• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2015

The female reproductive tract has two main functions: protection against microbial challenge and maintenance of pregnancy to term. The upper reproductive tract comprises the fallopian tubes and the uterus, including the endocervix, and the lower tract consists of the ectocervix and the vagina. Immune cells residing in the reproductive tract play contradictory roles: they maintain immunity against vaginal pathogens in the lower tract and establish immune tolerance for sperm and an embryo/fetus in the upper tract. The immune system is significantly influenced by sex steroid hormones, although leukocytes in the reproductive tract lack receptors for estrogen and progesterone. The leukocytes in the reproductive tract are distributed in either an aggregated or a dispersed form in the epithelial layer, lamina propria, and stroma. Even though immune cells are differentially distributed in each organ of the reproductive tract, the predominant immune cells are T cells, macrophages/dendritic cells, natural killer (NK) cells, neutrophils, and mast cells. B cells are rare in the female reproductive tract. NK cells in the endometrium significantly expand in the late secretory phase and further increase their number during early pregnancy. It is evident that NK cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells are extremely important in decidual angiogenesis, trophoblast migration, and immune tolerance during pregnancy. Dysregulation of endometrial/decidual immune cells is strongly related to infertility, miscarriage, and other obstetric complications. Understanding the immune system of the female reproductive tract will significantly contribute to women's health and to success in pregnancy.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.611-615
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• 1993

A rapid, solid-phase microtitre plate enzyme immunoassay(EIA) to determine the concentration of progesterone and testosterone in dairy cow is described. Both steroid hormones were analysed employing antibodies against $11{\alpha}$-hemisuccinate-progesterone bovine serum albumin and 4-androsten-$17{\beta}$-ol-3-one-carboxymethyloxime bovine serum albumin, respectively. as primary antibodies and sheep Ig G as secondary antibody. The conjugated used as labels for progesterone and testosterone was progesterone-$11{\alpha}$-hydroxy-hemisuccinate- horseradish peroxidase and 4 ${\alpha}$-androsten-$17{\beta}$-ol-3-hemisuccinate- horseradish peroxidase, respectively. Detection limit of microtitre plate EIA was 6.7 pg/well for progesteone and 1.0 pg/well for testosterone.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.3_spc
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• pp.457-462
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• 2021

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Enteromorpha powder supplementation on reproduction-related hormones and genes in the late laying period of Zi geese. Methods: A total of 312 (1-year-old) Zi geese with similar laying rate were randomly divided into 2 groups with 6 replicates each, each with 21 female geese and 5 male geese. The control group was fed with a basal diet and the test group was fed with a diet containing 3% Enteromorpha powder. The trial period lasted for 7 weeks. Results: Our results showed that the laying rate was improved in the test group at each week of trial (p<0.01), and the levels of estradiol in serum and prolactin in ovary were increased compared with the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Based on above results, Enteromorpha powder supplementation at 3% could promote reproductive performance during the late laying period of Zi geese.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2021

Under the stressed condition, a complex feedback mechanism for stress is activated to maintain homeostasis of the body and secretes several stress hormones. But these stress hormones impair synthesis and secretion of the reproductive hormones, followed by suppression of ovarian function. Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) plays a major role in metabolizing exogenous substances and endogenous hormones, and its expression is recently identified at not only the liver but also several organs with respect to the pancreas, lung and ovary. Although the expression of CYP1A2 can be also affected by several factors, understanding for the changed pattern of the ovarian CYP1A2 expression upon stress induction is still limited. Therefore, CYP1A2 expression in the ovaries from immobilization stress-induced rats were assessed in the present study. The stress-induced rats in the present study exhibited the physiological changes in terms of increased stress hormone level and decreased body weight gains. Under immunohistological observation, the ovarian CYP1A2 expression in both control and the stressed ovary was localized in the antral to pre-ovulatory follicles. However, its expression level was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the stress-induced group than control group. In addition, stress-induced group presented more abundant CYP1A2-positive follicles (%) than control group. Since expression of the ovarian CYP1A2 was highly related with follicle atresia, increased expression of CYP1A2 in the stressed ovary might be associated with changes of the ovarian follicular dynamics due to stress induction. We hope that these findings have important implications in the fields of the reproductive biology.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.33-37
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• 2002

The present was performed to identify the effects of tributyltin (TBT) in the immature mice testes. 3-week-old male ICR mice were orally administrated on one time basis of TBT dose of O (Vehicle control, VC), 25 (TBT 25 mg/kg, T$_{25}$ ), 50 (TBT 50 mg/kg, T$_{50}$ ), 100 (TBT 100 mg/kg, T$_{100}$ ) mg/kg per each one. After 3 days the time treated of TBT, mice were sacrified and wighted body, testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle, vas deferens, and prostate. As the result of weighing, wights of each oragan and gonad index were tendency decresed in comparing groups of TBT treated with that (C) of unteated (p <0.05). As the result of examination of steroid hormones in the immature male mice, The concentrations of serum and intratesticular testosterone were significatly increased rather than the control group. But concentrations of estradiol were decresed objectly. A group of the highest change of concentrations of steroid hormones is T$_{100}$ . The high dose group, T$_{100}$ , was decreased all of concentrations of steroid hormones rather than those of T$^{25}$ . The result of observation with histological changes in testis showed a tendency for innercellular wall to increase damage and extinction in seminiferous tubles. As the result of investigation apoptotic cell numbers in the testis using teminal deoxy-nucleotidyl transferase -mediated dUTP-digoxygenin nick end-labeling immunohistochemical straia, The ratio of Apoptic cells significantly was incensed in depending on treatment of TBT does. In conclusion, these results shows that TBT triggers apoptosis on reproductive cell in testis and changes level of concentrations of steroid hormones in the immature male mice , as endocrine disruptors (EDs).

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.140.2-141
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• 2003

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.149-150
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.96.2-97
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• 2003

Carbofuran(CF) is one the most widely used carbamate pesticides in the world applied for insect and nematode control. Due to its widespred use in agriculture and households, contamination of food, water, and air has become serious, and consequently adverse health effects are inevitable in humans, animals, wildlife and fish, it has reported that CF alone or in combination with other carbamate insecticides influences the level of reproductive and metabolic hormones such as thyroxine and corticosterone, and results in impairment of endocrine. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1990.06a
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• pp.20-24
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• 1990

The climacteric is that phase in the aging process during which a woman passes from the reproductive to the non-reproductive stage. The signals, such as hot flashes, vaso-motoric disturbances, perspiration, stiff shoulders, emotional symptoms, are refereed to as climacteric disturbances. Treatment of climacteric symptoms centers on estrogen replacement and transquilizers, but there are many problems to be solved to use these hormones/drugs as far as dosage, duration and complications are concerned. The care of women during the climacteric years should provide relief of distressing symptoms with as high a degree of safety as possible. From this viewpoint, we used red ginseng powder to those patients with high menopausal index successfully. We studied its mechanism of action and proved that red ginseng improved the micro-circulation system via improvement of erythrocyte deferability which enhanced sex steroidgenesis consequently

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.124-131
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• 2007

There is worldwide interest in buffalo as an animal for meeting the growing demands of meat, milk and work in the developing countries. One of the major constraints to full exploitation of the productive potential of buffalo has been its inherently low reproductive efficiency as reflected by late maturity, poor expression of oestrus, silent oestrus, irregular oestrous cyclicity, seasonality in breeding, anoestrus, low conception rate, long postpartum interval, repeat breeding etc. Ovarian cyclicity is regulated by endocrine and neuroendocrine mechanisms namely hypothalamic hormones, gonadotropins and ovarian steroids. Detailed endocrine investigations are suggested with special reference to the hypothalamo-hypophysial-ovarian axis to gain a better understanding of reproduction in buffalo and to modify it to derive the maximum benefit from this animal.