• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.98-101
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• 2005

Gamgung-tang(GGT) that is included in Gamdu-tang(consists of Glycyrrhizae Radix, black beans) and Gunggui-tang(consists of Angelicae Radix and Cnidii Rhizoma), showed therapeutic effects of autoimmume thyroiditis in the previous reports. GGT was tested for the safety using Rec assay and enzymatic methods. In the Rec assay, Bacillus subtilis H-17$(Rec^+)$ and M-45$(Rec^-)$ strains were used to test DNA damage activity. From the results, there was no DNA damage of GGT. Hepatotoxicity of GGT to female ICR mice was also monitored by the measurements of serum(s)-GOT, s-GPT and LDH activities after oral feeding for 15 days. GGT was not shown any significant changes of s-GOT, s-GPT and LDH activities in mice sera.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.762-765
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• 2008

Ephedrae herba(Ma-huang) has been used to treat respiratory conditions for over 5,000 years. The early 1990s, the herbal ephedra and other products containing ephedrine began to be promoted as weight loss aids in United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity of hebal ephedra in rats. SPF Sprague-Dawley male and female rats were administered orally with herbal ephedra extract of 2,500 mg/kg(low dosage group), and 5,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily examined number of deaths, clinical signs, body weights and gross findings for 14 days. No dead animal and no significant changes of body weights were found during the experimental period. In addition, no differences were found between control and treated groups in clinical signs, hematology, serum biochemistry, and other findings. In conclusion, herbal ephedra extract did not show any toxic effects and oral LD50 value was over 5,000 mg/kg in SD rats.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.907-913
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• 2008

Taraxci Herba (TH; Pogongyoung in Korean) has been used in traditional oriental medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The biological activity of this plant is not yet evaluated systematically. This study was conducted to evaluate the inhibitory effects of TH on the production of nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated Raw264.7 cells. The aim of the present work is to investigate a potential anti-inflammatory activity of TH. The Raw264.7 cells were cultured in DMEM medium for 24 h. After serum starvation for 12 h, the cells were treated with TH for 1 h, followed by stimulating NO production with LPS ($2{\mu}g/ml$). As result of this study, TH inhibited the levels of NO, PGE2, $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6 and $IL-1{\beta}$, and the expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activated by LPS. These inhibitory effects were mediated though the inhibition of phosphorylation of inhibitory kappa B ($I{\kappa}B$). These findings showed that TH could have some anti-inflammatory effects.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.325-328
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• 2006

A 10-year-old intact female Miniature Schnauzer dog was referred with the primary complaint of persistent anorexia, remittent fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. Hemogram suggested a chronic inflammatory disease. Serum biochemistry showed moderate hepatobiliary cellular damage with severe cholestasis. Abdominal radiography and ultrasonography revealed hepatomegaly, choleliths and sludges in gall bladder and small stones in urinary bladder. Based on diagnostic findings, the case was diagnosed as cholelithiasis complicated with biliary sludge and urolithiais. Using cholecystectomy and cystectomy, choleliths and uroliths were removed from gall bladder and urinary bladder, respectively. The clinical condition was dramatically improved after surgery.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.401-411
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• 2008

This study was performed to evaluate repeated-dose oral toxicities of Flos lonicerae extract in Fischer 344/n rats. Flos lonicerae was administered orally to rats at dose levels of 0, 37, 111, 333, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg/day. Each group consisted of 10 rats of each gender. The Flos lonicerae extract was given once a day, 5 times a week, for 90 day repeatedly. This study was conducted in accordance with the Protocol of Korea National Toxicology Program and The Standards of Toxicity Study for Medicinal Products. In the present study, there were no toxicologically significant changes in mortality, clinical signs, body weight gains, ophthalmoscopy, urine analysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, necropsy findings, organ weights, histopathology, estrus cycle and sperm examination of all animals treated with Flos lonicerae extract. These results suggest that the oral no observed adverse-effect level of the test item, Flos lonicerae extract, in rats is higher than 2,000 mg/kg/day in both genders. The target organs were not established.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.327-330
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• 2010

A 7-year-old, castrated male Yorkshire terrier dog with chronic vomiting, and melena lasted for 3 weeks was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Chungnam National University. The complete blood counts and serum biochemistry revealed no remarkable findings. Gastrointestinal series revealed irregular margin in small intestinal lumen. After upper gastrointestinal series, erythema of the small intestinal lesions was found by exploratory laparotomy and full-thickness biopsy was performed. Histopathologic examination revealed infiltration of predominantly eosinophils and other inflammatory cells in small intestine. Based on these findings, the dog was diagnosed as eosinophilic enteritis. After 4 weeks medical treatment and hypoallergenic diet, the patient showed no vomiting, melena and other complications.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.137-143
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• 2008

In this research, as a method for verifying the efficacy of Ssangwhatang and fungus-fermentated Ssangwhatang, a comparative study on the liver protection effect was conducted using animal experiments by inducing the liver toxicity with the $CC_{l4}$ treatment. Inducing the liver damage resulted in the increase in the serum AST and ALP activity, and one day administration of the test material($CCI_4$: 0.5 ml/kg/day) caused 520 IU/L of the ASP activity leading to 29% enhancement in comparison with the normal group and 93% and 81% reductions in the fungus-fermentated Ssangwhatang-administered groups, BFST1 and BFST2, respectively. ALT is 42 IU/L for the normal group and 99 IU/L for the negative control group leading to 135% enhancement. 15 ml/kg/day and 30 ml/kg/day administrations of fungus-fermented Ssangwhatang(BFST) resulted in 51% and 45% decreases in the ALT concentration, respectively. One day administration of 30 ml/kg Ssangwhatang and fungus-fermentated Ssangwhatang caused the LDH in the plasma to tend to decrease. $CCI_4$(1.0 ml/kg/day) administered at the 0th and 4th days led to the observation of the tendency toward the decrease in AST, ALT, and LDH contents. The results indicate that the function of Ssangwhatang is partly reinforced under the fungus-fermentated Ssangwhatang performed in order to verify the efficacy of Ssangwhatang' s effect on the recovery from fatigues.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.348-353
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• 2012

L-2-Oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (OTC) is a cysteine prodrug that maintains glutathione in tissues. The present study was designed to investigate anti-fibrotic and anti-oxidative effects of OTC via modulation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in an in vivo thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatic fibrosis model. Treatment with OTC (80 or 160 mg/kg) improved serum liver function parameters and significantly ameliorated liver fibrosis. The OTC treatment groups exhibited significantly lower expression of ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin, transforming growth factor-${\beta}1$, and collagen ${\alpha}1$ mRNA than that in the TAA model group. Furthermore, the OTC treatment groups showed a significant decrease in hepatic malondialdehyde level compared to that in the TAA model group. Nrf2 and heme oxygenase-1 expression increased significantly in the OTC treatment groups compared with that in the TAA model group. Taken together, these results suggest that OTC restores the anti-oxidative system by upregulating Nrf2; thus, ameliorating liver injury and a fibrotic reaction.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.328-332
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• 2018

In this study, Banhasasim-tang extracts (BSTE) have an inhibitory effects on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in mouse model. Cisplatin is the most widely used anticancer drug for treatment of various cancer. However, cisplatin treatment to cancer patients leads to many side effects such as nephrotoxicity and body weight decrease. We hypothesize that BSTE improve the cisplatin-induced side effects in mouse model. We found that BSTE administration protected tubular injury by cisplatin in mouse model. BSTE also inhibited increase of creatinine and BUN induced by cisplatin injection in serum. Collectively, our data suggest that BSTE could be a therapeutic agent for reducing kidney injury induced by cisplatin treatment in cancer patients.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.234-245
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• 2009

Nutritional assessment for the elderly can identify health status and morbidity. However, development of Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) remains limited for elderly because of difficulties in understanding physiological mechanism of elderly. This study was performed to analyze and develop Nutritional Risk Index for Korean elderly Women (Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, GNRI). Based on literature review, factors for NRI were identified and indices were assessed by a cross-sectional survey. The survey involved Korean elderly women (${\geq}$60, n = 94) in Gwangju area, and sociodemographics, lifestyle characteristics, health conditions, dietary intakes based on 24h- recall, anthropometric measures (wt, ht, BMI, waist, hip, WHR, body protein, body fat, abdominal fat, and triceps skinfold thickness), and clinical biochemistry parameters (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, albumin, prealbumin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, fasting blood glucose, HbAlc, ferritin, Zn, Ca, Na, K, Vit E, Vit $B_{12}$, folate, C-reactive protein) were examined relation to nutritional risk index. Based on literature review and data analyses, three NRIs were categorized (NRI I, NRI II, NRI III) and used for further analysis. NRI I was related to having metabolic syndrome, NRI II was related to serum albumin and body weight, and NRI III was related to food habit and health concerns. Abdominal fat (%) of elderly was correlated with each NRIs. NRI II was correlated with nutritional deficiency and higher tendency of inflammatory response, and NRI III was correlated with nutritional status which tend to be lower on aging (protein, folate, Vit $B_{12}$). NRI can serve as a useful tools in assessing health risk and nutritional status. Some modification of items in NRI and validity study are need to apply to Korean elderly.