• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.72-79
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• 2022

Licochalcone H (LCH) is a phenolic compound synthetically derived from licochalcone C (LCC) that exerts anticancer activity. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of LCH in human skin cancer A375 and A431 cells. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) cell viability assay was used to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of LCH. Cell cycle distribution and the induction of apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blotting assays were performed to detect the levels of proteins involved in cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. LCH inhibited the growth of cells in dose- and time-dependent manners. The annexin V/propidium iodide double staining assay revealed that LCH induced apoptosis, and the LCH-induced apoptosis was accompanied by cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. Western blot analysis showed that the phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3 was decreased by treatment with LCH. The inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway by pharmacological inhibitors against JAK2/STAT3 (cryptotanshinone (CTS) and S3I-201) simulated the antiproliferative effect of LCH suggesting that LCH induced apoptosis by modulating JAK2/STAT3 signaling.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.140-145
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• 2016

Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a natural fungus that has been valued as a health food and used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. The fungus is parasitic and colonizes insect larva. Naturally occurring O. sinensis thrives at high altitude in cold and grassy alpine meadows on the Himalayan mountain ranges. Wild Ophiocordyceps is becoming increasingly rare in its natural habitat, and its price limits its use in clinical practice. Therefore, the development of a standardized alternative is a great focus of research to allow the use of Ophiocordyceps as a medicine. To develop an alternative for wild Ophiocordyceps, a refined standardized extract, CBG-CS-2, was produced by artificial fermentation and extraction of the mycelial strain Paecilomyces hepiali CBG-CS-1, which originated from wild O. sinensis. In this study, we analyzed the in vitro immune-modulating effect of CBG-CS-2 on natural killer cells and B and T lymphocytes. CBG-CS-2 stimulated splenocyte proliferation and enhanced Th1-type cytokine expression in the mouse splenocytes. Importantly, in vitro CBG-CS-2 treatment enhanced the killing activity of the NK-92MI natural killer cell line. These results indicate that the mycelial culture extract prepared from Ophiocordyceps exhibits immune-modulating activity, as was observed in vivo and this suggests its possible use in the treatment of diseases caused by abnormal immune function.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.73-81
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• 2024

The substantia gelatinosa (SG) within the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) is recognized as a pivotal site of integrating and modulating afferent fibers carrying orofacial nociceptive information. Although naringenin (4',5,7-thrihydroxyflavanone), a natural bioflavonoid, has been proven to possess various biological effects in the central nervous system (CNS), the activity of naringenin at the orofacial nociceptive site has not been reported yet. In this study, we explored the influence of naringenin on GABA response in SG neurons of Vc using whole-cell patch-clamp technique. The application of GABA in a bath induced two forms of GABA responses: slow and fast. Naringenin enhanced both amplitude and area under curve (AUC) of GABA-mediated responses in 57% (12/21) of tested neurons while decreasing both parameters in 33% (7/21) of neurons. The enhancing or suppressing effect of naringenin on GABA response have been observed, with enhancement occurring when the GABA response was slow, and suppression when it was fast. Furthermore, both the enhancement of slower GABA responses and the suppression of faster GABA responses by naringenin were concentration dependent. Interestingly, the nature of GABA response was also found to be sex-dependent. A majority of SG neurons from juvenile female mice exhibited slower GABA responses, whereas those from juvenile males predominantly displayed faster GABA responses. Taken together, this study indicates that naringenin plays a partial role in modulating orofacial nociception and may hold promise as a therapeutic target for treating orofacial pain, with effects that vary according to sex.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제16권11호
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• pp.1690-1694
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• 2003

The large and rapid changes of glucose utilization in lactating mammary tissue in response to changes in nutritional state must be largely related by external signal of insulin. This also must be related with the quantity and composition of the diet in vivo. To characterize the mode of growth factors and gut regulatory peptides with insulin, in vitro experiment was conducted with HC11 cells. All the growth factor alone and the combinations of growth factors significantly (p<0.05) increased in glucose uptake. Insulin, EGF and IGF-1 exhibited a stimulation of glucose uptake for at least 24 h. Furthermore, the highest (p<0.05) synergistic effect was shown in EGF plus IGF-1 and the second synergistic effect in insulin plus EGF while no synergistic effect was found between insulin and IGF-1. However, the gut regulatory peptides neither potentiated nor inhibited the action of insulin on glucose uptake. Although growth factors did not modulates glucose uptake via increasing the rate of translation of the GLUT1 protein, RT-PCR analysis indicated that the growth factors significantly (p<0.05) increased the expression of GLUT1. The growth factors are therefore shown to be capable of modulating glucose uptake by transcription level with insulin in HC 11 cells.

• KSBB Journal
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.62-68
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• 2011

To isolate Lactic acid bacteria for animals, we have screened from Kim-chi, swine intestine, swine feces, and dairy products by random selection and anti-viral, antipathogenic bacteria test. Among them, CLP-1 shown that inhibitory effect against rotavirus, porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, Salmonella sp, and E.coli. By examining biological property, API-ZYM and identified Lactobacillus plantarum by 16S rDNAgene sequence. CLP-1 determined resistance to low pH and bile salt. Futhermore, the cell body of CLP-1 adhered to the intestinal epithelium tissue of swine and Caco-2 cell. CLP-1 was examined on cell immune system modulating activity in vitro. The whole cell and cell culture supernatant was increasing of interferon-${\beta}$ activity. And then, CLP-1 increased prevention effect by Salmonella enteritidis infection in SPF chickens. And we determined similar result in pigs.

• 한국식품영양과학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.535-539
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• 2001

The modulating effect of feeding sea mustard (Undarina pinnatifida), a fiber-rich seaweed, during initiation and post-initiation phases of colon carcinogenesis was investigated in Sprague Dawley rats. Four groups of animals were exposed to the two weekly injections of a chemical carcinogen, azoxymethane (AOM). Animals were placed on diet containing 15% sea mustard during initiation. post-initiation or initiation+post-initiation phase of carcinogenesis for 10 weeks, and colonic aberrant crypt formation and cell proliferation were compared to those of rats fed semi-synthetic control diet. Results showed that sea mustard feeding significantly reduced the numbers of both aberrant crypts and aberrant crypt foci. Also, labeling indices and proliferation zones were significantly reduced in the colon of the rats fed sea mustard diets. These results indicate that the diet containing sea mustard may decrease the risk of colon cancer development, and a part of such effect may be mediated through both the blocking of initiation and the suppression of cell proliferation in the colonic crypts, although precise mechanisms should be further examined.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.390-395
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• 2017

The present study investigated the sedative effects of Sophora flavescens (SF) and its bioactive compound, matrine through performing locomotor activity test and the electroencephalography (EEG) analysis in the rat. The underlying neural mechanism of their beneficial effects was determined by assessing c-Fos immunoreactivity and serotonin (5-HT) in the brain utilizing immunohistochemical method and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results showed that SF and matrine administration had an effect on normalization of caffeine-induced hyperactivity and promoting a shift toward non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. c-Fos-immunoreactivity and 5-HT level in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO), a sleep promoting region, were increased in the both SF and matrine-injected groups. In conclusion, SF and its bioactive compound, matrine alleviated caffeine-induced hyperactivity and promoted NREM sleep by activating VLPO neurons and modulating serotonergic transmission. It is suggested that SF might be a useful natural alternatives for hypnotic medicine.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권10호
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• pp.5273-5279
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• 2012

The aim of the present study was to investigate the chemopreventive effect of coumarin against 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis by monitoring tumor incidence and histopathological changes as well as by analyzing the status of biochemical markers (lipid peroxidation, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes). Oral squamous cell carcinomas were induced in the buccal pouch of Syrian golden hamsters by painting with 0.5% DMBA in liquid paraffin three times a week for 14 weeks. We noted 100% tumor formation with marked abnormalities in the biomarkers status in hamsters treated with DMBA alone. Oral administration of coumarin at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight (bw) to DMBA treated hamsters completely prevented the tumor formation as well as restored the staus of biochemical variables. The results of the present study thus suggest that the chemopreventive effect of coumarin is probably due to its anti-lipid peroxidative potential and modulating effect on carcinogen detoxification agents in favor of the excretion of ultimate carcinogenic metabolites of DMBA during DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.506-512
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• 2012

Although pruritus is the critical symptom of atopic dermatitis that profoundly affect the patients' quality of life, controlling and management of prurirtus still remains as unmet needs mainly due to the distinctive multifactorial pathogenesis of pruritus in atopic dermatitis. Based on the distinct feature of atopic dermatitis that psychological state of patients substantially influence on the intensity of pruritus, various psychotropic drugs have been used in clinic to relieve pruritus of atopic dermatitis patients. Only several psychotropic drugs were reported to show real antipruritic effects in atopic dermatitis patients including naltrexone, doxepin, trimipramine, bupropion, tandospirone, paroxetine and fluvoxamine. However, the precise mechanisms of antipruritic effect of these psychotropic drugs are still unclear. In human skin, serotonin receptors and serotonin transporter protein are expressed on skin cells such as keratinocytes, melanocytes, dermal fibroblasts, mast cells, T cells, natural killer cells, langerhans cells, and sensory nerve endings. It is noteworthy that serotonergic drugs, as well as serotonin itself, showed immune-modulating effect. Fenfluramine, fluoxetine and 2, 5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine significantly decreased lymphocyte proliferation. It is still questionable whether these serotonergic drugs exert the immunosuppressive effects via serotonin receptor or serotonin transporter. All these clinical and experimental reports suggest the possibility that antipruritic effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in atopic dermatitis patients might be at least partly due to their suppressive effect on T cells. Further studies should be conducted to elucidate the precise mechanism of neuroimmunological interaction in pruritus of atopic dermatitis.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cerebral infarction size, antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation changes after 6 weeks of dietary soybean protein intake in a rat focal brain ischemia model. Method: Weaning Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with either modified AIN-93G diet containing casein 20% (control), 20% soybean protein isolate-based diet (S20), or 40% of soybean protein isolate-based diet (S40) for 6 weeks. The animals were subject to right middle cerebral artery occlusion for 2 hr. After 24 hr of recirculation, the rats were sacrificed. Antioxidant enzymes activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) level in the right brain were also measured. Result: There were no significant differences in the right cortical infarction volume, TBARS level, SOD and CAT activities among the three groups whereas the GPx activities of the S20 group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p=.02). Conclusion: Our results suggest that 20% of soybean protein may have a modulating effect on GPx and possibly have some protective effect against oxidative stress although it may enough to decrease cerebral infarction volume in rat focal brain ischemia model.