• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.54-57
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• 2004

Disulfiram (tetraethylthiuram disulphid) is used in the treatment of chronic alcoholism since it causes an unpleasant aversive reaction to alcohol. It works by inactivating hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase, leading to pronounced rise in the acetaldehyde concentration when ethanol is metabolized. Acetaldehyde causes alcohol sensitivity, which involve vasodilation associated with feeling of hotness and facial flushing, increased heart rate and respiration rates, lowered blood pressure, nausea, headache. One of its metabolites, diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) can inhibit the enzyme dopamine $\beta$-hydroxylase (DBH), this may account for the profound refractory hypotension and hypothermia seen with the disulfiram-ethanol reaction (DER), resulting from norepinephrine depletion. This report is presents the case of a patient we met, who presented with hypothermia caused by the disulfiram-ethanol reaction, and along with a brief review of the subject.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2004

Effects of the extract of oriental herbal composition, Jang Baek Union (JBU), on hangover and liver function were studied in rats. To investigate anti-hangover effect, alcohol concentration and acetaldehyde concentration of blood were measured after oral ethanol treatment. Blood alcohol concentration was significantly reduced by pre-treatment of JBU extract. The effect of JBU extract on the blood acetaldehyde concentration was more significant than commercial product used as a positive control. To investigate hepato-protective effect, serum GOT and GPT levels and histological changes of liver tissue were analyzed in $CCl_4$-treated rats. JBU extract adminstration significantly inhibited the increase of serum GPT and GOT levels induced by $CCl_4$-treatment. Moreover, histological injuries of liver tissue such as fatty changes and sinusoidal leukocytosis were inhibited by JBU extract.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.261-269
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• 1998

Concomitant administration of a single acute dose of ethanol (4 g/kg) protected mice from the hepatocellular injury observed upon administration of a large dose of acetaminophen (400 mg/kg). This was evidenced by the normal histological appearances of liver sections and by the lowered serum aminotransferase activities in mice treated with ethanol and acetaminophen together. In the mice treated with acetaminophen alone, along with the hepatic necrosis, the hepatic microsomal aminopyrine N-demethylase activity was decreased. However, co-administration of ethanol prevented this acetaminophen dependent inhibition on the microsomal mixed function oxidase activity. Pharmacokinetic studies indicated that the concentration of un-metabolized drug in the blood was increased in the ethanol treated mice. Furthermore, upon co-administration of ethanol, although the biliary levels of acetaminophen metabolites (glucuronide, sulfate and cysteine conjugates) were decreased, the level of unmetabolized acetaminophen was increased. Our findings suggest that co-administration of an acute dose of ethanol reduces the degree of hepatocellular necrosis produced by a large dose of acetaminophen and this ethanol dependent protection is, in major part, afforded by suppression of the hepatic microsomal mixed function oxidase activity catalyzing the metabolic activation of acetaminophen.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.387-391
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• 2007

Recently, much attention has been paid to developing various kinds of fermented herbal extracts, a new type of traditional herbal medicine, in the field of Korean traditional medicine. The fermentation of medicinal herbs is intended to exert a favorable influence on digestability, bioavailavility and pharmacological activity of herbal extract in the gastrointestinal tract. It also produces a number of fermentation products that intensify the nutritional and pharmacological aspects of the medicinal herbs. In order to develop a functional beverage of alleviating the aftereffects of the previous drinks, the extracts (HP-1) of fermented herbal mixture, including Artemisia capillaris Thunb., Lonicera japonica Thunberg, and Hovenia dulcis Thunb., were prepared and the medicinal effect as a hangover cure was evaluated in ethanol-loaded rats. The enzyme activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) were analyzed by measuring the concentration of blood ethanol and acetaldehyde. The mRNA expression of ADH and ALDH2 was also investigated through RT-PCR analysis. In the HP-1-treated group, the concentration of blood ethanol was significantly reduced at one hour after loading of ethanol, as compared to that in the saline-treated group. The reduced ethanol was converted to acetaldehyde, which resulted in rapid increase in acetaldehyde concentration in an hour. Acetaldehyde was started to decrease at 5 hours after ethanol loading. It implies that HP-1 is highly effective to stimulate the activities of ADH and ALDH2. The HP-1 treatment also activated the mRNA expression of ADH and ALDH. This study suggests that fermented herbal extract, HP-1 can be used as a functional beverage of alleviating the alcohol-induced hangover symptoms by stimulating the activities and gene expression of hepatic alcohol metabolizing enzymes.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.261-269
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• 1995

Background; To explore the efficacy of aspartate as NAD regenerating agent for ethanol and acetaldehyde oxidation, we performed crossover challenge in two groups of volunteers by coadministration of various doses of aspartate, asparagine and ethanol. Methods; 18 healthy male volunteers were randomly divided into two groups. 6 volunteers of the first group were administered 5 gm monosodium aspartate(MSA), 5 gm asparagine or placebo with 100 ml of $40^{\circ}$ whiskey by the 3 way-crossover design, while 12 volunteers of the other group were administered placebo, 1, 2 or 5 bottles of $Aspar^(circledR)$ containing 1 gm of MSA per bottle with 100 ml of $40^{\circ}$ whiskey by the 4 way-crossover design. Ethanol(and acetaldehyde) concentrations in venous blood drawn at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8th hour after ethanol ingestion were analysed by gas chromatogaphy. Subjective symptoms, liver function tests and psychomotor function tests were also performed during the study periods. Result; Plasma concentration and AUC of acetaldehyde in asparagine and MSA trials on ethanol ingestion were significantly lower than those of placebo trial in the 1st group. Plasma ethanol concentration of 5 bottle $Aspar^(circledR)$ trial was significantly lower than that of placebo trial in the 2nd group. Improvement of subjective symptoms or psychomotor performance by the treatment was not statistically significant. Conclusion; Aspartate and asparagine may be prospective candidates for acceleration of ethanol metabolism and prevention of ethanol toxicity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.515-521
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• 2014

The oriental traditional medicine, Aruncus dioicus var kamtschaticus (ADK) is used for hemostasis (blood stopping) and the promotion of blood circulation. Recently, the demands of the aerial part of ADK as edible mountain herbs are rapidly increased due to its unique fragrance and bioactivity. In this study, to evaluate the anti-thrombosis activity of ADK, ethanol extract and organic solvent fractions were prepared from aerial parts of ADK, and their anticoagulation and anti-platelet aggregation activities were determined. In an anticoagulation activity assay, the ethanol extract of ADK increased the thrombin time, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) 1.4-2.3 times at a concentration of 5 mg/ml. Among the fractions, the ethylacetate fraction showed strong inhibitory effects against blood clotting factors, as shown in an extension of the aPTT. In contrast, the butanol fraction strongly promoted blood clotting. In an anti-platelet aggregation assay, the activity of the ethanol extract was comparable to that of aspirin, a commercial anti-platelet aggregation agent, and the butanol fraction showed 2-fold higher aggregation inhibitory activity than aspirin. The aforementioned ethanol extract and active fractions have ignorable hemolytic activity against human red blood cells up to a concentration of 0.5 mg/ml. Considering the high content of total polyphenol, total flavonoid, and total sugar of the ethylacetate and butanol fractions, the purified active substances have potential as safe and novel anti-thrombosis agents. This report provides the first evidence of anti-thrombosis activity of ADK.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.126-130
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• 2011

To investigate the antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipemic effect of 80% ethanol extract of Schizandra Chinensis fruit, we induced diabetes in the rats with streptozotocin (STZ) and administered schizandra extract or Acarbose to diabetic rats for 21 days by oral administration. Consequently, the groups treated using schizandra extract decreased blood glucose levels more 39% than no treatment group and the case of Acarbose group was decreased it about 21%. The concentration of cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-C in blood was also decreased while treating schizandra extract, on the other hand, HDL-C concentration was significantly increased it about 26%. Those results induced that anti-atherogenic index (AAI) in blood was improved more than 82% level like normal condition, especially in treatment of schizandra extract 100 mg. The lipid profiled in feces was likewise showed apparent tendency to decrease and food efficiency ratio of diabetic rats was became higher for treatment with schizandra extract, but Acarbose group had low efficiency in compared with the result of glucose level and lipid profile in blood. As a result, schizandra extract is regard a good medicine for diabetes due to improve physical constitution, blood glucose and lipid level caused hyperglycemia and suggest that schizandra extract has real effects on the diabetes complication as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.1 s.34
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• pp.13-21
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• 1984

The present study was undertaken to investigate an effect of ginseng butanol fraction(total saponin) on the hepatic ethanol metabolism, we used experimental animals for the subject of study. When, in case of ADH and MEOS, ginseng butanol fraction was added, enzyme activity was increased in a small dose, and on the contrary, in a large dose, showed inhibitory effect. in catalase, the activity showed no significant effect by adding ginseng butanol fraction. In the light of kinetic aspect, when, in reaction mixture, ethanol and ginseng butanol fraction were concurrently added and reacted, Km value of ADH and MEOS was decreased. After pretreated with ginseng butanol fraction and inducement of acute toxic state by ethanol, the activities of ADH and MEOS were increased to an extent of about 25% compared to controls. But catalase activity was not significantly affected. In case that ginseng butanol fraction was given to mice fed with 5% ethanol instead of water for 60 days, the activities of ADH and MEOS were increased about 20% to 50% compared to ethanol-treated group. On the contrary, catalase activity was not affected. But blood concentrations of ethanol were decreased due to ginseng butanol fraction treatment. All these observations suggested that reduction of ethanol blood concentration should be dependent upon increased activities of ADH and MEOS. Thereby it suggests the recovery from alcohol intoxication can be prompted by treatment with ginseng.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.387-395
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• 2015

This study was conducted to verify the effects of Erigeron annuus powder on serum lipid levels of high-fat diet-induced mice from a nutritional viewpoint. Erigeron annuus powder has been used as a folk remedy since ancient times in Korea. There was no significant difference in the weight of the kidneys and spleens of the mice. The high-fat diet group had a significantly higher kidney weight compared to other groups (p<0.05). In the group of mice fed 20% Erigeron annuus powder with a high-fat diet, the concentration of serum LDL-cholesterol was high (p<0.05), whereas the concentration of triglyceride was remarkably lower compared to other groups (p<0.05). The group fed 10% Erigeron annuus with a high-fat diet had the lowest concentration of blood phospholipids (p<0.05) as well as the highest alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase levels in blood (p<0.05). There was no difference in blood insulin concentration. However, blood leptin concentration was significantly higher ($5.88{\pm}3.53ng/dL$) in mice fed a high-fat diet compared to other groups (p<0.05). Measurements of Erigeron annuus revealed that TPC, $ABTS^+$ radical scavenging activity of trolox, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and the measured value of FRAP were higher in the ethanol extract than in the water extract. Especially, the antioxidant activity effects were excellent for the $ABTS^+$ radical scavenging activities of trolox and FRAP values of Erigeron annuus. Therefore, Erigeron annuus powder showed antioxidant activity. Hence, Erigeron annuus powder drastically lessened triglyceride concentration in blood in high-fat diet-induced mice. Thus, the powder is considered to have utility in the food processing industry. Additional related experiments are ongoing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.1139-1147
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• 2014

We investigated whether or not Schisandra chinensis (SC), a traditional herbal medicine, has protective effects against alcohol-induced fatty liver and blood alcohol clearance. Two tests focused on acute intoxication and chronic ethanol treatment were carried out. For the chronic ethanol treatment test, rats were fed ethanol by intragastric administration everyday for 8 weeks to induce alcoholic fatty liver. Ethanol treatment significantly increased blood alcohol concentration at 90 min after acute ethanol intoxication. Compared with the two ethanol-treated groups, rats administered ethanol along with SC extracts showed an approximately 13% increased blood alcohol clearance rate at 360 min. Chronic ethanol treatment significantly increased serum and hepatic triglyceride (TG) levels, and caused fatty degeneration of liver. Ethanol treatment also elevated the serum total-cholesterol (TC) level. However, after feeding of ethanol plus SC extracts, ethanol-induced elevation of hepatic TG levels reversed, whereas elevation of serum TG and TC levels was not observed after treatment with SC extracts. Ethanol treatment significantly increased ${\gamma}$-GT, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase activities after 8 weeks. Compared with the ethanol-fed group, rats administered ethanol plus SC extracts for 4 weeks showed attenuated fatty degeneration as well as decreased hepatic function test values. SC administration also significantly increased intracellular lipid accumulation in hepatocytes and reduced steatosis score and hepatic TG levels, as measured by biochemical and histolopathological analyses. Our results indicate that the protective effects of SC are accompanied by a significant decrease in hepatic TG levels, thereby suggesting SC has the ability to prevent ethanol-induced fatty liver, by reducing hepatic TG and enzyme levels in alcoholic rats.