• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.39-61
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• 2008

Objectives : The present study was performed to investigate whether acupuncture stimulation in the rats affected regeneration properties of the injured sciatic nerve. A differential effect of acupuncture stimulation on the one point near the spinal nerve root controlling sciatic nerve activity and the other point in the peripheral area subordinated by injured nerve was compared. Materials and Methods: Rat sciatic nerves were injured by crush, and the effects on axonal regeneration on injured sciatic nerves were evaluated by acupuncture stimulation at two different regions. In proximal acupuncture stimulation group, acupuncture stimulation was performed on Huatuo Jiaji(EX B2) points located from L5 to S1 vertebral levels to stimulate the nearest spinal nerve root that innervates sciatic nerves. In distal acupuncture stimulation group, acupuncture stimulation was performed on Zusanli(ST 36) and Weizhong(BL 40) points to stimulate at peripheral area dominated by injured sciatic nerves. Acupuncture stimulation was given every other days for 1 or 2 weeks. Sciatic nerve tissues collected from acupuncture stimulation experimental groups, injury control group, and intact animal group were used for protein analysis by Western blotting or Hoechst nuclear staining. To determine axonal regeneration, Dil fluorescence dye was injected into the sciatic nerve 0.5 cm distal to the injury site in individual animal groups and Dil-labeled cells by retrograde tracing were measured in the DRG at lumbar 5 or in the spinal cord. DRG sensory neurons prepared from individual animal groups were used to measure the extent of neurite outgrowth and for immunofluorescence staining with anti-GAP-43 antibody. Results : Animal groups given proximal or distal acupuncture stimulation showed upregulation of GAP-43 and Cdc2 protein levels in the sciatic nerve at 7 days after injury. Cdk2 protein levels were strongly induced by nerve injury, but did not show changes by acupuncture stimulation. Phospho-Erk1/2 protein levels were elevated by acupuncture stimulation above those present in the injury control animals. These increase in regeneration-associated protein levels appeared to be related with increase cell proliferation in the injured sciatic nerves. Hoechst 33258 staining of sciatic nerve tissue to visualize nuclei of individual cells showed increased Schwann cell number in the distal portion of the injured nerve 7 and 14 days after injury and further increases by acupuncture stimulation particularly at the proximal position. Measurement of axonal regeneration by retrograde tracing showed significantly increased Dil-labeled cells in proximal acupuncture stimulation group compared to distal acupuncture stimulation group and injury control group. Finally, an evaluation of axonal regeneration by retrograde tracing showed increased number of Dil labeled cells in the DRG at lumbar 5 or in the ventral horn of the spinal cord at lower thoracic level at 7 days after nerve injury. Conclusions : The present data show that the proximal acupuncture stimulation at Huatuo Jiaji(EX B2) points governing injured sciatic nerves was more effective for axonal regeneration than the distal acupuncture stimulation. Further studies on functional recovery or associated molecular mechanisms should be critical for developing animal models and clinical applications.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.67-76
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• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to examine if Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture may be effective to the neuropathic pain(mechanical allodynia, cold allodynia) in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Methods : To produce the model of neuropathic pain, under isoflurane 2.5% anesthesia, L5 spinal nerve was ligated by 6-0 silk thread. After neurophathic surgery, the author examined if the animals exhibited the behavioral sign of allodynia. The allodynia was assessed by stimulating the medial malleolus with von frey filament and acetone. Three days after the neuropathic surgery, Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture was injected at Hwando($GB_{30}$) one time per two days for 2 weeks. After that, the author examined the withdrawal response of neuropathic rats' legs by von frey filament and acetone stimulation. And also the author examined c-Fos in the midbrain central gray of neuropathic rats and the change of WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT count in the blood of neuropathic rats. Results : The Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture injected Hwando($GB_{30}$) decreased the withdrawal response of mechanical allodynia that assessed with von frey filament in RA1-$GB_{30}$, RA2-$GB_{30}$ group as compared with control group. The Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture injected Hwando($GB_{30}$) decreased the withdrawal response of chemical allodynia(cold allodynia) that assessed with acetone in RA1-$GB_{30}$, RA2-$GB_{30}$ group as compared with control group. The Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture injected Hwando($GB_{30}$) showed the significant between control group and RA2-$GB_{30}$ group in the c-Fos expression. The Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture injected Hwando($GB_{30}$) did not show the significant between control group and RA1-$GB_{30}$ group, RA2-$GB_{30}$ group and RA3-$GB_{30}$ group in the WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT count. Conclusions : We have noticed that Radix Aconiti herbal acupuncture at Hwando($GB_{30}$) decreased mechanical allodynia and cold allodynia in the model of neuropathic pain compared with the control group. C-fos expression in the central gray of that group was also decreased compared with the control group. This study can be used as a basic resource on a study and a treatment of pain.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.735-742
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• 2009

The bone of spinal animals has a hydroxylapatite ($Ca_{10}(PO_4)_6(OH)_2$, HAp) structure which is well known as an excellent inorganic ion exchanger for various heavy metal ions in solutions. In this study, the reusability of cow-bone, pig-bone and fish-bone as a potential material for the removal of heavy metals in solutions was evaluated from the removal of Cu(II) ion in batch tests. The surface properties of three bones, calcined at different temperatures, were measured with SEM, XRD, FT-IR analyses. From the SEM analysis, a clear development of heterogeneity as well as pores having small diameter was observed as the calcination temperature increased. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis showed well developed crystallinity on the surface of calcined bones obtained at higher temperatures, suggesting a transform of amorphous type to crystalline type. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis showed disappearance of water molecule on the surface of HAp and organic functional groups of the HAp with increasing the calcination temperatures. Cu(II) removal in the control test was below 15%. By the way, additional 40% increase of Cu(II) removal was observed in the presence of calcined bones. For three bones, Cu(II) removal was decreased as the calcined temperature increased. Cu(II) removal was increased as the solution pH increased due to a favorable condition for the cation exchange as well as precipitation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 1992

The purpose of this study is to obtain the effective concentration of capsaicin to relieve pain with no change in the number of C-fibers and its effective duration for pain relief. Capsaicin has been used extremely as a experimental tool and as topical medications for acute or chronic tissue injuries and partial nerve injury is the main cause of causalgiform pain disorders in humans. Here, the left sciatic nerve was ligated unilaterally at the high level of the thigh to prepare an animal model of this pain condition. The rat developed guarding behavior of the ipsilateral hind paw within a few hours after the operation and this behavior was maintained for several months thereafter, suggesting the possibility of spontaneous pain. These animals were divided into two groups(4-week & 8-week) and each group was subdivided into five groups by different concentration (0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 & 2.0%). Each capsaicin concentration was treated locally on the spinal cord-side of the ligated nerve and the foot withdrawal latency was measured. Thereafter, the dorsal roots of L5 were removed from both sides immediately after in tracardial perfusion for the counting of C-fibers by the histological procedure. There were no significant differences in the foot-withdrawal latency and the number of C-fibers between the left side treated with 0.05% capsaicin and the right side treated with the vehicle. However, latencies of the left sides treated with 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0% capsaicin increased significantly throughout 4-6 weeks with almost no change in the number of C-fibers, and the latencies showed the trends to approach slowly to those of the conditions after operation. The latency of subgroup treated with 2.0% increased by approximate 10% more than that of the right side throughout 8 weeks, and the number of C-fibers decreased by about 30% or more These results suggest that the elevated latency with capsaicin(0.1-1.0%) treatment is due to the inhibition of impulse transmission throughout the primary afferent fiber and the data from 2.0% are due to partial destruction of C-fibers. Therefore, capsaicin concentrations from 0.1% to 1.0% are probably very effective for the treatment of causalgiform pain with almost no destruction of C-fibers.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.5-15
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• 1980

The first recorded trypanosomiasis epidemic in Uganda took place at the beginning of this century in the islands and in a strip along the northern shores of Lake Victoria, which resulted in deaths of 1/3 million people. The disease was partly controlled by early 1930's and continued to occur sporadically in certain localized foci. The disease has however flared up in an explosive outbreak in Busoga district along Lake Victoria since 1977. The incidence of disease in northern district adjacent to Southern Sudan is also increasing lately. This paper describes the three month observation on the surveillance and control activities in the epidemic areas and of various health units including the Vector Control Division, the Tsetse fly Control Division, Tororo Trypanosomiasis Research Institute, medical units in Busoga, and Acholi districts. Data analysis and review were made of disease information so far collected by various health units in the Ministry of Health and district health offices. The findings may be summarized in the following: 1) A total of 12, 100 patients and 38 deaths: have occured in Busoga district since 1977 onward, and over 100 cases of diseases arc occuring in the Northern region bordering Southern Sudan. 2) the distribution of trypanosomiasis is characterized with two district patterns. The disease caused by Trypanosoma rhodesiense occurs in Busoga and is transmitted by Glossina palpalis, G. fuscipes infested in the islands and in the northern shore of forests of Lake Victoria. Another type caused by Trypanosoma gambiense occurs in Madi and Acholi in the north and is transmitted by Glossina morsitans in Savannah. 3) The house survey in Rusoga indicated that most of patients keep domestic animals in their house premises, and are engaging in either farming or fishing. Practically all the patients remembered that they had been bitten by tsetse in the field. 4) The routine diagnostic methods in the hospital laboratory is carried out through the microscopic examination of trypanosome with Giemsa stain of blood and cerebro-spinal fluid, The measurement of ESR and IgM has been used by Tororo Tryponosomiasis Research Institute for field screening.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2004

A rainbow trout uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) cDNA clone, encoding a 310 amino acid protein, was cloned and sequenced from a liver cDNA library. Two different splice variants designated UCP3-vl and UCP3-v2, were identified through liver cDNA library screening using rainbow trout UCP3 cDNA clone as a probe. UCP3-vl has 3 insertions in the UCP3 cDNA: the first insertion (133 bp), the second (141 bp), and the third (370 bp) were located 126 bp, 334 bp and 532 bp downstream from the start codon, respectively. UCP3-v2 contained a single insertion, identical in sequence and location to the second insertion of UCP3-vl. UCP3, a mitochondrial protein, functions to modulate the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation. UCP3 has been detected from heart, testis, spinal cord, eye, retina, colon, muscle, brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue in mammalian animals. Human and rodent UCP3s are highly expressed in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue, while they show weak expression of UCP3 in heart and white adipose tissue. In contrast to mammalian studies, RT-PCR and Southern blot analysis of the rainbow trout demonstrated that UCP3 is strongly expressed in liver and heart. UCP3, UCP3-vl, and UCP3-v2 all contain an Ava III short interspersed element (SINE), located in the 3'untraslated region (UTR). PCR using primers from the Ava III SINE and the UCP3 3'UTR region indicates that the UCP3 cDNA is structurally conserved among salmonids and that these primers may be useful for salmonid species genotyping.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to characterize equine heat-shock protein (Hsp) genes and analyze their expression pattern in various horse tissues and blood leukocytes after exercise. In a previous study, RNA sequencing of blood and skeletal muscles of thoroughbreds before and after exercise was performed using differently expressed gene (DEG) analysis. Three Hsp genes (HspH1, Hsp90${\alpha}$ and Hsp70) were selected by DEG analysis and were found to be differentially expressed in either blood or muscle. To validate and extend previous observations on these genes, we performed RT-PCR analyses of horse tissue as well as real-time qPCR analyses of blood leukocytes after exercise. mRNA expression of these Hsp genes was found to be ubiquitous in the analyzed tissues (including thyroid, colon, skeletal muscle, cecum, kidney, spinal cord, heart, and lung). In addition, Hsp mRNA expression of these genes in extracted whole blood increased after 120 minutes of exercise compared to the baseline condition. These results are in agreement with the results of human and other experimental animals, suggesting that regulatory mechanisms that are responsible for upregulation of Hsp gene transcription may be conserved among species. Further investigations to correlate Hsp gene expression patterns with athletic performance or recovery processes after exercise are warranted.

• 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.273-282
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• 2009

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) disease group are fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting a wide range of hosts. The group includes kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, scrapie in sheep and goats and Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. The exact nature of the infectious agent involved in the transmission of these diseases remains controversial. However, a central event in their pathogenesis is the accumulation in infected tissues of an abnormal form of a host-encoded protein, the prion protein (PrP). Whereas the normal cellular protein is fully sensitive to protease ($PrP^{sen}$), the disease-associated prion protein ($PrP^d$) is only partly degraded ($PrP^{res}$), its amino-terminal end being removed. BSE was first reported in the mid-80s in the UK. Ten years later, a new form of human prion disease, variant CJD (vCJD) developed in the wake of the BSE epidemic, and there is now strong scientific evidence that vCJD was initiated by the exposure of humans to BSE-infected tissues, thus indicating a zoonotic disease. However, the ban on the feeding of animal-derived proteins to ruminants, and the apparent lack of vertical transmission of BSE, have led to a decline in the incidence of the disease within cattle herd and therefore, an assumed decreased risk for human contacting vCJD. The origin of the original case(s) of BSE still remains an enigma even though three hypotheses have been raised. Hypotheses are i) sheep- or goat-derived scrapie-infected tissues included in meat and bone meal fed to cattle, ii) a previously undetected sporadic or genetic bovine TSE contaminating cattle feed or iii) originating from a human TSE through animal feed contaminated with human remains. A host cellular membrane protein ($PrP^C$), which is abundant in central nervous system tissue, appear to be conformationally altered in the diseased host into a prion protein ($PrP^{Sc}$). This $PrP^{Sc}$ is detergent insoluble and partially protease-resistant ($PrP^{res}$). The term $PrP^{res}$ is normally used to describe the protein detected after protease treatment, in techniques such as Western immunoblotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay using fresh/frozen tissue. Immunohistochemistry may performed with formalin-fixed tissues. Also, clinical signs of the BSE are one of the major diagnostic indicators. Recently, atypical forms (known as H- and L-type) of BSE have appeared in several European countries, Japan, Canada and the United States. An unusual case was also reported in a miniature zebu. The atypical BSE fall into two groups based on the relative molecular mass (Mm) of the unglycosylated $PrP^{res}$ band relative to that of classical BSE, one of the higher Mm (H-type) and the other lower (L-type). Both types have been detected worldwide as rare cases in older animals, at a low prevalence consistent with the possibility of sporadic forms of prion diseases in cattle. This raises the unwelcome possibility that vCJD could increase in the human population. Now, active surveillance program against BSE is going on in Korea. In regional veterinary service lab, ELISA is applied to screen the BSE in slaughter and confirmatory tests by Western immunoblotting and immunohistochemisty are carried out if there are positive or suspect in the screening test. Also, the ruminant feed ban is rigorously enforced. Removal of specified risk materials such as brain and spinal cord from cattle is mandatory process at slaughter to prevent the infected material from entering the human food chain.