• Title/Summary/Keyword: Clinical Signs

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The current status and control measures of BSE in the worldwide (국내, 외 광우병의 발생 현황과 대응 방안)

  • Yoo, Han-Sang
    • 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2009.07a
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    • pp.273-282
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    • 2009
  • The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) disease group are fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting a wide range of hosts. The group includes kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, scrapie in sheep and goats and Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. The exact nature of the infectious agent involved in the transmission of these diseases remains controversial. However, a central event in their pathogenesis is the accumulation in infected tissues of an abnormal form of a host-encoded protein, the prion protein (PrP). Whereas the normal cellular protein is fully sensitive to protease ($PrP^{sen}$), the disease-associated prion protein ($PrP^d$) is only partly degraded ($PrP^{res}$), its amino-terminal end being removed. BSE was first reported in the mid-80s in the UK. Ten years later, a new form of human prion disease, variant CJD (vCJD) developed in the wake of the BSE epidemic, and there is now strong scientific evidence that vCJD was initiated by the exposure of humans to BSE-infected tissues, thus indicating a zoonotic disease. However, the ban on the feeding of animal-derived proteins to ruminants, and the apparent lack of vertical transmission of BSE, have led to a decline in the incidence of the disease within cattle herd and therefore, an assumed decreased risk for human contacting vCJD. The origin of the original case(s) of BSE still remains an enigma even though three hypotheses have been raised. Hypotheses are i) sheep- or goat-derived scrapie-infected tissues included in meat and bone meal fed to cattle, ii) a previously undetected sporadic or genetic bovine TSE contaminating cattle feed or iii) originating from a human TSE through animal feed contaminated with human remains. A host cellular membrane protein ($PrP^C$), which is abundant in central nervous system tissue, appear to be conformationally altered in the diseased host into a prion protein ($PrP^{Sc}$). This $PrP^{Sc}$ is detergent insoluble and partially protease-resistant ($PrP^{res}$). The term $PrP^{res}$ is normally used to describe the protein detected after protease treatment, in techniques such as Western immunoblotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay using fresh/frozen tissue. Immunohistochemistry may performed with formalin-fixed tissues. Also, clinical signs of the BSE are one of the major diagnostic indicators. Recently, atypical forms (known as H- and L-type) of BSE have appeared in several European countries, Japan, Canada and the United States. An unusual case was also reported in a miniature zebu. The atypical BSE fall into two groups based on the relative molecular mass (Mm) of the unglycosylated $PrP^{res}$ band relative to that of classical BSE, one of the higher Mm (H-type) and the other lower (L-type). Both types have been detected worldwide as rare cases in older animals, at a low prevalence consistent with the possibility of sporadic forms of prion diseases in cattle. This raises the unwelcome possibility that vCJD could increase in the human population. Now, active surveillance program against BSE is going on in Korea. In regional veterinary service lab, ELISA is applied to screen the BSE in slaughter and confirmatory tests by Western immunoblotting and immunohistochemisty are carried out if there are positive or suspect in the screening test. Also, the ruminant feed ban is rigorously enforced. Removal of specified risk materials such as brain and spinal cord from cattle is mandatory process at slaughter to prevent the infected material from entering the human food chain.

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Congenital Anomaly of Urinary Tract in Children (소아 선천성 요로계 기형에 관한 고찰)

  • Shin Weon Hye;Ko Cheol Woo;Koo Ja Hoon;Chung Sung Kwang
    • Childhood Kidney Diseases
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.88-94
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    • 1999
  • Purpose : Malformation of urinary tract is among the most common of all congenital anomalies and can progress to irreversible renal damage before diagnosis due to difficulty of early diagnosis. Present study was undertaken to determine the clinical characteristics of urinary tract anomaly and to find out the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic measures for children with these anomalies. Methods : During the past 10 years from 1987 to 1998, review of medical records revealed 65 children with congenital anomaly of urinary tract and the following results were obtained. Results : The most common anomalies were ureteropelvic junction obstruction occuring in 26 cases ($36\%$), followed by ureteral duplication in 11 cases, renal agenesis in 10 cases and ureterovesical function obstruction in 7 cases. Complex anomaly of urinary tract was found in 8 cases and anomaly of other systems such as congenital heart disease was detected in 11 cases. The most frequent age group at the time of diagnosis was below 1 year of age constituting 39 cases ($60\%$) and male preponderance was noted as male to female ratio being 2.25:1. Presenting symptoms were urinary tract infection in 25 cases, followed by hematuria, abdominal mass, abdominal pain and voiding difficulty, etc, and in 11 cases, the anomaly was picked up by routine prenatal ultrasonography. Azotemia was noted in 9 cases and the underlying anomaly was obstructive uropathy in 4 out of these 9 cases. Surgical correction was undertaken in 38 cases (most frequently in cases of obstructive uropathy) and in 2 out off cases with obstructive uropathy in whom surgical correction was done, azotemia disappeared during follow up period of 1-5years. No new cases of deteriorating renal function appeared during follow-up period. Conclusion : In spite of high incidence of congenital malformation of urinary tract, early diagnosis is still hampered by nonspecific symptoms and signs. Therefore, in patients with symptoms such as urinary tract infection, abdominal pain and voiding problems, etc, it Is advisable to take various diagnostic tests promptly to pick up any urinary tract anomaly and to apply proper therapy in order to avoid progression to irreversible renal damage. In this regard, prenatal ultrasonography should be utilized more widely as a routine procedure to detect any urinary tract anomalies before birth.

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Hemophagocytic Syndrome Presenting as Severe Acute Hepatitis (중증 급성 간염으로 발현한 혈구탐식증후군에 관한 연구)

  • Ryu, Jeong Min;Chang, Soo Hee;Kim, Joon Sung;Lee, Joo Hoon;Lee, Mi Jeong;Park, Kie Young;Kim, Kyung Mo;Seo, Jong Jin;Moon, Hyung Nam;Ghim, Thad;Chi, Hyun Sook
    • Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.213-221
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    • 2005
  • Purpose: Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is characterized by persistent high fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenias, hypertriglyceridemia, and/or hypofibrinogenemia. Hepatic manifestations including overt hepatic failure and fulminant hepatitis are common in HPS. Liver transplantation (LT) should be considered in a case of fulminant hepatitis by other than HPS, but LT is contraindicated and complete cure is possible by chemotherapy in HPS. Therefore, we conducted this study to define the characteristics of HPS presenting as severe acute hepatitis. Methods: Among the total of 23 patients diagnosed as HPS by bone marrow examination between 1994 and 2005 in Asan Medical Center, 11 cases presented as severe acute hepatitis were enrolled in this study. We analyzed the clinical features, laboratory findings and outcome retrospectively. Results: Seven (64%) of the 11 children with HPS and hepatitis were referred to pediatric gastroenterologist at first. The mean age of onset was 50 months. There was no case with family history of primary HPS. Epstein-Barr virus was positive in 4, and herpes Simplex virus was positive simultaneously in 1 case. As the presenting symptoms and signs, fever was present in 10, hepatosplenomagaly was noted in all and jaundice in 10. Anemia was observed in 10, thrombocytopenia in 10, leukopenia in 8, hypertriglyceridemia in 9, hypofibrinogenemia in 8 and hyperferritinemia in 7 cases, respectively. Nine children received chemotherapy including etopside. The overall mortality rate was 72% (8/11). Conclusion: HPS, which needs chemotherapy, should be considered as a cause of severe acute hepatitis especially when accompanied with prolonged high fever and cytopenias.

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Changes in Objective and Subjective Responses in Soft Contact Lens Wearers Refitted to Daily-Wear Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses (매일착용 실리콘 하이드로겔렌즈로 바꿔 착용한 소프트 콘택트렌즈 착용자에서 나타난 증상 변화)

  • Lee, Koon-Ja;Mun, Mi-Young;Buyn, Jang-Won;Leem, Hyun-Sung
    • Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.43-54
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    • 2007
  • Silicone hydrogel contact lenses developed as a continuous-wear modality are now used as a daily-wear contact lenses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical performance in a group of successful long-term wearers of conventional hydrogel contact lenses when refitted with daily wear $O_2OPTIX$ silicone hydrogel lenses. Sixty-two wearers ($30.7{\pm}19.9$ months of prior lens wear) among sixty-five soft lens wearers refitted with $O_2OPTIX$ silicone hydrogel lenses were participated in this study finally. Subjective symptoms were scored and objective signs were graded using CCLRU scales during the study period. 98% of subjects were successfully refitted with the one base curve of $O_2OPTIX$, and 33.9% of subjects were needed more or less lens powers compared with their habitual lenses. Subjects reported a concurrent reduction in dryness, redness and tiredness compared with their habitual lenses and both subjective and objective evaluations showed that dryness, tiredness, itchiness, bulbar and limbal hyperemia were decreased and significantly decreased particularly for those subjects with greater baseline symptoms (p<0.0001). But corneal staining was increased and was seen in many subjects during the study (p<0.0001). Refitting existing soft contact lens wearers with silicone hydrogel contact lens could result in a decreased in dryness, redness and tiredness, particularly more effective for those subjects with greater baseline of those symptoms. When patients using conventional hydrogel materials switch to a silicone hydrogel material, the potential for increased corneal staining should be considered and over-refraction should be needed to give a best vision.

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Changes of Neutrophil Count in Peripheral Blood of the Neonate with Periventricular Leukomalacia (신생아 백질연화증 환아 말초혈의 중성구 변화)

  • Lee, Hwan Seok;Park, Kyung Pil;Kim, Heng Mi
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.46 no.10
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    • pp.966-971
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    • 2003
  • Purpose : It is now well established that infection and inflammation play an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic brain damage. The loss of neutrophils from systemic circulation is an associated finding in injury mediated by granulocyte. Periventricular leukomalacia(PVL) caused by ischemia is the principal form of brain injury in premature infants. This study was conducted to evaluate whether the low neutrophil count is associated with periventricular leukomalacia(PVL) in premature infants. Methods : Retrospective review of medical records was undertaken. Subjects were premature infants with a birth weight of less than 1,500 gm, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Kyungpook University Hospital. A complete blood count of peripheral blood was done within the 1st hour of life. Neutropenia was defined as absolute neutrophil count < $1,500/mm^3$, PVL as increased periventricular echodensities followed by cyst formation on ultrasonography or corresponding signs on brain MRI. Results : Thirteen infants out of a total population of 37 revealed neutropenia. Respiratory distress syndrome and requirement for respiratory support were not different between infants with neutropenia( neutropenia group) and infants without neutropenia(control group). Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and grade 3 and 4 IVH were more frequent in neutropenia group(P<0.05). There was no statistically significant increase of PVL in neutropenia group. The neutrophil count was $18,760.0{\pm}10,266.1/mm^3$, $7,272.0{\pm}7,435.0/mm^3$ infants with PVL and $11,131.7{\pm}3,386.5/mm^3$, $2,407.5{\pm}1,933.1/mm^3$ in infants without PVL, respectively. The frequency of mechanical ventilation and artificial surfactant therapy was higher in infants with PVL compared with infants without PVL, but statistical analysis was not performed due to small number of subjects. Conclusion : A low number of neutrophils in the systemic circulation was not associated with an increased risk of PVL in premature infants.

Performance effectiveness of pediatric index of mortality 2 (PIM2) and pediatricrisk of mortality III (PRISM III) in pediatric patients with intensive care in single institution: Retrospective study (단일 병원에서 소아 중환자의 예후인자 예측을 위한 PIM2 (pediatric index of mortality 2)와 PRIMS III (pediatric risk of mortality)의 유효성 평가 - 후향적 조사 -)

  • Hwang, Hui Seung;Lee, Na Young;Han, Seung Beom;Kwak, Ga Young;Lee, Soo Young;Chung, Seung Yun;Kang, Jin Han;Jeong, Dae Chul
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.51 no.11
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    • pp.1158-1164
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    • 2008
  • Purpose : To investigate the discriminative ability of pediatric index of mortality 2 (PIM2) and pediatric risk of mortality III (PRISM III) in predicting mortality in children admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods : We retrospectively analyzed variables of PIM2 and PRISM III based on medical records with children cared for in a single hospital ICU from January 2003 to December 2007. Exclusions were children who died within 2 h of admission into ICU or hopeless discharge. We used Students t test and ANOVA for general characteristics and for correlation between survivors and non-survivors for variables of PIM2 and PRISM III. In addition, we performed multiple logistic regression analysis for Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for discrimination, and calculated standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for estimation of prediction. Results : We collected 193 medical records but analyzed 190 events because three children died within 2 h of ICU admission. The variables of PIM2 correlated with survival, except for the presence of post-procedure and low risk. In PRISM III, there was a significant correlation for cardiovascular/neurologic signs, arterial blood gas analysis but not for biochemical and hematologic data. Discriminatory performance by ROC showed an area under the curve 0.858 (95% confidence interval; 0.779-0.938) for PIM2, 0.798 (95% CI; 0.686-0.891) for PRISM III, respectively. Further, SMR was calculated approximately as 1 for the 2 systems, and multiple logistic regression analysis showed ${\chi}^2(13)=14.986$, P=0.308 for PIM2, ${\chi}^2(13)=12.899$, P=0.456 for PRISM III in Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit. However, PIM2 was significant for PRISM III in the likelihood ratio test (${\chi}^2(4)=55.3$, P<0.01). Conclusion : We identified two acceptable scoring systems (PRISM III, PIM2) for the prediction of mortality in children admitted into the ICU. PIM2 was more accurate and had a better fit than PRISM III on the model tested.

Growth promoting effect of short-term gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist with or without growth hormone in girls with early puberty (조기 사춘기 여아에서 단기간 성선자극호르몬 방출호르몬 효능약제와 성장호르몬 병합투여의 성장촉진 효과)

  • Lee, Eun-Ju;Han, Heon-Seok
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.50 no.2
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    • pp.198-204
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    • 2007
  • Purpose : The hope that arresting pubertal developement might increase final adult height has led to an attempt to use GnRH agonist (GnRHa) in children with early puberty and poor growth prognosis. We investigated the growth-promoting effect of GnRH agonists with or without growth hormone (GH) in girls with early puberty and decreased predicted adult height (PAH). Methods : Thirty five girls with advanced bone age and early pubertal signs were randomized for treatment for about 1 year with monthly GnRHa in group 1 (n=18), or with a combination of GH and GnRHa in group 2 (n=17). The following growth parameters were compared between groups, and the difference ($\Delta$) before and after treatment : chronological age (CA), bone age (BA), $\Delta$(BA-CA), height (HT), target height (TH), predicted adult height (PAH), $\Delta$ (TH-PAH), serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP-3). Results : Before treatment, BA, TH, PAH Standard deviation scores (SDS), $\Delta$(TH-PAH) were not different between the two groups, but CA was higher in group 2 and $\Delta$(BA-CA) were higher in group 1 (P<0.05). After $1.06{\pm}0.93$ year of treatment, $\Delta$ (BA-CA) decreased and there were significant changes in PAH and $\Delta$ (TH-PAH), especially in group 2 (P<0.05 in group 1, and P<0.001 in group 2). In both groups, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were not different before and after treatment, but after treatment, IGF-1 level in group 2 was marginally higher than IGF-1 in group 1 (P<0.1). Conclusion : Compromised predicted adult height in girls with early puberty and advanced bone age was significantly improved with GnRH with/without GH treatment in the short-term period. The addition of GH to GnRHa results in a significant increase in PAH compared to GnRHa alone because GnRHa suppressed growth hormone-IGF-1 axis. For comparison of final adult height, further longitudinal follow-up will be needed.

The Study of Intravenous-gammaglobulin Therapy in Acute phase of Measles (급성기 홍역 환자의 정주용 인면역글로부린 치료 효과에 대한 연구)

  • Kim, Min Shik;Cha, Yoon Hwa
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.101-106
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    • 2001
  • Purpose : The outbreaks of measles in infants and school children have been reported recently, but there are no specific treatment of these patients except symptomatic therapy. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous gammaglobulin(IVGG) therapy in acute febrile phase of measles. Methods : The 68 cases in measles were treated with single dose of IVGG(400~500 mg/kg), and 44 cases were treated with only symptomatic treatment during the periods of 14 months from Jan. 2000 to Feb. 2001. They were compared to duration of fever, rash, the levels of CRP and days of admission on both groups after treatment. Results : The results obtained follows. The average of age was $7.9{\pm}3.6$ year old, and male to female was 1.0 : 1.6. The duration of fever after admission was $2.4{\pm}1.2$ days in treated group and $5.7{\pm}2.4$ days in control group. The period of disappearance of systemic erythematous maculopapular rash was $4.5{\pm}1.3$ days in treated group, and $6.9{\pm}2.4$ days in control group. The durations of admission day were also shown significantly shorter duration of period in treated group(P<0.05). The levels of CRP were no significant difference between two groups before treatment. However, treated group was significantly shown by improved within 5 days after IVGG therapy(P<0.05). Conclusions : The single dose of IVGG(400~500 mg/kg) therapy is one of rapid and effective therapy for clinical symptoms and signs in acute high febrile phase of measles.

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The Significance of $^{99m}Technetium$ Dimercaptosuccinic Acid(DMSA) Scan as a Substitute for Voiding Cystourethrography(VCUG) in Evaluating Children with first Febrile Urinary Tract Infection (생애 첫 발열성 요로 감염 환아에 대한 평가에서 배뇨성 방광 요도 조영술을 대체하기 위한 검사로서 $^{99m}technetium$ dimercaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) scan의 의의)

  • Han, Seung-Beom;Ko, Yong-Min;Lee, Sue-Young;Jeong, Dae-Chul;Kang, Jin-Han;Lee, Kyung-Yeon;Uhm, Mee-Ryung;Kim, Woong-Heum;Kim, Jung-Sue
    • Childhood Kidney Diseases
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.220-228
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    • 2007
  • Purpose : We studied the value of clinical signs, laboratory findings and $^{99m}technetium$ dime-rcaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) scan in predicting the presence of vesicoureteral reflux(VUR) in children with first febrile urinary tract infection(UTI). Methods : A retrospective analysis of 84 hospitalized children with first febrile UTI was performed. They underwent DMSA scan and voiding cystourethrography(VCUG) during the acute phase, and were divided into three groups according to the results of the VCUG: absence of VUR, mild(grade I-II) and severe VUR(grade III-V). We studied the relation of VUR to age, gender, fever duration, causative organism, white blood cell count, serum C-reactive protein and result of DMSA scan. Results : Among 84 patients, 6 had mild and 17 had severe VUR. Thirty-eight had abnormal DMSA scan. results Patients with VUR were older than those without VUR(P<0.01). There was a lower probability of infection with Escherichia coli in patients with severe VUR than in those with mild and absent VUR(P<0.01). An abnormal DMSA scan correlated with the presence and severity of VUR(P<0.05). Severe VUR was present in 10.9% of patients with normal DMSA scan. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the DMSA scan in predicting the presence of VUR were 69.6%, 63.9%, 42.1%, and 84.8%, respectively. Conclusion : An abnormal DMSA scan correlated to the presence and severity of VUR, but the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of the DMSA scan were low. There-fore, patient with an abnormal DMSA scan requires a VCUG. In order to prevent missing the 10.9% of patients with severe VUR but normal DMSA scans, a VCUG should be performed in patient with normal DMSA scan.

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Toxicity Study of Detoxication Sulphur at 3 Months Post-treatment in Rats (제독유황에 대한 3개월간 랫드에서 반복경구투여 독성에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Jin-Seok;Kwon, Jung-Ki;Han, Sang-Hyeon;An, In-Jung;Kim, So-Jung;Lee, Seung-Ho;Park, Young-Seok;Park, Byung-Kwon;Kim, Byeong-Soo;Kim, Sang-Ki;Kim, Il-Ho;Choi, Chang-Sun;Jung, Ji-Youn
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.263-268
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    • 2010
  • This study was demonstrate a repeated oral dose toxicity of detoxication sulphur in 8-weeks-old female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The rats were treated with dose of 0.2%, 1%, 5% detoxication sulphur and 1% sulphur of feed consumption administered for 13 weeks. To evaluate the safety of detoxication sulfur, we examined the body weight, the feed intake, the clinical signs, the ophthalmological test, the hematological and the serum biochemical analysis. We also observed the histopathological changes of liver and kidney in rats. As a result, no significant differences in body weight, feed intake, hematological examination and histopathological between control and detoxication sulphur treatment group were found. Serum biochemical results were not shown significant differences in 0.2% and 1% the treated groups compared with control group. But glucose level were decrease, also ALT and ALP level were increase in 5% treated group. All of these results indicate that 1% detoxication sulphur of feed consumption may be safety in SD rat.