• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.18-32
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• 2022

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the safety, effects on proliferation of hair papilla cells, and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms of Artemisia sieversiana Ehrh. ex Willd. (AS) extract. Methods: Safety tests through purity testing, acute toxicity tests, and repeated toxicity tests were performed using AS extract (ASE) which had been dried for over two years. Cell culture and proliferation tests were conducted; VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor), and EGF (epidermal growth factor) and protein expression analyses were performed for mechanistic evaluation; and inhibitory effects of ASE on the RNA expression of testosterone, 5𝛼-reductase, and aromatase was assessed. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacy of ASE was confirmed by measuring the levels of nitric oxide, inflammatory mediators (TNF-𝛼 and PGE2), inflammatory cytokines (IL-1𝛽, IL-6, and IL-8), and chemokine MCP-1. Results: The safety of ASE was confirmed. The mechanism of cell proliferation in human hair follicle dermal papilla cells involved the promotion of VEGF, bFGF, and EGF expression. ASE decreased mRNA expression of testosterone, 5𝛼-reductase, and aromatase-1 in a concentration-dependent manner. PGE2 and TNF-𝛼 production by inflammatory mediators was also significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent manner, and inflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression was inhibited. Conclusions: ASE is suggested to promote papillary cell growth at the cellular level, to suppress expression of various enzymes involved in hair cycle and cell death, and to inhibit hair loss through anti-androgen, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2014

Purpose: Carbamate insecticides are potent cholinesterase inhibitors capable of causing severe cholinergic toxicity. Use of carbamate rather than organophosphate insecticides has been increasing. Compared with organophosphate poisoning, relatively few studies have investigated carbamate-associated acute pancreatitis. We investigated general characteristics and pancreatitis of carbamate poisoning and the predictors, among those readily assessed in the emergency department. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients, aged over 18 years, who were admitted between January 2008 and April 2012 to an emergency department (ED) of an academic tertiary care center for treatment of carbamate poisoning. Patients who exhibited poisoning by any other material, except alcohol, were excluded. After application of exclusion criteria, patients were divided according to carbamate-induced pancreatitis and non-pancreatitis groups. Results: A total of 41 patients were included in this study. Among these 41 patients, the prevalence of acute pancreatitis was 36.6% (15 patients). Initial blood chemistry tests showed a statistically higher glucose level in the pancreatitis group, compared with the non-pancreatitis group (222, IQR 189-284 vs. 137, IQR 122-175 mg/dL, P<0.05). Regarding clinical courses and outcomes, a significantly higher proportion of patients developed pneumonia [10 (66.7%) vs. 6 (23.1%), P<0.05] and had a longer hospital stay (7 days, IQR 6-12 vs. 5 days, IQR 2-11, P<0.05), but no difference in mortality, in the pancreatitis group vs. the non-pancreatitis group. In multivariate analysis, the initial glucose was showing significant association with the presentation of carbamate-induced acute pancreatitis (odds ratio 1.018, 95% confidence interval 1.001-1.035, P<0.05). Conclusion: Carbamate-induced acute pancreatitis is common, but not fatal. Initial serum glucose level is associated with acute pancreatitis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4597-4606
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• 2012

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an uncommon adenocarcinoma which arises from the epithelial cells of the bile ducts. The aim of the study was to investigate the cytotoxicity, toxicity, and anticancer activity of a crude ethanolic extract of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) against CCA. Cytotoxic activity against a CCA cell line (CL-6) was assessed by calcein-AM and Hoechst 33342 assays and anti-oxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay. Investigation of apoptotic activity was performed by DNA fragmentation assay and induction of genes that may be involved in the resistance of CCA to anticancer drugs (MDR1, MRP1, MRP2, and MRP3) was examined by real-time PCR. To investigate anti-CCA activity in vivo, a total of 80 OV and nitrosamine (OV/DMN)-induced CCA hamsters were fed with the ginger extract at doses of 1000, 3000, and 5000 mg/kg body weight daily or every alternate day for 30 days. Control groups consisting of 10 hamsters for each group were fed with 5-fluorouracil (positive control) or distilled water (untreated control). Median $IC_{50}$ (concentration that inhibits cell growth by 50%) values for cytotoxicity and anti-oxidant activities of the crude ethanolic extract of ginger were 10.95, 53.15, and $27.86{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. More than ten DNA fragments were visualized and up to 7-9 fold up-regulation of MDR1 and MRP3 genes was observed following exposure to the ethanolic extract of ginger. Acute and subacute toxicity tests indicated absence of any significant toxicity at the maximum dose of 5,000 mg/kg body weight given by intragastric gavage. The survival time and survival rate of the CCA-bearing hamsters were significantly prolonged compared to the control group (median of 54 vs 17 weeks). Results from these in vitro and in vivo studies thus indicate promising anticancer activity of the crude ethanolic extract of ginger against CCA with the absence of any significant toxicity. Moreover, MDR1 and MRP3 may be involved in conferring resistance of CCA to the ginger extract.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.490-498
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• 2010

Isotianil is a fungicide which has prevention effects against rice blast disease. In order to register this new pesticide, the series of toxicity data on animal testing were reviewed to evaluate its hazards to consumers and to determine its acceptable daily intake. Isotianil was almost excreted by urine and feces. It has low acute oral toxicity while has no skin toxicity and ocular irritation. Its skin sensitization was evaluated as slight. Genotoxicity of parent compound and metabolite was negligible. Chronic toxicity tests on rats and dogs showed changes of hematology, clinical biochemistry and liver weight. It had no reproductive and teratogenic effects. The estimation of Acceptable Daily Intake(ADI) is based on the lowest no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL). The lowest NOAEL of 2.83 mg/kg bw/day was found in the twelve-months rats study. The NOAEL was based on increased liver weight and treatment-related effect on clinica chemistry finding at the nest higher dose level of 2.83 mg/kg bw/day. Therefore, it is considered appropriated to apply an uncertainty factor of 100 to the NOAEL 2.83 mg/kg bw/day from the rat study, resulting in an ADI of 0.028 mg/kg bw/day.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.25-30
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the single-dose intravenous toxicity of Guseonwangdo-go glucose 20% pharmacopuncture. Methods: Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of five males and five females per group: an intravenous (IV) injection of 1.0 mL of normal saline solution per animal was administered to group 1 (G1, control group); an IV injections of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mL of Guseonwangdo-go glucose pharmacopuncture per animal were administered to experimental groups 2, 3, and 4 (G2, G3, and G4), respectively. General symptoms, body weights, hematological and biochemical test results, and necropsy histopathological observation were recorded in all groups. In the statistical analyses, significance was determined by using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The significance level was 0.05 in all comparisons. Results: For 14 days, no deaths or abnormalities were observed in any of the 4 groups. The body weights of all groups continuously increased during the observation period. In the hematological test, the WBC count was significantly increased in female rats of G4 compared to the control group, but this difference was considered not to be statistically meaningful. No significant biochemical changes were observed. On necropsy, crust formation was observed in one rat of the control group, and granulation tissues were observed around the injection site in one rat of G4; these changes were concluded to have been caused by injection of the needle into a vein. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the lethal dose of Guseonwangdo-go glucose pharmacopuncture is more than 1.0 mL per animal in both male and female rats. Thus, we can conclude that Guseonwangdo-go glucose pharmacopuncture injection is relatively safe to use in acute toxicity tests. Further studies are needed to establish more detailed evidences of its toxicity.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.137-154
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• 2019

Triclosan (TCS) is an antimicrobial compound used in consumer products. The purpose of current study was to examine toxicology and risk assessment of TCS based on available data. Acute toxicities of oral, transdermal and inhalation routes were low, and phototoxicity and neurotoxicity were not observed. Topical treatment of TCS to animal caused mild irritation. TCS did not induce reproductive and developmental toxicity in rodents. In addition, genotoxicity was not considered based on in vitro and in vivo tests of TCS. It is not classified as a carcinogen in international authorities such as International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). No-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined 12 mg/kg bw/day for TCS, based on haematoxicity and reduction of absolute and relative spleen weights in a 104-week oral toxicity study in rats. Percutaneous absorption rate was set as 14%, which was human skin absorption study reported by National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) (2009). The systemic exposure dosage (SED) of TCS has been derived by two scenarios depending on the cosmetics usage of Koreans. The first scenario is the combined use of representative cosmetics and oral care products. The second scenario is the combined use of rinse-off products of cleansing, deodorants, coloring products, and oral care products. SEDs have been calculated as 0.14337 mg/kg bw/day for the first scenario and 0.04733 mg/kg bw/day for the second scenario. As a result, margin of safety (MOS) for the first and second scenarios was estimated to 84 and 253.5, respectively. Based on these results, exposure of TCS contained in rinse-off products, deodorants, and coloring products would not pose a significant health risk when it is used up to 0.3%.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.260-267
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• 2021

In this study, a carboxylate-based anionic surfactant SLEC-3 was prepared from coconut oil and the structure was elucidated by using FT-IR, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR analysis. Measurements of interfacial properties such as critical micelle concentration, static and dynamic surface tensions, emulsification index, and foam stability have shown that SLEC-3 is better in terms of interfacial activity and more effective in lowering interfacial free energy than those of SLES, which has been widely used as a conventional anionic surfactant in the detergent industry. Biodegradability, acute oral toxicity and dermal irritation tests also revealed that SLEC-3 surfactant possesses excellent mildness and low toxicity, indicating the potential applicability in detergents and cleaner products formulation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.529-534
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• 1994

The lethal concentration(LC50) of several micropollutants for three species of the fish Paralichthys olivaceus, Mugil cephalus and Sebastes schlegeli were determined by acute toxicity tests. For the determination of definitive test concentrations, the fish were exposed to three test material concentrations spaced at order-of-magnitude intervals based on a logarithmic ratio in range finding tests. LC50 was determined by five concentrations of test material in a geometric progression by means of range finding tests. The 96hr-LC50 values(mg/l) were estimated by the graphical interpolation of probability-logarithm transformations. These indicated that the order of sensitivities to three kind of micropollutants was Mugil cephalus > Paralichthys olivaceus > Sebastes schlegeli.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.147-150
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• 2004

Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, and malodorous 'rotten eggs' gas that results from the decay of organic material. It is a byproduct of industry and agriculture. The mechanism of its toxicity is primarily related to inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation, which causes a decrease in available cellular energy. Because there is no rapid method of detection that is of clinical diagnostic use, management decisions must be made based on history, clinical presentation, and diagnostic tests that imply hydrogen sulfide's presence. Although there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that the early use of hyperbaric oxygen is beneficial, supportive care remains the mainstay of therapy. We describe an occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas in 51-year-old man. While cleaning the sewage of pigs. he became unconscious. When he arrived in the emergency department, he had irritability and confused mentality. The typical smell of rotten eggs on clothing and exhaled air were enough to be considered to be exposed to hydrogen sulfide. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was performed. He had a recovery to normal function.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.576-582
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• 2011

Various 2-amino-6-[3-(substituted phenyl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazol-1-yl]-4-(substituted phenyl)nicotinonitriles (3a-t) were designed and synthesized by clubbing two active anticonvulsant pharmacophores pyrazole and pyridine. All the synthesized compounds possessed the pharmacophoric elements essential for good anticonvulsant activity. The anticonvulsant screening was performed by maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) tests. Two compounds 3i and 3s showed significant anticonvulsant activity in both the screens with $ED_{50}$ values 17.5 mg/kg and 22.6 mg/kg respectively in MES screen and 154.1 mg/kg and 242.6 mg/kg respectively in scPTZ screen. They were also found to have no acute toxic effects in mice when tested at elevated doses.