• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2002

Purpose: Hypertension accelerates the progression of chronic renal disease, whether it results from, or causes, the renal disease. Therefore, the control of hypertension is one of the important factors that retard the rate of renal deterioration. We compared the effects of different antihypertensive agents on renal function and glomerular morphology In subtotal nephrectomized rats. Materials and methods: After induction of chronic renal failure with 5/6 nephrectomy, the rats were divided into three groups; control group (Group C), enalapril group (Group E), and nicardipine group (Group N). Systolic blood pressure was measured by tail cuff method every 4 weeks until 12 weeks after nephrectomy. At 12 weeks after nephrectomy, all rats were placed in metabolic cages for 24 hour urine collections to measure urinary protein and creatinine excretion. After urine collection and blood sampling for serum creatinine, all rats were sacrificed. The renal tissue was processed for morphometric study with light microscope and electron microscope. Results: 1. The blood pressure of Group C increased progressively, but both enalapril and nicardipine prevented the development of hypertension, and the two drugs were equally effective in maintaining normal blood pressure throughout the study. 2. Twenty-four hour urinary protein excretion was lower in Group E compared to Group C and Group N 3. Mesangial expansion score in both treated groups were significantly lower than the control group. Mean glomerular volume in Group E was significantly reduced compared to Group C and Group N. There was no significant difference in mean glomerular volume between Group C and Group N. 4. There was no significant difference in podocyte structural changes, estimated by filtration slit length density, among control, enalapril and nicardipine treated groups. Conclusion: Control of hypertension with enalapril or nicardipine afforded considerable protection from mesangial expansion in the rat remnant kidney model. But protein excretion and glomerular growth were significantly reduced in Group E compared to Group N. There was no significant difference in podocyte structural changes among the 3 groups.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

$^{68}Ga$ was eluted from a $^{68}Ge/^{68}Ga$ radionuclide generator. $^{68}Ga$ decays into $^{68}Zn$, with a half life=67.8min. The decay is 88.9 % by ${\beta}$+ and 11.1 % by EC. The main ${\beta}$+ decay (87.7 %) is to the ground level of $^{68}Zn$ and it is a pure positron emission branch. A small fraction decays ${\beta}$+ (1.2 %) into an excited level of $^{68}Zn$, which promptly decays into the ground level with a ${\gamma}$ (1.077 Mev). This can constitute prompt gamma contamination in the PET data, if the 1.077 Mev ${\gamma}$ has a scatter interaction in the patient, and generates a lower energy ${\gamma}$ in coincidence with the positron annihilation pair. The purpose of this study was to evaluate standardized uptake value(SUV) before and after applying prompt gamma rays correction on $^{68}Ga$-DOTATOC PET/CT image. Fifty patient underwent PET/CT 1 hour after injection of the $^{68}Ga$-DOTATOC. The SUVmax and SUVmean of lesions and normal tissues (Pituitary, Lung, Liver, Spleen, Kidney, Intestine) were evaluated before and after applying prompt gamma correction on $^{68}Ga$-DOTATOC PET/CT image. Additionally, the SUVmax of each lesions and SUVmean of the soft tissues were measured on images. and target to background ratios (TBR) were calculated as quantitative indices. Among 15 patients, 25 of lesions (Pancreas, Liver, Thoracic Spine, Brain) with increased uptake on $^{68}Ga$-DOTATOC PET/CT image. SUVmax and SUVmean were increased in lesion site and normal tissue after prompt gamma rays correction. TBR was $51.51{\pm}49.28$ and $55.50{\pm}53.12$ before and after prompt gamma rays correction, respectively. (p<0.0001)

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.21 no.2 s.24
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• pp.340-350
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• 1988

This study was carried out to clarify the effect of dietary calcium, casein, and suet on the accumulation of cadmium in mice. It was performed for 30 days, from April 11 to May 10 1988.90 mice were divided into 4 experimental groups and control group with 6 mice each dietary group, and measured survival rate, body weight, and weight ratio of organ to body. The contents of cadmium in liver, kidney, spleen, muscle and skin with hair, and feces were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer after sacrifice by anesthesia. After 30 days, the survival rate of control group was loot,, but 66.7% in group IV(basal diet+Cd+Ca) with single dose of $100{\mu}g$ cadmium and with free-intake of water containing 50ppm cadmium, and group V(basal diet+Cd+suet) with free-intake of water containing 50ppm cadmium. The rate of weight gain in the case of single dose of $100{\mu}g$ cadmium was highest in group IV as 42.3% and lowest in group V as 26.0%, whereas in the cases of free intake group W was highest as 24.0% and group II(basal diet+Cd) was lowest as 11.6%. The body weight, in the case of single dose of $100{\mu}g$ cadmium showed no increase until 5th day after acute poisoning. But in the case of free intake group, it showed very slight increase through all the breeding period. The weight ratio of organ to body were lowest in the liver of group II in both occasions. The most of cadmium adminstered. were excreted through feces within 2 days after single dose of $100{\mu}g$ cadmium. The contents of cadmium in each group were significantly higher than those of control group. In the liver, kidney, spleen and muscle, group II showed the highest level in both occasions of $100{\mu}g$ single dose and free intake of water containing 50ppm cadmium. In the skin with hair, group ll of the occasion with single dose of $100{\mu}g$ and group V with free intake showed the highest level. And the contents of cadmium in tissue were markedly higher in the occasion of free intake of water containing 50ppm cadmium. From the above results I would conclude that the addition of casein and calcium are effective in the inhibition of intesitnal absorption of cadmium esp. by calcium.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1415-1421
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• 2008

Preventive effects of 3-(4'-hydroxyl-3',5'-dimethoxyphenyl)propionic acid (HDMPPA), an active compound in Korean cabbage kimchi with anti-atherogenic effects, on the accumulation of lipids in the vital organs of $apoE^{(-/-)}$ mice fed atherogenic diet (AD) were studied. Each group of 10 mice was fed AD for 8 weeks with intraperitoneal injection of either HDMPPA (1 mg HDMPPA/100 g BW/day) or phosphate buffered saline as a vehicle. The organs used for this study were liver, kidney, spleen, lung, testis, and brain. Total cholesterol (TC) concentration of lung was the highest followed by spleen and brain. TC level for the liver was the lowest. In contrast to the results of TC, triglyceride (TG) concentration in the liver was the highest followed by kidney and testis. $ApoE^{(-/-)}$ mice did not have any problem uptaking chylomicron remnant by the liver which carries an extra TG after delivering it to the adipose tissue. HDMPPA retarded TC and TG accumulations in the vital organs. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the brain and spleen were the highest and that in the testis were the lowest. Poly-unsaturated fatty acids in the brain and activated peroxisome in the spleen might be responsible for high TBARS levels in these organs. The greatest antioxidant effect of HDMPPA against lipid peroxidation was observed in the spleen, showing 21.47% decrease. The most noticeable effect of HDMPPA was observed in glutathione (GSH) level. GSH levels of six organs in the HDMPPA group were significantly higher than those of the control group. GSH-peroxidase activity was negatively related to GSH level of the organs except liver and spleen. In conclusion, HDMPPA from Korean cabbage kimchi inhibits the lipid accumulation as well as increases the antioxidant status in the vital organs of $apoE^{(-/-)}$ mice fed an atherogenic diet.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.504-510
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• 1995

Avascular necrosis(AVN) of bone can be resulted from various causes that distrub vascular supply to bone tissue, including steroid therapy after renal transplantation. In this study, we determine the prevalence of the avascular necrosis of bone after renal transplantation and compare the role of the bone scan, SPECT and MRI. In 301 patients with transplanted kidney, the prevalence of avascular necrosis was deter-mined clinically. Site of bone necrosis was evaluated by clinical symptom, bone scan, SPECT and MRI. Bone scan was done in all patients with AVN. Bone SPECT and MRI were done in six cases; and MRI was done in two cases. The prevalence of AVN was 3.3% (10/301), and the site of AVN was 16 femoral heads in 10 patients (bilateral: 60%) and bilateral calcaneal tuberosity in one patient. Bone scan showed typical AVN (cold area with surrounding hot uptake) in 13 lesions, only hot uptake in three lesions (including two calcaneal tuberosities), decreased uptake in one lesion, and normal in one lesion. Decreased uptake and normal lesion showed an equivacal cold area without surrounding hot uptake on SPECT. A symptomatic patient with positive bone SPECT showed normal finding on MRI. The prevalence of AVN of bone after renal transplantation was 3.3%, and whole body bone scan showed multiple bone involvement. Two symptomatic hip Joints without definite lesion on whole body bone scan or MRI showed cold defect on SPECT. Therefore, we conclude that bone SPECT should be perfomed in a symptomatic patient with negative bone scan or MRI in case with high risk of AVN after renal transplantation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.128-134
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• 2001

Male Sprague-Dawley rats received either a cholesterol diet(Control group) or cholesterol diets supplemented with the water-soluble extract of stem bark from Morus alba(M group) or Cudrania tricuspidata(C group) at the level of 1% for 2 weeks. Concentrations of total cholesterol and phospholipid in serum of C group and triglyceride in serum of M group were lower than those of control group. Concentration of cholesterol in liver of M and C groups has a tendency to be lower than that of control group. Antioxidative activities of water-soluble extracts from stem bark of Morus alba and Cudrania tricuspidata on the peroxidation of lipid in tissues of rats were also studied in vivo by measuring the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Concentration of TBARS in kidney of M and C groups was significantly lower than control group. However, concentration of TBARS in liver and brain of C and M groups was significantly higher than in control group. The result that concentration of nonheme ion was significantly increased in liver of the mulberry supplemented groups comparision to control group, suggested that enhanced concentration of nonheme ion was associated with enhanced peroxidation of lipid in this group. Concentration of TBARS in microsomes of liver and brain in control group induced with $Fe^{2+}$/ascorbate increased by reaction time at $37^{\circ}C$, whereas this observation in liver did not occurred in C and M groups. This study suggested that water-extract from stem bark of Morus alba and Cudrania tricuspidata exert hypotriglycerolemic effect as well as antioxidative effect in kidney and liver microsomes in rats fed a cholesterol diet.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.222-229
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• 1999

Histopathological study has been carried out to elucidate the protective effect of Korean red ginseng water extract (KRG-WE) on 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-induced acute toxicity in male guinea pigs. Forty male guinea pigs ($200{\pm}20g$) were divided into 4 groups: normal controls (group 1) received vehicle and saline; group 2 (single TCDD-treated) received TCDD (5 ${\mu}g/kg$, single dose) and saline; group 3 received KRG-WE (200 mg/kg, i.p.) for 2 weeks starting 1 week before TCDD-exposure; group 4 received same dose of KRG-WE for 7 days from the day of TCDD-exposure. Weights of liver, testis, kidney, spleen and lung of the TCDD-exposed guinea pigs were significantly decreased. Thymus was severely shrunken, thereby could not be distinguished from adipose tissue in group 2 animals. Focal interstitial inflammation and fibrosis were observed from the lung parenchyma of group 2 animals. Furthermore, moderate swelling of hepatocyte, diffused aggregates of hemosiderin-laden macrophages from the Prussian blue stained spleen, marked decrease in spermatogenesis, and pyknotic and degenerative changes in the renal tubules were observed from intestinal organs of group 2 animals. On the other hand, histopathological damage was moderately to markedly alleviated in groups 3 and 4, but pretreatment of KRG-WE was more effective than the simultaneous treatment. In particular, TCDD-induced testicular atrophy was significantly attenuated by KRG-WE (p<0.01). From these results, it could be suggested that Korean red ginseng might be a useful herb that prevented TCDD-induced toxicity on liver, testis, kidney and spleen.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.157-165
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• 2023

Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves of frequencies to cause physical actions such as reflection, absorption, refraction, and transmission at the edge between different tissues. Improvement is needed because there is a lot of noise due to the characteristics of the data generated from the ultrasound equipment, and it is difficult to grasp the shape of the tissue to be actually observed because the edge is vague. The edge enhancement method is used as a method to solve the case where the edge surface looks clumped due to a decrease in image quality. In this paper, as a method to strengthen the interface, the quality improvement was confirmed by strengthening the interface, which is the high-frequency part, in each image using an unsharpening mask and high boost. The mask filtering used for each image was evaluated by measuring PSNR and SNR. Abdominal, head, heart, liver, kidney, breast, and fetal images were obtained from Philips epiq5g and affiniti70g and Alpinion E-cube 15 ultrasound equipment. The program used to implement the algorithm was implemented with MATLAB R2022a of MathWorks. The unsharpening and high-boost mask array size was set to 3*3, and the laplacian filter, a spatial filter used to create outline-enhanced images, was applied equally to both masks. ImageJ program was used for quantitative evaluation of image quality. As a result of applying the mask filter to various ultrasound images, the subjective image quality showed that the overall contour lines of the image were clearly visible when unsharpening and high-boost mask were applied to the original image. When comparing the quantitative image quality, the image quality of the image to which the unsharpening mask and the high boost mask were applied was evaluated higher than that of the original image. In the portal vein, head, gallbladder, and kidney images, the SNR, PSNR, RMSE and MAE of the image to which the high-boost mask was applied were measured to be high. Conversely, for images of the heart, breast, and fetus, SNR, PSNR, RMSE and MAE values were measured as images with the unsharpening mask applied. It is thought that using the optimal mask according to the image will help to improve the image quality, and the contour information was provided to improve the image quality.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.853-860
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• 2011

We measured blood plasma parameters(cortisol, glucose, albumin) and glucocorticoid receptor(GCR) gene expression level of the Japanese eel(Anguilla japonica) exposed to an explosion noise for an hour in order to evaluate the effects of noise stress and to explore the possibility of these parameters as biomarkers on noise stress for one of this valuable aquaculture species. Plasma cortisol and glucose reached high levels with significant differences compared to the control group, whereas albumin showed a low value after 1 h of exposure. In addition, tissue distribution of GCR gene expression was studied by real-time RT-PCR of ten organs(brain, eye, gill, gonad, heart, intestine, kidney, liver, muscle and skin). Liver showed the highest level of expression in the control followed by gill, muscle and intestine. A time-course study revealed induction in liver, gill, muscle and intestine after 30 min or 1 h of noise exposure.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1134-1142
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• 2008

Cationic amino acid transporter $b^{0,+}AT$ (HGMW-approved gene symbol SLC7A9, solute carrier family 7, member 9) plays a crucial role in amino acid nutrition. In the present study, we describe the cloning and sequencing of porcine $b^{0,+}AT$. Based on the sequence of porcine $b^{0,+}AT$ deposited in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnological Information), we identified a putative porcine homologue. Using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), the full-length cDNA encoding porcine $b^{0,+}AT$ was isolated. The porcine $b^{0,+}AT$ cDNA was 1,680 bp long, encoding a 487 amino acid trans-membrane protein. The predicted amino acid sequence was found to have 88.9% and 87.1% identity with human and mouse $b^{0,+}AT$, respectively. Real-time RT-PCR indicated porcine $b^{0,+}AT$ transcripts expressed in heart, kidney, muscle and small intestine. The small intestine had the highest $b^{0,+}AT$ mRNA abundance while the muscle had the lowest (p<0.05). Along the longitudinal axis, the ileum had the highest $b^{0,+}AT$ mRNA abundance while the colon had the lowest (p<0.05). The $b^{0,+}AT$ mRNA level was highest on day 7 and 90 in the duodenum (p<0.05). It increased from day 1 to day 26 in the jejunum (p>0.05) and had the highest abundance on day 60 (p<0.05). There was, however, no difference between day 1, 7, 26, 30, 90 and 150 (p>0.05). The strongest $b^{0,+}AT$ expression appeared on day 7 in the ileum before weaning, and then decreased till day 30 but rose gradually again from day 60 to 150 (p<0.05).