• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.333-342
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• 2003

The pathogenic effort of high glucose, possibly in concert with fatty acids, is mediated to vascular complications of diabetes via increased production of reactive oxygen species(ROS), reactive nitrogen species(RNS), and subsequent oxidative stress. This study was carried out to investigate the suppressive effect of buchu(Allium tuberosum) on oxidative stress in streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetes in Sprague Dawley male rats. The effect of buchu supplementation (10%) on lipid peroxidation, and antioxidative defense system in blood and liver was compared among normal rats fed basal diet(normal) and diabetic rats fed basal diet(DM-control) or 10% buchu-supplemented diet(DM-buchu). Diabetes was experimentally induced by the femoral muscle injection of 50 mg STZ per kg of body weight. Animals were sacrificed after 4 wks of experimental diets feeding. The induction of diabetes by STZ elevated the level of lipid peroxidation represented by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances(TBARS) and conjugated dienes in plasma, LDL, liver, and erythrocytes. 10% buchu-supplemented diet significantly reduced the levels of conjugated dienes in erythrocytes(p<0.05) and lowered TBARS in liver and LDL to the levels of control. Induction of diabetes by STZ elevated Mn-superoxide dismutase(Mn-SOD) activity and lowered activities of glutathionine reductase(GSH-red) and glutathionine peroxidase(GSH-px). Catalase activity was not affected by the induction of diabetes by STZ. However, buchu supplementation to diabetic rats significantly elevated catalase activity(p<0.05) and slightly elevated GSH-px and GSH-red activities in liver. GSH levels of blood and liver were lowered or not changed by induction of diabetes by STZ, respectively, while buchu supplementation to diabetic rats significantly elevated hepatic GSH level (p<0.05). In conclusion, it can be concluded that buchu might be a food source to attenuate oxidative stress in diabetic patients by inhibiting lipid peroxidation, by increasing hepatic GSH level, and by inducing anti-oxidative enzyme systems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

Korean red ginseng made from steaming and drying fresh ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its effects on the immune, endocrine, and central nerve systems and its anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of a formulated Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) in response to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria. RGE inhibited LTA-induced nitric oxide (NO) secretion and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in BV-2 microglial cells, without affecting cell viability. RGE also inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) p65 and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In addition, RGE increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory effect of RGE on iNOS expression was abrogated by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of HO-1. Moreover, RGE induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that regulates HO-1 expression. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors suppressed RGE-mediated expression of HO-1, and RGE enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), p38, and c-JUN N-terminal kinases (JNKs). These results suggested that RGE suppressed the production of NO, a proinflammatory mediator, by inducing HO-1 expression via PI-3K/Akt- and MAPK-dependent signaling in LTA-stimulated microglia. The findings indicate that RGE could be used for the treatment of neuroinflammation induced by grampositive bacteria and that it may have therapeutic potential for various neuroinflammation-associated disorders.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.211-220
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• 2022

Poultry are exposed to extremely high levels of oxidative stress as a consequence of the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by endogenous and exogenous stressors, such as high-stocking densities, thermal stress, environmental and feed contamination, along with factors associated with intensive breeding systems. Oxidative stress promotes lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, and inflammation, which can have detrimental effects on the health of birds. During the course of evolution, birds have developed antioxidant defense mechanisms that contribute to maintaining homeostasis when exposed to endogenous and exogenous stressors. The primary antioxidant defense systems are enzymatic and non-enzymatic in nature and play roles in protecting cells from ROS attack. Recently, plant flavonoids, which have been established to reduce oxidative stress, have been attracting considerable attention as potential feed additives. Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds that can be stabilized by binding structural compounds with ROS, and can promote the elimination of ROS by inducing the expression of antioxidant enzymes. However, although flavonoids can contribute to reducing lipid peroxidation and thereby enhance the antioxidant capacity of birds, they have low solubility in the gastrointestinal tract, and consequently, it is necessary to develop a delivery technology that can facilitate the effect intestinal absorption of these compounds. Furthermore, it is important to determine the dietary levels of flavonoids by assessing the exact antioxidant effects in the gastrointestinal tract wherein the concentrations of dietary flavonoids are highest. It is also necessary to examine the expression of transcriptional factors and vitagenes associated with the efficient antioxidant effects induced by flavonoids. It is anticipated that the application of flavonoids as natural antioxidants will become a particularly important field in the poultry industry.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.91-104
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• 1996

The viability loss or death of weed seeds buried in soil can be induced by infrared irradiation which has good penetration in moist soil. By using this principle of pre-emergence soil-treatment, the study was carried out to obtain basic information needed to develop the effective weed control method for the production of less polluted agricultural products. An apparatus for irradiating infrared was constructed by using ceramic material with high emissivity. The LPG was used as fuel for producing infrared by heating ceramic material. The soil heated in this study was loam with four levels of moisture contents (0.6, 5.7, 10.7, 15.1 % wb). The temperature distribution was measured at various soil depths when soil with different moisture content was irradiated with infrared for three different times (30, 60, 90 sec). The soil depths with duration time of minimum 3 minutes over $80^{\circ}C$, temperature inducing viability loss of weed seeds, were investigated. When the moisture content of soil was 0.6 and 5.7 % wb, the soil depths which can induce viability loss of weed seeds was greatly increased with increasing irradiation time. However, any depths of soil tested in this study was not reached to the temperature of $80^{\circ}C$ when 30 seconds of irradiation time was applied on soil with moisture content of 10.7 or 15.1 % wb. Generally, the soil depth needed for viability loss of weed seeds was decreased with increasing moisture content of soil. Also, longer irradiation time was required to induce viability loss of weed seeds with increasing moisture content of soil.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2000

To improve the pig farm management and efficiency of swine industry by inducing the farrowing to day-time from night, In the first experiment, reproduction records of purebred and crossbred pigs were collected and analyzed to estimate the $\varepsilon$ ffec 잉 of factors affecting day and night farrowing. The general linear model was used to estimate the least square means of the factors affecting various reproductive characteristics. And also, chi-square tests were used to examine the independence of the reproductive traits and environmental factors using the SAS (1992). The comparisons between pure and crossbred pigs for total number born, percentage of number born alive, gestation length, time length for farrowing were determined. The results indicated that the gestation length of crossbred (115.11 d) was slightly longer than that of purebred (114.89 d, p＜0.05). For the seasonal effects on total number born, the largest was found in spring and no differences were found among summer, fall and winter. The average gestation length was 1 day longer in spring and winter than in summer and fall. The total number born and number born alive were smaller in first, second, and greater or equal to sixth parity than other parities. And also, the percentage of no. born alive was least in greater or equal to sixth parity. For the effect of mating methods, natural and artificial insemination, on total number born and number born alive, no differences between the two methods were found. However, the percentage of number born alive for natural mating was 98.06% and was higher than artificial insemination(93.75%). The time length for farrowing was I hour were found for the 6 hrs of farrowing time. In general situation of pig farms, day-time farrowing was 34.8% and night farrowing was 65.2%, indicating that night farrowing was almost double of the night farrowing.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.388-398
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• 2020

Watermelon yield mainly depends on soil water content controlled by irrigation in a plastic greenhouse. In this study, we investigated the effect of different soil moisture contents affected by irrigation starting point on growth, yield, and physiological responses of small-sized watermelons. Irrigation was initiated at 5 different levels of soil water content as a starting point with soil moisture detecting sensor after 14 days of transplanting, and stopped at 7 ~ 10 days before harvest. These treatments were compared with the conventional periodic irrigation as control. When soil had the lowest moisture content (-50 kPa), the overall shoot growth was retarded, but the root length and root dry weight increased. The photosynthetic parameters (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate) of watermelon leaves decreased significantly in the lowest soil moisture content (-50 kPa). On the other hand, the photosynthetic rates of watermelon leaves grown with irrigation starting point between -20 and -40 kPa were observed to be higher than those of other treatments. Fruit set rate and marketable fruit yield increased significantly at -30 kPa and -40 kPa. Proline, abscisic acid (ABA), total phenol and citrulline, which are known to contribute to stress tolerance under drought condition, increased as soil water content decreased, particularly, the largest increases were recorded at -50 kPa. From these results, it was found that an appropriate water supply adjusted with an irrigation starting point between -30 and -40 kPa could help to keep favorable soil water content during the cultivation of small-sized watermelons, promoting the marketable fruit production as well as inducing the vigorous plant growth and reproductive development.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1305-1313
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• 2019

Licochalcone (LC), isolated from the roots of Glycyrrhiza inflata has multiple pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities. To date, Licochalcone C (LCC) has induced apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in oral and bladder cancer cells, but lung cancer has not yet been studied. In addition, no study reported LCC-induced autophagy in cancer until now. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of LCC on gefitinib-sensitive and -resistant lung cancer cells and elucidate the mechanism of its action. The 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay data showed that LCC significantly inhibited cell viability in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) HCC827 (gefitinib-sensitive) and HCC827GR (gefitinib-resistant) cell lines. Interestingly, Annexin V/7-aminoactinomycin D double staining and cell cycle analysis showed an apoptosis rate within about 20% at the highest concentration of LCC. LCC induced G2/M arrest by reducing the expression of the cell cycle G2/M related proteins cyclin B1 and cdc2 in NSCLC cell lines. Treatment of LCC also induced autophagy by increasing the expression of the autophagy marker protein microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and the protein autophagy-related gene 5 involved in the autophagy process. In addition, LCC increased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the cell viability was partially restored by treatment with the ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-L-cysteine. In western blotting analysis, the expression of cdc2 was increased and LC3 was decreased by the simultaneous treatment of NAC and LCC. These results indicate that LCC may contribute to anti-tumor effects by inducing ROS-dependent G2/M arrest and autophagy in NSCLC. In conclusion, LCC treatment may be useful as a potential therapeutic agent against NSCLC.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.530-535
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• 2005

Background and Aims : Cigarette smoking induces an inflammatory response in the airways, which may play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is one of the cytokines that plays an important role in inducing bronchial inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine if the level of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, Interleukin-6, is increased when the bronchial epithelial cells are exposed to a cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and an extract from stop smoking-aiding cigarettes, and examined the safety of these commercially available stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Method : Bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to CSE from cigarette and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes for 24 hours. ELISA was used to measure the IL-6 levels in the supernatant from each condition. The IL-6 mRNA levels were measured by Taqman Real time RT-PCR. N-acetyl-L-cysteine(NAC) was added to each condition to determine if NAC can inhibit the release of IL-6 from the bronchial epithelial cells when they are exposed to CSE from cigarette and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Result : When bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to a CSE from cigarettes and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes, each type of CSE stimulated IL-6 production from the bronchial epithelial cells. The IL-6 mRNA level in the Bronchial epithelial cells was also elevated and NAC was found to inhibit the release of IL-6 from bronchial epithelial cells when they were exposed to the CSE from cigarettes and stop smoking-aiding cigarettes. Conclusion : Commercially available stop smoking-aiding cigarette can induce bronchial inflammation and can be harmful to smokers. Therefore, the safety of these cigarettes for smoking cessation should be evaluated.