• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2017

Background: Many hyaluronic acid (HA)-based anti-adhesive agents have been commercialized for clinical use in the pharmaceutical market. But their efficacy in arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs remains elusive. To determine their efficacy, we performed a comparative analysis of the effects of two hyaluronate/carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)-based anti-adhesive agents, Protescal and Guardix. Methods: We recruited a total of 256 patients who had received an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair at our hospital between January 2014 and March 2015. Among them, 96 patients fulfilled the study's selection criteria and were enrolled as the final population sample. Thirty patients who had received a postoperative injection of Protescal were allocated into Group A. Another 30 patients who had received a postoperative injection of Guardix were allocated into Group B. As controls, 36 patients who did not receive any injection were allocated into Group C. The patients included in this study were aged between 19 and 75 years. For the clinical assessment, we measured the following clinical parameters-the visual analogue scale for pain (PVAS), the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and the constant score, as well as passive range of motions (ROMs)-at three time-points (preoperatively, 2-month postoperatively, and 6-month postoperatively). Results: We found that Group A compared to Group B tended to show a swifter recovery in passive anterior elevation and in internal rotation by the 2-month postoperative follow-up, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: We found that the effects of HA/CMC-based injections were minimal after arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.303-313
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• 2009

Traditionally, Cham dang-gui (Angelica gigas Nakai) is one of the most popular herbal medicines in Asian countries including Korea. A. gigas has been used as a functional food product for treatment anemia, women's health care, a sedative, an anodyne or a tonic agent. Decursin and decursinol angelate isolated from the roots of A. gigas are pyranocoumarin compounds. Recently, as the global herbal medication market is increasing, investigations about pharmacological effects of decursin and decursinol angelate are rapidly increasing. We summarized previous studies about pharmacological effects of decursin and decursinol angelate, and reviewed relation with pharmacological effects of decursin and decursinol angelate on human disorder, focused on the approach for new drug development. Pharmacological effects of decursin and decursinol angelate were classified as anti-tumor activity, anti-bacterial activity, improvements of the circulating system, inhibition of cytochrome P-450 activity, anti-inflammation activity, anti-oxidant activity and cognitive-enhancing activites. The activity of A. gigas with improvement of the circulating system may have wide therapeutic potential for circulatory diseases, including diabetes, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. Also, anti-inflammation activity A. gigas may be beneficial for the treatment and prevention of asthma, atopic dermatitis and rheumatism arthritis. This relation could potentially lead to the development of herbal new drugs. In order to development a new drug containing decursin and decursinol angelate, it is also necessary to consider the safety profile, and the information in this review would contribute to development a new drug from herbal medicine.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.20-33
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• 2001

A major portion of drugs used in Ayurvedic system of medicine which has been practiced since the early human civilization in Indian subcontinent were of plant origin. It should be noted that 70% of the population in this region depends on Ayurveda for their medical treatment and 60% of the drug resources are obtained from the Himalayan region. Therefore, Nepal becomes a potential source of plant drug resource since it occupies a major portion of the Himalaya. In the present paper, in general a current status of medicinal plant resources of Himalayan region especially Nepal will be discussed. In addition to this, a typical example of antidiabetic activity of Shilajit will be taken for the discussion. Shilajit is one of the crucial elements in several formulations including those of Rasayana, a therapy in Ayurveda, which has been practiced in the prevention of ageing and mental disorder. Although, Shilaiit is widely used for the treatment of diabetes, no satisfactory scientific reports are available up to now. The crude Shilajit in the market is a dark brown or black rock-like substance collected from the Himalayan region with a strong smell of cow's stale urine. In our studies, Shilajit (collected in the central Himalayan region) prevented the diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice model. Shilajit also prevented the diabetes in the rats against the action of multiple low-dose (10 ㎎/㎏, i.v., 5 times) of streptozotocin. On the other hand, Shilajit did not show antioxidative activity. The preventive action of Shilajit on diabetes is mainly focused on the Th1 and Th2 cell activities, since Th2 cells activity was found to be significantly upregulated. Shilajit, however, showed a mild action in controlling the blood sugar level in young, old, and mild diabetic rats, but not in the severe diabetic rats. It also stimulated the nitric oxide production in macrophages. Based on these evidences, the antidiabetic activities of Shilajit appear to be immunomodulative probably by protecting or strengthening insulin-producing b-cells In the pancreas. further systematic research on constituents of Shilajit and its quality evaluation is necessary to enable the use of natural medicines in the treatment of diabetes.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.235-240
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• 2013

For the quality control of traditional herbal medicine, Cinnamomi Ramulus, simultaneous determination of cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde, and 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde was established by using a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with diode array detector. To separate three constituents, Eclipse XDB C18 ($5{\mu}m$, $4.6{\times}250mm$) was used with 0.1% acetic acid and acetonitrile. Validation of the chromatography method was evaluated by linearity, recovery, and precision test. Calibration curve of standard components showed excellent linearity ($R^2$ >0.9999). A simple and efficient method by HPLC was developed to evaluate the quality of traditional herbal medicines made from Cinnami Ramulus. Three major bioactive ingredients in 30 samples that are from China(8) and Vietnam(22) were separated and quantified.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.165-172
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• 2020

Objectives: In the past few years, herbal medicines have gained popularity over synthetic drugs because of their natural source and minimal side effects which has led to a tremendous growth of phytopharmaceuticals usage. With the development of nanotechnology, it provides alternative approaches to overcome several limitations using nano-formulations. In spite of considerable quantity of antianemic preparations with different iron forms available, currently additives are used and represented in modern pharmaceutical market. Iron deficiency anemia is a major global public health problem which particularly affects pregnant women, children and elderly persons. The situation is complicated because of disadvantages and drug side effects from existing antianemic medicines. There is a great demand for the development of new antianemic preparations. Green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles, possess high potential in this field. Methods: Our study focuses on developing green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) of 10-50 nm with spherical shape where different dosages were used -1 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg for exposure in Wistar albino female rats for 28 days. The toxicity was assessed using various parameters such as measurements of the rat body and organ mass, hematology, biochemical evaluation and histopathological examinations. Results: No significant differences were observed in body and organ weights. Hematological indices also indicated no significant differences whereas biochemical factors showed increase in levels of direct bilirubin and globulin of medium as well as high dose and SGPT levels were increased only in high dose. The major organs (heart, kidney and liver) showed histopathological alterations in 10 and 100 mg/kg whereas brain showed only in 100 mg/kg. Conclusion: The toxicity of IONPs was found to be more significant when the concentration was increased; however, low doses can be used for further investigation as an antianemic preparation.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Human cardiomyocytes (CMs) cease to proliferate and remain terminally differentiated thereafter, when humans reach the mid-20s. Thus, any damages sustained by myocardium tissue are irreversible, and they require medical interventions to regain functionality. To date, new surgical procedures and drugs have been developed, albeit with limited success, to treat various heart diseases including myocardial infarction. Hence, there is a pressing need to develop more effective treatment methods to address the increasing mortality rate of the heart diseases. Functional CMs are not only an important in vitro cellular tool to model various types of heart diseases for drug development, but they are also a promising therapeutic agent for cell therapy. However, the limited proliferative capacity entails difficulties in acquiring functional CMs in the scale that is required for pathological studies and cell therapy development. Stem cells, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in particular, have been considered as an unlimited cellular source for providing functional CMs for various applications. Notable progress has already been made: the first clinical trials of hPSCs derived CMs (hPSC-CMs) for treating myocardial infarction was approved in 2015, and their potential use in disease modeling and drug discovery is being fully explored. This concise review gives an account of current development of differentiation, purification and maturation techniques for hPSC-CMs, and their application in cell therapy development and pharmaceutical industries will be discussed with the latest experimental evidence.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.509-513
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• 2021

Curcumin is known to possess diverse beneficial physiological effects including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti-microbial, and anti-neoplastic activities, as well as immune-modulating, metabolism-regulating, and neuroprotective effects. However, despite more than 13,000 research papers published during the last ten years regarding the health benefits of curcumin, curcumin has not been introduced in the market as a pharmaceutical agent in any country. Despite the abundance of positive findings, most investigations that tout its health benefits are based on in vitro and in vivo studies that fail to consider the protean chemical behaviors of curcumin, which is known to be a pan-assay interference compound and an invalid metabolic panacea. Therefore, human clinical trials, despite rigorous study design, have been unable to prove specific benefits. This article reviews the pleiotropic properties of curcumin so that they can be balanced against its beneficial effects and suggests potential research avenues to better understand its health benefits.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.749-760
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• 2022

Omics-driven synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary research field that creates new artificial life by employing genetic components, biological devices, and engineering technique based on genetic knowledge and technological expertise. It is also utilized to make valuable biomaterials with limited production via current organisms faster, more efficient, and in huge quantities. As the bioeconomic age begins, and the global synthetic biology market becomes more competitive, investment in research and development (R&D) and associated sectors has grown considerably. By overcoming the constraints of present biotechnologies through the merging of big data and artificial intelligence technologies, huge ripple effects are envisaged in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and energy industries. In agriculture, synthetic biology is being used to solve current agricultural problems and develop sustainable agricultural systems by increasing crop productivity, implementing low-carbon agriculture, and developing plant-based, high-value-added bio-materials such as vaccines for diagnosing and preventing livestock diseases. As international regulatory debates on synthetic biology are now underway, discussions should also take place in our country for the growth of bioindustries and the dissemination of research findings. Furthermore, the system must be improved to facilitate practical application and to enhance the risk evaluation technology and management system.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

Lactic acid, the most widely occurring hydroxy-carboxylic acid, has traditionally been used as food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Even though it has tremendous potential for large scale production and use in a wide variety of applications, high cost lactic acid materials are primarily problems. Lactic acid can be obtained on either by fermentation or chemical synthesis. In recent years, the fermentation approach has become more successful because of the increasing market demand for naturally produced lactic acid. Generally, lactic acid was produced from pure starch or from glucose. As an alternative, biomass which is the most abundant renewable resources on earth have been considered for conversion to readily utilizable hydrolysate. In this study, we conducted the fermentation method to produce L(+)-lactic acid production from pretreated hydrolysate was investigated by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 10863. The hydrolysate was obtained from pretreatment process of biomass using Ammonia percolation process (AP) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. In order to effectively enhance lactic acid conversion and product yield, controlled medium, temperature, glucose concentration was conducted under pure glucose conditions. The optimum conditions of lactic acid production was investigated and compared with those of hydrolysate.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.726-737
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• 2017

Carotenoids are isoprenoids with a long polyene chain containing 3 to 15 conjugated double bonds, which determines their absorption spectrum. They typically consist of a $C_{40}$ hydrocarbon backbone often modified by different oxygen-containing functional groups, to yield cyclic or acyclic xanthophylls. Much work has also been focused on the identification, production, and utilization of natural sources of carotenoid (plants, microorganisms and crustacean by-products) as an alternative to the synthetic pigment which currently covers most of the world markets. Nevertheless, only a few carotenoids (${\beta}-carotene$, lycopene, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and lutein) can be produced commercially by fermentation or isolation from the small number of abundant natural sources. The market and demand for carotenoids is anticipated to increase dramatically with the discovery that carotenoids exhibit significant anti-carcinogenic activities and play an important role in the prevention of chronic diseases. The increasing importance of carotenoids in the feed, nutraceutical food and pharmaceutical markets has renewed by efforts to find ways of producing additional carotenoid structures in useful quantities. Because microorganisms and plants synthesize hundreds of different complex chemical carotenoid structures and a number of carotenoid biosynthetic pathways have been elucidated on a molecular level, metabolic and genetic engineering of microorganisms can provide a means towards economic production of carotenoid structures that are otherwise inaccessible. The aim of this article is to review our current understanding of carotenoid formation, to explain the perceived benefits of carotenoid in the diet and review the efforts that have been made to increase carotenoid in certain microorganisms.