• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.575-582
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• 1991

To increase the production of glutathione by the expression of recombinant gsh plasmids, two genes responsible for the biosynthesis of glutathione were isolated and cloned. To clone a gshI gene, the GS903 mutant strain, which is deficient in $\gamma$-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity, has been raised. A gshI gene was cloned using pBR322 plasmid as a 3.6 Kb PstI DNA fragment isolated from E. coli K-12 chromosomal DNA. Also a gshIl gene was cloned using pUC13 plasmid as a 2.2 Kb PstI-BamHI DNA fragment. To study the effects of plasmid copy number and passenger DNA size on the expression levels of the gsh genes, various recombinant plasmids containing different sets of genes were constructed. The expression levels of the gsh genes were increased approximately twice higher in pUC series plasmids than that in pBR322 plasmid. But the sizes of the passenger DNA containing the gsh genes in the vector plasmid did not affect on the expression levels of the gsh genes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1014-1023
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• 1998

The influences of fish oil and different levels of vitamin I supplement on hepatocellular chemical carcinogenesis have been studied. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received diethylnitrosamine (DEN)(200mg/kg body weight) and were subjected to two-thirds partial hepatectomy to induce murine chemical hepatocarcinogenic procedure. Placental glutathione S-transferase(GST-P) positive foci area, antioxidant enzymes(Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase(SOD), catalase, glutathione reductase (GR), total- glutathione peroxidase (TGPx), glutathione S -transferase (GST)), glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activities, and lipid peroxidation of microsomes(thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)) were measured. Experimental animals were fed 15% corn or fish oil with 0, 40, 1,000, 10,000IU vitamin E /kg diet for 8 weeks. Vitamin E supplements decreased the area of GST-P positive foci in both groups. The higher the vitamin E levels, the smaller the area of GST-P positive foci were noticed. Compared to 0 IU vitamin E, 40 IU in corn oil and 1,000 IU in fish oil groups were effective in decreasing G57-P positive foci area. Fish oil groups tended to have smaller area of GST-P positive foci. fish oil groups showed lower body weight, lower activities of Cu/Zn-SOD and TGPx, higher TBARS contents, higher activities of GST, catalase, G6Pase, GR and higher liver/body ratio than corn oil groups. As the level of vitamin I increased, GST-P positive foci count, catalase activities, and TBARS tended to decrease. G6Pase activities tended to increase in both groups. At higher vitamin E levels, GST activities tended to decrease in fish oil groups. These results suggest that vitamin I has suppressive offects on hepatocellular chemical carcinogenesis probably through antioxidant eH:cts decreasing TBARS contents, $H_2O$$_2$, and organic peroxides. fish oil tended to have greated suppressive offects than corn oil on hepatocellular carcinogenesis. (Korean J Nutrition 31(6) : 1014-1023, 1998)

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.375-377
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• 2012

Malaria is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The increase in lipid peroxidation reported in malaria infection and antioxidant status may be a useful marker of oxidative stress during malaria infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of antioxidant enzymes against toxic reactive oxygen species in patients infected with Plasmodium vivax and healthy controls. Malondialdehyde levels, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activities were determined in 91 P. vivax patients and compared with 52 controls. Malondialdehyde levels, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activities were $8.07{\pm}2.29$ nM/ml, $2.69{\pm}0.33$ U/ml, and $49.6{\pm}3.2$ U/g Hb in the patient group and $2.72{\pm}0.50$ nM/ml, $3.71{\pm}0.47$ U/ml, and $62.3{\pm}4.3$ U/g Hb in the control group, respectively. Malondialdehyde levels were found statistically significant in patients with vivax malaria higher than in healthy controls (P<0.001). On the other hand, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities were found to be significantly lower in vivax malaria patients than in controls (P<0.05). There was an increase in oxidative stress in vivax malaria. The results suggested that antioxidant defense mechanisms may play an important role in the pathogenesis of P. vivax.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.13 no.3_4
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• pp.55-61
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• 1998

Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) detoxify electrophilic xenobiotics and reactive metabolites. Recently benzene-fused heterocycles have been shown to increase the total amount of hepatic GSTs in rats. Primarily this study aimed to determine the induction of GSTs by benzoazoles (BAs) including benzoxazole (BX), 2-methylbenzoxazole (M-BX), 2,5-dimethyl benzoxazole (D-BX), benzothiazole (BT), aminobenzothiazole (A-BT) and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (M-BT) in rats. Hepatic cytosol and poly(A)$^+$ mRNA were prepared from rats after oral administration of BX, BT, M-BX, D-BX, A-BT and M-BT for 5 consecutive days at doses of 1 mmol/kg. Western immunoblot and northern blot analysis were conducted with rabbit anti-GST Ya, Yb$_1$, Yb$_2$, Yc antibodies and cDNA probes containing = 500 bps in the specific coding regions of Ya, Yb$_1$, Yb$_2$, Yc$_1$, and Yc$_2$, respectively. All BAs increased the amount of enzymes and mRNA levels of GSTs. BT was the most effective inducer of GSTs among the compounds examined in this study. Although A-BT and M-BT, the derivatives of BT, induced GSTs, these chemicals had lesser effect on induction of GSTs than BT. The derivatives of BX also induced less GSTs than the parent compound and the addition of methyl group to the benzene ring of BX reduced the induction of GSTs. BAs had better inductive effects on the class $\alpha$(Ya, Yc) than class $\mu$ GSTs (Yb$_1$, Yb$_2$). BAs enhanced mRNA levels of GSTs in parallel with the protein levels. These results indicate that 1) most of BAs induced various isozymes of GSTs, 2) the induction of GSTs appears to be correlated with the chemical structure of the derivatives, and 3) the expression of GST by BAs is presumably under the transcriptional regulation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.223-231
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• 1996

To investigate antioxidant status and platelet antioxidative enzyme activity in patients with ischemic heart disease, 36 male patients admitted to Kyungpook National University Hospital from June to December 1994 were compared to 36 healthy male control subjects. The percentages of heavy smoking and nonexercise were significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control, but the drinking status was not significantly different between groups. Food habit and food frequency scores were significantly lower in patients than in control subjects. Plasma retinol levels tended to be lower in the patient group, and plasma $\alpha$-tocopherol and $\beta$-carotene levels were not different between groups. There was no difference in the level of plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS) and in the activities of platelet glutathione peroxidase and catalase. Our results indicate that oxidative stress, which is reflected by the plasma levels of antioxidants and TBARS, did not increase in the patients with ischemic heart disease, and the long-term effects due to smoking, poor food habit and other life styles could possibly contribute to the onset of the disease.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 1998

The fractions of Uncariae Ramulus et Uncus seemed to be closely related with the levels of amino acids and other components which concerns with formation and metabolism of neurotransmitters in brain. The pretreatments of methanolic extract and its fractions prohibited the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced convulsion. In such cases, lowered levels of ${\gamma}-aminobutyric$ acid and glutathione in brain were significantly recovered. And also the increased levels or activities of lipid peroxide, ${\gamma}-aminobutyric$ acid aminotransferase, xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase by PTZ-convulsion were lowered to normal state.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.495-500
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• 2000

We investigated whether S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) treatment improved ischemic injury using perfused rat liver after sequential periods of 24 h cold and 20 min re-warming ischemia. SAM (100 $\mu\textrm{mol/L}$) was added to University of Wisconsin (UW) solution and Ringers lactate solution. After cold and sequential warm ischemia, releases of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) markedly increased during repefusion. The increase in PNP was significantly reduced by SAM treatment. While the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) in ischemic livers significantly decreased, the concentration of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) increased. This decrease in GSH and increase in GSSG were suppressed by SAM treatment. Lipid peroxidation was elevated in cold and warm ischemic and reperfused livers, but this elevation was also prevented by SAM treatment. Hepatic ATP levels were decreased in the ischemic and reperfused livers to 42% of the control levels. However, treatment with SAM resulted in significantly higher ATP levels and preserved the concentration of AMP in ischemic livers. Our findings suggest that SAM prevents oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation and helps preserve hepatic energy metabolism.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 1998

Pretreatment of acidic polysaccharide of Korean red ginseng (AcPS) for two weeks remarkably lowered the elevated content of lipid peroxide and levels of aminotransferases, sorbitol dehydrogenase, ${\gamma}$-glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase in liver intoxicated by acetaminophen (AA) . Pretreatments of AcPS also strengthen the liver function of glutathione related detoxication system indicated by glutathione contents and activities of glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reeducates which were affected by AA treatments. Activity of ${\gamma}$-glutamylcysteine syntheses was not changed by AcPS pretreatment whereas the activity of flu tathione reeducates was increased significantly. These results collectively indicate that the treatments of AcPS can promote the metabolism of lipid and reduce the production of peroxide in acetaminophen-intoxicated animals.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.232-239
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• 2005

An aqueous extract of oriental herbal composition named Onchengyeum and curcumin, an antioxidant isolated from turmeric (Curcuma Zonga L.) reduced hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride ($CCI_4$). Improved liver function was observed by measuring the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), total cholesterol (T-CHO), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CHO), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-CHO), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB) and total bilirubin (BIL) in serum. Hepatic parameters monitored were levels of cholesterol (CHO), triglyceride (TG), and malondialdehyde (MDA) and activities of cytochrome P450 (CYP), NADPH-CYP reductase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). The histopathological examination showed that the treatment of Onchengyeum and curcumin relieved the ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes which had been generated by $CCI_4$. The results suggested that hepatoprotective effects of Onchengyeum and curcumin possibly are due to their promising antioxidative activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1071-1076
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• 2001

Chemopreventive activities of polysaccharides from soybeans fermented with either Phellinus igniarius or Agrocybe cylindracea were investigated by measuring the induction of quinone reductase (QR), glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities, and glutathione (GSH) levels in the cell culture along with inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis. The polysaccharides from soybeans fermented with P. igniarius strongly (p<0.005) induced QR activity at all concentrations tested. The extract not only induced GST activity in a dose-dependent manner in the concentration range of 0.1-1.0 mg, but significantly induced GSH revels in cultured Hepa 1c1c7 cells with a maximal 1.4-fold increase at 0.1 mg. The polysaccharides from soybeans fermented with A. cylindracea were effective in inhibiting polyamine metabolism. These results suggest that polysaccharides from soybeans fermented with P. igniarius or A. cylindracea have cancer chemopreventive activities in in vitro models and, therefore, could be considered as potential agents for cancer chemoprevention.