• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.406-411
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• 2011

To investigate the effects of short-term treatment with tri-n-butyltin chloride (TBTCl) and bisphenol A (BPA) on the reproduction of striped field mice, the mice were intramuscularly injected with TBTCl or BPA immediately before the reproductive season and examined in the reproductive season after keeping them for 4 months. As a result, there were no differences between the control and the compound-treated groups regarding body weight in both sexes, the residual levels of the compounds in the adult males, and the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and the histological structures with LM and EM of the testes and epididymides in both the adult and young males. The infant mortality and abortion rate, however, were high in the TBTCl-treated groups and BPA-treated groups respectively, compared to the control group. Conclusively, it was suggested that short-term treatment with TBTCl or BPA in mice in the non-reproductive season might have inhibited the development of the uterine embryos or fetuses, although it did not induce accumulations of these compounds or affect the reproductive organs of adult and young (F1) males.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.202-207
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• 2006

The crude methanol extract of the roots of Achyranthes aspera Linn. was investigated for its possible antinociceptive, diuretic and neuropharmacological activities in animal models. At the dose of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight, the extract showed a significant antinociceptive effect in acetic acid induced-writhing in mice comparable to that produced by diclofenac sodium, used as standard drug. The crude extract produced significant diuretic effect at the dose of 500 mg/kg of body weight comparable to that produced by furosemide, used as standard drug. The extract also potentiated significantly the pentobarbital induced sleeping time in mice; decreased the open field score in open field test, decreased the number of hole crossed from one chamber in the hole cross test and decreased the head dip responses. The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine and its further investigation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.183-188
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• 2005

Two mammalian receptors are reported (MT1A and MT1B). In this experiments, MT1A is expressed at a little enhanced level (about 8 times) in hypothalamus of the 9 hours exposed mice. In other part of the brain, the expression level of the MT1A and MT1B is elevated at nearly same level: 16 times in cerebellum, 128 times in hippocampus and in thalamus, respectively. But MT1B is expressed at very high level (about thousand times) in hypothalamus of the 9 hours exposed mice.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.432-438
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• 2018

Worldwide, caffeine is among the most commonly used stimulatory substances. Unfortunately, significant caffeine consumption is associated with several adverse effects, ranging from sleep disturbances (including insomnia) to cardiovascular problems. This study investigates whether treatment with the Evodia rutaecarpa aqueous extract (ERAE) from berries and its major molecular component, evodiamine, can reduce the adverse caffeine-induced sleep-related and excitation effects. We combined measurements from the pentobarbital-induced sleep test, the open field test, and the locomotor activity test in mice that had been dosed with caffeine. We found that ERAE and evodiamine administration reduced the degree of caffeine-induced sleep disruption during the sleep test. Additionally, we found that evodiamine significantly inhibits caffeine-induced excitation during the open field test, as well as decreasing hyperlocomotion in the locomotor activity test. Additional in vitro experiments showed that caffeine administration decreased the expression of ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric acid $(GABA)_A$ receptor subunits in the mouse hypothalamus. However, evodiamine treatment significantly reversed this expression reduction. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ERAE and its major compound, evodiamine, provide an excellent candidate for the treatment or prevention of caffeine-induced sleep disturbances and excitatory states, and that the mechanism of these beneficial effects acts, at least in part, through the $GABA_A$-ergic system.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2004

Anxiety in mice can be measured by behavioral reactivity to social or non-social stressors. These behaviors were compared by performing the resident-intruder test (social) as well as the light-dark transition and open-field tests (non-social) for the FVB, C57BL/6, and BALB/c lines of mouse. The three inbred lines showed significant differences in their responses to intruder mice. Three factors, accounting for about 68% of the total variance, were extracted from the scores obtained from the three behavioral tests. The first two major factors are primarily associated with the anxiety-related behaviors. One includes anxiety behaviors with a locomotive basis, while the other includes defecation measured in both anxiety tests. The third factor explains the three social behaviors, facial investigation, ano-genital investigation, and following, observed in the resident intruder test, although facial investigation is also moderately associated with the second factor. The results indicate that the behavioral responses to an intruder share a component distinct from anxiety-related behaviors.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2018

Background: Kinovea software that tracking semi-automatically the motion in video screen has been used to study motion-related tasks in several studies. However, the validation of this software in open field test to assess locomotor activity have not been studied yet. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of this software in analyzing locomotor activities. Methods: Thirty male Institute Cancer Research mice were subjected in this study. The results examined by this software and the classical method were compared. Test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability were analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of this software was analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: This software showed good test-retest reliability (ICC=0.997, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.975-0.994, p<0.001). This software also showed good inter-rater reliability (ICC=0.987, 95% CI=0.973-0.994, p<0.001). Furthermore, in three analyses for the validity of this software, there were significant correlations between two methods (Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.928-0.972, p<0.001). In addition, this software showed good reliability and validity in the analysis locomotor activity according to time interval. Conclusion: This study showed that this software in analyzing drug-induced locomotor activity has good reliability and validity. This software can be effectively used in animal study using the analysis of locomotor activity.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.305-315
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• 2001

In this study, the production of transgenic embryo was attempted by microinjection or round spermatid cultured with foreign DNA. At first, the expression of haploid spermatids specific gene, mTP1 in mouse and hPrm2 in hamster spermatids were investigated by RT-PCR method in testes of young mice and hamster testis. The specific gene expression first appeared at 18 days post partum (dpp) in mice spermatid and 20 dpp in hamster spermatid. Therefore, the round spermatids isolated from 17 dpp mice and 19 dpp hamster were used for the introduction of foreign EGFP gene into haploid round spermatids. For the introduction of EGFP gene haploid round spermatids suspended in medium including EGFP gene were treated with a different electric field strength at 0.11, 0.18 and 0.44 ㎸/cm. After electrical stimulation, viability of testicular sperm cells and 67.6%, 66.4% and 49.9%, in mice and 62.6%, 57.9% and 27% in hamster, respectively. These values were significantly lower than those of non-treated control groups 80.5% in mouse and 69.1% in hamster After 72 hrs culture, the highest expression rate of EGFP gene, 28.5% in mice and 32.1% in hamster were obtained from tile spermatogenic cells electroporated by the field strength or 0.18 ㎸/cm. Then, the ability of fertilization and embryonic development of haploid spermatids transfected with foreign EGFP gene were estimated by the microinjection of spermatids into hamster oocytes. The Irate pronuclear formation rate (77.5%) was lower than non-treated control (80%), and the cleavage rate of the treated group (58.8%) was lower than control (65%). To prove the foreign EGFP integration in hamster embryos, 2-cell stage hamster embryos were subjected to the observation under the fluorescence microscope, and the PCR analysis. As a result, about 44% of 2-cell embryos were showed the integration of EFGP gene into their genome. Therefore, These results suggest the possibility to produce transgenic hamsters by microinjection of haploid spermatid transfected with foreign DNA.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2013

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder and characterized by positive symptom (i.e., delusions, hallucinations), negative symptom (i.e., lack of emotion, social withdrawal), and cognitive impairment. Previously, we reported that the ethanolic extract of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina attenuated the MK-801-induced schizophrenia-like behaviors such as prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits and cognitive impairment in mice. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether danshensu isolated from P. vulgaris var. lilacina attenuates MK-801-induced sensorimotor gating dysfunction (PPI deficits), hyperlocomotion, and memory impairment in mice. Acute administration of danshensu (1, 3, or 10 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated the MK-801-induced PPI deficits in the acoustic startle response test. We also observed that the impaired recognition memory induced by MK-801 was attenuated by danshensu (1 mg/kg) in the novel object recognition test. However, danshensu failed to reverse the MK-801-induced hyperlocomotion in the open-field test. Collectively, the present results indicate danshensu would be an active agent for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.122-132
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• 2004

The rapid development and characterization of the mouse genome sequence, coupled with comparative sequence analysis of human, has been paralleled by a reinforced enthusiasm for mouse functional genomics. The way to uncover the in vivo function of genes is to analyze the phenotypes of the mutant animals. From this standpoint, the mouse is a suitable and valuable model organism in the studies of functional genomics. Therefore, there have been enormous efforts to enrich the list of the mutant mice. Such a trend emphasizes the random mutagenesis, including ENU mutagenesis and gene-trap mutagenesis, to obtain a large stock of mutant mice. However, since various mutant alleles are needed to precisely characterize the role of a gene in vivo, mutations should be designed. The simplicity and utility of transgenic technology can satisfy this demand. The combination of RNA interference with transgenic technology will provide more opportunities for researchers. Nevertheless, gene targeting can solely define the in vivo function of a gene without a doubt. Thus, transgenesis and gene targeting will be the major strategies in the field of functional genomics.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2006

The ethanolic extract of Fleurya interrupta Gaud, (Urticaceae) was tested for its possible neuropharmacological effects on experimental animals, For the primary neuropharmacological screening of this plant, the ethanolic extract of its aerial parts was subjected to preliminary evaluation for acute toxicity, antinociceptive activity and central nervous system (CNS) activities. At the doses of 125 and 250 mg/kg, the extract significantly (P < 0.01 and P < 0. 001) and dose-dependently increased the frequency of acetic acid induced writhing in mice. In the pentobarbitone induced sleeping time test, the extract at the above dose levels, significantly and dose-dependently decreased the pentobarbitone induced sleeping time (P < 0.001) and increased the time for onset of sleep (P < 0.001) in mice. In the open field and hole cross tests, test animals showed an increase in their movement in the both tests from the 2nd observation period (30 min) and persisted throughout the entire experimental period (240 min). These results of the extract may attribute a stimulating action on the CNS. On the basis of these findings, it can be assumed that the extract exerts its stimulating effect on the CNS in mice by interfering with the cortical function or increasing the effect of some CNS stimulating neurotransmitters.