• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.976-985
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• 1995

Changes in free amino acid concentrations is blood and various tissues were evaluated in cats adapted to the low-protein diet(20% protein, LPD) or the high-protein diet(60% protein, HPD) for 5 weeks. Cumulative body weigth gain for the 5 week period was 463$\pm$43g, and -128$\pm$40g for cats fed HPD and LPD, respectively. Feeding HPD significantly increased the size of liver and kidney. Cats adapted to HPD for 5 weeks have significantly elevated plasma concrntrations of essential amino acids (branched-chain amino acides, threonine, trytophan, phenylalanine and methoionine), whereas plasma levels of non-essential amino acids(alanine, asparagine, glycine, glutamine and serine) were significantly reduced in animals adapted to HPD(p<0.01, or p<0.001) compared to the values for the cats fed LPD. Changes in free amino acid concentratioks in whole blood induced by the variations in dietary level of protein closely reflect the pattern seen in plasma. Amino acids such as branched-chain amino acids, proline and threonine were most difficult to maintain homeostasis and consistantly elevated in lever, kidney, skeletal muscle and brain, as well as in blood of cats adapted to HPD(p<0.01 or p<0.001). All of the free amino acids in jejunum, excluding taurine and ornithine, were significantly elevated in animals adapted to HPD, most probably due to the rapid absorption of large amount of amino acids across the epithelium of small intestine.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.19.1-19.7
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• 2016

A laboratory experiment was conducted to determine hexavalent chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) accumulation in the mullet and investigate $Cr^{6+}$ toxicity using a panel of biomarkers including metallothioneins (MTs), glutathione (GSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and superoxide dismutases (SODs) for 4 weeks. $Cr^{6+}$ bioaccumulation in all tissues, except muscle, was consistently time- and dose-dependent. The accumulation of $Cr^{6+}$ for 4-week exposures was in the following order: $kidney{\approx}liver$ > $intestine{\approx}gill$ > spleen > muscle. Compared with the control, $Cr^{6+}$ bioaccumulation was increased in ${\geq}200{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ groups (P < 0.05). An independent relation was observed between accumulation factors (AFs) and exposure concentration. But AFs increased with exposure time. In the liver and gill, GST and SOD differed from the control at a high $Cr^{6+}$ concentration at 2 and 4 weeks (P < 0.05). This study indicated that the gills were as sensitive as the liver to $Cr^{6+}$ toxicity. However, the latter appeared to influence largely on the organism's adaptive response to $Cr^{6+}$, since $Cr^{6+}$ may elevate GSH and MT levels by enhancing the hepatic uptake of metal in the mullet.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.731-737
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• 2003

Mucinase complex from V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802 was purified 6-fold with 0.4% yield by two sequential steps of Q-Sepharose and Superdex 200HR column chromatographies. Partially purified mucinase complex showed at least 8 times higher mucin-degrading activity than the culture filtrates. The mucinase complex also showed gelatin-and-casein-hydrolyzing activities, which demonstrates that the protein is a complex compound containing several proteases. The optimum pH and temperature of partially purified mucinase complex for mucin degradation was 8.0 and $35^{\circ}C$, respectively. The partially purified mucinase complex showed high cytotoxic activity on vero cells when examined by MTT assay and microscopic observations. Cytotoxicity was significantly increased in proportion to the concentration of the mucinase complex. Mouse experiments revealed that the jejunum, ileum. and large intestinal tissues were damaged by the injection of the mucinase complex. In particular, the reduction of the goblet cells in the large intestine was remarkable. Collectively, these data suggest that the mucinase complex partially purified from V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 17802 contributes to the adhesion and invasion of V. parahaemolyticus into the host intestinal tract.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1438-1444
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• 2014

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are probiotics that provide numerous beneficial effects on the host body, especially on the intestine. Combining several strains of LAB, we prepared a formulation containing four different LAB and studied its anti-inflammatory activity both in vitro and in vivo. The formulation significantly reduced NO production from RAW 264.7 cells treated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide, indicating that the formulation might include anti-inflammatory activity. The formulation also suppressed inflammatory change induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) in mice, where oral or rectal administration of the formulation protected the colon tissue from the damage by TNBS. Expressions of the IL-6 and FasL genes appeared to be down-regulated by the formulation in TNBS-treated colon tissues, suggesting that the suppression of those genes may be involved in the anti-inflammatory activity of the formulation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.554-557
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• 2008

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces gene silencing in a sequence-specific manner by a process known as RNA interference (RNAi). The RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is a multi-subunit ribonucleoprotein complex that plays a key role in RNAi. VIG (Vasa intronic gene) has been identified as a component of Drosophila RISC; however, the role VIG plays in regulating RNAi is poorly understood. Here, we examined the spatial and temporal expression patterns of VIG-1, the C. elegans ortholog of Drosophila VIG, using a vig-1::gfp fusion construct. This construct contains the 908-bp region immediately upstream of vig-1 gene translation initiation site. Analysis by confocal microscopy demonstrated GFP-VIG-1 expression in a number of tissues including the pharynx, body wall muscle, hypodermis, intestine, reproductive system, and nervous system at the larval and adult stages. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that VIG-1 is present in each developmental stage examined. To investigate regulatory sequences for vig-1 gene expression, we generated constructs containing deletions in the upstream region. It was determined that the GFP expression pattern of a deletion construct (${\Delta}-908$ to -597) was generally similar to that of the non-deletion construct. In contrast, removal of a larger segment (${\Delta}-908$ to -191) resulted in the loss of GFP expression in most cell types. Collectively, these results indicate that the 406-bp upstream region (-596 to -191) contains essential regulatory sequences required for VIG-1 expression.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2007

Schizandra chinensis fruits (SC) have been used as a traditional Oriental medicine for treatments of many stress-induced diseases. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of SC aqueous extract(SC-Ex) in the inflammatory diseases of intestine using a mouse model of ulcerative colitis. An experimental colitis was induced by daily treatment with 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). SC-Ex was orally administered from day 2 of DSS treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of SC-Ex reduced significantly clinic signs of DSS-induced colitis, including body weight loss, shorten colon length, increased disease activity index, and histological colon injury. Moreover, SC-Ex suppressed significantly not only the activities of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and chymase, but also the expressions of $TNF-{\acute{a}}$ and COX-2 in DSS-treated colon tissues. Inhibitory effect of SC-Ex was effective at a dose over 20 mg/kg. Our results indicate that SC-Ex may possess therapeutic effect on the development of DSS-induced colitis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.944-951
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• 2016

Tdrd12 is one of tudor domain containing (Tdrd) family members. However, the expression pattern of Tdrd12 has not been well studied. To compare the expression levels of Tdrd12 in various tissues, real time-polymerase chain reaction was performed using total RNAs from liver, small intestine, heart, brain, kidney, lung, spleen, stomach, uterus, ovary, and testis. Tdrd12 mRNA was highly expressed in testis. Antibody against mouse TDRD12 were generated using amino acid residues SQRPNEKPLRLTEKKDC of TDRD12 to investigate TDRD12 localization in testis. Immunostaining assay shows that TDRD12 is mainly localized at the spermatid in the seminiferous tubules of adult testes. During postnatal development, TDRD12 is differentially expressed. TDRD12 was detected in early spermatocytes at 2 weeks and TDRD12 was localized at acrosome of the round spermatids. TDRD12 expression was not co-localized with TDRD1 which is an important component of piRNA pathway in germ cells. Our results indicate that TDRD12 may play an important role in spermatids and function as a regulator of spermatogenesis in dependent of TDRD1.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.343-352
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• 2009

Natural-killer-cell-enhancing factor (NKEF) belongs to the newly defined peroxiredoxin (Prx) family. It was originally isolated from human erythroid cells. The black rockfish NKEF cDNA was identified through the expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis of PBLs libraries. The full-length NKEF cDNA was 1433 bp long and contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 594 bp that encoded 198 amino-acid residues. The 5' UTR had a length of 39 bp, and the 3’UTR 800 bp. The deduced amino-acid sequence of the black rockfish had a density 93.4, 92.9, 87.8, 85.8, 84.8, 83.8, 80.3, 79.7, 77.2, and 75.2% that of the pufferfish, olive flounder, channel catfish, zebrafish, chicken, common carp, Myotis lucifugus, cattle, human PrxI, rat PrxI, human NKEF-A, and Xenopus tropicalis, respectively. The NKEF gene was expressed in all the tissues of the black rockfish. The RT-PCR indicated that the NKEF transcripts were predominantly in the spleen and gill, less dominantly in the PBLs, head kidney, trunk kidney, and liver, and least in the intestine and muscles. This is the first report on the existence of the NKEF-A gene in black rockfish.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.195-199
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• 1984

The present observations were focussed mainly on the macroscopic and histopathological observation to polyps encountered on the stomach of 4-month-old pig, small intestine of 3-month-old pig and cecum of 9-month-old dog. The results were summarized as follows; 1. The polyps were gray or pink hemispherical shapes attached by the broad base to the gastrointestinal walls and were 3 to 8 mm in diameter and diffuse appearance. The surfaces of polyps were flat or indented and were ulcerated in some large polyps. 2. In histopathological findings, the polyps were nodules composed of lymphoid follicles, which were characterized by the differentiation and proliferation of the lymphoid cells in the lamina propria or submucosa of the gastrointestinal tract. The lymphoid nodules have the thin septa and thick capsules of the connective tissues, also comprised more numerous and larger sinus-like-blood vessels and more diffuse lymphoid cells in the peripheral zones than those in the central zones of nodules. In addition, the external surface of the polyps bulged toward the intestinal lumen were covered with the abnormal epithelium, or the degenerative and necrotic lymphocyte aggregates. 3. These polyps were considered as lymphoid polyps caused by the hyperplasia of the lymhoid follicles.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.349-354
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• 2004

The effectiveness of a synthetic solution of sodium carboxymethy1cellulose (SCMC) and dextran in the prevention of adhesion formation following intestinal anastomosis of intestine in dogs was elucidated and compared with Interceed. Following induction of adhesion on jejunum of dogs by resection and intestinal anastomosis, the dogs were infused with a synthetic solution of 1% SCMC and 10% dextran in saline in the abdominal cavity at the dose of 5ml/kg of body weight or treated with Interceed membrane. Fourteen days after operation, all the dogs showed adhesion of anastomotic sites to surrounding tissues. The average score of adhesion was 0.50, 0.60 and 0.80 in the dogs infused with the synthetic solution, Interceed membrane and saline solution, respectively. The synthetic solution showed better result of adhesion prevention than Interceed or saline solution. No significant change of body weight, vital signs, hematological values and side effects after operation was found in each group. Therefore, a synthetic solution which is combined with 1% SCMC and 10% dextran in saline can be effectively used for the prevention of adhesion formation comparable to Interceed membrane following intestinal anastomosis in the dogs.