• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.328-332
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• 2002

Cordyceps is reputed for its broad biological activities and as a tonic for replenishing vital function in Chinese traditional medicines. As an attempt to obtain fundamental data for the development of new type Cordyceps, the effects of the fruiting bodies of cultivated fungus of Paecilomyces japonica grown on silkworm larvae on fatigue and hematotoxicity were investigated. The antifatigue activity of dongchongxiacao (Paecilomyces japonica) was studied in mice using weight loaded forced swimming performance method. The water extract of dongchongxiacao(25 mg/kg of body weight, intraperitoneal injection at 12 and 36 hours before irradiation and 30 minute and 24 hours after irradiation) showed a significant antifatigue effect in normal mice and radiation-induced fatigue mice (p<0.0005). In the experiment on the improvement of hematotoxicity, a significant difference from the irradiated controls was seen at day 3 of the group treated with dongchongxiacao and substantial differences from the irradiated controls at day 7 was also detected.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.406-409
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• 2007

A 12-year-old female mixed Chihuahua dog was referred because of acute blindness and progressive tetraparesis. Mutifocal lesions in the cerebrum were noted on brain magnetic resonance images and cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed monocytic pleocytosis. Based on these results, granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME) was strongly suspected. Cerebral lesions were definitely diagnosed as GME based on histopathological findings and positive results of immunohistological stains of brain with T-cell marker (CD3). This report describes the clinical findings, diagnostic imaging characteristics, and immunohistopathologic features of GME in an old dog. In addition, this case demonstrates that clinical signs of GME were mediated by perivascular infiltration of T lymphocytes and identification of causes in T cell-mediated inflammation should be further studied.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.101-104
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• 2014

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, with very few therapeutic treatment options. The choices for treatment are pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, however their utility is limited because of drug toxicity and serious side effects. In this study, ethanol extracts of 13 traditional medicines used to treat Toxoplasma gondii were tested in vitro for their anti-Toxoplasma gondii cytotoxicity. The median effective concentration ($EC_{50}$) values for the herbal extracts ranged from 173 mg/mL to 1995.35 mg/mL. In HeLa cell, the selectivity of Alpinia oxyphylla (2.75), Mucunae Caulis (2.96), Dictamnus dasycarpus (7.52) which was higher than sulfadiazine (2.08). This indicates that Alpinia oxyphylla, Mucunae Caulis, Dictamnus dasycarpus extracts may be sources of new anti-Toxoplasma gondii compounds.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2008

One year old, male beagle dog was presented with acute onset of severe dyspnea, cyanosis, and anorexia. He had no trauma history. Five days earlier, the dog had been diagnosed as bacterial pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginora and E. coli. He exhibited a restrictive respiratory pattern and at admission, immediately oxygen supplementation given. On a ventrodorsal(VD) radiographic view, right lung was collapsed and contrasted with the air-filled pleural space. The mediastinum, heart, and great vessels were shifted to the left. On a right-lateral radioraphic view, the heart appeared to be elevated from the sternum. The dog was diagnosed as secondary spontaneous pneumothorax resulting from bacterial pneumonia. The chest tubes were placed on the right and left pleural cavity under general anesthesia. At 3 days after treatment, on a VD radiograph, air of right pleural cavity disappeared while left pleural cavity showed radiolucent area filled with air, and the heart was shift to the right. Therefore, the left tube thoracostomy was performed too. The right chest tube was maintained for 5 days and the left chest tube was maintained for 45 days. During the period, antibiotics and vitamin I were used for managing of bacterial pneumothorax and preventing of retroinfection through the tubes. As the result, bacterial pneumonia was well managed by medicines and secondary SP was completely treated that air in bilateral pleural cavity disappeared on radiographs. During the follow-up for 2 years, patient showed normal condition without recurrence.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2024

Ginseng is a traditional herbal medicine used for prevention and treatment of various diseases as a tonic. Recent scientific cohort studies on life prolongation with ginseng consumption support this record, as those who consumed ginseng for more than 5 years had reduced mortality and cognitive decline compared to those who did not. Clinical studies have also shown that acute or long-term intake of ginseng total extract improves acute working memory performance or cognitive function in healthy individuals and those with subjective memory impairment (SMI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or early Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia who are taking AD medication(s). Ginseng contains various components ranging from classical ginsenosides and polysaccharides to more recently described gintonin. However, it is unclear which ginseng component(s) might be the main candidate that contribute to memory or cognitive improvements or prevent cognitive decline in older individuals. This review describes recent clinical contributors to ginseng components in clinical tests and introduces emerging evidence that ginseng components could be novel candidates for cognitive improvement in older individuals, as ginseng components improve SMI cognition and exhibits add-on effects when coadministered with early AD dementia drugs. The mechanism behind the beneficial effects of ginseng components and how it improves cognition are presented. Additionally, this review shows how ginseng components can contribute to SMI, MCI, or early AD dementia when used as a supplementary food and/or medicine, and proposes a novel combination therapy of current AD medicines with ginseng component(s).

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.181-188
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• 2003

Cordyceps has a reputation for its broad biological activities and as a tonic which replenishs vital function in Chinese traditional medicines. As an attempt to obtain fundamental data for the development of new type Cordyceps, the effects of the fruiting bodies of cultivated fungus of Paecilomyces japonica grown on silkworm larvae on radiationinduced damages were investigated. We performed this study to determine the effect of Dongchongxiacao (Paecilomyces japonica) on jejunal crypt survival, endogenous spleen colony formation, and apoptosis in jejunal crypt cells and hair follicles of mice irradiated with high and low dose of gamma-radiation. Treatment with Dongchongxiacao showed no significant modifying effects on the jejunal crypt survival and endogenous spleen colony formation. The frequency of radiationinduced apoptosis was reduced by pretreatment of Dongchongxiacao (i.p.: 50 mg/kg of body weight, at 12 and 36 hours before irradiation, p<0.01). The spontaneous levels of apoptotic cells are $0.082{\pm}0.041$ in intestinal crypts and $0.231{\pm}0.084$ per hair follicle section of skin. Pretreatment of Dongchongxiacao was associated with decreases of 26.86% in intestinal crypt and 66.36% in hair follicle decrease in the number of cells with nuclei positively stained for apoptosis compared with the irradiation control group. We demonstrated for the first time that Dongchongxiacao administration could reduce the extent of apoptosis produced by radiation in the hair follicle. The results presented herein that Dongchongxiacao given before irradiation is capable of reducing the severity of cell loss as a result of apoptosis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.161-168
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• 2007

Salicornia herbacea L. (Chenopodiaceae: S. herbacea) is a salt marsh plant, which has long been prescribed in traditional medicines for the treatment of intestinal ailments, nephropathy, and hepatitis in Oriental countries. In order to elucidate the mechanisms of this herb, we conducted an anti-oxidative activity, the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production, and the suppression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, with the solvent-extracts of S. herbacea. We found that both ethyl acetate and n-butanol tractions showed potent anti-oxidative effects in comparison to other fractions using xanthine oxidase assay with $IC_{50}$ values of $66.0{\pm}0.5\;{\mu}g/ml$ and $82.5{\pm}3.8\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. In addition, both ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions showed more electron donating activity (EDA) than other tractions, according to DPPH (2, 2-Diphenyl-lpicrylhydrazyl radical) assay. The EDA of ethyl acetate fraction ($IC_{50}$ values of $117.5{\pm}3.8\;{\mu}g/ml$) is more significant than that of n-butanol fraction ($IC_{50}$ values of $375.0{\pm}12.5\;{\mu}g/ml$). Among potential anti-oxidative tractions, ethyl acetate traction dose-dependently suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS, $0.1\;{\mu}g/ml$)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 cell, while n-butanol did not. As expected, ethyl acetate fraction suppressed the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in RAW264.7 cell stimulated by $0.1\;{\mu}g/ml$ of LPS. Moreover, the ethyl acetate traction suppressed the expression of interleukin-1 $(IL)-1{\beta}$ and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) mRNA in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Therefore, these results suggest that S. herbacea may have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities by modulating radical-induced toxicity and various pro-inflammatory responses.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.166-177
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• 2018

Plant essential oils are defined as fragrant volatile oils extracted from leaves, stems, fruits, flowers, and roots of a plant. Such oils are composed of multiple components and multiple functions. By accumulation of inductive information, various plant essential oils have been studied for using in therapeutic medicine for various diseases. Despite of the apparent advantages of essential oils as a source of therapeutic medicines, plant essential oils have many limitations, including cytotoxic side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the toxicity and the mechanisms of cytotoxicity of such oils. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity to human-derived cell lines of 10 plant essential oils provided by National Institute of Forest Science (i.e., Larix kaempferi; Abies holophylla; Zanthoxylum ailanthoides; Pinus parviflora; Tsuga sieboldti; Chamaecyparis pisifera; Cryptomeria japonica; Pinus densiflora; Illicium anisatum; Pinus thunbergii). Cytotoxicity evaluations were accomplished by using CCK-assays and PCR-based cytotoxicity-related marker gene analyses with A549 cell line, and the Detroit551 cell line which are lung and skin cell line. The genes were analyzed included caspase-3 has a role in cell apoptosis, and the other cyclinA, cyclinB, cyclinD, and cyclinE regulated cell cycling for the cell proliferation. By examining the five cytotoxicity-related marker genes by performing real-time PCR and examined the cytostatic gene regulation associated with the various essential oils. The results of this study showed that the degree of cytotoxicity and the cytostatic gene regulation which could give precious information for using the plant essential oil for the clinical usages.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.387-393
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• 2011

Polygoni Multiflori Radix (PMR) a dried root tuber of Polygonum multiflorum Thunberg with bioactivities in bone metabolism is one of the most famous tonic traditional medicines in China, Japan and Korea.To observe the anti-osteoporotic effect of PMR, we observed the effects on proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of primary osteoblasts, bone nodule formation, pit formation of osteoclasts and osteoclastogenesis in vitro. As the result of that, although PMR extracts have no meaningful changes on the the proliferation of primary osteoblasts, significant (p < 0.01) increases of ALP acitivity of osteoblasts were dose-dependently observed in all PMR extracts treated groups tested compared to that of vehicle control. It means that it enhanced the differentiation (ALP activity) and bone nodule formation of osteoblast. In addition, PMR extracts dose-dependently inhibits the pit formation and the number of multinucleated osteoclast-like cells (OCLs), osteoclastogenesis in vitro. Therefore these results show the possibility of PMR extracts as another anti-osteoporotic agents.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.375-386
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• 2011

Polygoni Multiflori Radix (PMR), a dried root tuber of Polygonum multiflorum Thunberg with bioactivities in bone metabolism is one of the most famous tonic traditional medicines. To observe in vivo anti-osteoporotic efficacy of PMR extracts, we orally administered once a day for 28 days (Qd ${\times}$ 28) to bilateral ovariectomized (OVX)-induced osteoporosis ddY mice after 1 week of recovery periods at 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg (of body weight). A positive control drug, Alendronate (FOSA) 10 mg/kg-dosing group was added. As results of OVX-induced osteoporotic process, estrogen-deficient osteoporotic changes were also dramatically decreased in all PMR extracts-dosing groups. Especially middle dosage of PMR extracts, 250 mg/kg constantly and significantly (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) inhibited the loss of bone strength and bone quality. Based on the results, it was concluded that PMR extracts (125, 250 or 500 mg/kg; orally dosing) has relatively good favorable effect to prevention and/or treatment of OVX-induced osteoporosis. Therefore, although the efficacy was slighter than that of Alendronate on the inhibition of bone loss, it is expected that PMR extracts will be promising as a new anti-osteoporotic agents for prevent the fracture induced in osteoporotic patients because natural herbal medicine origin PMR extracts will be dose not show serious side effects especially the problem in upper alimentary irritation by bisphosphonate and hypercalcaemia of parathyroid hormone analogs.