• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.138-142
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• 2000

Effects of ginsenosides (Rb$_1$, Rb$_2$, Rc, Re, Rg$_1$, Rf) on L-glutamate (glutamate)-induced swelling of cultured astrocytes from rat brain cerebral cortex were studied. Following the exposure to 0.5mM glutamate for 1 hr, the intracellular water space (as measured by [$^3$H]O-methyl-D-glucose uptake) of astrocytes increased by about two-fold. Simultaneous addition of ginsenosides Rb$_2$ and Rc with glutamate reduced the astrocytic swelling in a dose-dependent manner. These ginsenosides at 0.5 mg/ml did not affect the viability of astrocytes for up to 24 hr which was determined by a colorimetric assay (MTT assay) for cellular growth and survival. These ginsenosides at 0.3 mg/ml inhibited the increase of intracellular Ca$\^$2+/ concentration ([Ca$\^$2+/]$\_$i/) induced by glutamate. These data suggest ginsenosides Rb$_2$ and Rc prevent the cell swelling of astrocytes induced by glutamate, maybe via inhibition of Ca$\^$2+/ influx.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
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• 2001.12a
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• pp.22-37
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• 2001

Melatonin is secreted during the hours of darkness and is thought to influence the circadian and seasonal timing of a variety of physiological processes. Serotonin N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) which is found to be expressed in pineal gland, retina, and various tissues, catalyses the conversion of serotonin to N-acetylserotonin and is known as the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of melatonin. The compounds that modulate the activity of AA-NAT can be used to treat serotonin-and melatonin-related diseases such as insomnia, depression and seasonal affective disorders (SAD). Several assay methods have been developed by which to measure AA-NAT activity. We have also developed a simple, rapid and sensitive AA-NAT assay method that takes advantage of differences in the organic solubilities between acetyl CoA and N-acetyltryptamine. We screened modulators of AA-NAT activity from the water extracts of the medicinal plants. We found MNP1005 which strongly inhibited the activity of AA-NAT ($IC_{50}$=2.2$\mu$M). Enzyme inhibitory kinetic studies revealed that MNP1005 exhibited a noncompetitive inhibition toward tryptamine. The antidepressant effect of MNP1005 was investigated on behavioral despair test so called forced swimming test (FST). MNP1005 significantly increased swimming behavior by reducing immobility with treatment of 10 mg/kg when compared to the vehicle-treated control group (P < 0.05). This suggests that MNP1005 possesses antidepressant activity. The influence of chronic MNP1005 treatment on the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was examined by in situ hybridization and Northern blot. Chronic treatment of MNP1005 blocked the downregulation of BDNF mRNA in the frontal cortex and other cortex regions in response to restraint stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1995.04a
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• pp.58-58
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• 1995

식물에서부터 새로운 소염작용제를 개발하기 위하여 여러식물을 대상으로 염증반응의 초기단계에서 중요한 역할을 하는 것으로 알려진 Phospholipase $A_2$에 저해활성을 갖는 물질을 검색하였고 그 중 강한 억제활성을 보인 유근피에서 유효성분을 분리하였다. 유근피의 에칠 아세테이트 분획에 대하여 실리카겔 크로마토그래피, Sephadex LH-20 크로마토그래피, 분취 박막 크로마토그래피를 수행하여 phenol성 -OH기를 갖는 활성성분인 PSH-II-84-1를 분리하였다. $^1$H-NMR 신호의 양상과 짝지움 상수 값에서 분리된 물질은 (+)-catechin 의 당 유도체로 확인되었다. $^{13}$C-NMR 자료를 분석하여 치환된 당은 D-apiofuranose로 확인되었다. 방향족환의 $^{l3}$C-NMR 신호들은 extended Huekel theory를 응용하여 얻은 net charge 계산 값과 상관시켜 할당하였다. 이상의 구조연구 결과 이 물질은 (+)-catechin-7-0-$\beta$-D-apiofuranoside로 밝혀졌다. (+)-catechin-7-0-$\beta$-D-apiofuranoside의 효소억제활성은 Type II Phospholipase $A_2$에 대하여 $IC_{50}$/이 600$\mu$M이었다.다.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.22 no.3 s.56
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• pp.181-185
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• 1983

Ditylenchus destructor Thorne 1945 was found to be the causal organism of the new root rot disease of Panax ginseng, which occurred extensively in Dongseong area of Cheolweon-gun, Gangweon Province, Korea in 1982. Thirty-six percent of the investigated fields was damaged due to the potato rot nematode. Infected roots showed brown discoloration of cortex and suberization outside the cambium. Cortex of the severly infected roots became sponge-like in texture and cavity was produced in the central portion of the root. Only the severely infected ginseng plants exhibited sympotoms of sudden wilting of leaves. The number of potato rot nematode in such field soils was $8.5\~222/30g$ soil, while there was no such symptoms on leaves if the number was less than 7.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.4 no.1 s.4
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• pp.99-114
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• 1998

The effect of herbal medicine on glutamate mediated neurotoxicity was studied in mouse neurons in primary culture. Immature cerebral cortex neurons (ED14) were maintained for up to 2 weeks in vitro, and we investigated the expression pattern of neuron differentiation and cytotoxicity of cell death, including LDH activity. Neuronal maturation initiated on day 7 and the susceptibility to glutamate-induced cell death was highly sensitive on Day 11 (Fig. 1). Thus, the exposure of the neurons to glutamate caused a dose$(0.1mM{\sim}1mM)$ and time$(4h{\sim}24h)$-dependent neurotoxicity(Fig. 4). Glutamate-induced neurodegeneration was prevented by Shipchondaebotang(SD), Yollyounggobondan(YG), Yugmijihwangwon(YJ) and the death of neurons exposed to glutamate was blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 (Fig. 5).

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.69-72
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• 2011

Defective synthesis of the steroid hormones by the adrenal cortex has profound effects on human development and homeostasis. Due to the time-consuming chromatography procedure combined with mass spectrometry, the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization method coupled to the linear ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-LTQ-MS/MS) was developed for quantitative analysis of 10 adrenal steroids in human serum. Although MALDI-MS can be introduced for its applicability as a high-throughput screening method, it has a limitation on reproducibility within and between samples, which renders poor reproducibility for quantification. For quantitative MALDI-MS/MS analysis, the stable-isotope labeled internal standards were used and the conditions of crystallization were tested. The precision and accuracy were 3.1~35.5% and 83.8~138.5%, respectively, when a mixture of 10 mg/mL ${\alpha}$-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid in 0.2% TFA of 70% acetonitrile was used as the MALDI matrix. The limit of quantification ranged from 5 to 340 ng/mL, and the linearity as a correlation coefficient was higher than 0.988 for all analytes in the calibration range. Clinical applications include quantitative analyses of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The devised MALDI-MS/MS technique could be successfully applied to diagnosis of clinical samples.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.6
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• pp.603-611
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• 1997

The motor evoked potentials (MEPs) have been advocated as a method of monitoring the integrity of spinal efferent pathways in various injury models of the central nervous system. However, there were many disputes about origin sites of MEPs generated by transcranial electrical stimulation. The purpose of present study was to investigate the effect of major extrapyramidal motor nuclei such as lateral vestibular nucleus (VN) and medullary reticular nucleus (mRTN) on any components of the MEPs in adult Sprague-Dalwey rats. MEPs were evoked by electrical stimulation of the right sensorimotor cortex through a stainless steel screw with 0.5mm in diameter, and recorded epidurally at T9 - T10 spinal cord levels by using a pair of teflon-coated stainless steel wire electrodes with 1mm exposed tip. In order to inject lidocaine and make a lesion, insulated long dental needle with noninsulated tips were placed stareotoxically in VN and mRTN. Lidocaine of $2{\sim}3\;{\mu}l$ was injected into either VN or mRTN. The normal MEPs were composed of typical four reproducible waves; P1, P2, P3, P4. The first wave (P1) was shown at a mean latency of 1.2 ms, corresponding to a conduction velocity of 67.5 m/sec. The latencies of MEPs were shortened and the amplitudes were increased as stimulus intensity was increased. The amplitudes of P1 and P2 were more decreased among 4 waves of MEPs after lidocaine microinjection into mRTN. Especially, the amplitude of P1 was decreased by 50% after lidocaine microinjection into bilateral mRTN. On the other hand, lidocaine microinjection into VN reduced the amplitudes of P3 and P4 than other MEP waves. However, the latencies of MEPs were not changed by lidocaine microinjection into either VN or mRTN. These results suggest that the vestibular and reticular nuclei contribute to partially different role in generation of MEPs elicited by transcranial electrical stimulation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2009

The striatum receives glutamatergic afferents from the cortex and thalamus, and these synaptic transmissions are mediated by ${\alpha}$-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) and N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The purpose of this study was to characterize glutamate receptors by analyzing NMDA/AMPA ratio and rectification of AMPA and NMDA excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) using a whole-cell voltage-clamp method in the dorsal striatum. Receptor antagonists were used to isolate receptor or subunit specific EPSC, such as (DL)-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV), an NMDA receptor antagonist, ifenprodil, an NR2B antagonist, CNQX, an AMPA receptor antagonist and IEM-1460, a GluR2-lacking AMPA receptor blocker. AMPA and NMDA EPSCs were recorded at - 70 and + 40 mV, respectively. Rectification index was calculated by current ratio of EPSCs between + 50 and - 50 mV. NMDA/AMPA ratio was 0.20${\pm}$0.05, AMPA receptor ratio of GluR2-lacking/GluR2-containing subunit was 0.26${\pm}$0.05 and NMDA receptor ratio of NR2B/NR2A subunit was 0.32${\pm}$0.03. The rectification index (control 2.39${\pm}$0.27) was decreased in the presence of both APV and combination of APV and IEM-1460 (1.02${\pm}$0.11 and 0.93${\pm}$0.09, respectively). These results suggest that the major components of the striatal glutamate receptors are GluR2-containing AMPA receptors and NR2A-containing NMDA receptors. Our results may provide useful information for corticostriatal synaptic transmission and plasticity studies.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-140
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• 2019

The objective of present study is to evaluate concentration-dependent in vitro anti-osteoarthritic (OA) effects of synergic mixed formula consisted of dried pomegranate juice concentrate powder, Eucommiae Cortex aqueous extract and Achyranthis Radix aqueous extract 5:4:1 (g/g) mixture on the primary cultured rat articular chondrocytes. First, any cytotoxic effect of mixture was observed using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium Bromide) assay. Next, cyto-protective effect of test substances was evaluated by using the recombinant human interleukin $(rhIL)-1{\alpha}$ induced chondrocytes. In addition, anti-inflammatory effects were also observed on the lipopolysaccaride (LPS) treated chondrocytes through prostaglandin $E_2(PGE_2)$ productions and 5-lipoxygenase (LPO) activities, and inhibitory effects on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 activities were observed on $rhIL-1{\alpha}$ treated chondrocytes with their extracellular matrix (ECM) related mRNA expressions. No obvious cytotoxic effects of mixture were demonstrated. Inflammatory damages of chondrocytes and related ECM degradations induced by treatment of LPS or $rhIL-1{\alpha}$ were significantly and concentration-dependently inhibited by pretreatment of mixture from a concentration level of 0.001 mg/ml to 1 mg/ml. In addition, mixture showed $IC_{50}$ for $rhIL-1{\alpha}-induced$ MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities as 44.01 and $162.47{\mu}g/ml$, and also showed $EC_{50}$ for $rhIL-1{\alpha}-induced$ inhibition of collagen type II, SOX9 and aggrecan mRNA expression as 8.61, 10.79 and $4.47{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. It is observed that mixture showed concentration-dependent anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective ECM preserved effects on the primary cultured rat articular chondrocytes without cytotoxicity.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.4 s.44
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• pp.565-573
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• 1993

Noise is not only affecting the ear and the auditory cortex locally, but its influence is widely spread throughout the brain structures, e. g., the reticular formation, the brain stem nuclei or the subcortical forebrain area. Hence, any of the organism's activities can be hindered or stimulated by noise. High noise is a stressor and the catecholamine level can be used both as a stress marker and as an indicator of modified sympathetic nervous system activity. Several recent studies have found that the urinary excretion of catecholamines is increased due to high noise intensity, especially unexpectedly high and long lasting noise. The present study was conducted in order to examine the effects of noise stress on urinary excretion of ctecholamines in rats and humans. Rats were exposed to 90 dB noise for 10, 30, and 60 minutes, 3 and 12 hours. 24 hour . urinary samples were collected and the catecholamones were extracted by alumina and analyzed by HPLC-ECD. Catecholamine levels increased with time of exposure up to 60 minutes : norepinephrine concentration at 60 min of noise=1.038 ng/ml, epinephrine=0.636 ng/ml. Urine catecholamines of blue collar workers exposed to 90 dB of noise at the work place were collected between 2 and 4 p.m. and compared to that of white collar workers exposed to 70 dB. Mean norepinephrine level of the blue collar workers was 0.89 ng/ml (${\pm}0.25$), epinephrine 0.24ng/m1 (${\pm}0.09$), and that of the white collar workers 0.48 ng/ml (${\pm}0.12$), epinephrine 0.19 ng/ml(${\pm}0.05$). It was concluded that noise acts as a stressor and increases the catecholamine levels in both rats and humans.