• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a butanol fraction of fraction of Alisma canaliculatum All. Braun et Bouche (Ac), and of selenium (Se), on plasma gllucose and lipid levee in streptozotocin (STD-induced diabetic rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, fed the AIN-93 recommended diet, were divided into five groups: a non-diabetic control group (no STZ treatment), and four 572-induced diabetic groups which consisted of a diabetic-control group, an Ac-treated group, an Ac-Se treated group, and a Se-treated group. Diabetes was induced in the rats by an injection of STZ into the tail vein at a dose of 45 mg/kg body weight. The butanol (BuOH) fraction of Ac was orally administered at a rate of 400 mg/kg body weight for 21 days to both the Ac and Ac-Se groups. The supplementation of selenium in the Se and Ac-Se groups was achieved by adding (freshly, every day) 2 mg of Se as Na$_2$SeO$_3$ per kg of feed. The rats'body weights and hematocrit (Hct) levels were measured, along with plasma levels of glucose, insulin, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and free fatty acids (FFA). Aminotransferase activities were also analyzed. The non-diabetic rats gained weight, while the diabetic rats lost weight - except in the Ac-Se group, which maintained their initial weight. The blood glucose levels of the Ac group and the Se group were significantly lower than for the diabetic-control group. The plasma triglyceride levels were lowered when both Ac and Se were administered to diabetic rats. The concentrations of plasma FFA in the Ac-Se group were significantly lower compared with the diabetic-control group. Plasma cholesterol levels and alanine aminotransferase activity in the Ac, Ac-Se, and Se groups were significantly lower when compared with the diabetic-control group. Aspartate aminotransferase activity was significantly lower in the Se group compared to the other diabetic groups. These data show that treatment with a butanol fraction of Ac in combination with Se has no synergistic effect. Plasma glucose levels tended to be low when Se was administered to diabetic rats. Supplementation of Se in diabetic rats did not elicit a significant increase in plasma insulin levels or result in hypolipemic effects.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.300-308
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of chloroform(CHC1$_3$) fraction of Alisma canaliculatum All. Braun et Bouche(Ac) with selenium(Se) on the plasma glucose and lipid levels in streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. The normal and diabetic rats were separated into four groups: the STZ-control group, the Ac group, the Ac-Se group and the Se group. Diabetes was induced in the male rats by an injection of STZ into the tail vein at a dose of 45 mg/kg. The CHCl$_3$fraction of Ac(250 mg/kg) was administered orally for 14 days. The supplementation was achieved with the AIN-93 recommended diet by adding 2 mg/kg diet of selenium as Na$_2$SeO$_3$. which was prepared freshly everyday. The body weight, hematocrit(Hct), glucose, insulin, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride(TG) and free fatty acids(FFA) concentrations in plasma were measured. The aminotransferase activities were also analyzed. The changes of body weight in the experimental groups were not significantly different from that of the STZ-control group, but diabetes hyperphagia accompanied changes with body weight loss in Ac-Se group. The levels of Plasma cholesterol were not significantly different among the experimental groups. The concentrations of FFA in the Ac-Se group increased significantly compared with the STZ-control group. The effect of Se alone significantly increased aspartate aminotransferase activity and alanine aminotransferase activity. The results showed that the treatment of CHCl$_3$fraction of Ac in combination with Se has no synergistic effect. There was a tendency for the plasma glucose levels to decrease when Se was administered into diabetic rats. Supplementation of Se in diabetic rats did not elicit a significant increase in plasma insulin levels and exhibited hypotriglyceridemic effect.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1145-1151
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate liver function test results in admitted patients before and after herbal treatment. Methods: 54 subjects admitted to hospital had liver function tests (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine amino transferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin) before and after herbal treatment from 1 March 2017 to 30 June 2019. Results: Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase were not significantly changed (p>0.05). On admission, 11 patients had abnormal liver function, while seven patients had abnormal results in alkaline phosphatase upon discharge. Three of the seven were normal when they were hospitalized. Conclusions: This study suggests that herbal treatment may have no effect on liver injury.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.261-267
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• 2015

Objective: To measure aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity in the pulp of teeth treated with fixed appliances for 6 months, and compare it with AST activity measured in untreated teeth. Methods: The study sample consisted of 16 healthy subjects (mean age $25.7{\pm}4.3$ years) who required the extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic reasons. Of these, 6 individuals had a total of 11 sound teeth extracted without any orthodontic treatment (the control group), and 10 individuals had a total of 20 sound teeth extracted after 6 months of orthodontic alignment (the experimental group). Dental pulp samples were extracted from all control and experimental teeth, and the AST activity exhibited by these samples was determined spectrophotometrically at $20^{\circ}C$. Results: Mean AST values were $25.29{\times}10^{-5}U/mg$ (standard deviation [SD] 9.95) in the control group and $27.54{\times}10^{-5}U/mg$ (SD 31.81) in the experimental group. The difference between these means was not statistically significantly (p = 0.778), and the distribution of the AST values was also similar in both groups. Conclusions: No statistically significant increase in AST activity in the pulp of mechanically loaded teeth was detected after 6 months of orthodontic alignment, as compared to that of teeth extracted from individuals who had not undergone orthodontic treatment. This suggests that time-related regenerative processes occur in the dental pulp.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.227-232
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• 2015

A microarray study has been employed to understand changes of gene expression in E. coli KD43162 resistant to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, cefazolin, cefepime, aztreonam, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, fosfomycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole except for amikacin using disk diffusion assay. Using Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF MS analyses, 36 kDa of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) was found to be deleted in the multidrug resistant E. coli KD 43162. Microarray analysis was used to determine up- and down-regulated genes in relation to multidrug resistant E. coli KD43162. Among the up-regulated genes, these genes were corresponded to express the proteins as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), tartronate semialdehyde reductase, ethanolamine utilization protein, shikimate kinase I, allantoinase, predicted SAM-dependent methyltransferase, L-glutamine: D-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT), phospho-glucosamine mutase, predicted N-acetylmannosamine kinase, and predicted N-acetylmannosamine-6-P epimerase. Up-regulation of PBPs, one of primary target sites of antibiotics, might be responsible for the multidrug resistance in E. coli with increasing amount of target sites. Up-regulation of GFAT enzyme may be related to the up-regulation of PBPs because GFAT produces N-acetylglucosamine, a precursor of peptidoglycans. One of GFAT inhibitors, azaserine, showed a potent inhibition on the growth of E. coli KD43162. In conclusion, up-regulation of PBPs and GFATs with the loss of 36 kDa OMP refers the multidrug resistance in E. coli KD 43162.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.16-24
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• 2014

Objectives: Alcohol abuse is a public issue and one of the major causes of liver disease worldwide. This study was aimed at investigating the protective effect of Ganoderma lucidum pharmacopuncture (GLP) against hepatotoxicity induced by acute ethanol (EtOH) intoxication in rats. Methods: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into 4 groups of 8 animals each: normal, control, normal saline pharmacopuncture (NP) and GLP groups. The control, NP and GLP groups received ethanol orally. The NP and the GLP groups were treated daily with injections of normal saline and Ganoderma lucidum extract, respectively. The control group received no treatment. The rats in all groups, except the normal group, were intoxicated for 6 hours by oral administration of EtOH (6 g/kg BW). The same volume of distilled water was administered to the rats in the normal group. Two local acupoints were used: Qimen (LR14) and Taechung (LR3). A histopathological analysis was performed, and the liver function and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were assessed. Results: GLP treatment reduced the histological changes due to acute liver injury induced by EtOH and significantly reduced the increase in the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzyme; however, it had an insignificant effect in reducing the increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzyme. It also significantly ameliorated the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the catalase (CAT) activities. Conclusion: The present study suggests that GLP treatment is effective in protecting against ethanol-induced acute hepatic injury in SD rats by modulating the activities of ethanol-metabolizing enzymes and by attenuating oxidative stress.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.297-302
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• 1990

The effects of ginseng saponin on the activity of serum alanine aminoiransferase (ALT) in trained rats were examined. The trained group was given a chronic swimming bout (approx. 90 min/day) for 50 days, and ginseng group was given an oral administration of ginseng saponin (150mg/kg/day) for 2 weeks. Ginseng treated-trained group was given an oral administration of ginseng saponin for 2 weeks prior to the termination of a swimming bout. In this experiment, male rats of Sprague-Dawley strain (250 $\pm$ 20 g) were used. The activities of serum ALT in trained and in ginseng groups increased 72.89% (P < 0.01) and 57.14% (P < 0.01) than in control groups, respectively. Also, the activities of serum ALT increased 69.66% (P <0.01) in saline treated-trained group, and 79.31% (P < 0.01) in ginseng treated-trained group than in control groups which were given saline solution and kept sedentary. The effect of ginseng saponin, as revealed by comparing the ginseng treated-trained group with the saline treated-trained group, was not significant. The present study suggests that training and ginseng saponin significantly increased the activity of serum ALT in rats, but that, in ginseng treated-trained group, ginseng saponin did not raise any further the increased activity of serum ALT by training.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.362-367
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the effect of lifestyle intervention on NAFLD. Methods: The clinical data of 86 children diagnosed with NAFLD were reviewed retrospectively. Forty-six patients belonged to the elevated ALT group and 40 to the normal ALT group. The clinical parameters of patients with NAFLD were also compared based on the status of ALT levels after lifestyle intervention. Results: Patients with elevated ALT had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) scores than those with normal ALT (P<0.05). Of all the patients with elevated ALT, 89% exhibited moderate or severe degree of fatty change in the liver on ultrasonographic examination, whereas most patients with normal ALT exhibited mild or moderate degree changes. Liver biopsy was performed in 15 children with elevated ALT and all showed mild histological changes. Of all patients with elevated ALT, 49% achieved normal ALT levels after lifestyle intervention. Those with more severe histological changes tended to have continuously increasing ALT levels. There was no correlation between the normalization of posttreatment ALT level and BMI, as well as ultrasonographic findings at diagnosis. Conclusion: ALT elevation in NAFLD is highly associated with higher BMI scores and more severe degree of fatty changes on ultrasonographic examination. Lifestyle intervention can significantly improve ALT in children with NAFLD. The degree of histologic changes appears to be a predictor of the treatment response to NAFLD.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2014

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST; E.C. 2.6.1.1), a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme, preferentially promotes the mutual transformation of aspartate and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate and glutamate. It plays a key role in amino acid metabolism and has been widely recommended as a biomarker of liver and heart damage. Our study aimed to evaluate the extensive preparation of AST and its application in quality control in clinical laboratories. We describe a scheme to express and purify the 6His-AST fusion protein. An optimized sequence coding AST was synthesized and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain for protein expression. Ideally, the fusion protein has a volumetric productivity achieving 900 mg/l cultures. After affinity chromatography, the enzyme activity of purified AST reached 150,000 U/L. Commutability assessment between the engineered AST and standard AST from Roche suggested that the engineered AST was the better candidate for the reference material. Moreover, the AST showed high stability during long-term storage at $-20^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, the highly soluble 6His-tagged AST can become a convenient tool for supplying a much better and cheaper standard or reference material for the clinical laboratory.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2015

Objectives : Alcohol-related liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The present study was undertaken to determine whether Ganoderma lucidum pharmacopuncture(GLP) could protect against chronic liver injury induced by ethanol intoxication in rats. Methods : Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups: normal, control, normal saline pharmacopuncture(NP), and GLP, with 8 animals in each. Each group, except normal, received ethanol orally. The NP and GLP groups were treated daily with NP and GLP respectively. The control group was not treated. All rats except the normal group were intoxicated for 4 weeks by oral administration of EtOH(6 g/kg BW). Two acupuncture points were used: Qimen($LR_{14}$) and Taechung($LR_3$). Body weight, histopathological analysis, liver function, activities of antioxidant enzymes, and immunohistochemistry were assessed. Results : GLP reduced the histological changes due to chronic liver injury induced by EtOH and significantly reduced the increase in the alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) enzymes. It significantly reversed the superoxide dismutase(SOD) and the catalase activities(CAT). It also significantly decreased BAX and increased Bcl-2 immunoreactivity expression. Conclusions : This study showed the protective efficacy of GLP against EtOH-induced chronic liver injury in SD rats by modulating ethanol metabolizing enzymes activity, attenuating oxidative stress, and inhibiting mitochondrial damage-mediated apoptosis.