• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.374-377
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• 1998

The freeze-dried powder of Lumbricus rubellus earthworm was administered orally to rats and its fibrinolytic and antithrombotic effects were investigated. The fibrinolytic activity of plasma was determined by measuring the plasmin activity of the euglobulin fraction and was increased to two-folds of the control at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day and five times with 1 g/kg/day after 4-day administration. The antithrombotic effect was studied in an arterio-venous shunt model of rats. The thrombus weight decreased significantly from 43.2 mg to 32.4 mg at a dose of 0.5 g/kg/day after 8-day treatment. The level of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation product (FDP) in serum was elevated in a dose-dependent manner during the treatment period. On the 8th day after administration, the FDP value was increased to 7.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$g/ml compared with the control value of 3.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$g/ml. These results support that earthworm powder is valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic conditions.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.137-143
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• 1981

In order to confirm the exact antipyretic component in the earthworm, etherial extract of American earthworm(Red Worm) was fractionated into five fractions by using silica gel column chromatography and thin layer chromatography. The fraction including free fatty acids was found to possess artipyretic response and standard arachidonic acid showed marked antipyretic response on typhoid vaccinated rabbits. Arachidonic acid was identified from the free fatty acid fraction of the earthworm by using gas liquid chromatography. Thus it was considered that the antipyretic activity of the free fatty acid may be due to the presence of arachidonic acid. Lipid-free earthworm powder was extracted with phosphate buffer (pH, 8.0, 0.1M) and all the proteins was salted out by ammonium sulfate. The crude precipitate was dialyzed and the impure proteins were eliminated at pH 5.4 and 4.6. The remaining protein solution was fractionated with various concentrations of acetone. The acetone fractions were identified by using S.D.S. polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and disc gel electrophoresis. The precipitate at 85% acetone concentration and the remaining proteins in the supernatant did not exhibit the antipyretic activity.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 1997

A saline suspension of Lumbricus rubellus earthworm powder (EWP) was administered to rats (1 g/kg/day) orally for 15 days to evaluate an oral effectiveness for thrombotic disorders. Blood was drawn at 2-day interval after the administration. Several parameters for antithrombotic, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activities were measured, including platelet aggregation, clotting time, plasmin activity and the levels of FDP (fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products), D-dimer, and t-PA antigen. It did not affect platelet aggregation induced by ADP and collagen but anticoagulant activity (aPTT and TT) was gradually increased to two-folds for the first 5 days of administration and back to normal. Fibrinolytic activity of euglobulin fraction was highest on the 11 th day after the administration. The level of FDP was elevated to be comparable to the positve control$ (5-10 {\mu}g/ml)$ after 9-day treatment. Oral administration of the EWP could also reduce the formation of venous thrombus induced with viper venom. Complete blood count (CBC) profiles were within normal ranges except for a slight increase in white blood cells after the oral administration for 15 days. These results suggested that the EWP may be valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of thrombotic diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2011

This study was conducted for the purpose of examining stable disposal of foodwaste and possibility of multilateral use of its by-product by mixing earthworm powder and by-product generated from food waste disposal for making feed for sea fish. As a result of the study, content of crude protein (25.93%, 69.72%), crude lipid (16.91%,6.39%) crude ash (15.38%, 5.30%) in by-product of food waste and earthworm powder was higher than that in fish meals manufactured in the country, and it was judged that it is available to make good feed as a source of fatty acid as it contained C18:1n9c, 1n9t and c16:0. As for stability as a raw material for feed, it was shown that the stability was high when using the product as a raw material for feed not exceeding the standard of test items, and though change of content and ingredients to mixing ratio, it was shown that mixed specimen of fertilizer (S6) was higher, showing that it has great utilization in the future. Also, as it has more content of registered ingredients than any other raw materials for feed manufactured in the country, it is possible to be used as a substitute when manufacturing feed for sea fish. Therefore, it is judged that various studies such as economic analysis and technology of possible manufacturing will be needed in the future.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 1987

The earthworm(Annelid) is a herbicine which has traditionally been used in the treatment of infectious fever, jaundice, infection of middle ear, laryngitis, pharyngitis, nephritis, headache, toothache and certain urinary tract infections from the olden times. Before the isolation and purification of biologically active components we analyzed the basic constituents(proteins, amino acids, mineral, etc.) with lyophilized powder of Lamnodrilus gotai Hatai. The results were as follows: Minerals detected and quantitatively analyzed were $Ca^#$, $Mg^#$, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Ge and Se. Amino acids detected were alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, glutamic acid, tyrosine, threonine, arginine, aspartic acid, methionine, lysine, serine, histidine, isoleucine, glycine, proline and etc. The constituents of proteins, fat, fiber, ash and phosphorous were measured. These constituents were compared and discussed with those of other investigations.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.72-86
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of mulching of easily-decomposable organic materials including rice powder and corn starch on rice paddy fields. The treatments were including seven mulching materials each consisted of rice powder [Rice], starch with black color [Starch-B] and transparent [Starch-T] and stone powder [Stone], and conventional vinyl [Conventional], no-mulching without herbicide [Control-O] and no-mulching with herbicide [Control-C]. Rice growth and yield were different among the treatments; the highest yields were observed for [Rice] ($6.51ton\;ha^{-1}$) and [Conventional] ($6.47ton\;ha^{-1}$) followed by [Starch-T] ($6.25ton\;ha^{-1}$) and [Stone] ($6.20ton\;ha^{-1}$) which is comparable to the [Control-C] ($6.15ton\;ha^{-1}$). However, [Starch-B] showed lower rice yield ($4.93ton\;ha^{-1}$) than the [Conventional] or [Control-C]. Mean soil temperature ranged form 23.6 to $24.1^{\circ}C$ with the highest temperature for [Rice] treatment, and cumulative soil temperature was also significantly higher in the [Rice] treatment. Among the soil parameters, electrical conductivity, organic matter content, and phosphorus concentration were also different among the treatments. The amount of earthworm casting was higher for [Rice] treatment ($17.7kg\;m^{-2}$) compared to the others ($5.5{\sim}9.8kg\;m^{-2}$). It was suggested that mulching of rice fields with organic materials containing rice powder is better than others in respected to rice yield and earthworm activity.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.48-54
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• 2008

Forest fires occur the world over, with large-scale fires constantly breaking out. A suppressant a type of forest fire chemical is widely used to respond to fires rapidly and effectively. In general, suppressants used for fires have been divided into dry powder, liquid, foam, and gel type, according to physical form and use. This study has conducted toxicity tests relating to phytotoxicity(Pinus densiflora seed germination rate and mortality of containerized seedling), and soil organism toxicity(earthworm acute toxicity tests), of these suppressants, with the loaded stream suppressant for direct forest fire extinguishing a Loaded Stream and foam concentrates generally being used in Korea. From the results of the tests, the loaded stream and the foam concentrate had an effect on the toxicity levels. In the case of the loaded stream type, it was observed that toxicity indicating a 100% lethality rate was found among all toxicity test methods. Therefore, it is determined that forest ecology environmental toxicity impact assessments related to the suppressant used to extinguish forest fires are necessary in the near future.