• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.343-351
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• 2019

Background: Preterm labor and miscarriage may occur in stressful situations, such as a surgical operation or infection during pregnancy. Pharyngeal and buccal abscess and facial bone fractures are inevitable dental surgeries in pregnant patients. Remifentanil is an opioid analgesic that is commonly used for general anesthesia and sedation. Nonetheless, no study has investigated the effects of remifentanil on amniotic epithelial cells. This study evaluated the effects of remifentanil on the factors related to uterine contraction and its mechanism of action on amniotic epithelial cells. Methods: Amniotic epithelial cells were preconditioned at various concentrations of remifentanil for 1 h, followed by 24-h lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. MTT assays were performed to assess the cell viability in each group. The effects of remifentanil on factors related to uterine contractions in amniotic epithelial cells were assessed using a nitric oxide (NO) assay, western blot examinations of the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂), and RT-PCR examinations of the expression of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Results: Remifentanil did not affect viability and nitric oxide production of amniotic epithelial cells. Western blot analysis revealed that remifentanil preconditioning resulted in decreased expressions of NF-κB and PGE2 in the cells in LPS-induced inflammation, and a tendency of decreased COX2 expression. The results were statistically significant only at high concentration. RT-PCR revealed reduced expressions of IL-1β and TNF-α. Conclusions: Preconditioning with remifentanil does not affect the viability of amniotic epithelial cells but reduces the expression of factors related to uterine contractions in situations where cell inflammation is induced by LPS, which is an important inducer of preterm labor. These findings provide evidence that remifentanil may inhibit preterm labor in clinical settings.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.712-720
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of rat corneal-derived epithelial cells as an in vitro model to evaluate the harmfulness of the cornea caused by particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5). To establish an experimental model for the effect of PM_2.5 on corneal epithelial cells, it was confirmed that primary cultured cells isolated from rat eyes were corneal epithelial cells through pan-cytokeratin staining. Our results showed that PM_2.5 treatment reduced cell viability of primary rat corneal epithelial (RCE) cells, which was associated with the induction of apoptosis. PM_2.5 treatment also increased the generation of reactive oxygen species due to mitochondrial dysfunction. In addition, the production of nitric oxide and inflammatory cytokines was increased in PM_2.5-treated RCE cells. Furthermore, through heatmap analysis showing various expression profiling between PM_2.5-exposed and unexposed RCE cells, we proposed five genes, including BLNK, IL-1RA, Itga2b, ABCb1a and Ptgs2, as potential targets for clinical treatment of PM-related ocular diseases. These findings indicate that the primary RCE cell line is a useful in vitro model system for the study of PM_2.5-mediated pathological mechanisms and that PM2.5-induced oxidative and inflammatory responses are key factors in PM2.5-induced ocular surface disorders.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.337-344
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• 2018

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major type of hepatoma, is associated with high recurrence and mortality because of its uncontrolled metastatic feature. Silymarin is a polyphenolic flavonoid from Silybum marianun (milk thistle) and exhibits anti-carcinogenic activity through modulation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in several cancer cells. In this study, the inhibitory mechanism of silymarin against migration and invasion was investigated in the Huh7 HCC cell line. Wound healing and in vitro invasion assays were conducted to examine the effects of silymarin on migration and invasion. Western blot analysis was also applied to evaluate the inhibitory effects of silymarin on the EMT-related genes and their upstream signaling molecules. Silymarin inhibited the migratory and invasive activities of Huh7 cells. In addition, silymarin attenuated the protein expression levels of vimentin and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 as well as their transcription factors, Snail, and nuclear factor $(NF)-{\kappa}B$, while the expression of E-cadherin was increased by the silymarin treatment. Among the upstream signaling molecules, the phosphorylation of Akt was inhibited by the silymarin treatment, which was confirmed by the selective inhibitor, LY294002. Consequently, silymarin inhibited the invasive and migratory activities in Huh7 cells through the modulation of EMT-related gene expression by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which may have potential as a chemopreventive agent against HCC metastasis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1517-1522
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• 2002

The effect of post milking teat dipping on somatic cell count (SCC) of milk was determined in 20 Crossbred cows and 20 Murrah buffaloes selected from institute's herd. The animals were divided into two groups of 10 each. Animals of Group I (control) were teat washed with water before the milking while Group II animals were applied teat dipping solution after the completion of milking. The cows were milked 3 times a day while buffaloes were milked twice a day. The milk samples were collected from control and treated animals on day 0, 5, 10, 15, respectively. The milk samples were analyzed for milk constituents like fat, protein, lactose, chloride, IgG, NEFA, pH and EC and total and differential somatic cell counts. The changes in milk composition and somatic cell counts were significantly different (p<0.01) between the animals and between the breeds. However SCC, chloride content (p<0.05) and epithelial cells (p<0.01) varied during different days of study. The alterations in SCC, epithelial cells, TLC, lymphocyte, neutrophil, IgG, and protein content were significantly different (p<0.01) between control and treated groups. The pH, EC, protein, SCC, epithelial cells, lymphocyte and neutrophil cells of milk declined significantly (p<0.05) after the application of teat dipping, the respective values were 6.5 vs 6.40, 2.28 vs 2.37 mhos, 3.33 vs 4.04%, 1.00 vs $0.87{\times}10^5cells/ml$, 0.39 vs 0$0.34{\times}10^5cells/ml$, 0.36 vs $0.31{\times}1,000cells/ml$ and 0.17 vs $0.14{\times}1,000cells/ml$ in cows. However in buffaloes, epithelial cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, EC and SCC declined (p<0.05) after application of teat dipping, the values being 0.37 vs $0.29{\times}10^5cells/ml$, 0.37 vs $0.25{\times}1,000cells/ml$, 0.14 vs $0.11{\times}1,000cells/ml$, 2.56 vs 2.37 mhos and 0.94 vs $0.73{\times}10^5cells/ml$, respectively. The study indicated that post milking teat dipping could be used as an effective method for the lowering of SCC in milk of crossbred cows and buffaloes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.461-469
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBSECTIVE: Airway inflammation by eosinophils, neutrophils and alveolar macrophages is a characteristic feature of asthma that leads to pathological subepithelial thickening and remodeling. Our previous study showed that oxidative stress in airways resulted in eosinophilia and epithelial apoptosis. The current study investigated whether glutathione-containing dry yeast extract (dry-YE) ameliorated eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction. MATERIALS/METHOD: This study employed $2{\mu}g$/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or 20 ng/mL eotaxin-1-exposed human bronchial epithelial cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice. Dry-YE employed in this study contained a significant amount of glutathione (140 mg in 100 g dry yeast). RESULTS: Human bronchial epithelial cell eotaxin-1 and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) were markedly induced by the endotoxin LPS, which was dose-dependently attenuated by nontoxic dry-YE at 10-50 ${\mu}g$/mL. Moreover, dry-YE inhibited the MUC5AC induction enhanced by eotaxin-1, indicating that eotaxin-1-mediated eosinophilia may prompt the MUC5AC induction. Oral supplementation with 10-100 mg/kg dry-YE inhibited inflammatory cell accumulation in airway subepithelial regions with a reduction of lung tissue level of intracellular adhesion molecule-1. In addition, ${\geq}50$ mg/kg dry-YE diminished the lung tissue levels of eotaxin-1, eosinophil major basic protein and MUC5AC in OVA-exposed mice. Alcian blue/periodic acid schiff staining revealed that the dry-YE supplementation inhibited goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction in the trachea and bronchiolar airways of OVA-challenged mice. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative stress may be involved in the induction of eotaxin-1 and MUC5AC by endotoxin episode and OVA challenge. Dry-YE effectively ameliorated oxidative stress-responsive epithelial eosinophilia and mucus-secreting goblet cell hyperplasia in cellular and murine models of asthma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.187-197
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• 2004

Background : Nitric Oxide (NO) is a multi-faceted molecule with dichotomous regulatory roles in many areas of biology. NO can promote apoptosis in some cells, whereas it inhibits apoptosis in other cell types. This study was performed to characterize NO-induced cell death in lung epithelial cells and to investigate the roles of cell death regulators including iron, bcl-2 and p53. Methods : A549 cells were used for lung epithelial cells. SNP (sodium nitroprusside) and SNAP (S-nitroso-N-acetyl- penicillamine) were used for NO donor. Cytoxicity assay was done by MTT assay and crystal violet assay. Apoptotic assay was done by fluorescent microscopy after double staining with propidium iodide and hoecst 33342. Iron inhibition study was done with RBCs and FeSO4. For bcl-2 study, bcl-2 overexpressing cells (A549-bcl-2) were used and for p53 study, Western blot analysis and p53 functionally knock-out cells (A549-E6) were used. Results : SNP and SNAP induced dose-dependent cell death in A549 cells and fluorescent microscopy revealed that SNAP induced apoptosis in low doses but necrosis in high doses while SNP induced exclusively necrotic cell death. Iron inhibition study using RBCs and FeSO4 significantly blocked SNAP-induced cell death. And also SNAP-induced cell death was blocked by bcl-2 overexpression. Finally, we found that SNAP activate p53 by Western blot analysis and that SNAP-induced cell death was decreased in the abscence of p53. Conclusion : In lung epithelial cells, NO can induce cell death, more precisely apoptosis in low doses and necrosis in high doses. And iron, bcl-2, and p53 play important roles in NO-induced cell death.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.684-692
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• 2001

To find out the effect of oxytocin on somatic cell count and milk production, 12 primiparous and multiparous Murrah buffaloes were selected, immediately after the parturition, from the Institute's buffalo herd. These were divided into two groups of 6 each. Buffaloes of group I did not receive oxytocin injection (control); whereas, buffaloes of group II were administered oxytocin during early lactation (av. 42.50 days). The oxytocin injection was given in doses of 2.5 IU i.m. before the start of milking, to let down the milk, for a period of 5 days. Samples of milk from individual buffaloes were collected for 5 days before (Period I), during (Period II) and after (Period III) from both the group of buffaloes. Milk samples of A. M. and P. M. milking were composited in proposition to milk yields for analysis of milk constituents. Normal values of somatic cell counts in group I of buffaloes varied from 0.54 to $0.75{\times}10^{5}cells/ml$. Mean cytoplasmic particles and epithelial cells varied from 3.68 to $7.19{\times}10^{5}cells/ml$ and 0.13 to $0.54{\times}10^{5}cells/ml$. On percentage basis the epithelial and the total leucocyte count were 60 and 40. Total leucocyte count, in the study varied from 0.17 to $0.69{\times}10^{5}cells/ml$. The differential cell count of milk indicated presence of lymphocytes (16.50 to $61.16{\times}1000$), neutrophil (0.00 to $2.00{\times}1000$) and monocyte (0.00 to $18.16{\times}1000$). Somatic cell count (p<0.01) and epithelial cells (p<0.05) varied between buffaloes and between periods of study. Total leucocyte counts of milk were also significantly varied between periods (p<0.05). The change in fat, lactose, chloride, EC and NEFA concentrations during different periods of study, were highly significant, indicated diurnal variations in different buffaloes during different days of experiment. Administration of oxytocin resulted in increase in somatic cell counts of milk (p<0.01) due to the increases in total leucocyte count (p<0.01) during the treatment period. The differential cell count indicated that oxytocin administration increased lymphocyte number significantly (p<0.01). However, secretion of neutrophil, monocyte and cytoplasmic particles were not affected by oxytocin. Eosinophil and basophil cell, though present in few samples, remain unaffected by oxytocin administration. There was no effect of oxytocin on milk production, composition, pH, EC and NEFA concentration.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.188-193
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• 2018

The aim of the current study was to demonstrate the potential therapeutic efficacy of resveratrol in oral cancer patients. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) intensifies cancer cell invasion and metastasis, whereas resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound, possesses antitumor activity, suppressing cell proliferation and progression in various cancer cell lines (ovarian, gastric, oral, pancreatic, colon, and prostate cancer cells). In addition, resveratrol has been identified as an inhibitor of LPA-induced proteolytic enzyme expression and ovarian cancer invasion. Furthermore, resveratrol was shown to inhibit oral cancer cell invasion by downregulating hypoxia-inducible factor $1{\alpha}$ and vascular endothelial growth factor expression. Recently, we demonstrated that LPA is important for the expression of transcription factors TWIST and SLUG during epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in oral squamous carcinoma cells. In this study, we treated serum-starved cultures of oral squamous carcinoma cell line YD-10B with resveratrol for 24 hours prior to stimulation with LPA. To identify an optimal resveratrol concentration that does not induce apoptosis in oral squamous carcinoma cells, we determined the toxicity of resveratrol in YD-10B cells by assessing their viability using the MTT assay. Another assay was performed using Matrigel-coated cell culture inserts to detect oral cancer cell invasion activity. Immunoblotting was applied for analyzing protein expression of SLUG, TWIST1, E-cadherin, and GAPDH. We demonstrated that resveratrol efficiently inhibited LPA-induced oral cancer cell EMT and invasion by downregulating SLUG and TWIST1 expression. Therefore, resveratrol may potentially reduce oral squamous carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis in oral cancer patients, improving their survival outcomes. In summary, we identified new targets for the development of therapies against oral cancer progression and characterized the therapeutic potential of resveratrol for the treatment of oral cancer patients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.441-445
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• 1993

Ten bacteriocin-producing Enterococcus faecium strains with urease activity ($1.10-6.2nkat.mL^{-1}$) were isolated from the rumen of 2-8 weeks old calves. All strains were resistant aginst disodium arsenate at a minimal inhibition concentration - MIC $5g.L^{-1}$ and mercury chloride ($MIC=10-20mg.L^{-1}$). Eight strains were resistant against silver nitrate ($MIC=40-50mg.L^{-1}$) and three against antibiotics used. The resistance against six antibiotics was found in A23 strain. Values of adherence index ranged from 5.02 to 20.4 enterococci adhered per one epithelial cell of rumen wall. All isolates produced bacteriocins which inhibited the growth at least of one of five indicator organisms. The EF1 strain with a good affinity to the epithelial cell ($15.2{\pm}1.2$) produced bacteriocin substance with antimicrobial activity against grampositive and gramnegative indicator bacteria.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.238-245
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• 2007

Chronic formaldehyde inhalation studies have suggested its relativity to teratogenicity, cancer incidence, neurodegenerative and vascular disorders. Many toxicological data on the formaldehyde toxicity are available, but proteomic results showing complete protein profiles are limited. Therefore, alterations of protein expression patterns upon formaldehyde treatment were investigated in the human lung epithelial cell line. Differentially expressed proteins following formaldehyde treatment were analyzed on 2-dimensional gels, and further analyzed by MALDI-TOF to identify the proteins. Among the identified proteins, 24 proteins were notably up-regulated and 6 proteins were down-regulated. In particular, cytoskeleton related protein named vinculin and Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor which plays a key role in apoptosis increased remarkably.