• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2014

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of bacterial infections in infants and young children. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is important because of their association with renal scarring, which can lead to complications. Urine endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the major renal isoform produced and released by renal mesangial cells in response to glomerular injury. This study aimed to investigate whether urinary levels of ET-1 can be used as a biomarker for UTI diagnosis. Method: We conducted a prospective study using medical records of 70 patients below the age of 18 years, who visited Chung-Ang University Hospital from July 2012 to July 2013. We classified the patients into the UTI and control groups based on urine culture studies. The UTI group was further divided into upper and lower UTI groups using 99m-Technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy. Urine ET-1 was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with 0.3 mL urine. Results: The UTI and control groups were comprised of 45 and 25 patients, respectively. Mean urine ET-1 levels were significantly higher in the UTI group than in the control group ($1.41{\pm}0.35$ pg/mL vs. $0.33{\pm}0.07$ pg/mL, P =0.04). There was no significance difference in the quantitative value between the upper and lower UTI groups (P =0.552). There was no correlation between urine ET-1 and serum C-reactive protein (Pearson correlation [R]=0.24), urine ET-1 and serum white blood cell count (R=0.19). Conclusion: Our study suggests that urine ET-1 can be used for early diagnosis of UTI in children.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1431-1437
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• 2016

Sorghum bicolor L. is one of the important minor cereals in Asia, Africa, and the central United States, and it is considered a rich source of polyphenols, flavonoids, and dietary fiber. However, there is a lack of data on the anti-cancer activity of Sorghum in prostate cancer cells and immune activity in macrophages. This study aims to investigate the potential effects of an ethanol extract of S. bicolor L. (SE) on inducing apoptosis in RC-58T/h/SA#4 cells and immunomodulatory activity in RAW 264.7 cells. SE significantly inhibited the viability of RC-58T/h/SA#4 primary prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. The morphology of RC-58T/h/SA#4 cells treated with SE was shrunken and involved the formation of an apoptotic body and nuclear condensation. In addition, SE markedly activated caspase-8, -9, and -3; increased the protein levels of Bax, p53, cleaved PARP, and cytosolic cytochrome c; and decreased Bcl-2 protein expression. Furthermore, the inhibition of caspases in RC-58T/h/SA#4 cells with z-VAD-fmk attenuated SE-induced cell growth inhibition. The production of nitric oxide (NO) was also elevated by SE treatment, as revealed by immune response parameters. These results suggest that SE inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in primary human prostate cancer cells in a caspase-dependent manner, and it modulates the immune functions in macrophages. Therefore, Sorghum bicolor L. may be used as a functional food to prevent prostate cancer and enhance immune activity.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.209-219
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• 1986

This study was designed to investigate the effects of various sources of dietary fats on the blood and liver cholesterol(CHOL) levels in young Single Comb White Leghorn male chicks, In experiment 1, corn oil, palm gil, tallow and fish oil were added individually at a level of 4% to semipurified type diets composed of isolated soyprotein and glucose as major components. The diets were fed ad libitum for a period of 15 days. In experiment 2, various fats such as corn oil, soybean oil, repeseed oil, palm oil, tallow, fish oil and hydrogenated fish oil(HFO) were added individually at a level of 11.4% to practical type diets primarily based on corn and soybean meal. Control diet contained 3% of corn oil. All these diets were formulated to contain equivalent amount of nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals on a basis of unit kcal of metabolizable energy. The third Experiment was to compare the effects of different levels of calorie/protein(C/P ratio) of diets on the performances and various biological parameters in the chicks. Control diet was the same as in experiment 2. Another diet was added with 11.14% corn oil(C/P ratio=146) and the other diet with 10% corn oil(C/P ratio=164), The diets in experiment 2 and 3 were fed ad libitum for 26 days. In the first experiment, the chicks fed the diet containing vegetable oils tended to grow faster and show better feed efficiency without significance than those fed diets added with animal fats. However, this tendency was not observed in the experiment 2. Birds consumed the diets added with fish oil appeared to have heavier liver weight and higher liver CHOL than the others(p〈0.05), No significant differences in the levels of blood CHOL and triacylglycerol(TG) were observed among the chicks of various dietary groups(Exp. 1). Weights of liver or heart were significantly heavier in the chicks consumed the diets added with HFO or fish oil, respectively(Exp. 2). However, chicks ingested diet containing fish oil appeared to have significantly lower plasma CHOL. No significant differences were observed in the levels of liver CHOL and plasma TG among the dietary groups. Birds consumed the diet with a wider C/P ratio resulted in higher liver TG levels in experiment 3(p〈0.05). Although no statistical differences were observed among the various dietary groups, chicks fed the diet with a wider C/P ratio tended to show higher levels of plasma CHOL, TG, liver CHOL and total liver lipids compared to those of the control group.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.176-185
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• 2011

Rice is one of the most important crop in the world, in particular for food resources. With its small genome size of 383 Mb, the Oryza sativa is a model plant for genome research. Indeed, it's grain provides human with a source of carbohydrates and proteins. Rice grain has relatively low protein contents (around 8%) compared to other legume seeds (around 40%). Osborne classified seed proteins into water soluble albumin, salt soluble globulin, alcohol soluble prolamin and acidic/alkaline solution soluble glutelin. Glutelin and prolamin are the major storage proteins in rice. For the gene expression study of seed storage proteins, we analyzed 33,192 EST clones at immature stages in a rice cultivar (Oryza sativa L. cv. 'Ilpum'). Based on the expression analysis, we cloned 11 glutelin genes and figured out the 8 genes are located on Chromosome 2. The expression of glutelin genes appears to be about 28.2% of total level in immature seeds. Interestingly, glu-04 is duplicated as inverted sequences on the same chromosomes as far 4.5 kb. Our results indicate that glutelin genes, evolutionarily, were replicated on the chromosome and thus expressed as specific manners. In a whole protein composition analysis, glu05 (type B7) contains the highest lysin contents (4.51%) among the 11 rice glutelin genes. It will be an interesting future work to increase lysin contents by the gene overexpressor strategy with the aim of improved diet nutritionally fortified.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2001

OSBA(oocytes-sperm binding assay) is a tool developed for rapid test of optimal condition of IVF medium and protein source by binding ability of mouse sperm and egg. Mouse oocyte-cumulus complexes were prepared by removing of the cumulus cells with 0.1% hyaluronidase. 10$\pm$2 oocytes per 30 ${mu}ell$ medium drop were inseminated with 3 ${mu}ell$ sperm suspension and were cultured f3r 3 hours and 24 hours, respectively. And the oocytes were recovered gently and the No. of sperm bound on oocytes were counted. In the Exp. 1, the ratio of oocytes bound with one sperm at least were 60.2%(50/83), 2%(2/77) and 100%(79/79) in the medium with no protein, FBS(15%, v/v) and BSA(0.4%. w/v), respectively, Fetal bovine serum(FBS) seriously inhibited sperm binding on oocyte, although bovine serum albumin(BSA) promoted the binding ability. The inhibiting effect of FBS was dependent on the concentration of FBS. The sperm binding ability according to oocyte maturity was tested in the Exp. 2. There was no significant difference between Met. II (mature) and Met. I (intermediate mature) oocytes in the number of oocytes bound with sperm and the number of sperm bound on oocytes. Finally, in Exp. 3, two batches of Ham's F10 medium with good and poor quality by OSBA were tested (The ratios of embryos developed from PN 1-cell stage to hatched blastocyst; 25% vs. 70%). In the medium with good quality, sperm binding ability was significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05). The ratio of oocytes bound with one sperm at least was 66% and 90% in the medium with poor and good quality, respectively. Conclusively, It was possible to test IVF medium condition rapidly and easily by OSBA.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.999-1006
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• 2020

The suppression of neuroinflammatory responses in microglial cells, well known as the main immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS), are considered a key target for improving the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Teleogryllus emma is widely consumed around the world for its broad-spectrum therapeutic effect. In a previous work, we performed transcriptome analysis on T. emma in order to obtain the diversity and activity of its antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are found in a variety of species, from microorganisms to mammals. They have received much attention as candidates oftherapeutic drugs for the treatment of inflammation-associated diseases. In this study, we investigated the anti-neuroinflammatory effect of Teleogryllusine (VKWKRLNNNKVLQKIYFVKI-NH₂) derived from T. emma on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced BV-2 microglia cells. Teleogryllusine significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production without cytotoxicity, and reducing pro-inflammatory enzymes expression such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). In addition, Telegryllusine also inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) through down-regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. These results suggest that T. emma-derived Teleogryllusine could be a good source of functional substances that prevent neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.396-400
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• 2009

Dodok (Codonopsis lanceolata Bench. et Hook) root contains abundant pharmaceutical substances and is widely used as a food and a medicinal herb. To identify the major components, fermented Codonopsis lanceolata was analyzed for its chemical compositions prior to their pharmaceutical substances, which were used as the fundamental data. The contents of carbohydrate, crude protein, crude lipid and ash are 79.3%, 13.0%, 2.40% and 5.3%, respectively. The calories of fermented Codonopsis lanceolata was 390.5 kcal. Total dietary fiber was 47.4% of total carbohydrates. The protein was composed of 18 different amino acids. The contents of essential and non-essential amino acids were 8,118.18 mg and 10,913.42 mg. The K was the largest mineral followed by P, Ca and Mg, which means fermented Codonopsis lanceolata is alkali material. The contents of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids were 37.76%, 3.84%, and 35.64%, respectively. Therefore, the amount of the total unsaturated fatty acid was higher than that of any other plant. The content of crude saponin in fermented Codonopsis lanceolata was 60.1 mg/g. It is expected that a follow up study on fermented Codonopsis lanceolata through development and evaluation of processed foods for their functional properties would provide useful information as a source of medicinal foods.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1149-1157
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• 2017

Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation in our body. The use of medicinal plants has been widely applied as an alternative source for drug development. One of marine natural resources, the anti-inflammatory effect of Ishige sinicola ethanol extract (ISEE), was evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cell and mice model. As a result, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$) were inhibited with increasing concentration of ISEE without any cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ISEE suppressed the expression of not only inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice ear edema test, the formation of edema was reduced at the highest dosage of ISEE and the reduction of the number of infiltrated mast cells was observed in histological analysis. These results indicate that ISEE has a potent anti-inflammatory activity and can be used as a pharmaceutical material for many kinds of inflammatory disease.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.275-281
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• 2004

The present study was conducted to evaluate dietary requirements for essential fatty acids (EFAs) such as linoleic acid (LA, l8:2n-6), -lenolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n-3), or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) in juvenile eel Anguilla japonica cultured in a recirculating system for 16 weeks. The experimental diets contained 50% crude protein, 10% crude lipid and 3800 kcal/kg energy.Brown fish meal and blood meal were used as the main protein sources, while coconut oil, com oil and linseed oil were used as the lipid source to yield target fatty acids ratios. At the end of the trial, the effects of essential fatty acids supplementation on weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feeding efficiency (FE), proximate composition andwhole body fatty acids contents were examined. WG, SGR, and FEof eels fed diet D2, D3, was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of fish fed the other diets. Whole body HUFA concentration of eels fed D 1 was significantly lower (P<0.05) than those fed the other diets. HUFA/SFA (saturated fatty acids) ratio of whole body in eels fed diets D2, D3 and D6 were significantly higher than that of eels fed diet D1 (P<0.05).DHA/EPA ratio of whole body in eels fed diet D7was significantly higher than those fed the other diets; and eels fed diet D5 showed the lowest DHA/EPA ratio among all the dietary treatments (P<0.05).Based on the experimental results, we concluded that LNA (n-3) and LA (n-6) were necessary for optimum growth of juvenile eel, and the dietary requirement of LNA and LA were 0.35∼0.5% and 0.5∼0.65%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.382-390
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• 2015

Momordica charantia L. is a valuable food and medicinal plant of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) that is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Physicochemical properties of M. charantia based on cultivars, parts and growing stage were investigated. Crude protein contents of leaf were 27.5%, 26.9%, and 23.6% in native leaf (NL), cv. Erabu leaf (EL), and cv. Dragon leaf (DL), respectively. In particular, the crude protein content was the highest in leaves. The crude fat content was in the order of developmental stage 1 of cv. Erabu fruit (EF1) and developmental stage 1 of native fruit (NF1) with values of 4.0%, and 3.9%, respectively. There was also high amount of crude fiber in stem of all three cultivars. The crude ash content was in the order of cv. Erabu leaf, cv. Dragon leaf, and developmental stage 3 of native fruit (NF3) with values of 23.2%, 17.4%, and 13.6%, respectively. The major minerals found in M. charantia were K, Ca, and Mg. The potassium contents of developmental stage 3 of native fruit (NF3), developmental stage 3 of cv. Dragon fruit (DF3), cv. Dragon stem (DS), and developmental stage 2 of native fruit (NF2) were 498.37, 339.21, 314.30, and 307.34 ㎎ /100g, respectively, while the calcium contents were decreased of EL, DL, and NL with values of 513.45, 371.69, and 209.43 ㎎/100g, respectively. The calcium content was higher in leaves and stems than fruits. On the otherhand, the highest magnesium content was measured in EL (69.92 ㎎/100g). The highest contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll were found in NL (442.9 ㎎/100g dw), EL (759.6 ㎎/100g dw), and EL (1164.9 ㎎/100g dw), respectively. The vitamin C contents from developmental stage 2 of cv. Erabu fruit (EF2), NF3, developmental stage 3 of cv. Erabu on fruit (EF3), and NF2 were found with values of 2849.9, 2330.5, 1985.1, and 1844.5 ㎎/㎏, respectively, and found to be higher in Korean cultivar and Erabu fruit than in Dragon. The charantin contents of leaf were higher than the fruit found to be 547.71, 506.04 and 395.62 ㎍/g dw in DL, EL and EF2, respectively. According to the results, mineral contents, total chlorophyll and charantin contents of M. charantia were higher in the leaves (EL and DL) than the fruits. And, vitamin C content was the highest in the fruit (EF2 and EF3). Therefore, much more research needs to be undertaken to use of the leaves as well as fruits. The data showed that M. charantia can be considered a good source of nutrient for application in food system.