• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2013

The present study tested 5 concrete mixes to develop reliable mixing proportions for the sustainable alkali-activated(AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for the floor heating system of buildings. The AA binder used was composed of 73.5% ground granulated blast-furnace slag, 15% fly ash, 5% calcium hydroxide, and 6.5% sodium silicate. As a main variable, the unit binder content varied from $325kg/m^3$ to $425kg/m^3$ at a space of $25kg/m^3$. The test results revealed that AA foamed concrete has considerable potential for practical applications when the unit binder content is close to $375kg/m^3$, which achieves the minimum quality requirements specified in KS F 4039 and ensures economic efficiency. In addition, lifecycle assessment demonstrated the reduction in the environmental impact profiles of all specimens relative to typical ordinary portland cement foamed concrete as follows: 99% for photochemical oxidation potential, 87~89% for global warming potential, 78~82% for abiotic depletion, and 70~75% for both acidification potential and human toxicity.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.637-644
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• 1996

Interstitial pneumonitis associated with interferon alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis C was first describe6 in 1994 by Kazoo et al In Japan. The mechanism of interstitial pneumonitis developed by interferon alpha was still unknown but immunologic, allergic of direct lung toxicity were suggested. We experienced a case of interstitial pneumonitis developed during interferon alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis C in a 52-year-old male patient. He was treated with 6 million units of interferon alpha intramuscularly 3 times per week for 4 weeks and noted progressive dyspnea and cough. These symptoms were subsided after 6 weeks' discontinuation of interferon alpha therapy. And so, he was retreated with 3 million units of interferon alpha 3 times per week for 8 weeks and felt dyspnea again. He was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of progressive dyspnea. Arterial blood gas(ABG) values were $PaO_2$ 90.7 mmHg and $PaCO_2$ 31.9 mmHg, and antinuclear antibody(ANA) was negative. A chest X-ray film revealed diffuse reticulo-nodular shadows in bilateral lung fields, suggesting a diagnosis of interstitial pneumonitis. A marked increase in lymphocyte count and suppressor T cell were observed in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) fluid. Lymphocyte stimulation test with interferon alpha was positive. Interstitial pneumonitis was confirmed by transbronchial lung biopsy. After discontinuation of interferon alpha, we gave oral steroid in the condition that clinical symptoms were being improved gradually.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.187-197
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• 2015

Oriental mineral medicines are single or mixture of more than one mineral species or rock/fossil which are used to treat disease. Mineral medicines remove harmful or useless substances to decrease toxicity and secondary effects, and cause the manufacture of medical compounds with increased efficacy. The extraction test is an accepted in vitro system to predict the bioaccessibility of major and minor elements from mineral medicine. It incorporates gastrointerstinal tract parameters representative of a human body that including stomach and small intestinal pH which are the same as digestion condition. The bioaccessibility of a mineral medicine is the fraction that is soluble in the gastrointestinal environment and is available for absorption. Reaction path modeling in the human body can predict digestion with gastric fluid as well as absorption in the small intestine, existence in body fluids and reaction progress of the exhaust process according to pH conditions in body. Also reaction path modeling can predict bioavailability, which is equal to existence rate in the body and the form and amount of a medicine in the body after intake. The study results from predicating the existence form mineral medicines in the body, and proving the effective ingredient using bioaccessibitily and human risk assessment, suggest these that should be necessary data for new medicine development.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.263-267
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to determine toxic effect of sucrose and trehalose prior to cryopreservation on nuclear maturation and embryonic development in immature bovine oocytes. All cryoprotectant was prepared in tissue culture medium 199-HEPES (TCM 199-HEPES) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Immature oocytes were exposed to 1.2M ethylene glycol (EG) and 0.1M sucrose or 1.2M EG and 0.1M trehalose for 3 min and then were exposed to 3.2 M EG and 0.25 M sucrose or 3.2 M EG and 0.25 M trehalose for 1 min. Oocytes treated with cryoprotectants were exposed to 0.25 M sucrose or 0.25 M trehalose for 5 min and then 0.1 M sucrose or 0.1 M trehalose for 5 min. Depending on type of sugar added to cryopreservation solution, oocytes were allocated to sucrose group and trehalose group, respectively. Oocytes exposed to TCM 199-HEPES with 10% FBS were considered as control. Oocytes were cultured in TCM 199 supplemented with 10% FBS, 5 ng/ml epidermal growth factor, 0.01 IU/ml luteinizing hormone, and $1\;{\mu}g/ml$ estradiol for 24 h in $39^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$. Nuclear maturation was assessed by staining oocytes with 1% aceto-orcein. Oocytes were fertilized in vitro and were cultured in TCM 199 supplemented with 10% FBS, 5 mM sodium pyruvate, and antibiotics in $39^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$. The rates of cleavage and blastocyst, and cell number in blastocyst were assessed. Metaphase II rates were not different among experimental groups regardless of type of sugar. The cleavage rate of trehalose group (73.3%) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of sucrose group (62.8%) and control group (60.8%). The blastocyst rate was significantly higher in trehalose group (p<0.05). Mean cell number in blastocyst were not different among experimental groups, although cell number of blastocyst in trehalose group was significantly higher on day 7 (p<0.05). In conclusion, sucrose and trehalose were not toxic to immature bovine oocytes prior to cryopreservation. In particular, trehalose was more effective on embryonic development.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.662-668
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• 2004

Ames test revealed most methanol extracts of 13 Korean wild mushroom species have strong antimutagenic effects against N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and benzo(a)pyrene[B(a)P]. Methanol extracts of Coriolus versicolor and Phaeolepiota aurea showed 74-94 and 83-88% antimutagenic effects against MNNG and B(a)P in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 strain, while 89 and 91% inhibitions were observed against B(a)P in TA98 strain, respectively. Most water extracts of wild mushrooms did not show antimutagenic activeiy on MNNG and B(a)P. Wild mushrooms extracts inhibited human colon carcinoma cells (HT29), human hepatoma cell (HepG2), and humann histiocytic lymphoma cell (U937) dose-dependently, with most methanol extracts exhibiting stronger effect than water extracts, Highest toxicity was observed against HT-29 cells in methanol extracts of Coriolus versicolor and Phaeolepiota aurea, showing 84% inhibition at 1 mg/mL, whereas C. versicolor water extract showed 53-65% inhibition against HepG2 and U937. These extracts did not show cytotoxic effects against human lymphocyte. Results revealed wild mushrooms have strong antimutagenic and in vitro cytotoxic effects.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2008

In our previous publication we compared the gene expression profiles on hepatotoxicants exposure to assess the comparability between in vivo and in vitro test systems. We investigated global gene expression from both mouse liver and mouse hepatic cell line treated with thioacetamide (TAA) and identified several common genes. In this study, we selected genes to validate them as potential biomarkers for hepatotoxicity on the relevance of in vitro and in vivo system. Three up-regulated, aquaporin 8 (Aqp8), glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx1), succinate-CoA ligase, GDP-forming, alpha subunit (Suclg1) and two down-regulated, DnaJ (Hsp40) homolog subfamily C member 5 (Dnajc5) and tumor protein D52 (Tpd52) genes were tested for their effects in vitro. For characterization of gene function, short interfering RNA (siRNA) for each gene was synthesized and transfected in mouse hepatic cell line, BNL CL.2. Cell viability, mRNA expression level and morphological alterations were investigated. We confirmed siRNA transfection against selected five genes induced down-regulation of respective mRNA expression. siRNA transfection in general decreased cell viability in different degrees and induced morphological changes such as membrane thickening and alterations of intracellular structures. This suggests that these genes could be associated with TAA-induced toxicity. Furthermore, these genes may be used in the investigation of hepatotoxicity for better understanding of its mechanism.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1246-1251
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• 2004

To investigate the effects of plant extracts on the protection against liver damage by $CCl_4$ in rat, two kinds of experiment were performed, firstly by the primary hepatocyte culture and secondly by the animal feeding. The primary hepatocyte culture with the extracts of pine leaf, soybean sprout and mugwort showed significantly low activities (p<0.01∼0.05) of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), indicating an excellent protective effect against liver damage by $CCl_4$. In the second experiment, the microsomal malondialdehyde (MDA) contents of the above same groups were also significantly lower (p<0.01) than the $CCl_4$-treated group without plant extracts, but shiitake showed less effect. Among four kinds of plant extracts, extracts of pine leaf and mugwort showed also much higher activities of the microsomal cytochrome P-450 in comparison to soybean sprout and shiitake. In the test of xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity, all of three groups except shiitake showed significantly low activities (p<0.01). These consistent results in vitro and in vivo suggest that the extracts of pine leaf, soybean sprout and mugwort may have strong protective effects against liver damage induced by the potential toxicants such as $CCl_4$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.824-831
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• 2011

This study was to investigate 90-day repeated-dose toxicities of 50 kGy irradiated methanol extract powder of red ginseng in ICR mice. The test materials (methanol extract powder of red ginseng with or without 50 kGy irradiation) were administered by gavage to male and female ICR mice at dose levels of 0, 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg/day for 90 days. In the results, no abnormality was observed in mortality, clinical findings, body weight changes, food consumptions, opthalmoscopic findings, necropsy findings and histopathological findings. Although the minor changes in blood and biochemical parameters were observed, they were not dose dependent and not affected by gamma irradiation. In conclusion, 90-day repeated oral dose of the methanol extract powder of red ginseng and 50 kGy irradiated methanol extract powder of red ginseng to ICR mice did not cause apparent toxicological change at the dose of 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.597-603
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• 2015

Synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-250 in 'herbal incense' also called 'spice' were first introduced in many countries. Numerous synthetic cannabinoids with similar chemical structures emerged simultaneously and suddenly. Currently there are not sufficient data on their adverse effects including neurotoxicity. There are only anecdotal reports that suggest their toxicity. In the present study, we evaluated the neurotoxicity of two synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-081 and JWH-210) through observation of various behavioral changes and analysis of histopathological changes using experimental mice with various doses (0.1, 1, 5 mg/kg). In functional observation battery (FOB) test, animals treated with 5 mg/kg of JWH-081 or JWH-210 showed traction and tremor. Their locomotor activities and rotarod retention time were significantly (p<0.05) decreased. However, no significant change was observed in learning or memory function. In histopathological analysis, neural cells of the animals treated with the high dose (5 mg/kg) of JWH-081 or JWH-210 showed distorted nuclei and nucleus membranes in the core shell of nucleus accumbens, suggesting neurotoxicity. Our results suggest that JWH-081 and JWH-210 may be neurotoxic substances through changing neuronal cell damages, especially in the core shell part of nucleus accumbens. To confirm our findings, further studies are needed in the future.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.545-552
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• 2017

Increasing concern is being given to the association between risk of cancer and exposure to low-dose bisphenol A (BPA), especially in young-aged population. In this study, we investigated the effects of repeated oral treatment of low to high dose BPA in juvenile Sprague-Dawley rats. Exposing juvenile rats to BPA (0, 0.5, 5, 50, and 250 mg/kg oral gavage) from post-natal day 9 for 90 days resulted in higher food intakes and increased body weights in biphasic dose-effect relationship. Male mammary glands were atrophied at high dose, which coincided with sexual pre-maturation of females. Notably, proliferative changes with altered cell foci and focal inflammation were observed around bile ducts in the liver of all BPA-dosed groups in males, which achieved statistical significance from 0.5 mg/kg (ANOVA, Dunnett's test, p<0.05). Toxicokinetic analysis revealed that systemic exposure to BPA was greater at early age (e.g., 210-fold in $C_{max}$, and 26-fold in AUC at 50 mg/kg in male on day 1 over day 90) and in females (e.g., 4-fold in $C_{max}$ and 1.6-fold in AUC at 50 mg/kg vs. male on day 1), which might have stemmed from either age- or gender-dependent differences in metabolic capacity. These results may serve as evidence for the association between risk of cancer and exposure to low-dose BPA, especially in young children, as well as for varying toxicity of xenobiotics in different age and gender groups.