• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.597-603
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• 2015

Synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-250 in 'herbal incense' also called 'spice' were first introduced in many countries. Numerous synthetic cannabinoids with similar chemical structures emerged simultaneously and suddenly. Currently there are not sufficient data on their adverse effects including neurotoxicity. There are only anecdotal reports that suggest their toxicity. In the present study, we evaluated the neurotoxicity of two synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-081 and JWH-210) through observation of various behavioral changes and analysis of histopathological changes using experimental mice with various doses (0.1, 1, 5 mg/kg). In functional observation battery (FOB) test, animals treated with 5 mg/kg of JWH-081 or JWH-210 showed traction and tremor. Their locomotor activities and rotarod retention time were significantly (p<0.05) decreased. However, no significant change was observed in learning or memory function. In histopathological analysis, neural cells of the animals treated with the high dose (5 mg/kg) of JWH-081 or JWH-210 showed distorted nuclei and nucleus membranes in the core shell of nucleus accumbens, suggesting neurotoxicity. Our results suggest that JWH-081 and JWH-210 may be neurotoxic substances through changing neuronal cell damages, especially in the core shell part of nucleus accumbens. To confirm our findings, further studies are needed in the future.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.86-97
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• 2015

Recently, the consumption of dietary supplements has increased because of people’s greater interest in health. Unfortunately, the sales of dietary supplements containing unauthorized substances such as drugs have also increased. We developed a rapid, accurate method for the simultaneous determination of antihistamines using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with a multiple reaction monitoring mode. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the instrument used in this method were in the ranges 0.0003-0.3 and 0.0009-0.6 µg mL⁻¹, respectively. The linearity of the method was > 0.99. The precision levels of the method were 0.1-9.8% (intra-day) and 0.3-9.6% (inter-day), and the levels of accuracy of the method were 82.7-115.0% (intra-day) and 84.3-113.0% (inter-day). The mean of recovery of the method was in the range of 83.9-117.9% and the RSD of the stability was less than 5.9%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1552-1558
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• 2021

The diverse microbial communities in kimchi are dependent on fermentation period and temperature. Here, we investigated the effect of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) during the fermentation of kimchi at two temperatures using high-throughput sequencing. There were no differences in pH between the control group, samples not inoculated with ETEC, and the ETEC group, samples inoculated with ETEC MFDS 1009477. The pH of the two groups, which were fermented at 10 and 25℃, decreased rapidly at the beginning of fermentation and then reached pH 3.96 and pH 3.62. In both groups, the genera Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Weissella were predominant. Our result suggests that microbial communities during kimchi fermentation may be affected by the fermentation parameters, such as temperature and period, and not enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.130-137
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: Mefentrifluconazole and triticonazole are the triazole fungicides. The maximum residue levels for agricultural products need to be set up. Therefore, development of the official analytical method for determination of mefentrifluconazole and triticonazole residues from agricultural crops was necessary due to safety management, and then a simultaneous analytical method was developed for the determination of mefentrifluconazole and triticonazole in agricultural crops. METHODS AND RESULTS: Samples were extracted using acetonitrile and purified using dispersive solid phase extraction, and then detected with liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Matrix-matched calibration curves (0.0025-0.25 ㎍/mL) were linear into a sample extract with r²>0.99. For validation, the recovery test was carried out at three fortification levels (LOQ, 10 LOQ and 50 LOQ) from agricultural samples. The results for mefentrifluconazole and triticonazole ranged between 92.3 to 115.3% and 91.4 to 108.5%, respectively and RSD (relative standard deviation) values were also below 6.0%. Furthermore, inter-laboratory was conducted to validate the method. CONCLUSION: All values were corresponded with the criteria ranges requested by both the CODEX (CAC/GL 40-1993, 2003) and MFDS guidelines (2016). Therefore, the proposed method can be used as an official analytical method for determination of mefentrifluconazole and triticonazole (triazole fungicides) in the Republic of Korea.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 2015

With the diversification and internationalization of the food industry and the increased focus on health from a majority of consumers, food safety policies are being implemented based on scientific evidence. Risk analysis represents the most useful scientific approach for making food safety decisions. Total diet study (TDS) is often used as a risk assessment tool to evaluate exposure to hazardous elements. Many countries perform TDSs to screen for chemicals in foods and analyze exposure trends to hazardous elements. TDSs differ from traditional food monitoring in two major aspects: chemicals are analyzed in food in the form in which it will be consumed and it is cost-effective in analyzing composite samples after processing multiple ingredients together. In Korea, TDSs have been conducted to estimate dietary intakes of heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, persistent organic pollutants, and processing contaminants. TDSs need to be carried out periodically to ensure food safety.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.321-331
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Pinoxaden is the phenylpyrazoline herbicide developed by Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. and marketed on 2006. The maximum residue levels for wheat and barley were set by import tolerance. Thus, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) official analytical method determining Pinoxaden residue was necessary in various food matrixes. Satisfaction of international guideline of CODEX (Codex Alimentarius Commission CAC/GL 40) and National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation-MFDS (2017) are additional pre-requirements for analytical method. In this study, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was investigated to analyze residue of Pinoxaden (M4), which is defined as pesticide residue in Korea, in foods. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pinoxaden (M4) was extracted followed by acid digestion (2hr reflux with 1N HCl) and pH adjusting (pH 4-5 with 3% ammonium solution). To remove oil, additional clean-up step with hexane saturated with acetonitrile was required to high oil contained sample before purification. HLB cartridge and nylon syringe filter were used for purification. Then, samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS using reserve phase column C₁₈. Five agricultural group representative commodities (mandarin, potato, soybean, hulled rice, and red pepper) were used to verify the method in this study. The liner matrix-matched calibration curves were confirmed with coefficient of determination (r²) > 0.99 at calibration range 0.002-0.2 mg/kg. The limits of detection and quantitation were 0.004 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively, which were suitable to apply Positive List System (PLS). Mean average accuracies of pinoxaden (M4) were shown to be 74.0-105.7%. The precision of pinoxaden and its metabolites were also shown less than 14.5% for all five samples. CONCLUSION: The method investigated in this study was suitable to CODEX (CAC/GL 40) and National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation-MFDS (2017) guideline for residue analysis. Thus, this method can be useful for determining the residue in various food matrixes in routine analysis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.486-492
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• 2015

Drug metabolism mostly occurs in the liver. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is a drug-metabolizing enzyme that is responsible for many important drug metabolism reactions. Recently, the US FDA and EU EMA have suggested that CYP enzyme induction can be measured by both enzymatic activity and mRNA expression. However, these experiments are time-consuming and their interassay variability can lead to misinterpretations of the results. To resolve these problems and establish a more powerful method to measure CYP induction, we determined CYP induction by using luminescent assay. Luminescent CYP assays link CYP enzyme activity to firefly luciferase luminescence technology. In this study, we measured the induction of CYP isozymes (1A2, 2B6, 2C9, and 3A4) in cryopreserved human hepatocytes (HMC424, 478, and 493) using a luminometer. We then examined the potential induction abilities (unknown so far) of mesalazine, a drug for colitis, and mosapride citrate, which is used as an antispasmodic drug. The results showed that mesalazine promotes CYP2B6 and 3A4 activities, while mosapride citrate promotes CYP1A2, 2B6, and 3A4 activities. Luminescent CYP assays offer rapid and safe advantages over LC-MS/MS and qRT-PCR methods. Furthermore, luminescent CYP assays decrease the interference between the optical properties of the test compound and the CYP substrates. Therefore, luminescent CYP assays are less labor intensive, rapid, and can be used as robust tools for high-throughput CYP screening during early drug discovery.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2023

An accurate and easy-to-use analytical method for determining isocycloseram and its metabolites (SYN549431 and SYN548569) residue is necessary in various food matrixes. Additionally, this method should satisfy domestic and international guidelines (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Codex Alimentarius Commission CAC/GL 40). Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to determine the isocycloseram and its metabolites residue in foods. To determine the residue and its metabolites, a sample was extracted with 20 mL of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile, 4 g magnesium sulfate anhydrous and 1 g sodium chloride and centrifuged (4,700 G, 10 min, 4℃). To remove the interferences and moisture, d-SPE cartridge was performed before LC-MS/MS analysis with C₁₈ column. To verify the method, a total of five agricultural commodities (hulled rice, potato, soybean, mandarin, and red pepper) were used as a representative group. The matrix-matched calibration curves were confirmed with coefficients of determination (R²) ≥ 0.99 at a calibration range of 0.001-0.05 mg/kg. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.003 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Mean average recoveries were 71.5-109.8% and precision was less than 10% for all five samples. In addition, inter-laboratory validation testing revealed that average recovery was 75.4-107.0% and the coefficient of variation (CV) was below 19.4%. The method is suitable for MFDS, CODEX, and EU guideline for residue analysis. Thus, this method can be useful for determining the residue in various food matrixes in routine analysis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2013

Quetiapine is an atypical or second-generation antipsychotic agent and has been a subject of a series of case report and suggested to have the potential for misuse or abuse. However, it is not a controlled substance and is not generally considered addictive. In this study, we examined quetiapine's dependence potential and abuse liability through animal behavioral tests using rodents to study the mechanism of quetiapine. Molecular biology techniques were also used to find out the action mechanisms of the drug. In the animal behavioral tests, quetiapine did not show any positive effect on the experimental animals in the climbing, jumping, and conditioned place preference tests. However, in the head twitch and self-administration tests, the experimental animals showed significant positive responses. In addition, the action mechanism of quetiapine was found being related to dopamine and serotonin release. These results demonstrate that quetiapine affects the neurological systems related to abuse liability and has the potential to lead psychological dependence, as well.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.299-307
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• 2015

In May 2012, a safety hazard issue arose because some kiwifruit growers in New Zealand had sprayed streptomycin to prevent kiwifruit canker. Therefore, for food safety management, analytical methods to determine streptomycin residues in kiwifruits are required. We developed an analytical method to determine streptomycin residues in kiwifruit samples using liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectrometer (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Streptomycin residues in samples were extracted using 1% formic acid in methanol, centrifugation for 10 min, and subsequent supernatant filtration. Purified samples were subjected to LC-ESI-MS/MS to confirm presence of and quantify streptomycin residues. Average streptomycin recoveries (6 replicates each sample) were in the range of 94.8%-110.6% with relative standard deviations of <10%. The linearity of the concentration range of 0.01-5.0 mg/kg using a matrix-matched calibration gave R² = 0.9995. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.01 mg/kg. Results showed that our analytical method is rapid, simple, and sensitive, with easy sample preparation.