• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.114-117
• /
• 2001

Cervi Parvum Cornu is widely used as a hemopoietic, tonifying, growth-promoting, cardiotonic, and immuno-modulating agent in Korea. In order to develop the quality control method of Cervi Parvum Cornu by the identification of the biological source or origin, the molecular approach was applied using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and PCR-RFLF (PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis. In the PCR analysis of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene and cytochrome b gene regions, no distinctive DNA bands from Cervidae (deer) antlers and Rangifer (reindeer) antlers were observed. However, when the amplified products in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene region were subjected to restriction digestion with TaqI, Cervidae antlers showed an undigested state of 380 by band, differently from two bands of 230 by and 1S0 by from Rangifer antlers. Based on this finding, the base sequences of amplified PCR products in the range of mitochondria) cytochrome b gene from Cervidae antlers and Rangifer antlers were determined and subjected to restriction analysis by various endonucleases. The results showed that antlers from Rangifer species could be simply discriminated with other antlers from 8 Cervidae species (Chinese deer, Russian deer, Hong Kong deer, New Zealand deer, Kazakhstan deer, elk, red deer and Sika deer) by PCR-RFLP analysis using AtuI, HaeIII, HpaII or Sau3AI(MboI) as well as TaqI in the range of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 2011

Objective : Kyenegum has been frequently used for characterizing digestive symptoms in the traditional and oriental medicines. This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of extracts from velvet antlers using the 4 different kinds of extracting methods. Methods : The extracts of velvet antlers were extracted using a $65^{\circ}C$ DW (9hrs), a Kyenegum crude enzyme, a $121^{\circ}C$ DW (2hrs), and a Kyenegum protease. To evaluate the characteristic of velvet antler extracts, we examined the brix, soluble solid, amino acid, mineral composition, and collagen protein. Results : As a result of the comparisons of velvet antlers extracted by the traditional extraction and the crude enzyme of kyenegum, the brix and soluble solid showed the higher contents for kyenegum enzymes. Also, mineral contents of the extracted velvet antlers were higher, particularly in Ca and P for those. The contents of collagen protein, hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, were found to be more than twice in kyenegum protease compared with other extracting methods. Conclusion : These results indicated that the Kyenegum crude enzyme and protease are very effective to extract of velvet antlers.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.34 no.1 s.132
• /
• pp.40-44
• /
• 2003

Antler has been used as one of the important traditional oriental medicines for many years. It contains many biochemical components including lipids, peptides, carbohydrates, and inorganic substances. The various biological activities of antler are being considered owing to such biochemical components. The purpose of this research is to compare the biochemical components of antlers after treatment of three different kinds of fodder. They are mulberry (group A), Lycii Fructus (group B) and the complex of herbs (group C). The chemical composition of each antler was determined in three sections (top, middle, and bottom) and compared with those of the control. The contents of sialic acid, uronic acid and glycosaminoglycans increased in the top antlers of the group B. Total lipids content increased in the top antlers of all groups (A, B, and C). The concentration of inorganic ions (Ca, Mg, and P) decreased in all groups. Fattyacid composition was also analyzed by GC-MS and expressed as percentage of total fatty acid concentration. The content of palmitic acid decreased in all groups. The content of 2-hydrox-yhexadecanoic acid, which has not been reported in aster, increased in the top antlers of all groups. These results suggest that the treatment of special fodder may affect the composition of the biochemical components of antlers.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.12
• /
• pp.1859-1866
• /
• 2010

It is reported that about 80% of deer antlers (Cervi Pantotricuhum Cornu) produced in the world are consumed in Korea. Fraudulent replacement or mislabeling of costly deer antlers with cheaper ones, however, is one of the most common problems in the Korean deer antler market. Therefore, there is a continuous need for the development of genetic markers to discriminate between genuine and fraudulent deer antlers. This study was performed to develop a method for the identification and authentication of deer antlers using nucleotide sequence analysis against displacement loop of mitochondrial genome among four deer antlers, Cervus eleaphus sibericus, Cervus eleaphus bactrianus, Cervus eleaphus Canadensis, and Cervus eleaphus, originated from Russia, China, North America and New Zealand, respectively. As a result, multiple-alignment of mitochondrial displacement (D) loop region in 1.2 kb showed that, among the four deer antlers, a deleted sequence of about 70 bps was only found in Cervus elaphus bactrianus from China. Finally, Cervus elaphus bactrianus among nine samples of deer antlers were successfully identified by PCR using primer amplifying deleted D-loop. Cervus elaphus bactrianus was also confirmed from cloning the PCR products and their nucleotide sequence analyses were confirmed. However, no marker to identify Cervus eleaphus sibericus, Cervus eleaphus canadensis and Cervus eleaphus were found in the nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial D-loop. Our results suggest that PCR for deleted D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA are useful for identification and authentication of deer antlers of Cervus elaphus bactrianus originating from China.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.989-996
• /
• 2010

This study was aimed at investigating the differences in chemical composition of antler according to growing days (80 d and 90 d after casting) and sections (upper, middle, base) in elk. Antlers of six bulls (aged 3 years) cutted on day 80 and 90 after casting were used in this trial and compared chemical composition such as crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, calcium, magnesium, amino acids, lipids, and fatty acids. The contents of crude protein and ether extract were higher in antlers cutted on day 80 than in antlers cutted on day 90, but that of crude ash was higher in antlers cutted on day 90. Significantly difference was observed in crude protein content between growing days in middle part of antler (p<0.05). Calcium and magnesium contents were higher on 90 d than 80 d, but there was no significant difference between growing days of antler. Based on the growing period of antler, there were significant differences (p<0.05) in aspartic acid, threonine, valine, leucine, phenylalanine and lysine, and essential amino acids content was higher in antlers cutted on day 80. Total lipid, neutral lipid, and phospholipid contents were higher in antlers cutted on day 80 than in those cutted on day 90, sphingo-phospholipid content was higher than glycerophospholipid content and values was higher in antlers cutted on day 80 than in those cutted on day 90. For total fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids composition, there was no significant difference between growing periods of antlers, but values was higher on day 80 than on day 90. Essential fatty acids contents were lower in antler cutted on day 90 than antlers cutted on day 80 and higher for upper part than lower part.

• Journal of Evidence-Based Herbal Medicine
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.7-12
• /
• 2009

Velvet antlers from Cervus elaphus species are one of most famous, expensive and commonly used medicinal materials in traditional oriental medicine. Some distributor had illegal practice of disguising the origin of antlers in Korea market. Therefore, a test to distinguish antler essential to ensure the healthy development of the herbal industry. In this study, the variation in DNA sequences of the mitochondrial ATPase8 and cytochrome-coxidaseI (COI) genes of Cervus elaphus from China, the Republic of Altai, and Canada were evaluated. In addition, the sequence variation among, Rein deer and Cervus elaphus species was also evaluated. Although the sequences of deer from the Republic of Altai and Canada were very similar, polymorphisms that were conserved in each species were observed in the ATPase8 and COI genes. Therefore, these polymorphic markers could be used to distinguish Cervus elaphus antlers from different locations.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.243-250
• /
• 2012

The ash content, mineral composition, total phenolics, antioxidant capacity, and neuroprotective effect of the antlers of deer fed with herb-incorporated feedstuff (HFS) or normal feedstuff (NFS) were comparatively evaluated. The contents of ash and mineral of the antler of deer fed with HFS were significantly lower than its counterpart. The ash and mineral contents of deer antlers decreased generally from the upper section toward the tip section. The ratios of Ca/ash, Ca/P, and Ca/Fe of antler of deer fed with HFS were lower than those of antler of deer fed with NFS. Antlers of deer fed with HFS had higher total phenolics, nitrite scavenging capacity, and antioxidant capacity than those of deer fed with NFS. Antlers of deer fed with HFS or NFS showed in vitro neuronal protection of PC-12 cells against oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner, where antler of deer fed with HFS generally had higher cellular viability than NFS. These results above suggest that the incorporation of the medicinal herbal complex into feedstuff may improve the biological effects of deer antlers.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.240.2-240.2
• /
• 2000

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2002

Antlers from deer species are alternative animal by-products. Due to the oriental trade, the velvet antler industry is rapidly emerging in North America. The unique biological property of antler wish a deciduous natural phenomenon offers the valuable model of biomedical research. Growing antlers showed different structures according to cell populations consisting of mesenchymes, chondroblasts, chondrocytes and osseous tissues from distal to proximal portions of main beam. Their structures were different from two tissues, cartilage and bone, in growing antlers. Zone of maturing ants calcifying chondrocytes referred as upper section was invaded by osteoblasts indicating the occurrence of endochondral ossification. The cartilaginous tissues were gradually replaced by osseous tissues downward. The bony tissues referred as the middle and base sections in this thesis contained spongy bone and cortical bone structure in the difference of the degree of mineralization antral the thickness of cortical bony in adjacent to outer velvet layer. In addition, the endocrinological regulators such as testosterone, prolactin, growth hormones and other growth factors are actively involved in the unique deciduous nature shown in the growth and development of antler.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.276-282
• /
• 2008

It is estimated that over 80% of deer antlers produced in the world are consumed in Korea. However, mislabeling or fraudulent replacement of costly antlers with cheaper ones is one of the most common problems in the domestic antler market. Therefore, there is a great need for the development of technology to identify species of antlers. This study was carried out to develop an accurate and reliable method for the identification and authentication of species or subspecies of antlers using DNA sequence analysis and comparison of mitochondrial cytochrome band D-loop region genes among antlers of five deer species, Cervus elaphus sibericus, Cervus elaphus canadensis, Cervus nippon, Cervus elaphus bactrianus and Rangifer tarandus. A variable region of cytochrome band D-loop genes was amplified using PCR with specifically designed primers and sequenced directly. The cytochrome band D-loop region genes showed different DNA sequences between the species of antlers and thus it is possible to differentiate between species on the basis of sequence variation. To distinguish between reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antlers and other deer antlers, PCR amplicons of the cytochrome b gene were digested with the restriction enzymes NlaIV and TaqI, respectively, which generates a species-specific DNA profile of the reindeer. In addition, samples of 32 sliced antlers labeled Cervus elaphus sibericus from commercial markets were collected randomly and the mt DNA D-loop region of these antler samples was sequenced. Among the antler samples investigated, only 62.5% were from Cervus elaphus sibericus, and others were from Cervus elaphus bactrianus (25.0%), elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Our results suggest that DNA sequencing of mt DNA and PCR-RFLP methods using NlaIV and TaqI enzymes are useful for the identification and discrimination of deer antler species by routine analysis.