• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2020

Objective: The present study investigated sperm chromatin quality and testosterone levels in acrylamide-treated mice and the possible protective effects of vitamin E on the fertility potential of spermatozoa. Methods: Thirty-two adult male mice were divided equally into four groups. Group 1 was the control, group 2 received acrylamide (10 mg/kg, water solution), group 3 received vitamin E (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), and group 4 received both acrylamide and vitamin E. After 35 days, spermatozoa from the right cauda epididymis were analyzed in terms of count, motility, morphology, and viability. Sperm DNA integrity and chromatin condensation were assessed by acridine orange (AO), aniline blue (AB), toluidine blue (TB), and chromomycin A3 (CMA3) staining. Results: In acrylamide-treated mice, significantly lower sperm concentration, viability, motility, and testosterone levels were found in comparison with the control and acrylamide+vitamin E groups (p< 0.05). In the vitamin E group, significantly more favorable sperm parameters and testosterone levels were found than in the other groups (p< 0.05). There were also significantly more spermatozoa with less condensed chromatin in the acrylamide-treated mice than in the other groups. Moreover, significantly more spermatozoa with mature nuclei (assessed by AB, CMA3, AO, and TB staining) were present in the vitamin E group than in the control and acrylamide+vitamin E groups. Conclusion: This study revealed the deleterious effects of acrylamide on sperm parameters and sperm chromatin quality. Vitamin E can not only compensate for the toxic effects of acrylamide, but also improve sperm chromatin quality in mice.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.727-739
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• 2022

Mycotoxin contamination in pig feeds has a negative impact on growth performance, the immune system, and major body organs. Arginine (Arg) plays an important role in animals' body biochemistry and physiology. This study aimed to determine the effect of dietary Arg supplementation on mitigating the negative effects of mycotoxins in growing pigs. A total of 72 growing pigs (Landrace × Large white) with initial mean body weight (BW) = 55 ± 2.5 kg were allotted to four treatment groups with three replicates per group of six pigs per replicate in a completely randomized design. The treatments included a non-toxin diet with 1.2% Arg (NT1.2) and mycotoxin-challenged treatments supplemented with 1.2% Arg (TX1.2), 1.3% Arg (TX1.3), and 1.4% Arg (TX1.4). Statistical analysis of data included the effects of dietary level of Arg. The results indicated a significantly higher BW (p < 0.05), average daily gain (p < 0.05), and gain-to-feed ratio (p < 0.05) in the NT1.2 group than in the TX1.2, TX1.3, and TX1.4 groups. The relative weight of the liver was higher (p < 0.05) in the TX1.2 compared to that of the NT1.2 group, although it was not different from that of TX1.3 and TX1.4. The level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was significantly up-regulated (p < 0.05) in the liver tissue of the TX1.2 group compared to that of the other treatments. Overall, dietary Arg supplementation remedied liver injury and alleviated the compromised immune system caused by mycotoxin toxicity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2367-2370
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• 2013

Background: In recent years, due to modern lifestyles and exposure to chemical carcinogens, cancer cases are steadily increasing. From this standpoint, azoxymethane (AOM), a chemical carcinogen which causes de novo liver damage, and resveratrol, which is an antioxidant found in foods and protects against oxidative stress damage, are of interest. We here aimed to evaluate whether resveratrol could protect the liver tissues from the effects of AOM. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 4 groups, each consisting of seven rats, the first receiving only AOM (2 times per week, 5 mg/kg), group 2 AOM and resveratrol (2 times a week, 20 mg/kg), group 3 assessed only as a control and group 4 administered only resveratrol. At the end of the seventh week, the rats were sacrificed. Rat liver MDA, NO, GSH levels were analyzed biochemically, as well as the tissues being evaluated histopathologically. Results: MDA and NO increased in AOM group as signs of increased oxidative stress. The group concomitantly administered resveratrol was been found to be significantly decreased in MDA and NO levels and increased in GSH activity. However, there were no significant findings on histopathological evaluation. Conclusions: In the light of these results, resveratrol appears to exert protective effect on oxidative s tress in the liver tissue due to deleterious effects of chemical carcinogens.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.62-67
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• 2001

In order to investigate the harmful effects of Fusarium, producing mycotoxins, contaminated cereals, two months feeding study was carried out in SPF-ICR mice. Mice diets were incorporated with 30% Fusarium infected wheat, nepal barley or barley. The wheat was processed to flour. The nepal barley and barley were polished by 68% and 58%, respectively. The cereal incorporating amount in mice diet were 0, 10, 30 and 50% for each processed cereal. Five week-old mice were fed with the prepared diet for 2 months. The effects of Fusarium contaminated cereals on the mice were observed after the feeding. The rates of body weight gain, diet and water consumption were not changed. There were no significant changes on hematology, blood biochemistry, gross and histopathological evaluation, organ weights in all treatment groups. These results suggest that the diets have no deleterious effects to ICR mice.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1305-1309
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• 2005

Experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy of modified montmorillonite nanocomposite (MMN) to reduce the toxic effects of aflatoxin (AF) in growing/finishing pigs. 96 weaned pigs were assigned to four dietary treatment groups (0 g of MMN and 0 mg of AF/kg feed, 3 g of MMN/kg feed, 0.1 mg of AF/kg feed, and 3 g of MMN plus 0.1 mg of AF/kg feed). Body weight gain (BW gain), feed/gain ratio, serum biochemical values and enzyme activities were evaluated. Compared with the control, AF alone markedly reduced BW gain and resulted in a significantly higher feed/gain ratio. There were no differences in BW gain and feed/gain ratio between 0.3% MMN or 0.3% MMN plus AF and the control. These results suggested that the deleterious effects of AF were ameliorated by MMN addition. AF intake markedly increased relative organ weights of liver, kidney, spleen and pancreas, and resulted in significant alterations of serum parameters. However, these parameters for pigs fed diets containing MMN and AF returned to normal values, indicating that MMN had the ability to recover the AF-decreased performance, organ damage and to correct aberrations in serum parameters. These findings in our study suggested that MMN can effectively modulate the toxicity of AF in growing/finishing pigs and may offer a novel approach to the preventive management of aflatoxicosis in animals.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2013

Palmitic acid (PAM), one of the most common saturated fatty acid (SFA) in animals and plants, has been shown to induce apoptosis in exocrine pancreatic AR42J cells. In this study, we investigated cellular mechanisms underlying protective effects of oleic acid (OLA) against the lipotoxic actions of PAM in AR42J cells. Exposure of cells to long-chain SFA induced apoptotic cell death determined by MTT cell viability assay and Hoechst staining. Co-treatment of OLA with PAM markedly protected cells against PAM-induced apoptosis. OLA significantly attenuated the PAM-induced increase in the levels of pro-apoptotic Bak protein, cleaved forms of apoptotic proteins (caspase-3, PARP). On the contrary, OLA restored the decreased levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Mcl-1) in PAM-treated cells. OLA also induced up-regulation of the mRNA expression of Dgat2 and Cpt1 genes which are involved in triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis and mitochondrial ${\beta}$-oxidation, respectively. Intracellular TAG accumulation was increased by OLA supplementation in accordance with enhanced expression of Dgat2 gene. These results indicate that restoration of anti-apoptotic/pro-apop-totic protein balance from apoptosis toward cell survival is involved in the cytoprotective effects of OLA against PAM-induced apoptosis in pancreatic AR42J cells. In addition, OLA-induced increase in TAG accumulation and up-regulation of Dgat2 and Cpt1 gene expressions may be possibly associated in part with the ability of OLA to protect cells from deleterious actions of PAM.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.168-179
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• 2020

Objective: This study investigated testicular oxidative stress status and physiomorphological function in Wistar rats fed with yaji and cadmium chloride (CdCl₂). Methods: Sixty male albino Wistar rats (12 per group) were randomly assigned to five groups: group I (control), group II (300 mg/kg.bw of yaji), group III (500 mg/kg.bw of yaji), group IV (2.5 mg/kg.bw of CdCl₂), and group V (2.5 mg/kg.bw of yaji+4 mg/kg.bw omega-3). Each group was evenly subdivided into two subgroups and treatment was administered for 14 days and 42 days, respectively. Semen quality (sperm count, progressive motility, normal morphology, and gonadosomatic index), hormones (testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone), testicular oxidative stress markers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and malonaldehyde) and testicular histomorphological features were examined. Results: Yaji caused significant (p< 0.05) dose- and duration-dependent reductions in semen quality, the gonadosomatic index, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Yaji also caused significant (p< 0.05) dose- and duration-dependent decreases in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activity, as well as increased testicular malonaldehyde levels. Yaji induced distortions in the testicular histological architecture. CdCl₂ damaged testicular function by significantly (p< 0.05) reducing semen quality, reproductive hormone levels, and oxidative stress markers in albino Wistar rats. CdCl₂ also altered the histology of the testis. Conclusion: This study shows that yaji sauce has similar anti-fertility effects to those of CdCl₂, as it adversely interferes with male reproduction by impairing oxidative stress markers and the function and morphological features of the testis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.387-396
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• 2012

A study was conducted to determine the dietary effects of Na-bentonite (NaB) and probiotics on meat characteristics and health of Hanwoo steers fed rice straw as a sole roughage source. A total of 24 growing Hanwoo steers (avg BW 232 kg) were assigned to two treatments which included a control diet (concentrate mix and rice straw) and a treatment diet (control diet + 0.5-1.0% NaB + 0.5-1.0% probiotics. The diets were fed for 22 months up to the time the animals were slaughtered. Dietary treatment increased (p<0.05) concentrations of trace minerals such as Zn, Cu, and Fe in the longissimus muscle compared to the control. The treatment diet did not affect cold carcass weight, yield traits such as backfat thickness, longissimus muscle area, yield index, yield grade and quality traits such as marbling score, meat color, fat color, texture, maturity and quality grade. Blood profiles of growing steers were within the normal ranges for healthy cattle. In conclusion, feeding a combination of clay mineral and probiotics to Hanwoo steers fed rice straw as a sole roughage source could have a desirable effect on improving trace mineral retention in longissimus muscle without any deleterious effects on carcass traits of steers.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.315-321
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• 1999

Vitamin D is one of important factors involved in the regulation of bone metabolism. In osteoporosis, the therapeutic effect of vitamin D on the healing process of fracture has still been controversial. These studies were designed to understand the healing process of normal fibular fracture and the therapeutic effects of $1\alpha$, 25 dihydroxycholecalciferol on the osteoporotic fracture in rats. The simple transverse fractures of rat fibulae were produced with a rotating diamond saw. The histological and ultrastructural changes of rats were observed. The histological and ultrastructural studies revealed the healing of the fibular fracture in the 5th week after simple transverse fracture. The osteoporosis impaired more the healing of osteoporotic fibular fracture than normal non-osteoporotic fibular fracture. The healing process of osteoporotic fracture was facilitated by the treatment with $1\alpha$, 25 dihydroxycholecalciferol, however, was delayed more than the healing process of normal fracture. These results suggest that $1\alpha$, 25 dihydroxycholecalciferol was effective for reducing the deleterious effects of osteoporosis in fracture healing.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.918-923
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• 2003

Replacement of wheat flour by 10, 20 30% waxy and normal (non-waxy) hull-less barley flour was tested for the effects on bread-making properties. The addition of waxy hull-less barley flour resulted in lower amylograph pasting temperature, peak, and set back viscosities and in higher water absorption, compared with normal hull-less barley flour. Increasing proportions of hull-less barley flour significantly decreased the loaf volume and had deleterious effects on subjective bread scoring. Replacement of 10% of wheat flour by both waxy and normal hull-less barley flour did not significantly affect bread characteristics. However, significant differences in bread quality were observed between the control bread and bread containing more than 20% barley flour, with the normal barley flour showing slightly better scores in organoleptical preference. Textural measurements of crumb firmness showed that the bread containing 20% waxy hull-less barley flour hardened slower during 5-day storage at $25^{\circ}C$ than bread containing normal hull-lee barley flour.