased in response to ovariectomy, but the levels of collagen were greater in the bone of rats that were treated with Ecklonia cava extract than in the bone of rats in the OVX-CON group. According to these results, we were able to know the effects of Ecklonia cava extract on bone aging in ovariectomized rats. Consequently, we expect Ecklonia cava extract to have an effect on bone aging in postmenopausal women.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2010

A recent report demonstrated that in human aging brain after menopause/andropause luteinizing hormone (LH) is localized in the cytoplasm of pyramidal neurons of hippocampus and a significant increase of LH is also detected in the cytoplasm of pyramidal neurons and neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease brain compared to age-matched control brain. It was suggested that the decreased steroid hormone production and the resulting LH expression in the neurons vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease pathology may have some relevance to the development of Alzheimer's disease. It is, however, unclear whether the presence of LH in neurons of human aging and Alzheimer's disease brain is due to intracellular LH expression or to LH uptake from extracellular sources, since gonadotropins are known to cross the blood brain barrier. Moreover, there is no report by using the brain of experimental animal that LH is expressed in such neurons as found in the human brain. In the present study, we found that LH immunoreactivity is localized in the pyramidal neurons of cerebral cortex and hippocampus of 12 and 18 months old rats but can not detect any immunoreactivity for LH in the young adult (3-5 months old) rats. To confirm that these LH immunoreactivity results from de novo synthesis in the brain but not the uptake from extracellular space, we performed RT-PCR and found that mRNA for LH is detected in several regions of brain including cerebral cortex and hippocampus. These findings suggest us that LH expression in old rat brain may play an important role in aging process of rat brain.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2011

Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) has been shown to have anti-aging effects in animal and clinical studies. However, the molecular mechanisms by which ginseng exerts these effects remain unknown. Here, the anti-aging effect of Korean red ginseng (KRG) in rat testes was examined by system biology analysis. KRG water extract prepared in feed pellets was administered orally into 12 month old rats for 4 months, and gene expression in testes was determined by microarray analysis. Microarray analysis identified 33 genes that significantly changed. Compared to the 2 month old young rats, 13 genes (Rps9, Cyp11a1, RT1-A2, LOC365778, Sv2b, RGD1565959, RGD1304748, etc.) were up-regulated and 20 genes (RT1-Db1, Cldn5, Svs5, Degs1, Vdac3, Hbb, LOC684355, Svs5, Tmem97, Orai1, Insl3, LOC497959, etc.) were down-regulated by KRG in the older rats. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of untreated aged rats versus aged rats treated with KRG showed that the affected most was Cyp11a1, responsible for C21-steroid hormone metabolism, and the top molecular and cellular functions are organ morphology and reproductive system development and function. When genes in young rat were compared with those in the aged rat, sperm capacitation related genes were down-regulated in the old rat. However, when genes in the old rat were compared with those in the old rat treated with KRG, KRG treatment up-regulated C21-steroid hormone metabolism. Taken together, Cyp11a1 expression is decreased in the aged rat, however, it is up-regulated by KRG suggesting that KRG seems enhance testes function via Cyp11a1.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.504-512
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• 1990

In experiment 1, dietary self-selection of the 3 macronutrients, protein, fat, and carbohydrate were examined in male rats given 3 food cups of 80% carbohydrate, 80% protein, and 70% fat diets simultaneously. All the rats showed normal growth pattern and organ weight, which means they have ability to select just right kinds and amounts of nurients in order to support their growth and development. Mean values of caloric intake, body weight gain, serum lipid values and empty carcass compositions were not significantly differ between the upper and lower quartile groups of fat proportion of empty carcass compared to the lower quartile group(LF). Same feeding design was employed in experiment 2 where the effect of mild electric stress on food selection was studied. The rats in both control and electric stress group revealed a normal growth curve and organ weights. The rats in both control and electric stress group revealed a normal growth curve and organ weights. The stress group showed higher caloric intake and body weight gain than control group, but no significant effects of stress on serum and empty carcass components was found. Even though normal rats seemed to select macronutrients according to their physiolosical needs, there were individual differences in food selection whether they were exposed to stress or not. Therefore life long individual food selection pattern may have a great influence on nutritional status and chronic degenerative diseases of eldery, and on aging process.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.177-183
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• 2006

Women's aging made a functional decline at ovary, This functional problem causes estrogen deficiency and many disorders, such as, sexual dysfunction, obesity, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, skin and all body's aging, etc. We determined the ameliorative effects of some herbal extracts mixture on postmenopausal symptoms in ovariectomized Sprague Dawley rats. Nine-weeks-old female rats were ovariectomized and treated with singled pomegranate extracts (0.40, 1.20 g/kg/day) and mixed pomegranate extracts (1.08, 3.24g/kg/day) for 8 weeks. Oral administration of pomegranate extracts for 8 weeks were increased serum estradiol level and improved the serum osteocalcin, ALP activity and bone specific ALP level. And pomegranate extracts were reduced body weight, adipose tissue. Uterus weight in treated group tended to improve. In addition, the concentrationl of triglyceride and total cholesterol were lower after 8 weeks. HDL-cholesterol levels improved with does-dependency in treated groups. Collagen level on skin and cartilage showed a slight increase at treatment for 8 weeks. $^{\infty}These$ results showed that both of singular extract treatments and extracts mixture treatments were effective on general postmenopausal symptoms at overiectomized rats, and especially, the mixture treatments were more effective than singular treatment. $^{\infty}In$ conclusion, these herbal extracts' mixture showed improvement effect in general factors related with postmenopausal disorders.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2006

It is reported that a fermented soybean food, Doenjang, has srong antimutagenic and cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. This study investigated the effect of Chungkookjang, another traditional popular Korean soybean fermented food, on growth of cancer cells: HL-60, SNU-638 and MCF-7, and also its in vivo antitumorigenic effect in DMBA-induced mammary tumor rat model. For the in vitro study, Chungkookjang and steamed soybeans were extracted with ethanol and sequentially fractioned with 5 kinds of solvents differing in grades of polarity such as hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, butanol and water. Almost all Chungkookjang extracts significantly inhibited the growth of HL-60 (human leukemic cancer cell), SNU-638 (human gastric cancer cell) and MCF-7 (human breast cancer cell) when compared to steamed soybean extracts. Butanol fraction of Chungkookjang extract especially showed a remarkable inhibitory effect in all the three kinds of cancer cells. To induce a mammary gland tumor, DMBA (50 mg/BW) was administered to 50 day-old female rats and followed by Chungkookjang or steamed soybean supplemented diets. Freezedried Chungkookjang powder (20% of diet in wet weight) was added to AIN-93G based diet for the Chungkookjang group of rats. Likewise, steamed soybean powder containing equal protein content to that of Chungkookjang powder was supplemented to soybean group of rats. At 13 weeks later, the mammary tumor incidence, average tumor number and tumor weight a rat were lower in Chungkookjang group compared to the control or soybean group. In conclusion, Chungkookjang showed a strong inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth in vitro, as well as a more preventive effect against chemically induced mammary tumorigenesis in vivo, while steamed soybeans did not. Therefore, these results suggest that Chungkookjang acquire its anticancer activity through the fermentation process.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2012

Objectives : This work was designed to investigate the effect of The root of Achyranthes japonica Nakai (AJN) water extract on serum deprivation reperfusion-induced apoptosis in PC-12 cells and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO)-induced ischemic brains of rats. Methods : Apoptosis in PC12 cells was induced by serum deprivation and reperfusion. The cells were treated with AJN water extract at doses of 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ml for 24 hr after inducing the apoptosis. Cell viability was determined by WST-1 assay. The expression of caspase-3 protein was determined by Western blot. Ischemic brains were prepared from tMCAO-induced ischemic rats after oral administration with AJN at dose of 50 and 100 mg/kg, and then brain infarction was measured by TTC staining. Results : AJN significantly increased the cell viability in apoptocic-induced PC-12 cells, and also decreased the expression of caspase-3 protein. Furthermore, the administration of AJN significantly inhibited tMCAO-induced brain infarction in rats. Conclusions : Our results suggest that AJN extract has a neuroprotective property via suppressing the apoptosis in PC12 cells and the infarction of ischemic brains.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.633-641
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• 2017

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of intermittent ladder-climbing exercise training on mitochondrial biogenesis and ER stress of the cardiac muscle in high fat diet-induced obese middle-aged rats. We induced obesity over 6 weeks of period in 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats around 50 weeks old, and were randomly divided into four experimental groups: chow, HFD, exercise+HFD, and exercise+chow. The exercising groups underwent high-intensity intermittent training using a ladder-climbing and weight exercise 3 days/week for a total of 8 weeks. High-fat diet and concurrent exercise resulted in no significant reduction in body weight but caused a significant reduction in visceral fat weight (p<0.05). Expression of $PPAR{\delta}$ increased in the exercise groups and was significantly increased in the high-fat diet+exercise group (p<0.05). Among the ER stress-related proteins, the expression levels of p-PERK and CHOP, related to cardiac muscle damage, were significantly higher in the cardiac muscle of the high-fat diet group (p<0.05), and were significantly reduced by intermittent ladder-climbing exercise training (p<0.05). Specifically, this reduction was greater when the rats underwent exercise after switching back to the chow diet with a reduced caloric intake. Collectively, these results suggest that the combination of intermittent ladder-climbing exercise training and a reduced caloric intake can decrease the levels of ER stress-related proteins that contribute to cardiac muscle damage in obesity and aging. However, additional validation is required to understand the effects of these changes on mitochondrial biogenesis during exercise.