• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.41-59
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• 2006

Chronic liver diseases and hepatic cancer have been reported as 10% of cause of death in Koreans. Regardless of various causes, chronic liver disease accompanies commonly hepatic fibrosis. But still the mechanism of hepatic fibrosis remains poorly understood. Using the dimethylnitrosamine(DMN)-induced hepatic fibrosis rat model, We performed to evaluate the possible therapeutic effect of RIP(extracts of Phellodendron amurense and Patrinia scabiosaefolia) and to investigate the changes in referential connective tissue proteins($TGF-{\beta}_1$, ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin, and vimentin) as a marker of fibrogenesis. For these purposes, liver tissues were stained with H & E, and Azan staining for estimation of developing fibrosis. In the DMN-treated rat liver tissue, fibrosis were developed forming incomplete septal fibrosis. Whereas, in the RIP-treated rat liver tissues, the fibrosis were decreased recovering to normal morphology. The expressions of $TGF-{\beta}_1$, ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin($\alpha-SMA$), and vimetin were increased in the DMN-treated rat liver tissues, but decreased in the various areas of RIP-treated rat liver tissues. According to these results, RIP could be a possible therapeutic agent to reduce hepatic fibrosis, and the $TGF-{\beta}_1$, ${\alpha}$-SMA, and vimentin could be possible indicative markers of hepatic fibrosis development and recovery.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2022

Oleanolic acid (OA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid, has been reported to exert protective effects against several neurological diseases through its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of OA against acute and chronic brain injuries after ischemic stroke using a mouse model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO, MCAO/reperfusion). OA administration immediately after reperfusion significantly attenuated acute brain injuries including brain infarction, functional neurological deficits, and neuronal apoptosis. Moreover, delayed administration of OA (at 3 h after reperfusion) attenuated brain infarction and improved functional neurological deficits during the acute phase. Such neuroprotective effects were associated with attenuation of microglial activation and lipid peroxidation in the injured brain after the tMCAO challenge. OA also attenuated NLRP3 inflammasome activation in activated microglia during the acute phase. In addition, daily administration of OA for 7 days starting from either immediately after reperfusion or 1 day after reperfusion significantly improved functional neurological deficits and attenuated brain tissue loss up to 21 days after the tMCAO challenge; these findings supported therapeutic effects of OA against ischemic stroke-induced chronic brain injury. Together, these findings showed that OA exerted neuroprotective effects against both acute and chronic brain injuries after tMCAO challenge, suggesting that OA is a potential therapeutic agent to treat ischemic stroke.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.11.1-11.14
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• 2020

Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed at an advanced stage of disease. Until recently, systemic treatment options that showed survival benefits in HCC have been limited to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antibodies targeting oncogenic signaling pathways or VEGF receptors. The HCC tumor microenvironment is characterized by a dysfunction of the immune system through multiple mechanisms, including accumulation of various immunosuppressive factors, recruitment of regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and induction of T cell exhaustion accompanied with the interaction between immune checkpoint ligands and receptors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been interfered this interaction and have altered therapeutic landscape of multiple cancer types including HCC. In this review, we discuss the use of anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies in the treatment of advanced HCC. However, ICIs as a single agent do not benefit a significant portion of patients. Therefore, various clinical trials are exploring possible synergistic effects of combinations of different ICIs (anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 antibodies) or ICIs and target agents. Combinations of ICIs with locoregional therapies may also improve therapeutic responses.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.207-217
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• 2015

Skin is the first line of defense for protecting our bodies against external perturbations, including ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, mechanical/chemical stress, and bacterial infection. Nutrition is one of many factors required for the maintenance of overall skin health. An impaired nutritional status alters the structural integrity and biological function of skin, resulting in an abnormal skin barrier. In particular, the importance of micronutrients (such as certain vitamins and minerals) for skin health has been highlighted in cell culture, animal, and clinical studies. These micronutrients are employed not only as active compounds in therapeutic agents for treating certain skin diseases, but also as ingredients in cosmetic products. Here, the author describes the barrier function of the skin and the general nutritional requirements for skin health. The goal of this review is to discuss the potential roles and current knowledge of selected micronutrients in skin health and function.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.74-77
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• 2006

A lactic acid bacterial strain resistant to several antibiotics such as oxytetracycline, tylosin, neomycin and sulfathiazole, which have been often used as a therapeutic agent in livestock, was isolated from the porcine gastrointestinal tract. The isolate YB-55 was identified as belonging to the genus Pediococcus with the highest similarity to P. pentosaceus on the basis of its 16S rRNA sequence and biochemical properties. The isolated strain showed viability of over 85% at pH 3.0 and was resistant to bile salt. The strain produced lactic acid of 12.3 g/L by jar fermentation and maintained its viability in the presence of antibiotics at dosage related therapeutic effect, suggesting P. pentosaceus YB-55 may of ffr potential as a probiotics for livestock.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.171-175
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• 1993

The antioxidant in the oriental drug, NP-S, traditionally used as a therapeutic agent for Hepatitis B was identified. The NP-S was divided into two fractions at molecular weight cut-off of 1000 by ultrafiltration and the fraction having molecular weight less than 1000 was named as NP-S(l)10. Both NP-S and NP-S(l)10 had antioxidant activity. An antioxidant that was extracted by chloroform from water-insoluble fraction in lyophilized NP-S(l)10 had a little smaller activity than NP-S(l)10 and identified as cyclooctasulfur(S8) by mass spectrum.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.75-91
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• 2005

Great efforts have been made to improve both the quality of life and life expectancy of diabetes by treating problems associated with chronic complications such as neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy. In particular, diabetes is an increased risk of developing several types of kidney disease, and the predominant cause of end-stage renal disease in patients with this disorder is diabetic nephropathy. Therefore, prevention of the occurrence and progression of diabetes and its complications has become a very important issue. The scientific observations of an animal model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, spontaneously occurring diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in this study suggest that one of the Kampo prescriptions, Hachimi-jio-gan comprising eight constituents, is a novel therapeutic agent.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.193-195
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• 1999

There is considerable interest in $^{188}Re$ due to its favorable properties as a therapeutic radionuclide $^{188}Re$ and $^{99m}Tc$ act as a matched pair because of their similar chemical properties, and therefore methods of labeling with $^{99m}Tc$ can be applied to the labeling with $^{188}Re$. With appropriately chosen agents as carriers of $^{188}Re$, the labeling can be readily carried out using $^{188}ReO_4^-$ in the presence of a reducing agent. $^{188}Re$ radio-pharmaceuticals based on $^{99m}Tc$ complexes have been synthesized and are currently being studied for clinical use. Some of them are shown to be suitable for therapeutic use and promising for radiotherapy in nuclear medicine.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.189-192
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• 1999

$^{188}Re$ (${\beta}^-=2.2$ MeV; ${\gamma}^-$=155 keV; $T_{1/2}$=16.9 hours) is an attractive therapeutic radioisotope which is produced from decay of reactor-produced tungsten-188 parent ($T_{1/2}$=69 days). $^{188}W$ has been produced from the double neutron capture reaction of $^{186}W.\;^{188}Re$ can be easily obtained by elution of saline on alumina based $^{188}W/^{188}Re$ generator, which is commercially available. Complexes labelled with $^{188}Re$ have been developed for the radiotherapy treatment of diseases because of the desirable nuclear properties of the radioisotope and it's chemical properties similar to those of technetium, a well established diagnostic agent.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2008

Nerve injury can lead to neuropathic pain, which is often resistant to current analgesics and interventional therapeutic methods. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) plays important role in the induction of neuropathic pain. We explored the antinociceptive effect of curcumin and its effect on ERK in the spinal cord in the neuropathic pain model of rats induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. In injured rats, mechanical allodynia, which is one of characteristics of neuropathic pain developed and the activation of ERK in spinal cord significantly increased compared with control group. However, administration of curcumin (50 mg/kg/day p.o) for 7 days started from one day before the injury prevented the development of mechanical allodynia and increase of ERK phosphorylation. These results indicate that curcumin can be a new therapeutic agent in the treatment of neuropathic pain.