• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.423-428
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• 2009

Selenium was investigated using human origin preadipocytes to see whether it possesses preventive or therapeutic effects for obesity. Unveiling the potential of selenium in the reduction of adipogenesis can help predict the therapeutic capabilities of selenium in obesity. In the present study, the molecular mechanism of the inhibition of adipogenesis by selenium was explored to unravel the involvement of the AMP-activated protein kinase. There is emerging evidence that AMPK, a sensor of cellular energy status, is a possible molecular target of controlling adipocyte differentiation on the basis of discovery that AMPK is responsible for the major metabolic responses to exercise, and integration of nutritional and hormonal signals to modulate feeding behavior or energy expenditure in the hypothalamus. Treatment of selenium resulted in inhibition of the adipocyte differentiation process and induction of mature apoptosis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We hypothesized that selenium may exert anti-adipogenic potential though modulating AMPK. We have found that selenium significantly activated AMPK and phosphorylated its substrate acetyl-CoA carboxylase ($ACC-serine^{79}$) during the inhibitory process of adipocytes. Also, the inhibition process of adipocyte differentiation by selenium was comparable to either reveratrol or a synthetic AMPK activator, AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-${\beta}$-D-ribofuranoside). To evaluate the involvement of AMPK in anti-lipogensis, we applied AICAR and Compound C, an AMPK inhibitor, to 3T3-L1-adipocytes and found that AMPK is required for the adipocyte differentiation blocking process. These results suggest that selenium has a potential to control adipogenesis and that this effect is mediated by AMPK, an essential kinase for both inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and apoptosis of mature adipocytes.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2002

It is important to practice preventive method to control oral disease. Dental caries tendency has been decreased in developed countries, but early childhood caries(ECC, BBTD) became serious dental problems in many countries. To slove these problems, more positive and definite prenatal programs on infants and child are needed. Mostly the control of oral health was affected by a mother's knowledge and behavior in this stage. According to many studies, prenatal education is the most effective method to promote oral health in children. But in Korea, there is little oral health education programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants and children. The purpose of this study was to access the knowledge and opinions of caries prevention among gravid women. 330 pregnant women(primiparae=181, multiparae=149), aged 23 to 39 years were randomly selected at prenatal health education courses in Seoul, Korea, 2000. Face-to-Face interviews were conducted by a trained interviewer using questionnaires included demographics, attitude toward children's dental cares, knowledge of early childhood caries, knowledge concerning pregnancy and oral health. The obtained results were as follows; (1) Most respondents were very concerned about their children's oral health. (2) 58% of the respondents were unaware of early childhood caries and the proportion was significantly higher among primipara (p<0.05). (3) Only 43% of the respondents believed that improper breast feeding could develop ECC, the proportion was significantly higher among primipara(p<0.05). (4) 82% of the respondents reportedly believed that the fetus takes away calcium from the mother's teeth during pregnancy. (5) 71% of the respondents believed that dental treatment during pregnancy was unsafe. There is a relatively low level of accurate knowledge regarding infant nutritions, maternal need for oral health and dental caries prevention among pregnant women. Oral health education and promotion programs that are science-based are needed for gravid women.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 1992

The gobiid fish, Luciogobius guttalus Gill has an anguilliform with some blackish and reddish brown color in life. It grows up to 90mm in total length. The specimens have been collected from several localities in the southern parts of Korea and Hokkaido, Japan. During the ebb tide, the fish was found in high level of intertidal zone exposed to the air among pebbles in the hollows and slopes of rocks. There are also some other small gobiid fishes comprising 3 species of relative gobies and 1 species of blennioid fish. A total of 5 egg masses were collected from the coast of Haeundae in April to May 1990. Each egg mass was deposited in one layer on the underside of a stone embedded in pebbles and guarded by the male parent. The eggs are club-shaped ranging from 2.71 to 2.80mm in long axis and from 0.65 to 0.74mm in short axis. The eggs were hatched in 98 hours after incubatied at the temperature varying from 19.5 to $25.5^{\circ}C$The newly hatched larvae were from 3.85 to 4.00mm in total length with 35~36 myomeres. In eleven days after hatching, total length reached 5.50mm. The part of the fin-fold of the future dorsal and anal fins became high. In sixteen days after hatching, the lavae averaged 6.20mm in total length and the caudal notochord flex at $45^{\circ}$. The larvae reached the juvenile stage in 48~50 days after hatching and attained 12.80~14.00mm in total length, and all fin-rays was formed. Ossification of the cranium took place at 5.50mm of mean total length in parasphenoid and basioccipital. Ossification of the visceral skeleton occurred in areas where active movements of bones are required, notalbly in the parts of feeding and respiration. Vertebrae began to develop from the anterior end to ossify posteriorly. Neural and haemal spines of vertebrae ossified always prior to the corresponding centra. When larvae reached to about 6.60mm in mean total length (17~18 days after hatching), jaw bones were more repidly ossified than vertebrae and cranium. Ossification of all bones nearly completed when the larvae reached to 13.40mm in mean total length (47~50 days after hatching).

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.40-60
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• 2004

Introduction：Research on attachment in view point of the developmental perspective which began in the 1940s progressed during several decades. Many investigators focused mother-child separation in early attachment studies, and moved to the relationship with childhood psychopathology. Recently attachment theory and research are moving forward along the intergenerational transmission of attachment patterns, and adolescents and adult mental disorders in the developmental perspectives. Methods：We surveyed the research papers through Medline search, attachment-related monographs, and review or original papers published in Korean journal. Results：Developmental attachment researches have demonstrated convincingly that insecure attachment in infancy is associated with attachment disorder; several childhood psychopatholgy, such as institutional care and adoption, aggression and behavioral problems, childhood anxiety disorders and depressive disorders, gender identity disorder and feeding disorder, and child abuse and maltreatment; peer relationship and social competency, and parental behaviors. Recently the methodological advances including the Adult Attachment Interview that systematically assesses the adults' recollections of the earlier parent-child relationship they experienced could move beyond attachment researcher's initial concern with infancy to consider attachment processes throughout the life span. We could find that the quality of attachment was associated with several mental disorders in adolescents and adults significantly. Conclusion：Attachment theory would have focused on more specific parent-child relationship than general parental behavior. Recent attachment theory underscores its evolutionary origins to promote development of infant and contribute to human survival in psychobiological bases. Advances in attachment research could unite interests in evolutional biology and developmental psychology in understanding early parent-child relationship, and apply to clinical issues concerning mental health throughout the life span.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.245-257
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• 2001

This study analyzed the services as operated by the Child Health Telephone Service Center. The Center is a toll free service operated as part of the community services of the Korean Academic Society of Child Health Nursing. The aim of the study was to describe the concerns of child caregivers regarding child health care as discussed during telephone counseling. Specific objectives were as follows: 1. To analyze the activities of the Center. 2. To describe the characteristics of caregivers who made phone calls for counseling services and also the characteristics of their children. 3. To analyze the content of the counseling sessions. 4. To analyze counseling content according to the characteristics of the caregivers and their children. Data used for the study were obtained from the counseling records for the period from Sept. to Dec. 1999, as kept by the three counselors at the Center. The total number of calls was 8,261 and that consisted of 15,150 questions. The total questions were merged into 13,236 by eliminating those questions which overlapped or were of similar content. The final 13,236 questions were used for the final analyses. Almost of the callers (98.4％) were mothers. Among them 89.6％ were between 25 and 35 years of age. Geographical distribution of the callers covered the whole nation. The largest numbers who made the calls were from the Seoul metropolitan area (36％), followed by 28％ from Kyung Gi Province, and 20％ were from the Kyung Sang area. Among 8,261 callers, 72.8％ were first users. Sex of the babies and children in question for counseling was about even for males and females and ages ranged from one month to six years. The largest group (62.5％) was the less than six month age group. The finalized 13,236 questions/problems were categorized into 11 problem areas. They were in order of frequency, physical problems, feedings and nutrient concerns, information on child rearing, growth and development, guidance on utilization of child care facilities, elimination problems, sleeping concerns, immunization related concerns, behavior problems, injury and accidents, and safety measures. The most frequent problems for counseling were physical signs and symptoms (27.3％), followed by feeding and nutrients, information on child rearing, and growth and development. Of physical problems, abnormal gastrointestinal signs and symptoms were the most frequent concern and skin problems were next at 25％ and 23.3％ respectively. Loose bowels, vomiting and constipation were the most frequent gastrointestinal problems. Atopic dermatitis had the highest frequency at 53.3％ with diaper rash being the second highest among the skin problems. About 80％ of the growth and developmental category were physical development concerns related to physiological, body growth, and motor and sensory development. This study constitutes the activity report for the first year of the Center. The findings correspond with literature reports on child health problems and parents educational needs. One recommendation from this study is that since the services of the Center are carried out only by telephone, the psychology of the counselees and the counselor relationship must be considered for better services.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 1990

1. Background Women's health and their involvement in health care are essential to health for everyone. If they are ignorant, malnourished or over-worked, the health &-their families as well as their own health will suffer. Women's health depends on broad considerations beyond medicine. Among other things, it depends upon their work in farming. their subordination to their families, their accepted roles, and poor hygiene with poorly equipped housing and environmental sanitation. 2. Objectives and Contents a. The health status of rural women : physical and mental complaints, experience of pesticides intoxication, Farmer's syndrome, experiences of reproductive health problems. b. participation in and attitudes towards housework and farming c. accessibility of medical care d. status of maternal health : fertility, family planning practice. induced abortion, and maternal care 3. Research method A nationwide field survey, based on stratified random sampling, was conducted during July, 1986. Revised Cornell Medical index(68 out of 195 items). Kawagai's Farmers Syndrome Scale, and self-developed structured questionnaires were used to rural farming wives(n=2.028). aged between 26-55. 4. Characteristics of the respondents mean age : 40.2 marital status : 90.8% married mean no. of household : 4.9 average years of education : 4.7 yrs. average income of household : \235,000 average years of residence in rural area : 36.4 yrs average Working hours(household and farming) : 11 hrs. 23 min 5. Health Status of rural women a. The average number of physical and mental symptoms were 12.4, 4.7, and the rate of complaints were 22.1%, 38.8% each. revealing complaints of mental symptomes higher than physical ones. b. 65.4% of rural women complained of more than 4 symptoms out of 9, indicating farmer's syndrome. 11.9 % experienced pesticide overdue syndrome c. 57.6% of respondents experienced women-specific health problems. d. Age and education of respondents were the variables which affect on the level of their health 6. Utilization of medical services a. The number of symptoms and complaints of respondents were dependent on the distance to where the health-care service is given b. Drug store was the most commonly utilized due to low price and the distance to reach. while nurse practitioners were well utilized when there were nurse practitioner's office in their villages. c. Rural women were internalized their subordination to husbands and children, revealing they are positive(93%) in health-care demand for-them but negative(30%) for themselves d. 33.0% of respondents were habitual drug users, 4.5% were smokers and 32.3% were alcohol drinkers. and 86.3% experienced induced-abortion. But most of them(77.6%) knew that those had negative effects on health. 7. Maternal Health Care a. Practice rate of contraception was 48.1% : female users were 90.9% in permanent and 89.6% in temporary contraception b. Induced abortions were taken mostly at hospital(86.3%), while health centers(4.7%), midwiferies(4.3%). and others(4.5%) including drug stores were listed a few. The repeated numbers of induced abortion seemed affected on the increasing numbers of symptoms and complaints. c. The first pre-natal check-up during first trimester was 41.8%, safe delivery rate was 15.6%, post-natal check-up during two months after delivery. Rural women had no enough rest after delivery revealing average days of rest from home work and farming 8.3 and 17.2. d. 86.6% practised breast feeding, showing younger and more educated mothers depending on artificial milk 8. Recommendations a. To lessen the multiple role over burden housing and sanitary conditions should be improved, and are needed farming machiner es for women and training on the use of them b. Health education should begin at primary school including health behavior and living environment. c. Women should be encouraged to become policy-makers as well as administrators in the field of women specific health affairs. d. Women's health indicators should be developed and women's health surveillance system too.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.747-754
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• 2005

Nutritional regulation of gene expression associated with growth and feeding behavior in avian species can become an important technique to improve poultry production according to the supply of nutrients in the diet. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) found in chickens has been characterized to be a 70 amino acid polypeptide and plays an important role in growth and metabolism. Although it is been well known that IGF-I is highly associated with embryonic development and post-hatching growth, changes in the distribution of IGF-I gene expression throughout early- to late-embryogenesis have not been studied so far. We revealed that the developmental pattern of IGF-I gene expression during embryogenesis differed among various tissues. No bands of IGF-I mRNA were detected in embryonic liver at 7 days of incubation, and thereafter the amount of hepatic IGF-I mRNA was increased from 14 to 20 days of incubation. In eyes, a peak in IGF-I mRNA levels occurred at mid-embryogenesis, but by contrast, IGF-I mRNA was barely detectable in the heart throughout all incubation periods. In the muscle, no significant difference in IGF-I gene expression was observed during different stages of embryogenesis. After hatching, hepatic IGF-I gene expression as well as plasma IGF-I concentration increases rapidly with age, reaches a peak before sexual maturity, and then declines. The IGF-I gene expression is very sensitive to changes in nutritional conditions. Food-restriction and fasting decreased hepatic IGF-I gene expression and refeeding restored IGF-I gene expression to the level of fed chickens. Dietary protein is also a very strong factor in changing hepatic IGF-I gene expression. Refeeding with dietary protein alone successfully restored hepatic IGF-I gene expression of fasted chickens to the level of fed controls. In most circumstances, IGF-I makes a complex with specific high-affinity IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). So far, four different IGFBPs have been identified in avian species and the major IGFBP in chicken plasma has been reported to be IGFBP-2. We studied the relationship between nutritional status and IGFBP-2 gene expression in various tissues of young chickens. In the liver of fed chickens, almost no IGFBP-2 mRNA was detected. However, fasting markedly increased hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression, and the level was reduced after refeeding. In the gizzard of well-fed young chickens, IGFBP-2 gene expression was detected and fasting significantly elevated gizzard IGFBP-2 mRNA levels to about double that of fed controls. After refeeding, gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression decreased similar to hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression. In the brain, IGFBP-2 mRNA was observed in fed chickens and had significantly decreased by fasting. In the kidney, IGFBP-2 gene expression was observed but not influenced by fasting and refeeding. Recently, we have demonstrated in vivo that gizzard and hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression in fasted chickens was rapidly reduced by intravenous administration of insulin, as indicated that in young chickens the reduction in gizzard and hepatic IGFBP-2 gene expression in vivo stimulated by malnutrition may be, in part, regulated by means of the increase in plasma insulin concentration via an insulin-response element. The influence of dietary protein source (isolated soybean protein vs. casein) and the supplementation of essential amino acids on gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression was examined. In both soybean protein and casein diet groups, the deficiency of essential amino acids stimulated chickens to increase gizzard IGFBP-2 gene expression. Although amino acid supplementation of a soybean protein diet significantly decreased gizzard IGFBP-2 mRNA levels, a similar reduction was not observed in chickens fed a casein diet supplemented with amino acids. This overview of nutritional regulation of IGF-I and IGFBP-2 gene expression in young chickens would serve for the establishment of the supply of nutrients to diets to improve poultry production.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.226-236
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to get descriptive statistics of the contributing factors for early childhood caries and to predict the relationship of dietary, behavior factors and health status factors of the mother and child at pregnancy and after birth. 411 first caregivers of 5-year-old children in 12 kindergartens in Kangnung city were selected by stratified random cluster sampling. They were asked to fill out questionnaires and 364 of them responded. The obtained results were as follow: 1. Over the three-Fourth of children used nursing bottle or had breast feeding habit beyond the age of 1 year. 2. 8.7% of respondents didn't recognize the necessity of the preventive measures immediate after eruption of primary tooth, and only 35.1% replied that they had begun tooth cleaning. 3. Over 90% of children brush the teeth more than once per day. But over half (614%) of them brush their teeth without parents instruction. Sixty percent of children eat between the meals as often as 1-3 time(s) a day and the remainder at any times. 4. The first time of dental visit was for most children (87%) at over 3 years, recommending the earlier dental visit. Notwithstanding the rate of routine dental visit experience was relatively high(40.2%), implicating positive parents' attitude about oral health at Kangnung area. 5. The relationships between oral health state of the parents and the variables such as the timing of the first tooth cleaning, the frequency of brushing, the time of first dental visit, and the reason of first dental visit were not statistically significant. Together, there was no statistically significant difference between rural and urban area, private and public kindergarten, and boy and girl($x^2-test$, p>.05 or Fisher's exact test, p>.05).

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.5-24
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to develop a parenting intervention program and determine the efficacy of the program with low-birth weight infants and their mothers. Nine dyads for the experimental group and twelve dyads for the control group discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a University Hospital in Seoul were recruited for the study. For the intervention group, programmed education and support which focused on the maternal sensitivity of the infant's behavior. rearing environment. motherinfant interaction and infant care were given to each subject. Individual counseling and home visits were provided at discharge, one week after discharge. and one and three months of corrected age in every infant. Structured questionaires were administered and feeding interactions were videotaped and coded by a blinded certified observer. A Quasi-experimental design was conducted for this study. Postpartum depression, maternal self esteem. infant care burden, HOME. mother-infant interaction, and infant development were measured. Results were in favor of the intervention versus the control group. On the Beck depression inventory, intervention mothers showed decreasing trends in depressive symptom vs control mothers although, there were statistically no significant differences between the two groups at each time. The mean score of experimental group was 11.55(mild depression state) at discharge and became 8,6(normal state) at 1 month of corrected age. On the other hand, the mean score of the control group was 13.92(mild depression state) at discharge and became 14.0. Maternal self esteem in both groups improved over time. Infant care burden in both groups was also shown to increase over time. There was a significant difference between the two groups in HOME(p=.0340) at 3 months of corrected age. HOME scores of the experimental group and the control's were 31.10 and 25.58, respectively. Mothers' emotional and language responses were significantly high in the intervention group compared with the control group(p=.0155). Intervention group (53.33) showed a significantly high quality of motherinfant interaction compared with the in control group (42.80)(p =.0340). Intervention group mothers appeared have a better quality of mother-infant interaction behaviors. On the other hand, there was no statistical difference in the infant part between groups. Intervention group infants had higher trends in a general developmental quotient: although, there was no statistical difference between groups. The general developmental quotient of intervention infants was 102.56 and control's was 91.28. However, the developmental quotient of the domain of 'individuality-sociality' was higher in the intervention group infants compared with the control's(p=.0155). The concerns identified by parents revealed two domains of an infants' health management -knowledge and skills in caregiving of lowbirthweight-infants, characteristics of lowbirthweight infants, identifying a developmental milestone, coping with emergency situations and relaxation strategies of mothers from the infant care burden. Interview data with the mothers of low-birth weight infants can be used to develop intervention program contents. Limited intervention time and frequency due to time and cost limitations of this study should be modified. The intervention should be continuously implemented when low-birth weight infants become three years old. An NNNS demonstration appeared to be a very effective intervention for the mothers to improve the quality of mother-infant interactions. Therefore intervening in the mothers of low-birth weight infants as early after delivery as possible is desirable. This study has shown that home visit interventions are worthwhile for mothers only beyond the approach as an essential factor in ability of facilitating a growth fostering environment. In conclusion. the intervention program of this study was very effective in enhancing the parenting for the mothers of low-birth weight infants, resulting in health promotion of low-birth weight infants. The home-visit outreach intervention program of this study will contribute to the health delivery system in this country where there is a lack of continuous follow-up programs for low-birth weight infants after discharge from NICU, if it is activated as part of the home visit programs in community health systems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 2019

Recent studies reported that obesity upregulated the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and regulated particular behavior patterns in animal models. They also reported that ameliorated the increase in nNOS expression and decreased depression and anxiolytic effects. Thus, exercise seems to be an effective strategy for improving brain function by downregulating nNOS. However, the immune response differs greatly, depending on the exercise intensity. The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in brain nNOS expression in obese C57BL/6 mice that performed exercise of different intensities. Obesity was induced in 6-wks-old mice (n=35) by feeding a 60%-fat diet for 6-wks. A control (CON) group (n=14) was fed a normal diet. At the end of the induction 6-wks period of obesity, seven animals in the CON group and obesity-induced group were sacrificed to confirm obesity induction (preliminary experiments and confirmation of visceral fat accumulation). The remaining animals were then used in an 8-wks exercise intervention. Other than the CON (n=7), the obesity-induced animals were divided into the following groups: high-fat diet (HFD, n=7), HFD-low intensity (HFD-LI, n=7, 12 m/min for 75 min), HFD-moderate intensity (HFD-MI, n=7, 15 m/min for 60 min), and HFD-high intensity (HFD-HI, n=7, 18 m/min for 50 min). The exercise was performed on an animal treadmill. The expression of the nNOS protein in the hippocampus was significantly higher in the HFD group as compared with that in the CON group (p<0.01). However, there was no difference in the hippocampal expression of the nNOS protein in the other exercise groups as compared with that in the CON group. In contrast, nNOS expression in the HFD-HI group was significantly lower than that in the HFD-LI group (p<0.05). The expression of phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) was significantly higher in all the exercise groups as compared with that in the CON and HFD groups. There was no difference in the expression of pAkt in the cerebral cortex among groups, and the expression of pAkt in the cerebellum was significantly higher in the HFD-HI group as compared with that in the CON group (p<0.05). There were also no between-group differences in pAkt expression in the cerebellum among the various exercise groups. In conclusion, nNOS seems to be overexpressed in response to obesity, and it appears to be downregulated by exercise. Relatively high-intensity exercise may be effective in improving brain function by downregulating nNOS.