• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.1086-1097
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• 2022

During the last decades, research and therapeutic methods in cancer treatment have been evolving. As the results, nowadays, cancer patients are receiving several types of treatments, ranging from chemotherapy and radiation therapy to surgery and immunotherapy. In fact, most cancer patients take a combination of current anti-cancer therapies to improve the efficacy of treatment. However, current strategies still cause some side effects to patients, such as pain and depression. Therefore, there is the need to discover better ways to eradicate cancer whilst minimizing side effects. Recently, immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint blockade, is rising as an effective anti-cancer treatment. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation therapy, immunotherapy has few side effects and a higher tumor cell removal efficacy depend on cellular immunological mechanisms. Moreover, recent studies suggest that tissue immune responses are regulated by their microbiome composition. Each tissue has their specific microenvironment, which makes their microbiome composition different, particularly in the context of different types of cancer, such as breast, colorectal, kidney, lung, and skin. Herein, we review the current understanding of the relationship of immune responses and tissue microbiome in cancer in both animal and human studies. Moreover, we discuss the cancer-microbiome-immune axis in the context of cancer development and treatment. Finally, we speculate on strategies to control tissue microbiome alterations that may synergistically affect the immune system and impact cancer treatment outcomes.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2010

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the multipotent capacity and this potential can be applied for obtaining valuable cell types which can use for cell therapy on various regenerative diseases. However, insufficient availability of cellular source is the major problem in cell therapy field using adult stem cell sources. Recently, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been highlighted to overcome a limitation of adult cellular sources because they retain unlimited proliferation capacity and pluripotency. To use of hESCs in cell therapy, above all, animal pathogen free culture system and purification of a specific target cell population to avoid teratoma formation are required. In this study, we describe the differentiation of a mesenchymal stem cell-like cells population from feeder-free cultured hESCs(hESC-MSCs) using direct induction system. hESC-MSCs revealed characteristics similar to MSCs derived from bone marrow, and undifferentiated cell markers were extremely low in hESC-MSCs in RT-PCR, immunostaining and FACS analyses. Thus, this study proffer a basis of effective generation of specialized human mesenchymal stem cell types which can use for further clinical applications, from xenofree cultured hESCs using direct induction system.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.386-398
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• 2020

Tissue fibrosis is an eventual pathologic change of numerous chronic illnesses, which is characterized by resident fibroblasts differentiation into myofibroblasts during inflammation, coupled with excessive extracellular matrix deposition in tissues, ultimately leading to failure of normal organ function. Now, there are many mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of tissue fibrosis, which facilitate the discovery of effective antifibrotic drugs. Moreover, many chronic diseases remain a significant clinical unmet need. For the past five years, many research works have undoubtedly addressed the functional dependency of ginsenosides in different types of fibrosis and the successful remission in various animal models treated with ginsenosides. Caveolin-1, interleukin, thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), liver X receptors (LXRs), Nrf2, microRNA-27b, PPARδ-STAT3, liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-AMPK, and TGF-β1/Smads are potential therapy targeting using ginsenosides. Ginsenosides can play a targeting role and suppress chronic inflammatory response, collagen deposition, and epitheliale-mesenchymal transition (EMT), as well as myofibroblast activation to attenuate fibrosis. In this report, our aim was to focus on the therapeutic prospects of ginsenosides in fibrosis-related human diseases making use of results acquired from various animal models. These findings should provide important therapeutic clues and strategies for the exploration of new drugs for fibrosis treatment.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.69-84
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• 2007

Objectives : Intelligent thermo-acupuncture system (ITA-system) is invented for the convenient operation of thermo-acupuncture therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate the safety of 100 ㎑ electromagnetic field (EMF) made by ITA-system. Methods : We analysed the influence of this EMF on animals. In order to do experiment in the influence of EMF, male ICR mice were exposed to EMF at different distances from the ITA-system. And we examined weight, diet, behavior, organ and hematological changes. Results & Conclusions : According to the animal studies with mice about EMF influence, there was no significant difference between the control group and the exposed groups about them. In conclusion, the safety of 100 ㎑ EMF made from ITA-system through this animal research was checked.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to summarize current research trends and results regarding acupuncture treatment for hypertension. Methods: Articles published from 2009 to 2019 were searched on domestic databases (OASIS, NDSL, RISS) and PubMed using the keywords 'Hypertension', 'Hypertensive', 'Acupuncture', 'EA' (electroacupuncture), 'Autonomic nervous system', 'ANS', 'CVD' (cardiovascular disease), '고혈압', '침', '전침', and '자율신경계'. The studies were analyzed according to the year, type of study (domestic or foreign articles, nationality of the first author), acupuncture type for human and animal studies, BP (blood pressure) measurement, and acupuncture intervention. Results: In total, 21 articles were selected. There were 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 3 non-randomized controlled trials (nRCTs), 2 before-after studies, 1 case series, and 7 animal studies. Manual acupuncture (11 articles) was most frequently used, and ST36 (足三里) was most frequently used in human studies. In 18 of 21 articles, acupuncture was reported as effective in lowering systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in hypertensive patients. Conclusions: Acupuncture treatment for hypertension is deemed useful. Further studies are necessary for application of acupuncture therapy in clinical practice.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 1981

The clinical need for agents to modify immune response in the treatment of viral infection has lead to an increased interest in cellular and biochemical mechanisms regulating the immune response and to the development of a variety of biological and chemical substance with immunomodulatory activity. Inosiplex has shown antiviral activity in tissue culture, animal models and huamn studies through augmentation of immune response. However, the effect of inosiplex on immune response in animal has not been extensively analyzed, and the effect of inosiplex on immune response has been paradoxical depending on the time of administration of inosiplex in relation to that of antigen. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the effect of inosiplex on the immune response to sheep red blood cells(SRBC) in normal and viral infected mice. Inosiplex increased cellular immune response and plaque forming lymphocyte response to SRBC, decreased the recovery of S. typhimurium from infected mice spleen, and restored the depressed cellular immune response by measle and newcastle disease virus infections. All of the above results were observed only when inosiplex was given after immunization but did not when given before immunization. These results indicate that inosiplex stimulate the efferent are of immune response and may even block the afferent are, and suggest that inosiplex is a very promising drug in therapy of many viral infections.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.84-86
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• 2008

The Tetrahymena group I intron has been shown to employ a trans-splicing reaction and has been modified to specifically target and replace human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) RNA with a suicide gene transcript, resulting in the induction of selective cytotoxicity in cancer cells that express the target RNA, in animal models as well as in cell cultures. In this study, we evaluated the target RNA specificity of trans-splicing phenomena by the group I intron in mice that were intraperitoneally inoculated with hTERT-expressing human cancer cells to validate the anti-cancer therapeutic applicability of the group I intron. To this end, an adenoviral vector that encoded for the hTERT-targeting group I intron was constructed and systemically injected into the animal. 5'-end RACE-PCR and sequencing analyses of the trans-spliced cDNA clones revealed that all of the analyzed products in the tumor tissue of the virus-infected mice resulted from reactions that were generated only with the targeted hTERT RNA. This study implies the in vivo target specificity of the trans-splicing group I intron and hence suggests that RNA replacement via a trans-splicing reaction by the group I intron is a potent anti-cancer genetic approach.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.298-309
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• 2005

As the population of the elderly grows, the prevalence of osteoporosis and its related fractures will increase in both men and women. The etiology, preventive and curative strategies of male osteoporosis are relatively unknown and understudied in comparison with those of female osteoporosis. Even currently approved therapies, e.g. bisphophonates, parathyroid hormone, and testosterone for male osteoporosis are in need of further investigation to test their safety and efficacy. Isoflavones which are found in soy have been shown to positively affect bone by stimulating bone formation while concurrently slowing down bone resorption. These observations mainly come from studies that have employed women or female animal models of osteoporosis. Therefore, there is a need to explore the role of soy and its isoflavones in preventing bone loss or rebuilding bone utilizing men or animal models of .male osteoporosis. From the review of existing literature it is too early to state the extent to which men with osteoporosis can benefit from consumption of soy or its isoflavones. In this review, the efficacy of soy and its isoflavones as alternative and/or adjunctive treatment for male osteoporosis will be discussed.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2009

A 7-year-old, intact male Pomeranian(weighing 2.2 kg), was presented with clinical signs of prolonged anorexia, polydypsia/polyuria, severe azotemia, proteinuria and heart murmur. Diagnostic studies found chronic kidney disease, severe hypertension and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The dog was treated with 2-day peritoneal dialysis, blood transfusion, anti-hypertensive therapy with amlodipine and conservative therapies direct to chronic renal failure. This is a rare case of hypertensive cardiomyopathy complicated with chronic kidney disease in dogs.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.479-482
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• 2007

A 2-year-old spayed female ferret with the clinical signs of diarrhea and anorexia for about 8 days was presented to Hansung animal hospital. The diarrhea was black and paste form. Three palpable abdominal masses were detected in physical examination. By cytologic examination using fine need aspiration, the patient was tentatively diagnosed as lymphoma. Chemotherapy was started with prednisone, vincristine and cyclophosphamide. However, the client requested stopping the therapy at day 18 and the ferret was euthanized. Autopsy was performed and the masses were confirmed as lymphoma by histopathology. Microscopically, the mass consisted of unencapsulated and infiltrative neoplasm consisted of closely packed monomorphic round cells and also ininvasive lesions observed in duodenum. On the higher magnification, pleomorphic neoplastic cells with distinct cell border and abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm were observed. Finally, the ferret diagnosed as alimentary lymphoma.